Canton, MI

I had a great day! I lost a Canton home deal today. But it was a great day. I could have made over $6000 on the deal. But it is great that I lost it! it's great that I didn't make money today.

You see between the home inspection and the client checking the Michigan sex offenders list and finding out that there was a sex offender living down the street they backed out of the deal. I called my police friend to ask a little about it. I never really dealt with this before. You see you can become a sex offender if:

• you urinate in public and people see you
• touch a child inappropriately
• if you are 19 in high school and have sex with a sixteen year old that goes to the same school

The sex offender label is broad and sometimes labels a person wrongly. Many times the simple stupid things like urinating in public (exposing themselves) gets probation. Serious offenses usually get jail time. If a person gets jail time then the offense may be significant.

When I looked up this guys offense it was inappropriate touching of a minor. He was sentenced for 3 years. It was not a minor offense. The sex offender lived two doors down and had kids. My clients had kids. How would my clients tell their kids that they couldn't play with the neighbors kids. That they couldn't go to their house. I asked my policeman buddy if he would buy the house if it was his kids. He said no and I relayed his answers on to my client.

My clients did the right thing to protect their children. They didn't buy the best house they saw. Sure it had a few flaws the inspector found. But they put their children first. The listing agent wasn't happy when we told them we were voiding the contract. But who cares what the listing agent has to say....they aren't living there.

If you are buying a metro Detroit home and want to check the Michigan sex offenders list here is the link:

http://www.mipsor.state.mi.us/PSORDisclaimer.aspx

Like I said it is a great day in Metro Detroit. We will find another nice home that doesn't have a serious sex offender living 2 doors down.

Russ Ravary your metro Detroit Realtor

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Here is a quick update on the metro Detroit real estate market on the under $125,000 price range. Right now there is only about 26 days left for Metro Detroit first time home buyers to get the $8000 first time home tax credit. So the Metro Detroit real estate market under $125,000 is red hot. There aren't very many low ball offers going in. If you put one in your probably aren't going to win the house.

First time home buyers are scrambling to find a home before the deadline runs out. So if you aren't a first time home buyer and are looking to buy right now you are most likely going to get involved in the bidding wars.

My clients have lost a home where the house went $21,000 over the list price of $46,000. Sure the house was still a deal at that price but that is still a huge increase over the list price. Most Metro Detroit foreclosures are going at or above the list price.

In fact the few homes we have bid on have all had multiple bids. We have won some and lost some. Even when we have put in some good offers we have lost some. Some of the latest bidding wars we have been in have had

• 11 bidders, won by a cash offer at the last minute
• 6 bidders
• 4 bidders
• 2 bidders
• 7 bidders

So the bottom line is the Metro Detroit real estate market under $125,000 is going strong. There are many multiple offers and many Metro Detroit foreclosures are going at or over list price.

Russ Ravary your Metro Detroit real estate agent

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October is Cancer awareness or Breast Cancer month but it is never to early to start talking about it. My wife Marianne is a three time cancer survivor. Her cancer was discovered the first time over 19 years ago. We have had our good times and rough times because of cancer. But she is alive because she went to the doctor and continues to go to the doctor.

I urge all of you to go see your doctor if you think something is wrong. Delaying a diagnosis is far worse than fearing what may be true. You can survive! So get in and get checked out. Whether you are male or female see a doctor.

Russ Ravary

One of the local stations has been commenting that Metro Detroit real estate is selling. Metro Detroit home sales are up! It's true homes are selling quicker especially if they are clean, updated, and priced right. They will sell quickly because of the first time home buyer tax credit. There are lots of people out there looking for the bargains. What you have to realize is that many of the great deals are being sold for cash or have little problems that you have to look past.

There are only 109 days left to CLOSE ON A HOME in order to claim the first time home buyer tax credit. So really you have only 79 days left to find a home. Not much time. I don't know if they will extend the home buyer tax credit or not. I don't think anybody can guarantee that they will. So if you want to take advantage of it you need to get out looking.

Nation wide foreclosure filings rose 32 percent from the same month last year. That mean one in every 355 homes, received a foreclosure-related notice. That's the highest monthly level since the foreclosure since the data has been kept (more than four years ago). Here in the metro Detroit area we don't have a lot of foreclosure listings on the market right now.

That's simply because the Obama moratorium has slowed Metro Detroit foreclosures hitting the market. We will be seeing a surge of them hitting the market after October of this year and into the winter. That is simply because the moratorium ran until April and we have a six month redemption period. So we won't be seeing all those foreclosures until six months from April.

Unfortunately the foreclosures will be hitting the market about the time the first time home buyer tax credit ends. I myself don't see a slowing of the foreclosures. I see too many people that are planning foreclosures or are in financial trouble. There will be quite a few more Metro Detroit foreclosures in the next year.

So according to today's news reports:

• Metro Detroit real estate is selling
• retail sales are down
• unemployment is up
• New car sales are up

So it is a mixed bag of good and bad but all we can do is get by. Try to stay positive and take advantage of the low prices whether it is on a Cash for clunker deal or on a Metro Detroit home.

I hope this gives you a glimpse of what is happening in the metro Detroit real estate market.

Russ Ravary your Metro Detroit Realtor

I had a call from a Metro Detroit first time home buyer that wanted to know if there were any Canton condos that were deals. Canton Twp Michigan is a great place to live and there are some great condos for a buyer in any price range.

Right now there are 198 Canton condos for sale ranging in price from $29,999 to over $286,000. And 104 of them are $100 a square foot or less. That's quite a few to choose from. There are 45 Canton condos that are under $75 a square foot.

There are 4 first floor ground units that are less than a $100,000 and less than $75 a square foot. But there are over 22 Canton condos that are first floor ground units.

There are 11 Canton Condo foreclosures ranging in price from $47,500 for a 1165 square foot condo all the way up to $239,900 for a 2900 square foot condo. The majority of Canton condos are newer. Of the 198 condos for sale there are 174 condos that have been built after 1990. So many of them are newer.

Yes there are a lot of good deals in Canton condos right now. But remember you should look at the taxes and the association dues before you go out and look at the homes. I never want a client to fall in love with a condo and then not be able to afford it.

If you are a first time home buyer in Canton Michigan, and you need a little help guiding through the home buying process, it would be my privilege to help you avoid all the little issues. And make your first home purchase a smooth one.

Russ Ravary your Metro Detroit realtor helping people find bargains in Wayne County real estate and Oakland County real estate

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