6 Strategies To Sell A Home In Any Market

Regardless of the market, here are six strategies to help get your home sold. We are currently in a strong buyer's market, which means that there is more inventory than available buyers. In SE and Central Michigan, this has been caused partly by the decrease of employment in the auto manufacturing sector and subordinate tiers of suppliers, and partly by the credit crunch that is accompanying the spike of home foreclosures.

To sell a home in any market, there are certain broad factors to consider. Location, which you really can't change, won't be addressed.

1. Pricing is totally within your control. It's important to set your list price close to true market value. Market value is not what your refinance amount was 12 or 18 months ago. It's not what your neighbor's home sold for 8 months ago. It is truly what a ready, willing and able buyer will pay for it - RIGHT NOW. Your Realtor(R) can help you find that number by looking at recent sold data for comparable homes within a reasonable distance.

Price your home too high and you'll get few (or no) showings. And it's very possible that we'll see home values drop more through the first half of 2008, so getting a good read on the market is vital to getting you the most possible dollars for the sale of a home. Price it right at the start - don't 'experiment'.

Condition also plays a huge part in the value equation. You wouldn't pay as much for the same home if it were in poor repair, would you? Neither would anyone else.

2. Curb appeal is still very important. I admit that it's more difficult to have great curb appeal in the winter, but you can still get rid of the clutter in the front and side yards, keep the driveway and walks shoveled, and have an attractive porch. Don't under-estimated how curb appeal sets the stage for buyers.

3. Inside the home, it's very important to de-clutter and de-personalize the living space. Some people have a difficult time imaging their possessions in a house and making them side-step through rooms doesn't help one bit.

4. Neutral colors are still the best. While many people are now into vibrant colors or a wall of emphatic color, resist the urge. Stay neutral, but not stark, antispetic-looking white.

5. Stage your home. But don't do it yourself. Spend a few hundred dollars to have a professional come in and make the most of what you've got. They can also recommend neutral colors for repainting, so it pays dividends to have a home stager in early in the process. They often more than pay their way on resale amounts.

6. Choose the right Realtor(R). The most important things to look for are whether or not the sales agent is full-time or part-time, how familiar they are with your market area, and how busy they are in the marketplace. Remember that your real estate agent will be helping to guide you with price, appearance and negotiations. Find out what they'll be doing to market your home and how successful those tactivs have been in the past.

There are certainly no guarantees, but you want to have as much of an edge as possible. In the end, if you're not getting the number of showings that you need to generate a purchase offer, the price is not right. Condition will help a buyer to choose you over the competition, but you need a realistic price for your home to be seen in the first place.

Blood Drive - Preview Properties, Brighton - January 5, 2008

I'm proud to say that my office will be hosting a blood drive on Saturday, January 5, 2008, from 10am through 3:45 pm. Preview Properties is located at 130 W. Grand River (corner of St. Paul) in downtown Brighton.

Stop by and donate a pint! According to the American Red Cross of Livingston County's web site, last year they touched the lives of 1 in 3 people in the County, and provided 97% of blood needs to Livingston County hospitals.

Visit their web site for information on building a home disaster kit or get info on CPR and First Aid courses.

Livingston County Non-Smoking Restaurants

I recently received an inquiry about non-smoking restaurants from somebody new to the County. I told him about the ones that I knew of personally, and began to keep notes as I was out and about and added others that I've heard about through friends. Just a few years ago, you would have been hard pressed to find a single non-smoking restaurant in the area.

Here are the ones that made it to my list. If you know of any others,
please drop me a line and I'll add them as they arrive.

Brighton
Bagels & Bites, 5757 Whitmore Lake Rd, 810.220.2333
Big Apple Bagel & BAB's Deli, 8705 W Grand River Ave, 810.220.4512
Brighton Bar & Grill, 400 W Main St, 810.229.4115
Great China, 5757 Whitmore Lake Rd, 810.229.5577
Grecian Island, 9994 E Grand River, 810.229.3101
Ocean Gardens Chinese, 8028 Grand River, 810.229.8888
Panera Bread, 8365 W Grand River, 810.225.0870
Red Robin, 8522 W Grand River, 810.534.1000
Scalawag's Whitefish & Chips, 5757 Whitmore Lake Rd, 810.229.1700
Thai Express, 114 W Grand River, 810.225.3656
Yum Yum Tree, 140 W Main St, 810.227.7780

Fowlerville
China Gourmet, 175 W Van Riper, 517.223.3800
Fowlerville Farms, 941 S Grand, 517.223.3488

