Livingston County Hazardous Waste Collection Days 2015

Livingston County has announced its dates for household hazardous waste collection.  Two sites will be in operation. One in Howell at 418 S. Highlander Way, 48843 (parking lot of Animal Control), and one in the Brighton/Green Oak Township area, in the parking lot just to the west of the Green Oak Fire Hall, Grand River and Alan Dr.

Appointments are REQUIRED and can be made by calling 517-545-9609. The dates are May 9^th (Howell), August 15^th (Green Oak) and October 10^th (Howell).  They are all Saturdays and the times are 9am – noon on those dates.

Automotive fluids, all kinds of batteries, wood stain, CFL bulbs, aerosol cans and much more can be properly disposed of at these collection events.  Please see theposting and click on the flyer for complete details. 

Again, they will not collect your materials unless you have an appointment, so make the call.  The environment thanks you!

Livingston County Home And Garden Show

Spring must be here, it’s almost time for the Livingston County Home and Garden Show again.  The venue is the Howell High School Field House and the dates are April 10-12, 2015.  Admission prices are $6 for adults, $5 for seniors and children and students free.

So what’s on tap this year?  To start with, over 200 exhibitors for décor and home improvement items and services.  As always, the Taste of Livingston will run Saturday only from 11:30 am until 3:00 pm in the Howell HS Cafeteria.  Expect the best offerings of the County. Taste tickets are $0.75 each or a strip of 10 for $7.00 – and it will let you sample the food from restaurants you may not have yet patronized.

On a budget?  Is there a deal for you!  Be one of the first 50 in line Friday and get in for free!  If you’re one of the first 500 in the door on Friday OR Sunday, you’ll get a free car wash voucher from the Howell Soft Cloth Car Wash on Michigan Ave, north of I-96. 

Have some old sensitive docs to shred?  Bring ‘em along on Saturday from 10:00am – 2:00pm and they’ll be shredded for free, courtesy of Corrigan Record Storage.  St. Joseph Mercy Health System will be doing free health screenings at that time, too.

There’s also a Fine Arts Show and a Community Resource Fair that runs all three days, so there’s plenty to see and do at the Livingston County Home and Garden Show!  For complete info, see their web site at:  http://www.livingstoncountyhomeshow.com/index.htm.

image courtesy of Howell Chamber of Commerce

It's A Zombie World

I’ll admit it, I don’t get zombies.  Oh, I know what they are, uh, what they are supposed to be. I watched the original ‘Night of the Living Dead’ back in the late 60’s, the movie that put zombies on the map.  Of course, there were some 1950’s B-grade horror movies that also delved into zombies, mostly in Haiti, and the plot was always tied to Voodoo.   Now, everybody is into zombies, and in a BIG way – even in real estate.

What’s that you say? Real estate?  Sure.  Just yesterday I had two zombie articles cross my news feeds.  The first was an ebay listing for a small town in southern Georgia that is for sale for $680,000.  It happens to be where the television program “The Walking Dead” is filmed.  That show is about survivors of the apocalypse that find themselves in a world inhabited by – zombies. 

The second article was about a company in the UK that is building ‘zombie-proof’ log cabins.  Extra-thick interlocking logs, barbed wire, slit windows – ain’t no zombies getting in here! It even has a zombie sniper deck.  You, too, can own a ZFC-1 structure for just $110,000. 

Reading these items, I remembered seeing something recently from none other than the Center for Disease Control (CDC). They put together an entertaining, comic book-style document that shows what you should have to survive an emergency.  It’s titled “Preparedness 101: Zombie Pandemic”.  Apparently the steps you would take to survive zombies works for other disasters, too! The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) got into it, too, by cross-promoting the CDC  document.  Surviving zombies goes along with their ‘shelter in place’ advice for natural disasters, it seems.

Zombies are considered to be mindless and unthinking and prey upon the living.  Is there another real estate-zombie analogy here somewhere?

For more info on zombies, see the Wikipedia entry.

image courtesy of CDC

Livingston County Museums - Part 2

Here is Part 2 of my post on Livingston County museums.  The first post had three venues, as does this one.  If you happen to find one that I missed, please send me the information. I'd love to include it in a future post. 

The Howell Depot Museum.  Unfortunately, this museum is closed in the winter months.  When it's open it has a replica of a general store and the station master's office.  Hand-operated signal equipment, old telegraphy equipment, artifacts from WW I and WWII and some of the original rail sidings are still there, too.  Next time you're in downtown for a festival or Farmer's market, stop by and check it out.  They have both a website and a facebook page.

The Refrigeration Research Museum is just a couple of blocks outside of downtown Brighton.  If refrigeration is your game, this is the place to see, but you'll need to schedule an advance appointment.  Their exhibits trace the history of mechanical refrigeration from the early days (1890-ish) to around 1960.   They do have a website to help you plan your visit.

