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

Congratulations to Ashley, a single woman who purchased her first home.

The home she bought was owned by HUD, and everything about the purchase process went smoothly. Unlike other bank or government owned homes, HUD has an online process for bidding. Everyone that bids knows when their offers to purchase will be considered, and it is a fair system to all.

HUD also has a system in place for the buyer to request permission to turn on the utilities to the home so that they can have their inspections be thorough.

Ashleys new neighbors are also happy that another vacant home will be cared for and help to stabilize their property values.

I came across the website below put out by the National Association of Home Builders and it’s wonderful. They answer most of the questions that are being asked by consumers about the extended 1st time home buyers tax credit, and also those who are hearing about the repeat home buyer tax credit.

Frequently Asked Questions about the new home buyer tax credits

Much thanks to the guys & gals at the National Association of Home Builders for putting this together so quickly and concisely.

After much back and forth, and preliminary hype about the extension of this tax credit, we can now confidently write to our local consumers about this bill being signed by the President.

The 1st time home buyers tax credit HAS been extended, and there is also a tax credit for those who already own a home yet wish to sell it, and purchase another.

Below is a quickie FAQ about the credit:

Key dates: November 7, 2009 through April 30, 2010

Amount of First time home buyer tax credit: 10% of the purchase price up to a maximum of $8000

Current homeowner tax credit: $6500 or $3250 if married filing separately.

Binding contract rule: Must have written binding purchase contract by April 30, 2010 and close by July 1, 2010.

Anti fraud rule: Must attach proof of purchase documentation.

If you have any questions about how this newly extended tax credit may apply to you and your Macomb County MI home purchase please don’t hesitate to call or email me.  No pressure - just conversation.

While I was analyzing the Macomb County MI sales data for the month of October I noticed that 2 townships - Shelby Township and Chesterfield Township - had home sales prices increase this past month in comparison to the previous October:

Shelby Township had 53 homes sold in October 2009, and the average sales price was $176,232.   In comparison, during October of 2008 there were 45 homes that sold, and the average sales price was $171,928.

Chestefield Township saw 42 homes sold, with an average sales price of $120,411.   During October of last year (2008) 31 homes sold with the average sales price of $115,531.

If your home is located within one of these zip codes -   48315,  48316,  48317 , 48318,  48047,  48051 - you should be very happy about the sales prices finally increasing.

All sales data is courtesy of Mirealsource™ and it’s participating brokers and agents, and is deemed to be reliable but not guaranteed. If you would like specific information regarding home values & sales in your neighborhood please don’t hesitate to contact me.  No pressure - just conversation.

I’m a wee bit aggravated this morning with all of the blog articles and other social media posts that are stating “It’s approved!”.

The extension to the first time home buyer tax credit is not signed yet, so please please PLEASE don’t put all your eggs in one basket thinking this is the case.

As soon as the extension is official I will let you know. I promise.

I dislike pressuring people, especially home buyers.  If you would ask my previous clients they’d be apt to say that I’ll talk them out of purchase rather than talk them in to one.

That being said, if you are thinking about buying a home solely to take advantage of the first time home buyers tax credit, you’d better get an offer to purchase accepted within the next few days.

There are only 34 business days left before the credit expires.  That isn’t a heck of alot of time for mortgage processing, inspections, time to set the closing date, etc.   Most lenders are warning people that they can’t promise that the loan will close in time, and I’m doing the same thing.  No promises.  We’ll try our best, but time is running out.

Our Macomb County MI area has been in the midst of this real estate
downturn for several years now, and I thought it would be interesting
to see how this past September home sales compared to the previous
Septembers (2007 and 2008).

While we aren’t seeing home prices stabilizing as of yet, we are
seeing fewer homes come on the market.  We’re also seeing more homes being
sold this year than in years past. That should help us in the near future with
the supply & demand issue that has been so heavily tilted to the “supply” side
of the market.

It’s interesting to note that while fewer homes are coming on the market this
year (less foreclosures and bank owned homes) there is more competition for
the homes.

The increase in the homes sold when comparing September 2007 to this
past September is 60%.

If  you would like specific information regarding your Macomb
County homes value please don’t hesitate to contact me.

No pressure - just conversation.

All data courtesy of Mirealsource™ and its participating real estate brokers and agents
and is deemed to be reliable but not guaranteed.

I’m one of the real estate professionals here in Macomb County that does not believe there will be an extension to the Federal first time home buyers tax credit.  Too much money has been spent in the last year with less money coming in.  The Federal government has to put a stop to it soon, and I think the tax credit will be one thing that will end as planned without an extension.

