“Starter home“: a relatively small, economical house or condominium that meets the requirements of young people buying their first home. While there’s no precise definition, I have two associations with “starter home”: One. Price Point. Starter homes are (well) below the average price for homes in the local market ” whatever that may be. So,...Read More
Everything You Wanted to Know About Ceiling Finishes As best I can tell, the reason it’s called a “knockdown ceiling” is because calling it a “knock-off ceiling” would have been too confusing. What gets knocked off ” er, knocked down ” is the joint compound that’s first applied to the ceiling, and allowed to partially...Read More
When “Sold” Doesn’t Mean “Sold” At least in Minnesota, when you see a “Sold” rider above a “For Sale” sign in front of a house, it doesn’t mean “Sold” ” it means “Pending.” Huh?? The (admittedly confusing) convention is to pronounce a home that’s under contract and past Inspection ” but not yet closed ”...Read More
The “You Know it When You See it” Test While it’s true that every Mid-Century Modern home was built in the 1950’s (or thereabouts), it’s decidedly NOT the case that every home built in the 1950’s is a “Mid-Century Modern.” In fact, in real life, very few are. On MLS, for every home that I...Read More
It’s not uncommon for agents to see homes marketed as a “Grandma’s house.” Less usual: homes marketed as a “Grandpa’s house.” I’m not sure about other Realtors’ association with each type of home, but here are mine: Grandma’s House: —”Vintage” Kitchen with lots of old appliances (wall oven, mixer, etc.); —Old(er) window treatments, floor coverings,...Read More
What Realtors Routinely Get Wrong; or, “How Come There’s No Such Thing as a 2-Season Porch??” If Realtors routinely confuse the various types of porches . . . I don’t know what chance a layman has. Perhaps that’s why, as a public service for Twin Cities Realtors, the local MLS has a post describing the...Read More
