Realtor to Clients: “Is There Anyone Else You’d Like to Be Involved in the Process?” When Baby Boomers are in their 50’s and their kids are in their 20’s, it’s the kids relying on their parents’ advice (and often, financial help) when it comes to making housing decisions. Fifteen years later? It’s now the parents...Read More
Publicly Financed, $1 Billion Buildings . . . in Use 4 Hours a Week, Less Than Half the Year Building football stadiums with public dollars is in fact a mug’s game. With eight regular-season games, pro football rarely if ever pays for itself, no matter how many fictional economic impact reports the league’s captive economists...Read More
Putting Clients at Ease (Just Not Too Much) My guess is, if you’ve worked with a Realtor (or any salesperson) lately, what you were ultimately asked to sign wasn’t referred to as a “legal contract.” It was called “paperwork” (sample agent-to-client dialogue: “if you’re comfortable with everything we discussed, let’s get the paperwork taken care...Read More
High Washout Rate [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.] One of the last things that can come up before would-be home sellers officially hire an agent is what Realtors call an exclusion (or sometimes protected) list. In...Read More
“Good,” “Better,” and “Best” One of the key services performed by Realtors for clients is analyzing a home’s fair market value. Buyers’ agents do that analysis — called a CMA, or “Comparative Market Analysis” — to help clients determine how much to offer for a home; listing agents go through the same process to help...Read More
Legal Concept of “Ripeness” Even though it’s been decades since I practiced corporate law, I use the training practically daily. To pick just one example, I consciously apply the legal doctrine of “ripeness” to prioritize decision-making — mine and my client’s. In the legal world, “ripeness” means that courts will not consider an issue until it’s “ripe”...Read More