Just to be clear:  You have to own your home prior to December 1st of this year in order to qualify for the tax credit.  As the last week in November is Thanksgiving week plan on the title companies and lending institutions not working on the Friday after Thanksgiving (the last business day of the month.)   You’ll want to do your best to make sure that you can close on the home by November 25th.

Here are a couple of things you can do right now to speed up things:

Have your mortgage pre-approved. I cannot stress the importance of this.  Give your mortgage lender your last 2 income tax returns, last few bank statements and paystubs, and anything else they require to have a full pre-approval.   If they have all of this ahead of time you’re already in the “underwriting” loop.  Believe me, it can save quite a bit of time to have this process started.

Start looking at homes. All homes (with the exception of homes that are subject to a short sale.  Those take too much time and more than likely will not be able to close by the deadline.)   Also, note that the foreclosures are trickling on the market, not flooding it.  There are multiple offers on most homes, so be prepared to make an offer on a bank owned home that is consistent with market values.  Don’t make the mistake of thinking that an owner occupied home won’t be as good of a “deal” as a foreclosure.   That isn’t the case anymore.

Pick out a home inspector. Don’t wait until you’ve put in an offer on a home to pick out your home inspector.  Have one lined up and ready to go out for you quickly.   Each business day that you cut off from this inspection period is a day closer to closing on your home.

I don’t like to sound pushy or like an alarmist, but time is running out for this credit.   It’s a fact that none of us can change.

One of the most frustring experiencesfor a home buyer in our area and all across the country is falling in love with a condominium and then finding out that it won’t pass muster as far as FHA is concerned.

We all try very hard to do our due diligence: Is the condo complex a new one?   Is the owners association healthy financially?  Has the association been turned over to the homeowners?

Even with due diligence surprises can crop up. I had this happen recently with a potential condo buyer in Macomb County.  We viewed a foreclosed upon condo in Macomb Township, and even though the complex seemingly had been finished for a couple of years, I noticed one small stretch in the middle of the complex in which the builder was starting construction on 8-10 new units.   Even though the complex is approximately 90% finished this type of new construction in the complex can make or break FHA financing on any condo in the complex. FHA requires that a condo complex be 100% complete.

If the complex above had been built in  phases then this wouldn’t be an issue, as the condo that my buyer liked was most likely built during the first phase.  However this condo complex was not built in phases.  To FHA it meant that the whole complex is incomplete and it’s a no go for FHA financing.

To make matters even more difficult FHA has new guidelines coming in to play on October 1st.

If you are thinking of purchasing a condo, please talk with your mortgage lender and ask him/her about what you should look out for in narrowing down your search so that you are educated about what will and will not be allowed.   I know I will be sitting down with my trusted FHA advisors and going over everything with them.

“I only want to see foreclosures”

I had an interesting conversation with a caller yesterday the other day and  thought I would share it with all of you.  I’m hoping that by sharing it and putting it out to the public that other potential home buyers will see it, and understand the very real aspect of how this type of strategy can backfire on the home buying consumer.

For the past 3 years or so the Metro Detroit area has been swamped with foreclosed upon homes hitting our real estate market.  ( This trend has somewhat trickled in the last few months, mainly due to the new 90 day “let’s work it out” mandate from the Michigan government to home owners & lenders.)

Because of the supply (overabundance) and demand (waning demand due to economic conditions) the market not only tipped to the buyers advantage side, it fell completely over on it’s side.

What happened to other home owners who wanted to sell their homes during all of this? They had to price their homes competitively in order to be successful at selling their homes.

In the last year I have not sold one bank owned (foreclosure) home.  All of the homes that have sold to buyer clients have been homes that were owned by the sellers, and not in distress.   They sold because they were well maintained and more  imporantly, were priced to sell with the competition of the foreclosures in mind.

Mr. or Ms. Macomb County MI home buyer: If you “want to see only foreclosures” you will quite possibly missing out on some of the best deals there are out there right now.   Privately owned home owners are pricing their homes to compete with the foreclosures.

Consider this case on point: Ms. Buyer purchased a condo in Chesterfield Township for $107,000 in June of this year.  The condo sold new in 2003 for $187,000.  It was in wonderful condition and needed nothing to be able to move in to it.    It was not a bank owned home. If she had limited herself to only viewing foreclosures she would have missed out on this fabulous condo at an unbelievable price.