“Upstairs Den?” “Family Room #2?” “Upper Level Lounge?” First, laundries migrated from dark, dingy basements to the upper level. Now, the home’s living spaces are following them upstairs. Versatile, Multi-Function Space (and Light!) Specifically, many new construction homes in the Twin Cities now feature an upstairs sitting area ” typically near the top of the...Read More
Just to be clear: if you’re directly underneath icicles like the ones pictured above, they’re potentially lethal daggers: at least one Minneapolis pedestrian was injured recently by falling icicles while walking below a downtown skyway. But, assuming you’re a safe distance away — and the icicles don’t signal ruinous ice dams — they’re actually quite...Read More
Warren Buffett Goes Green (Metaphorically) in 2018 Annual Berkshire Hathaway Shareholder Letter [Editor’s Note: The views expressed here are solely those of Ross Kaplan, and do not represent Edina Realty, Berkshire Hathaway (“Berkshire”), or any other entity referenced. Edina Realty is a subsidiary of Berkshire.] What stood out (at least to me) in this year’s...Read More
Who’ll Play the Lead in the Movie? The most memorable excerpt from Tara Westover’s harrowing memoir of growing up, off-the-grid, in rural Idaho isn’t from the book. It appears in The New York Times’ book review: “Educated” is, among other things, a catalog of job-site horrors: fingers lost, legs gashed, bodies horribly burned. No pointy-headed bureaucrat could...Read More
Blame it on Dyslexia Sorry, I’ve got another name for a half-gallon of flavored water that retails for $6 at Target (it actually comes in an 8-pack). How about, “Spendthrift?” I’m gonna guess that the marketing folks who came up with “spindrift” are all under 30 years old and/or don’t have kids. Then again, that’s probably their target...Read More
Financial, Psychological Toll OK, so there’s no actual weight or carrying involved (unlike furniture moving, which I once did). But, veteran Realtors know — and newbie’s will find out — that it’s burdensome to represent homes that linger on the market. While median-priced Twin Cities homes (now around $265k) are still selling (too?) quickly, the expected...Read More
