Farmington Hills Real Estate and Events talk Michigan

One of the most confusing items for first time homebuyers is the escrow  concept.  I recently had a real estate deal fall apart because of a mis-communication between the buyer and the mortgage loan officer.  It wasn't anybodies fault it was just that everybody didn't understand fully what was going on.

Here are some articles on escrows so you can understand them better. 

What are escrows and mortgage explanations

Why do I need escrows

Home buyer money checklist - How much money every first time home buyer needs for closing  

What is a FHA loan and FHA mortgage explanation

If are a first time home buyer there are a lot of things you have never heard of, or seen before.  If you don't understand something give me a call or email me.  Even if you aren't my client I will try to explain what you don't understand.

After all a home purchase and the mortgage is one of the biggest purchases you make in your life.  So don't be afraid to look stupid because you aren't.  You just haven't done it before.  Ask the question and keep asking the question until you understand it.

Search Metro Detroit homes for sale and Metro Detroit foreclosures 

Here what I am seeing in the Metro Detroit real estate market.

• Many colonial homes are selling for less than a $100 a square foot in the Metro Detroit area(Canton, Farmington are just some of the cities that it is happening in) 
• Updated, ready to move in homes are selling first and for the most money
• Some great priced foreclosures sell in less than a week and sometimes for more than list price 
• Homes that are not updated or that have external factors or problems will take longer to sell
• Inventory of homes are getting smaller especially homes priced lower than $200,000 
• Home buyers losing out on great priced foreclosures because they lowballed it
• HUD homes taking up to six months to close
• Many Short sales homes never close even though there are good solid offers.
• Homes in Livonia, Westland, Garden City, Redford, Dearborn, Dearborn Heights selling for less than $50,000
• Homes that are liveable in Detroit selling for less than $10,000

My thought are that will see homes selling faster in the spring.  We will see a slight leveling of prices this spring as we will see some buyers fighting over the "nicer homes".  The people that think they can lowball the nice houses that are already priced great will continue to lose out.  

Metro Detroit home prices will not be bottoming out or rising any time soon.  Home sellers that holding out for top dollar will be chasing the market down and losing more money.  One Novi home sellers sad tale. 

As a Michigan relocation agent we are sometimes called on to find out many things for our Michigan home buyers.  Sure they could fire up their computer and get the information themselves.  But I understand that sometimes the buyers are so stressed about the whole move that they need to hand off some of the duties.

As a Michigan relocation agent I have found house cleaners, dentists, plumbers, roofers.  I have made side trips during house showings to see a Montessori school.  I have taken tours of downtown Plymouth and Northville so people relocating to Michigan would get the feel of town.  I have almost toyed with getting a fake microphone and one of those tour guide hats when I pull into the town.

Sometimes home buyers need to know where to go to church when in town, or where the nearest Maggie Moo's is, or what hotels have a great pool.  Out of state home buyers need to know where the good restaurants are, or what parks have bike trails. 

I have gone to open up the house before the buyers arrive so the painters, or carpet cleaners can get in.  Or so that a contractor can give them a bid before they arrive.  That is just part of my job.   

If you are moving to Michigan from out of state, I understand that my job is to help you find a town, a home that you and your family "fit" into.  Where you will feel comfortable.  Feel free to call or email me if you have questions about the area.

Search Michigan Homes for sale

I have been going through this a lot lately with many of my Michigan home buyers.  They are bidding on Metro Detroit foreclosures that have been priced very reasonably.  In fact many of them have been priced below market for the great condition they were in.

The home buyers have been notified that there are multiple offers on the property.  The bank and the listing agent want "highest and best offer".  What that means is that the home buyer has one chance to put in an offer.  They can raise their offer or they can stay with the offer they have.

The question I always get is "what should I bid"  "Should I raise my bid or should I stick where I am at".  This is a tricky question.  You are bidding blind.  You have no clue on how badly the other buyers want the house.

Remember I can't determine what price will win the house.  It depends on what you bid and what the others bid.  We don't know what the other home buyers are bidding on this foreclosure.  All I can do is give you the comps to help you make a good decision.  It is a question that you and your spouse must answer.

