Adding a (Big) Margin of Error for Hassle, Unknowns The biggest discount facing home Sellers is for home repairs they’re passing along to the Buyer (euphemistically known as “deferred maintenance”). That’s true whether the repairs are required pursuant to a local point-of-sale inspection — mandatory in 10 municipalities in the Twin Cities — or are simply things...Read More
Or . . . Maybe They Already Did(??)* How unusual is it for the Buyer to skip a home inspection? After a decade selling homes, I was just involved with my first deal — as a listing agent representing the Seller — where the Buyer waived the Inspection Addendum. For a home that was not in multiple offers. Extenuating...Read More
When Ignorance Isn’t Bliss On the list of awkward first questions that Buyers’ Agents ask Listing Agents — “Are those abandoned oil tanks buried in the front yard?” — has to rank pretty high. And responding, “the Seller doesn’t have any idea, they were there when they bought the house” doesn’t exactly help matters. Even...Read More
What are the most common big-ticket inspection issues? Roofs, to be sure. Also furnaces, foundations, sub-standard plumbing or electric, and any suspect major appliances. But all of those things are usually already known to the Seller — and therefore properly disclosed (and preferably, addressed before a home even comes on the market). No Symptoms Which leaves items that Sellers...Read More
“You Know One When You See One” [Editor’s note: this post is a companion to “Unserious Buyers: Top 10 Signs” and “Is the Buyer Serious? Here’s One Clue“] “The race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong — but that’s the way to bet.” –Ecclesiastes (with an assist from Damon Runyon)....Read More
“Serious” vs. “Non-Serious” Home Sellers Men are like taxis. The theory is that when a man is ready for, or open to, the possibility of a relationship he turns his taxi light on. If you happen to be the girl that hails the cab (him) while the light is on, you’ve got a possibility of...Read More
