Michigan

Yesterday President Obama signed into law the bill that extends and expands the First-Time homebuyers’ Tax Credit, but does this mean ‘real’ money to you?

If you are a First-Time home buyer, and you don’t procrastinate, you should be able to find a home, get it closed in time to take advantage of the tax credit, the important dates to keep in mind are: April 30th 2010. You have to be under contract by this date to qualify, and you have to close by: July 1st 2010.

There is also a provision for current home owners built into this tax credit, allowing anyone who has used the home they are selling as a principal residence consecutively for 5 of the previous 8 years. This tax credit is $6500 (married) or $3200 (filing separately) This is where it gets a little difficult, for those who think they are going to wait until spring to list their house, get it sold and have a house under contract by April 30th, they may have a rude awakening, as homes need to be very aggressively priced to sell quickly in this market. My advise to you would be to get your house on the market as soon as possible, to allow enough time to get it sold, closed, and time for you to find a new home in time to take advantage of the credit.

It is a myth that homes don’t sell in the winter, they most certainly do, as a matter of fact, more times than not, my best month of the year has come in March, due to the activity that commonly increases at the first of the year. Below are some reasons why this may be the perfect time to have your house on the market. Read through this list, and if you are considering a move and want to take advantage of the new tax credit, don’t wait until spring, call your Realtor today.

Remember….”The early bird gets the worm”, and in this case….the cash!

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10 Reasons To List Your Home During The Winter

by Jim Remley, Pro Performer Seminars

1. Fewer Showings-Yes there are less buyers, but those buyers that are

left are usually very serious about making a purchase.

2. Less Competition-Most people wait until spring and summer to list

their home, which means during the fall and winter you will have far

less competition than at any other time of the year.

3. Homes Show Better During the Holidays-Buyers love homes that can

tell a story. The holidays are a great time to show homes because the

home is usually dressed up for the holiday celebrations!

4. January is the Biggest Transfer Month-Did you know that more

corporate moves happen during January than at any other time of the

year? This may be a great reason to list your home now.

5. Timing-By putting the home on the market during the winter you

may be able to more easily hit your moving goals!

6. More Time To Get Top Dollar-By starting to market your home early

you may be able to secure a higher price.

7. Great Time To Shop-If your home sells quickly you will be able to

shop for your next home during the winter, this is a great time to find

a bargain!

8. More Advertising-Because most agents and offices have less inventory

during the winter your home may be advertised more often than

during the spring and summer months!

9. More Attention-Most agents will be able to devote more specialized

attention to your needs during the winter because they have less

clients to manage.

10.The Market-Today’s interest rates are at forty year lows. This gives

buyers more spending power, and will be even more important when

you begin shopping for your next home!

Going From Mark-To-Market to Mark-To-Make Believe!

By Robert Pliska

Have we gone from "mark-to-market" to "mark-to-make believe"? The FDIC just released its policy statement - Prudent Commercial Real Estate Loan Workouts. The FDIC's purpose is provide transparency and consistency to commercial real estate workout transactions and not curtail the availability of credit to sound borrowers. While the FDIC's intentions are honorable, the policy may provide the opposite effect - lack of transparency and consistency and extending the lack of credit to sound borrowers.

The key point of this policy statement is - loan workouts need to be designed to help ensure that the institution maximizes its recovery potential. Renewed or restructured loans to borrowers who have the ability to pay their debts under reasonable modified terms will not be subject to adverse classification solely because the value of the underlying collateral has declined to an amount that is less than the loan balance. So if the borrower and/or its guarantors can still make the payment and the financial institution would prefer to extend the loan rather than take a loss, the fact that the property is worth less is not the determining factor.

The loan can be in good standing if the borrower/guarantor can show that they can still make payments. New appraisals need not be ordered if an internal review by the institution appropriately updates the original appraisal assumptions to reflect the current market and provides an estimate of the fair value for impairment analysis. Documentation should demonstrate a full understanding of the property's current "as is" condition. However, if the institution intends to work with the borrower to get a property to "as stabilized" market value, then the institution can consider the "as stabilized value" in its collateral assessment for credit risk rating. This seems to be heading far to the "make believe" area. Just present a "good story" and the institution can buy a lot of time.

