Financial, Psychological Toll OK, so there’s no actual weight or carrying involved (unlike furniture moving, which I once did). But, veteran Realtors know — and newbie’s will find out — that it’s burdensome to represent homes that linger on the market. While median-priced Twin Cities homes (now around $265k) are still selling (too?) quickly, the expected...Read More
Why Didn’t the Home Sell?? “We finished last with you, we can finish last without you.” –Pirate general manager Branch Rickey to slugger Ralph Kiner, explaining why he decided to trade him. The usual scenario with For Sale By Owner Homes (known in the industry as “FSBO’s”) is a homeowner who initially tries to sell their...Read More
Long-in-the-Tooth Listings Even in a Seller’s market where listings vanish in the blink of an eye, they’re out there: homes that have been on the market, through rain and shine, winter and summer, seemingly year after year. What gives? Or perhaps more to the point, is there an opportunity to be had? “Days Years on...Read More
(More) Realtor Euphemisms Realtors will seldom come right out and say that a property they’re representing is overpriced. Instead, what you will privately hear from the listing agent (like I did yesterday in Kenwood) is, “The Seller priced the listing.” That’s invariably followed by, “make an offer (any offer).” For more real estate euphemisms, see “Real...Read More
“Make an Offer! Please!” For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. –Newton’s third law I don’t know about physics, but then I suppose Newton didn’t know about real estate. In real estate, the equivalent to Buyers’ agents who verbally probe for, shall we say, Seller “price flexibility,” are listing agents who troll for showings and offers by intimating...Read More
Telling Sellers What They Want to Hear — At First While my track record landing listings is very good — it’s not perfect. The most common reason prospective Sellers choose another Realtor? The other Realtor took the listing at a higher, unrealistic price — a practice that Realtors call “buying the listing.” Exhibit A Last June,...Read More
