Weekly Market Update - Howell – February 22, 2016

Inventory is at the lowest point of the year.  Since last week, time on market has increased a bit to 109 days, average price per square foot is $127.  There were 12 solds last week and 13 new listings, but there were also some expired and withdrawn listings that had a negative impact on overall inventory.

You can get a copy of last week's new listings and some Year To Date sales info for the Howell homes market here.  If you want to watch my video report on the Howell realestate market, click here.

If you would like me to determine your home's value, please visit here.

Blood Drive - Brighton MI - March 4 2016

Looking for an opportunity to give blood?  Of course you are!  Who isn't?  My office is having a blood drive on Friday, March 4th from 11 am - 4:45 pm.

You can schedule an appointment by using the Red Cross Blood Donor app, by scheduling through http://www.redcrossblood.org (use sponsor code PREVIEW), or by calling 800-733-2767.

Each donation you make can help or save up to three people.

What’s My Home Worth?

What's My Howell Home Worth?

Everybody wonders about their home’s real value.  I have and I’ll bet you have, too.  So how do you find out? 

Let’s say you just want a number, no pesky real estate agents looking for a listing, something free, something easy.  Hmm, there’s a lot of free stuff on the internet, start there!  And yes, you can get a number without too much trouble, but what if it’s incorrect? (It often is, by the way.)

Too high and you’ll be disappointed if you try to sell it alone (for sale by owner), refinance (refi) or take out an equity loan.  Too low and you’ll feel sad, perhaps even depressed.  So what’s the answer?

Unless you’re in a really small neighborhood, you can keep track of the home listings and their sale prices.  That’s OK, but what if those properties are bigger, smaller, older, newer, a different architecture or on a better or worse lot?  What if your home has updates and the others don’t?  Or vice-versa.  That’s the problem with ‘free’ valuations from a large real estate aggregator site.  (Aggregator sites collect data from all over and put into one location.)  And there are plenty of them out there. They’re wildly inaccurate in many cases.

Real estate professionals have access to tools other than just the MLS.  Sadly, many agents ignore them, are afraid of them, don’t want to take the time and effort to learn them, or just think the old ways are still OK.  They don’t do their clients justice and they don’t do themselves justice, either.

Two Great Ways to Determine Your Home’s Worth

• ·      Have a LOCAL full-time real estate agent out to look at your house.  Do your homework, too.  Have a list of capital improvements for the last 10 years (think new roof, new furnace, additions, remodeled kitchen or bath – NOT carpet and paint). Energy saving improvements are also helpful to know.

• ·      The other way costs you.  Hire an appraiser. If you do this, please, again, use a local appraisal company. They are ‘invested’ in their own community. They know things that out of area appraisers won’t, and they’ll likely respond quicker. 

Whether it’s an agent or an appraiser, they should take the time to walk through your home and around the outside.  Hopefully, they’ll drive through the neighborhood, too, even if they’ve been there before.  All of these things are important to getting to the right value.

If you’re just curious, go the internet aggregator route (think “Z”, “T”, or any number that begin with “H”).  Just don’t lose sleep over a low number or max out your credit cards based on a high number.  If you’re thinking of selling you’ll definitely want to talk with an agent or an appraiser. That’s how you really find out what your house is worth.

If you’re local to me (Livingston, west Oakland, north Washtenaw Counties), I’d be happy to give you a well-explained and documented opinion that will tell you what your house is worth. You can reach me through email or my facebook page. And don’t forget to ask me about my ‘Marketing Edge’ plan.

Howell Home Photo Credit - Robert Smith

53rd Annual Livingston County Home & Garden Show, April 2016.

I know it's tough to think about a home and garden show with cold weather and snow, but get ready for Livingston County's Home & Garden Show in early April, at the Howell High School Fieldhouse.

This is the 53rd (yes - 53rd!) Livingston County Home & Garden Show, and it will run from Friday, April 8th through Sunday, April 10th.  Vendors are still being accepted, but typically there are 200+ at this event.

Cost is $6 adult, $5 senior (60 and up), and children and students accompanied by an adult are FREE.

One of the highlights is the 'Taste of Livingston' on Saturday, the 9th from 11:30 am - 3:00 pm in the Howell High School cafeteria. Tickets are $0.75 each, or a strip of 10 for just $7.

Kids' Zone each day, a Gardening Booth, free paper shredding, a fine arts show, and a neighborhood resource display, too.  

Get more info at: http://livingstoncountyhomeshow.com/ and plan to drop by!

