Michigan

Like many real estate agents I am getting more than a little ticked off at how the government banks are handling the foreclosures and the sale of homes and condos. In my opinion, they are running the real estate market right into the ground. Of course, right behind them are the appraisers who are actually "untouchable" now thanks to the HVCC Home Valuation Code of Conduct. One of my favorite blogger's Chris Griffith wrote about this recently. Right behind them are the underwriters who yes work for the banks.

So do I sound ticked off? Well I am and right now I am beginning to think it's some kind of conspiracy to cripple the middle class. No I am not going nuts it's just I am seeing first hand what is happening to the real estate market here in Macomb County, just outside Detroit. I just can't take it anymore and I think people need to know what's going on. I think the banks are holding real estate prices back.

Here's why -

• last month we sold a home that was listed at $149,000 it had 7 offers and our buyer offered $169,900. Now that means the market is talking right? Not quite - although our buyer's offer was the best and his offer was accepted the appraiser brought the value in at $152,000. So much for the market talking. The best part is this home sold in 1988 brand new for $150,000 and the township well they are collecting taxes based on a value of $241,000.

• a few weeks back we sold a condo for $92,000 actually we thought it was a pretty good deal. Guess our 20 years of real estate experience means nothing - the appraiser said it was worth $83,000. The estate was appalled because their mom paid $80,000 in 1979. Of course, they were forced to sell since we could not fight the appraiser.
  

• this tops them all - a condo sells for $83,000 this time the appraiser says it's worth $85,000 - ready for this one? The underwriter says No - she ran the automated evaluation system and said it was worth $73,000. What???
  

• here's one that I have first hand knowledge of - we bought a condo in 2003 for $105,000 bank owned. These units sold back in 1994 for $65,000 and in 1988 brand new for $58,000. But in the past 3 years the banks have ran the market right into the ground - $95,000, $62,500, $59,900, $49,900, $44,900, $40,500, $38,000. Urgh
  

Now remember Macomb County was NOT an area that went way up in value. No this area did not see double digit appreciation in a couple years. We had normal appreciation and then the banks came in and ran it right into the ground. The other day I saw a home selling in Detroit for $850 yep you read that right. No it was not a wreck. It was a 3 bedroom brick home with a basement and a garage and a few miles from where I grew up. Sick just sick.

So what do you think?

I heard that today. That is good. Metro Detroit home buyershave to feel comfortable and in control when putting in an offer. Some Metro Detroit real estate agents push buyers to put in an offer right away. Make a decision quick. But you as a home buyer need to set the pace.

Sure the house may be gone. Especially if it is a foreclosure that is in good shape and price cheaply. It probably will go quickly but if you are unsure or uneasy do what make you feel comfortable. If you feel bad about missing out on a deal maybe next time you will feel comfortable about making a quick decision about a good foreclosure.

Many times I take home buyers out and we see a nice house on the very first time out. Most home buyers are smart and don't get rushed. They take their time to make a sound decision after reviewing recent sold comparables and looking at a reasonable number of home choices.

So don't let any real estate agent rush you. But at the same time once you make a decision, don't wait to put in the offer. If you like the house and want the house don't wait. Good houses priced reasonably don't last so don't wait to long.

Russ Ravary your Metro Detroit Realtor serving Wayne and Oakland County

Here are the May stats for homes priced above 100,000.

Homes Prices above $100,000

This is the story of a woman who purchased a home last summer. I spent a lot of time showing her nearly 40 homes before she finally found what she thought was a good home:

White Lake Resident in Total Dismay over Home Purchase; Not Getting Answers from Oakland County Road Commission about Inferior Storm Drain

The storm drain by the street has been plugged since the snow melted last spring; ground water has no place to go but into the crawl spaces under homes

White Lake, MI - Susan Downey purchased her home in June of 2008 after looking at nearly 40 houses for sale. She started out looking at bank owned homes trying to get a great deal; however there were a variety of problems with many of the houses that the single homeowner did not want to deal with. "She was looking at small, single story homes without a basement," said Ralph Maupin, her real estate agent. "Her main concern was that the crawl space be dry because she is very sensitive to mold. Some of the homes we looked at had wet crawl spaces and we knew it the moment we entered the homes. She was wheezing by the time we left these homes."

After spending 3 months looking at homes Susan finally began looking at private owned homes being sold at retail prices. "We found a nice 3 bedroom ranch on Lindholm Street in White Lake Township," said Ralph. "We made an offer, subject to a satisfactory inspection of the home and crawl space. The crawl space appeared to be dry with no sign of mold. The owner claimed that he never had a problem with water in the crawl space."