Hartland
New Asia Chinese Restaurant, 10030 Highland Rd, 810.632.3288
Waldenwoods Resort, 2975 2975 Old US.23, 810.632.6400

Howell
Bob Evan's Restaurant, 3880 E Grand River, 517.540.0658
Copper Pickle Deli, 119 W Grand River, 517.540.9920
The Grand River Diner, 107 W Grand River, 517.548.5150
Holiday Grill of Howell, 1101 E Grand River Ave, 517.545.3959
Time Square Deli, 4785 E Grand River, 517.546.5151
Uptown Coffee House, 102 E Grand River, 517.546.1124

Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act Signed by President Bush

On December 20, 2007, President George Bush signed the Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act of 2007. For homeowners in financial trouble, this is good news.

Under the system before this act was signed, homeowers that sold their homes for less than what was owed (a 'short sale'), or who had debt forgiven due to a foreclosure, deed in lieu or other loan modification arrangement, were taxed on that forgiven amount, often called 'phantom income'. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) guidelines considered that amount a gift, and therefore taxable income. Talk about kicking you when you're down!

The act is retroactive to January 1, 2007 and runs through December 31, 2009. It's capped at a $2 million figure for tax relief and is limited to situations where debt is forgiven because of a decrease in home value or financial hardship of the borrower. It also excludes second homes from tax relief, so it works only with your principal residence.

It also calls for the extension of mortgage insurance premium deductions on your tax return through 2010.

The bill is considered responsible and fair because it will be paid for by increasing penalties for S corporations and partnerships that fail to file taxes.

Michigan Home Manufacturer Buys Canadian Company

Auburn Hills-based Champion Enterprises Inc. (NYSE: CHB) announced that it has acquired Canadian builder SRI Homes Inc. for $114 million (CDN) on Thursday, December 20, 2007.

Champion Enterprises builds and sells manufactured and modular housing under many different industry brand-names.

SRI Homes operates three manufacturing facilities in Western Canada (British Columbia, Alberta and Saskatchewan) and reported unit sales of about 1,350 for the 12 months ending September 2007. Their web site bills themselves as "Canada's Largest Home Builder". Established in 1978, they export homes to China, France, Japan, Germany, Russia, New Zealand the the USA. Their product line includes commercial and temporary/emergency shelters, mostly for export to the international market.

Robert Adria will reportedly remain as president of the SRI Homes division.

In March 2006, Champion acquired Highland Manufacturing Co. , in April 2006 the United Kingdom company of Calsafe Group Ltd., and in July 2006 they acquired North American Housing Corp.

Modular homes have become more popular with consumers because of their lower initial costs.

East Grand River Project-Livingston County

The East Grand River Road project is underway! If you've traveled the road between Pleasant Valley and US-23, you've noticed that there are a lot of trees that have been removed on the north side of Grand River.

This first phase is to help expedite the identification, relocation and consolidation of utility lines. That part of the project is pretty well wrapped up by now, with work on the next phase to resume in March when the weather moderates.

Grand River will get significant modernization under this project. Resurfacing from the Brighton City limits to US-23, widening to five lanes between US-23 to just east of Academy Drive, widening from two to four lanes from that point east to Richards Drive, and widening to three lanes from Richard Dr to Pleasant Valley Rd.

This stretch of road is now seeing 17,000 vehicles a day with an expected increase of 50% over the next 20 years, according to the Livingston County Road Commission. Smoother rides, less congestion, better safety with a left turn lane, and higher capacity in the future are all part of the plan.

Brighton Township and Green Oak Township collaborated on a plan for this area, which was adopted by both Township Boards of Trustees in January 2006. It was used for the design planning stage by the Livingston County Road Commission (LCRC), and also included ordinance revisions, development guidelines, identification of pathway locations along this corridor.

Commuter Expense Calculator - New!

(c) 2007 Robert Smith

I've just installed a new 'Commuting Expense Calculator' on two of my web sites. This calculator determines fuel and mileage costs and their effects on a monthly budget. Enter the mileage to work from two different cities, some other parameters, then the loan amount for a home in both of those cities. Click 'calculate' and see what comes out!

Livingston County Michigan is notoriously a commuter location. Whether you drive to Ann Arbor, Lansing, Flint, Novi, Southfield or Troy, you'll find this new tool useful.

Please visit my main web site at http://www.RealEstateMich.com or my secondary site at http://BrightonHomesForSale.biz to try this exciting new tool! The calculator is located at the bottom of the home page.

My thanks to the developer, Joel McDonald of AutomatedHomefinder.com and BenchmarkRealtyLLC.com for the opportunity to provide this tool to my clients, customers and web site visitors.

