When “Sold” Doesn’t Mean “Sold” At least in Minnesota, when you see a “Sold” rider above a “For Sale” sign in front of a house, it doesn’t mean “Sold” ” it means “Pending.” Huh?? The (admittedly confusing) convention is to pronounce a home that’s under contract and past Inspection ” but not yet closed ”...Read More
MLS: “$10,000 Agent Selling Bonus!” My gut tells me that Realtor sales incentives generally don’t work, based on the following, three-step logic: 1) Anything effective tends to be copied in the marketplace; 2) Empirically, home sellers (and their agents) seldom offer sales incentives to Buyers’ agents (above and beyond the payout commission, that is); 3) Ergo,...Read More
English, Please! To be fair to the listing agent (representing the Seller), the sentence above was in the “Agent Remarks” field on MLS, not the “Public Remarks” section. But, for the benefit of Buyers whose agents print out the unabridged, “Agent Full” report (I do for my clients), here’s the translation: “This 1925 Linden Hills...Read More
The REAL Purpose of Appraisals What is the purpose of an appraisal, in the context of a residential real estate sale? To make sure that, if the Buyer defaults on their loan and the lender ultimately forecloses, the value of the collateral is sufficient to make the lender whole. Or, in plain English: if the...Read More
Question #2: Is That Different Than “Large?” Original hardwood floors have just been re-done, four oversize bedrooms, tremendous woodwork & period fixtures.” —-“Public Remarks,” MLS. “Oversized” is one of those imprecise adjectives that you occasionally run into in real estate: its certainly sounds good, but, on closer inspection, doesn’t convey much if any information. Sort...Read More
Minimizing the Risk of Going Back to Square One (or Worse) [Note to Readers: 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.] Any Realtor who’s represented a Seller in multiple offers...Read More
