Lakefront Homes For Sale Near Hartland Michigan

There are 15 lakefront homes for sale in the Hartland Michigan school district.  All but one is in the $110,000 to $399,900 range. The exception is a $990,000 home on a private lake and 80 acres.

The price range per square foot is $63 to $193.  Only one is a short sale property and none of these are foreclosure homes. They have been on the market for an average of 239 days and all have been for sale for at least 2 weeks or longer. Six of these homes are priced at under $200,000.

The lakes on which these homes can be found are Handy Lake, Maxfield Lake, Long Lake, Lake Tyrone, Lake Shannon, Bullard Lake, and Wallace Lake.

If you’re looking for lakefront homes for sale in the Hartland Michigan area give me a call!

image courtesy of Evegni Dinev/freedigitalphotos.net

Expiring Mortgage Debt Forgiveness Act To Increase Strategic Defaults?

Last December I blogged about strategic default.  That is, consumers who walk away from their mortgage even though they have the ability to continue making their payments. It results in foreclosure, of course.

If the Mortgage Debt Act is allowed to expire by a deadlocked Congress, will this encourage more struggling homeowners to walk away instead of trying to sell their homes by short sale?  Currently, homeowners don’t have to pay tax on the forgiven debt.  If the Act expires, the forgiven debt will be treated as income (a ‘gift’) and will be taxable.

In September (2012) Housing Wire reported that 1 million Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) loan modifications were cancelled by lenders after their 3 month trial. HAMP terms are likely the most appealing to homeowners having financial difficulties – if they qualify. The government predicted this program would help 3 to 4 million homeowners, but as of September 2012, only about 825 thousand made it past the three month trial period. Less than $3 billion of the over $29 billion set aside for this program was actually spent.

Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP) and lender-based refinances are also options, but they also have requirements that may be tough to meet or the savings may be minimal. That’s why short sales remained attractive to many underwater homeowners.

Like all things financial right now, these are complicated and interwoven subjects, but it seems possible that the expiration of the Mortgage Debt Forgiveness Act will have the effect of causing more strategic defaults and therefore foreclosures.  Write your legislators and tell them to extend the Act today.

Confused about short sales, or need to explore the options for the sale of your home? Give me a call for a no-pressure appointment.

Holiday Home Maintenance Tip – Garbage Disposals

The average life expectancy of a garbage disposal is approximately 10-12 years.  I’m guessing that most of us have never read the ‘owner’s manual’ for our disposal since it’s already installed when we buy the house. These units typically get a work out over the holiday season and that’s absolutely a horrible time for them to fail.

I’m providing a link to a short (97 second) video, courtesy of American Home Shield, the folks that sell Home Warranties.  This one is about maintaining your garbage disposal and is worth watching.

If interested, you can find the model of your unit on the disposal tag and search online to find the complete manual.  But if you don’t want to do that, here are a few tips to keep it running smoothly. 

DO NOT:

·         Put fats, greases and oils down the disposal or try to grind potato peels and coffee grounds  – you’re almost sure to clog your drains

·         Put large amounts in the disposal at one time – that can clog things up and overwork the motor

·         Grind large bones (beef, pork)

·         Use harsh chemicals like bleach and drain cleaners – they’re corrosive and can damage blades

YOU SHOULD:

·         Run the disposal regularly to keep parts moving and prevent corrosion

·         Cut big items into smaller pieces

·         Use cold water, not hot, when grinding food

·         Occasionally grind citrus peels to keep the sink smelling fresh (avoid using chemical ‘sweeteners’)

There is a range of opinions on using a disposal with a septic system.  These tend to be strictly ‘yes’ or ‘no’, but as long as the items are biodegradable,  don’t have fats, oils, or greases in them, you may be alright – as long as you’re not grinding a lot of material on a regular basis.  A good alternative is to compost most of your food waste and keep the disposal volume low when you’re on a septic system.   

In any case, you should expect that you will need to pump your tank more often if you’re using a garbage disposal even on an infrequent basis.  My County Health Department (Livingston County, Michigan) recommends that you DO NOT use a garage disposal with a septic system. Here’s their guide on using septic systems.

I’m also providing a link to a short article on disposal maintenance and lifespan from the good folks at ehow.com.  If you read these few short items, you’ll have a great idea of how to keep your disposal running well and extending its useful life.

 

And if you're looking for a home - with or without a disposal - give me a call!