Macomb County MI real estate blog

FREE Equator Workshop given by Bank of America in Shelby Township MI

Tue, 04 May 2010 07:10:44 -0400

Tom Kotzian, the team leader at Keller Williams Lakeside (my office), has arranged for a representative from Bank of America to come to our office and teach a workshop about Equator. This workshop is free, and space is limited. ALL agents regardless of company affiliation are invited to attend. I urge you to RSVP soon if you would like to attend. Please see information below for details:

Tom Kotzian has scheduled the short sale seminar many real estate professionals have requested with Bank of America. Bank of America is now handling all of Countrywide's REO properties. This is a very beneficial program to your current business practice.

This workshop is a must for anyone doing business with Bank of America or former Countrywide foreclosed properties.

WHEN:        Monday, May 10, 2010

WHERE:      KW Lakeside (45609 Village Blvd, Shelby Twp.)

TIME:          9:00 am - 12:00 Noon

WHAT:        Scott Parker, Chief Liaison
                  Short Sale Department
                  Bank of America - New "Equator Program for Short Sales"

Please call Tom Kotzian at 586-532-0500 to reserve your seat, or email Tom at Tom@KWLakeside.com

Contact Kris Wales - A partner for your real estate needs in Macomb County MI

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3 areas that are showing signs of improvement in our Macomb County MI real estate market

Wed, 14 Apr 2010 07:38:18 -0400

One of our area multilist associations (Realcomp II Ltd.) has just released the March 2010 housing sales report and I have to say, I’m excited about what I’m seeing. Most real estate professionals feel that the housing market will truly show signs of a recovery when 3 things happen consistently: Number of homes on the market decline, number of foreclosure sales decline, and sold home prices start creeping back up. During the month of March of this year we saw all 3 of these happening.

Here is what it looked like in Macomb County for this past March:

Number of “on market” listings: 4831 for March 2010 compared to 6630 for March 2009. This is a huge change (-27.1%) and if it continues we’ll see the “supply and demand” balance itself back out.

Number of foreclosures sales: 400 for March 2010, compared to 518 for March 2009. Also quite a big change (-22.8%). Over the past 6 months we’ve all witnessed a decline in the number of foreclosures hitting the market, and although we are not sure if there is another wave of them coming this current decline is good news for Macomb County MI homeowners.

Sold home prices: $75,000 for March 2010 which in itself isn’t much to cheer about, but in March of 2009 the average “sold” sales price for Macomb County was $60,000. That is a nice 25% jump from one year ago, and as long as the numbers are climbing upwards I’ll be thrilled about it.

There are some questions that still remain to be answered: Are home sales up considerably because of the first time home buyers tax credit that ends this month? I believe they are. Are there more foreclosures coming to our market? I also believe that we’ll be seeing more of them, at least until unemployment in our state stabilizes.

All in all, I’m excited about what I’m seeing and witnessing first hand in our real estate market. I hope that all of you that are considering buying a home, or thinking about selling your home will keep an eye on things as we do, and talk to a real estate professional to analyze your area of town.

**Information on sales data courtesy of Realcomp II Ltd and is deemed to be reliable but not guaranteed**

If this is true then condo owners & buyers should be outraged - HUD and FHA new guidelines and the not so level playing field

Sat, 27 Feb 2010 07:21:53 -0500

Last week I received an email from someone who wanted to know if there is a list of HUD approved condos that she could look over. I directed her to HUDS site that is updated when condo sites are approved, searchable by state, city or zip code.

This morning I had some free time to read and decided to more thoroughly delve in to the FAQs that are posted by HUD regarding all the new guidelines that must be met in order for a buyer to purchase a condo with a FHA mortgage.

I have to tell you, while scrolling through one of the FAQs I was outraged to read the following (question #25 in the above linked FAQ):

A HUD owned REO does not need project approval.

How's this for a scenario?: 2 condos are for sale in Mystic Village (made up name). One of them is owned by HUD, the other is owned by Mr. Jones.

The HUD owned property can accept an offer by a FHA buyer and smoothly sail to closing.

Mr. Jones cannot sell his condo to an FHA buyer unless his complex receives approval.

Excuse my language for a moment please...but how in the hell can this type of double standard be
allowed to happen???

