What Radon and Polygraph Tests Have in Common If your furnace goes out in January in Minnesota . . . it’s a pretty high priority repair. Ditto for a central a/c compressor that decides to konk out in July. Fortunately, there’s a perfectly good, temporary solution for basements that are discovered — sometimes in the...Read More
Old Furniture vs. New TV’s I like to say that a true Minnesotan is someone who heads north (typically, to their cabin) when they get a long holiday weekend or a few days off in January (“Head North, Young Man??”). So, what’s my definition of a “handyman’s handyman?” Someone (it could be a woman) who insists...Read More
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...Read More
Trading Half a Loaf For a Full One (or Possibly None) Starting this January 1, something happened to the Minnesota Seller’s Disclosure that I’d never seen before: it got shorter*. Lopped off the end of the document: the section requiring Sellers to sign (again) as of the date of the Purchase Agreement (“PA”), representing either...Read More
“Just Say ‘No'” — or,”Tomorrow Works Much Better” As a rule, the more accessible a home is to prospective Buyers . . . the easier it is to sell. But, that doesn’t mean Sellers can never say “no” — either to a showing request, or, to a Buyer (and their agent) literally standing in their...Read More
The “It Went Away on Its Own” Cure Patient: ‘It hurts when I move my arm like this’ (motions with arm). Doctor: ‘Don’t do that.’ –Woody Allen, dialogue from Annie Hall(?) As a practice, I don’t recommend ignoring either bodily aches and pains or incipient house issues; both have a way of getting worse with...Read More
