Ed & Cindy Knight

Did you know Shelby Township had a Farmers Market?

Well last Saturday Ed and I decided to visit the Farmers Market and took some photos so we could share it with others. The market is located on Van Dyke just south of 23 Mile in Shelby Township. Admission is Free but part of the proceeds go to the Packard Proving Grounds Foundation, to help with restoration of this historic site.

So how many times have you driven by the Packard Proving Grounds? Did you know that it is listed on the National Register of Historic Places? Something you should really visit and while there stop at the farmers market and buy from some of our local farmers and business owners.

We purchased some vegetables that were really quite tasty. Biggby Coffee is there if you get an early start and need a pick me up, along with a tent with honey, maple syrup, bakery goods, some crafters, our local farmers and more.

Here is a Tour we did of our visit

Like many real estate agents I am getting more than a little ticked off at how the government banks are handling the foreclosures and the sale of homes and condos. In my opinion, they are running the real estate market right into the ground. Of course, right behind them are the appraisers who are actually "untouchable" now thanks to the HVCC Home Valuation Code of Conduct. One of my favorite blogger's Chris Griffith wrote about this recently. Right behind them are the underwriters who yes work for the banks.

So do I sound ticked off? Well I am and right now I am beginning to think it's some kind of conspiracy to cripple the middle class. No I am not going nuts it's just I am seeing first hand what is happening to the real estate market here in Macomb County, just outside Detroit. I just can't take it anymore and I think people need to know what's going on. I think the banks are holding real estate prices back.

Here's why -

• last month we sold a home that was listed at $149,000 it had 7 offers and our buyer offered $169,900. Now that means the market is talking right? Not quite - although our buyer's offer was the best and his offer was accepted the appraiser brought the value in at $152,000. So much for the market talking. The best part is this home sold in 1988 brand new for $150,000 and the township well they are collecting taxes based on a value of $241,000.

• a few weeks back we sold a condo for $92,000 actually we thought it was a pretty good deal. Guess our 20 years of real estate experience means nothing - the appraiser said it was worth $83,000. The estate was appalled because their mom paid $80,000 in 1979. Of course, they were forced to sell since we could not fight the appraiser.
  

• this tops them all - a condo sells for $83,000 this time the appraiser says it's worth $85,000 - ready for this one? The underwriter says No - she ran the automated evaluation system and said it was worth $73,000. What???
  

• here's one that I have first hand knowledge of - we bought a condo in 2003 for $105,000 bank owned. These units sold back in 1994 for $65,000 and in 1988 brand new for $58,000. But in the past 3 years the banks have ran the market right into the ground - $95,000, $62,500, $59,900, $49,900, $44,900, $40,500, $38,000. Urgh
  

Now remember Macomb County was NOT an area that went way up in value. No this area did not see double digit appreciation in a couple years. We had normal appreciation and then the banks came in and ran it right into the ground. The other day I saw a home selling in Detroit for $850 yep you read that right. No it was not a wreck. It was a 3 bedroom brick home with a basement and a garage and a few miles from where I grew up. Sick just sick.

So what do you think?

For the past year we have been tracking the total number of listings, pending and Foreclosures, in our area. Why? We were looking for trends or signs that the Macomb County, Michigan real estate market hit the bottom. We figured once the foreclosures started to drop off we would finally see the bottom and maybe even get a bit of a rebound.

Funny thing is last year at this time we were estimating half way through 2009 we would start to level off again. But that was before the September 2008 financial crisis.

So what trends did we see in our tracking?

• Using just homes for sale over the past year we saw the number of total listings go up then drop off. Last year around this time we started at 6810 active listings. We peaked in July at 7126 and have steadily dropped since then and currently sit at 5254 homes for sale, as of April 1, 2009. Below is a chart showing the number Active Listings vs the number of active Foreclosures or Real Estate Owned / REO properties, in Macomb County.
  

• Looking closer at the chart below, we found the number of foreclosures in the active listings was climbing starting at 951 last year. They peaked in January at 1178 but even more interesting the foreclosures have dropped every month since then and as of April 1, 2009 they were down to 827. Finally!
  

• Next we looked at the homes that went Pending each month, we saw the total number increase from 943 last year in April, then in September they peaked at 1258, slightly dropped in December and again started to climb ending at 1332 this April. What really caught our eye was the fact that most of the pending sales were foreclosures.
  

Does this mean the Macomb County real estate market hit Bottom? Lets take a closer look.

• It appears the number of homes currently for sale are down but only because many sellers were simply priced out of the market. These are the sellers that want to move but do not want to foreclose or do a short sale. Yet simply do not have enough equity or money to move. Believe it or not this glut may actually help the market.
  

• The good news is with the inventory getting smaller and less foreclosures hitting the market, we are actually seeing a bit of frenzy in the market. That may be why sales are up.
  

• Even better the number of pending sales this year look much better than they did last year. And it's the beginning of spring.
  