Babysitting a HUD home: Things you and your agent can do to protect you while waiting to close on your HUD home.

Tue, 16 Feb 2010 06:18:15 -0500

A few days I wrote an article about the National Association of Realtors® taking a stance and adding to
their Standards of Practice the verbage "don't give out the lockbox code!".   While reading and commenting
it reminded me of something that is taking place with HUD owned homes:   The locks are re-keyed with
the same HUD key being able to open any HUD home in my area.

This past December I had another buyer client purchase a HUD home.   Thankfully, she was a cash buyer
so closing happened relatively quickly (Start to finish 30 days). One of my (and her) biggest concerns during
the process was the security of the home post offer to the time it was legally hers.

Here are a couple of things that you can do to protect yourselves prior to closing on your HUD owned
home and changing the locks:

Take extensive photos prior to making an offer on the home and make sure the photos are dated. (Extensive means take photos of each room, close ups of the appliances, water heater, furnace, plumbing system, etc.)

Take more photos during your home inspection and once again, make sure they are dated.

Ask a neighbor or two to keep an eye on it. We did this with Ashleys home. I gave a neighbor my card and asked him to call me if he spotted anything amiss. He was cheerful about helping as it is his neighborhood also!

Babysit the home. Ask your agent to stop by the home frequently to check and make sure everything is as it should be. I stopped by the home every 2-3 days to peek inside. We're out and about anyway, to pop in only took a few minutes out of my day.

Have a final walk through. I cannot stress the importance of this. If you can manage it, have it just prior to closing. With Ashleys home we met at the house at 7:15 in the morning to look it over once again just before we drove to the 9:00 closing. Anything can happen the night before closing and you wouldn't know if it you had your walk through a day or two before.

If you do all of the above you will be much more successful in getting HUD (and it's designated agent in your area) to repair or replace anything should anything come up missing or vandalized prior to your closing on the home.

"Do NOT give out my lockbox code to anyone!"

Sat, 13 Feb 2010 05:28:08 -0500

"Do not give out my lockbox code to anyone!!"

I've been seeing this remark (and variations of it) on many listings in our MLS over the last 6 months or so. As always, it makes me cringe when I realize that the listing agent has had to deal with other agents who do not treat a sellers property with care and respect.

Finally the National Association of Realtor® addressed this issue in the updated Standards of Practice - Article 3 - 9, effective January 1, 2010:

REALTORS shall not provide access to listed property on terms other than those established by the owner or the listing broker.

What a shame that this even had to included in our Standards of Practice, but I'm thrilled that it is there now. Perhaps more real estate agents and brokers will start to file formal complaints and hold the agents who participate in this lazy & unethical practice accountable.

Heads up Michigan agents - HUD incentives are coming to an end

Sun, 31 Jan 2010 07:07:19 -0500

I knew it wouldn't last forever, but I was kind of shocked to get the information in my email that the HUD incentives for Michigan are ending soon.

As of February 12th of this year (yes, less than 2 weeks away) HUD is putting an end to the wonderful incentives that they've been offering for the since the fall of 2008 in Michigan.

The $100 down FHA program will be gone, as well as the $2500 buyers "gift" on home purchases over $25,000.

Please please PLEASE if you are considering putting a bid on a HUD home and want these incentives your bid has to be accepted by February 12th. Any bids accepted after that date will not be able to use these incentives.

Agents and mortgage brokers: If you have clients who are starting the process to purchase a HUD home and are counting on the $2500 or the $100 FHA down payment you will want to pass this information along to them quickly.

To read the announcement from HUD please visit Mcbreo.

Your seller may be very nice, but it isn't my job to make him happy.

Mon, 25 Jan 2010 07:58:32 -0500

I wrote a blog post earlier about appraisals, and what we as buyers agents can do to help our buyer clients to understand current market value and to avoid appraisal issues.

One of the comments I recieved said something like "You may not make the sellers happy..."

I'm a nice person. I like to think that I'm an easy agent to co-op with, and that I do perform my duties with care and diligence. My brokers have never received a complaint about me, nor do I ever expect them to. However, being nice and co-operating with the sellers agents doesn't mean that I won't do my job to the best of my ability for my client - the buyers.

