Buyer Information

Did you know that the larges single open house event in the US takes place right here in Metro Detroit? Last year our board of Realtors sponsored The Big Open house, a huge tri county effort to have as many homes as possible opened on one day.   Agents reported great turnout, and a number of [...]

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Tightened credit markets and a sluggish real estate market have sellers looking for ways to seal the deal. This week I saw a Birmingham builder do what he could to take control of the situation and set his properties apart. His answer: the land contract. Not only is he offering land contracts, he’s offering them [...]

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I want to stand on the rooftop and shout Screaming Deal! Screaming Deal! But I know that won’t go over too well with the neighbors, so I am keeping my large mouth closed. I can’t believe the price on this house. We just reduced it by $50,000 today and it is priced below market for [...]

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Each year limits are set on how much a conventional loan (non-government insured) can be and when a conventional loan exceeds the limit it is known as a jumbo loan.  Government loans (FHA insured) also have a limit and when a loan exceeds that limit the FHA will not insure the loan and therefore it [...]

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2008 has certainly provided for lots of unexpected surprises for Metro Detroit.  In January we will be rolling out a new series of posts for Metro Detroiters on how to deal with the challenges in today’s real estate market.  The good news: there are previously unseen opportunities for buyers.  Sellers, you are not left out, [...]

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This week I have gotten a flurry of phone calls from people who found super exciting homes “on the internet.”  Actually, they all found homes on Trulia or on Realtor.com and then they called me to ask to see them.  Amazing bargains waiting to be snatched up by eager buyers. I like Trulia a lot.  They [...]

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Someone is going to get a GREAT deal on this super home, steps out of desireable downtown Birmingham. When the home last sold in 2004, the list price was $1,395,000. Dmitry and I relisted it this week for the motivated seller at $799,990. No, nothing is wrong with the house. It is not a foreclosure, [...]

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I just ran a complete search of home sales in Birmingham MI for the first three quarters of 2008. There were 243 home sales (225 sold, 18 pending sales) between January 1st and September 30th, 2008. I decided to create a pdf file so that readers could take a look at these sales themselves. Statistics [...]

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This week we got a question from Tim.  He writes: My son and his family are relocating back to Oakland County after 4 years in the military. Their financial situation is fairly strong. They have a serious interest in a house listed as a short sale. The listed price for the home is about half [...]

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In a historic move yesterday, Treasury Secretary Carlson announced the government takeover of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The two financial giants have been struggling over the past year due to an unprecedented increase in foreclosures which relate to falling home values and the subprime loan meltdown. If the two were allowed to fail the [...]

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Ken Mascia’s recent post on the Mortgage Relief Act resulted in some good questions about exactly what the new law does for home buyers. This week Ken was even featured on the front page of the Oakland Press, where he further opined on the topic. We are always delighted to see Ken’s name in the [...]

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