Mike Mitchell - REALTOR® - St. Clair Shores, MI

Our cold Michigan winter has begun and if you have your house or condo on the market there are a few things you need to remember.

* Very Important! If your house is vacant, you need to take some precautions so the pipes don't freeze and burst! I've seen this happen before on more than 1 occasion and trust me, it's a mess and if it goes unnoticed it can do some serious damage! You have 2 options to try and prevent this from happening.

1. Leave the heat on! It doesn't have to be blasting, you can set the thermostat for like 55 degrees and that should keep it from freezing. Also, if you're going to keep the thermostat low, open the cabinet doors under all of the sinks so the heat can reach the pipes. This is especially important if a sink is stationed against an outside exterior wall. Also, leaving the heat on will be more comfortable for potential buyers to view your home. If it is freezing in your house during the buyers showing, they will probably rush through the house and over look many things. It could be a big turn off and you could lose a potential buyer!
2. Have your plumbing winterized! This is where the water is shut off and the pipes are blown out completely so as there is no water or moisture left in them to freeze and cause a breakage! You can have this service done by a property preservation company, a plumber or a good handy man! Just make sure it is done properly by somebody who knows what they are doing. Also, they typically post signs at all of the sinks & toilets stating that the home has been winterized, with the date of the service on it and telling people NOT to try turning on the water or using the toilets!

Don't forget to keep your driveway, sidewalk and walkways clear of snow and ice so buyers can safely get to the front door! This is important whether the house is vacant or occupied!

If you are thinking of buying or selling or have any questions on Macomb County, MI real estate, give me a call or email and I'd be happy to assist you. To start searching for homes for sale, sign up for a free Listingbook account.

photo credit freedigitalphotos.net

The St. Clair Shores Goodfellows organization is a non profit volunteer group formed in 1926 to ensure that no child goes without a Christmas. The Goodfellows are supported entirely by donations from the community.

Their only fundraiser is their annual newspaper sale. This past Saturday more than 150 volunteers hit the street corners of St. Clair Shores, braving the cold and trying to dodge the traffic, to sell newspapers for the S.C.S. Goodfellows. Many different groups also donate their time including the St. Clair Shores Fire Department who generously donate some space at their firehouse for the Goodfellows to set up their headquarters for the day!

This annual event helps approximately 125 St. Clair Shores families. The motto: No Kiddie Without a Christmas

I volunteered to help out and sell papers, I was at the corner of 12 mile and Jefferson for 5 hours selling newspapers. A BIG Thank You to all of the people that bought a paper that day, no matter what corner you bought it from. I was truly amazed at the amount of the generous donations I received. It was such a good feeling, contributing and helping out this wonderful organization. This was my first year doing this, but I have a feeling it definitely won't be my last.

Happy Holidays!

Thanksgiving traditions

• Turkey dinner!
• Americas Thanksgiving Day Parade
• Football! First game our Detroit Lions host the New England Patriots with the half time show featuring Kid Rock! Of course the Dallas Cowboys always host the second game on Thanksgiving taking on the New Orleans Saints. The night game this year will be the N.Y. Jets hosting the Cincinnati Bengals.

God bless our troops who are over seas for the holiday and cannot be home with their families.

Happy Thanksgiving! .......... and Goooo LIONS!

clip art courtesy of Web Weaver

Hud homes are now being run by a different asset management company, with that there are some changes with the rules and procedures for purchasing hud homes.

The biggest changes that I have noticed that affect the consumer are:

• The Owner Occupant period for insurable and insurable with escrow bidding is now 30 days, it was previously a 10 day period. What does this mean? For the first 30 days of the listing only owner occupants can bid on them. Investors cannot bid until the 30 day period has expired. During the 30 day owner occupant period, the first 10 days will be a simultaneous bidding period. Meaning hud will collect as many bids that are submitted and review. If none are accepted after the 10 days, then the listing will go to daily bidding for the remaining 20 days

• For uninsurable properties, there will be a 5 day exclusive owner occupant bidding period. If no acceptable owner occupant offer was accepted after the 5 day period the bidding will be open to all purchasers on a daily basis. This is good news for investors!

There is now one web site for the entire country for hud homes. That site is www.hudhomestore.com

• you must have an agent to submit a bid on any hud home
• you must have an agent to access and view any hud listing

If you would like more information on the hud home buying process or if you're interested in Hud Homes in St. Clair Shores or Macomb County feal free to call or email me.

There's been a lot of statistics released this past week. Here's a summary of those statistics

• 151% increase in New Construction in Macomb County (according to a report released by Housing Consultants Inc)
• a 24% decline for Macomb County in existing home sales from this October compared to last (stats from Real Comp II LTD)
• The median home price fell 9.7% in Macomb County to $70,000 (stats from Real Comp II LTD)
  
  
• Michigan Foreclosure Rate 5th highest nationwide for October. About 1 in every 235 housing units in MI received a foreclosure filing. (according to Realty Trac Inc.)

So those are the stats that have been floating around this week. The decline in sales from this October compared to last.... in my humble opinion is mainly from the first time buyer tax credit from last year. Many buyers were scrambling last year to get the credit before the first original deadline.

Positive ..... the increase in new constrution definitely sounds positive!

Negative .... that MI is in the top 5 nationwide in foreclosures for October.

If you are thinking of buying or selling or have any questions on Macomb County, MI real estate, give me a call or email and I'd be happy to assist you. To start searching for homes for sale, sign up for a free Listingbook account.