My fiduciary responsibility as a buyers agent is to my buyers. When they find a home they wish to purchase my responsibility kicks in to high gear. I will analyze the current market for them and present them with all of the facts that I have on hand. They will then be able to make an educated decision about the price to offer for the home. I will then take their offer to purchase, along with my data and present it to the sellers.

Not long ago I heard these words from a sellers agent after my buyers offer was presented to them: "My seller is a nice man. He's worked hard, and his home is in good shape. He really deserves a better offer and isn't happy with this one."

My reply? "I'm a nice lady. I work hard. My home is in nice shape. I deserve good things to happen to me. But my home is still only work XXX and it wouldn't appraise for more than XXX, and I surely wouldn't expect a buyer to pay more than XXX."

My buyer didn't overpay for that home, and we moved on to find them another home.

Listing agents need to keep their sellers in the loop. Sellers need to know current market values. They need to understand the danger of overpricing their home, and have realistic expectations of a sales price. All sellers deserve this information from their agents on a regular basis - not just the nice sellers :-)

-= Tips on avoiding an appraisal issue for your home purchase, or overpaying for your new home =-

Mon, 25 Jan 2010 06:52:12 -0500

When you plan on purchasing a home using mortgage money it doesn't matter what type of mortgage you are applying for (FHA, VA, Conventional) - your mortgage lender is going to order an appraisal of the homes value. They will want to make sure that the amount of money you are asking to borrow is not more than the home is worth in todays market.

Below are a couple of things that I do as a buyers agent to help make sure that my buyer clients are not wasting their time and money on a home prior to writing the offer:

Investigate the last 90 days of sold homes within a 1 mile radius, in the same school district and of similar construction & features. (Do not consider sales data greater than 90 days unless you have fewer than 3 comparable sold homes in that initial look back period.)

Include the distressed sales in the search of sold homes. (They are the norm now, unfortunately, and you can bet that the appraisors are going to use this data in their reports.)

Deduct sellers concessions that were paid by the seller of the sold homes to the buyers from the "sold" prices. This deduction will reflect the market value of the home that sold more accurately.

Ask your agent to prepare an analysis using this type of data to present to the seller and their agent when your offer is presented. It is much easier for the seller to understand how you came to the price of your offer when they have hard raw data in front of them. It then becomes more of a business decision to them, and less of a personal affront if your offer is much lower than their asking price.

If your offer is a sound one, based upon recent data and your own personal view of the homes value, and it is not accepted by the seller don't be shy about walking away and finding another home. A buyers agen t who is working for you would much rather have you walk away then to spend emotional energy and financial resources to continue the process of purchasing a home without much of a chance of it passing the lenders appraisal guidelines.

Don't spend your income tax refund - you're going to need every penny of it to purchase a home with the new FHA guidelines in force.

Sun, 24 Jan 2010 07:14:12 -0500

Just as we suspected would happen, FHA has now had some major changes and it is now going to cost you more out-of-pocket money to purchase a home.

            New - Sellers concessions are limited to 3% of the purchase price.

            New - Upfront mortgage insurance premium is increased to 2.25%.

Here is an example of what the lower sellers concessions to the buyers will look like for you:

If you are purchasing a $50,000 home the seller will only be able to contribute $1500 to help you with closing costs, pre-paid items and/or tax prorations.   (This same purchase before the new FHA guidelines would have meant $3000 in help to you.)

Many of you are thinking of using your income tax refunds to help you purchase your first homes this year. Often you think that it will be more than enough money with some extra for furnishings, repairs, etc. That may not be the case anymore. You may need every last dime of that refund for your FHA down payment (3.5% of the purchase price) PLUS money for closing costs and pre-paid items.

When you receive your income tax refund tuck it away in your savings account. Have a conversation with your mortgage lender about how much you will need to bring to the closing table for that new home purchase. Save every penny that you can - you're going to need it.

A small step, but one that it is important and hopefully will be a trend in the Making Home Affordable Program process.

Tue, 19 Jan 2010 05:28:17 -0500

Here in my Macomb County MI area we have been in the throes of the foreclosure / unemployment / plummeting home values for several years.

During all of this chaos I've spoken with many people who have tried to have their mortgages modified with
the Making Home Affordable program.   They've all shared the same scenarios & frustration:   Repeatedly
faxing and / or sending requested documents, phone calls to follow up weekly and in some cases daily,
mortgages being sold to another lender while in the midst of the process & having to start all over again.

