Educated Guesses Normally, when a house doesn’t sell within 60-90 days, a 3% to 5% price reduction is in order. See, “Perils of Overpricing Even (Especially) in a Rising Market”; “Perils of Overpricing“; and “Nurse! I Need a Price Reduction, Stat!” So, what does it mean when a home listed for $500k (in St. Louis...Read More
Tear-Downs Spread to Less Expensive Neighborhoods, Busier Streets Literally one day after the Golden Valley home pictured above sold for $77,000 last month ($2k over ask), the new owner listed the to-be-built new construction on MLS (photo, below). Asking price: $449,900 for 5 BR/4 Baths and almost 2,900 finished square feet. Not a bad bump,...Read More
Guess What’s Happening But for the calendar, you might guess that a tornado took off this home’s roof (parts of the South may get tornadoes in January — but not Minnesota). Yet, all that lumber in the front yard clearly indicates that something is going on here. Clues #2 & #3: the neighboring homes with...Read More
1) Bigger Garage; 2) Attached (vs. Detached); 3) No More Shared Shoveling If you’re a developer who just bought a dated, undersized tear-down on a small(er) city lot, what do you do? To maximize profit, you want to build as big as possible, consistent with city zoning and setback requirements. However, if you overdo it,...Read More
Signs, Signs, Everywhere there’s signs. Blocking out the scenery. Breaking my mind. Do this! Don’t do that! Can’t you read the signs? –Lyrics, “Signs”; Five Man Electrical Band Adding a 2nd “For Sale” sign for a home on a corner lot is smart marketing. That’s especially true when the home — in St. Louis Park’s Triangle...Read More
Listing Inventory: How Many Months’ Supply? It takes a little deciphering, but those four numbers represent how many months of housing supply are currently available in St. Louis Park, Southwest Minneapolis, Golden Valley, and Minnetonka, respectively. The significance? All four of those markets are well below the 4-6 months considered indicative of a “balanced” housing...Read More
