Best Advice to Home Sellers: “Tell What You Know” Homeowners can be forgiven for not knowing the difference between a special assessment that’s “pending,” vs. one’s that “levied” — as opposed to one that is assessed and currently payable. Realtors have trouble keeping those terms straight as well. The best advice to give prospective home...Read More
Seller Christmas Present/Delayed Closing Gift If you’re a busy agent who’s been involved in lots of deals since last Summer, one of the biggest post-closing scares can be an email — like the one I received earlier this week — from a (selling) client who alerted me about an invoice they’d just gotten from Hennepin...Read More
How Lenders (& Local Governments) Avoid Getting Left Holding the Bag First, a word about real estate’s better known — OK, less obscure — acceleration clause. Also known as a “due on sale” clause, it’s that little paragraph in very fine print at the end of each mortgage that provides if the homeowner transfers title...Read More
Silver (Gas) Linings Anyone who’s been in St. Louis Park’s Fern Hill neighborhood lately — just north of the Edina Realty City Lakes office — has doubtless seen the massive street construction project in progress. Normally, block after block of torn up streets suggests that homeowners will eventually be on the hook for a major special assessment. Not this...Read More
Reassuring Condo Buyers Normally, someone who purchases a condo or townhome has to wait until they’ve signed a Purchase Agreement to find out how financially strong (or not) the building or development is. See, “Ten Day Review Period . . . 2 Weeks Too Late.” Then, they have ten days to review the related materials...Read More
Buying Trouble Would you consider it material that a building’s Condo Association had recently sued — and just recovered $500,000 from — the developer in connection with leaky windows in the building (located by Lake Calhoun)? And that no sales had taken place for almost two years, while the lawsuit was pending? I sure would —...Read More
