4400 W. 25th St. in Fern Hill

Near Fern Hill Sunday? Come Look!

Where: 4400 W. 25th St. (two blocks west of Cedar Lake in south Minneapolis)

When: 1 p.m. - 3 p.m. on Sunday (10/4) -- or anytime by appointment

What: Open House

How (much): $749,000

Who: listing agent - Ross Kaplan (612-925-7701); broker - Edina Realty

Rules are made to be broken.

Normally, I don't skip the front exterior shot of a home in favor of the rear, exterior.

Except in this case, it's much easier to see that the home's foundation is over 2,000 square feet, and that there's a huge, lower level walkout. If you're doing the math, that translates into potentially 3,700 finished square feet (much of the lower level is now unfinished).

Want to the see the front and inside (plus the 59 feet of lakeshore on Twin Lake that comes with)?

Stop by between 1 p.m and 3 p.m.

P.S.: Forgot to mention that I am a "Cedar Lake Specialist"

"Cedar Lake Specialist" . . . Really?

Inflated Realtor Claims

Does one sale make you an "area specialist"?

That's the claim being made by a Coldwell Banker Burnet agent who just sold a home about a block from where I live near Cedar Lake in Minneapolis.

The agent's flyer, which was just left on my door, trumpets "Just Sold" above a photo of the home, with "Cedar Lake Specialist" beneath the agent's headshot.

Neighborhood Specialist . . . Everywhere

The agent, who represented the Buyer, is trying to capitalize on the sale. Nothing wrong with that -- Realtors do it all the time.

However, wouldn't a "Cedar Lake Specialist" logically work out of CBB's Minneapolis Lakes office, just a few blocks away?

Or at least Burnet's Minneapolis Parkway office, a few miles southeast but still close to the lakes?

Nah.

In small type, the agent's flyer indicates that he's in Burnet's Edina Regional Office, a good 10 miles south (and a lot closer to Bloomington than Cedar Lake, Lake Calhoun, etc.)

How much do you want to bet that this agent is soliciting business in Bloomington, Eden Prairie, etc. claiming to be a "neighborhood specialist" in those areas, too?