This "good story" accounting will provide more of a lack of transparency and consistency. Two people, for example, can tell a "good story" much differently. It will probably make the FDIC's job more difficult. In the 1990's, for example, banks in Japan were allowed to avoid taking losses and write-downs. The result was an entire decade of stagnation. The steps by the FDIC could create a parallel situation. This may extend the time of lack of credit to borrowers. Let's get back to reality rather than "make believe". Hopefully, our commercial real estate problems may be resolved sooner. For further discuss ion of this topic, feel free to contact the author Robert Pliska, CRE, CPA.

Victorian Sleighbell Parade & Old
Christmas Weekend

December 3-6, 2009
Manistee, Michigan

My all time favorite event in Manistee is the Victorian Sleighbell Parade. In all my years, I have only missed one of the parades. In 2008 I went to New York City with my girlfriends and I often tell people that the tree in Rockefeller Center does not compare to the gigantic tree pulled by horses down River Street in Manistee, Michigan during the Victorian Parade. I'm dead serious!

This year's parade will be Saturday, December 5, 2009 at 5:30 pm. If you are reading this - YOU MUST ATTEND! Why? You won't find a more unique Christmas parade where...

• Everyone wears Victorian period clothing. And I do mean everyone - practically every person from Manistee is in the parade!
• All entries in are decorated with live greenery, cloth ribbons, etc. No plastic allowed. I love it!
• There are lots of horses, as no motorized vehicles area allowed, with the exception of automobiles built prior to 1901.
• All music must be live and from the Victorian period.
• All lighting in the parade is in the form of candles, lanterns, oil lamps, etc.
• Nothing is distributed in the parade - that's right, NO CANDY. I love it and my kids don't even miss it!

Remember, the Manistee Victorian Sleighbell parade starts at 5:30 pm on December 5th downtown on River Street in Manistee, MI. Hope to see you there - I'll be riding in the Coldwell Banker carriage.

Click here for a full schedule of events

Contact Meagan Kempf for all of your real estate needs in Manistee, Mason & Lake Counties!



Meagan Kempf
231-510-5572 cell/text
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Yes, it is official now. Yesterday President Obama signed the tax credit extension and expansion into law! Not only is this great news for first time buyers, but buyers who have lived in their existing homes for 5 out of the last 8 years will also be eligible for up to $6,500 tax credit. Click here for Tax Credit Comparison Chart.

Extension highlights

• The first time buyer tax credit of up to $8,000 is extended to April 30, 2010
• You must have a signed purchase agreement by April 30, 2010
• You must close the transaction by June 30, 2010

Expansion highlights

• Current home owners who purchase a home can qualify for up to $6,500 tax credit
• Current home owners must have lived in their homes for 5 out of the last 8 years
• You must have a signed purchase agreement by April 30, 2010
• You must close the transaction by June 30, 2010

Details on the Tax Credit Extension / Expansion

Even more importantly included in this bill is that unemployment benefits are going to be extended for 20 weeks! With the high rate of unemployment in MI this is good news for many families.

For more info on the St. Clair Shores Real Estate market, contact Mike Mitchell,REALTOR ®

If you'd like to start looking for homes and take advantage of this buyers market in S.E. Michigan sign up for a free Listingbook account and search the mls on your own personal website! Absolutely FREE!

Mike Mitchell - REALTOR ®
GMAC The Kee Group
Direct: (586)291-2652

http://www.mmhomesearch.com/

Unless you live in Michigan, or one of the other hard hit by unemployment states, the signing of H.R. 3548 by President Obama yesterday probably was good news to you because of the extension to the first time home buyers tax credit. Here, in my local area, I'm cheering because there will be thousands and thousands of out of work people who will continue to receive an unemployment check, for at least 20 more weeks.

How hard hit is my area by unemployment? (Look at these numbers and try to remember that the numbers reflect real people and their lives, and isn't just data.)

Michigans overall unemployment rate at the end of September was reported to be 15.3 percent. In Wayne County alone it was 18.3 percent. The city of Detroit? A staggering 28%.

Many of those people who were laid off at the beginning of this year, or late last year, have not found replacement jobs. It has been reported that approximately 44,000 people in Michigan cashed their last unemployment checks in October.

Coming in to the winter months and having their unemployment benefits cease would be cruel. Thank you to all of our government officials for taking care of this and giving an extended lifeline to those who so desperately need it.

When I read the news yesterday about the President signing this bill I was excited, and relieved, more so for those who cashed their last unemployment checks then I was for future home buyers. Needs first - wants later.