Aside from the patriotic American flags that residents proudly display on power polls lining the block between Lincoln and Woodward, there seems to be a building boom underway on Pleasant. Today I counted three new homes going up, two more with construction fencing and a 6th sporting the signs of Kevin Hart, a prominent local architect, indications that a major renovation could be in the works.

Why Pleasant? The primary reason is it offers some of Birmingham’s largest lots. Many are over an acre, allowing homes up to 8,000 square feet to still have sizable yards to enjoy. We’ve seen skating rinks out front, pools in the back, lovely covered porches and even a putting green gracing yards on Pleasant Street.

Turkia Mullin’s sister recently sold this beautiful home on Pleasant.

The return of the builders to Birmingham certainly is not limited to Pleasant Street. It is exciting to see new homes going up in Quarton Lake Estates, Little San Francisco and in town, as builders and buyers have restored confidence in the housing market that is underscored by all that Birmingham has to offer.

Written by Maureen Francis
SKBK Sotheby's International Realty, 248.430.4450
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We talked for a long time about how busy we both are and how values are creeping up in the markets that keep me busiest.  Sometimes they are even bolting up, but I like to remain conservative about my market projections.  The appraiser confirmed he is seeing increasing values, but told me that the appraisers in his office are not yet willing to upgrade the overall market status on their appraisals from declining or balanced just because they know they will face increased scrutiny from underwriters.  Yet the evidence clearly points to increasing market values.  Ask any buyer who has tried to purchase a home in Birmingham lately about the competition they have faced.  It’s not easy to be a buyer right now, and I don’t see it getting any easier next year.

I am often told by potential buyers, as they begin their search, “everyone knows it’s a buyer’s market.”  I have to find just the right way to tell them I don’t see it that way at all.  After YEARS of telling people their home is worth less than it was the previous year, I haven’t been saying that for the last few months.  I have comps that show neighboring homes selling for more than they would have last summer.  I see competitive offers on many well priced homes that are not short sales or foreclosures.  There are buyers out there who want to buy, and they are feeling the shortage of inventory.  We recently listed and sold a home in Birmingham’s Poppleton Park neighborhood and had multiple offers and over a dozen showings within the first 24 hours we were on the market.  The home sold for over asking price to a buyer who had become frustrated by the lack of choices available.

I am ready to raise the flag and say the Birmingham Bloomfield real estate market is increasing in value.  People want to live in these communities and are showing that they are willing to pay “market value.”  Like it or not, the bargains of previous years are fewer and farther between.  That said, buyers are still able to purchase homes in areas they previously thought they might never be able to afford.  It’s still a great time to be a buyer, but I think the reality of the market might be quite different from commonly held assumptions and misinformation presented by the national media about the state of the housing market.

Written by Maureen Francis
SKBK Sotheby's International Realty, 248.430.4450
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Ask any successful Birmingham Bloomfield Realtor and I imagine you will hear a story similar to ours. We are having one of our best years EVER. Our office, SKBK Sotheby’s is on track to have it’s best month EVER this month (and it is the oldest real estate office in Birmingham). Sales volume is up, and prices are rising along with it.

Some time around February, when I don’t think most of us were really expecting it, the market turned overnight from a strong buyer’s market to a more balanced or even, in some cases, a seller’s market. You’ll find many a frustrated buyer out there today, racing from new listing to new listing, hoping to be the lucky one to have their offer accepted. It takes a few lumps as a buyer to accept that the reality you’ve been hearing about for the last few years is not the one you will experience when you make your own purchase.

More than ever, it is a market that requires professional guidance on both sides of the transaction. We are not done with appraisal issues, by any means. Knowing what is coming on the market before it actually hits the MLS has also proved essential to many a buyer over the last few months.

We’ve seen 10-15% appreciation on some houses in Birmingham that we visited last fall in anticipation of marketing them this spring. There are sales out there that support these new prices. We are still not back to historic highs, but it is wonderful to see a new stability in the market.

So please, don’t let a headline generated by the Associated Press guide your sense of what your home may be worth or how it might sell today. Nor, if you are a buyer, should those articles give you a false sense of how you will use your fierce negotiating skills to beat the seller senseless. Those sweeping generalizations don’t apply and can cost you money and grief.

Written by Maureen Francis
SKBK Sotheby's International Realty, 248.430.4450
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The chart shows the best news for Birmingham, and my experience on the streets mimics their lovely chart. Birmingham has been seeing a fall off in inventory for a while now and subsequent increases in median prices that come when demand exceeds supply. At least that is what I learned in Econ 101 in college. I hesitate to use the word, but there is actually a shortage of inventory in some Birmingham segments.

