“Undetectable Pre-Existing Condition” With the first 90º day forecast this season (tomorrow, in fact), Twin Cities homeowners will soon know if their central a/c works. That includes recent home buyers, who purchased earlier this year when chilly local temps (who’da thunk?) prevented testing their units. Fortunately, Buyers who negotiated for their Seller to include a home warranty — or...Read More
32(!) Offers for One House Rampant multiple offers were a staple of the 2005-2006 housing market, too. But back then, at least in my experience, once the listing agent had received 4-5 offers, other prospective Buyers tended to bow out rather than contribute to the feeding frenzy. Today, that no longer seems to be the...Read More
Bedroom Sizes: “Small,” “Medium,” and “(Extra) Extra Large” You certainly can call a 36′ x 13′ room in the basement of a home a “Bedroom,” as a certain listed Golden Valley home does now. But, that doesn’t make it so. That’s true even if the room technically meets the criteria for a legal Bedroom: it...Read More
High Washout Rate [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.] One of the last things that can come up before would-be home sellers officially hire an agent is what Realtors call an exclusion (or sometimes protected) list. In...Read More
Forget the Flowers & Candy Want to make it a REALLY memorable Valentine’s Day? Buy your significant other a house! Although I’ve never had clients who celebrated that way, I’m guessing that they’re out there, somewhere. 🙂 P.S.: I have had clients who purchased a home to celebrate a major birthday or anniversary —...Read More
Subjective Tolerance Levels First, the good news: assuming the house is a couple of decades old, the settling is very likely historic. So, for a home that was built in say, 1925, the settling likely occurred (and stopped) by 1928. The bad news? It’s (very) hard to correct. It’s possible to use floor jacks —...Read More
