About Grand Traverse County, MI

If you are a regular Ask the Realtor reader, or know me personally, you have heard my fervent declarations that Northern Michigan in general, and Traverse City in particular, is The Greatest Place on Earth. And I'm not just talking about the real estate.
Well, word is getting out.
CNN/Money magazine has recently named Traverse City Number 3 of the 25 Best Places to Retire in the United States.
Residents enjoy miles of sandy beaches on both the Great Lake and many smaller ones. But this place is no backwater. Munson Medical Center is ranked among the 100 top hospitals in the country, and the area is a hotbed for the arts. The Traverse City Film Festival draws film buffs from around the country, the Dennos Museum Center houses one of the largest collections of Inuit art, and the nearby Interlochen Center for the Arts hosts hundreds of concerts, art exhibits, and theatrical and dance productions each year.
They don't even touch on the four seasons of outdoor recreation available; the fantastic boating, golfing, biking, sailing, skiing, hunting, fishing, swimming, or hiking. The strong local school systems and the low crime rate aren't even touched upon. There is no mention about the healthy religious communities that grace our area, nor the continued local investments preserving natural public spaces. And how about our fantastic food?!
Actually, Money magazine is only the most recent publication to highlight the Grand Traverse area. Traverse City made the NY Times' list ranking the Top 100 Places to Retire. USA WEEKEND's MoneySmart magazine mentions Traverse City in its Top 5 Places to Retire. So does U.S. News & World Report - twice - in their Ten Great Places to Retire for Wine Lovers and Ten Affordable Places to Retire compilations.
Field & Stream magazine lists Traverse City as the 3rd Best Fishing Town in America, saying, "Between May and October, there is no consistently better place to be fishing in America than Traverse City, Michigan." And that was before the World-Record Brown Trout and pending World-Record Musky was caught in the area this year!
Fly Rod & Reel lists Traverse City in their Top 12 Fly-Fishing Retirement Towns. Forbes magazine lists Traverse City among the top Cheap Places to Live Rich (2006). TopRetirements.com highlights Traverse City, as does Relocate-America.com. Even the AARP lists TC as one of the Best Places to Live if You're 50+.
Now I am admittedly biased. My beautiful wife and I are both natives of Traverse City, and now our three kids are too. I would put Traverse City up against any place as a Top Place to Raise a Family.
Plus, the Grand Traverse area is currently one of the best bets for real estate investment in the United States. Prices are still very affordable compared to other markets around the country of similar caliber, and Traverse City continues to enjoy insulation from the most severe economic difficulties that threaten much of the rest of our state.
MSNBC's Today Show recently highlighted the Top 12 Emerging Real Estate Markets, and Saginaw, Lansing, and Grand Rapids all made that list. A quick review of the market data shows Traverse City to be considerably stronger than any of those three Michigan areas. If you watch the video clip closely and review the figures, many of the other "emerging" markets have simply stopped plummeting so rapidly, whereas the Michigan markets are actually showing marked signs of growth.
CNN/Money Magazine's recent recognition of Traverse City is sure to boost some local egos (besides my own), but more importantly it is a reaffirmation of what many of us have grown to know in our bones. Traverse City is a first-class community to call home, with many of the benefits and amenities of much larger metropolitan areas, but without many of the difficulties faced by most major cities in America.
I can get as frustrated by the changes wrought by the influx of new residents to our area as the next person, but the bottom line is that when compared with almost everywhere else, Traverse City is an outstanding place to live, work, recreate, raise a family, or retire. The Grand Traverse area boasts high-caliber professionals in almost every category that you generally don't find in a community of this size - from doctors to teachers, accountants to florists - considering it is a hundred miles to the nearest "metropolitan area." And that says nothing about all of the other benefits of culture and community that we enjoy on a daily basis.
Next time you are driving along the Grandview Parkway, take a moment to gaze out over the Grand Traverse Bay and be thankful for whatever decision or destiny has brought you to The Greatest Place on Earth.
There, I said it again...
All the best,

Mike Gaines, Licensed real estate agent
Century 21 - Northland
m: (231) 883-7441
o: (231) 929-7900 x 32
f: (231) 929-2780

em: MikeGaines@C21Northland.com
w: GrandTraverseAreaRealEstate.com

Office address:
3337 S. Airport Rd. West, Suite 2
Traverse City, MI 49684

Child and Family Services of Northern Michigan is gearing up for our Festival of Tables Fund-raising event. The event will take place at the Hagerty Center in Traverse City, MI on May 14th and 15th. This is the main fund-raising event for the organization and if you have not attended this event in the past, you MUST attend this year. Holly Hack, Loan Officer for Bank of America and Colleen Macdonald, Owner of Mustards restaurant are the co-chairs of the event and are doing a fabulous job to create a fun and festive event. There will be a silent and live auction, lots of food and many wonderful attendees.

Child and Family Services opened in traverse City in 1937 as a branch of the Michigan Children's Aid Society, whose purpose was to"To strengthen and nurture children and families by ensuring their safety and well-being while promoting healing and growth through education, support, and advocacy."
As northwestern Michigan has grown and changed, so, too has Child and Family Services changed to respond to the issues relevant to children and families today. Through programs that address the continuum of people's social and emotional needs, the professionals of Child and Family Services improve the health and well-being of the whole community.

