Chat about Macomb County MI real estate & Homes for sale search site

When I am looking for homes for buyers lately in the northern parts of Macomb County, especially Chesterfield Township, I am often struck by how few homes there are for sale (compared to last year) as well as how quickly the homes are selling.  We’ve been watching the prices steadily increasing and that has been great news for home sellers, but not quite so good for buyers as in recent years.

This morning I peeked at one of the multiple list services that I belong to and had all of my (and my buyer clients) observations confirmed.   The difference between sold homes in Chesterfield Township from last month to March of 2012 is remarkable.

Not only did the highest sold price increase from $229,500 to $270,000 but the average sold price jumped $20,100!

If you’d like to know what the recent sold prices are in your Macomb County neighborhood please don’t hesitate to contact me.  No pressure, just conversation.

Kris Wales – a partner for your real estate needs in Macomb County MI
Contact Kris - (586) 536-5453 cell
SEARCH Macomb County MI homes for sale

The condo segment of our real estate market was hit especially hard during the last few years, more so than the single family residential sales.  A couple of things contributed to the severe decline in market values for condos:

The lack of financing available, combined with higher down payment amounts when you could find a lender to finance you.
HUDs newer guidelines for “approved” condo complexes.

If you tried to sell your condo over the last 5 years then you know exactly what I’m talking about.  Lots of interest from buyers, but unless a buyer had cash or a very hefty down payment, they couldn’t purchase your home.

One of the “bright” spots for condo sellers this year is the fact that investors are still out there in full force, and realize that with climbing real estate prices that they will have to decide to purchase now or will be losing out on some terrific investment potential.  I am currently working with 2 different investors that are interested in purchasing condos that they can hold on to for the long term, and rent out for monthly income.   They are running in to multiple offer situations, much like the buyers for single family homes are running in to the “bidding wars”.

If you have any questions about the current market value of your condo, please don’t hesitate to ask.  I’d be happy to look at the market in your area, no pressure – I promise.

Kris Wales – A Macomb County real estate agent
CONTACT Kris (586) 536-5453
SEARCH Macomb County MI homes & condos for sale

I took buyer clients out on Friday to view homes for sale with their “want list – wish list” in mind.  Their needs aren’t that unusual:  3 bedrooms, basement, etc in Chesterfield Township.   We only saw 3.  That is all we could find.

As of this morning (March 10th, 2013) there are only 18 homes for sale in Chesterfield Township between $100,000 and $200,000 with at least 3 bedrooms and a basement.  (Here is a link to those homes).

If you are at all considering selling your Chesterfield Township home, now would be the time.  There will be buyers lining up the first couple of days on the market, and I can assure you that if your home is clean, well maintained and priced well that you should receive a terrific offer the first week.

It’s getting hectic out there folks!

Kris Wales – a partner for your real estate needs in Macomb County MI
SEARCH Macomb County homes for sale
Contact Kris – (586) 536-5453 cell

It’s happening.    The very thing that we saw coming for the last year.   “Bottom” of the market.  In fact, our real estate market in Macomb County is on an upswing in the northern areas of our county.  (Clinton Township / Sterling Heights and north).

One of the things that is extremely difficult for home buyers who are getting a mortgage is competing with the cash buyers (normally investors, but sometimes Mom and Dad with cash purchasing for their kids).

I can’t tell you how many times a buyer client of mine has written a good strong offer on a home only to be beat out by a cash / no contingency buyer, especially in the under $100,000 price range.   The market is toughening up with homes selling much quicker, and with more offers in on one home than I’ve seen in 16 years.

My advice to buyers who are using a mortgage?   Have ALL your ducks in a row.  (Not just a pre-qualification, but a strong pre-approval letter with perhaps an additional letter from your lender stating that your credit scores are high enough for the mortgage, that you have sufficient work history and funds to close, etc.)    Also, if you know there are multiple offers on a home then make your offer your “highest and best” right from the start.  Ask your buyers agent to review all the comparable sales on the home for the past 90 days so that you can make a confident, educated decision about the market value on the home.

Happy house hunting and good luck!

Kris Wales – a partner for your real estate needs in Macomb County MI
SEARCH homes for sale in Metro Detroit
Contact Kris – (586) 536-5453

Even though the supply of foreclosures is finally going down in Macomb County, my buyers and I are still seeing new HUD homes come on the market each week.   If my buyers are FHA buyers with limited funds to bring to closing, there is something I watch out for diligently with these HUD homes:  A repair escrow.

Prior to a home being put in the market HUD has the home appraised.  This appraisal determines the market value of the home for HUD as well as notes any repairs or deficiencies that the home may have that would be a “no go” for a FHA mortgage without the items being corrected.  This is where the repair escrow comes in to play.

