Saline Michigan Home Buying

"Don't rely on agent's choice for loan, title services"

2008-08-27T15:33:00.002-05:00

The link above is to a blog post about Tom Kelly's article today on Inman News.

The point was that many real estate agents and companies get compensation from the
mortgage process, the title process, and other parts of the transaction. Often you never see this as a home buyer.

Here is a link to the original article:

Tom Kelly article on Inman

Builder Home Loans, You Need To Be Careful

2008-08-12T11:24:00.002-05:00

It is very important when you are buying a new home to understand your financing options. Often the builder will offer you a loan package.

After reviewing hundreds of loan offerings I can tell you it sometimes they are good options, sometimes there are terrible.

Helping Home Buyers Locate, Evaluate, and Negotiate great home deals!
Jon Boyd, Broker/Manager
The Home Buyer's Agent of Ann Arbor, Inc.
http://buyersagentannarbor.com/
734-6620-6240
1908 W. Stadium Blvd.
Ann Arbor, MI 48103
Ann Arbor's Most experienced Exclusive Buyer's Brokerage!

How Saline Area Home Buyers Can Boost Your Credit Score By 100+ Points

2008-06-20T07:41:00.001-05:00

This Monday night we are having another free class. But this time it isn't just for home buyers.

"How To Repair Your Credit & Boost Your Score By 100+ Points!" Is a class about dispelling some of the myths of credit and showing you exactly what is possible and why in terms of improving your credit file.

You know that your credit file is critical in determining what kind of home loans yu qualify for, but did you know that potential employers will check your credit? Did you know that your credit score has a dramatic impact on your insurance rates? Even renting an apartment is impacted by what is in your credit files.

Why do we know so much about credit and how to improve it? Because as we have been looking out for the best interest of home buyers for close to 20 years, and that includes helping buyers with their credit files dating back for over 15 of those 20 years.

So, come to the free class Monday night, June 23rd and find out all about what can be done to turn your credit around in the next six months.

Again the class is free, but pre-registration is required.

Call the voice mail system at 734-223-9831 and leave a message with the number of seats you would lie to reserve, your name(s), and a phone number we cal call to confirm your reservation.

And, we will see you Monday night!

How To Buy A Foreclosure Class Tuesday Night

2008-05-22T20:31:00.002-05:00

Next Tuesday evening we will be having another one of our classes on how to buy a foreclosure.

This class is not about trying to sell home study courses or some "get rich quick" idea. It is just a straight forward informative class on the opportunities and pitfalls that come with buying a foreclosure.

We also cover that close cousin of the foreclosure, the short-sale.

We talk about defining the terms, the foreclosure time-line and we spend a lot of time talking about actual examples from right here in Washtenaw County.

The class is free but you must reserve your seat by calling 734-223-98313 leaving a message with your name, the number of seats you would like to reserve, a phone number where we can call you back for confirmation, and where you found out about the class. (In March we ran out of space)

Mortgage Troubles in "Declining Markets"

2008-04-18T13:29:00.002-05:00

Home buying expert Ronn Huth from the Boston area is facing some of the same challenges we are here in the Saline / Ann Arbor area with the "declining Market" label.

In this declining market lenders have changed their lending guidlines to essentially require 5% more downpayment for any given conventional low downpayment program.

On Ronn's blog he gets some insight from nationally recognized mortgage expert Dawn Davis at Rate One Mortgage in Memphis.

If you are looking at using less than 20% down in this area, take a look. Declining Market Explanation

Class for Saline first time buyers (Free and informative)

2008-03-31T21:49:00.002-05:00

Coming up on April 14th we have our Free home buying class on Monday night.

This class is packed with information on the processes and challenges involved in buying your first home.

Click on the link above for more information.

Foxes guarding the hen house

2008-03-26T13:16:00.002-05:00

Just heard from an Exclusive Buyer's Agent out west who found something from their professional licensing bureau that caught her eye.

The Iowa licensing bureau fined a Nebraska broker and 5 of his agents $7,500 for practicing real estate in Iowa without an Iowa license. The company, a Prudential franchise, was licensed in Omaha, they were just doing business in Iowa.

Here is the interesting point:

The broker that was guilty in Iowa is a member of the real estate commission in Omaha! The guy helps write laws in Omaha and he breaks them in Iowa!

Manpower survey shows more bad news coming

2008-03-16T23:29:00.003-05:00

Here is an article from the Free Press about a Manpower survey that predicts lower employment levels for both Washtenaw and Livingston Counties.

