Farmington Hills Real Estate and Events talk Michigan

Wouldn't you like to put your advertising out to at least 10,000 people a month?  And wouldn't you like to do it cheaply.  So how would you go about it?  Where to spend your money to get those kind of numbers?  I mean after all sooner or later somebody is going to contact you if you are reaching out with a good message and good information.

This is sort of an Active Rain success story.  Why I said 40,000 people a month, that is what my two websites and blogging me are bringing me a month in readership.   This number might be a little off because some people are reading the blogs and then going to my websites.  Right now I am getting about 500 people a day reading my Active Rain blog.  For the last 3 months I have been getting 20,000 people a month going to my Livonia real estate and Wayne County real estate website.  Then I am getting about 150 to 200 people a day reading my blog on my blog website Metro Detroit real estate.

And this is from a 50 year old guy that never was really into the computer 3 years ago!  I had no expertise or special knowledge.  What I am saying is that anybody in any business can improve their business by becoming internet saavy and blogging.  BLOGGING WORKS, ACTIVE RAIN WORKS.

Honestly I would probably have gotten out of the business if I had not become involved with Active Rain.  Thousands of other real estate agents in my area have.  Even some big producers.  I had a website but it gave me little if any leads.  But over the last year and a half I am getting a lot of leads.  Somedays I get 3 leads.  Sure some of them are junk but I am getting leads off my site.  I'm not buying leads from somebody else.  I built my own lead source.

So here is the steps you need to take to build your own lead machine

1. Start blogging about your local area using keywords you want to be found by
2. Get a website with IDX (MLS search) feature and it should have the ability for you to add pages and be easily adapted for lead capture.
3. Read about SEO, internet marketing here on Active rain.  There are lots of groups with great informational posts.
4. Build landing pages on your website
5. Build back links to your site through adding directories, blogging, joining the blog carnival etc
6. Hyperlink back to your site through those key words and land on those landing page (lead capture pages)  People do sign in.
7. Give good free information about real estate, your local area, and be nice.

Hey.   I'm not the best writer.  My grammar and punctuation is poor.  I'm just a "C+" writer.  Sometimes my blogs are not interacting, they sometimes are just too bland.  Really some of my blogs are boring informational stuff.  But it is "stuff" that somebody in the area or moving to the area might want to know about.  I don't put a lot of pictures on my blogs.  I'm not a English major or win any of the contest here on Active Rain.  I don't get many featured articles either.  I'm not one of the "stars" here.  And by far I'm not a expert, or have the knowledge like some of the people here on the rain.  But I am consistent and I keep plugging away.

But my blogging is a success.   Whatever business you are in it can help your business.  It brings me leads and qualified buyers and sellers.  And it has brought me friends on Active Rain.  If this "average joe" can do it so can you.

Feel free to call or email me with questions.

Russ Ravary just your average Metro Detroit Realtor who blogs 

One of the biggest real estate myths is "there is a perfect house out there for you".

Let's set the record straight there is no perfect house.  Sure the house may be in the right location, have the beautiful kitchen you want but the rest of the house may need work.  Or the house may be in the school system you want, have the right layout, but not have the right "wow" factor for you.

Every house will have at least one issue that isn't right for you.  Whether you are a first time home buyer or seasoned home buyer you want that perfect house.  What I tell people "close" or 4 out of 5 wants is good.  No house is perfect.

To illustrate my point I have an older couple I have been showing houses to in Plymouth now and then over the last three months.  We were close once but their kids came over and looked at the house and shot it down.  That was fine, the house required too much work in the kids view.  Which I could agree with.

Last week we found another 50 year old Plymouth house.  It is relatively good shape.  Roof is only 12 years old, breaker electrical box, copper plumbing, and decent looking kitchen.  Probably was updated 20 years ago.  They called the kids in again.  Now these kids are good at finding potential problems.  I would hire them as inspectors myself.  They point out things I don't notice and I notice quite a few things.

They found a few water spots on the ceiling in a front bedroom.  The two different sets of kids were talking.  So how's the house over all the mother asked.  The one brother said I'm worried about the water spots.  But the other brother said the magic words.  The house is in good shape.  The house is over 50 years old and NO HOUSE IS PERFECT.   YOU WON'T FIND ONE THAT IS.  YOU CAN LOOK FOREVER AND YOU WILL NEVER FIND ONE THAT IS  MOM.  

He was right.  He wasn't discounting the water spots.  He wants them checked out and fixed if necessary.  But he wasn't will to throw out the house choice because it had a few issues.

