Diminishing Returns? Is a two-year home warranty better than one year? If you weren’t aware, home warranties are fast on their way to becoming a standard feature of residential real estate transactions, at least in Minnesota. The standard Minnesota Purchase Agreement now includes “opt-out” language, making it much more likely that the parties to the transaction will...Read More
Realtor Name-Dropping After almost a decade attending Edina Realty “Exceptional Properties” meetings — held weekly at an upper bracket Twin Cities home — I figure I’ve now heard my colleagues sing the praises of something like 2,000 homes, cumulatively worth a cool $3 billion or so (and have pitched a few of my own listings at such meetings). And yet, I...Read More
The Acid Test How do you tell if a larger, upper bracket home really is “great for entertaining?” (as many tout that they are). Put 50-plus people in it — as happens every Thursday a.m. at Edina Realty’s weekly Exceptional Properties meeting — and see how well the house accommodates them. When everyone fits comfortably in the...Read More
$50,000 Price Reduction What’s the big deal about a $50,000 price reduction? They’re practically run-of-the mill these days, especially in the upper price brackets. What you don’t often see is a $50,000 price reduction off of a home listed for $250,000, like the one shown above. For the math impaired, that’s a whopping 20% (vs....Read More
Cash Buyers at Extremes of Market No, I don’t have any hard data backing me up. But anecdotally, at least, it seems like the two likeliest kinds of houses to be bought for cash these days are: One. Bank-owned foreclosures selling for bargain-basement prices — and in such tough condition no lender would accept them...Read More
Informed vs. Uninformed Feedback “Pot shot”: a critical remark made in a random or sporadic manner. –Merriam-Webster Dictionary As I’ve blogged previously, experienced Realtors usually welcome feedback from other Realtors (even if they can and should anticipate what it’s going to be). Ultimately, of course, that feedback is shared with the homeowner/client. Even when a...Read More
