“First Adopters” — or “First Ruiners?” Nobody goes there anymore — it’s too crowded. –Yogi Berra, about a Miami Beach restaurant near the Yankees’ Spring training camp. Are social networks like Facebook becoming like Yogi Berra’s restaurant? In other words, as latecomers and “tourists” fill up the place, is the original, “in” crowd decamping for...Read More
“Deja Vu All Over Again?”* The number of buyers who signed contracts to purchase homes dropped in May to the lowest level on record, a sign the housing recovery can’t survive without government incentives. The National Association of Realtors said Thursday that its seasonally adjusted index of sales agreements for previously occupied homes tumbled 30...Read More
Sell (Stocks) High, Buy (Housing) Low . . . Again? Stock market investors who’d gotten in at much lower levels and were worried that a correction was overdue decided to take profits. The sector they turned to? The housing market, where wary Buyers burned by the last downturn were still keeping their distance — or...Read More
8th Time is the Charm?No, downtown Minneapolis doesn’t literally have “Keep Out” signs posted on its perimeter. But it might as well have. I just returned from a (thankfully rare) appointment downtown, and spent double the time it took me to get downtown, about 10 minutes, looking for parking once I got there. Thanks to...Read More
“Predictions are Tough — Especially About the Future” As I’ve blogged previously, home Sellers should pick Realtors based on how well they price, market, negotiate, communicate, etc.; Buyers, all those things, plus the Realtor’s market knowledge and frankly, willingness to hustle for them. Predicting future home prices isn’t one of the criteria. For one thing,...Read More
