The Mysteriously Disappearing FSBO One of the less-remarked developments in today’s housing market is the relative absence of FSBO’s (“for sale by owner” homes). As recently as two years ago, more than 10% of all listings were; now, I’d guess that number is less than 5%. (Note: there are actually two kinds of FSBO’s: the...Read More
Renting vs. Buying: How Interchangeable? Carla Zeineh, 22, and her husband recently began shopping for a home in Irvine, Calif., and discovered that with a 5% mortgage rate, her monthly payment on a $350,000 two-bedroom home with 20% down could be less than the $1,800 month that they pay in rent on their two-bedroom condo....Read More
Don’t Sell Your House to Your RealtorSelling your house to your Realtor is a bad idea for about 48 different reasons, beginning and ending with conflict of interest. That’s especially true if the sale is a “short sale” — that is, the home is worth less than the mortgage against it. In such cases, the...Read More
Will the 4th Time Be the Charm? Where: 29xx Quentin, St. Louis ParkWhat: 4BR/3BA; 3,900 FSF; 1931 two-story homeHow much: $264,900Originally listed: $374,900 (11/2/2007)Number of Realtors (so far): sixNumber of Brokers (so far): four Scanning today’s newly listed — and re-listed — homes, I couldn’t help but notice 29xx Quentin. I recalled it being an...Read More
Three Reasons Why Deals Are Tougher in a Recession What amuses me about 99% of the articles written about the housing market — and there’s been an explosion lately — is that they’re not written by active, working Realtors. Most are simply journalists whose “beat” (area of focus) is the housing market. On a scale...Read More
Star Trib: ‘YouTube is Coming Trend’ The most interesting thing to me about the lead story in today’s Star Tribune business section, “Increasing Numbers of Metro Realtors Turn to YouTube,” wasn’t the content, but the byline: the reporter is identified as “a University of Minnesota student reporter on assignment for the Star Tribune.” Hmm ....Read More
