“No-No’s” for Would-Be Home Sellers, or “What’s the Opposite of an Achilles’ Heel?” My #1 piece of advice for would-be home sellers prepping for market this Spring (or any other time of year) is, “make everything consistent.” Which suggests this corollary: “don’t over-improve.” In fact, there are two kinds of over-improvements: 1) within the home; and...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
Mixing Apples and Oranges Are real estate prices in rural South Dakota and Mississippi really twice as much as in Dallas? That’s the takeaway, at least superficially, from a NYT piece profiling homes in South Dakota, Mississippi, and Dallas that are all now on the market for around $800k. Prices Per Square Foot; “A Creek...Read More
Sometimes, a Rose Rider is Just a Rose Rider In addition to following multiple Twin Cities neighborhoods for various clients, I also watch home sales near where I live (natch). So about 10 days ago, when the “Sold” rider** disappeared from the vacant “For Sale” home down the street, I assumed that the deal hiccupped...Read More
Plans B Thru Z For Getting Into a Listing Earlier this week, I (momentarily) had a big scare when my electronic lockbox failed to update. Due to host a couple dozen agents for an Edina Realty Exceptional Properties lunch, I had visions of a crowd of Realtors milling around outside while I struggled with my...Read More
Pro’s & (Mostly) Con’s “Don’t be a secret agent.” –Advice to new real estate agents just starting out. Why would the owner of a “For Sale” home want to skip putting a “For Sale” sign in front? Search me. Here are the four most common reasons I hear — followed by my Realtor rebuttal (in...Read More
