Redford, MI

and have a few thousand bucks to invest. But is Detroit the place to invest your money? Sure you may have never heard of such low home prices. Yes homes in your country or state may be much higher. In fact they may be hundred of thousands of dollars higher. But just because a home is $500 or $1000 or $10,000 doesn't mean it is a bargain.

• What will be your return on investment?
• what will be your downside?
• what will it cost to bring up to code or to saleable condition?
• what is Detroit and rental market like?
• what will it take for your investment to be worth more money?
• what are local professional investors doing in the City of Detroit.

I myself would not buy investment homes in the City of Detroit. I would put my families or friend's money there either. I don't know of any investors that have done well in the City of Detroit. In the suburbs yes, but not in the city.

I have to be a little more specific why not to buy in Detroit

1. poor school system in the city of Detroit. Nobody will want to move to Detroit from the suburbs because the school system is so bad and unsafe for their kids.
2. High crime statistics
3. High home and car insurance rates
4. Poor city services in my opinion
5. high property taxes - they could be as high as $3000 for that $500 property - hard to get the high property taxes reduced.
6. Detroit is unfriendly for investors and property managers - hard to evict and landlord is responsible for people leaving cars or dumping garbage or leaving personal property to be removed. have to board up the house when vacant.
7. when home is vacant very likely the furnace, the copper plumbing, and the hot water heater will be stolen. Anything valuable has a chance of "walking" how will an out of town investor know when the tenant is gone?
8. too many great investment homes in the suburbs which will give a better return on investment. Sure not $500 but you'll still have a home intact when it is vacant

My advice buy in a city that the homes will increase in value quicker. Call me if you want to know what makes a good investment home.

that slept with their phone by their bed. I myself put a no go on that. My clients are important. But I need my sleep. I get up and get going about 7 am and end my day about 9 pm. I think clients need to be able to reach us but at the same time we need time. We need time for our family and rest. There is no need to answer a phone at 11 pm. The questions or the call can wait until the morning. I'll answer the voicemail first thing in the morning.

Clients concerns and questions are important. They need to be answered, and as quick as possible to alleviate worries. But we need time to recharge. We need to spend time with our families. Quite honestly I was addicted to the phone and internet.

I was constantly answering my emails and phone calls. I would be at dinner with my wife and with my friends and I would be answering messages and phone calls. I would be texting when I was with friends. I was out of control.

My wife finally got mad at me and I have started to stop doing those things (most of the time). I am cutting back on responding when I am driving. Getting into an accident and hurting somebody else isn't smart. Spending time with friends and family without taking a call isn't wrong. When I'm through I'll call back but I have a wife that wants my full attention too when I'm with her. And she deserves it.

Russ Ravary your metro Detroit real estate agent

Here are 5 quick tips to sell your Metr Detroit home quicker and for more money. Metro Detroit home buyers want to move in plug in the TV, put the drinks in the fridge, and put their feet up on the couch. Metro Detroit home buyers do not want to paint, remove wallpaper, redo the house. Buyers want the home "move in ready"

So here are my 5 tips to sell your Metro Detroit home quicker:

1. De-clutter - get all the knic knacs off the shelves, counter tops, refrigerator. Open up the rooms by getting rid of a few pieces of furniture. Most rooms should only have 3-4 pieces of furniture in them. Organize and straighten up your home. Store all your excess stuff at a storage locker or a friends house.

2. Deodorize - nothing kills a home sale quicker than bad smells. Smoke outside, repaint to get rid of the smell. Find the source of the odor and eliminate it. Some smells that offend home buyers. Pet odors, fishy smells, mildew smell, old person smell, curry, cigar or cigarette smoke. You may not smell it but may offend a buyer. Buy a Cinnamon, or chocolate chip cookie candle and burn it before showings. Don't over do it though. Don't go crazy and over spray smelly deodorizes.