First ask your agent to pull comps again.  Here are some of the questions to put a good winning bid in on that foreclosure:  

• What is the true value of the house?  If you really want the home then you should put a bid in that is close to the true value of the home.
• Do you really want the home?  Then sometimes you have to pay for it.  A full priced offer or above list price offer might be in order.
• if you want a deal... then you might want to stand pat if you think you have a fair offer.
• Are you limited by payment concerns?  this is the real world.  I don't want you to bury yourself in a house payment.  If you have a determined a house payment based on a budget then think hard before you go over that payment.   

Winning the highest and best boils down to who wants the house the worst.  Who is willing to pay the highest price.  The bottom line is how bad do you want the home and how high are you willing to go to get the home.  Even in this Metro Detroit buyers market foreclosures are sometimes going over list price.

Here are a few of the questions I ask people is to put in all in perspective.  Is this the nicest house you have seen?  How would you feel if you lost the house?  How much is the second nicest home that you have seen?  If you lost this home and had to buy the 2nd best home how would you feel?     

Search Metro Detroit foreclosures

More Metro Home buyer tips

Metro Detroit real estate investing

 If you are new to real estate investing I recommend to take it slow.  Too many times I see novice investors jump into the deep waters of real estate investing and ruin their financial future.  If you want to buy a Metro Detroit foreclosure and become a landlord do it one at a time.  Be a landlord for a year before you buy more.  If you are going to flip houses buy one at a time and sell the first one before you buy a second one.

But my biggest piece of advice is to join one of metro Detroit real estate investors association.  There are three that I know of Oakland County REIA, Wayne County REIA and Macomb County REIA.

REIA of Oakland Countywebsite  http://www.reiaofoakland.com  check it out for their next meeting or seminar. 

 REIA of Macomb County

• Michigan's Premier Real Estate Investor's Association
• non-profit organization
• Over 100 Professionals & Investors In Attendance Every Month
• NOTHING is being SOLD at this event (100% informational & networking)
• Plus Get A FREE T-shirt Just For Attending

Wayne County REIAwill host a Landlord Subgroup that will meet the second Saturday of each month from 8:30 -10 am at Leo's Coney Island 734-295-8487 (9845 Telegraph near Wick Road) in Taylor.  Each meeting will be structured to discuss issues facing landlords, and also to stimulate networking.  This meeting is $20 FOR NON-MEMBERS FREE FOR MEMBERS.  Each person will be responsible for his/her own meal.  Please confirm with Wayde Koehler, 313-819-0919 or Dave Kovacs, 734-284-3727 via email (reiwayne@gmail.com) if you will be attending.  Website http://www.reiawaynecounty.org

I hope this helps you to prepare yourself for a successful experience in real estate investing.  You can never know too much about being a landlord or flipping homes.

Or are we the selfish lone hermit that became the unibomber? 

We are put on this earth I believe to make a contribution to the world.  It may not be a earth shattering event like inventing penicillin or painting the Sistine Chapel.  But all of us contribute to the society in some small way.  Sure our society will go on without us.  It wouldn't even miss us if we are gone.

But whether we are garbage men, house cleaners, realtors, office workers we all provide a service.  We are important to the society as a whole.  But what we must do is to do the best we can at the job we have chosen.  Ants and bees don't have a choice in their job.  We do though sometimes it feels like we don't have a choice.                                  

So if you are dentist, a plumber, or a mechanic do the best you can.  Make a small difference in our world.  But even beyond just your job, you can make a difference in our society by helping others that can't help themselves.  That's how our society is different from theirs.

You as an individual can make a difference.  

Here are some sites to find a place to help out at:

• http://www.volunteermatch.org/
• Big Brothers and Big Sisters
• Camp Heatland
• Red Cross of America
• Habitat for Humanity
• http://www.usafreedomcorps.gov/default.asp
• http://www.mivolunteers.org/
• http://servenet.org/

May you have a great day.   Russ Ravary Your Metro Detroit relocation specialist

Metro Detroit is going off our diets today.  Today is Paczki (pinch-key) day where we eat 600 calories at one sitting.

Paczki (punch-key) Day is the feast of plenty before the Lent begins. (during Lent many Christians give up something they love such as sweets, alcohol and red meat, until Easter)  On this Fat Tuesday the traditional deep fried pastries (something like jelly doughnuts) are enjoyed throughout the world's Polish neighborhoods.  But metro Detroit has adopted this holiday like Chicago and Boston have adopted St. Patrick's day.  Every office in the metro Detroit area will have Paczki (punch-key) on some counter or lunch room.  Sales reps will be delivering them to clients throughout the metro Detroit area.

