It is almost time for one of my favorite holidays, Halloween, and it is not just because I live in Anoka County, Minnesota either. Anoka, Minnesota is the "Halloween Capital of the World" which puts tricks and treats on the minds of many young people (and those young at heart) in the "Land of 10,000 Lakes". Minnesotans are often referred to as "Minnesota Nice" and when a home closing is closed to a holiday it does put the buyers and sellers in festive moods. Halloween is no exception. As an Anoka County REALTOR®, I have witnessed many a late October closing with "interesting" and topical questions asked by the new buyer of the home seller to a new home buyer.
In Minnesota it is traditional for all parties to sit down in the same room for the closing transaction. After all the signing is done, the title company representatives leave the room to make copies of the documents and to prepare the checks from the final settlement. During this time, home sellers take a few minutes to share some idiosyncrasies of the home and pass over the keys, Often these are expected concerns like how to change the code for the electronic garage door opener, has the sprinkling system been blown out for the season or where the water shut off is located.
In late October the questions are often a bit more "festive". New homeowners buying into neighborhoods big and small often want to know how many kids are in the neighborhood which quickly translates to how many bags of candy will be needed.
A few years ago I attended a closing for a home in Anoka, County. The seller lived on a dead end street with only a handful of neighbors as is quite normal in this area filled with acreage homes. The seller made share the wants of young neighbor girl who had recently lost a front tooth (or two). She had stopped over with a request for "Reethe's Pee-thes" as her preferred Halloween Candy.
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