Vance Shutes, your Saline, MI Real Estate Connection

Every city and town has one park that tends to define the best features of the community. In Saline, that would be the Mill Pond Park. When you're looking for Real Estate in Saline, Michigan, having a great park in town is an important consideration.

To those families with young children, most of us know the park more simply as the ROMP, which is an acronym for Re-create Our Mill Pond park. A number of years ago, civic leaders in Saline organized an effort to build a "super structure" playground for young children at Mill Pond. The ROMP structure has been a hit with my kids over the years! Here's what it looks like from the sledding hill:

And speaking of a sledding hills, one of the better ones in Saline is located at the northeast corner of the park. From the bottom, here's what the sledding hill looks like in the spring:

Many of us have our family pets, and the Mill Pond Park accommodates the dog owners in Saline with a "leash free" zone. Here's what that looks like:

It's a really large area, and borders the Saline river, so your dog can go for a swim if it's really warm out. Just watch out for the swans and geese - they bite!

The entire length of Mill Pond park borders the "Mill Pond" area. Back in the 1800s, when Saline was being built, the Saline River was dammed up to create the mill pond. The pond water was used to drive a water wheel at the lumber mill, where area trees were converted to lumber for home building.

One of the other enjoyable activities at ROMP (as I call it) is to take the kids fishing. There are mostly panfish in the pond these days, but occasionally you'll hook a large carp - and then, hang on!

While you're at the play structure area, you can shade yourself under the pavilion, which is available for lease for large groups through the city of Saline.

Or, you can simply enjoy a walk around the park, which extends upstream from the mill pond into the Saline river, where you can enjoy the babbling brook.

Each summer, Saline is host to the Celtic festival. Much of the Celtic festival takes place at the Mill Pond park.

The park is also used by the Saline High School Cross Country teams. When you walk around the park and see some of the hills the XC runners have to go up (!!!), it takes your breath away. Thank goodness they're young when they do those runs!

The Ann Arbor News has taken the concept of March Madness to another level!

In yesterday's "Connection" section, we looked upon a familiar sight - March Madness brackets. Except, this one was a bit different.

What the News has done is take 64 great things about Ann Arbor, seeded them into 4 regions and 16 seeds, and matched them against each other.

The result? The greatest thing about Ann Arbor is Zingerman's.

Now, you may or may not agree with the ultimate champion - is there ever consensus agreement about the eventual NCAA basketball champion? This bracket will sure get tongues wagging on what was included and left out!

The other three in the final four? Football Saturdays, the Michigan Theatre, and the Art Fairs. Now, really, is there anything better about Ann Arbor than these final four?

Congratulations to Zingerman's!

As many of you know, I review our market statistics around the middle of each month.

What I'd like to focus on this month is the overall strength of the market in, and around, Saline.

The first chart I'd like to review is shown above. I've tracked real estate activity for the Saline market since 1996. There is a definite seasonality to the market - strength in the summer, weakness in the winter. A reading above 25% is a "seller's" market, while a reading below 20% is a "buyer's" market.

It's no surprise to learn that we have been in a "buyer's" market in Saline since the end of 2004 - more than three years, now.

What's intriguing about this first chart is the strengthening of the Saline market since October. What could be the cause of this?

This second chart (above) shows 2 lines. The top line shows the number of homes available for sale (listings) in the Saline area. The lower line shows the number of homes sold each month.

In answer to my question posed above (What could be the cause of this?), the strengthening of the Saline market since October is a direct result of fewer homes listed for sale. How could this make the market stronger? Well, with fewer homes competing for the available buyers, it's more likely that any of the homes listed for sale will actually sell during the month. That's what we mean by a strengthening of the market!

Another interesting observation from the chart is that the number of sales in the Saline area has been rather consistent since 2005! In a previous post, we learned about the three "P's" that you control when you sell. The homes that are selling now, have been selling since 2005, are those that have consistency between the three "P's". Go back and check that post for a reminder.

The final piece of the analysis of the strength of the Saline real estate market is the months of supply of homes presently on the market.

This table shows the "raw data" that makes up the charts shown above. On the far right hand side of this table shows the "Months Supply" in each price range. Rather than focus on any particular price range, it's more helpful to understand the overall level of inventory of homes for sale.

As of mid-March, at the present pace of sales of homes in Saline, there are enough homes on the market to supply over 12 months of demand. This is down significantly since February, when there was nearly a 20 months' supply of homes for sale. In the past few years, it's been typical to have about 6 months' supply of homes for sale, so our market is improving toward our average.

If you're looking to sell in this market, take heart! Call me!

For the past two days, I've been serving as a member of the Board of Review (BOR) for Lodi Township. For each of the past ten years, I've served the Township on the BOR on the second Monday and Tuesday of March.

The Lodi BOR consists of three members - all residents of Lodi township - myself, and two others. Until this year, one of our Board members was a long-time farmer in the township. Sadly, he passed away last year, and we missed him greatly at the BOR meetings this year. He was replaced this year by a real estate appraiser who lives in the township. Our third member is an attorney who specializes in commercial real estate. I bring "market knowledge" to the BOR. Working with these other BOR members has been a pleasure.

