Real Estate Fees: Flyover Country vs. the Coasts “The cost to register property in the U.S. has nearly quintupled from 2009, from .5% to 2.4%.” –Brett Stephens, “Doomed to Stagnate“; The Wall Street Journal (12/20/16) Given that the total closing costs for the average Minnesota home buyer come to about 2.7%, I can confidently say...Read More
Items that Trigger a Purchase Agreement Amendment, Post-Inspection Want to know how much it costs to fix a cracked chimney cap? A veteran Realtor probably does. Ditto for a new roof, boiler, electric service panel, or central a/c. However, it’s a good bet that the same agent has only a rough idea how much it costs to...Read More
Better Than Blueprints: The “Jumping-Up-and-Down” Test One of the issues that can come up for downsizers moving from a single-family home to multi-family housing (condo or townhome) is privacy — specifically, noise. I don’t know about townhomes (see below), but I do know a surefire, albeit not-so-scientific way to test how quiet a given condo...Read More
“Buyer Hereby Removes Its Inspection Contingency” Whether or not you insist on a clause like the one above in any post-Inspection Amendment depends. Specifically, on whether you’re a Buyer or a Seller. Quid Pro Quo To preclude the Buyer coming back with more issues while the Inspection period is still open, Sellers should insist that...Read More
Compare With “the Zero-Second Showing”** My first thought when I heard a colleague say that she recently had a 16-second showing on one of her listings was, “how on earth did she know that??” My knee-jerk assumption was that she’d downloaded the log from the electronic lockbox on the front door, and noted that exactly...Read More
Caution: Only Use if True Want to know the single most compelling pitch a Buyer can make to a prospective home Seller, especially if negotiations are at an impasse? This one: “I’d love to buy your home for $___ . If that’s acceptable, please let me know by [time]. Otherwise, I plan to make an...Read More