I have another couple that have looked on and off for a year in Northville.  Now they are looking for a perfect house.  We are having talks every time we go out about there is no perfect house.  At first they wanted a nice updated house, with certain colored cabinets, with hardwood floors, with good feng shui, with bedrooms facing south, not on a corner, in a certain price range, a good deal, and on and on.

Unfortunately they have passed up on some tremendous bargains and some beautiful homes.  They have actually lost out on homes that sold in a week because they were totally updated and under priced.  A shame.  One was turned down because the bedrooms didn't face the right way.  They still would like to have some of the items, but I think they finally get it.  I think they are going to make an offer on a LESS THAN PERFECT HOME.

More Metro Detroit home buyer tips

Search Livonia homes for sale and all of the Metro Detroit area homes for sale

Russ Ravary your Metro Detroit realtor

  The Metro Detroit real estate market home values have dropped dramatically.  Homes in Detroit and any city that borders Detroit have lost a lot of value.  I would say many of Detroit's good suburbs have lost 35 -40% of the home value.  The homes in cities that border Detroit, Detroit itself, and other marginal cities have lost 50% or more in home value.

You can point out the "rough" cities or "less than prime areas" in Metro Detroit just by looking at the home value drop.  When I say less than prime or rough areas I would say the areas that insurance has higher rates in, where the police are called more often.  The working class neighborhoods.  The areas the perception is where some people think the area is going to get worse instead of better.  

These suburban areas outside of Detroit a few years back you found a few houses for under a $100,000 but 90% of the homes sold for more than a $100,000.  Now you can find decent homes for $25,000 and nice brick homes for as little as $50 - $60,000.

And I wouldn't myself call these bad areas.  If I was a young guy just starting out I would buy a home there in a heart beat.  I bought that way when I was young.   And I made out when I sold it.   Sure some of them don't have the absolute top notch schools but they have good school systems that will give your child the education they need to get into college or survive in life.  The teachers and administrators care.

There are a lot of opportunities to buy homes and have payments less than what people pay for rent.  That is what I like.  It makes financial sense.  Sooner or later these homes will be worth a $100,000 again.  Sure it may be 15 years but who cares. 

You own the home!  You are building equity instead of putting into the landlord's pocket.   You are getting a tax deduction.  Those are the benefits.  And you have the chance of greater appreciation than some other cities. 

Whether it is Warren, Oak Park, Dearborn Heights, Wayne, Redford, Livonia, Taylor, Romulus, Lincoln Park, Wyandotte, Redford, East Pointe. There are some great deals in Metro Detroit real estate under $60,000

• under $50,000
• under $40,000

So who cares if it is not a hoity-toity neighborhood.  Blue-collar, working class homes in neighborhoods around Metro Detroit are a bargain right now.  Feel free to call or email me with any questions.   

Search Metro Detroit Homes for sale and get the latest foreclosures emailed to you daily, weekly, or monthly.

Russ Ravary your Metro Detroit Realtor. 

I apologize in advance to all the out of country investors that want to buy Metro Detroit foreclosures.  Whether you are from Australia, England, India, or Sweden Detroit's not the place for you to put your money.

Call it what you will, but I call it ethics.  I am making a ethical decision, not to help out of country investors buy homes here in Detroit.  I know it is not feasibly possible to be a competent real estate investor from thousands of miles away.  I don't believe you can comprehend the Detroit real estate market, all it's problems and issues from talking or reading about it.   So how can I ethically sell a house that I think will be a bad investment for you. 

I myself would not invest in it.  So how can I promote it to you and make money off selling you a property that I feel you will lose money on.  I don't have issues with buyers that come here and see the properties.   I don't have problems selling to in-state investors that will be hands on.  If the out of state investors are buying 10 or 20 homes then I think it may be feasible to make money and if they come into the state to look after their properties at least once a year.  In the last month I have helped people by a $2000, a $6500, and a $12,000 Detroit foreclosure.  But they live here, they are hands on.  Even then it is tough to make money on.  Some of those people may fail at it.  But they truly know all the pitfalls.  They have seen the problems first hand.

Detroit is a very rough and tough real estate market not for novices, not for out-of-country investors that have been hyped up on $100 foreclosures or cheap real estate in Detroit.

That $100 house is a money pit,  That $10,000 Detroit foreclosure may have a $4000 annual property tax bill.  That Detroit home will most likely be vandalized at some point when it is empty.  They steal furnaces, hot water heaters, and even the copper plumbing.  Why last night on the news they showed fire fighters taking a screen door from a vacant home.  Sad but true and those fire fighters probably will never be disciplined or brought to court for their suspected theft.  This is Detroit.  They will strip the house when it is vacant.

