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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We’ve just finished our complete report of 2010 home sales in the City of Bloomfield Hills, and it is available for free download. In addition to market stats, you will find the listing information from Realcomp, our local MLS. Our report only covers single family homes, not vacant land, leases or condominiums.

Last year we saw values continuing to fall, but we are already seeing a stronger market in 2011. Sellers that had previously turned to landlords to wait out the market, re-enter as sellers and finding a buyer.

Some quick stats for City of Bloomfield Home Sales in 2010:

Highest Sale: $2,000,000

Average Time on Market: 240 Days

Median Sold Price: $515,000

We are also happy to provide you with a comparative market analysis to give you a better understanding of your home’s current market value. Please feel free to call Maureen to arrange a time to talk.

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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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 4 percent.

The following Oakland County municipalities* experienced the largest year-to-year (February 2009 to February 2010) increases in sales:

• Royal Oak, up 119 percent; sales volume increased 135 percent to $8 million, from $3.4 million
• Bloomfield Twp., up 95 percent; sales volume increased 128 percent to $11.4 million, from $5 million
• Independence Twp., up 94 percent; sales volume increased 154 percent to $6.3 million, from $2.5 million

Oakland municipalities that experienced a sales decrease included Hazel Park (down 18 percent), Pontiac (down 17 percent) and Southfield (down 13 percent).

Information on all municipalities can be obtained here.

Republished from Metropolitan Consolidated Association of Realtors

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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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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But did you know that it is possible to get a Home Stager’s expertise without a huge price tag?

The Home Staging Consultation is a great, low-cost alternative to a full-house staging.  The Home Stager will tour the property inside and out, and provide a comprehensive room-by-room list of recommendations for the homeowner to Stage their own house.  This to-do list follows proven guidelines to make the house show it’s best and hasten it’s sale.  It will include what to keep and what to store, furniture and art placement, color recommendations and suggestions to pump up the curb appeal, among other things.

Photo courtesy of blogspot.com

The consultation usually runs around $200 (depending on the Stager and square footage) and most Stagers will include a follow-up visit to check progress and fine-tune the results.  This service is invaluable to those getting ready to sell their properties and are able to do the work but don’t know where to start.  For the house that has been on the market but hasn’t received an offer, a consultation can pinpoint the reasons why the house hasn’t sold and give remedies.

If the homeowner runs out of time and energy and can’t get the work done, the Stager will gladly come back to complete the Staging and add the final “Wow” factor to the property.  Good Stagers also have an arsenal of reliable contractors (painters, handymen, landscapers, etc.) that they can refer to get trickier jobs done.  We also know which storage unit facilities will give the best deal if you need to store  extra belongings while the house is on the market.

Hiring a Stager for a consultation is a great investment in the sale of the house.  We know what needs to be done and will tell it like it is.  A note to agents … add a Staging consultation to your marketing plan.  We’ll make sure the house is ready to show, and we’ll be the “bad guy”, so you don’t have to!  We don’t mind.

Written by Marianne Sweet
Home Sweet Home Staging, (586) 212-8400
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This is especially important when it comes to dining areas.  People want to see where they will gather for meals and entertain their loved ones.

I recently staged a 900 sq. ft. house for a client who was using her dining room as office space.  As you can see (amongst the considerable clutter), a desk definitely does not belong there.  Aside from being the wrong use of the space, it was also the first thing visitors saw when they came in the front door … NOT a good first impression. 

After completely clearing out the area , I moved the table and chairs that were overwhelming the small kitchen and created a proper dining room.

Visitors can now see that there is room for a full size table and 4 chairs at the very least.  Showing a dedicated dining room, the intended purpose for this space, adds value to this petite house and answers an important question for the buyer.

Written by Marianne Sweet
Home Sweet Home Staging, (586) 212-8400
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