Pro’s and Con’s It’s difficult advice to give a Buyer, but I ran into another agent recently who recommends that would-be Buyers in a short sale go ahead and deliver their earnest money check and perform their inspection — before the bank signals its OK. Many (all?) Buyers are hesitant to do that, because if the bank does not agree...Read More
Smoking Guns & Yellow Flags I think it’s fair to say that — as a rule — compared to “laymen,” Realtors put much less stock in things like Seller motivation; historical information like what the owner paid (unless it raises the prospect of a short sale); and even representations (or lack thereof) in the Seller’s Disclosure....Read More
Law of Diminishing Returns If you don’t like technical, legalistic real estate posts — stop reading here. Earnest money (called “unrest money” by at least one recent Buyer) plays an overlooked but critical role in every real estate deal. Typically 2% to 5% of the purchase price, given by the Buyer to the Seller as...Read More
What Are They Really Worth? Put it this way: the picture of toilet paper should give you a hint. First, some background. In Minnesota, the first things that typically lead off any offer to purchase residential real estate are the Buyer’s earnest money check, and a pre-approval letter from a lender (unless the Buyer is...Read More
Sales Repertoire Consciously or unconsciously, every successful sales(wo)man develops some variation of the following techniques: The Close. “Sign here.” The Trial Close. “If they agree to beef up the earnest money, is it a deal?” The Reverse Trial Close. “With all those objections, this home sure doesn’t seem like a very good fit for you.”...Read More
Milestones in a Deal If you’re an office manager, stop reading here. If you’re not . . . continue. So, when is a real estate deal really a done deal? It’s not when the last signature lands on the last blank line in the Purchase Agreement. It’s not the technical, legal definition, i.e., when the...Read More
