Pro’s & (Mostly) Con’s Don’t be a secret agent.” —Advice to new real estate agents just starting out. Why would the owner of a “For Sale” home skip putting up a “For Sale” sign in front? Search me. While I’m not aware of any statistics, my educated guess is that, at any given time, about...Read More
Realtors can’t ever go wrong buying champagne as a closing gift, right? Wrong. That’s the case if, unbeknownst to the agent, their client just finished a 12-step program (now presumably on Zoom, thanks to the Pandemic). Or hates the restaurant you bought them a gift certificate to. Or already has four kitchen knife sets (albeit,...Read More
Market Appreciation vs. Home Depreciation In all cases in which work is produced by the agency of heat, a quantity of heat is consumed which is proportional to the work done.” —Rudolf Clausius, first law of thermodynamics. “An overpriced, “For Sale” home depreciates in value faster than an appreciating housing market rises.” —Ross Kaplan, first...Read More
Putting a (Too) Good Face on Things? It’s a fact of (real estate) life: sales fall through. Buyers change their minds. Inspection issues come up. Buyers can’t get financing** (the honest explanation at least 80% of the time). When any of those (or other) unhappy events occur, listing agents have the demoralizing task of switching...Read More
Staging “Do’s” and (Mostly) “Don’ts” At least IMHO, staging is at least 80% subtraction ” removing, uncovering, and emptying out ” rather than addition, i.e., adding wall art, accents, flowers, etc. to the about-to-be sold home. Exhibit A: NOT covering a big, light bay window with a dark, light-blocking panel TV (center right of photo,...Read More
Negotiate Formally or Informally? It Depends [Editor’s Note: The views expressed here are solely those of Ross Kaplan, and do not represent Edina Realty, Berkshire Hathaway, or any other entity referenced. If you need legal advice, please consult an attorney.] OK, so “Written vs. Verbal Counter-Offers” isn’t a very sexy title. But it’s a fascinating...Read More
