Ten Mile Traffic Jam in the Desert, or, Trump Holds Rally in Fountain Hills, AZ [Editor’s Note: does writing about Donald Trump boost traffic? We’ll see . . . 🙂 ] Finishing a brief trip to AZ (feel better, Mom!), I headed from my parents’ place in Scottsdale to Fountain Hills yesterday morning for...Read More
Qualifying Buyers #101 In the course of holding hundreds (thousands?) of Sunday open houses over the years, I can usually tell relatively quickly whether a given prospect is serious or not. See if you can tell which of the comments below indicate serious Buyer interest: A. “I LOVE this house. Why is it so cheap?!?” B. “What...Read More
The Too-Zealous Realtor Don’t squeaky wheels get the grease? And in a hyper-competitive multiple offer situation, isn’t an aggressive agent an asset? (nice alliteration, huh?) Yes . . . to a point. Beyond that point, hyper-aggressive behavior on the part of a Buyer’s agent can become a negative to the Seller (and their agent). Cause...Read More
Plentiful Jobs + Affordable Housing “Minneapolis-St. Paul is awash in economic plenty. The area has added more than 200,000 new jobs since 2009, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The area’s unemployment rate in December was just 3.1 percent (not seasonally adjusted), compared with 4.8 percent nationwide. The median household income is well above the national...Read More
The Limits of Delectable Food I know the about-to-follow sentiments place me in a distinct minority of Realtors, but here goes: If scrumptious refreshments on Broker Tour* actually sold homes, then that nice Contemporary by Cedar Lake should have sold in a heartbeat. Proffered to visiting agents: home-cooked shish-kebab (delicious!), flutes of champagne, and chocolate...Read More
[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. Berkshire Hathaway is the ultimate parent company of Edina Realty.] Aficionados of Warren Buffett’s annual missive to shareholders (I’m one) will recall that last year’s included a doozy: Buffett’s advice...Read More