The addendum that HUD attaches to the home (can be viewed at www.hudhomestore.com) is quite detailed and will list the items that need to be repaired or replaced along with an estimated dollar amount that it would take to correct these items.

An example:   A home at 123 Main Street in Macomb may be offered for sale by HUD for $50,000.  There is flaking & peeling paint that the appraiser notes must be corrected / repaired, and the appraiser estimates that it will cost $1000 to do this. HUD will accept an offer by a purchaser with an FHA mortgage if the purchaser comes up with an extra $1000 at closing to be put in to an escrow account to insure that this work is done on the home.

Can the buyer add this $1000 in mandatory repair escrow to their mortage?  No.   You cannot finance the repair escrow with a standard FHA mortgage.

Many of my home buyers have the funds for their 3 1/2% down payment as well as extra for the closing costs and/or prepaid items they will need to bring to closing, but the repair escrows on certain homes puts the home out of reach.

All of the HUD homes that are currently for sale in Macomb County can be found at www.hudhomestore.com .  Each home listing will have addendums attached, and if the home has a repair escrow you can find that addendum and review it prior to writing an offer on a home.   Ask your buyers agent to do this for you before you even view a home.  You will save yourself wasted time and effort and frustration.

Kris Wales – a partner for your real estate needs in Macomb County MI
Contact Kris - (586) 536-5453
SEARCH Metro Detroit homes for sale with MLS provided data

This is one of those “if I had a nickel..” type of phrases that I’ve heard over the last 5 years from prospective buyers:  “I’m waiting for the market to hit bottom” or something along that line.

Too late.   It hit the bottom and is climbing back up in Macomb County.  How do I know this?  I could attach all kinds of links to the news articles, give you stats from our 2 local multilist services, and throw data all over this post.  I won’t though, I’ll simply tell you what my home buyers are seeing:

Lack of inventory.   Multiple offers within days of a home being on the market.   Paying darned near asking price, or above asking price. 

Interest rates are still so incredibly low that most buyers are finding their new mortgage payments to be less than the rent they were paying in a decent apartment or house rental.   Combined with the low inventory of homes for sale, the “supply and demand” is pushing home sales prices higher (great news for sellers!) and creating havoc among home buyers in my Macomb County area.

Still want to wait until the market hits bottom before you purchase a home?   You’ll have to wait for the next recession, although that is something that none of us wants to experience again.  Hopefully it never will.

Kris Wales
A partner for your real estate needs in Macomb County MI
SEARCH homes for sale in Metro Detroit
Contact Kris - (586) 536-5453

  The snow and icy rain mix we are seeing these last 2 weeks won’t stop the sale of your home if you stick to the following “tips” that my buyer clients have shown to be true:

Paint – an inexpensive way to spruce up the interior of your home.   Most buyers don’t mind painting when they move into their new home, in fact most prefer to personalize a home with their choice of colors.  However, they don’t like the appearance of drab and dirty walls, or overtly “bright” colors.    Make the first impression of the interior of your home a good one, you won’t get another “first” chance!

Steam clean carpeting:  If you can afford to have them professionally cleaned, do so!  If you can’t afford to, then rent a steam cleaner from your local hardware store.   Even old and worn carpeting can get a fresh look by being cleaned.  Looks better and smells better to the buyers coming in to your home!

Declutter!    If it looks like you’ve outgrown your home, and buyer won’t be able to picture themselves in it for years to come.  Declutter closets and cupboards to show off the space you DO have in your home.  This goes for garages also!  If your home is full of possessions then you may want to consider renting a storage unit while your home is on the market.  A few hundred dollars of storage fees will often pay for itself many times over when it comes to the offer on your home.

Clean!   People often forget about the little things.  Deep clean, not just “surface” clean.  Wipe down the front of those cupboards, scrub the tile in your bath, bring the glow back to your hardwood floors.    Almost every buyer that I’ve taken in to a nice clean home has remarked about how refreshing it was to be in a clean home.  Make yours stand out!

If you have questions about how to prepare your home for sale in the best possible way to attract a high offer and serious buyer, please ask your agent to walk through your home with you and advise you.

Kris Wales
A partner for your real estate needs in Macomb County MI
SEARCH Macomb County MI homes for sale
Contact Kris – (586) 536-5453

It’s been almost 5 years since I wrote an article about the role of a buyers agent, and everything in that article still holds true today.  Even more so, since so many homes for sale are “distressed” (foreclosures, short sales, etc) and the ins and outs of purchasing these homes can be overwhelming for home buyers.

