Chesterfield Township, MI

One of the questions that I am asked quite often is if a condo can be purchased with an
FHA or VA mortgage.

The answer is a resounding YES. In fact, I find the whole process with FHA and VA purchases
to be a bit easier with condos than with single family homes. Typically condos have much
less of the larger items in disrepair to meet the appraisal guidelines: Roofs are normally
in good condition, foundation & grading issues rarely arise, etc.

HUD has a list of condominium complexes online that you can quickly review to see if the
condo that you have chosen is in a community that is already approved. When I have
a buyer client that wishes to purchase a condo with an FHA mortgage I use that site for a
quick reference. If the complex is not on the approved list, I then check back through the
multilist service that I belong to and search to see if any condos have sold within the last
year using an FHA or VA mortgage.

If the condo you wish to purchase is not on the approved list, hope is not lost. A spot approval
can be done by your mortage lender. For most cases this type of approval is very quick to
obtain.

I searched the multilist this morning and as of the time of this writing, there are 36 condos
for sale in Chesterfield Township MI priced between $100,000 and $120,000. There is
quite a nice mix of those for sale in both the L'anse Creuse school district and the Anchor
Bay school districts.

If you have any questions about purchasing a condo in Macomb County please don't hesitate
to call me. I would be happy to chat with you and be a partner with you through the process.
I can also help you to find an FHA or VA mortgage lender who is familiar with the condo purchase
process.

Kris Wales RE/MAX Advantage 1, Inc. Chesterfield Township - Macomb County MI

http://macombhomes.com http://chataboutmacomb.com

Condos for sale information courtesy of Mirealsource™ and it's participating brokers and real
estate agents.

What an exciting month April was for Chesterfield Township single family & condo sales!

30 single family homes sold in April, compared with 26 homes in March. I had a feeling
that along with the better weather and buyers feeling a bit more confidence in the mortgage
market that we would see a strong month.

Surprisingly, 18 condos sold in Chesterfield Township in April, which is up substantially
from March which only had 6 condos sold! This is certainly great news for those condo owners
who have been working hard and waiting patiently for their homes to sell.

The total time on the market for the homes and condos was higher in the month of
April, but I believe that number is a bit skewed because of one or two homes and condos
being on the market considerably longer than the rest of them. Next month should bring
a balance back to those figures as we have been seeing a reversing trend recently in the
time it takes to sell a home in Chesterfield.

Personal observations:

Home buyers are back out in droves seeking the good deals and taking advantage
of the low interest rates.

More homes and condos are being purchased using FHA & VA mortgages then we've
seen in years.

We are seeing many more multiple offer situations with well priced homes. Hint to
buyers: If you like it, don't wait to make an offer!

One more nice observation: Of the 30 residential homes that sold in April, 13 of them
were foreclosures. Not only are the bank owned homes selling and leaving the market,
but privately owned homes are being sold in a greater margin than the bank owned homes.

If you would like to view any of the homes that are currently for sale in Chesterfield Township
please don't hesitate to contact me. I would be happy to give you a tour of our area, and
work with you as a partner for your real estate needs.

Search Chesterfield Township Homes for Sale

If you've been in this business longer than 5 minutes one of the things that will pop into your mind
and your buyers mind is "How do I know the sellers received my offer?"

We can ask the listing agent, the broker, and even the tooth fairy but we really weren't assured
that a seller received the offer that our buyers submitted if we were getting clues to the contrary:
No return phone calls from the listing agent, vague "they got it" responses, nothing in writing for
several days, etc.

With the many bank owned properties that our buyers are submitting offers on it is even more
difficult to be assured that the bank/asset manager received our buyer clients offers. Now there
IS a way for buyers and buyers agents to be assured that the owners of the properties have indeed
received their offers to purchase:

It seems that in our Rules & Regulations that it has always been acceptable for us to ask for a receipt
by the listing agent in writing letting us and our buyers know that their offer has been delivered to
the seller.

Above is a snippet of a form that our local MLS now has online for us. It's very simple actually, it can
be sent along with any offer and the listing agent fills it out and mails it back to the buyers agent.

I'm going to print out 50 copies of it and tuck it inside of my purchase agreement file.

Kris Wales RE/MAX Advantage 1, Inc. Chesterfield Township Macomb County MI

Search for a bank owned home

Chatting with a friend yesterday about how much the real estate market has changed
in the last 5 years had me curious for clarifying data.

I took a peek this morning in Mirealsource™ to see the hard numbers during the month
of April in 2003 compared to what we are experiencing now in the housing market in April
of 2008. I chose Chesterfield Township in Macomb County as my target area and this
is what the 5 year snapshot looks like:

A couple of things startled me when I first saw the numbers as I entered them into the graph.

First, the number of homes sold was almost identical. Secondly, the average days on the market
were also very close. If you had asked me before I looked at the data if I would think those 2 items
would be so similar I would have said no.

The average list price and sold prices plummeting during these 5 years did not surprise me at all.
We've been watching this steady decline for some time now, longer than most areas of the country
have been experiencing this.

One scenario that brings this to the forefront of my mind is this one:

5 years ago if there were 10 homes on the market in Chesterfield Township under $150,000 that
was a generous supply for first time home buyers. They also would have sold within the first couple
of weeks on the market if they were in decent shape.

Today, there are 46 homes on the market in Chesterfield Township priced between $100,000 and
$150,000. 20 of these homes are bank owned properties. **Homes linked to for sale are courtesy
of Mirealsource™ and it's participating brokers and agents via Broker Reciprocity.**

The national and local media is filled with the news that now is a great time to purchase if you are
in need of a home. I echo that sentiment. If it is a good time to buy for you and your family, then
now would certainly be the time to purchase one of these homes in Macomb County.

To view other homes for sale in Macomb County please visit me at my Macomb County real estate
website and enter one of the search for homes features.

Kris Wales RE/MAX Advantage 1, Inc. Chesterfield Township - a Macomb County MI real estate agent.

Anyone who knows anything about me and reads my blog had to know this post
was coming this morning.

For those not in the know (is there anyone in the Metro Detroit area who
does not know that the Detroit Tigers won last night?):

They won! They won! They won!

Tidbits of last nights game:

Jeremy Bonderman holding the lead he was given and pitching very well to a
tough Red Sox lineup. Edgar Renteria answering the boo-birds at Fenway in
a special way: 3 hits and 2 RBI's. Marcus Thames looking like his old self with
a powerful 2 run homer. Ivan Rodriguez hit the 2500 hit milestone. Congrats Pudge!
Our much maligned bullpen doing a fabulous job. Todd Jones giving us fans a bit of excitement
in the 9th. (Love him..he is entertaining!)

Coffee tastes sweeter this morning for some reason...