I now have a warm-weather complement to my post, “True Minnesotan,” Defined“: A true Minnesotan — if they happen to be in the landscaping business — chides you every year for hiring them instead of having your able-bodied teenage sons mow your lawn.” My standard retort: “Do you encourage all your clients to fire you?”...Read More
Three Quibbles A new study purports to put a number on the value of curb appeal: 7%. The study’s authors did that by analyzing Google Street View photos and sales data from 88,980 properties in the greater Denver area. Specifically, they performed these three steps: “The researchers manually scored a set of properties, grading 400 images...Read More
Green Gold? Interesting article in the Sunday NYT about the spiraling cost of bailing out Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The article profiles one Phoenix-area Realtor in particular, who sold homes at the peak, and now sells them for Fannie and Freddie after they’ve repossessed them (albeit at dramatically lower prices). But here’s the line...Read More