I know most of you received your property tax assessment last week and the county is telling you something different. Your taxable rate likely fell once again. This has more to do with the way that taxes are assessed than with the actual value of your home. Taxable values also fell slower than market value, and they will be slower to rise.

Bloomfield Hills did not fare quite as well in the analysis. It’s broken down by zip so you can see the difference between the City of Bloomfield Hills and Bloomfield Township.

Written by Maureen Francis
SKBK Sotheby's International Realty, 248.430.4450
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Written by Maureen Francis
SKBK Sotheby's International Realty, 248.430.4450
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When Real Estate is listed for sale the listing contract calls for the seller to pay a set commission to the Realtor’s involved in the transaction regardless of whether that is one real estate agent or two. This means the seller has to pay the same real estate commission whether the property is sold directly through the listing agent or through a buyer’s agent.

As a home buyer you need to have your own representation – an agent specifically working on your behalf. Here are the top 5 reasons to have your own agent:

1) A professional working specifically in your interest and on your behalf to help you find the right home at the right price.

2) The Buyer’s Agent‘s fiduciary responsibility (their loyalty) is to his/her client (you). The Listing Agent has already signed a contract to represent the seller and their first loyalty is to the seller. How can they represent the seller and you at the same time and still get you the best price on the home?

3) A stronger negotiating position and better contract protection for you. You have a separate agent negotiating the price on your behalf with the seller. You also get an independent purchase agreement contract drawn up by your agent to protect you. Plus, your agent holds the earnest money deposit as opposed to the listing agent controlling your money.

4) More candid comparable sales and market transparency. You have your own agent showing you recent sales of similar homes so you can determine the correct offer price.

5) Having your own agent comes at no additional cost to you! The seller has to pay the real estate commission on the sale of real estate so it is costing the buyer nothing to retain the services of a professional realtor.

The bottom line is that it is foolish to not utilize the services of a trained professional Realtor to help you unlock the door to your new home. As a buyer, you have nothing to lose and everything to gain. So, if you’re in the market to buy a house the first step should be to find the right Realtor to work with!

Written by Ken Mascia
Prime Capital Mortgage, 248.644.1200
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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 for well over asking price.

Everyone wondered what would happen in the month of May, once the incentives were gone.  I am thrilled to report to you that our company, SKBK Sotheby’s International Realty, had it’s best month in 5 years, putting approximately $32,000,000 in accepted new business on the books.  Our market extends well beyond Birmingham and Bloomfield, and sales from neighboring communities like Royal Oak, Troy, Beverly Hills and surrounding Oakland County municipalities are always a major part of our business.

A number of factors contribute to this. 

• Inventory remains low, well below previous years and sellers have become more accepting of current market valuations as they try to sell their homes.
• Interest rates remain low, attracting buyers to the market.
• Consumer confidence is rebounding.  Investors are picking up great deals, and home buyers who intend to occupy are able to do the same.

We are working with buyers who consiously decided to wait until AFTER the tax credit to avoid the rush and the competition.  Those buyers are now in a position that is slightly less competitive than what we were seeing at the end of April, though we are still seeing situations with multiple offers and homes selling quickly.  In fact, two of our listings, one in Birmingham and one in Bloomfield Village, both sold within their first 10 days of listing. 

I am optimistic that our market has taken a turn and is becoming more balanced and vibrant once again.

Photo by Patricia Drury

Written by Maureen Francis
SKBK Sotheby's International Realty, 248.430.4450
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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 her then husband David Trepeck, who founded Uptown Entertainment, the company that runs Birmingham’s two movie theaters, Birmingham 8 and The Palladium.  Uptown Entertainment is a subsidiary of Ilitch Holdings (as in Little Caesers, Detroit Tigers, Detroit Red Wings and so on…)   The Trepecks decided to move to California and the home was sold to it’s current owners in 2002.

The 11,000 square foot home sits on 2.25 acres of immaculately manicured gardens with a magnificent swimming pool.  There are 6 bedroom suites, 8 full baths and 2 half baths.   A guest house/private apartment with a full kitchen and sitting area is perched over the 4 car garage. The lower level features a wine cellar, workout room and additional living space.    The main floor features a separate service kitchen for parties and events.  Public records show that the home’s 2009 property taxes were $85,314.

The house was very well received by local agents who toured it for the first time this week.  We enjoyed listening to oohs and ahhhs as agents explored the home and declared it one of the finest on the market today.