Most of the people that I know of who have tried to have their mortgages permanently modified are now in
their 9th month to one year of "send it again, we didn't get it" mess.   Only a couple of them have been put
into the "trial program" of making the new modified payments for a 90 day trial period before they are
supposed to receive the permanent modification paperwork. (I know of 2 people who are in the trial program, completed the 90 days of payments, and still haven't received permanent modification.)

Yesterday though I received a phone call from someone who said:"It's here! The permanent modification document!"   (This was after almost one year of haggling, begging and the loan being sold to another lender and starting all over again.)

Of course I asked what they thought was the key to getting the final documents. The answer? Getting angry. Refusing to take "no" during one lengthy phone call and consistently going up the chain of command to the new mortgage holder. Doing this finally put them in touch with the Fannie Mae Foreclosure Prevention Specialist who actually provided this person with their own contact information for follow up calls and email.

Today I am going to call or email the other people that I have spoken to about their frustration with this process to hopefully give them a bit of momentum to keep going forward and to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

One small step, but an important one, and one that I hope we will hear much more about in the coming months as these "trial periods" progress.

Are the banks "failing to mitigate damages" when they deny a short sale and proceed to foreclosure?

Sat, 16 Jan 2010 06:56:57 -0500

A recent question on Trulia Q & A section has still been on my mind days after I replied to it.

The former home owner who asked the question was denied a short sale in which the lender wouldn't take $30,000 less for their home. It was then foreclosed upon and sold for $116,000 less that what was owed.

As someone who is seeing this type of thing happen in the Metro Detroit area time after time again I am outraged. I am also curious as to whether these people would stand a chance in court with an affirmative defense of "plaintiff failed to mitigate damages" ?

My prediction: It's going to be a wild 5 years or so of increased litigation, precedence set in some scenarios, and more debt buying companies jumping on the "let's buy the debt and sue for deficiency balances" bandwagon.

Are any of you reading about or seeing firsthand this type of activity by the banks / mortgage holders starting to try and collect the deficiency balances after denying a short sale?

What does a $92,626 home look like in Macomb County MI? Here are a few that sold in the 4th quarter of 2009.

Mon, 11 Jan 2010 08:39:19 -0500

Last week I wrote about the average sales price during the 4th quarter of 2009 for residential
sales in Macomb County MI. I thought it would be interesting for those who are perhaps looking
for a home to purchase in Macomb County, or those who are considering putting their homes
on the market to get a glimpse of the homes that sold near the average sales price of $92,626.

In St. Clair Shores (the south east side of Macomb County) this home on Marter sold for $90,000 with $5400 being paid by the seller in concessions to the buyer. This brick ranch featured 3 bedrooms,a 2 1/2 car garage and was approximately 1450 square feet.

Along the Martin and Gratiot corridor in
Roseville this home on Rock sold for
$93.000 and the seller contributed $2927
in concessions to the buyer. It is also a
brick ranch with 3 bedrooms, 1 1/2 baths,
a 2 car garage and is approximately 1425
square feet.

On the far east side of Macomb County towards the north is Harrison
Township. This ranch on Chart Street sold for $94,750 with sellers concessions of $5685. It has approximately 1000 square feet and is a 3 bedroom home with a 1 1/2 car garage.

New Baltimore MI is on the northern end of Macomb County bordered by Anchor Bay on Lake St. Clair.This newer built ranch home on County Line sold for $94,000 with the seller paying $2820 towards the buyers closing costs (concessions). It is approximately 1200 square feet with 3 bedrooms, 2 full baths and a 2 car attached garage. (Home is being reported as a foreclosure sale)

If you have any questions about recent home sales in your area please do not hesitate to contact me. No pressure - just conversation.

**All sold data courtesy of Mirealsource™ and its participating brokers & agents and is deemed to be reliable but not guaranteed **

How did Macomb County MI real estate market fare during the 4th quarter of 2009?

Thu, 07 Jan 2010 07:36:35 -0500

As I read through the statistical reports for Macomb County yesterday and this morning I tried
to get a feel for what I am seeing and analyzing.

