Mpls. Ross Kaplan or NY Ross Kaplan

"Will the Real Ross Kaplan Please Stand Up?"

Yes, I work in real estate.

And yes, I used to live on the Upper West side in Manhattan, where this "For Rent" sign appears.

But that's not me co-listing the office space pictured at left (snapped and forwarded to me by my sister).

At least, it's not the Ross Kaplan who lives in Minneapolis and sells real estate for Edina Realty (and writes this blog).

Do a Google search (I have), and it turns out that there are actually 8(!) of us in the U.S. and Canada.

Minds in the Gutter

"NYC Stoops and Horse Manure"

Many suspect it, but I have definitive proof that people's minds really are in the gutter.

Literally.

In almost 2,000 posts over 3 years covering everything from Twin Cities real estate to Federal Reserve monetary policy to geothermal energy, the City Lakes blog post getting the most attention on Google at the moment is this one: 'Manhattan Stoops and Horse Manure.'

The post, discussing an anecdote from the book SuperFreakonomics, is ranked #1 on Google for that (admittedly unusual) search query.

Try it.

(Odder still: the last flurry of hits on the City Lakes blog looking for those key words were all from Poland, about 6 a.m. Central earlier today.)

"Parenting Over 40"

Which of These Books Would You Buy?

[Editor's Note: This post originally ran last September. I'm updating and re-running it now because Google search no longer retrieves it, even though a number of visitors to this blog have queried "parenting over 40." Not enough tags, perhaps??]

For years, I've been threatening to write a book -- not about selling real estate ("What the Pro's Know . . . and You Don't"); cleaning up Wall Street ("Fixing Wall Street," "Separation of Business and State," "The Wall Street Dividend"); or accounting for economic production in a more organic and accurate way ("Accounting for Earth").

Rather, it would be a book about parenting children past the age of 40.

As in the parents being over 40, not the children (although the latter could very well be another book -- for my parents to write).

My stock line is that such a book doesn't exist, because no one who's qualified to write it has the time.

Even if they did, there'd be no point, because no one in the intended audience has time to read it.

But as a friend pointed out recently, maybe that's, well, besides the point.

"Of course people won't read it," she said. "But maybe they'll buy it, anyways" (as gifts, for summer reading they'll never get to, etc.).

Hmmm . . .

P.S.: While having 3 kids past the age of 40 has aged my wife, Laura, and I -- no, that's neither us nor our kids in the photo at the upper right. Phew!

City Lakes "Hits"

"Top Ten" Google Hits . . . Worldwide!

OK, so no one would confuse the traffic on this blog with The Drudge Report or The Huffington Post.

Still, run a Google search on any of the following 56(!) key terms, and you'll find the related City Lakes blog post ranked in the top 10 hits . . . worldwide! In fact, many of the posts are ranked in the top three.

Go ahead, try it (posts with an asterisk* have been especially popular):

"Financial-Industrial Complex"
"Real Estate & Inflation"*
"Freakonomics Rebuttal"*
"Realtor Demographics"
"Realogy Bankruptcy"*

"The Loop Calhoun"
"Westin Galleria Edina"
"Highest & Best - Explained"
"Lakefront Premium"
"'As Is' Misconceptions"

"Realtors & Angie's List"
"Zillow & Social Networking"
"Bracketing, explained"
"Bernie Madoff & the Path to Recovery"*
"Price Reductions: A Realtor's Take"

"Foreclosure Feeding Frenzies"
"Contractor Etiquette"
"Real Estate Auction Checklist"
"George Soros on CDS"
"Firing Your Realtor"

"Dear Client Letter"*
"Financial Son of Sam Law"
"Peggy Noonan Recession Trends"
"Marooned in the Exurbs"
"Vanishing FSBO's"

"Defending Sodom & Gomorrah"
"Warren Buffett's Crystal Ball"
"Taking Trulia for a Spin"
"Light Rail Impact on Property Values"
"Underwater vs. Drowned Mortgages"

"Consumer Payment Hierarchy"
"Rehab Mistake"
"Investing in New Windows"
"Mpls St. Paul magazine super real estate agent"
"Title in a Nutshell"

"Worshipping Villains"
"Price Reductions -- A Realtor's Take"
"Highest & Best - Games & Abuses"
"Home Buyer Incentives Multiply"
"Moral Hazard, Illustrated"

"Hijacked Listings"
"The Bob Newhart Economy"
"Enron Just Ahead of Its Time?"
"Bear Market Winners: First-Time Buyers"
"Is There Capitalism Without Capital?"

"Foreclosure Bait & Switch"
"Real Estate Misunderstandings"
"The World's Most Powerful Realtor"
"Deconstructing AIG"
"Realtor-to-Realtor Letters"

"You Know It's a Tear-Down When"
"Lying Realtors"
"Financial Reptiles vs. Mammals"
"John Paulson's Billons"
"Lake Calhoun Visitor"

"Cedar Lake Specialist"

Not bad for a blog ranked 1,603,173 by Technorati! (the Nielsen's of the blogosphere).