• Now for the bad news. The drop in foreclosures since January is due in part to the Ban on foreclosures by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. According to a good article I read by Mary Kane in the Washington Independent the ban ended March 31, 2009. That may mean we are ready for another round.
  

With the Metro Detroit area hurting from the auto market the last thing we need are the foreclosures to come back. But we are hoping between the Neighborhood Stablization Program under President Bush and the $8000 First Time Home Buyer Credit, we will continue to bring out the buyers and increase sales.

Then maybe the Macomb County real estate market will finally hit bottom and take a ride back up. Something we really need in this area.

Yesterday, we attended a Meet and Greet of local REALTORS® and the Macomb County Commissioners. I have never had an interest in government nor do I care to listen to what politicians have to say, especially since they all say one thing and do another. But with government spending more and more and getting bigger and bigger, while people are losing houses, jobs and cutting Waaaay back, we figured we would attend and see what they had to say.

So what was discussed???

After the normal introductions we listened to what the Commissioners had to say as they talked about the great services Macomb County has to offer like the Smart Bus Service, the Macomb Orchard Trail, our Library and much more. The REALTORS® talked about the county's declining property values and how we could use the Neighborhood Stabilization Program, to rid our streets of foreclosures. We discussed job loss and how the commissioners wanted to bring businesses to Macomb.

The Commissioners also discussed the Macomb County tax increase of .36 mills which was passed by a 13 -12 vote. With a final vote expected in April, at the public hearing. Since property taxes in Michigan are a huge thing when purchasing a home I asked "what will we be getting for the extra money"? Basically I was told Nothing. Why? Because the County has a shortage in their budget.

Now this is exactly why I do not like government. They pushed for more and more and services as property values increased along with property taxes. But now that the property values and taxes are coming down, rather than cut services back to 1995 levels they ask for a tax increase. Are they cutting back Yes.....just like everyone else. But they may need to cut back much more. Our residents are house poor and strapped for cash and I wonder if the services the county offers even benefit many of our hard working residents.

Of course our beautiful roads came up and the fact that ours are some of the worst roads in the county. One thing I did not know was that the Road Commission is not run by of the board of commissioners.

Another heated topic was if Macomb County should move from a 26 member board of commissioners and a chairman to a County Executive, with less than half of the board members. The REALTORS® really did not say to much but boy did we hear from the commissioners that were present. You could plainly see who wanted want. In case you do not know about this. The process started a few years back and last year the voters of Macomb approved a charter commission to draft an overhaul of the county's government structure to move towards a County Executive.

My concern of course is which commissioners would be cut? Would I lose my voice? Who will be the Executive? From what party? Will the county be better off financially? If we cut half of the part time commissioners and add an Executive with a huge staff (think government) and increase the wages of the remaining commissioners will we be better off? Is this something we need to move Macomb County forward? Or are we better off the we are right now??

You be the judge - here's a few opinions from Charter = County, Macomb County Republican Party and an article by the Romeo Observer.

All in all I did enjoy the meeting quite a bit. However, it was a little disappointing that only 7 Commissioners out of 26 attended even worse only 12 REALTORS® out of over 3500 were present, 3 of which we Ed, our son Mike and me.

Yesterday, we attended a meeting giving us the details of the Neighborhood Stabilization Program(NSP) for Macomb County home buyers. This program was authorized under the Title III of the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 under President Bush. That funding has just hit the county for distribution. But it will run out quickly.

The purpose of this program is to help rid our Macomb County neighborhoods of the vacant foreclosed homes. They are not only dropping home values but creating eye sores in our neighborhoods. As expected there are income limits which you can read about on our website. This program is not just for first time buyers but you must not own another home.

Here's how it will work - Macomb County will be receiving $20.1m of which $9.8 will cover what is being called "Urban County" view map. Another $10.3m will go to Warren, Sterling Heights and Clinton Township. While another estimated $3.1m will be used for Saint Clair Shores and Roseville.

If you fall into the income guidelines, qualify for a mortgage, apply for the funds and purchase a foreclosed home at least 15% under value. Then you can receive up to 49% of the purchase price for down payment, closing costs and fix up if needed. Then you simply get a loan for the balance of the monies. The grant is a 2nd loan that has no interest and no payments and only needs to be paid back If and When you sell your home.

As I said the money will move quickly - the county figures they will be able to get about 150-200 homes out of their funding in the "Urban County" and more sales will come from the other cities listed above. HUD is giving them a deadline to spend the monies and if it is not spent it will go back to Washington. So again you need to move FAST.

Hurry - find a REALTOR® to represent you as a Buyer Agent, get pre-approved for a mortgage, then apply for the funding. Then work closely with your agent to locate a foreclosed home. You could be in by summer.

View Macomb County foreclosed homes currently for sale. If you are a first time buyer you can also use the $8000 tax credit towards your purchase.

If you need more information please do not hesistate to drop us an e-mail at nsp@edandcindyknight.com or give us a call at 586-336-1506.