2009 was indeed a tough year for home prices in the county as a whole, with the average sales
price of a single family residential home plunging by 22.5%. Looking at the sales prices recorded
in the month December there seemed to be a bit of stabilization: There was only a 2.7% drop in
sales prices when looking at December 2009 compared to the sales prices in December of 2008.

One months worths of sales prices in comparison to the previous years for the same month
however doesn't predict a trend. Yet when I look at the 4th quarter of 2009 I am encouraged:

December 2009	Average sales price: $92,073
October through December 2009	Average sales price: $92,626

This is the smallest difference in reported sales prices that I have seen in years. It is also encouraging
to me because if this trend holds we may be starting to see some stabilization in the freefall of prices
that have it our region of Michigan so hard during the last several years.

A couple of things need to happen to ensure that this stabilization occurs: Job loss needs to be
nipped in the bud, and there cannot be an increase of foreclosures to hit our real estate market again.

Over the next week or so I will be posting more comprehensive sales analysis for each section of Macomb
County. (For example: How the city of Eastpointe is doing in comparision to Shelby Township, etc.)
In the meantime, if you would like a detailed analysis of how your neighborhood is faring please don't
hesitate to contact me for a no obligation market report. No pressure - just conversation.

Buying a home for 50 cents on the dollar? Perhaps 2001 dollars..

Tue, 29 Dec 2009 05:19:22 -0500

I've heard it so often that I cringe each time I hear it from a potential home buyer: "So-and-so told me to never offer more than 50% of the list price" or some version of that sentence.

My response?   If the homes list price is double what the market value is, then by all means an offer of 50% off the list price is justified.   Otherwise, expect your offer to be rejected.

Most homes in the Macomb County area that are for sale are already market value priced. It doesn't matter whether the home is a foreclosure (bank owned), a short sale (lien holder negotatied sale) or a private non-distressed home for sale. In order to compete with todays market values home owners are pricing their homes to sell. It's as simple as that.

The 1300 square foot brick ranch in Chesterfield Township that once sold for $180,000 in 2001 is now listed (and selling) for $90,000 to $125,000 depending upon the condition of the home.

If you listen to "So and so" and offer $45,000 for the home without taking in to consideration the condition of the home, the current market values for the neighborhood and the buyer activity in the area then you are setting yourself up to be rejected. Over and over and over again.

Be smart. Hire a buyers agent to work for you and to assess market value that is current.   This is your best shot at receiving value in your new home purchase, not listening to "So and so" who are not in the trenches every day.

Please please PLEASE run away from anyone who wants upfront money to help you with your mortgage modification.

Sat, 12 Dec 2009 04:51:45 -0500

People in Michigan who are attempting to participate in the Federal mortgage modification program are facing stressful times. Unfortunately, when people are in distress it tends to bring scam artists out of the woodwork.

Most people that I have encountered over the last year are doing their best to try and stay in their homes, contribute to their communities and ride out this storm. They call and talk to their mortgage lenders, they are persistant through the never ending paper trail involved with seeking a mortgage modification and they sometimes are successful. (Not often enough in my opinion, but that's another rant.)

This week in the Metro Detroit area there was an arrest reported of a man who allegedly offered to help people with their mortgage modifications. His alleged crime? He wanted an upfront fee for the negotiations with the homeowners mortgage lender and then never performed what he stated he would. Allegedly. Remember, we are all still innocent until proven guilty.

Please please PLEASE run from anyone who wants money upfront to help you with your mortgage modification. I know it is stressfull trying to get through to the right person at your bank / mortgage holder who can make a decision. I understand that the bank will tell you that they've lost your file, or that they don't have a complete file (even though you've sent it in many times.) I can only imagine that waiting months for a decision is frustrating as you cannot move on with your life until this part of your financial picture is completed. In spite of all of this please don't ever give money upfront to someone who says they can help you. (Unless that person is an attorney. By all means, if you are able to do so hire an attorney to be your advocate and help you through the process.)

It absolutely makes me sick that in these times of heartbreaking unemployment and economic distress that there are individuals who would prey on homeowners. Thankfully one such alleged person is sitting in the Macomb County Jail today awaiting his day in court.

Jumping over the foul line - I can't be the only one that is superstitious, can I? Just realized it is Friday the 13th..

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 05:12:06 -0500

This morning as I was sitting and reading blog articles I had so many thoughts pop in to my mind that I want to write about, that I'm anxious to write about, that I'm on the edge of my seat excited to write about, but I can't.

