“Whole” vs. “Fractional” Floors Homes have half-Baths; why not half-floors? Or multiple half-floors? Functionally, that’s exactly what a Split-Level is. Ramblers & Two-Stories Of course, the easier cases are ramblers and two-stories. Digitally, a rambler with a finished basement would be expressed as “+1.0; -1.0” for the first floor and lower level, respectively. A two-story with...Read More
Golden Valley Rambler With 5 BR/4 BA, 4,500+ FSF for $475k What at first blush looks like a screaming value becomes less so once you factor in the house style — a one-story rambler (“Ranch” outside the Midwest). In particular, fully half of the finished square feet is in the basement. Basement vs. “Lower Level”*...Read More
Pros and Cons For Downsizing Baby Boomers Surprise, surprise, that stalwart of the ’50’s — the one-story rambler (known as a “ranch” on the coasts) — is making a comeback. They can be especially appealing to downsizing Baby Boomers, who are looking for one-level living, in a smaller home, with the privacy and backyard that go with a detached, single-family...Read More
Back in Fashion: Ramblers “People want to remodel their homes so they can age in place. They’re adding main-floor Bathrooms and Laundry Rooms, zero-curb showers that could accommodate a wheelchair, and Family Room additions that could easily convert to main-floor Bedrooms.” –Kim Palmer, “Remodeling on Rebound”; Star Tribune (5/5/2013) Along with the housing market, remodeling...Read More
Weighing Comp’s and “Kind-of-Comp’s” The cornerstone of establishing market value for a given property is the CMA, or “Comparative Market Analysis.” As prepared by both Realtors and Appraisers, it consists of selecting a peer group of three homes (“Comparable Sold Properties”), then going through a compare-and-contrast process sizing up each of the Comp’s relative to the “subject”...Read More
Actions Speak Louder Than WordsWhat does a Realtor with some spare time in a new city do on a Sunday afternoon? Check out some open houses! In fact, I just had time to go through a few, but here are a couple stray observations: –The Southwestern equivalent to the Midwestern “ranch” or “rambler” is a...Read More