Written by Maureen Francis
SKBK Sotheby's International Realty, 248.430.4450
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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 has no clutter, very few personal items and appears clean and welcoming.  A home that is well-maintained, has good functional utility including strategic staging of furniture, has fresh paint and is clean will appraise higher than one that’s not.”

Shurtliff, who has been appraising properties for 18 years and has owned her firm for 14 of those, has seen her share of houses for sale.  She knows that factors other than comps affect the final value.  “In doing an appraisal on a house, the appraiser estimates the current market value as of the day of inspection, but we also look at the house as a prospective buyer.  Everything is considered in an appraisal … how well it’s maintained, the quality of the cabinets, flooring, lighting, etc.”  Since the main goal of home staging is to present a home looking it’s very best, it follows that staging will address all of these factors and affect the appraisal.

“If something is really offensive, it forces us to look at lowering the range of value” according to Robert Vacanti, president of Northeastern Appraisal Associates.

Samantha Maziarz Christmann, Consumer Reporter for The Buffalo News offers the following tips:

• Set the stage. Make the house look as nice as you can, as if you were staging it for a buyer. Making the home as pleasant as possible can help give the appraiser a subconscious nudge in your favor.

• Got wild taste? You might want to consider toning it down for the appraiser.

• Completing needed repairs won’t increase the value of your home, (but) neglecting repairs and maintenance will decrease the value.

A favorable appraisal is in everyone’s best interest.  The seller is justified in listing at a higher price point, the buyer feels confident that they have paid fair market value for the house, the mortgage lender will be more likely to approve the loan to the qualified buyer, and the listing agent makes the sale!

Many great outcomes follow from a small investment in staging.  Shurtliff sums up her belief in home staging:  “It’s one very good thing a homeowner can do to help make their home stand out from the rest.  They need to be able to detach themselves from their home, especially in today’s market, and let the professionals market it.”

Linda Shurtliff, CRA can be reached at (248) 689-3489.

Written by Marianne Sweet
Home Sweet Home Staging, (586) 212-8400
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I rarely talk about specific clients out of respect for their privacy, but since my childhood friend, and Katya’s pediatrician, Dr. Molly O’Shea, blogged about her recent home hunting journey, I feel OK about this time. Helping people find a home is an honor and we love being part of that process.  It is wonderful to see Molly and her children “build” a new home together, and to be part of their new beginnings.  Molly and the kids will make that Birmingham house into a home, alive with love and and the sounds of laughter, crashing Lego’s, clacking knitting needles and the ding of the kitchen timer signalling another birthday cake needs to come out of the oven.

There are happy sellers out there right now too, though you Metro Detroiters might be surprised to hear that! We helped many sellers to shed themselves of a house last year, and our personal listing inventory is at the lowest it has been at in ages. One couple was so happy a few weeks ago, that they sent me some lovely gifts from Tiffany! Who is not excited when they get a gift in a signature blue Tiffany box?

There are stats to back up the “good”.  Yesterday the Freep reported that Oakland County is the bright spot in Metro Detroit housing.  Inventory is at a low, and prices have stablized.  Birmingham is a local standout, bucking the trend, as it is seeing a modest increase in value! The decrease in inventory has created a lot of demand for GOOD houses.  Not everybody wants a foreclosure.  Just last week a group of agents I was with was lamenting about how challenging it is right now because there is not a huge supply of GOOD houses out there right now in certain segments of the market.

I have to head back out and make good.  Happy St. Patrick’s day to all!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/davepeckens/ / CC BY-NC 2.0  Thanks to Ben Peckens for the wonderful artwork!

Written by Maureen Francis
SKBK Sotheby's International Realty, 248.430.4450
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The article can be viewed here:

http://blog.homegain.com/home-improvement/homegain-2009-top-12-home-improvements-survey-results/

I have already had an agent ask if $300 for Home Staging is realistic.  The answer is yes, a $300 Home Staging can make a major improvement in the way an occupied house shows.   Call a Home Stager for more details.

Written by Marianne Sweet
Home Sweet Home Staging, (586) 212-8400
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Helping home sellers achieve their goal.

Offers will come faster.

Marketing strategy.

Effective selling technique.

Selling a home for all it’s worth.

Taking a tried and true approach.

Always looking better than the competition.

Get better appraisal values.

Internet photos will show a must see property.

Never giving you a bad first impression.

Gain more exposure with better listings.

Written by Marianne Sweet
Home Sweet Home Staging, (586) 212-8400
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Search for homes in Oakland County