As “civilians” (non-Realtors) may or may not know, Tuesdays from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. is when local Realtors — at least in the Twin Cities — go look at all the new listings. To facilitate that, Brokers print and distribute “tour sheets” with the addresses of the homes on tour, along with short blurbs...Read More
Realtor Pay-Out’s Rise with InventoryNo, mortgage rates didn’t hit 4% over the weekend. Rather, that was the pay-out being offered on not one but two of the homes I showed over the weekend. In fact, out of 8 homes I showed, fully half offered above the standard 2.7%. Commission Primer For those who don’t know,...Read More
Clients Who Drive Realtors Crazy Every Realtor has had them (myself excluded, of course). Who? The Buyer who doesn’t know what they want . . . and wants you to help them find it. Here are the top 10 signs that you may have such a Buyer on your hands: 10. They will consider everything...Read More
Resisting Treatment Imagine you had a medical condition, and sought advice from an expert. They told you that, while there was a tiny chance that you could spontaneously recover, in the vast majority of cases the condition was degenerative. Meanwhile, there was a medicine available that was 100% effective, albeit expensive. Would you take the...Read More
Knowing When to “Take a Pitch” [Editor’s Note: sorry, couldn’t resist the baseball metaphor, after last night’s dramatic Twins game!] Just as homeowners must weigh myriad considerations when deciding which agent to list with, listing agents must weigh a host of factors when deciding whether to take a listing. Yes, that’s right: Realtors turn down...Read More
Misconceptions About “Comp’s” Perhaps no other term in real estate seems so straightforward, yet is so commonly misunderstood, as the term, “comparable sold property (“comp” for short). As Realtors and appraisers use the term, a comp has a very specific — and narrow — definition: namely, a recently sold, similar property that can be used...Read More