I cannot bring myself to write about how wonderful I find working with HUD can be and how a recent young buyer client is experiencing good things during the HUD transaction.

Another buyer client who just talked to an accountant for clarification regarding the new repeat home buyer tax credit won't be written about in any kind of detail for a while. I can't bring myself to write about this one either.

Why not? The peanut crowd inside of me is yelling "Kris, just write about it! Tell everyone about it!" (That sounded strange..I don't have a peanut crowd inside of me, but I do talk to myself..)

Not yet. I'm superstitious. I'm like the ballplayers who upon ending an inning go back to their own dugouts and don't touch the foul lines with their feet. I'm the pitcher who wears the same undershirt that he wore during his last complete game. I'm the third basemen who bends one more time because he didn't bend exactly 5 times before the pitch is thrown.

Sold signs? Never used them. Not until the closing is over. I know the moment I put up that sold
rider something is going to happen and my sellers would be on the lawn yanking it down.

Write about a transaction in progress? Not me. Nope. Not until it closes. (And then only if I have my clients permission to do so.)

I'll jump over the white chalk foul line, bend 5 times and wear the same undershirt so I can sleep at night without worrying about jinxing a transaction. PS: I just knocked on my wooden desk as I finished writing this, because it is true that knocking on wood takes away any jinx before it happens.

Anyone else have any superstitious based actions? I cannot be the only one. (Please don't tell me I'm the only one.)

Frank And Sally Explain The First Time Home Buyers Tax Credit

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 06:04:41 -0500

Awesome video by Matt Stigliano about the first time home buyers tax credit. Thank you to Matt for allowing this to be shared with all of you.

Via Matt Stigliano (RE/MAX Access - San Antonio Real Estate Rockstar):

Meet Frank and his agent, Sally.

In trying to come up with a simple breakdown of the First Time Home Buyer Tax Credit, I thought that video would be the answer. Since I've done a few for the previous tax credit, I wanted to find a new way to use video to explain it all. Enter Frank and Sally. In this video, Frank's agent Sally, helps him understand the basics of the First Time Home Buyer Tax Credit. In the future, Frank and Sally will be providing some much needed help to me, so that I might take some time off from blogging when they're able to pick up the slack.

If you'd like to use this video, just click on the video and locate the "Embed" text box on that page. Copy and paste...that's all there is to it. All I ask is that you attribute it back to me and RErockstar.com.

Frank and Sally are fictional characters who do not represent any persons living, dead, or animated. Sally is not technically licensed in any state other than the virtual world, but her real estate knowledge is based on Texas real estate (I taught her everything I know). Frank likes Metallica, but Sally is more of an easy-listening kind of gal.

All content ©2008-2009 by Matt Stigliano, Realtor® unless otherwise noted.

Matt Stigliano, Realtor® | RE/MAX Access | (210) 646-HOME | www.RErockstar.com

"Your all access pass to San Antonio real estate."

Connect with me on Twitter and Facebook.

"UP TO" $8000 - it is not an across the board $8000 first time home buyers tax credit.

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 05:36:51 -0500

One of the common misconceptions for home buyers (and some real estate professionals) is that the first time home buyers tax credit is $8000 for all buyers.

When reading the fine print of the IRS form 5405 there is an entry line to fill out asking for the smaller of 2 items: $8000 or 10% of the purchase price.

An example: Mr. Smith purchases a home for $65,000. If he meets the criteria to receive
the 1st time home buyers tax credit he would enter $6500 on line #1 of form 5405. If Mr.
Smith purchased a home for $90,000 then he would enter $8000 on that line.

Reiterating: The tax credit is for 10% of the purchase price of the home up to $8000. It is not a full $8000 for every home buyer.

Let's all help to stop the confusion to home buyers by using the words "Up to" in our articles.

Edit: The chart that NAR put out for their members to use states "$8000" but it doesn't say "Up to $8000". You may want to add the language to your own charts for accuracy.

I'm more excited about the extension of unemployment benefits than the tax credit extension

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 05:38:48 -0500

Unless you live in Michigan, or one of the other hard hit by unemployment states, the signing of H.R. 3548 by President Obama yesterday probably was good news to you because of the extension to the first time home buyers tax credit. Here, in my local area, I'm cheering because there will be thousands and thousands of out of work people who will continue to receive an unemployment check, for at least 20 more weeks.

