Increasing Market Penetration? Realtors cast around for inspector referrals all the time. (Much) less common: a Buyer’s agent trying to turn up an inspector qualified to inspect a geothermal heating/cooling system (I received the first such email this am via Edina Realty’s “broadcast” feature). Good! First, homeowners have to install such systems, either as retrofits or...Read More
Doing Your Homework Before You Buy What’s “due diligence?” It depends on what you’re buying. If it’s a dozen eggs . . . it’s checking to see that none are cracked. If it’s a multi-billion dollar corporation, it consists of poring over the company’s books, auditing its cash and accounts receivable, scrutinizing the company’s intellectual...Read More
Friend vs. . . Foe Not Friend In the Twin Cities, ten municipalities require home sellers to have their home inspected prior to sale (in some cases, prior to listing). Some of those cities (Bloomington, St. Louis Park) have their own city inspectors; others, like Minneapolis, outsource the job to an approved list of independent...Read More
Dated? Or Defective? Don’t know much about history Don’t know much biology Don’t know much about a science book Don’t know much about the french I took –Lyrics, “Wonderful World” Prospective home Buyers — and their Realtors — don’t need to know a lot about electricity. But, they need to know at least a little...Read More
“Business Days” The exact reasons are a bit of a mystery, but there’s no question that Buyers’ home inspections have become more drawn out in recent years. So, once upon a time, it was customary to allow Buyers three days to perform the inspection; one more day to provide the Seller with a written list...Read More
And Then There Were 8 (Required City “Point-of-Sale” Inspections) “After seeing all the various inconsistencies and loopholes over the years, I’ve come to the conclusion that the costs of municipal homes inspections don’t justify their benefits.” –Ross Kaplan, “Are Municipal Inspections a Waste of Time?”; City Lakes Real Estate Blog (1/16/2010) One city doesn’t make...Read More