Traditional paczki were typically filled with prune or rosehip jelly.  But now they are jelly filled or custard filled.  Some of the flavors are raspberry, apricot, cherry, lemon, strawberry, and of course plum.  The idea of Paczki, besides providing a delicious treat, was to use up all of the lard, fats, sugar, dairy, and fruit in the household before Lenten season began.  They are what I call a heavy donut.  A couple of them even for good eaters will fill you up.

Paczki Day, also known as Fat Tuesday, is a long-standing Hamtramck tradition.  Hamtramck is a suburb of Metro Detroit that is home to many Polish immigrants and families over the years.  The former Pope John Paul II even made a visit to the Catholic and Polish city.   Hamtramck occupies two square miles and has become a melting pot.  The mayor says over 20 different languages are spoken there. 

Metro Detroiters start lining up at 4 am in Hamtramck for these once a year creations.  Because each paczki you eat typically has 300 to 450 calories and 22 to 27 grams of fat.  That is why they call it fat Tuesday.  It is one last chance to eat a "good treat" before giving it up for Lent.  In order to burn off the paczki here is what you would have to do.

Activities for one hour 

• Jogging (413 calories).
• Racquetball (413).
• Moving household items, boxes to an upstairs (531).
• Ice hockey (472) 
• Lawn mowing (325)
• Scrubbing floors on hands and knees (325) 
• High-impact aerobics (415)

One hour of exercise just for 2 minutes of pure confectionary delight.

Here is where to get your Paczki today

New Deluxe Polish Bakery, 11920 Conant (at Eldridge) (313)892-8165
New Martha Washington Bakery, 10335 Joseph Campau, (313)872-1988
New Palace Bakery, 9833 Joseph Campau, (313)875-1334
New Polka Bakery, 9834 Conant, (313)873-7959
Polish Deli and Bakery, 12015 Joseph Campau, (313)365-3731

Amadeus Cafe, Ann Arbor (734) 665-8761

Utica Heights Bakery, Utica

Heritage Bakery, 37458 5 Mile Rd, Livonia, MI 48154 (734) 464-1855

Looney Toon Bakery Farmington Rd & 96, Livonia

Hamtramck has started a festival that starts 3 days before paczki day.  It is called the countdown to Paczki day.  There is even a paczki eating contest.  The proud 2005 winner downed a record 22 paczki in 15 minutes.

 Enjoy Paczki day and remember :

"You don't have to be Polish to polish off a paczki."

Or you can say building.  Do you get energized by starting something from scratch and then sitting back and enjoying the beauty of what you have created?   I have to admit I am somewhat of a work-aholic.

I love doing lots of things, a jack of all trades.  I love projects from re doing a kitchen for my wife, to building a website.  I get excited about doing the best that I can.  But I guess one of my true loves is landscaping and gardening.  I grew up in the landscaping business.  I worked for my uncle at the age of 13 pushing a lawn mower for $1.10 an hour.  The older guys (16 years old) used to get a kick out of over loading the wheel barrow with sod rolls.  I would struggle to wheel those overloaded barrels so I wouldn't get teased for dumping them over.  My uncle would con me to go out and cut grass on a Sunday morning at 6 am so we could go water skiing.  I loved to do that too.  I would work for free so I could go water skiing.  He sure conned me back then.

But there is nothing more gratifying than taking a flat piece of earth and making it beautiful.

Whether doing a winding brick paver pathway, or a brick patio that you can enjoy family and friends with it is an accomplishment I enjoy.  There is so much you can do to enhance the outside of the house.

.

I wanted to start building houses right before this downturn but I guess I was blessed by God and didn't start in that business.  I would love designing a new home.  Making it functional.  Though I would want to build houses that were 3000 square ft plus because of all the "special features" I would want to put in.

Over the years I have done many projects.  Some for real estate clients when I had time.  I have wheeled some dirt to help some clients out.  These are some of my projects over the years.  As you can see I love doing a waterfall.

If a client is going to do a waterfall.  I am usually there helping them along.  Nothing more satisfying than sitting on their deck or patio listening to a water fall and watching the birds and animals come and drink from it.

