Real Estate Euphemisms 101 It’s purely anecdotal, but I don’t think I’m wrong: something like >95% of the time, when a listing agent touts that a home has a “low maintenance yard” . . . there isn’t a yard (or at least, not much of one). Of course, if there’s only a postage stamp-sized yard...Read More
Two Minutes vs. Two Hours to Set Up Showings Here’s how a Buyer’s agent — at least in the Twin Cities — gets their client into an MLS-listed home: step #1: logon to MLS. step #2: enter the home’s address to find listing, then . . . . step #3: use online form to request showing (typically one...Read More
Real Estate Vocabulary #101 At least when it comes to residential real estate, when is a positive a negative, and a negative a positive? Answer: when it comes to doing a Comparative Market Analysis (“CMA”), the tool Realtors — as well as appraisers — use to estimate a property’s fair market value. CMA Math So,...Read More
Barring the Door . . . to Everyone; 2 Pro’s — & (at Least) 1 Big Con Once upon a time, homes that were under contract, but not yet past inspection, were flagged on MLS with the suffix, “Sold, subject to inspection” (“SSI” for short). Then, that got truncated to just “i” — as in...Read More
Beleaguered Shareholders: “Stop the Merry Go Round, I Want to Get Off!” Are gyrating, crashing stocks good or bad for the housing market? Both. In fact, I see three positives and negatives apiece emerging from the recent market carnage. Positives Here are the pluses (yes, pluses): Weak equity markets forestall the Federal Reserve’s plan to...Read More