Metro Detroit

In 2010 there were 167 single family home sales in the Village of Beverly Hills. We’re offering our free downloadable report with detailed information on every property sold to readers of our site. Be warned, the file is large, so if you would like a copy emailed to you, just drop a note to Maureen(at)maureenfrancis.com [...]

{ 0 comments }

Beverly Park, of course. The great pavillion with a fireplace and picnic tables and you can rent it out for private events. Perfect for reunions or kid’s birthday parties. The play area is a big hit with the younger crowd. Walkers and joggers enjoy the paths through the woods. In the winter, the sled hill [...]

{ 1 comment }

HGTV brings us the following list of Home Staging tips for Fall: #1: Focus on curb appeal. Selling a home during the fall certainly comes with one advantage: The season’s beautiful foliage can automatically make your home more attractive for showings. However, you still need to do your part to keep your home looking its [...]

{ 2 comments }

I recently did a Home Staging Consultation for a homeowner who had already purchased a new home … on MY block, as it turns out. Small world! As he diligently worked his way through his “to-do” list, he discovered an issue and called me for advice. While de-cluttering and rearranging his office, he realized that [...]

{ 4 comments }

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 [...]

{ 3 comments }

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 [...]

{ 2 comments }

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 [...]

{ 0 comments }

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 [...]

{ 0 comments }

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 [...]

{ 2 comments }

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 [...]

{ 0 comments }

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 [...]

{ 3 comments }