Do They Come Out Ahead? In college football, they’re called “red-shirts”: promising freshmen who are held back a year — both for more seasoning, and because they’d otherwise use up valuable eligibility serving as an understudy to a star upperclassman. The housing market equivalent? A home that was listed 2-3 years ago when the market was...Read More
Virtuous — and Vicious — Cycles What happens when a for-sale home saddled with sky-high property taxes doesn’t sell? Frequently, the owner opts to rent it out instead. Fast forward 2-3 years, when the surrounding block and similar ones are not-so-suddenly studded with rentals. Prospective home Buyers who want to be surrounded by other homeowners balk —...Read More
“Sold Rented, No More Showings” When is a rental property officially “spoken for,” and therefore off the market? A. When the prospective tenant signs the lease. B. When the landlord deposits their security deposit and first rent check. C. When the landlord completes the tenant’s background check, including credit history. D. When the tenant moves in. Answer: ...Read More
“If I Can’t Get My Price . . . I’ll Rent It!” Lots of Buyers’ agents — myself included — have heard that line lately from Listing agents (representing Sellers). How credible is that threat? My take is that it depends on the following variables: –Condition. The nicer the home, the less believable. A Seller...Read More
You Read it Here First In the course of helping clients find a rental property the last 2 weeks, it’s become abundantly clear that the rental market is much more fragmented and chaotic than the For Sale market. And pricing is much sloppier (what you get for, say, $2,500/mth runs the gamut from properties worth...Read More
Mastering the Rental Market Want to know which way the (real estate) wind is blowing? Here’s what’s on the agenda for this year’s Minnesota Association of Realtors forms course: New this year are lease contracts, exclusive representation for consumers looking to rent, and lease listing forms. Detect a theme? In a market with more rental...Read More