There is a ditch with a catch basin that serves as a storm drain in front of several of the homes on Lindholm Street. At first there was no problem; the ditch stayed dry and Susan was able to cut the grass; even in the lowest spots. In the Fall of 2008 the ditch started holding water; it did not drain away. When Susan went to pay her property tax bill at the Township offices, she asked them who was responsible for maintaining the storm drain; they gave her the phone number to the Oakland County Road Commission. She called them and assumed they fixed the problem because the water level went down.

In the spring of 2009, after all the snow melted, the ditch was full of water; almost to the top. At this time, there was just a small amount of moisture in the crawl space. This time Susan had to make numerous calls to the Oakland County Road Commission to get them to come out. They finally came, in May, just before the Memorial Day Weekend and pumped some water out; however, the water table was so high that it kept filling up again. By this time, there was about 4 inches of standing water in the crawl space and Susan was suffering from asthma attacks at night due to the excess moisture. "I've known Susan for over 20 years; she was my full-time bookkeeper for 16 years and she never took even one sick day off! She doesn't even catch colds or the flu when a nasty virus is going around the office," said Ralph Maupin. "She assumed she had outgrown her allergy and asthma problems until this happened."

The Oakland County Road Commission gave up on the problem after removing some of the water and put a hideous looking plastic orange fence around the center of the ditch where the water level was over 3 feet deep. Susan thought this meant that they would be back soon to fix the problem. "I gave them the benefit of the doubt, thinking they were going "back to the drawing board" to have a meeting and make a plan," said Susan. "When I called them again in the middle of June, I was shocked at their answer. The person who answered the phone said, "The fence is a safety precaution and we just have to hope for a dry summer so the water goes away. What kind of answer is this? My crawl space is full of water. I've had waterproofing contractors out to inspect and give me an estimate on putting in a drain system and sump pump, but they said there is no place for the water to go unless the Road Commission fixes the storm drain. The pump will run continuously and I'll be replacing it every year as it burns up. I'm sure it would also run up my electric bills too."

The next step was to call Jim Runestad, the County Commissioner assigned to the White Lake area. "I came over to Susan's house on June 22^nd and we called him together," said Ralph. "He was nice; he listened to our concerns and he really seemed to care. He said he would call the Oakland County Road Commission to see what was going on."

On June 23^rd, Susan received a call form the Oakland County Road Commission. "They gave me the same (scripted) answer that they gave me the first couple times I called them," said Susan. "The girl who called said ‘I will put in a report and someone will call you in a couple days.'" "No one from the Oakland County Road Commission has called me back yet," said Susan. "I'm not surprised!"

On June 25^th Jim Runestad called Susan; she missed the call but he left a message saying he wanted to confirm that the Oakland County Road Commission did come out and fix the problem. "I received his message after 5pm, so I called him back the next day to tell him nothing had been done," said Susan. "He said to call him back on Tuesday, June 30^th."

On June 26^th, after speaking to Jim Runestad, Susan emailed him pictures of the standing water. When she called him back Tuesday morning, there was no answer, so she left a message. "I called again later in the afternoon and left another message. At this point, I was afraid he was blowing me off too," said Susan.

On July 1^st, Jim Runestad called Susan and explained that he had a hectic day Tuesday but that he was working on getting the problem resolved. He said he spoke to the Oakland County Road Commission and they were "putting her report at the top of the stack." Jim told Susan to call him back on Thursday, July 2^nd to let him know if the problem gets resolved or not. Jim also spoke about the Oakland County Road Commission being under staffed and overwhelmed with roads to maintain and having no funding to hire more people.

Susan is still having problems sleeping and breathing at night. Her front yard is soft and spongy, the crawl space is full of water and no one seems to be able to help with the problem. She has created a blog with pictures and articles about her concerns about living with water under her house. Susan would appreciate it if people would visit her blog and make comments and suggestions as to what she can do to get the problem resolved. Visit Susan's blog at http://oaklandcountyroadcommission.blogspot.com/

Ann Arbor and Saline don't have fireworks displays. Ann Arbor use to because as a family we always went. But, there are some towns in Washtenaw County that do host them. Manchester, Whitmore Lake, Grass Lake and Ypsilanti.

If you are looking for a fireworks to attend anywhere in Michigan there is a good site to check out, Michigan Fireworks where you can put in your city and check where and what time they start.

Taking photos of fireworks can be hard. Darren Rowse of Pro-Blogger has a some really great tips and techniques of taking those shots.

I thnk I need some help so will try some of Darren's techniques this July 4th.

Missy Caulk & Team can be reached at 734-216-2822 or email: Missy@MissyCaulk.com

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