“Did You Hear? Sue Got That Plumb Job in Marketing!” I actually got into an argument recently with my 14 year-old about whether the adjective “plumb” was a dictionary-approved synonym for “choice,” “desired,” or “sought after.” The rub? None of the alternative meanings under “plumb” matched my definition. A few days later, I realized what...Read More
Hitting Too Close to Home When you discover 1″ of standing water in much of your basement (as I did this morning), your first impulse — after uttering the obligatory “#$!%@!” — is to shut off the water to the house, then look for whatever pipe burst overnight. Nada. I then checked the main sewer...Read More
“So, T-H-A-T-‘S What That Dial Is For!” Thanks to Minneapolis City plumbers Doug Anderson and Rod Petrik, I now know what that small blue dial on my home’s water meter does. Make that, my brand new water meter — replaced last week, courtesy of the city, in a speedy 30 minutes by the same gentlemen. According...Read More
Minnesota Seller Disclosure Confusion The heart of the Minnesota Seller Disclosure is an alphabetical table listing the home’s various features, followed by a “Yes” or “No” after each item to indicate whether they’re in working order. Since time immemorial, at least a few Sellers have misunderstood the “No” to mean, “No, I don’t have that item”...Read More
One Set of Pipes or Two? First, a caveat: for the record, I’m never in favor of winterizing a home, even one that’s vacant, even in Minnesota in the winter. In my experience, it’s almost always more cost-effective to empty such a home, move any to-be-disposed-of personal effects into storage, and expeditiously get the home on...Read More
