Listing agents (representing home sellers) are big fans of home warranties. Personally, I love them. Test your knowledge of residential real estate today, and see if you know why: A. Realtors don’t pay the premium (Sellers typically do). B. Realtors get a commission for each home warranty policy they sell. C. Listing agents know that...Read More
It may seem counter-intuitive, but just because two “For Sale” homes share the same block, are listed for the same price, and are the same size (have the same finished square feet), doesn’t necessarily mean they’re direct competitors. In fact, I can think of two scenarios where there’s virtually no overlap in the pool of...Read More
Calculating Premiums & Discounts in a Comparative Market Analysis (“CMA”) How much value do Realtors and Appraisers assign to an upstairs Laundry when estimating a home’s fair market value? The honest answer is, I’ve never seen it broken out as a specific adjustment, with a corresponding price tag (or even range) assigned to it. My...Read More
Effect on Property Values More Complicated Than You’d Guess So, how big a premium do homes in stellar school districts fetch? Conversely, how much of a discount is baked into the price of homes in poorly regarded school districts? Two Sides of Same Coin Step #1 is to realize that one size doesn’t fit all — that...Read More
“Edina: 2-story walkout, 4,320 finished square feet, 5/4/3, school district 270. Fresh and immaculate Parkwood Knolls home on a great lot in a cul-de-sac. $874,900” –Pre-list networking Can you spot the key — and buried — detail in the above? Hint: it’s not a word, it’s a number — in fact, it’s a single digit...Read More
1 Picture = 1,000 Words Just in case there’s any doubt, the wide-angle shot (above) of this Lake Nokomis home definitively answers the question: “is it a corner lot?” Realtor conventional wisdom is that some Buyers prefer them, because of the extra light (and one less neighbor). Meanwhile, others avoid corner lots, because of the...Read More