$2,000 a Bedroom

Powderhorn Park Duplex for $18,000

Where: 30xx 11th Ave. South, in Minneapolis' Powderhorn Park neighborhood.
What: listed on MLS as a duplex with 8 Bedrooms and 4 Baths, "rehab needed."
How much: Listed for $19,000; sold for $18,000 (tax assessed value = $83,500).
When: listed 9/15; closed 10/21.

Clients asked me to look up how much this South Minneapolis duplex sold for.

You were right, guys: under $20,000 . . .

Realtor Whistle-Blower . . . or Tattle Tale?

Pushing the Boundaries -- Literally

What do you do when you see another Realtor break the rules (or appear to)?

And if you do something, does that make you a whistle blower -- or a tattle tale?

Thankfully, the issue doesn't come up that often. But it does come up.

Here are the three most common situations where rule-breaking arises:

One. A home sells with virtually no market exposure, at a giveaway price -- and here's the kicker -- the Buyer's agent is the same as the home owner's (called "single agent dual agency" -- see, "That Sure Went Fast! (Too Fast??)".

Two. The Realtor "borrows" the MLS area number from an adjoining, more upscale part of town.

So, instead of entering the code that includes Powderhorn Park, the listing agent codes the listing for Kingfield, on the other (west) side of 35W.

Three. The listing agent flagrantly overstates a home's finished square feet (funny, the opposite never seems to happen).

"Tattling" or "Keeping it Honest?"

So, to repeat, what do you do?

My answer depends on a couple factors: do I have a client interested in -- or competing with -- the home in question?

Is the agent with Edina Realty?

If it is, I know who to call (their office manager -- or mine). And it matters more, because bad behavior by another Edina agent reflects on me personally.

Could there be a benign explanation?

For example, maybe the agent who was on both sides of the "fire sale" had express permission from their client to sell it, fast, at the best price they could get (but usually you do that loudly, not quietly -- otherwise how do you know it's the best price??).

And last but not least: how busy am I at the moment?

In general, I don't view it as my role to police other Realtors' behavior or business practices.

However, when such behavior harms my or my clients' interests, I see it as my obligation to do something.

As Martha Stewart would put it, "that a good thing."

P.S.: I suppose that the contrary argument would be that sleazy Realtors make ethical ones look good by comparison -- and therefore actually help the latter.

Flip-flop? Not!

Spring Foreclosures Make Their (Re)Debut

Sorry for the Dr. Seuss-inspired headline (guess who's got little kids they read to?).

My point was, enough time has now elapsed since this Spring's flurry of deeply discounted foreclosure sales that several are now re-appearing on the market as for-sale rehab's. And selling -- quickly.

A good example is this Cape Cod-style home in Minneapolis' Powderhorn Park.

It came on the market in early April for a ridiculously low $88,900, and immediately attracted more than 15 offers (my client's was one of them).

Ultimate selling price? $121,500.

The Buyer, apparently a real estate agent (at least, the same agent represented the Buyer and now-Seller) put new roofs on the house and garage, refinished the hardwood floors, and cleaned up the Kitchen.

New asking price: $199,900.

Did she get it?

Yup, and then some: it just closed for $213,000, which it fetched almost immediately after coming back on the market in July.

Public Loss, Private Gain

So all's well that ends well, right?

I think it's good for the housing market that foreclosures are being absorbed, fixed up, and re-sold.

And it's certainly good for the foreclosure Buyer cum Re-Seller who made a quick $50k (my estimate -- let's hear it for the profit motive!).

And it might even be good for the Buyer's Buyer, who got a nice, cleaned-up house (having been through with my client twice, I can attest to its quality).

So who loses?

All the taxpayers -- us -- who effectively ate the loss on the defaulted mortgage, and never saw the upside on the re-sale.

Add nine zeroes, and that's what just happened with taxpayers and their multiple bailouts of Wall Street investment banks.