Don't just wire me money to buy you some great Detroit deals.  Don't expect to make a wise investment that way.  I have read a couple of stories on MSN and Yahoo news about people buying Detroit foreclosures.  I feel sorry for them.  It's like the media are the con men sucking these investors in.  Detroit foreclosures are now almost like swamp land in Florida in the 1940's and 1950's. 

I unfortunately won't help you get seperated from your hard earned money, if you want to buy Detroit foreclosures.  Please send your money to a charity and get a tax deduction.  You will be happy you did instead of investing in a Detroit foreclosure.  Especially if you are going to buy one or two homes under $5000.  If you are from out of the country as much as we can use your money here don't be crazy, keep your money. 

My motto has always been "invest in what you know and in an area you know".  Research it to death so you can make a sound decision.

As much as it is my job to sell real estate.... I want to sleep at night.   I want customers that will be happy with the homes they buy in years to come.  So sorry out of country investors I'm not the metro Detroit real estate agent for you.

                                               Russ Ravary your metro Detroit real estate agent

Northville MI Photos

Here's a little pictorial of Northville in Wayne County MI.  If you are thinking of relocating to Michigan and thinking of buying Northville real estate come explore from the seat of your computer.

      The clock tower across the Marquis Theater                       

                             looking North on Main Street

   Northville is all American old tyme downtown.  They still have free music for it residents.

Need to eat or have a drink.  There are lots of different restaurants in downtown Northville there are 3 different Italian restaurants, A Mongolian barbecue, a Japanese Sushi restaurants, a high end American restaurant, 3 beer and burger places, a down home breakfast place, and a couple of cafes.

Wagon Wheel Bar                                             Little Italy Restaurant Northville MI

Northville MI has a long history of horse racing.  Northville Downs is still a good place to enjoy simulcast and live harness racing during session.   

Northville and Northville Twp are considered an affluent area of Wayne County.  If you have a Michigan relocation in your future check out Northville real estate, Northville foreclosures, and Northville homes for sale.

Click here if you would like to search Northville homes for sale or to get a personalized list of Northville homes for sale

Russ Ravary Northville Realtor

Today there was a news program on the nightly news about a Colonel I met when I was in the Army 25 years ago.  Boy the years have flown by.  There were two colonels I was really impressed with.  Colonel Silvasy and Colonel Howard.  They were commanders that lead by example.

I was attached to the Special Forces School in Ft. Bragg. I was a parachute rigger (I packed parachutes) for the trainees and instructors that were part of the school.  It was kind of a neat job because we got to jump out of all the different aircraft that the Special Forces used to jump out of.

We jumped out of small Twin Otter planes, all sorts of helicopters and of course the C-130's and C-141's.  I always said the C-141's were the best. You walked out the door and it was like being sucked out with a vacuum and then all of a sudden you were gently floating down.  Helicopter jumps I could never really get used to.  I always thought I was going to hit the runners underneath the helicopter.

Parachute jumps were neat. You just gently floated down and then suddenly the ground seemed to rush up at you.  We I jumped you usually went out at about 1100 -1200 and were in the air for about 22 seconds if I remember right.  (Remember that was 25 years ago,  it's hard to remember numbers from that long ago)

Well anyway back to my story.  Colonel Howard was a green beret in Vietnam. He was recommended three times for the medal of honor.  He was shot up pretty bad and survived.  From the story that I heard the Viet Cong had come in, looked at him laying there, and left him for dead.

                            He's the guy in the center.  He even looks tough there.

When I had met him he was like a living legend.  He was about 45 -50 years old and he was still going strong.  He used to load up his military back pack and hike to the schools training grounds. It was about 20 miles away.  Now remember he was a Colonel.  Nobody made him do this.  He could probably run about 80% of the trainees and instructors into the ground at the time.  He was a tough old coot even back then.

Seeing him on tv hunched over a little made me a think how lucky we are.   Colonel Howard is one of those guys that dedicated his life to the military to protect this country.  He was part of the unpopular war but he still did his duty.  He fulfilled his mission above and beyond what many people would do.  My hat's off to Colonel Howard.  I salute you and all the Medal of Honor winners.  May you and your families enjoy life together. 

I feel we are not aware of something we do all the time that may bite us in the rear if you are not careful.  What do you think it is?

We write comments on others peoples blogs.  You have to remember that this is another written record of how you feel about certain situations.  A written record of your personality.  A written record of who you are. 

Sooner or later a newspaper columnist or magazine may use the comments that we write as fodder for a news article. 

