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A phone call the other day illustrated to me once again how quickly our real estate market here in Macomb County is changing.

The gentleman who called told me that he had been on my website frequently and had his eye on a bank owned home that was on the market. He said that he had been watching it weekly waiting for a price drop before he would call me to ask to see the interior.

From the subject line of this article you can all guess what took place.

While I was on the phone with him I looked in the database and sure enough the home was not active anymore, but had an offer pending.

I could hear the disappointment in his voice.

The changes in our housing market is happening. It’s real. I see signs that are subtle but very positive:

• Homes are being priced with current market value in mind more often right from the start.
• Bank owners are lowering their prices more often, and more aggressively.
• Buyers are making offers on homes and having their offers accepted.

To avoid being disappointed because the home you had your eye on is sold before you had a chance to look at it, and offer to purchase it yourself, please keep in mind the following:

A buyers agent will work for you and keep an eye on the market (and specific homes) daily.

Take the time to make that initial “Get to know you” meeting with a real estate professional at his/her office.  Talk with him/her about your needs and your wants and desires. It will be well worth your time.  We don’t bite.  I promise.

~Kris Wales~ A partner for your real estate needs in Macomb County MI
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We’ve all come across those homes while house hunting that scream “Get me out of here“.  Whether it’s the clutter, the pet odors, the dirt that you don’t want to see anymore of or a combination of all of these things there is on occasion going be a home that you want to exit quickly.

Thankfully there aren’t that many homes in the Macomb County Michigan real estate market that scream “Get me out of here!” but once in a while it does happen.

If the home is vacant there isn’t a reason to continue viewing the entire home. Things can get a bit touchy though if the sellers are present and you don’t wish to be rude.

I’ll be the bad guy.  That’s my job as your buyers agent. You don’t have to say a word.  We’ll have a “code” before we  begin our tours of homes.  Normally I tell buyers to tap my back or arm if they have “seen enough” and wish to exit quickly.

I did have on one occasion a wonderful buyer client who couldn’t wait to get out of the home we were in before the seller could give us the personal guided tour of the basement. (The seller had guided us throughout the  whole house and was quite determined to show off each feature.)

My buyer client didn’t go for the tap code, he pinched me.

I had a difficult time keeping a straight face, but politely told the seller that there was no need to see the basement as we were running late for the babysitter and had to leave. (There wasn’t a babysitter, or a baby for that matter.)

We were able to leave quickly before the seller could get us into the basement, and my buyer client was so grateful that he was spared the rest  of the tour.

It’s my job as your buyers agent to get you out of those uncomfortable situations. As I said above, I’ll be the bad guy. We’ll set up a code.

Preferably a tap on my arm or back, but if need be, go ahead and pinch! Get my attention and I’ll get you out of there!

~Kris Wales~ A partner for your real estate needs in Macomb County MI
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I am doing a happy dance while sitting in my desk chair.  I just finished reading this article that was posted a bit ago at ABC online.

What a win for the consumer!

In a nutshell (read the article at the link provided above, you’ll be glad you did) a man in Pennsylvania wrote to his mortgage lender, Wells Fargo, inquiring about added charges for homeowners insurance on his mortgage bill.  He wrote several times and didn’t receive a response from Wells Fargo.  So he did what many of us wish we could do, he took them to court.  And won.

The Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA) doesn’t just apply to those who are buying their homes and at the closing table, it also mandates how mortgage lenders / servicers treat you AFTER you have purchased your home.   If you have a question about your mortgage loan or escrow account and you write to your lender, they darned well better get back with you.

A few years ago I represented a young lady in her home purchase in Roseville (Macomb County).  About a year later she called me because her escrow account was so screwed up and she wasn’t getting any clear reasons for it after many phone calls to customer service.  I instructed her to write to the lender citing RESPA,  send it certified mail (so you have proof that they received it) and sure enough she not only got answers to her question, but her escrow account was finally fixed to her satisfaction.  It took less than 30 days for this to happen.

At the RESPA site linked above there is information on how to write a letter to your mortgage servicer and also states your rights under the RESPA laws.
~Kris Wales~ A partner for your real estate needs in Macomb County MI
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I was out and about yesterday in St. Clair County showing homes to a wonderful couple.  One of the homes that we were really interested in viewing seemed to have most of their “wish list / want list” covered.

Imagine our disappointment and surprise when we pulled up to this:

This was an extremely long country driveway that hadn’t seen a snow shovel or a plow probably since winter started.  It’s hard to tell the depth from the photo, but I had mid ankle boots on and the snow went over the top and in to them.

It was such a turn off to all of us that we knew the inside viewing wasn’t going to go well.  It didn’t.

Please PLEASE clean your driveway and walk ways for people if you want agents and their buyers to view your home for sale.  I would imagine that many agents & buyers left before they made this trek to the house.  I know we were tempted.

~Kris Wales~ A partner for your real estate needs in Metro Detroit
Search Metro Detroit homes for sale with MLS provided data.

The common misconception about Buyers Agents is that we take people out to look at a few homes, write the offers, then sit back and collect a paycheck.

Misconception?   What an understatement!

Take for example what goes on behind the scenes before we ever step foot in a home with our buyer clients:

• Talk with the buyers about their wish list / want list / must have
  list in a home.
• Sort through all of the thousands of listings in the various
  MLS databases, narrowing down only those that fit the buyers criteria.
• Research the property taxes on the properties.  (I’ll let you know about
  the importance of this in a separate post.)
• Check the ownership of the home (looking for conflicting information
  in public records)
• Sifting through the comments and photos to ascertain whether a home
  meets your financing criteria (Will the condo be HUD approved?  Will
  the home pass FHA or VA muster?)

