First, let me be clear about something:  FHA does NOT have an income limit for a borrower.

MSHDA does have income limits.   MSHDA is a State of Michigan backed program to help lower income home buyers purchase a home with very little out of pocket costs.

FHA has loan limits.  In Macomb County the maximum loan limit right now is $297,500.   (You can go to HUDs website and look up the FHA current loan limits for any county in the country. )

One other misconception about FHA that the caller asked about: FHA is not limited to first time home buyers.  You may use an FHA backed loan for your 2nd purchase, third purchase, etc.  FHA does require though that you are going to be purchasing the home as your primary residence.  If you’ve sold your previous home then you’re good to go for another FHA mortgage.

Most important:  A home buyer must work closely with their buyers agent AND their mortgage loan representative so that he/she can fully understand all the details of the home buying process.  If you are uncomfortable asking questions (or asking the same question several times) with the people you have hired to help you, then perhaps that is a red flag that you should be seeking out other representation.

Kris Wales - A Macomb County MI real estate agent
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Real estate is local.  We can give all the statistics for a county or a state, but individual cities and townships are what make up Macomb County and what matter to buyers and sellers.

Here is a good example of how speaking for the county as a whole in terms of what our real estate market is doing is misleading:

9308 homes sold in 2011 in Macomb County.  The average “sold” price was $87,030. **

Now, if I (or anyone else) read that and didn’t delve further we would all be worried that our home value would hover somewhere around the $87,030 mark and take approximately 2 1/2 months to sell.  We would be wrong.  Take a peek at the statistics below and you will see what I am getting at (the local part of what I was talking about)

In the southern end of our county, there were 3457 homes that sold in Eastpointe, Warren and Roseville.  The average sold price was $36,687. Wow.  That’s quite a bit lower than the Macomb County average. **

However, in the northern end of Macomb County, 1562 homes sold in Macomb Township, Shelby Township and Washington Township. The average “sold” price for those 3 communities was $181,683. Quite a bit of difference from the “average” sold price in the county as a whole.  **

Please keep in mind when reading the headlines about home values, whether you are in Macomb County or not, that all real estate is still local.   If you have any questions about what your home value is please don’t hesitate to contact me or another real estate professional who can analyze the data for your local area.

**The necessary disclaimer:  All data quoted above was obtained from the members and participants of REALCOMP II LTD and is deemed to be reliable but not guaranteed**
Kris Wales -  A partner for your real estate needs in Macomb County MI
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I’m sure many of you have passed by these homes and see the white legal documents taped to the front doors, or the orange stickers on them, and wonder why there isn’t a “for sale” sign on the yard.   Part of the reason these homes are sitting vacant and the bank owners & asset managers haven’t put them on the market yet is because they don’t have clear title to them.  (The Detroit Free Press has an excellent article today about the back log of foreclosures and what we can expect to see.)

Once the bank owners and their asset managers obtain clear legal title, and decide to put these homes on the market we will see another wave of foreclosures hitting, and I suspect for some areas, hitting us hard.

The Shadow Inventory won’t be just that dark murky something following us around, it will be there in the form of another multitude of “for sale” signs on our streets, as well as the inevitable declining values in our own homes.    I wonder how many of you feel as I do, and wish all of the foreclosures would hit the market all at once and let the bottom of our real estate values in Macomb County hit and be done with it?    We truly cannot start a full and complete recovery in our area until we bottom out.

I am normally not a “listing agent”.  I refer most listings out to agents in my office whom I respect a good deal and know that this is what they do on a full time basis.  (I am a full time buyers agent - representing buyers in purchasing homes, not listing homes for sale and marketing them.)  If I was a listing agent though I would be on the phone to all of my potential sellers and advise them that now is the time to get their home on the market and sell, before the influx of shadow inventory hits our market.

Kris Wales - A partner for your real estate needs in Macomb County MI
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Perhaps dumbfounded isn’t the right word.  Outraged.  Incredulous.  Shocked.  Saddened. Those words all seem to fit my mood my right now.

Since the home inspector,  who performs home inspections in the Indianapolis area, does not allow comments to his blog article, I decided to address one part of his blog here on mine.

His first “point” in his article states that when we (real estate agents, buyers agents, etc) give our clients contact information for 3 home inspectors that it is because those 3 inspectors won’t find any problems with the house.

I am only going to speak for myself (although I am sure many if not all of my colleagues would agree) that the reason I give my clients contact information for 2, 3 or 4 home inspectors is because:

A) I know they will work for the buyers best interest (not mine, not the sellers, but the buyers!)  and B) I would use them myself for my own home purchase (or my relatives, or my friends).

I won’t bore you with addressing his other “points”,  as I am sure you can get the idea that I find his blog article to be slanderous to real estate agents as well as ludicrous on all points.

Kris Wales - A buyers agent in Macomb County MI
586-536-5453
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(The part that confuses me is why buyers are confused when they have hired a buyers agent, but that’s food for thought for another article.)

Here’s the nitty gritty:   If the condo complex isn’t approved by HUD then you’re not going to be able to obtain an FHA mortgage.   (One caveat:  If it’s a HUD owned condo then HUD relaxes it’s own rules and you CAN obtain an FHA mortgage.)

There is an excellent resource put out by HUD that keeps a list that is up to date on whether a condo complex is approved.  Go to https://entp.hud.gov/idapp/html/condlook.cfm and you can search by zip code or city.    ( I do wish they had the capability of searching by county, as it would make things much easier for Macomb County buyers to search only those approved in Macomb County. )

Once you know which complexes are on HUDs approved list you can then ask your buyers agent to search the MLS for only condos within those complexes.