New South Lyon Real Estate Update 2-15-16

Here's the quick update for South Lyon real estate.  Check out my video, complete with a discussion of the median home sale, here.

Inventory remains low at 211 units.  In the last week there were 14 new listings (low, also) and 8 sales.  The sales were completed in an average of 41 days!  Folks, that's blistering fast. The average sales price was $253,262 or $132/sq ft, pretty much normal for the South Lyon area.  

You can download the pdf of the 14 new listings here if you wish.  And buyers, contact me for a free home buying workshop.  One-on-one service and you'll get a great ebook as reference, too.

Howell Real Estate Update - Valentine's Day Issue

It's Sunday, February 14th - Valentine's Day!  The current inventory is 244 units.  YTD in the Howell area we've had 80 properties sold and in the last 7 days, 8 have sold at an average price of $212,306. That's $100/sq ft. They were on the market for an average of only 41 days!

We saw 21  new properties come on the market in those same 7 days,  There are 9 rentals available via the MLS, but most rentals don't go in the MLS, so you'll have to do some leg work to find that perfect rental you're looking for.

Call me if you'd like a personalized, 1-1 Home Buying workshop. You get my free ebook at the end as a bonus.

Feel free to watch this week's video update here.  You can download this week's 21 new listings here.

Weekly South Lyon Real Estate Market Feb 09, 2016

The South Lyon area is mostly in Oakland County, but parts of it range into northeast Washtenaw and southeast Livingston Counties, too.

Inventory in the South Lyon area continue to decline, we're now at 216 units.

There were 17 new listings in the last 7 days (click here to get them in a pdf file). You can see my video report here.

In the last 7 days, there were 6 sold residential properties (detached homes and condominiums), averaging a sales price of $303,528, or $132/sq ft.  These 6 homes sold in an average of 51 days!  Remarkable when you consider that it takes 30-40 days to close a conventional or FHA mortgage. That means these homes are going under contract in the first 10 days on the market.

There is a lot of new construction in the South Lyon area, and builders often only place one model in the MLS, so there's likely more than what is showing for inventory.  But builders are still not putting up 'spec' houses, preferring to get buyers under contract before they start to build.

Buyers - don't hesitate. Be sure you're working with an agent that can get you into homes quickly or they will be gone.  If you're interested and not working with an agent yet, I have a great workshop that we can do one-on-one that will answer most of your questions.  Even 'experienced' buyers will learn a thing or two from this session.

Sellers - your competition will NEVER be lighter than right now.  DO NOT WAIT UNTIL SPRING to list unless it's absolutely necessary.  At this time of year there are fewer buyers that are 'tire kickers' and more that are SERIOUS.

Follow my facebook page to see local real estate news, tips on buying, selling, decorating and home maintenance and more!   http://www.facebook.com/MichiganRE

Howell Real Estate Update February 8, 2016

Near Downtown Howell

The active Howell inventory is 239 units (detached homes and condominiums).

In the last 7 days there were 17 new listings and 11 sold.  For the sold properties, the average price per square foot was $114, a typical number for Howell.  These homes were on the market for just 62 days from date of listing to date of closing, not very long when you consider the average closing takes 30-45 days.  The average sales price was $181,195.

Sellers - DON'T WAIT FOR SPRING UNLESS IT'S ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY.  Right now with the lower inventory your home will get noticed faster and at this time of year the buyers tend to be serious, not tire-kicking.  If you're thinking about selling, please interview me so I can tell you about my 'Buyer's Edge' program.  Just curious about your home's value?  Contact me anonymously and obligation free at http://goo.gl/LiQjYb.

Buyers - Work with a full-time real estate pro to get into these homes as quickly as you can or they may be under contract, especially in the $225,000 and under price ranges.  I offer a buyer's workshop that is great for first-time buyers, but is also useful as a refresher for folks that have purchased a home in the past.  Rules and regulations are changing even though you may not see it.  It's best to be prepared and not leave things to chance.  Want to get the newest listings immediately?  Contact me and let's chat for a few moments so I can set you up with a great search that will email you once a day, once a week, or every time a new listing hits the market that matches your search needs.

See this week's video report at:  http://goo.gl/WZzah0

photo credit - Robert Smith, Realtor

Groundhog Day Howell Style

For 17 years, the Howell Nature Center in Marion Township has had its own ‘Groundhog Day’.  The reigning groundhog prognosticator is Woody.  Woody has been named as Michigan’s official groundhog, by the way.  And the laurels don’t stop there.

