Yes it snowed!

straw bale in snow
Hay bale

Yes it snowed and now it is cold but we really needed it. It was a wet heavy snow that will add water to the Mississippi river which is running low. The farmer’s need it so that there crops can grow. Most if not all of the state of Minnesota is in some stage of drought.

Snow is a good thing and this time of year it won’t be around long. A few inches of it have already been absorbed. It is going to be a beautiful spring.

 

Need more storage or less stuff?

self storage
storage

As an adult, I have always lived in a smallish space. As the owner of an old (historic) house, I have never had a lot of closet space. I have gotten used to storing what we need and resisting the urge to buy or to hang onto stuff that will be stored most of the time.

There are a couple of options for storage. One would be a bigger house, another is using a storage space off site, and having less stuff to store.

Having less stuff to store is the best option for us. It is by far the least expensive option.

Before moving to a larger home consider how you are using your space today. Do you have a lot of stuff? Is there a lot of dead storage? (Dead storage is space where items that never get used are stored forever)

During my first decade as an empty nester I worked hard to get my adult off spring to take their stuff. It finally happened and I haven’t been in any rush to fill up the storage space they left behind.

If you have items in your home that you have not used in years give them away or sell them. If your children have left some of their stuff behind make them take responsibility for it. We are never too young to learn how to manage our stuff.

Realtor Marketing can be misleading

Apples
Marketing apples

Everything I have written about the apples shown above is true. They really are fat free and gluten free and they have no preservatives . . so buy my apples today!

I often see real estate agents market their services in a similar manner. They may offer a “Free market analysis” or “CMA”, yet that is a service agents rarely charge for.

When houses are selling quickly some agents will use the fact that they sold a house quickly in their marketing.

Advertising that we get more for your home is a no brainer. How much is more? How can it be proven?

Some real estate companies advertise that they will sell your house “as is”. Any real estate company can sell your house “as is”. Fixing up a home before putting it on the market isn’t a requirement.

A do it your self for sale by owner company may advertise that you can use them instead of a Realtor but the companies are owned and operated by Realtors. They operate under a business model where the home owner does most of the work.

Do you need to have open houses to sell your house? No. Many homes are sold without ever being held open. The purpose of an open house is for the real estate agent to prospect.

There is an ancient legend about a “going rate” for commission. That rate is higher than what we typically charge. There is no going rate. Have you ever seen a Realtor price list published on a web site? Of course you haven’t commissions are negotiable.

Buyer’s agents services used to be free until someone figured out that home sellers are paying buyer’s agent commissions and the money is either coming out of their bottom line or out of the price of the house.

Mortgages can’t be used to finance Realtor commissions. However, when Realtors are paid from the proceeds of a home sale and the buyer is financing the purchase, the buyer’s agent commissions are being paid with a mortgage indirectly. It’s kind of like legal money laundering.

. . oh and while I am at it watch out for that huge fee that some real estate companies include in their charges. The fee is supposed to be negotiable but from what I have seen the agent has to pay it if they can’t get the buyer of seller to pay it.

Yes, you can buy apples that do not have any high fructose corn syrup in them. . . but hurry while supplies last!

A reminder that commissions are and have always been negotiable

coinsYes, it is true real estate commissions are negotiable. They always have been.

Agents are independent contractors who set their own rates. Some agents will not negotiate. Agents are not required to negotiate.

There is no “going rate” but I’ll admit I have benefited from the myth. For many years I have charged less than what people believe to be the “going” rate.

Real estate agents are selling experience yet new agents often charge the same rate an experienced agent charges. Personally I wouldn’t pay it but people do.

There are many real estate agents to choose from. In fact, there are more agents than there are houses to sell. If one agent charges too much and won’t come down in price find an agent who will.

Real estate agents are salespeople taught how to sell themselves and negotiate fees and commissions. Real estate agents do not get paid until after a sale closes and most work on a 100% commission basis. There are no paid vacations and there is no group health insurance.

Some agents show this chart that shows how much of the commission they get to keep after fees and splits with their broker. To that I say who cares. That is the agents problem.

The good news is that people can buy and sell houses without the help of a real estate agent. It can work out very well especially considering that home buyers and sellers often do not know what it is they do not know and won’t know if they ended up spending more or getting less because they did all on their own.

Real estate commissions and fees are spelled out in the contracts home buyers and sellers sign.  It is a good idea to read the contract before signing it. We can not list a house or work with a buyer without having a signed contract.

It is true that real estate agents can make a lot of money but most do not but don’t feel sorry for those who don’t make a lot of money.

Future housing

I wouldn’t mind living here. This is vacant retail space in downtown St. Paul. There are no current plans to covert the spaces in the picture to housing but we need more housing and the space has been vacant for a few years. Workers have returned to downtown but there are far fewer of them and few businesses too.

The spaces in the picture could be converted into lofts, taking advantage of the sunny southern exposure.

Vacant retail and office space downtown St. Paul