Test your real estate (and social) IQ, and see if you know which subjects are in-bounds — and out-of-bounds — for home Buyers and Sellers to discuss at closing: A. The home’s selling price. B. Any walk-thru inspection issues. C. The Buyer’s plans to remodel — or raze(!) — the home post-closing. D. Who the Seller uses...Read More
Counting Down to December 31 December 29 At least for Buyers’ agents, the answer to the question, “should I close on my home purchase in 2017, before any new tax laws take effect?” is easy: “consult your tax advisor.” Fortunately, agents are able to field a related question: “is it still possible to close in 2017?” Closing Hurdles Whether a 2017 close...Read More
Five-Step Checklist One of the last steps before closing — in fact, sometimes done on the way to closing* — is the Buyer’s walk-thru. To my mind, at least, the Buyer’s walk-thru has these five goals: One. Determine that there’s been no change in the home’s condition since the Inspection Contingency was removed. What can...Read More
Dual Agency Dilemma #17 Never having represented both the Buyer and Seller in the same transaction (I consider it a classic conflict of interest), one of the questions I have for agents who do act as dual agents is, “how do you navigate things like the Buyer’s walk-thru inspection? Provided for in the standard Minnesota Purchase...Read More
What’s in a Word? “Imˈ- pound”: seize and take legal custody of something — especially a vehicle, goods, or documents — because of an infringement of a law or regulation. –Dictionary definition Once upon a time, the fees that lenders collected in advance from home buyers for such things as property taxes and home insurance...Read More
Seller Christmas Present/Delayed Closing Gift If you’re a busy agent who’s been involved in lots of deals since last Summer, one of the biggest post-closing scares can be an email — like the one I received earlier this week — from a (selling) client who alerted me about an invoice they’d just gotten from Hennepin...Read More
