FOBH & The 2017 Housing Market Once upon a time, Twin Cities Realtors eschewed rentals (vs. purchases and sales). Compared to the “For Sale” market, rentals were notoriously time-consuming, low-paying, and involved lots of red tape (the average lease has more fine print and addenda than a standard Minnesota Purchase Agreement). Then, the housing bust...Read More
The Case For — and Against In a microcosm, the considerations for doing an open house on Easter Sunday are the same as for deciding whether to list a home during a traditionally slow time of the year (like around the holidays). Here’s how the arguments shape up: Pros: –Not much competition from other open...Read More
Predicting Consequences New York Governor Andrew Cuomo proposed and on Wednesday signed legislation to make tuition free at New York public colleges for anybody coming from a family making no more than $100,000 a year, with the cap rising to $125,000 in 2019. —The New York Times (April 14, 2017). Will Gov. Cuomo’s initiative increase...Read More
How to Go From Two (or More) Buyers to None Multiple offers are such a fixture of the Twin Cities housing market these days that Buyers’ agents need to be on their “on their game” (and then some) if their clients are to have a shot of prevailing. Meanwhile, listing agents (representing Sellers) are almost...Read More
Dissed by The Donald What provoked Mr. Trump’s ire? My son’s very blue “Obama” cap. Lessening the blow: it wasn’t delivered by the current Commander-in-Chief, but by a lookalike strolling Manhattan for an upcoming Comedy Central show (we were recently in town visiting). P.S.: I had to sign a release allowing Comedy Central to use...Read More
Getting Ready for 8 Days of Matzoh “They tried to kill us . . . they failed . . . let’s eat!” –old joke about what all Jewish holidays have in common. The catch with the Jewish holiday of Passover — which starts tonight and lasts 8 days — is that no leavened bread is...Read More
