“Nice Try” Department “Lake Wobegone . . . where all the women are strong, all the men are good looking, and all the children are above average.” –Garrison Keillor I certainly understand what the listing agent is trying to accomplish by including the line, “Strong pre-approval letter requested with offers” in the “Financial Remarks” section of the MLS...Read More
Housing Deal Deadlines & Other Key Terms No, I don’t recall ever handling a real estate deal where the Buyer or Seller omitted to fill in the purchase price or the closing date. But, I have handled multiple deals where the other side left blank something almost as significant. The three biggest — and most...Read More
“The Air a Library and the Record of Every Life Lived” “Is it so hard to believe that great shuttles of souls might fly about, faded but audible if you listen closely enough? They flow about the chimneys, ride the sidewalks, slip through your jacket and shirt and breastbone and lungs, and pass out through...Read More
The Relocation Fire Drill, or, “The Turbo-Charged Home Search” Relocation Buyers — often serial corporate transferees — present both opportunities and challenges for Sellers. First, the bad news: such Buyers typically look at LOTS of homes, across a wide range of neighborhoods and home styles. That’s because they don’t know the local community well or...Read More
A Little Passover Irony, or “Wait a Second! Isn’t ‘Exodus’ Associated with Getting OUT??” I’ve made my peace with paying close to $10 for a movie ticket. However, $4 for a smallish candy bar or a box of M&M’s is another thing. So — full confession — we Kaplan’s have been known to smuggle a...Read More
The King Queen Has No Clothes (Other Than Black) “U.S. Probes Theranos Complaints” —Headline; The Wall Street Journal (Dec. 21, 2015) If you’re not familiar with blood testing start-up Theranos, here’s the Reader’s Digest version: wunderkind founder Elizabeth Holmes drops out of Stanford at 19 years old, comes up with a revolutionary (and vastly cheaper)...Read More