A good buyers agent will spend hours behind the scenes working in the buyers best interests before they ever step foot into a home.    But you the buyer don’t know that, because we don’t give you a detailed invoice of work performed like other professionals do.   The list above is only  a snapshot of what a buyers agent does for you.  The list goes on and on during the process of purchasing your home.

How do you know if we have done a good and thorough job for you? When you get to the closing table thrilled with the purchase of your new home, with as little stress as possible, and without any surprises.   We willingly take on the stress and sleepless nights so that you don’t have to.

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

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Finally back on track (and with some free time!) to analyze a bit more today the homes sold in Macomb County during the past year. Once again the north west part of the county, Macomb Township, showed me in black and white what I had been seeing with my buyer clients:  Stability.

There were fewer homes sold in 2010 in Macomb Township – 657 – compared to the 673 sold in 2009, but the “sold” price actually went a bit higher – $186,641 in 2010 compared to $185, 674 in ’09.   (These sales figures are for single family residential homes only, I will do a separate post on condo sales)

One other promising bit to note:  The average days on the market in 2010 fell to 77 compared to 104 in 2009.   That may not seem like good news, but it is for home sellers who don’t have to languish on the market keeping their homes in “show worthy” condition.

As always, if you have any questions about the value of the homes in your specific area please don’t hesitate to contact me.  No pressure, just conversation.

~Kris Wales~  A partner for your real estate needs in Macomb County MI
Search Metro Detroit homes for sale with MLS provided data

Continuing on with my beginning of the new years real estate market reports for Macomb County, this morning I am concentrating on Shelby Township:

As I researched Shelby Township this morning I was pleasantly surprised that what I saw in black and white was actually what I thought I had been seeing as I was taking buyers out last year:  An increase in the numbers of homes sold in Shelby Twp as well as the shorter days on the market.  The sold prices seem to be stabilizing a bit also, as the price decline that we have been seeing for years was minimal this year (in comparison to the double digits per year we were seeing!)

Shelby Township saw 62 more homes sell in 2010 as well as 23 less days on the market for the homes to sell.  The decline in “sold” pricing was around 2%, which is wonderful to finally see. (No double digit price drops in 2010)  Hopefully 2011 will be the year that we see home prices stabilize and begin to climb back upwards and not lose any more value!

Have any questions about the real estate market in your area? Feel free to contact me – no pressure, just conversation.

~Kris Wales~  A partner for your real estate needs in Macomb County MI
Search homes for sale in Metro Detroit with MLS provided data

It’s that time of year again!   Along with updating the sales information from 2010 and how it affects our real estate industry in Macomb County, I often go through old email questions to try and refresh myself on things that I know can help home buyers going forward.

One of the most frequently asked questions is:  “Do I need a buyers agent?” and then variations of that are:  “Is there a charge for this?” and “What is it that you do?”

A couple of years ago I wrote an article entitled “Taking the confusion out of buyers agency – what it really means” and I forward this article along to any potential home buyer who inquires about buyers agency, as well as answering their specific questions.

Here is a link to the article, which is permanently location on my homes for sale search site:  Ask me about Buyers Agency in Michigan

If you have any specific questions please feel free to contact me. No pressure – just chat.

~Kris Wales~ A partner for your real estate needs in Macomb County MI
Search Metro Detroit homes for sale with MLS provided data

Every New Year I enjoy going through both of the Multilist services that I am subscribed to and researching to see how the year past treated us as far as number of homes sold and average sales price.

There were a couple of surprises that I liked to see, and one of them was the average “sold” price in Macomb County.

In 2010 the average sold price was higher : $99,183 compared to $94,716  in 2009.   During the year we saw prices in some areas of Macomb County stabilizing and at times, increasing.   Did more homes sell via short sales instead of foreclosures?  That’s one area that I will be delving in to a bit deeper in the next few days.  (“Short sale” homes are generally better maintained homes and in my opinion will appraise out a bit higher than a foreclosure that hasn’t been maintained.)

One other area that saw a bit of a good change was the average days on the market.  In 2010 the average days on the market for a home county wide was 81 compared to 93 days in 2009.   One aspect that I think helped push this number lower was the first time home buyers tax credit that expired in the spring.  There were many many more buyers in the spring that hurried to beat the deadline for the tax credit and that helped move the homes much quicker.

As the days go by I will be concentrating on specific cities / townships in Macomb County and talk about their average “sold” prices.  If you have any questions about your specific area please don’t hesitate to drop me an email and I’ll be happy to research it for you.

~Kris Wales~  A partner for your real estate needs in Macomb County MI
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This morning as I was researching a condo for sale in The Manors at Central Park in Shelby Township I found a nice surprise:  A blog written and updated regularly by Mike Grobbel who is a co-owner / member of the board of directors.

I have to tell you, I am thrilled with the information on the blog and the helpful links to updated association documents as well as the handy list of co-owners who are service providers (plumbers, painters, etc.)

Condo sales in Macomb County haven’t been a bright side in our real estate market for many years so anything that could help an association and owners of condos speed along a sales process is helpful!   Even though there are hindrances to purchasing a condo that weren’t there 5+ years ago (mortgage difficulties, etc.) condos are still an area of home ownership that is desirable to many prospective buyers.  (BTW, this is one of the condo complexes that is on HUDs approved condo list.  Very helpful for FHA & VA buyers!)

Thank you Mr. Grobbel for providing this informative blog to your co-owners at The Manors at Central Park as well as us real estate agents who want to provide as much information as we can to prospective buyers!

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