Here is the article in it’s entirety:

It’s all about you! 

The buyer agency & brokerage agreement protects and serves you in many ways:

Notice-   The document puts the sellers & sellers agent on notice that the buyers have their own representation during the transaction and are accepting the brokerage compensation that the sellers offered. (Nearly 100% of the time the brokerage compensation offered by the sellers to the buyers agent is more than sufficient for payment of  my services to you.  No out of pocket costs to you for buyers agency representation should occur.)

Confidentiality- When the sellers and their agent receive the notice they understand that anything you tell me will remain confidential unless I have your permission to share it with them. If the sellers or their agent reveal something to me it will be shared with you.  The document binds me to your confidential information, not to the sellers or their agent. (Wouldn’t you love to hear that the sellers slipped up and said they would take XXX amount for their home before you wrote your offer to purchase?)

Investigation- Part of my duty to you is to find out as much as I can about the home and pass that information along to you.  Relying on public records for tax information, or permits obtained for remodeling isn’t always the most accurate.  Visiting the city/township offices and verifying information for you is part of a buyers agents job.  Providing true recent sales data to you before you make an offer on a home is also an important part of our job.  (You’ll see all the recent sold data, not just the higher comparable sales to justify the sellers asking price.)

Negotiation-  Once the investigating is completed you’ll be able to make a confident and educated decision on not only the price to offer to a home seller for their home, but the terms of the offer you would like to have included.   Presenting your offer on the home to the sellers & their agent and  negotiating with them on your behalf is one of the most important and challenging parts of the home buying process.  (Wouldn’t you want someone to negotiate on  your behalf, and not representing the financial interests of the seller?)

Post closing care- Following up with you after you have closed on the purchase of your new home is equally as important as anything I’ve stated above. If you need help afterwards your buyers agent will be there to lend a hand.   Can’t get to the city or township office to turn in your paperwork because of your work schedule?  A buyers agent can handle that for you.  (Keeping in touch and being your advocate after the closing is one of the most rewarding aspects of our duties to you.  After all, you’ve become extended family to us and we will miss the daily contact with you.)

Buyer brokerage agreements are all about you.

Copyright 2008 Kris Wales – A Macomb County MI real estate agent.

Contact Kris – (586) 536-5453
SEARCH Metro Detroit homes for sale

The other day I wrote about the low inventory of homes for sale in Chesterfield Township.  Today while searching for homes that are currently on the market for buyer clients of mine I realized that Macomb Township is also experiencing a very low inventory of homes.

Macomb Township is quite large and encompasses 3 different school districts:  Chippewa Valley, Lanse Creuse, and New Haven schools all fall within the township borders.   In such a large area buyers expect to have a large selection of homes to choose from.    This is not the case, as I clearly found out this morning for my buyers.

Right now there are only 36 homes for sale in Macomb Township up to $200,000 with at least 3 bedrooms and 2 baths.    Most of these homes, 25 of them, fall between the $160,000 and $200,000 price range.

My advice to buyers?   Be ready to make an offer.  Don’t take your time to “think about it” for more than an overnight period of time. Know what you want, where you want your home and be confident in your price range.   You may only get one chance at making an offer on a home, don’t let that chance slip past you if you want the home.

Kris Wales – a partner for your real estate needs in Macomb County MI
SEARCH Macomb County homes for sale
Contact Kris – (586) 536-5453

It’s the start of another new year, and this one is going to be exciting for home sellers in Macomb County.  The extremely low inventory of well priced, well kept homes is driving sales prices up once again.

I firmly believe the “dragged down” years are behind us for real estate in most of Macomb County, and Chesterfield Township is one area that I can see is climbing back upwards again.

This morning I did a search in our MLS (Mirealsource™) and found only 88 homes currently for sale in Chesterfield Township.  The prices range from a “fixer upper” for $49,900 to a lakefront home for $695,000.

The most common searched for price range, $120,000 to $180,000, number only 29 homes currently for sale.

A tip for home buyers in Chesterfield Township:   Have that pre-approval rock solid and ready to go.  Also keep in mind that your first offer may be your only chance.  Most well priced, well kept homes are receiving multiple offers.  You may only get one shot at it!

A tip for home sellers:   Ask your agent to present to you a list of the homes that are similar that have sold within the last 30 days.  Going back 6 months will not give you a fully accurate picture of your homes value.    If there haven ‘t been many similar homes sold within 30 days, then go back 60, then 90 days if need be.

Kris Wales – a partner for your real estate needs in Macomb County MI
SEARCH Macomb County homes for sale
Contact Kris - (586) 536-5453