Green Oak Township May Implement A Rental Property Registration

At the December 19, 2007 Green Oak Township Board Meeting, the Building Department recommended consideration of an ordinance to register residential rental units. The Board's online packet and minutes contain numerous rental registration ordinances from around the State. The current thinking is to do an initial inspection at the time of registration to make sure the structure is up to code, then do either annual or bi-annual inspections. This could be implemented in Spring of 2008 in one form or another. That packet is currently under the 'Bulletin Board' area, but will get moved to 'Minutes & Meetings' at some point. If successful, this will be the second Livingston County municipality to enact such a provision.

The City of Howell has an ordinance which requires annual registration of rental homes through the Community Development Department. It has nominal fees associated with it, but requires the owner to appoint an 'agent' for the property if the owner resides more than 60 miles from the registered rental home.

Land Donation By Sisters to Livingston Land Conservancy

The Detroit News today reported the donation of eight (8) acres of wetland along the Logan Lakes Natural Preserve in Oceola Township. Located south of M-59 and near Hughes Road, this represents the second land donation to the Livingston Land Conservancy this year - a first.

There is a variety of native plants on this parcel and the habitat is judged to be good for the presence of massasauga rattlesnakes, a shy native species, although none have been seen on this piece of land.

According to the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (MDNR), the massasauga rattlesnake has historically been found in a variety of wetlands and adjacent uplands throughout the Lower Peninsula, with a majority of the sightings being reported from Oakland, Livingston, Washtenaw and Jackson Counties. The species is listed as a species of special concern by the MDNR and as a candidate species for the Federal Endangered Species Act.

Donated by sisters Dianne Winfrey and Jo Anne Normile from Westland and Saline, respectively, Winfrey was quoted in the Detroit News article as saying, "We like the animals and nature. We thought the best thing to do was to donate it to a land conservancy. I'm all for keeping as much open space for the next generation."

The Livingston Land Conservancy was created in 1991 as in a private, non-profit, tax-exempt 501(c)(3) organization, and has preserved a total of over 500 acres of land in various Livingston County and north Washtenaw County locations.

You can read the entire article by Candice Williams at http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071219/METRO04/712190352/1015/rss04

Howell Opera House gala Celebrates 126th Anniversary

The Howell Opera House will celebrate its 126th anniversary with a gala event from 8pm till midnight on December 29th. Actually a day early of the true anniversary of December 30th 1881, funds will be used to help with the second floor restoration.

Tickets are $85/person ($75 if you're a member) and Livingston Arts Council organizers expect a capacity crowd of 200. Dancing, a silent auction, hors d' oeuvres and tours of the second floor will be on the agenda.

The Opera House was closed by the Fire Marshall in 1924 and had been in use as a venue for entertainment, speeches by presidential candidates to high school graduations and even a short stint as Livingston County Circuit Court.

The long shuttered second floor (above Gill-Roy's Hardware Store) helped to preserve this gem of a structure. For reservations, call the Arts Council at 517-540-0065.

Remodeling Cost vs. Value

Each year, the National Association of Realtors publishes a Remodeling Cost vs. Value report in Realtor(R) Magazine, adapted from Remodeling Magazine. It sets out certain job parameters, costs out the job, calculates the added resale value, and assigns a percentage as 'Cost Recouped' for each one. Information is broken into geographic areas. Here's information for the East North Central area, which includes Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Wisconsin and Illinois.

The top 'Remodel' winner is the minor kitchen project. This job was for a 200 sq ft kitchen with 30 linear ft of counter and cabinets. It left cabinets in place but replaced fronts with raised-panel wood doors and drawers and hardware; replaced wall oven and cooktop with more energy efficient models, replaced laminate counters, installed a mid-price sink and faucet, repainted trim, added wall covering and replaced resilient flooring. That came to a total job cost of $21,863 with a resale value assigned at $16,010 and a recouped cost of 73.2 percent.

The top 'Addition' job was a 16 x 20 wood deck with pressure treated joists, 4 x 4 posts anchored to concrete piers, and pressure treated decking layed out in a simple linear pattern. It did include a built-in bench and planter made of decking material, and included three steps to grade as well as railings and balusters. This job cost was $10,516, the resale value was $7,540 and the recouped cost calcuated at 71.7 percent.

You can see all of the data at http://www.costvsvalue.com/ if you wish.

Within a given geographic area there are price variances. Costs of material, labor, permit fees and local taxes all play a part in the final figure. It's always a good idea to have your job parameters in writing and ask at least three contractors for quotes. Many local builder associations have members that specialize in remodeling, and it's always a good idea to check with the Better Business Bureau (BBB) to see if there are unresolved complaints with a given provider.

