A Little Passover Irony, or “Wait a Second! Isn’t ‘Exodus’ Associated with Getting OUT??” I’ve made my peace with paying close to $10 for a movie ticket. However, $4 for a smallish candy bar or a box of M&M’s is another thing. So — full confession — we Kaplan’s have been known to smuggle a...Read More
“If a property is worth $250k and you ask $350k and reduce it to $325k, it’s not an indication of a problem in the market. It’s a problem with overpricing.” -Hall F. Willkie, president of Brown Harris Stevens; “Prices Drop for Luxury New York Real Estate”; The NYT (1/15/16). OK, I have a confession: I...Read More
Shiller: Why Smart Money Can’t Stop a Housing Bubble At least according to economist (and Nobel Prize winner) Robert Shiller, housing is more prone to bubbles than stocks for two reasons: 1) housing supply eventually responds to higher prices, satisfying demand (and then some); and 2) unlike stocks, it’s not possible to short housing —...Read More
“The Preference for Pottery Barn” (Decor) Contrary to popular perception, not every Twin Cities home new to the market is immediately getting snapped up in multiple offers right now. What kind of home is? Here are the four attributes that such homes seem to most often share: One. Price point, i.e., they occupy the lower...Read More
“Death By a Thousand Cuts” (Or Raises) No home Seller, quite understandably, wants to leave money on the table. No Buyer wants to overpay. Which is why it can be so tempting to initially list for too much (Sellers) or offer too little (Buyers). Big mistake. That’s because what often happens next — and by “next,” I mean, “several...Read More
Four Explanations “Man came by to hook up my cable TV We settled in for the night my baby and me We switched ’round and ’round ’til half-past dawn There was fifty-seven channels and nothin’ on” –Bruce Springsteen; lyrics, “57 Channels (And Nothin’ On)”** It’s not just Buyers’ imagination: there really IS a dearth of...Read More