3. De-personalize - Take down you personal and family pictures. If you have collections put them away. If you are country themed or ultra modern loosen up the them. By appealing a larger number of hopme buyers you are more likely to sell your home quicker. The buyer may not like country.

4. Neutralize - Get rid of the flowered or vegetable wallpaper. Repaint that purple wall. Tear up that patterned carpeting or shag carpeting. Again you want the home to be move in ready. So people do not have to do anything. A neutral color will appeal to a greater number of buyers than that dark red wall.

5. Update - Updated homes sell quicker. So if you are in the home and want to update the kitchen or bathroom. Do it. Enjoy it while you live there. This is a general rule: Most updates increase the value of the home. Sure you do not get it all the money back but it helps sell the house. An updated kitchen will sell twice as fast as a 20 year old kitchen.

These five Metro Detroit home sales tips will help you sell your home quicker. Listen to your Metro Detroit Realtor. Your Metro Detroit Realtor knows what helps sell a home and every house is different. So they may have tips particular to your home. For more tips give me a call on my cell at (313) 310-9855 or email me at info@RussRavary.com

If you live in the Metro Detroit Real estate area I will be glad to walk through and tell you what you should do to get more money for your home. Have a great day.

Russ Ravary your Metro Detroit real estate agent serving Livingston, Oakland, and Wayne County

Some people are way too extreme in their views. We have gone to far in some of our views. Can't we coexist? This week in Detroit this suspect killed two people. One guy that was killed was an anti-abortion activist. The activist I guess used graphic displays and the suspect didn't like them.

But to kill somebody because you disagree with their views? Whether you are pro-choice or pro-life it shouldn't be your prerogative to kill somebody else over their views. Don't you become just as bad as them?

We need to co-exist. The suspect killed two people and guess who was the third person on his list? Can't guess. It was a local metro Detroit real estate agent.. I hope I never get somebody so mad at me that they want to kill me.

I think the survey that the real estate agent got back must not have been so good either. Luckily the police caught the guy before he killed anybody else. So before you go off the deep end step back and think. Co-exist is my key word for the day.

It is very easy to sabotage your home negotiation and make the seller not want to do business with you. It is real easy.

BE WISHY WASHY!

Before negotiation you need to know what you want out of the negotiations.

• You need to know when you want to close
• How much you want to give as earnest money
• When you want to take possession of the home
• How much you want to pay for the home
• What else do you want besides the house (like the pool table)

Here is one bad example.

List Price & terms $190,000 possession immediate

Buyer Offers $180,000 30 days possession $8000 in sellers concessions

Seller counters $185,000 30 days possession $4500 in sellers concessions

Buyer counter offers $185,000 60 days possession $8000 in sellers concessions

Seller Counters $185,000 30 days possession $8000 in sellers concessions

Buyer now wants $185,000 90 days possession $8000 in sellers concessions

Sellers and Buyers can't agree on 90 days possession Dead deal

The buyer realized halfway through negotiations that they needed more time to get their money together. It made their real estate agent look foolish. The seller thinks the buyers are crazy. And it wasted everybody's time.

If you want to close the deal you have to compromise. You can't start adding more things on in the middle of negotiations.

• The buyer offered $180,000 so it would be stupid to ask for $170,000 in the middle of negotiations
• The buyer asked for $8000 in sellers concessions it would be dumb to ask for $15,000 in concessions when you are getting close in negotiations
• The buyer asked for 30 days possession, then upped it to 90 days. That's crazy. It threw a wrench into the negotiating gears.

You are going the wrong way. Think of it this way how would you feel if the seller came back and now asked for more than list price after you had 2 out of the 3 items agreed upon. You will get mad. I guarantee it.

By asking for more than what you originally asked for in the middle of negotiations usually has a bad outcome. So decide what you want before starting and compromise or stand firm. BUT DON'T RAISE THE STAKES IN THE MIDDLE OF NEGOTIATIONS.

Being wishy washy in your negotiations will most likely cost you getting the house. So know what you want before hand.

Russ Ravary your Metro Detroit real estate agent

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