House Abbreviations

Real Estate Abbreviations

When advertising houses for sale, there are plenty of standard abbreviations and some not so standard abbreviations. Then there are those that even other Realtors can’t figure out. In this blog entry, we’ll look at some actual MLS entries. Some abbreviations look just like those cryptic singles ads. I can just see the next house ad:

SF, looking for s.o. that is willing to put time into new rel., must have steady income to qualify. Close to lake for long walks on the beach. Pic for pic.

It’s easy to create the standard abbreviations found in typical real estate ads. Just drop all the vowels and call it good. Let’s give it a try:

Great location close to lake with 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, fantastic master suite.
Becomes
Grt lctn cls to lk, w/ 3br, 2bth, fntstc mstr ste.

Uncommon Abbreviations

Most of the common abbreviations are easy to figure out. Let’s take a look at some harder ones. Here are some actual Public Remarks from the MLS along with my translation of what it actually means:

Sample MLS Abbreviations #1

ENJOY YOUR PRIVATE VIEWS OF MINNEHAHA CRK FROM YOUR LIV RM! INCREDIBLE OPPORTUNITY.BEAUTIFUL HWFS,FP,MAC IMPROVED.NEW: UPPER LVL INSULATION & CARPET,KIT FLRS & PAINT.UPDATED 4 SEAS PORCH.FAM RM CALLED FINISHED-CARPET,PAINTED BLK,FIN’D CEILING.VERIFY MSMTS

Here’s your opportunity to sandbag every spring when the snow melts because the creek is so close and will spill over each year. Beautiful hardwood floors, beautiful fireplace, beautiful MAC improvements. New upper level insulation (lower level has old insulation), new carpet and kitchen floors, and paint. Updated 4 season porch. Family room is included in the finished square footage, even though the ceiling is just open rafters that have been painted black. Verify measurements.

Sample MLS Abbreviations #2

Low-Traffic Street. Benches/Paths w/New (Old-Style) Street Lights. EZ to Show/QUICK CLOSE/NO R&R’s/Newer Roof/Boiler/Mechs - Much Copper-100 amp C/B’s - Att Gar+Off-St Park. HS TAX = $2,137 /// $$$$$ Reduced July 07 + 1-Year Warranty w/full price offer

Street is low traffic and has benches and walking paths with new street lights. Easy to set up appointment. No city required repairs / replacements, newer roof, boiler, and water heater, most of the plumbing is copper, some of it may still be galvanized, electrical has been upgraded to 100A circuit breaker box.

Sample MLS Abbreviations #3

FRESH PAINT AND POTTERY BARN LOOK. FEATURES INCLUDE COVE CEILINGS, BRICK FIREPLACE, BUILT-IN BOOK CASES, FORMAL D.R., SS APPL. IN KITCHEN, FIRST FLOOR F.R. WITH F.P., DEN, 3/4 BATH UP, NICE LANDSCAPING,WIHT PATIO, HOME HAS BEEN MAC, LOC. IS DEAL.

Contemporary colors, formal dining room, stainless steel appliances in the kitchen, first floor family room with fire place, separate den, ¾ bathroom upstairs, nice landscaping with patio … location is ideal.

Sample MLS Abbreviations #4

Upscale n’hood steps from Diamond Lk. Walk/bike trails, fun in the water. Kitchen updated w/cherry/granite/stainless. 2 fp, formal Living/dining, hdwd, main flr BR & full bath, hot tub, private mstr bath, fenced yd, 2 car garage. Convenient location.

Upscale neighborhood, close to Diamond Lake. Walking and biking trails. Unexpected fun in the water because the timer on the sprinkler system is broken. Cherry cabinets with granite counters and stainless steel appliances. This home has 2 fireplaces, a formal living room and a formal dining room. Hardwood floors. Main floor bedroom and full bath. Private master bath. Fenced yard.

Sample MLS Abbreviations #5

WOW! Such attention to detail - your buyer will certainly appreciate all that has been done to this home! From the hand made breadboard to the thoughtful wiring to the efficiency measures implemented, this home is for the prudent home buyer!

I’m not even sure what thoughtful wiring means.

 

When in doubt, use your imagination as to what each one means. Or just adding some vowels back in.

Minneapolis Real Estat -or- Minneapolis Real Estate

South Minneapolis Real Estat, er, Real ESTATE Blog

What is South Minneapolis Real Estat Blog? Just yesterday, I discovered that I had mistyped the title of the page. My page was specializing in Real Estat, which is a subsection of Real Estate. I’m sure not many people would be searching for Real Estat, but I certainly was catering to those people very well.
Anyway, I changed the title to Real Estate, which should more accurately portray what this blog is about!

Advertising Words Translation Matrix

House Advertising Words

You know how some real estate agents have a knack for describing homes in glorious and grand ways? Well, sometimes the words are a slight exaggeration of the actual home. In our industry, we call that puffery. Here’s a list of some common terms used in advertising and what they really mean.  If you come across some that are not on the list, please drop us a note. We’ll add it.

Adorable – The shutters are worth more than the furnace
Charming – compared to the one right next door
Cozy – means that it’s really small
Fantastic upper level master suite with walkthrough closet- someone stuffed a sink into the far side of the closet which you can reach when you open the closet door. And remember, just because the upper level is “fantastic,” the lower level may be somewhat less than fantastic.
New paint – it’s amazing how far $5 per gallon paint goes
New carpet – covering up the scratched hardwood floors
Must see! – Driving by, one can’t help but see orange and purple!
Close to Park – SO close that you’ll never find a parking spot
Pedestal Sink – one of the legs fell off, leaving just one leg left.
Peaceful backyard– because 36,000 cars drive by the front yard each day.
Professionally remodeled – the owner and their siblings didn’t do the work, the neighbor’s sister’s husband’s son did.
Movable center island – the kids ran into it so many times it came loose.
Quaint - it’s pink!
Steps to the lake – 2510 to be exact!
Steps to the creek – be ready to sandbag the front yard each spring.
On golf course – high insurance for broken windows
Across the street from golf course – high insurance for broken windows
Across the freeway from the golf course – fun watching cars dodge golf balls which then bounce off the cars and break your windows. May look like hail damage though. Call the insurance adjuster.

3 Fixer Upper Considerations

Fixer Uppers

I have a client that is looking for a fixer-upper house in Minneapolis. This client wants to purchase a house, fix it up, and then sell it for a profit. I’m going to share some insights on some of the considerations that go into buying a fixer-upper home. 

Location

1. One consideration to keep in mind is location. You want to select a location that has houses that sell in a wide price range. For instance, you want to purchase a home that is well below the average price of other houses in the area. Find a neighborhood that has homes that sell in the $120k price range as well as the $200k price range. That leaves room for the cost of improvements, as well as profit.

Number of Sales

2. A second consideration is the number of sales in the higher price bracket. In the above example, you’ll want to see how many houses sold at about $200k within the past 6 months. If there is only 1 sale in the past 6 months, but there are a bunch of houses currently available, that may indicate a difficult sale. On the other hand, if there are 15 sales around $200k, then the house will have an easier time selling.

Level of Improvements

3. A third consideration is the level and quality of improvements. You want to aim for the middle of that neighborhood’s price range to have access to the most buyers. Don’t overimprove which could put your house into a higher bracket than the average, which then would put the house into a bracket with less buyers.