“Thank God It’s Monday”: What Workaholics (and Busy Realtors) Say If you are a busy Realtor in the middle of a deal over New Year’s (I qualify), it’s a genuine conundrum: when are you intruding on your client’s downtime, and when is contacting them fair game? Judging by the activity in the Edina Realty –...Read More
Guilty Until Proven Innocent? How do you know a would-be home seller has just suffered a rash of cancellations and no-shows? Their agent (known as the listing agent) grills the next couple Buyer’s agents trying to show the property. That can be by email, voicemail, text or even by requiring a “chaperoned showing”: that is,...Read More
Meticulous Record Keeping = Meticulous Maintenance? One of the first questions on the standard Minnesota Seller Disclosure asks whether the owner is in possession of the previous owner’s Seller Disclosure, and if so, whether it’s attached. As a Buyer’s agent, I always like to see the previous Seller’s Disclosure, for two reasons: One. It provides a more...Read More
No, a “man chair” isn’t what you sit on in a man cave. It’s the chair designated for the male of the species while their better halves — or in this case, my daughter — do a little (OK, a lot of) boutique shopping. The shop in question was Pauli’s Place Boutique* in very trendy...Read More
“Earnest Money” vs. “Ernest Money” If your first name is Ernest and you were buying a house, I suppose the check you wrote to go with the Purchase Agreement could be called “Ernest money.” However, for everyone else, the proper term is “earnest money.” 🙂 Definition For those not familiar with earnest money, think of...Read More
Establishing — and Testing — Boundaries If you go to the Business section of any bookstore, you’ll see any number of books on negotiation titled, “Getting to Yes!,” “Win-Win Negotiation,” etc. In my experience, however, the key to effective negotiation lies not in getting to “yes,” but getting to ‘no.” Or perhaps more accurately: before you...Read More
