Two Theories As someone who’s worked in several fields, including law and public accounting, before becoming a Realtor, I can honestly say that real estate sales has a relatively small number of professionals with inflated egos. But, that doesn’t mean there are zero. In such a people-centric business, why give prospective clients a reason to...Read More
Listing Agent to Homeowner: “What Do You Like Best About Living Here?” What overlap could there possibly be between what a Realtor does before listing a home, and what a Rabbi (or other clergy) does before giving a eulogy? Each one interviews family members to elicit the subject’s best qualities. Of course, in the rabbi’s...Read More
Why “Fiduciary Duty” Has Two Prongs, Not Just One [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.] Even people familiar with the term “fiduciary duty” often don’t realize that it consists of two duties, not just one: 1)...Read More
“The odds of an electronic lockbox being defective vary directly with how far a new listing is from the agent’s office.” –Murphy’s Law, Realtor edition. Unfortunately, I learned that lesson firsthand this morning, driving 40+ miles round-trip to place an electronic lockbox on a new listing. The silver lining (of sorts): the Minneapolis Area Association...Read More
“Designated Survivor” Plot It’s not a spoiler alert if the spoiler is in the TV show’s title. So, just in case you missed the premiere episode of “Designated Survivor” last night, the premise is that the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (played by Kiefer Sutherland) suddenly becomes President when the Capitol building is destroyed...Read More
Value is in the Land (Duh!) As both a Realtor and a self-confessed number cruncher, I couldn’t resist asking two questions after seeing the headline (above) in USA Today: One. What kind of annual return does that represent? To answer that, you (also) need to know that the actress Eve Plumb bought the 850 square...Read More
