“Priced to Sell?” Not Always Notwithstanding many a listing agent’s assurance to the contrary, not every home is “priced to sell.” When that’s the case, a price reduction is eventually in order. The catch with Minnesota homes that list now and turn out to be overpriced? Four to six weeks into the listing — the...Read More
Question #2: How Many Months Between October and March?* The answer to “how long should the listing be?” is easy: long enough to sell the house (duh!). But that just begs the underlying question: how long will that take? Practically, the listing contract needs to be long enough to properly prep the home for market...Read More
Increasing Market Penetration? Realtors cast around for inspector referrals all the time. (Much) less common: a Buyer’s agent trying to turn up an inspector qualified to inspect a geothermal heating/cooling system (I received the first such email this am via Edina Realty’s “broadcast” feature). Good! First, homeowners have to install such systems, either as retrofits or...Read More
Momentary Lull? The word amongst local Realtors — corroborated by what I’ve seen personally — is that Buyer activity for mid-September seems to be unexpectedly low. That means fewer showings for Actively Listed homes, which means fewer deals in the transaction pipeline — and ultimately fewer closings later this Fall. The various theories I’ve heard:...Read More
Real Estate Acronyms 101 Thrown by an unfamiliar acronym, I just got off the phone with Northstar MLS, who helpfully cleared things up. It turns out that “C-SOAP” stands for “Contingent on the Sale of Another Property.” The status isn’t new, just the acronym (in the last month, in fact). MLS Status So, “C-SOAP” refers...Read More
“Seller WILL Receive Feedback Directly” “You only find out who is swimming naked when the tide goes out.” –Warren Buffett The housing market equivalent of Buffett’s observation would be, “you only (especially?) find out who’s overpriced when the market shifts.” As local Realtors will tell you, the Twin Cities housing market experienced just such a shift over the Summer. From scarcity and...Read More
