Mike Carlier's blog

Underwater but want to move up to a better place? There is a half generation of homeowners who want to move up to a place that fits their current situation better.  Many couples who bought two bedroom town house and condos in the mid 2000's are now growing families of four or five.  They are not ...

Happy Bank Transfer Day Today has apparently been designated by the folks in the street as the day to move your accounts to credit unions and community banks.  Since the street people claim that 99% of us have nothing, I assume that the transfer will have to come from the other one percent.  Perh...

Disturbing Trend? -- Kitchens Without Refrigerators When discussing the various components of marketing with my seller-clients, we touch on the three elements of a successful sale, pricing, packaging and promoting.  Each has its purpose, and each depends on the proper execution of the other two. ...

Last week, Chase Bank (apparently of Manila) contacted me with the message that they were calling in "An attempt to collect a debt."  They alleged that they did not receive my mortgage payment. The payment is an electronic transaction that is set to occur monthly through my credit union (of cours...

According to an article by Lawrence Yun there are 1.4 million more renters in America today than a year ago.  This is good news for landlords and aspiring landlords, because the increased demand without corresponding increases in supply translates to higher rents.  If you're thinking about buying...

New York Times reporters Jennifer Medina and Sabrina Tavernise wrote yesterday of the shifting patterns of American migration.  The article documents the lack of residential mobility among Americans since the beginning of the recession.  There is reason to believe that some of the immobility is d...

Lakeville 2011 home sales totals are on track to exceed 2010.  According to data provided by the Regional Multiple Listing Service of Minnesota, Lakeville, has had 568 closed sales so far this year.  There are 49 accepted offers awaiting closing, which suggests that, with another two months left,...

An article by Associated Press titled Obama to promote new steps to help housing woes reveals some reasons why the government is so adept at being ineffective.  The housing industry could use some help, and the greatest help we need from government would be to stop doing harm.  The President is g...

Thursday night, a woman was assaulted and robbed in a south Minneapolis grocery store parking lot.  A witness chased the robber and eventually there were gunshots, and the bad guy is no longer a resident of earth.  The robber had a gun, and it was drawn at the time he was shot by the Good Samarit...

The Minnesota Vikings have been complaining about the tent that they have been using, off and on, for the location of their home games.  Some fans might say that the Vikings actually play football there, and I will concede their opinion. There are a number of proposals for a partnership between v...