Three Bathrooms? Or 1.75? I just previewed a Golden Valley home for out-of-town clients, and now understand why the home — which appears well-priced and is located in a “demand” neighborhood — has been sitting on the market since last Fall, at ever-lower prices. Strike #1 was the number of Bathrooms. According to MLS —...Read More
Is Apprehension About Rising Rates Misplaced? Conventional wisdom is that higher interest rates would be disastrous for a still-recovering economy. Is that mindset right? Maybe not. Whither Interest Rates? If rates are rising because the economy is stronger, that’s a positive, not a negative. As one loan officer I work with said, “If you’re hoping for dirt-cheap...Read More
Big and Little Home Seller Questions Examples of big questions that home sellers must grapple with include, “How much should I list for?” and “What prep should I do beforehand?” At the other extreme are little — but still important — questions such as, “Do I need to be home to let the city inspector...Read More
Seeing Double (Quadruple?) When a switch hitter faces a switch pitcher, which player decides what the matchup will be? According to my baseball-crazy 15 year-old son, this is no idle hypothetical: it actually occurred earlier this week during an Oakland A’s – Boston Red Sox game. Playing the Odds If you’re into such things, there...Read More
Realtor-Client “Second Marriages” “Fools rush in where Angels fear to tread.” –Alexander Pope “A second marriage is the triumph of hope over experience.” –Samuel Johnson “Rebound relationships” seldom work out because one of the people in the relationship usually hasn’t had time to get over the last one. Is the same thing true in real...Read More
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