How hard hit is my area by unemployment?   (Look at these numbers and try to remember that the numbers reflect real people and their lives, and isn't just data.)

Michigans overall unemployment rate at the end of September was reported to be 15.3 percent.    In Wayne County alone it was 18.3 percent.   The city of Detroit?   A staggering 28%.

Many of those people who were laid off at the beginning of this year, or late last year, have not found replacement jobs.   It has been reported that approximately 44,000 people in Michigan cashed their last unemployment checks in October.

Coming in to the winter months and having their unemployment benefits cease would be cruel. Thank you to all of our government officials for taking care of this and giving an extended lifeline to those who so desperately need it.

When I read the news yesterday about the President signing this bill I was excited, and relieved, more so for those who cashed their last unemployment checks then I was for future home buyers.   Needs first - wants later.

How did home buyers in Macomb County MI pay for their purchases in October 2009? A Macomb County MI real estate market report

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 05:15:56 -0500

A bit of a twist to my home sales market report for October '09 in Macomb County MI:

I thought it would be informative for home owners to see how home buyers in our area are purchasing
their homes - is FHA still "king", or are cash buyers taking the lead?

Macomb County had 917 residential homes sold during the month of October 2009, which is an
increase from this time last year (730 homes sold.)

Sales prices county wide are still falling, with the average sales price being $91,890 compared to $101,574
in October of 2008. It is a sharp decrease county wide, but some cities / townships showed increases.
(Please feel free to call or email me for a detailed report for your area. I would be happy to provide the information for you - no fees for this service.)

How were buyers paying for their homes? The chart below will show a breakdown of how these 917
homes that sold in Macomb County MI were purchased last month.

Cash purchases	311
FHA mortgage purchases	324
Conventional mortgage purchases	162
VA mortgage purchases	21
Land Contract purchases	16
"Other" - not specified	83

With the large number of cash purchases we can still see that investors are buying the lower priced homes, taking advantage of this buyers market to increase their portfolios of rental properties. The large number of FHA and VA buyers also tells me that the first time home buyer tax credit had home buyers out in full force to take advantage of the money being offered to help them.

All of the data above was collected by Mirealsource™ and it's participating brokers and agents, and is deemed to be reliable but not guaranteed. As always, if you want specific information regarding your neighborhood or home, please feel free to contact me for a no pressure analysis.

Purchasing a vacant home in Macomb County MI? Pick up the phone and call the city building department.

Thu, 29 Oct 2009 05:10:00 -0400

One of the cities in my area has a wonderful online service in which you can find out the current taxes,
utility bills (water and sewer) and also check to see if there are any permits that have been pulled for
repairs or renovations.

In the case of vacant homes (foreclosures, REO's, etc.) there is also one more check that you as a purchaser
need to do: Pick up the phone and call the city and find out if a certificate of occupancy is needed prior
to moving in to the home and if an inspection is needed by the building department.

A buyer client and I are in the middle of a "counter offer" purchase on a bank owned home, and one of the
things that I asked her to do was to call the city building department and find out if this home needed to
have an inspection prior to her being able to move in to it.   As it turns out, this home was red-tagged (although the tag was not readily visible when we viewed the home) and does need to be inspected by the building department.

It will cost the buyer $200 for the city building inspector to come out and look at the home, as well as additional fees if permits need to be pulled for any city mandated repairs.   Most small repairs can be done by the potential home owner, but those needing more expensive work (electrical, plumbing, heating & cooling, etc) will require additional inspections and permits.

Please don't assume that just because there isn't a notation on a city / township online service about an inspection being required that this is truthful. Data does "fall through the cracks" and entries are sometimes not made in a timely fashion.

                                                Pick up the phone and call.

For those wondering why I don't make the call myself for my buyer clients: Third party translations can sometimes fall short of accuracy. I want my buyer clients to hear for themselves what the city / township building department has to say. They can also ask specific questions while they are talking to the representative while those questions are fresh in their minds.

Landlords in the city of Detroit are up in arms, but people who care about children say "It's about time!"

