“I Know What You Meant” Department: Contingent Offer Confusion Residential real estate is full of confusing, non-intuitive (if not counter-intuitive) terms. Like, the Realtor that the industry calls “the Selling agent,” once a deal closes, actually represents the Buyer (the agent representing the Seller is known as “the listing agent”). See, “Quick! Who Does the...Read More
The Best Adjective for “Home”? “Sold!” What do you call an Edina rambler that — at least according to my open house traffic the other weekend — was “too big,” “too small,” “too open,” “not open enough,” “too dated,” “too expensive” . . . and about 10 more fussy comments in a similar vein? Give up? Try, “Sold!” “Too, Too ....Read More
Barring the Door . . . to Everyone; 2 Pro’s — & (at Least) 1 Big Con Once upon a time, homes that were under contract, but not yet past inspection, were flagged on MLS with the suffix, “Sold, subject to inspection” (“SSI” for short). Then, that got truncated to just “i” — as in...Read More
Smoking Guns & Yellow Flags I think it’s fair to say that — as a rule — compared to “laymen,” Realtors put much less stock in things like Seller motivation; historical information like what the owner paid (unless it raises the prospect of a short sale); and even representations (or lack thereof) in the Seller’s Disclosure....Read More
Q: When is a “new list” not new?A: When it’s a re-list “‘Insanity’ is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”–Albert Einstein January in Minnesota is about snow, subtly lengthening days (finally!), and — to Realtors — re-lists. Lots and lots of re-lists, especially this year. If you’re not familiar...Read More
