Novi, MI

Here is the latest Novi real estate update for homes in the $300,000 to $500,000 range that have sold in the last six months.

As you can see there have not been a lot of homes that have sold in the last six months in the City of Novi. The Average time on the market for Novi Homes for sale has been 144 days with some in the higher price range being on the market for 438 days.

Comp and Listing Information Courtesy of Realcomp II Ltd, Properties shown have been listed and sold by various MLS member REALTOR® agents,

What is a short sale? A short sale is where the seller owes more on the house than the house can sell for. So the selling list price is less than the mortgage amount owed. The bank has to approve the sale and the purchase agreement because they will be losing money on the mortgage loan.

How long does a short sale take? A short sale can take from 2 weeks to 6 months. Banks are understaffed to take care of short sales. They may not even look at the purchase agreement for a month in some cases. You have to have the patience and the ability to not hear anything for a month or more.

Will I get a counteroffer or an answer? Depends on the bank. Sometimes they counter the offer. Sometimes the bank even forgets about the offer. Sometimes the deal never gets done.

Why is the bank still marketing the property when I have heard we have a deal? The short sale is not a done deal until the paperwork comes back signed. Sometimes it has to go through several levels in the bank, sometimes Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac has to sign off.

How much should I offer less than the list price? That is up to you. But you must realize that the bank will hire somebody to do a broker price opinion. A broker price opinion is what a real estate agent thinks the property is worth. The bank will take that broker price opinion into consideration when evaluating your offer.

Can I lose the house if the bank is still marketing the property? Yes the bank is going to take the best offer. They make take a cash offer that is less money than yours because they may think it has a better chance of being approved. They may take an offer that the buyer is putting down 20% versus 3%.

Should I get involved in a Metro Detroit area short sale? I myself (as a Michigan Realtor) hate them because there is so much uncertainty. I would rather a buyer buy a Michigan foreclosure or a Livonia home or Novi home that is for sale by a private owner than by a Metro Detroit short sale.

So many real estate agents take punctuality for granted. I have seen them come to closings late. I have heard stories of other agents showing up for listing appointments late and showing appointments late.

I have this thing about being on time and even being a few minutes early. If I arrive too early I sit in the car. I make phone calls. I usually keep some sort of reading material in the car. I just feel if it a listing appointment your first impression is important. If you come late you might as well come in shorts and a tee shirt.

Be on time is the way to show respect for the other persons time. If you don't show up on time I feel you don't respect the other person.

I know there are reasons to be late. Sometimes it is unavoidable. But if you are late more times than not look at your habits and start out earlier to all your appointments and meetings. Your friends, and clients will appreciate it!

Have a great day Russ Ravary

Michigan Real Estate taxes

I received this email about Michigan SEV and taxable value. Many people don't understand thier real estate tax bills because it is confusing. Here is the email.

Hi Russ,

I came across your websites Livonia Real estate and Metro

Detroit Michigan real estate doing a search on the
difference between SEV and Taxable Values.

This all started when I found out my condo
association dues are going to go up.

I began looking at my city's website (Novi, Michigan)
and decided to snoop around, discovering information
on my property and hereby, being able to locate
information on other people's property.

I also discovered that my neighbor Taxable Value
was $35,980 and her SEV was $69,500 (she lives in Novi

, Michigan too). Also, my boss, who is lives in Livonia,

has a similar looking equation.

Wow, what a hit I took when I read that! So she
likely pays less tax than I do depending on the mils
which I didn't look up.

Do I have any recourse to close the gap between my
SEV and Taxable Value? Also, what happened with my
co-worker and boss? Did they go to the Board of
Review and barter it down?

Here is my reply to the gentleman,

The only recourse you have to close the gap between your SEV and Taxable Value is to go to your local board of review. Call the City of Novi and find out when their board of review is. Remember that your taxable value is what you are currently paying for taxes in 2008. The SEV is half of what the assessor thinks the fair market value is. So my first question to you is your taxable value more that what you could sell your house for? Is your SEV more than what your house could sell for? What you have to be able to do is lower the state equalized value (SEV) below the taxable value to reduce your taxes.

Though fighting your Michigan taxes just to lower your state equalized value (SEV) is a smart move too. That way in the future your taxable value MAY MAX OUT at the state equalized value. Where your neighbor who didn't fight it may have a higher tax bill. It is just a possibility that it may save you money.

I forgot to address the question about your boss and co-worker. You can't lower your taxable value. You can only lower the SEV. So if your co-workers have a low taxable value means that they have lived in their houses for a long time.

Let's say you are looking to buy two houses on the same street. One is an original owner and the other seller just bought in 2000. When you look at the original owners (old retires) tax bill that home will have a much lower taxable value than a person down the street that just bought in 2000 years ago.

For example remember when somebody buys a Farmington ranch house the taxable jumps up to the current SEV.
So let's say you bought a Farmington home for salein 1970. The SEV in 1970 was 50,000 and it is limited every year going up by 5% or the rate of inflation. So it will be lower. So you might have a taxable value of of 72,900. And the SEV is $120,000. Because that is what the city thinks it is worth right now.
Whereas somebody bought another Farmington ranch house on the same street and same size in 2000 for $200,000 and the SEV on the house at the time was $98,000. Remember when they bought it the SEV will now be $98,000 and the taxable value will reset to $98,000. Well now their taxable value in 2008 might be (Let's say) $102,000. So their taxable value will be higher than yours because they bought at a time the SEV is higher.

If somebody bought yours right now and the SEV was $120,000 their taxable value would reset to $120,000.

The bottom line is that your taxable value resets to the SEV value when you buy it. You will see a greater spread in taxable value and SEV the longer a person lives in a home.

To fight your Michigan tax bill ( Michigan real estate taxes) call your city to find out when their local board of review will be held. Find out the dates of the comparables that they use. It may be Jan -Dec 2008 or it may be Nov 2007 - Oct 2008. I can help you get the recent sold homes for your area and the comparables. You want to go fight your Michigan taxes with all the current information.

You can go to my websites for more information on difference between SEV and taxable values

I hope this explains it for you. Feel free to email me at info@RussRavary.com

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