Locked Into a Lease? Maybe Not [Editor’s Note: The views expressed here are solely those of Ross Kaplan, and do not represent Edina Realty, Berkshire Hathaway, or any other entity referenced. If you need legal advice, please consult an attorney.] Realtors hosting Sunday open houses hear it all the time: prospective home Buyers who see...Read More
FHA Rates — and Especially Fees(!) — Soar Higher Prospective borrowers obviously care about the face rate on their mortgage, but what they should really care about is what’s called the “A.P.R.,” or Annual Percentage Rate. It’s the latter number that captures the various fees that the lender is charging, and reflects the true cost...Read More
Knowing When to Move On — or Skip Altogether First, a definition: a “deal breaker” to a prospective Buyer is anything that, all by itself, rules out a particular home. Exactly what that is, though, varies by Buyer. So, from past experience, I know that deal breakers can be anything from a dated Kitchen, to...Read More
“Open House Available For a Terrific Listing That Always Gets Great Traffic” One of the more durable myths out there is why Realtors do Sunday open houses: many clients (and prospective clients) seem to believe that the primary motivation isn’t to sell the client’s home, but for the hosting Realtor to troll for future business...Read More
Biting the Bullet BEFORE Listing It’s certainly possible to put a home on the market — like the one I showed clients this weekend — with a roof that’s clearly past its useful life. But I wouldn’t recommend it. There are two reasons why: One. The cost of the new roof is guaranteed to come...Read More
