Novice Realtors Rush In Where Pro’s Fear to Tread “Never negotiate furniture.” “Never negotiate furniture.” “Never negotiate furniture.” “Never negotiate furniture.” Realtors who don’t know the above rule ” or forget it ” soon get the opportunity to (re)learn it. That’s because negotiating the sale of personal property, particularly furniture, can be more challenging than dealing...Read More

Avoiding “The Bowling Alley” Effect First, a caveat:  unless there’s also a detached garage in the back of the house (typically, off an alley), converting a one-car garage into something else is a non-starter. That’s because going from a one-car garage to a no-car garage is guaranteed to destroy much more value than it creates. But, assuming that that’s not the...Read More

Realtor-Client Double Standard There are really only two rules when it comes to proper attire for a home closing:  1) the Realtors and other professionals (closers and lender) should wear formal business attire (sorry, no “business casual”); 2) clients can wear whatever they want. Which I guess means there’s only one rule. For men, at least,...Read More