Real Estate Opinion

Just got back from a seminar on mortgage fraud conducted by Phil Seaver from Seaver Title Company and sponsored by Julie Plotnik from Victory Home Loans. Interesting stuff. It seems that Michigan has the distinction of being the number one state for mortgage fraud. That certainly is a dubious honor. To fight the trend, the [...]

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Yesterday Brian Dickerson put out a very good piece about property taxes in the Freep. Long story short, Brian is right. Proposal A needs to be shelved. The sooner the better. But I will get to my question for Brian shortly. My first order of business is to highlight the things that I think matter [...]

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It should come as no surprise to outsiders that Metro Detroit scrapped most of its mass transit system in the 1950′s. Afterall, we are still the automotive capital of the world. Clearly our short sided protectionist rush to support our main industry backfired. Metro Detroit has become one of the most segregated cities in the [...]

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I’ve discovered the next best thing since sliced bread. It’s called the internet. Last week I started to get some strange looking splotches on my forehead and scalp. I have always had very clear skin so I had no idea where this was coming from. I asked one of my Realtor buddies to take a [...]

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Is your agent selling you short? Once again, I’m standing up to say that the agent you hire MAKES A BIG DIFFERENCE. Sorry for the shouting. I am a little riled up about this one. A few days ago I came across a couple of listings in the MLS that I find not just irresponsible, [...]

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Nope, I am not entering the bubble domain and heading over to the dark side of the real estate bubble bloggers. Fortune Magazine recently put out a list of the top 10 housing markets ready for a fall. Note that Michigan is NOT on the list. Honestly it is probably because we’ve already ‘been there [...]

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Almost everyone but me is done with their 2006 retrospectives. I will use the Julian calendar as my excuse. I celebrated Christmas on January 7th, and I’ve got until January 14th to greet the New Year by my accounts. I was also busy with the ActiveRain retrospective, so I didn’t get around to doing this [...]

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Ken Mascia, from Oxford Financial, is back again today, sharing his thoughts about the real bargains in real estate in Metro Detroit. As a veteran mortgage broker, Ken sees a lot of different transactions cross his desk every month. Ken says… Check this out. Many of the buyers I am talking to are looking for [...]

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Inman News, a leading real estate industry news source, named Sotheby’s President, Michael Good on their top 10 list of people to watch in 2007. Michael Good, president and CEO, Sotheby’s International Realty Affiliates. Good is charged with keeping the Sotheby’s network the quintessential luxury real estate brokerage, and the franchise is on a roll [...]

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Overheard in my office more than once in the last two weeks, “Ever since the elections, it’s been like a Spring market.” The elections they are referring to are our Michigan gubernatorial elections in which the incumbent, Jennifer “She Can’t Run For President Because She Was Born in Canada” Granholm, easily defeated her Republican challenger, [...]

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Sorry for the screaming folks. I’ve been telling people this for a while. They think I am crazy. After all, I work on a commission. When houses sell I get paid. I do know some people who will take a listing no matter what, hoping that something will stick. For them, its a numbers game. [...]

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