The Arthur Secunda Museum. Billed as the 'largest display of public art in Livingston County', and I believe it.  Secunda's striking graphic images are often reproduced in different palettes and placed adjacent to each other, some on paper that he made himself. This is no quick walk-through, either. Open weekdays, 9am-6pm and some Saturdays (but call ahead). It's located in the Chrysler Building at Cleary College in Genoa Township (Howell Campus).  Not sure who Secunda is? Do your research on this Detroit-born man and one of Michigan's most prolific artists.  The museum has both a website and a facebook page to make that a little easier.

Starter Homes Not Being Built?

It does seem that builders are going with more mid- to upper-price ranged homes.  This article is a national snapshot, but there’s no doubt that the increase in material and labor costs and the shortage of skilled tradesmen is having an effect.  And vacant land prices are rebounding, too.

I’ve seen build jobs routinely go over the estimate and small, local builders can find it challenging to get construction loans for their clients, although that is getting better, too.  How much is one reason and how much another?  I’m not sure it really matters. 

I believe that a lot of folks are still not confident in the economy even though the major indicators are looking good, interest rates are staying low (for now), and the stock market is doing very well.  What are your thoughts?

Good News For Michigan's Housing Market

We're seeing it more and more. In the newspapers, local news broadcasts, hearing it on the radio.  As an example, today's Detroit Free Press has an article titled, "Michigan home prices rose 9% in January vs. 2014."  And here in Livingston County, we've been outperforming most other SE Michigan geographical areas.  What does it all mean, though?

Well, first, things are looking up.  But temper that with some reality.  The same article notes that our home prices are still 17.3% off their peak from 2005.  Yes, we have more new construction, and at least here in Livingston County, it's still a seller's market if your home is under $350,000 in value.  But what does that mean, exactly?

In the real estate industry, we consider the supply of homes under 6 months inventory to be a seller's market, over a buyer's market. Six months is a 'balanced' market. We get those figures by taking the average number of sales over the last 12 months and dividing it into the current inventory.  If 600 homes have sold in the last 12 months, 600/12 = 50 per month.  Let's say the inventory is 300 homes.  300 homes on market/50 sales per month average = a 6 month supply, or a balanced market.  We can break this down by price ranges, municipal areas and the like. 

Even if you're area and price range are in a seller's market status, that doesn't mean you can go crazy with the price.  Generally speaking, if you overprice by as little as 3% it will affect the number of showings you get.  Just 5% over priced may be the difference between a few showings and no showings.  How does that happen? 

Education.  Buyers are constantly looking at homes on the internet.  All of the listings come from the local MLS, but different sites (called portals by some) have better search features or education articles.  Buyers have an almost intuitive feel for when a property is overpriced because they've been looking at every 3 bedroom, 2 bath ranch between 1600-2000 sq ft in the area they like for months. Try asking $250,000 for a home that others sell for $220,000 and you'll be waiting for a while. 

So, yes, things are improving and the news is mostly good in comparison to where we've been.  But you still need a competent professional to assist you with your sale or purchase.  Remember that a real estate transaction is one of the biggest you will make in your life. Trust a full-time real estate professional.

image courtesy of ddpavumba/freedigitalphotos.net

Livingston County Museums

If you've been in Livingston County for a while, you're familiar with the number of museums in the Ann Arbor area - just about 30 minutes away.  But did you know about some of the local museums right here in Livingston County?  I have six to share with you, but I'll post three today and three next week.  In alphabetical order they are:

The Aeronca Aircraft History Museum.  Even some pilots in the area don't know about this online-only museum, which began in 2010.  Aeronca was the first company to build a commercially successful general aviation aircraft. They also built a popular trainer aircraft during WW II and some observation planes, too. These days, Aeronca builds components for large companies like Boeing, Airbus, Lockheed and Northrop Grumman. Their website has a large amount of pictures, schematics, manuals, videos and yes, apparel for sale.  They also have a great facebook page, too.  Contact them by facebook, email or the listed phone number.

The Florence B. Dearing Museum in Hartland.  Located right in the heart of the village, this museum is located in the old Township Hall. It's named for the Cromaine librarian that started the collection of items representing the history of the Hartland area. Operated by the Hartland Area Historical Society, hours are irregular. They can be contacted via their web site or facebook page.

The Hamburg Historical Museum. Located in a building that dates back to the 1850's, they thought they were losing their building a few years ago, but an arrangement was made with the Hamburg Township Historical Society, the Hamburg Township Board of Trustees and the Hamburg Township Library Board to save this museum. They operate a tea room, a 'Basement Treasures' gift shop and a model train area.  An active fundraiser is called 'Raise The Roof' to replace an old section of flat roofing.  This is a fairly new museum, too, started in 2004. Check out their facebook page.

Most of the museums are looking for new members and volunteers.  If you have an interest, contact them through their respective web sites.

Next week, I'll finish off with the Howell Depot Museum, the Refrigeration Research Museum, and the Arthur Secunda Museum.  If I've missed a Livingston County museum, please send the information to me and I'll recognize it, too.

Aeronca logo courtesy Wikipedia
Hartland logo courtesy Florence B. Dearing Museum facebook page