The housing market has done quite a flip in the first half of 2025 and we’ve gotten caught up in it. Our rental townhouse is still sitting unsold after almost 90 days on the market. After several years of low real estate inventory, homes for sale have started to surge as buyers have disappeared. This chart from Redfin shows the issue … Even as more … Continue reading Where Have All The Buyers Gone?
Spring has wonderfully sprung in Minnesota, with warm weather, flowers blooming, and outdoor sports. Unfortunately, the real estate market hasn’t noticed. In Minnesota, every real estate agent will tell you to get your property ready for spring, when buyers flood back into the market. That’s the approach we’ve used for the rental townhouse we’d like to sell. Our son moved out in March (on a … Continue reading Spring Housing Stall
If there was ever an industry that I thought would benefit from the internet, it’s real estate. These are data-heavy purchases that people want to really research before making a decision. Still, we’ve bought and sold a few different properties over the last few years and it’s difficult to get a good sense of how to price a property without talking to an agent. We … Continue reading Online Real Estate Estimates
Do you remember when the winning contestants on ‘Wheel of Fortune’ used to have to spend their winnings at the end of the show in a Shopper’s Bazaar? “I’ll take the dining room table for $400, and the projector TV for $850!” a woman would gush – looking at a huge showcase of merchandise. We had a similar experience two weeks ago. We went to … Continue reading Shopper’s Bazaar
When I was working at MegaCorp, we would do an exercise called “Sharks & Nets” to assess the risks of a big decision. “Sharks” were the big risks that could take the bite out of a big decision. “Nets” were the mitigation strategies that we would need to prepare ahead of time to stop each “Shark”. With that in mind, I used an AI tool … Continue reading Sharks & Nets – Vacation Home
I have been eligible to live in a 55+ community for almost 2 years now. Still, our visit to Latitude Margaritaville in Daytona Beach last week, was the first time that we have ever visited one. It is quite a development. Pitched as a “55-and-better community inspired by the legendary music and lifestyle of Jimmy Buffett, built on food, fun, music and escapism.” it has … Continue reading Latitude Margaritaville, Daytona Beach
We’re back in Florida for our fourth year snowbirding from cold Minnesota. We toured models at the giant Latitudes Margaritaville/ Daytona Beach development yesterday. A weird thing happened when they asked us where we were from. Being from Minnesota, we had to sign an “Out-Of-State Non-Solicitation Affidavit” to acknowledge that we arrived “voluntarily”. What? Yes, apparently it is against Minnesota law for a Florida developer … Continue reading Wait, Sign What?
Like most places, the residential real estate market is moving really fast in our area. Yesterday, we jumped in at lightning speed! My wife saw a snazzy townhouse in our neighborhood she thought would be nice for our adult son. We talked about it with him on Sunday morning just before 11a, connected with our friendly neighborhood agent 5 minutes later, scheduled/did a quick showing, … Continue reading Townhouse Lark
Someone posted a curious question about real estate investments in an online forum this week. They wondered if anyone had ever reached a financially comfortable early retirement “without investing in real estate”? They held the hypothesis that real estate is one of the primary routes to FIRE (financial independence & retired early). I thought the question was a bit odd. While I always surmised that … Continue reading Added Real Estate Investment Risk?
MrFireStation 