This will be the 18^th year that the Howell Nature Center has a groundhog forecast regarding an early spring or a longer winter.  Thus far, forecasts have been accurate 13 out of 17 times!  That’s a whopping correct answer more than 75% of the time. Compare that to the most famous groundhog weather predictor, Punxsutawney Phil, who’s correct just under 40% of the time.  Woody sounds like a ringer!

Woody is actually a female groundhog. Legend states that if she leaves her house and stays out for 30 seconds or more there will be an early spring.  If she doesn’t emerge or runs back in under 30 seconds we have six more weeks of winter in store.  She runs back in because she sees her shadow and becomes scared.

As a side note, last year Woody was ‘under the weather’ (excuse the pun) and there was a stand in, Murray, who gave an incorrect weather forecast.

Woody today predicted that we will have six more weeks of winter!  Woody didn’t even come out of her house.  And this just in – Punxsutawney Phil did not see his shadow so Phil’s predicting an early spring.  Who’s right?  Time will tell.

The Howell Nature Center really does a great job with this event.  There’s a Continental Breakfast and a kids’ costume contest before the 8:15 prediction.  There was also a pancake breakfast this past Saturday where the public could meet Woody before her big day.  And Woody has a degree of fame that goes beyond Howell and the State of Michigan, too.  She’s listed by the Weather Channel as #11 of the top 11 groundhog forecasters in the country. Who’s number 1?  Yup, you guessed it, Punxsutawney Phil.

A groundhog named Woody, you wonder?  Groundhogs and woodchucks are the same animal, so technically it’s Woody the woodchuck.  But this is groundhog day, so we’ll call her Woody the groundhog.

People have used woodchucks to forecast an early spring or longer winter since 1886, when the editor of the Punxsutawney Spirit newspaper reported that local groundhogs had not seen their shadows that day, and it indicated an early spring.  This legend may be based on some European beliefs that badgers and hedgehogs can provide signals to the future. In Pennsylvania, the closest thing to a badger or hedgehog looks like a groundhog.

Woodchucks are considered true hibernators and they do typically ‘wake up’ in early February, so there is some basis for the legend, after all.

Image courtesy of google-listed as free to reuse

South Lyon Market Update Week of Feb 1, 2016

Here's this week's market update for the South Lyon area.

Inventory - 222 units

New Listings last 7 days - 24

Sold last 7 days - 11

For the 11 solds, the average sales price was $293,182 which turns out to be $150/sq ft.  This is higher than typical and the data is skewed by an $800,000 sale.  The 11 solds were on the market for an average of 86 days.

There are 12 rentals available in the multilist (MLS), but remember that apartments, property managers and many individual landlords/investors do not use the multilist, either.  There are more rentals out there, but you can't find them all in one place like you do with homes for sale.

My take on this week's South Lyon market update?  Sellers  - This is a good time to beat the competition and get that home listed. Don't wait until Spring.  South Lyon is a particularly good area for new construction, but existing homes sell well, too.

Buyers - be sure you have a solid pre-approval, then start working with a full-time real estate pro.  You'll want to get into new listings quickly, and be prepared to write that offer without delay, or risk being disappointed.  Inventory is lighter this time of year, especially in the lower priced homes ($250K and under).  Interest rates did not take the small 'bump' most industry observers expected after the Fed raised rates in December 2015, but this may be more due to a robust bond market as stocks have dropped.  Mortgage rates are much more affected by bonds than they are by the stock market.

I hope you find this week's South Lyon market update interesting.  If you have questions about the South Lyon area, or Michigan real estate in general, please give me a call at 810-220-1478.

Howell Real Estate Activity Feb 1 - 2016

This week’s Howell real estate market update shows 249 units of inventory (detached single family homes and condos).  There were 24 new listings in the last 7 days, more than we’ve seen since before Thanksgiving.  Sellers – there is great buyer activity out there. Do not wait until Spring to list.  You’ll have much more competition and it’ll be harder to get noticed.  Recent open house are showing a lot of buyer activity, too, many who have selected specific houses to match their needs.

There were 8 properties sold in the last 7 days at an average sales price of $206,488 or at $106/sq ft.  The average time on market for these sales was 88 days (time from list to sale), shorter than I would have thought.

The MultiList System (MLS) has 10 units for lease/rent.  Remember there is no ‘one stop shopping’ for rental property.  Most landlords don’t use the MLS.  Apartments do their own marketing, too, so there’s plenty of rental properties out there, you just have to hunt for them.

Click here to get a pdf file of this week’s new listings.  Check out my video update here.

Feel free to call with general Michigan real estate questions, too.  810-220-1478.