Child and Family Services is a nonprofit organization serving some 4,000 people in 12 counties each year. offices in Traverse City and Habor Springs house more than 60 staff members. Child and family Services mission is: "to promote the safety and well-being of children, adults and famalies by providing services that foster and develop social and emotional healing and growth."

Child and Family Services programs are:

• foster care and foster home licensing
• infant and special needs adoption services
• behavioral health services/counseling
• juvenile justice, including substance abuse monitoring, community service supervision, mentoring, and experiential therapy
• VOCA: treatment and support for child survivors of sexual abuse
• pregnancy and birth counseling
• Family Group Decision Making: an intensive family preservation program
• safe, supervised visitation for children and families
• Development: securing the financial future of the organziation

We are currently seeking sponsors for our fund-raising event and would urge each and everyone of you to look deep into your heart and consider making a donation to this wonderful event. For additional information, please contact Christine Stalsonburg, Sponsorship Committee Member at 231-944-0854.

We are changing children's lives - One child at a time.

In the article virtual tour doubles as search warrant by Realty Times, Broderick Perkins addresses two homeowner / real estate agent objections about 360 virtual tours. Both objections relate to homeowner concerns of privacy. Although the article is very outdated with the popularity of 360 virtual tours (Dec 2002), these objections are still sometimes show up and I just wanted to write this today to show how they are easily put to bed with some intelligence and solid facts about our industry.

Objection number one:

According to his article, homeowners give up their fourth amendment right to 'expectation of privacy' and therefore expose their home to police search (without a search warrant) if the property were to become a crime scene during the time that the virtual tour was available to the public.

First of all, if my home became a crime scene during the time that I had my house on the market, the last thing that I would be worried about is whether or not the police can see what my house looked like before the crime occurred. In fact, I would think that this would be a great help in the investigation and for insurance purposes.

Second, I may not be a lawyer, but I highly doubt that having a virtual tour of your home would allow the police to physically search your house without a search warrant. Yes, they and everyone else can view your virtual tour on Realtor.com. Even if you didn't have a 360 virtual tour, police can 'see' inside your house with normal listing photos too.

So, if you are really concerned what the police may find in your house, maybe you should skip the virtual tour and take a couple of pictures of the front and back of the house. Or maybe take the house off the market completely to avoid having an Open House on Sunday.

Objection Number Two:

"Prospective thieves can see what I have in my home and case the house on the net."
Even listing photos show what is in the house. Once your house is on the market, it is essentially on display to the public. Your real estate agent will be taking photos, making brochures, scheduling open houses and allowing other agents to tour the home with people that you know nothing about. Even the agents themselves are complete strangers to you, and (if you have a lock box on the property) they now have your permission to walk in and out of the house when you are not home. Even if you have an electronic lock box, my guess is that the person who plans a robbery won't be using his code to open the front door.

For both of these objections, the answer is preparation. If you have really expensive artwork, jewelry or other belongings, put them in storage. If you are really concerned about your 10K television set, put that in storage too and get insurance on the storage unit. Hide anything that you do not want to be viewable to the public just as if you were preparing for an open house.

As a final hint on overcoming this objection; tell the homeowner to order two CDs of the 360 tour and provide one copy to their insurance company and place the other in a safe location like a bank security box. This way, if the worst case scenario happens, they will have proof of what was physically present at the property at the time that the virtual tour was performed. Most RTV Virtual Tour Providers also offer Insurance Virtual Tours.

Real Tour Vision
National Virtual Tour Company
www.realtourvision.com
Find a local virtual tour provider - 866-947-8687

Homes For Heroes is a wonderful program that is designed to assist Military Personnel, Police, Firefighters, Medical Personnel and Teachers. The company is based in Texas and has been around since the events of 9/11. I am proud to say that I am a representative of this program in the Northern Michigan area. The program offers a 25% refund of commission back to the buyer or seller as well as discounts on mortgage origination fees and title fees. In order to take advantage of the program, buyers or sellers need to register on the home web site www.homesforheroes.com and they will be directed to a representative in their area. This is a wonderful way to give back to those who put their lives on the line everyday for each and every one of us.

If you thought about waiting to list your home to fix up a few things, paint or get new carpets, etc., don't bother. Why? Many buyers are coming out of the woodwork to take advantage of the $8,000 tax credit (Visit www.FederalHousingTaxCredit.com for details). To a buyer your home may be worth $8,000 more (to them) today than it will be, come May 1, 2010 (the deadline for entering into a Purchase Agreement). Many buyers are much more willing to overlook minor issues with your home simply do to their ability to use their future tax money for any needed repairs.

As of May 1, 2010 (provided the tax credit is not extended once again) future buyers may once again start paying much closer attention to minor details as they may not have cash reserves to cover needed repairs. Once the tax credit goes away buyers will no longer get "Cash Back". With the deadline of April 30, 2010 looming, now is the time to list your home. If your home does not get the activity that you anticipated (with the tax credit) then in that case May 1^st may be a great time to consider a price reduction.

Not ready to move... no problem. To qualify for the credit a contract need to be signed by the end of April but the sale does not have to close until the end of June 2010. You can simply set your closing date for late June and buy yourself some extra time. Call your REALTOR today and take advantage of the wave of buyers the industry is seeing.