Foreclosed Homes and Investors.. BTW remember your waders…PRICELESS!!
Most of us can understand this story when we’re out there dealing with investors and foreclosed/short sale property. After 22 years in the business nothing can faze me. Last week one of my investors called and is ready to buy a couple homes to rehab. We recognized 6 properties and we started out and met at house number one. First off let me set the stage. We arrived and my client went to the front door while I searched for the keybox to gain entrance.
I finally found it( it took a few minutes to open the box) entered and made my way to the front door. Also on the back door there was a sticker which said ”winterized by such and such “ company. When we were walking around the house I heard what I thought was water running but then I remembered the sticker on the back door. We all walked thru the property making comments and taking notes about the condition of the property.
They headed upstairs to the second floor and I told them I’ll go check out the basement and see what the basement mechanicals. As I rounded the stairs heading to the basement I passed the door which I entered and proceeded. Within the next 5 seconds before I hit the bottom landing I looked down and the floor look a little shiny like it was waxed. Then total immersion just below my knees. Ice cold water. And I mean ice cold. Remember it’s Michigan and the temperature is around 28 degrees. I thought I was going to pass out. I screamed and the guys came down in a hurry and there I am frozen to the bone. Now there are several things I’ve done for my clients but this was far beyond what I would expect or anyone else.
My first thought was electricity. Don’t think I didn’t leap out of that water at the very instant I went in. Now picture this with the temperature at 28 degrees and I’m literally soaked to the bone. And to think we had 5 more to go. So there I went trudging thru the snow to my car. It felt like I was carrying 2 large blocks of ice on my feet. We still had 5 more to go so I went home and changed and was back on the road in less then 20 minutes. So when you’re out there be very careful in these vacant foreclosed properties. You never know what is in store for you.
Robert L.Brown
FlexIt Realty
616 366-7030
Property Tax bills and Assessments.
The time has come when we as homeowners face the possibility of rising taxes and assessments on our homes here and all across the US. With property values on the decline one would think well “if values go down why shouldn’t taxes”. Well with less spending, less jobs and the like the money has to be made up somewhere. I remember last year on a property I used to own the assessment was to be raised from 95,000 to 115,000 or 120,000. I can’t remember the exact figure. I went downtown to appeal the dramatic rise and I got into a debate with one of the employees there as to why such a substantial raise.
They couldn’t come up with a precise answer so their fall back position is that the home is worth twice what the value stated. I gave them the opportunity to defend their position then my retort was there was NO WAY I could sell the property for that figure. I actually brought comparables for the area and the last seller who tried (at that time) to sell it couldn’t sell it either. If it was raised to that higher figure they assumed someone could get 240,000.00 for it. I actually sold it for 205,000.00. The property was located in the Heritage Hill District. I know that I truly could not have afforded the higher tax bill (it was not escrowed) and there could have been a possibility of losing the home altogether. So we can only hope that this “declining market” will bottom out and stabilize soon. When is anyone’s guess. I was just given a referral from a client whose brother had sold a property in GR’s SE side for 90,000.00. The people they sold it to lost it to foreclosure and now they have it on the market for 39,900.00. It would be a win win for that past seller/current buyer.
Be aware of these assessment changes and if you have any questions make sure you go to the Assessor’s office and request an appeal form. We are already past the time for this year. Gather up your information and keep it handy for next year. The attached article was sent to me and has some good information within it. If you have any questions feel free to contact me.
http://blog.mlive.com/grpress/2008/02/bill_targets_rise_in_taxable_v.html#more
Robert L. Brown
FlexIt Realty
616 366 7030
Update to my post concerning GRPS and the schools of the future:
In prerusing thru a WZZM's website I saw an article concerning the "new schools". The board has unanimously voted to approve the project. Will this mean changes will be in effect? Yes it does. The high schools will be reduced from 4 down to 2. You can imagine what the teachers had to say about this new move.
The 2 remaining will be Ottawa Hills and Union. Creston and Central will be centered around math, engineering and health science. To me that sounds like magnet schools. My children were in the magnet schools when they were younger. Now from the teachers perspective they think this is not the move to make. They site "glaring safety issues that have been ignored". That's a whole different discussion.
As we all know there has been issues concerning students in the classroom here and everywhere else. But does this mean that these new changes will make the safety issue go away? Who knows and I don't care to speculate on that. Only time will tell. Change is imminent. We either get on or get passed by. At your leisure please read the attached article. It was very interesting to me and I hope to you as well..
http://www.wzzm13.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=87942
Robert L Brown
Flexit Realty
616 366 7030
http://www.mrbrownsellsgr.com/
GRPS a look into the future….
For those who were not able to attend any of the sessions concerning updating/renovating/building of the schools in the Grand Rapids public school system here is an attached document that was compiled from those dialogue sessions. I wrote a previous post titled “Grand Rapids Public Schools .. Building for the future” that outlined some of the major deficiencies to the majority of the schools currently.
In order to stay competitive there is a lot of work to be done. Again (like I mentioned in the previous post) interested clients/customers have said they preferred to be “outside” of the GRPS system. Are these changes imminent? I don’t know and I don’t want to speculate. Will it make the GRPS more competitive? Only time will tell. One step at a time. The document is 72 pages long. It is very concise and in depth.
Take the time to read thru it. If nothing else you will have a better idea if these changes come to fruition. As we all know with these changes the money has to come from somewhere. So brace yourself. How much is anyone’s guess.
http://web.grps.k12.mi.us/files/3CAABC3785DC416AB4DC283A95BB65EF.pdf
For all your real estate needs:
Robert L Brown
Flexit Realty
616 366 7030
Photo courtesy of www.freefever.com
A new real estate company with a NEW attitude!! A win -win for the seller. You may ask what has this to do with me? Well for one in this market sellers are trying to save as much hard earned dollars in equity they possibly can. A new company was formed here in Michigan to assist in full service real estate AND helping the seller(you) selling your home on your own and to save thousands in commission dollars.We are offering this program statewide. So if you know of anyone even outside of this area we can service them as well.
How is this possible you ask? Well HomesbyOwner.com is the NEW way to sell but with a twist. You (seller) have a written guarantee if you sign with our company to recoup your registration fee if (and only if) you convert during the time you are on the program. If for some reason during the process you ask us (Flexit Realty) to list your home and we sell it you are credited that amount at time of the close of the sale. EVERY PENNY!! Also if you refer people to our program there are benefits to you. We can get into that when we meet in person. I don't want to give everything away here. But trust me it WILL benefit you!!
Now I know that people tend to say if it's too good to be true it usually is well in this case it is. Like I said before one of the biggest investments you have is your home and we're here to help. I've been in the real estate business for 22 years and it's refreshing to know there are still companies willing to come up with ideas to help stimulate the real estate growth. Flexit Realty is one such company and I'm glad to be a part of their team. If you have any questions at all about our program please feel free to contact me by phone or thru my website.
Have a very prosperous day!!
Robert L. Brown
Flexit Realty
616 366 7030
http://www.mrbrownsellsgr.com/
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