Going through a 1940’s Lake Nokomis home this week, my Buyer spotted something upstairs that raised her (and then my) eyebrows: the floor tiles didn’t match in a couple of places. Especially if the home has an older roof, that can be a sign of previous leaking directly above the affected areas. In this case,...Read More
Telegraphing Tepid Interest From Buyers Through the grapevine, I heard about a colleague who is currently representing a Buyer in a condo deal where almost half of the Seller’s Disclosure is either incomplete or filled out incorrectly. Besides slowing down the deal, the Seller is unwittingly telegraphing another message to Buyers — one that isn’t...Read More
Is There Such a Thing as TMI (“Too Much Information”) on the Seller Disclosure? (Hint: “No”) I don’t know about other parts of the country, but here in conscientious, neighborly Minnesota, home sellers are more likely to volunteer too much information rather than too little on the required state disclosure form. As their Realtor, I’m...Read More
Disclosure Standard: “To the Best of Seller’s Knowledge” [Editor’s Note: if you’re tired of Halloween-themed posts . . . skip this. Back to non-Halloween subject matter soon, promise. The views expressed here are solely those of Ross Kaplan, and do not represent Edina Realty, Berkshire Hathaway, or any other entity referenced.] Do a cursory search...Read More
Minnesota Seller Disclosure Confusion The heart of the Minnesota Seller Disclosure is an alphabetical table listing the home’s various features, followed by a “Yes” or “No” after each item to indicate whether they’re in working order. Since time immemorial, at least a few Sellers have misunderstood the “No” to mean, “No, I don’t have that item”...Read More
Hearing it From Seller > Hearing it From Neighbors As advice to home Sellers regarding disclosure goes, it’s hard to beat, “tell what you know.” The other standard caution to Sellers is, “it’s not what you think is relevant, it’s what Buyers think [is relevant].” But, there’s an even more practical test. “Meet the Neighbors”...Read More