November 2007 Market Report-Livingston County

Last month's data from our MLS, RealComp, is now available.

Comparing 2007 to 2006 YTD as of November 30th, there are currently 3081 residential listings (homes and condominiums) compared to 2983 last year, or 3.2% more homes on the market.

The number of sales has dropped 11.7%, 1607 for this year as compared to 1819 last year, but the sales volume (total price of the cumulative sales) has dropped by a larger 20.2 %. Days On Market (a measure of how long it takes to sell a home) has risen by 12 days (or 8.8%) from 137.9 days last year to 150.1 days on market this year.

Individual price ranges are seeing different levels of activity. The price ranges that have seen the most sales YTD (with at least $40 million in volume) are the $200,000-$249,999 range (340 sales) and the $150,000-$174,999 range (246 sales). I believe that the former represents move-up opportunities for young families, and the latter is representative of first-time buyers getting into their own home. Three (3) homes have sold for 1 million dollars or more in the County so far this year.

Geographically, Hamburg, Green Oak and Genoa Townships have the most YTD sales and sales volumes with the reporting year almost over. Hamburg Township has been the fastest growing Township in the County for many years running. Livingston County remains Michigan's fastest growing County.

Most borrowers are financing via conventional mortgages, with some cash sales reported, too. FHA, land contracts and VA financing are far behind in numbers.

Lease To Own - Understand Before You Sign

(c) 2007 Robert Smith
There's a lot of interest from consumers about lease-to-own arrangements, sometimes called lease option financing. It's sold to consumers as an alternative method to build equity and delays a formal mortgage application for a set period of time, usually 12 to 24 months.

Prospective purchasers with less than perfect credit, no downpayment, and/or high debt to income ratios are allowed to rent a property for the contracted period, usually at a higher price than market values. A portion of this higher rent goes towards the ultimate purchase price, which is often higher than market value, too. Then there's the up-front 'option fee' which can range from hundreds to even thousands of dollars. Many would-be purchasers borrow this money from family. The option fee is refundable in very limited circumstances at best, and sometimes not at all. At a prescribed point in time, the renters are expected to apply for a mortgage and buy the property at the pre-established price.

What a deal for the landlord/seller! They usually dump all of the maintenance of the property onto the renter which helps them maximize their return. Of course, this type of renter is also more motivated to make payments on-time. Some contracts even have fine print that calls for loss of the option fee for being late with a payment by even one day.

Not all investors participating in lease-to-own arrangements are shady. But the rental market has been a bit soft, not unlike the general housing market, and it's getting harder for landlords to attract quality tenants at the prices they need to make a property cash flow in the positive. Like owning the house in which you live, there's overhead to rental properties. Every month that a property is not producing rent is like a boat anchor for the owner.

Most of the time, lease-to-own sounds attractive to first-time home buyers, who are generally not knowledgeable or sophisticated in Real Estate matters. In fact, one nationally known investor who sells his 'system' to other investors claims that around 50% of his lease option tenants are unable to exercise their option to purchase. So they're thousands of dollars poorer than they would have been if they had simply rented at market price! No problem for the investor, though, he just finds another 'buyer'.

Here are a few guidelines for consumers to follow.

• First, if your credit is poor, talk to a credit counselor before doing anything. If you're not able to raise your credit scores enough to qualify for a loan by the time stated in the contract - don't sign it! If your credit is really bad, forget this arrangement totally.
• Watch out for pre-set purchase prices. The housing market is still dropping in values and you may be overpaying by many thousands of dollars when the contract matures. Don't allow the seller to hire the appraiser if the contract calls for that method to determine the sales price. That should be done by either you or your lender.
• Don't let the seller push you to a certain lender, either. There's too much predatory lending that still happens and if you can't get a loan through an established lender who is not affiliated with the seller that's a huge warning signal.
• Make sure that the seller has clear title to the property. There are a lot of people getting 'rights' to market or sell property that they do not own.
• Sign nothing without having it reviewed by an attorney, preferably an experience attorney that specializes in Real Estate Law. The few hundred dollars you spend there can save you a world of suffering, and a lot of lost money, later.

When you deal with Realtors(R) who are licensed by the State, they must adhere to the Real Estate laws as well as their profession's Code of Ethics. Investors have no such formal code and are guided by only their own moral compass. Buyers can have a Real Estate Professional represent them and watch out for their best interests, in most cases for free. If the time isn't right to buy now, work out a plan to get you to that goal by reducing debt, saving money and improving your credit scores.