Realtor Freudian Slips “All-new appliances, new carpeting, fresh pain.” –Public remarks, MLS I say it with sympathy, not Schadenfreude — both for the homeowner as well as their (listing) agent. Because it’s a bummer to have a house sit on the market, unsold — plus often, a financial hardship. When that’s the case, though, and...Read More
Market Exposure > Days on Market; When 1 Week on the Market ≠1 Week on the Market I’m a big fan of aggressive, pre-list marketing. One of the easiest (and cheapest!) methods, especially for a home in a high-profile, high-demand location: install the “For Sale” sign early, and attach a “Coming Soon” rider (note:...Read More
Fear of Missing Out on “Something Better”: Buyers Who Fret About What’s Going to Come On the Market After They Buy “He who hesitates is lost.” “Look before you leap.” –Famous — and contradictory — proverbs. While it’s true that “you never step into the same river twice,” that doesn’t mean the river’s overall features...Read More
Post-Closing Buyer “Surprises” & Other Issues It doesn’t happen often**, but I’d estimate that 99% of the time when a Realtor fields an emergency phone call the day after closing, it’s the Buyer calling their agent — who then calls the listing agent (representing the Seller) — to relate a newly-discovered problem with the home (note: problems that...Read More
Real estate agents putting together deals this week have an extra challenge: getting the timeline in the Inspection Contingency right. The convention is for Buyers to do their inspection within five business days of Final Acceptance (when the Purchase Agreement is officially “signed, sealed, and delivered”). But with July 4 on Saturday this year, that...Read More
Housing Market Leading Indicators What are the signs that a neighborhood is about to be christened that most coveted of labels, “up-and-coming?” One of my favorite bellwethers is (good) new restaurants (dare I say “trendy?”). Such enterprises are budget-conscious, so need to find parts of town with cheaper rent. But, they need to be close enough to...Read More
