Kris Wales - Macomb County MI real estate blog & homes for sale search site

My Macomb County MI area has been in the midst of this housing value decline for several years now, and I thought it would be interesting to see how this past September home sales compared to the previous September sales data (2007 and 2008).

While we aren't seeing home prices stabilizing as of yet, we are seeing fewer homes come on the market. We're also seeing more homes being sold this year than in years past. That should help us in the near future with the supply & demand issue that has been so heavily tilted to the "supply" side of the market.

It's interesting to note that while fewer homes are coming on the market this year (less foreclosures and bank owned homes) there is more competition for the homes. The increase in the homes sold when comparing September 2007 to this past September is 60%.

If you would like specific information regarding your Macomb County homes value please don't hesitate to contact me. No pressure - just conversation.

All data courtesy of Mirealsource™ and its participating real estate brokers and agents and is deemed to be reliable but not guaranteed.

The common misconception about Buyers Agents is that we take people out to look at a few homes, write the offers, then sit back and collect a paycheck.

Misconception? What an understatement!

Take for example what goes on behind the scenes before we ever step foot in a home with our buyer clients:

• Talk with the buyers about their wish list / want list / must have list in a home.
  
  
• Sort through all of the thousands of listings in the various MLS databases, narrowing
  down only those that fit the buyers criteria.
  
  
• Research the property taxes on the properties. (I'll let you know about the importance
  of this in a separate post.)
  
  
• Check the ownership of the home (looking for conflicting information in public records)
  
  
• Sifting through the comments and photos to ascertain whether a home meets your financing
  criteria (Will the condo be HUD approved? Will the home pass FHA or VA muster?)
  
  

A good buyers agent will spend hours behind the scenes working in the buyers best interests before they ever step foot into a home. But you the buyer don't know that, because we don't give you a detailed invoice of work performed like other professionals do. The list above is only a snapshot of what a buyers agent does for you. The list goes on and on during the process of purchasing your home.

How do you know if we have done a good and thorough job for you? When you get to the closing table thrilled with the purchase of your new home, with as little stress as possible, and without any surprises. We willingly take on the stress and sleepless nights so that you don't have to.

One of the most confusing aspects of the purchase process for home buyers is sellers concessions. They've heard their mortgage lender mention it, in lieu of the buyers needing to bring to closing all of their closing costs, pre-paids, etc. It's also been discussed with their buyers agent during the process and while sitting down to write an offer on a home. It is still confusing to most buyers though unless you draw it out for them - who is really paying for what, and what it means to them in the amount they will finance. The table below is an example of a buyer who is putting 3 1/2% down on their FHA mortgage and asking for the allowed 6% in sellers concessions:

Notice that I highlighted the "Sellers net". This is what the seller will be concerned about as they go over your offer to purchase. If the "net" isn't what they had in mind and counter offer, they probably will do so at the expense of the sellers concessions towards you. Let's say for example that the sellers have decided they want their "in our pocket" to be $97,000. If you need all 6% of the allowable sellers concessions in order to purchase the home you will have to finance your closing costs. An example of a counter offer to make it work for the sellers and for you:

Helpful tip: Ask your mortgage lender to give you 2 or 3 different Good Faith Estimates. In these estimates the lender can estimate your payment based upon 2 or 3 different mortgage amounts. If you do this prior to writing your offer to purchase you will be able to make a comfortable decision on what would be your final offer to the seller.

Ernie Harwell, the legendary baseball Hall of Fame broadcaster, and beloved by generations of Michiganders, will be attending Wednesdays Detroit Tigers vs Kansas City Royals game.

Last week Mr. Harwell announced that he has incurable bile duct cancer and the outpouring of love and support for this man has been ongoing.

Mr. Harwell wanted to come to Comerica Park to say "thank you" to all of the fans and the Detroit Tigers organization left the timing of their own tribute up to Mr. Harwell.

Understatement alert: Comerica Park isn't large enough to hold all the people who want to say "thank you and God Bless you" to Mr. Harwell. I have a feeling that when Mr. Harwell speaks the standing ovation and heartfelt shouts of "thank you" to this man will go on for hours.

My husband, sons and I attended Ernie Harwell Day back in 2002, the year Mr. Harwell retired from the booth. The outpouring of love that drizzly overcast day was unlike anything I have ever witnessed. I haven't written anything about Mr. Harwell since he announced he is going to be "moving on to the next journey" of his life, because this has been so hard to comprehend. When one grows up with someone as beautiful as Mr. Harwell it is more than just a bit difficult to convince your heart that he won't always be physically with us.

Mr. Harwell said in his announcement earlier "I'm not saying goodbye. I'm still here."

I won't say it either Mr. Harwell. I'll just say "God Bless and Thank You."

It was a whirlwind of a week, mainly spent showing homes to several different first time home buyers.


Common theme for this week: Taking advantage of the low housing prices and interest rates as well
as not wanting to miss out on the 1st time home buyers tax credit.

Something else that we saw in common this week: The embellishment by listing agents of the
information published about their listings.


There were more head scratching moments this week than I've witnessed this year while viewing homes: Bedrooms listed on the main floor that were really in finished basements, "completely updated" homes that looked as if there hadn't been any updates since 1970, "gorgeous views" that backed up to busy main roads, etc.

Listing agents: I know it's your job to get buyers in to view your sellers homes. The buyers know this also, they're not stupid. However they take names and notes and remember them. If another of your listings comes on the market they probably won't bother to make appointments to view them. I know I will remember, and if something does come up that seems to meet their wants & needs I will preview them first. However, I won't do that every time. If the pattern continues we'll just bypass your listings altogether.


Your wording and published printouts look awfully darned good to your sellers. Your stretching the truth probably leaves your sellers with a "Isn't he so smart!" smile on their faces. Think about this though: It's a huge turnoff to the buyers out there and a waste of their time. They remember the time-wasters.


Is this what your sellers really want to happen?