“Would You Like Some Fries With That Ketchup?” — Housing Edition $1.5M Mediterranean villa on the Mississippi is car lover’s dream home. —Star Tribune (June 25, 2018). It turns out that a five-car garage — like the one featured in today’s Star Tribune — is hardly the Twin Cities’ biggest. Perusing MLS transactions the last 3...Read More
Thinking Outside the (Refrigerator) Box What do you do when your fridge ” and your extra fridge ” are overflowing with to-be-prepared Thanksgiving food? This time of year ” at least in Minnesota ” there’s literally an infinite “extra fridge” . . . . outside your door. Or in our case, inside the garage. After...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,” which I’ve now seen twice in just the past week. I’m not sure what the listing agent’s association for each type of home is, but here are mine (and I’m sure, many other Realtors’): Grandma’s House:...Read More
Keys, Keys, Keys I don’t recall ever being confronted with 3(!) deadbolt locks before — the case at an Edina duplex I showed earlier this week. Figuring out which one worked is just one of the challenges that Buyers’ agents face. First, they need to pop open the lockbox that contains all those keys. Step...Read More
“Live and Learn” Dept. For about a decade, my family has been paying for a deluxe home warranty covering our HVAC, all appliances, and even our main sewer connection. Also included: our backup, standalone freezer. Or so we thought all these years. “Location, Location, Location” We found out otherwise when the freezer’s compressor failed the...Read More
Hey! Where’s the Garage?!? While not as common in Minnesota as, say, California and Florida, I do recall seeing Twin Cities homes with car ports. It’s just that they usually supplement (rather than replace) a garage. Much less common: a car port underneath the home, that leads to the detached garage in back (photo above)....Read More