~Kris Wales~   A partner for your real estate needs in Macomb County MI
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Notice that I highlighted the “Sellers net”. This is what the seller will be concerned about as they go over your offer to purchase.   If the “net” isn’t  what they had in mind and counter offer, they probably will do so at the expense of the sellers concessions towards you.  Let’s say for example that the sellers have decided they want their “in our pocket” to be $97,000.  If you need all 6% of the  allowable sellers concessions in order to purchase the home you will have to finance your closing costs.  An example of a counter offer to make it work for the sellers and for you:

Helpful tip: Ask your mortgage lender to give you 2 or 3 different Good Faith Estimates. In these estimates the lender can estimate your payment based upon 2 or 3 different mortgage amounts.   If you do this prior to writing your offer to purchase you will be able to make a comfortable decision on what would be your final offer to the seller.

As the buyers and their agent toured the inside of the home they were chatty, discussing each room, weighing the pros and cons of buying a less expensive home with much work needed, or bumping up their price range to view homes that were in more “move in” condition.

Later that day the agent received a call from the sellers agent, wanting feedback.  When the buyers agent said her clients weren’t interested in the home, the sellers agent said something like “The sellers know your clients didn’t like the outdated kitchen and old linoleum, but they would be willing to give an update allowance.”    That was a lightbulb moment for the buyers agent.  Why?  The only way the sellers could know about the kitchen /linoleum is if they were there and overhead the conversation, or had some kind of listening device in the home.  The buyers agent then remembered about the baby monitor that was on the kitchen counter, and became upset.  She told the sellers agent that a private conversation that her buyers had with her should have been private, and having their conversations eavesdropped upon without their knowledge was a rotten thing to do.

I was blown away when I read what happened to those buyers and her agent.  I also remembered about this a couple of weeks ago when I entered a home in Macomb County with my buyer clients that had laptops set up in 3 rooms, with winky blinky lights flashing on them.

Were those laptops set up with video/recording monitors?  Quite possibly.   Was I offended?   A bit.   First and foremost I believe that a home owner has every right to secure their home.  If monitoring strangers coming in to their home when they are not there is part of their “feel good” security then that is ok with me.  What I do not find ok is it being done without the knowledge of the people in the home.

One of these days I fully expect to see a sign on the front doors of homes for sale stating “You are being videotaped while you are in the home”.   Hey, I’d be all for that!   Full disclosure after all isn’t offensive, secretly recording people is.

~Kris Wales~  A partner for your real estate needs in Macomb County MI
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586-536-5453

What is the first thing I do? I refer them to someone that I work with that knows what he is doing.  As I tell these callers:  Short sales are a specialized niche in the real estate market, especially in Macomb County.    I have never listed a home for sale that is a short sale, nor will I start now.  I will not practice on a clients home, especially considering the ramifications involved with a short sale.

My “go to” guy is Jim Kaschalk.  I have known Jim for almost 10 years, and he is one of the most knowledgeable listing agents in the Metro Detroit area.    When I explain to potential sellers that I am not proficient in the ins and outs of short sales when listing a home and can refer them to someone who has great success with them, I can hear the sigh of relief.

People want expertise, especially in times of stress.  Selling your home and asking for your lender to forgive a portion of the debt is exceedingly stressful.  They need someone like Jim Kaschalk in their corner.

Is a short sale of your Macomb County MI home something you are considering? If so, please contact Jim Kaschalk at 586-532-0500 or email him at kaschalk@mirealsource.com    No pressure - just conversation.

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

I’ve heard it so often that I cringe each time I hear it from a potential home buyer: “So-and-so told me to never offer more than 50% of the list price” or some version of that sentence.

My response? If the homes list price is double what the market value is, then by all means an offer of 50% off the list price is justified.   Otherwise, expect your offer to be rejected. Most homes in the Macomb County area that are for sale are already market value priced.  It doesn’t matter whether the home is a foreclosure (bank owned), a short sale (lien holder negotatied sale) or a private non-distressed home for sale.  In order to compete with todays market values home owners are pricing their homes to sell. It’s as simple as that.

The 1300 square foot brick ranch in Chesterfield Township that once sold for $180,000 in 2001 is now listed (and selling) for $90,000 to $125,000 depending upon the condition of the home.

If you listen to “So and so” and offer $45,000 for the home without taking in to consideration the condition of the home, the current market values for the neighborhood and the buyer activity in the area then you are setting yourself up to be rejected.  Over and over and over again.

Be smart. Hire a buyers agent to work for you and to assess market value that is current.   This is your best shot at receiving value in your new home purchase, not listening to “So and so” who are not in the trenches every day.

Kris Wales - Macomb County MI real estate agent
586-536-5453 cell

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There are 2 things I have learned from these calls:    1) Some buyers agents aren’t doing their due diligence when representing home buyers in their purchases of foreclosures and other homes that have been vacant and tagged by the cities for certification. 2) Some home buyers don’t believe it applies to them because they have had their own home inspections and an appraisal performed before they purchased the home.

My advice? If you are a home buyer and have a buyers agent to represent your interests, ask your agent to help guide you through the certificate of occupancy process.  If your agent doesn’t know what the city requires, he/she can go to the city offices and find out for you.  You should also call the city office prior to writing your offer to purchase to find out if a certificate of occupancy will be required.   This could make a difference in the offer you write, better to know upfront than later on when you have a legally binding contract in place.

Keep in mind that your own home inspection and your appraisers report isn’t going to be satisfactory to the city building inspector.  If the city requires an inspection for a certificate of occupancy you will have to arrange for it and repair or replace any items that the inspector cites before you will be allowed to move in to your home.

Kris Wales
A partner for your real estate needs in Macomb County MI
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