“Oh . . . umm . . . I see — Never Mind” [Editor’s Note: The views expressed here are solely those of Ross Kaplan, and do not represent Edina Realty, Berkshire Hathaway (“Berkshire”), or any other entity referenced. Edina Realty is a subsidiary of Berkshire.] “Sanders has edge in latest New Hampshire polls, with...Read More
Balancing Home Search “False Negatives” vs. “False Positives” When setting up searches for prospective Buyers, the goal is to find “the Goldilocks” happy medium: sufficiently narrow criteria that the resulting list is manageable . . . but not so narrow that the search returns only a handful of listings. Or none. In practice, for most Buyers, the...Read More
The Goldilocks Market “Twin Cities Home Prices Best Predictor of U.S. Trends” —headline; U.S. News & World Report (7/30/2014) Call it the “Ohio” of the U.S. housing market. Just as Ohio voters seemingly choose the President every four years (or have, at least every election since 1964), according to Trulia, the Twin Cities housing market...Read More
The Goldilocks Approach to Appraisals Just like Goldilocks preferred the porridge that was neither too hot nor too cold, appraisers like to see a home that prices in the middle of its peer group. In appraiser lingo, such a home is said to “bracket.” In plain English, that means it’s priced more than a slightly...Read More
Obama’s Fiscal Stimulus Splits the Difference“Obama’s economic plan falls well short of what’s needed.”–Paul Krugman, “The Obama Gap” (NYT, 1/9/09)“Obama has vowed to do everything at once . . this will be the most complex piece of legislation in American history.”–David Brooks, “The Confidence Surplus” (NYT, 1/9/09)Depending on who you believe, President-elect Obama has devised...Read More
