The REAL Purpose of Appraisals What is the purpose of an appraisal, in the context of a residential real estate sale? To make sure that, if the Buyer defaults on their loan and the lender ultimately forecloses, the value of the collateral is sufficient to make the lender whole. Or, in plain English: if the...Read More
Effect on Property Values More Complicated Than You’d Guess So, how big a premium do homes in stellar school districts fetch? Conversely, how much of a discount is baked into the price of homes in poorly regarded school districts? Two Sides of Same Coin Step #1 is to realize that one size doesn’t fit all — that...Read More
Estimates So Broad You Could Drive a Truck Through Them [Editor’s Note: The views expressed here are solely those of Ross Kaplan, and do not represent Edina Realty, Berkshire Hathaway, or any other entity referenced.] RealAVM: $859,828 RealAVM Range: $662,068 to $1,057,588 Confidence Score: 66 Forecast Standard Deviation: 23 –Excerpt, MLS If you only...Read More
The High Cost of “Free” Marketing Whenever I hear a national speaker and supposed industry expert exhort Realtors to give away price opinions for free, as a marketing tool, my reaction is always, “How much are you getting paid to speak to all of us today?” (note: Realtors’ term for a formal price opinion is...Read More
Dueling Comp’s (and Spreadsheets) Real estate negotiation can involve lots of back-and-forth and numerous fine points, but in my experience, it’s usually not productive to get into a detailed discussion of/argument over the Comp’s, also known as “Comparable Sold Properties.” Put it it this way: I’ve yet to have the other side say, mid-negotiation, “you...Read More
Playing Down the Price “Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel.” –Samuel Johnson The real estate equivalent of Johnson’s line is, “when you’ve got nothing else (left?) to sell, sell price.” That’s not to say value is irrelevant. With ever-more discriminating consumers, online information, and high tech tools and savvy generally, value has never been more important....Read More
