“Rule or Die” Mentality Comes to U.S. Politics [Note to Readers: The views expressed here are solely those of Ross Kaplan, and do not represent Edina Realty, Berkshire Hathaway (“Berkshire”), or any other entity referenced. Edina Realty is a subsidiary of Berkshire.] Minnesota Native Son (and fellow St. Louis Park High School grad) Thomas Friedman...Read More
Profile in Courage Competence When the virus hit, neither Mr. Trump nor the federal government were technically in charge. Most of the decisive constitutional powers ” closing schools or ordering people to stay home ” lay with U.S. governors and mayors. But the President immediately assumed a leading role, coordinating regular exchanges between the governors,...Read More
How Did 2008 Home Buyers Fare? I always do a double take when The New York Times mentions Minneapolis in an article on housing. So, let’s say that today’s article, “Buying a Home During a Pandemic” — which mentions not one but two Minneapolis homeowners — had my full attention. The article’s author, Ron Lieber,...Read More
[Note to Readers: The views expressed here are solely those of Ross Kaplan, and do not represent Edina Realty, Berkshire Hathaway (“Berkshire”), or any other entity referenced. Edina Realty is a subsidiary of Berkshire.] You didn’t need to read the news or watch TV to know that Joe Biden resoundingly won most of yesterday’s primaries,...Read More
Sales Blockbuster a Big Surprise “We like to have a comparison title so that we can do sales forecasts, but in this case none of the comparisons work.” –“The Long Tail of ‘Where the Crawdads Sing”; The New York Times (12/21/19). It turns out that publishers estimate book sales the same way Realtors (and Appraisers)...Read More
“A Rose By Any Other Name?” “Alison Bernstein, the president of the Suburban Jungle real estate agency, based in New York City, finds that buyers are “highly focused on, how do we functionally work at home?” And that focus extends to work space for their children. “Dedicated homework areas are very, very popular,” Ms. Bernstein...Read More