The function of the BOR is to hear resident's appeals of the assessed and taxable value of their real property. Most of those who appeal are not "experts" in property value, nor are they expected to be. Many of them bring a passionate voice to their appeal. What we look for is evidence which supports the value that they place on their property. Sadly, most bring no supporting evidence.

So, what would I like to see as a BOR member?

Ideally, I would like to see a fee-paid appraisal of the resident's property, which supports their claim of value (presumably MUCH lower than the assessor's claim of value). The cost of having an appraisal of your property begins at $350 and goes up from there, so most residents don't go that far with their appeal.

Short of a fee-paid appraisal, I'd like to see a presentation of comparable properties to the resident's own property. These comparables can come from a Realtor®, or from the resident's own research - either on the internet, or directly at the Township offices. I know, I know, it's very surprising to think that you could do research at the Township (or City) offices. The assessor WON'T bite your head off! Really! Most assessors enjoy discussing their work with residents.

So what kind of data should you get? By definition, a "comparable" property to yours would be a home of similar size, style, age, and location. Ideally, other homes like yours in the same subdivision will support your argument the best. If you have a 2-story home, and you bring only ranch homes as comparables, you have little chance of success. If you have a ranch, and you bring 3, 4, or 5 other similar ranch homes like yours, you have an excellent chance of successful appeal.

What if there are no recent sales of comparable properties? This is becoming a more frequent occurrence, as the number of home sales declines in our region. In this case, look for comparable properties which are currently offered for sale. If the asking price of the homes for sale is less than your taxable value, you have a strong argument in your favor.

I'd be happy to help you with your determination of value for your home in preparation for your Board or Review. I'm not a licensed appraiser, so I cannot offer you a "fee-paid" appraisal. What I can offer is an experienced opinion on your likelihood of success in your appeal. Call or write me.

First Month Missed Payment: The first month that your payment is missed, your mortgage company is likely to contact you by mail and/or telephone to inform you of your delinquent status. A late charge is assessed on your missed payment.

Second Month Missed Payment: The second month that your payment is missed, your mortgage company is likely to begin calling the contact numbers that they have for you, in order to discuss why you have not made a payment. It is important that you not avoid their telephone calls. Try to stay calm on the phone, explain to them your situation, and what you are doing to resolve it. You still may be able to make one payment at this time to prevent yourself from falling three months delinquent.

Third Month Missed Payment: At this point, you are likely to receive a letter from the mortgage company stating the amount that you are delinquent, and that you have 30 days to bring it current. This is called your "Demand Letter" or "Notice to Accelerate". If you do not pay the specified amount or make some form of arrangement by the date given, they are allowed at that time to refer you to foreclosure, or accelerate your mortgage. They are unlikely to accept less than the total amount due without prior arrangements. Foreclosure/Acceleration means that they forward your account to their Attorneys. You still have time to work something out with the mortgage company.

Fourth Month Missed Payment: Now you are usually nearing the end of the time allowed in your Demand Letter or Notice to Accelerate. If this expires and you have not paid the full amount, or worked out some arrangements, then you will be referred to their Attorneys. At this time, you incur all Attorney fees as part of your delinquency. The Attorney then schedules a "Sheriff's Sale", which is the actual date of foreclosure. The Sheriff's Sale will be scheduled for approximately six weeks after the Attorney receives your file. You will be notified of this date by mail, along with a notice taped to your door. This is NOT a move-out date. The Attorney publishes a notice of foreclosure over four successive weeks in the local legal newspaper. After the first insertion on your property is published in the legal news, you have 4 weeks until the Sheriff's Sale. Contact your lender NOW!

Sheriff's Sale: You have up until the date of the Sheriff's Sale to work out arrangements with the mortgage company or to pay the total amount owed (the reinstatement amount). At the Sheriff's Sale, your house will be sold. An outside party may bid on your home. If no bids are received, the home goes back to the lender.

Redemption Period: If nothing is done to resolve the situation and the Sheriff's Sale is completed, then you enter the Redemption period. The redemption period starts from the date of the Sheriff's Sale. State law in Michigan requires that this period is not less than 30 days, and no more than one year. Most mortgages allow the homeowner six months to redeem the property with the lender/bidder, paying the amount owed plus interest and fees. If the property is over 3 acres, you may have a 12-month redemption period. You will be notified of your time frame on the same notice that states your Sheriff's Sale date. This is still your time to reside in the home.

End of Redemption Period: If the homeowner has not redeemed the property, ownership is transferred to the lender or bidder. If the homeowner has not left, the new owner starts the eviction proceedings. An eviction hearing is held within two weeks, followed by a 10-day grace period for the former homeowner to vacate the premises. When the grace period ends, eviction is certified. Court bailiffs are notified, and they empty the premises. Any of your belongings remaining in the home are moved to the curb for disposal. The locks are changed, and you no longer may reside there.