Novi, MI

Oh how I love it when a listing agent tells me all about their client. My clients were looking at Novi real estate and the listing agent lived across the street. She came up to me while I was waiting for my clients. It was my second showing on the home with the same clients.

In five minutes of talking to her I learned.

• Her client was a 86 year old man
• The 86 year old man lost his wife two years ago
• The seller just sold his other home in Florida
• The seller just bought a condo in Plymouth Michigan
• She thinks the Novi home is over priced
• Her client will settle for $210,000 for the Novi home
• Her client is a negotiator so be sure to bring a lower offer to get to the $210,000

Lose lips sink real estate deals. She gave away all the information that will help my client. By real estate ethics she was not supposed to disclose any of this information. But she gave it all away in 5 minutes of casual conversation.

I think I will have to send her a thank you card if my clients buy this house and get a good price!

More:

Novi subdivision real estate information

Novi MI data and demographics

Metro Detroit home buyer tips

Wayne County home seller tips

I get this question quite often "When should I put my Novi home on the market?" Plan ahead. And start before you think you need to.

It´s a good idea to place your home on the market as far in advance as possible of purchasing a new one. The average time on the market for homes for sale in Metro Detroit in 2007 ( a buyers market) was over 6 months. In 2009 it was 4 months if it was priced right. Don't think that just because your Metro Detroit home is nice that you will be the exception, and sell yours quickly. You have to price it right and not over price for the market.

Spring is the natural time to put your Novi home on the market. In the Metro Detroit area there are more buyers when the spring season hits. As soon as the weather warms up buyers start to come out in good numbers. But this year it may be a little different. With the first time home buyer tax credit being extended until the end of April there are a lot of buyers out there even in the cold. We just bid on one home that had ten offers on it and another one had five offers on it.

So there are quite a few Metro Detroit first time home buyers looking to buy right now. So if you ask me when should I put my Novi home on the market I would say I would put your home on the market right now. It would be a smart move.

Novi Michigan Real Estate For Sale and Novi homes for sale Right now there are 223 Novi homes for sale that have been on the market an average of 217 days. Out of those 223 homes there are 9 Novi foreclosures and 53 short sales. Right now there are not many foreclosures for sale in Novi. The deals may be in short sales. Just remember that short sales take months and months to close. The soonest a short sale will take to close is about 45 days. Most of these Novi short sales have been on the market an average of 173 days. It's not because they are bad deals. It is because many Metro Detroit home buyers don't want to deal with short sales. Homes that are not short sales or foreclosures can be good deals too. But take each Novi home listingat one time. Look at the recent sold home prices in the neighborhood and in Novi when you find a home you like. You need to know what homes have sold for in the last 90 days. The Novi market and the Metro Detroit real estate market has changed in the last 90 days. The Metro Detroit real estate market has gotten hot since the end of summer. But who knows it may cool off over the winter. If you have lots of patience then a short sale home maybe something you might want to look into.

More Novi real estate information

• Novi subdivisions
• City of Novi Data
• Novi real estate information
• Metro Detroit relocation information

In the last few minutes I have read some blogs that sounded like "used car salesmen". I'm sorry but I love the holidays. Too me Christmas is a magical time of the year. I love giving gifts. I love twinkling sparkling lights. I love a fresh snowfall Christmas week. I love the happiness the holidays bring to so many people.

So all they hype of not decorating your home because it distracts buyers goes against my grain. Sure it is true decorating may distract a buyer. But what about the buyer that does expect to see a Christmas tree? A beautifully decorated tree would make me feel at home. Sure over the top decorating may turn some buyers off. But a home at that isn't decorated at Christmas would turn me off. It wouldn't be my home. I probably won't buy the home.

What I am saying is that the decorations would depend on the buyer whether it is a distraction or a benefit. (YES THE ABOVE TREE IS OVERBOARD)

But the way I look at it is that you only have so many Christmases on this earth. With my wife Marianne being sick I realize it even more. So putting the house on the market right away during the holidays or because holiday home buyers are more serious over the holidays is just "used car" tactics.

Enjoy the holidays, make this one special for you and your family. Don't let the scrooge the real estate person ruin your holidays. Your house will sell to the right buyer after the holidays too.

We are excited to announce a great way to quickly search for Novi Michigan Foreclosed Homes for sale. Visit www.BobandTeena.com or www.RealEstateBusyBees.com and right at the top of the page you will see links that say Novi Michigan Bank Foreclosure Houses for Sale . When you click this link it will show you the available bank foreclosure homes in Novi Michigan. It is quick, easy and simply just an awesome way to search for homes.

If you have any questions about any of the homes for sale you find please feel free to email us anytime at info@BobandTeena.com we would be glad to help out in any way we could.

Novi is still seeing some decent activity even though the weather is turning colder and the holiday season is here. Personally I am noticing more activity at this time of year than we have in the past few years of this downturn in real estate. We look forward to meeting with you real soon, have a great day!!