I was blessed with the ability to create landscaping designs that people get to enjoy for years.  I am a lucky man.  I hope you enjoyed the pictures and my passion.

 I got this comment on one of my blog postings.

I've been reading about homeowners essentially gutting their homes just before the foreclosure curtain falls.   They remove cabinets, appliances, sinks and anything of value they can find to sell before finally being forced to leave.    The result is a home that's no longer salable.  It's a dragdown to the neighborhood and affects the values of neighboring properties.   I understand the problem is particularly bad in the Detroit area.    Have you been seeing anything like this?   I'd appreciate your comments

 This is how I replied to it. 

Yes, It happens all the time.  I can't blame the people in foreclosed homes anymore.  The banks have taken our tax money and it has only benefited the banks.  The people that needed it only got a run around.  If you ever had to deal with them on a short sale you would take everything out of the house and then burn it.  You can't even get a phone call returned sometimes.  That is common courtesy.  Most short sales have documented financial hardships but it sometimes takes 4 - 6 months to get done if they even get done.  Lack of any decent business practices. 

Even on foreclosures the paperwork protects the banks.  The banks don't have to disclose water damage that will most likely cause mold problems.  The consumer doesn't know it has happened.  Health problems may arise because the banks don't have to disclose it. And they are not going too.

Then many of the banks are not good neighbors.  They do the minimum to keep up the house when they get it through foreclosure causing neighbors grief.  They have even started a website to push the banks to clean up the properties.

Unfortunately it is the same old, same old.   Take our tax money, send their executives on nice junkets, travel in corporate jets.   But they give people the run around on doing loan modifications or refinancing.  I know first hand.  I have had friends call banks to work out a deal.  They call 4 or 5 times get shuffled around and get no results.  I know people that have great credit but can't refi because the home no longer appraises. Do you think any banks are refiing those good borrowers.  Have they gone out of their way to help them.  No they haven't!!!!

Our tax dollars should have not gone to the banks directly, it should have gone to a fund to restructure the mortgages directly.  Not into a million dollar renovation for some executive office, or some executives bonus.  How can they say they are not using our money for the junkets.  If they were in financial straits they would have cut the junkets and bonuses out.  But because we the taxpayer bailed them out it is "business as usual"

Banks are cherry picking loans.  They are charging borrowers more even if they have "good Credit". They want the "excellent credit borrowers".  Those are the only people getting great rates.  The "good credit people" are paying more for their loans. 

Screw being a good neighbor, a responsible firm that cares about their clients and the community they serve.  The banks have shown they don't care.  I myself have moved some of my money to smaller credit unions that serve the community better.

So Mr & Mrs. Foreclosure feel free to take all the property out of your home.  Let the bank take the loss.  Just be sure to sell it or put it to good use.  Don't destroy the property just for vindictiveness.    

That's just my thoughts.   I apologize for my Sunday morning vent but it is a shame the way the banks are acting on our dime 

It is a buyers market in the Metro Detroit Suburbs so banks are having to price Detroit area foreclosures competitively if they want to sell them.  There are lots of home deals out there.

Many Michigan foreclosures are in need of repair.  You have to remember that if the former homeowner couldn't pay the mortgage they were not going to put money into the house.  Many times they let it go and sometimes even trashed it.  It is not unusual to have to have the house completely repainted or re-carpeted.  That is why some Metro Detroit foreclosures are priced so cheaply. 

       Stained Carpeting is not unusual                         Damaged Walls

                                    Missing electrical and plumbing fixtures are common too!!!

Even once in a while there is a beautiful foreclosed home at a great price but it most likely will get multiple offers within 2 days of going on the market.  Then I would bet that it will sell at list price or higher.  The homes that are trashed will sit on the market and you may even be able to pick them up below the list price.

 Search Metro Detroit foreclosures- here are the latest list of bargain homes by city

Or if you are tired of missing out on the great Metro Detroit foreclosure deals.... You only find out about them after they are sold.  Then sign up for my VIP Metro Detroit foreclosure emails.  I will set it up that you can receive daily emails of the latest Metro Detroit foreclosures in your area.  Whether you want to buy a Redford Foreclosure or a Northville foreclosurethe latest foreclosures will be in your inbox that day. 

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