SO WHO ARE YOU REALLY?  If you are being rude, obnoxious, off in left field, or "not politically correct" this may come to the attention of a potential client.  Now I'm not advocating not standing up or being controversial.  Or not standing up for your beliefs, religious or otherwise.  BUT.......

One example I'll use is a story I heard on Active Rain where a gay couple was emailed and attacked because of their life style.  It was brought up publicly.  Whether you believe in their right to live together or not is not the issue.  Another story is about a guy who disliked Wal-Mart.  The issue is your public profile.  When profess your stand on certain issues, hostility toward a certain group or even a perceived perception of a certain race, or perceived class of people, or ethnic group it may lose you a client or a group of clients.

Let's say you don't like Obama's policies.....  are you willing to lose all the Democrats in your area?

• or if you pound the bible all the time........are you willing to lose people who have different beliefs?
• if you don't like Wal-Mart...........are you willing to lose the people who shop there?

The bottom line is that some readers, columnists and writers are members.  So members only posts are still open to the public.  Your comments are being read by everybody and it is part of your public persona.

So who are you really?

PS.  Besides reminding you that your comments or your perceived public attitude may show up in a newspaper.  I had to poke fun at Lenn with this picture.  Put your mouse over it and you will see what I mean.

Here is what is happening north of the city

Oakland County is located north of Detroit Michigan.  Oakland County is the fourth wealthiest county in the US with populations over 1 Million people.  Oakland County Michigan is also known as the lake county.  If you are relocating to Michigan and want to live on or near a lake, Oakland County may be the place for you.                                                         

Like all counties across the United States, Oakland County  has been hit hard by foreclosures.  Right now there over 1600 foreclosures for sale in the county. If you want to see what foreclosures are for sale in your city click on the cities below.

* Birmingham Foreclosures
* Bloomfield Foreclosures
* Commerce Twp Foreclosures
* Farmington Foreclosures
* Keego Harbor Foreclosures
* Northville Foreclosures
* Novi Foreclosures      
* South Lyon Foreclosures
* Southfield Foreclosures 
* West Bloomfield Foreclosures

If you don't see your city listed above join my VIP Metro Detroit foreclosure club and get the latest foreclosures emailed to you daily or weekly or just search Metro Detroit foreclosures any time you want!

Some people are saying now is not the right time to buy real estate in Metro Detroit.  If you have a solid job or think you have a solid job I think now is a great time to buy a home in Southeastern Michigan. 

Here are 3 reasons why I think it still is a good time to buy

• Michigan Mortgage interest rates are still low. 
• Large inventory of Metro Detroit homes for sale
• The $8000 first time homebuyer credit
• Fewer buyers competing for the house you want
• Home values in many cities are back to 1990 prices. 

But right now if you are a home buyer or an investor your time span you should be considering for a home in Metro Detroit is ten years.  You should not be plan on selling this home for at least 7 to 10 years.  This is not a market for short term thinking.  I don't think you should think about a five year time span to move.  Buy for the long term or don't jump into this real estate market.

It is a good time to buy if you think your job is secure and if you are buying for the long term.

More Wayne County home buying tips

Right now I am showing Canton homes to a young first time home buyers.  They have it in their mind to find this certain house.  They were looking with another Canton Realtor for six months before they called me.  They told me that the Canton Realtor wasn't showing them what they wanted to see.

Unfortunately I am in the same boat.  They want a house that is $50,000 out of their price range.  And what the want is more likely to be in Plymouth, Westland, Garden City, or Livonia than in Canton.  They are looking for a subdivision that has mature trees.  Trees that you get the whole yard full of shade.  Canton has a few subdivisions like that but not many.  Much of Canton was farm land.  So when the subdivisions were built they started planting trees.

Many trees are not very big.  These Metro Detroit home buyers want a big house in a subdivision with lots of trees.  So today I had to sit down with them and go over the issues they had.  I finally got it through their head that they were not going to find the house they want in their price range.  Nobody sat them down and really explained that what they wanted was not possible. ( at least in their price range)

So we re-established their criteria that would fit their goals.  They have decided to expand their city search to the cities I suggested.   Now they will have more home choices that will fit the big tree criteria.  And they agreed that they needed to be more realistic on thier home choices if they wanted to buy a house this year and get the 2009 first time home buyer credit.  I knew by bringing up the chance of them not getting the home buyer tax credit would make them realize that they needed to get more focused.

Sometimes you have to sit down with first time homebuyers and give them the truth.  It is then up to the first time home buyer to decide whether to accept the reality of metro Detroit's home choices in their price range.

For a indepth explanation of the $8000 first time home buyer tax credit.