“You Stick to That One Thing and the Rest Don’t Mean Sh*t.” Curly: Do you know what the secret of life is? [Holds up one finger] This. Mitch: Your finger? Curly: One thing. Just one thing. You stick to that and the rest don’t mean shit. Mitch: But, what is the “one thing?” Curly: [smiles]...Read More
Broken Clocks & Out-of-Season MLS Photos* Quick! Test your knowledge of residential real estate and guess how big the Minnetonka home pictured above is: A. 1,200 finished square feet (“FSF”); B. 1,656 FSF; C. 2,370 FSF; D. 5,849 FSF.** Answer: “D.” (believe it or not, at least according to MLS). When the curb appeal is...Read More
“Red sky at night, sailor’s delight. Red sky in morning, sailor take warning.” –Nautical saying Gorgeous shot of this Hopkins home, huh? The house — sitting on almost two acres(!) — is north-facing, which means the photographer was looking southwest when they snapped this shot. Best guess: about 5 p.m. local.Read More
See If You Can Spot the Two (Very) Subtle Clues in the Picture (Above) One of the BIG issues with 1.5 story expansions with two Bathrooms is, “exactly where are they?” Or more specifically, where is the second Bathroom? (the first one is almost always on the main floor). Master Bath or Basement Bath More...Read More
Playing Down the Price “Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel.” –Samuel Johnson The real estate equivalent of Johnson’s line is, “when you’ve got nothing else (left?) to sell, sell price.” That’s not to say value is irrelevant. With ever-more discriminating consumers, online information, and high tech tools and savvy generally, value has never been more important....Read More
Undermining Seller Credibility Either the Kitchen in the photo above has a walk-in, commercial-sized freezer. Or, something’s not quite right about the photo dimensions. Based on the other Kitchen photos accompanying the listing, the answer is option #2. Never Just One Cockroach What is the other reason not to use a wide-angle lens or otherwise...Read More
