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

Shadow Inventory.  It’s a murky term, as the word “shadow” usually means something dark following us around.    When we hear it in a way that relates to our local real estate market, for example Macomb County and the Metro Detroit area, it means homes that are sitting vacant on our blocks and in our subdivisions [...]

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I’ve received a couple of phone calls within the last month from condo buyers (with their own buyers agents) who are stumped and confused about purchasing a condo with FHA financing.
(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 [...]

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Several months ago I read an article written by another real estate agent (in another part of the country) about an incident she had while showing homes to a  young buyer couple. The house was empty (the sellers left for the showing) and the buyers looked at the home thoroughly, even though they really [...]

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In the last month or so I have received more phone calls about an article I wrote last year that warned Macomb County MI home buyers about “tagged” homes and the certificate of occupancy that is needed before they can move in.
There are 2 things I have learned from these calls:    1) Some buyers agents [...]

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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 [...]

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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 [...]

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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:  [...]

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One of the challenges to purchasing a foreclosure is abiding by all local laws regulating the condition of the home (different city/township inspections and Certificate of Occupancy requirements).    Macomb County homes that are serviced by a well and septic system also have a mandatory inspection at the point of sale.
This can be a bit challenging [...]

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One of the features that I really find helpful in our MLS systems (Mirealsource™ and Realcomp II ™) is a listing history for each home on the market.   If a home has been on the market before (records going back to about 1997) there will be a history of it.
When a buyer client is interested [...]

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I remember last summer when a buyer client and I viewed a home in Warren.  It was a foreclosure, and because she was semi-interested in the home I did a bit of research on it the next morning.
The City of Warren had “tagged” the home, which means you  need an inspection from the building department [...]

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