The High Road: ‘Newer’ should be the new ‘new’

All that glitters is not new: Golden Hall of Stockholm’s City Hall, named for the 18 million pieces of gold mosaic and glass covering its walls. (Flickr photo by IzaD KasmijaN)

To sellers, an appliance they replaced a few a years ago, floors they had refinished and built-ins they had installed after moving in during the housing bubble might be new.

To buyers, claiming them to be new is false and misleading.

A broker who then markets that dishwasher, those floors and that bookcase in hyperbolic descriptions as new is breaking the law.

Not only is the tactic suspect, but it also is Continue reading