Fri, 23 Oct 2009 07:46:49 -0400

It's taken too many years but the city of Detroit finally said to landlords: "If you own a home or an apartment building in the city and you rent out the home or apartment it is your responsibility to make it lead free."

Is it going to be expensive for landlords? Yes. Is this new ordinance going to cause rent to rise to compensate for the testing and removal of lead? Probably.

I have a feeling though that parents of children who live in these homes and apartments within the city would gladly pay higher rent in order to protect their children. I also have a feeling that many other cities will now follow suit and be drafting their own ordinances. It's going to be an interesting year ahead watching all of this unfold within the city of Detroit and hopefully within other cities in Michigan.

It's about damned time.

The text of the Detroit News article regarding the passing of this ordinance can be found here.

Call me picky, but I don't let buyer clients sign blank forms.

Wed, 21 Oct 2009 09:22:51 -0400

Oh, the wonderful world of bank owned properties!

Let's see, first the sellers disclosure is stamped: "Exempt" or some such other language. The bank owners have never lived in the home so they surely cannot attest to the condition of the home unless they have inspected it. I get it. My buyers get it.

What I don't "get" is this: The Federally mandated lead base paint disclosure form is sent to buyers agents blank. Not a bit of wording on it, not even the catch all: "Sorry, I don't know, have never tested the home, do your own due diligance."

I don't know about anyone else, but handing my buyer clients a blank form that is important to any purchase transaction in the US to just sign, date and initial willy nilly gives me the wilies.

What I have done since I first saw this blank lead based paint disclosure is this - I write the following language above the spot for the buyer clients to sign:

"As of the date of purchasers signature the sellers have not provided disclosure and purchasers are signing an incomplete form."

They are then given the opportunity to indicate whether they are waiving the right to have a lead based paint inspection, or whether they wish to conduct one.

How do all of you handle this when you see it? Surely it cannot be something that is typical only in my area.

The flip side to being the voice of trust for our clients

Fri, 09 Oct 2009 05:30:24 -0400

The other morning I read a wonderful article by Rich Jacobson. He wrote about how we as real estate professionals need to the voice of reason and trust to our clients,as well as telling us about a real life situation in which this was conveyed professionally by him to his clients and vice verse.

As I read his article I found myself nodding my head in agreement with him, and also remembering the times that speaking honestly and at times, bluntly, with my clients has caused me to be fired over the years.

You see, I have this funny quirk of bluntness that leads my mouth to spill out the words:
"That won't work" or "It isn't a good idea" or "I can't do that".

Recent examples of my quirky bluntess:

The FHA buyer who wanted to look at condos in subdivisions that I knew wouldn't
fly with HUD.
The home owner who wanted to put their home on the market for $30,000 more than
the current value to "just give it a try."
The first time home buyer who insisted on viewing short sale homes with the Federal tax
credit being the overwhelming factor in his buying a home this year.

I lost all 3 of those potential clients because of my bluntness when it became clear that no matter what I said or how I worded it that they were going to go full head on with their decisions.

On the flip side, I had a Rich Jacobson moment just a short while ago in which my buyer client said "This is why I hired you. Thank you." when giving her advice and explaining why something wouldn't work out and wasn't in her best interest.

Lose a few clients and sleep better at night? I'll do that every time.

Home sales in Macomb County MI - Comparing this past September with previous years

Mon, 05 Oct 2009 05:18:28 -0400

My Macomb County MI area has been in the midst of this housing value decline for several years now, and I thought it would be interesting to see how this past September home sales compared to the previous September sales data (2007 and 2008).

While we aren't seeing home prices stabilizing as of yet, we are seeing fewer homes come on the market. We're also seeing more homes being sold this year than in years past. That should help us in the near future with the supply & demand issue that has been so heavily tilted to the "supply" side of the market.

Macomb County MI	September 2007	September 2008	September 2009
Homes listed	2020	1948	1475
Homes sold	525	797	840
Avg. sales price	139795	115136	89751

It's interesting to note that while fewer homes are coming on the market this year (less foreclosures and bank owned homes) there is more competition for the homes. The increase in the homes sold when comparing September 2007 to this past September is 60%.

If you would like specific information regarding your Macomb County homes value please don't hesitate to contact me. No pressure - just conversation.

All data courtesy of Mirealsource™ and its participating real estate brokers and agents and is deemed to be reliable but not guaranteed.