Metro Detroit

Relief might be on the way for harried home buyers, mortgage officers and title companies who are rushing overtime to make sure they close  before June 30th so that their home purchases qualify for the $6,500 and $8,000 tax credits that were offered on purchase agreements signed by April 30th. Our market saw a frenzy of [...]

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The tax credit that gave new home buyers and move up home buyers an opportunity to receive $8K or $6.5k, respectively certainly had a positive impact on the market, especially in the month of April, as buyers rushed to get in under the deadline.  Multiple offers were commonplace and anxious buyers often bid up homes [...]

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Anyone who has sold a house has been through it … the caller says “We’re close by and would like to see the house. Can we come RIGHT NOW?” The seller hangs up and goes in to full-on panic mode! Where to start cleaning? From the online pages of Real Simple Magazine (www.realsimple.com), a checklist [...]

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Last week a spectacular home in Birmingham hit the market at a list price of $6,395,000, making it the most expensive residence currently on the market in the City of Birmingham.  Our company, SKBK Sotheby’s International Realty, has been entrusted to market this exceptional home. 400 Arlington was originally built for Carole Ilitch Trepeck and [...]

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February sales for residential properties in Oakland County increased 25 percent over the same month last year; in Macomb County, the increase was 6 percent. Listings decreased in both counties (by 15 percent in Oakland and 6 percent in Macomb), but while Oakland posted a sales volume increase of 45 percent, Macomb’s sales volume dipped [...]

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The good news is that, in my little corner of the world, real estate sales have really picked up this year! No doubt that some this activity can be attributed to the Home Buyer Tax Credit which is scheduled to expire on April 30th – and I sure hope that congress decides to extend that [...]

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If you are still on the fence about the value of professionally staging a home for sale, here is another benefit to consider:  staged properties command higher appraisals. Certified Residential Appraiser Linda Shurtliff, owner of Troy-based Reliable Residential Appraisals, LLC agrees.  “A staged home has much more appeal than an unstaged home.  A staged home [...]

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Dmitry and I have been selling Oakland County real estate since 2001, and some Realtor’s would say that we have never never seen a “good” market, though we would disagree. A good market is what you make of the market you are in, afterall. I can’t control the market, but I can control how I [...]

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Gary Keller, one of the country’s top brokers and author of best-selling book “Shift:  How Top Real Estate Agents Tackle Tough Times” was on ABC’s “Good Morning America” last week.   Mr. Keller gave his opinion on how to increase your chances of selling in this market. Selling Your House in a Down Real Estate Market [...]

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For Michiganders singing the blues about the local real estate market and declining listing prices, it may ease the pain a bit to know that the lifestyles of the rich and famous are being affected also.  Celebrities are dropping their prices by numbers that I can’t even fathom!! Take a look: Suzanne Somers’ Mountainside Estate [...]

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The New Good Faith Estimate: Is it Easier to Understand? Over the past year the Federal Government has made some sweeping changes to the way mortgage loans are originated, how appraisals are ordered and how and what is disclosed to the consumer. The change I want to address here is a change in what’s known [...]

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