Northville, MI

In my July Market Report, I mentioned that The American Housing Rescue and Foreclosure Prevention Act includes provisions to help homeowners keep their homes.

Another provision provides a tax credit of up to a $7,500 (10% of the purchase price) for first time home buyers. Effectively, it's a 15-year no interest loan with payments amounting around $500 per year, depending on the amount of credit you claimed.

This important credit applies to homes purchased by July 1, 2009 so if you or someone you know is thinking of making the move, now is the perfect time to start looking.

Remember, a mortgage payment may well be cheaper than paying rent...and you pocket the tax benefits instead of your landlord!

I'm frustrated with a Northville short sale process and I don't know what to do. We submitted the offer back on 9/09 for this Northville condo. I am the buyers agent. So I don't get much information from the listing agent. She did not even know that the homeowner was going into foreclosure or not. We found out that the home was in foreclosure by driving by and noticing the public notice posted on the front door of the Northville condo. The listing agent says she is not getting any response from the bank. Or that she has not heard anything.

We got a verbally accepted offer at $125,000 back in October. This is a cash deal. During October the bank received a much higher offer of about $155,000. We upped our offer to $145,000 cash. The bank never accepted either offer. Well the other offer dropped out back the day before Thanksgiving.

So there are no other offers on the table. It is a cash offer but we have not heard anything one way or another from the bank. A month ago and we have heard nothing!!!! I am so tired of waiting on the banks personnel and the lack of action that I am thinking of FED EXing the banks president and ask what is up on this deal. I was going to wait until the 15th of January then I was going to climb the chain of command.

What happens in Michigan that once a sheriff sale happens then the short sale must happen within 6 months of the sheriff sale. Otherwise it ends up as the banks property. Then it becomes a foreclosure. And the whole short sale offer is thrown out the window as the property is transferred to another department. I had another offer blow up because the bank waited until the day before the property transferred to act. The bank accepted the offer but said we had to close it in one day. Unfortunately it was a mortgage deal and the bank had not even ordered title work. So it was impossible to close. What a torture for my buyers.

It is sad when you have had a verbally accepted deal. Then the bank doesn't act and the deal just sits and sits. It is no wonder that some banks are in the position they are in. It's a cash deal. It could have closed back in October. It has basically cost the bank $1000 in taxes to hold this property. Don't you love how our bank bailout money is used.

I want my buyers to close on this condo and move on with their life. What do you think I should do? Wait until the bank responds or climb the chain of command on January 15th?

Metro Detroit area Victorian homes

Where do you look if you want to buy a Victorian home in the Metro Detroit real estate market where do you look? Settlers started arriving in Southern Michigan in the early 1820's. There are still old farm houses, and Victorian homes scattered throughout Southern Michigan. You will find more of them near old city center. There are quite a few Victorian homes that are over a 100 years old in Southeastern Michigan. And many more built in the early 1900s.

Below I have listed cities that have Metro Detroit Victorian homes in Wayne County

Wayne County Victorian Homes

• Belleville Victorian Homes, located around the city center and scattered around the city. Belleville was a fertile farming area.
• Brownstown Victorian homes, Not many Victorian homes at all. A few scattered around the city.
• Canton Township Victorian homes, Canton used to be a large farming community, no city center so the Victorian homes are scattered throughout the township. Not a lot of them
• Detroit Victorian homes, There are some beautiful Detroit Victorian homes scattered throughout the city
• Dearborn Victorian home, Dearborn was located on the trail to Ann Arbor and Chicago so it is an old town. Victorians are scattered throughout the city
• Grosse Pointe Farms Victorian homes, Very few victorian homes left.
• Grosse Ile Victorian homes, some victorian homes are scattered all over the island. Not a lot of them.
• Huron Twp Victorian homes, Huron Twp was a farming community so farm houses and Victorian homes are scattered here and there around the community
• Northville Victorian homes, Northville has a large amount of Victorian homes clustered around the old city center. Some have been beautifully restored.
• Plymouth Victorian homes, Plymouth also has a old time city center. Victorian homes radiate out from the city center. There are quite a few Victorian homes
• River Rouge Victorian homes. An old city just south of Detroit River Rouge has a few Victorian homes left. It is now a lower cost community.
• Wyandotte Victorian homes, Wyandotte is downriver of Detroit. Many travelers that ventured to Detroit from Ohio may have passed through Wyandotte on their way to Detroit. There are Victorian homes scattered in the city and some are close to the Detroit River.

If you are looking for a Victorian homein Wayne County or near Detroit MI I would try Northvilleor Plymouth first. Then expand my search to some of the other counties such as Oakland, Washtenaw, and Livingston. Northville and Plymouth have the Victorians that are completely restored. Or for the person that is looking for a restoration project there are plenty of them. Northville and Plymouth Victorian homes are located near the cities centers. Where the other cities will have them scattered here and there.

To Search Metro Detroit victorian homes for sale go to my website Livonia real estate and Wayne County real estate or email me at info@RussRavary.com for your personalized list of Michigan Victorian homes for sale. Or Call me on your cell

photos courtesy of Realcomp II LTd

With all the snow we've had so far this year, it's the perfect storm for ice dams to form on your roof.

What are ice dams?

Ice dams are formations that occur at the edge of a roof near the gutters or soffits when snow melts and refreezes. Icicles are often a telltale sign. Once formed, water backs up behind the ice dam pooling and infiltrating your home, which can cause significant damage.

The best prevention is adequate ventilation and proper insulation of your home to prevent an overly warm attic. Additionally, the roof should have a vapor barrier under the roofing material to help prevent an ice dam.

Keep a close eye on your roof to recognize if maintenance and/or repair is required when weather permits. And stay warm out there!

Photo courtesy of melaniejo

of Snow and depending on who you talk to there was 12 inches of snow that fell in Metro Detroit MI yesterday by noon. I went out this morning and showed some houses.

Not one of the houses bothered to shovel the snow. So my clients and I had to trudge thru 10 inches of snow. I had expected the builders model to be shoveled, and the home owner to shovel the other one. Of course I didn't expect the bank to have the Northville foreclosure cleared of snow. The foreclosure had no heat so the floors were freezing, so my clients did not want to take their shoes off.

What a messy day to go out looking at houses, but my client did find one of the Northville homes to their liking. They were going home to think about it. Who knows they may put in an offer on a snow covered Northville home.

To search Northville homes for sale go to my website Wayne County, Oakland County, Livingston County Real estate