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Russ Ravary - Michigan Homes for sale - Michigan Real estate & Mortgage info

It was a relaxing day in Michigan

It wasn't a picture perfect weather day. It was a little cloudy but it was a picture perfect day for Marianne my wife and I. We are waiting for results from a bone scan she had done the other day. So I set up what she needed the most. She needed a little comfort from Ryan our son.

Michigan fall colors

The fall colors were beautiful. We got off the main highway and took some back roads for an hour.

Michigan fall colors

fall color photos

I called him (he lives in Chicago) but he was busy. I was going to drop in with Marianne but he had a Halloween party planned with friends. But he was great and said he would meet us on the west coast of Michigan to go to an apple orchard on Sunday. So Marianne and I drove about 2 1/2 hours and he and Katie drove a couple of hours to meet over on the west side of the state.

Jollay Orchards Coloma MI

So we hung out at Jollay Orchards in Coloma. We took a hay ride, had a carmel apple, drank some cider, and swatted away all the bees that were after the sweet stuff.

Jollay Orchards Coloma MI

Russ Ravary

We fed the animals and then we had a meal at the Friendly Tavern in downtown Coloma. If you are in the area I would recommend both places. We had some great service and good food at Friendly Tavern. 206 N Paw Paw St, Coloma, MI 49038-9589
(269) 468-3037

It was a great day. Ryan lifted Marianne's spirits. I hope you all had a good weekend too.

Metro Detroit short sales Part 2

If you are selling your Metro Detroit home here are the two areas you may have liability.

1. Tax liability - currently there is no tax liability because President Bush declared there would be no tax liability for on a principal residence. It hasn't expired yet. Before President Bush did that the banks would send out a 1099. The borrowers would be liable for the tax on the deficiency. If it is a investment property you can get a 1099.

2. Deficiency liability - Difference between sales price and loan amount. The banks can come after the borrower for the deficiency. The only protection the borrower has is if you get a release of deficiency letter for them. Many real estate agents are not following up on this. Some banks are putting the release in the short sale letter others are not. Some banks require the seller to be responsible for the shortage. It just depends on the bank.

So be careful and check with an attorney and your CPA also on what your liabilities may be.

Metro Detroit relocation information

Metro Detroit Relocation Information

Whether you are relocating to Metro Detroit area from out of state or just moving to Wayne or Oakland County from within Michigan you want make the right choice in the neighborhood and the right city. You want to know about the neighborhoods in the area. For example you might want to know: What about Plymouth crime statistics, Northville schools? How do they compare to Novi or South Lyon Schools? What age group are most of the residents in Livonia? Is Canton, or Redford a better place to live? What about the taxes?

On my Livonia real estate home page or on my metro Detroit real estate information website I have many cities listed, millage rates, subdivisions within the city. Scroll down the whole front home page and click on the area for valuable city info. Below are links and suggestions on how to find more information than even I have on my sites.

Metro Detroit Relocation Information is important to you the buyer. The first thing I recommend you should do is search the city. Google or Yahoo the information you want. Go to the actual cities site and the chamber of commerce and read about the community. Read about the schools, police and fire department. Then use outside sources to get through the "hype"

Metro Detroit School Information So your move to Michigan is going to take you to Redford. What about the schools, what about the test scores, How does Redford compare to Northville. Or how does Plymouth schools compare to Novi schools. Here are some ways to compare them:

www.greatschools.net http://www.schoolmatters.com/ michigan.privateschoolsreport.com www.schooldigger.com www.publicschoolreview.com www.schoolmatch.com www.ratemyteachers.com

Demographics about Metro Detroit information Are you relocating to Michigan and want to know about Canton Michigan or a city in Oakland County. You might want to know the average age, the average income, the races of the people to see if you are going to like the area or fit in. You don't want to move your 6 kids into an area that 85% of the residents are over 65.

http://www.census.gov/main/www/cen2000.html http://www.maps-n-stats.com/ http://profiles.nationalrelocation.com http://www.muninetguide.com/ http://www.epodunk.com/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki http://michigan.hometownlocator.com

Metro Detroit crime Statistics How bad is the crime in Northville, how does it compare to your old city? How good are the Michigan crime statistics?

http://www.infoplease.com/ http://www.cityrating.com/
www.crime.org http://livonia.areaconnect.com

Best places So you are nervous about your Metro Detroit relocation and you want the best possible city. Here are a few more areas to check out. Novi Michigan may be the town for your family.

http://www.bestplaces.net/ http://www.findyourspot.com/ www.cityrating.com www.homefair.com

Local Metro Detroit suburb Data Now here are spots to get information about your Metro Detroit relocation. Whether it is Livonia, Garden City, Wayne county, Oakland county or any county in the local metro Detroit area you can learn a lot about the spot you are moving to.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki http://www.city-data.com/ http://www.relocationnow.com/ http://www.infomi.com
http://zipskinny.com/

Aren't short sales harder to negotiate?

This is a question I received from one my clients the other day. They are looking to buy a Canton Michigan home. Basically how the negotiations go depends on how the listing agent priced the home. There are two main components I believe in a short sale that determine how the negotiations go.

  1. Fair market value of the home. The bank that is selling the property is going to do an appraisal or a BPO on the home. They are going to look at the fair market value of the home and compare it to your offer. If your offer is far below the fair market value that the appraiser says it is, then they may say no to your offer. The bank considers the market trend in the area (are home values falling) The bank considers the costs of keeping the property. The costs of the attorneys fees, the costs of maintaining the property. Then the bank comes up with a number they can live with. It is usually a drop dead number.
  2. Whether there is a second mortgage company is involved. This usually complicated the whole short sale process especially if it is a different mortgage company from the first. Some times the second mortgage company don't want to co-operate. Sometimes they feel the borrower is collectible so they don't want to take anything less than full amount. Sometimes they need to get at least a fraction of the money owed. Even $5,000 or $10,000 is sometimes better than nothing. A second different mortgage company throws an unknown factor into the mix. Sometimes they just never close.

So you can't really low ball a short sale much lower than what foreclosures are going for in the area. Sometimes you don't get a second shot at the offer. So my opinion is...if you want to low ball offers then do not go after short sales. If you want the house put in an offer that is close to the market value so you make sure you get the home you want. That's just my opinion.

It's a tough night here in Metro Detroit.

I want to say I have to hand it too Michigan State Spartan football team. They played a heck of a game against Iowa. To lose the game with 2 seconds left was a heartbreaker. They played tough and they played well.

To all the young men on the team when you look at yourself in the mirror tomorrow be proud. You may have lost but I'm proud of you and I'm sure many other people are in Michigan. Football games sometimes are won with one key play and Iowa did it. But you made us proud by playing a great game.