Tag

home improvement

Discounting for Work(s) in Progress

Adding a (Big) Margin of Error for Hassle, Unknowns The biggest discount facing home Sellers is for home repairs they’re passing along to the Buyer (euphemistically known as “deferred maintenance”). That’s true whether the repairs are required pursuant to a local point-of-sale inspection — mandatory in 10 municipalities in the Twin Cities — or are simply things...
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Home Improvements: Feasible vs. Practical

When To Apply a Cost-Benefit Criterion — and When Not To Clients frequently ask me if it’s possible to open up a wall, do an addition, add a dormer, etc. My answer is always “yes” — because anything is possible to do, for enough money. However, whether it makes economic sense to do something — that...
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The Smart Way to Add an Oversized Garage

Killing Three Birds With One Stone Show me a 1940’s Colonial with an undersized garage, and I’ll show you a home with — very likely — too few Bathrooms, a shortage of storage space, a dingy, Basement laundry — and probably a few other, functionally obsolete features as well. Which is why, if you’re going...
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Free Tix!!

To:  my Twin Cities readers  Re:  2013 Minneapolis Home & Landscape Expo If you would like free tickets to the Minneapolis Home and Landscape Expo next month, just shoot me an email (rosskaplan@edinarealty.com), or leave me a voicemail (952-285-3182). The Expo runs Fri. – Sun. the first two weekends in January, and is a great...
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The Basement Owner’s Suite

Lower Level Surprise In a 1 1/2 story South Minneapolis bungalow, you’d expect to find the Master Bedroom on the first floor, or — if the ceiling height allows — on the second. So, it was a surprise* to head down to the basement with clients today to find . . . what could easily...
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The Case of the Missing Sweat Equity Buyer

Three (and one half) Theories One of the more confounding things about today’s — shall we say — “unusual” housing market is the conspicuous absence of what Realtors used to call the “sweat equity” Buyer. In no particular order, here are the three explanations I hear most often — and find most credible. One.   Soft...
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