“You Know What They Meant” Dept. I’ve been involved in lots of estate sales, and have certainly seen plenty listed on MLS. But, I don’t recall ever seeing that rather unfortunate pairing — “estate” and “situation” — on MLS before. What’s going on? Two guesses: 1) it’s a new(er) agent; and 2) the home’s not...Read More
“Thanks for Nothing” (Literally) Department “Please note Buyer/Broker representation agreement for commission.” –Excerpt, MLS Agent Remarks I call the disclosure (above) the, “you’re going to get stiffed — but at least I told you so” strategy. That would be as opposed to the, “you’re going to get stiffed — but I’ll let you discover that...Read More
Key Statistics: Not Just Price Which statistics are most important for getting a handle on the housing market? Certainly, trailing price changes are important. But, there are various such indices, and the best known ones (like Case-Shiller) track entire metro areas, not individual municipalities (let alone neighborhoods). It’s well and good that the Twin Cities...Read More
Photos That Are One Season (or More) Behind Why does it matter when a home originally listed? Because price varies (negatively) as a function of market time. Translation: owners have the most pricing power soon after their home debuts on the market, and gradually lose leverage thereafter. Cockroaches & Dated Photos So, looking at the...Read More
Cheapskate Listing Agent — But Honest (Sort of) I’m sure it’s not the first time that a “successor” agent has taken over an expired or cancelled listing from the incumbent agent, and re-used their photos. But, I’ve never seen the new agent disclose that fact — albeit in the “Agent” (vs. “Public”) Remarks section on...Read More
“Garage: One Parking Space” –excerpt, MLS listing for downtown St. Paul condo I remember living in New York in the late ’90’s, and eating gyros at a Greek diner near Columbus Circle. When I asked the waiter if I could get some extra Pita bread, he responded with a hearty, “Of course!,” and promptly brought...Read More