Not good news for real estate values, but it is good news for home buyers. (Bad employement figures will help hold prices down.)

Important Update on Challenging Pittsfield Township assessments

2008-03-12T09:48:00.002-05:00

I just heard from a past client about his experience challenging his assessment in Pittsfield Township.

He bought a home that had been foreclosed. (He actually bought it from the bank.)

When the assessment came in significantly higher than what he had purchased it for he called the township assessor's office.

The assessor reportedly told him that they don't count repossessed homes in their property valuation calculations. --- Because they feel the seller is desperate and can't collect fair market value for the home. ---

Interesting.

What is even more surprising is that they said they don't even count some of the Pfizer relocation transactions. Again arguing that the seller was desperate and sold for below fair market value.

More to come on this interesting bit of news...

Saline High School Offering Real Estate License Class

2008-02-28T09:23:00.002-05:00

I saw in the Ann Arbor News that the Saline High school's switch to a trimester program has allowed the introduction of some new offerings. One of which is a pre-license class for real estate agents.

Here is the link:

Saline Real Estate License Class Link

Interesting quiz for home buyers

2008-02-19T21:24:00.003-05:00

This link will take you to a quiz on our main website that talks about example discussions we have with buyers about homes.

As a buyer's agent we don't try to just sell buyers what is available, we try to actually find the best home for the buyer at the best price. And often, these discussions take a lot of time and involve analysis

Interesting things you learn at home inspections

2008-02-19T21:04:00.003-05:00

I was speaking to another exclusive buyer's agent today who works in the Iowa market.

She had just gone through a home inspection at a home where the plumbing drain lines had a mix of white pipe and black elbows.

The inspector said the plumbing was all wrong. It turns out you can't mix the black and the white types of material without special adapters.

The link above takes you to a reference page.

Boneheaded buyer move

2008-02-09T23:59:00.000-05:00

Here is a quick insight if you happen to be interested in buying the lot or home next door.

Don't contact the seller or the seller's listing agent directly!

Do not let the seller know you have any interest in their lot until you've talked to an Exclusive Buyer's Agent!

Here is the background:

1. If you are buying a property next to your current home, you are obviously doing it because of the location.

2. There are very few properties next to your current home.

3. Once the seller knows this your ability to negotiate effectively is lost.

Here is the better way:

Contact an Exclusive Buyer's Agent (A real estate company who only works for buyers, never sellers so they avoid all the conflicts of interest) and get their input on buying strategies. There are a number of them but I'm not going to post them here because a seller could read them and then they wouldn't do either of us any good!

You can reach our office at 734-662-6240 or online at hbaaa.com

About Appraisers Getting Presure from Real Estate Agents

2008-02-01T13:50:00.001-05:00

I thought this was a great article!

It talks about how appraisers are often pressured to provide a high appraisal to stay in business.

Interesting reading!

As the largest buyer's brokerage involved in the Saline Michigan area we are the only company to really see this like the buyers do.

Exclusive Buyer Agents (Buyer Brokerages) are companies who only work for buyers. Never taking a listing and never representing a seller's best interest.

Most other offices in our market only offer designated buyer agency, designated seller agency, or dual agency. (Most agents and brokers I speak to don't even understand what designated agency means to buyers, they just know it means more profits and less risk for the broker!)

In any case, it is good to see some balance coming to appraisals.

Negotiation tool: Saline area and Washtenaw County foreclosures

2008-01-07T11:58:00.000-05:00

If you are negotiating on a home in the Saline area or anywhere in Washtenaw County Michigan this month, here is something you should be discussing with the seller.

The above linked article from the Ann Arbor News reports that foreclosures have jumped 90%, and that this year things may get worse.

Be sure a seller knows this. It should make them much more appreciative of your offer!

Saline Holiday parade one of the things that makes Saline great

2007-12-07T10:33:00.000-05:00

Saline is a great place to live and work. It is just a very nice community, great people, nice stores and churches and pretty streets... and it is close to Ann Arbor with all the culture and energy.

But Saline has a small town feeling. One great example of the benefit of small town living for young children is the annual holiday parade.

I've linked above to an article from the Saline reporter that does a great job of describing it.

National survey of buyer agents and dumb things sellers do

2007-06-24T22:24:00.000-05:00

Here is the link.

This is from a national survey we did of exclusive buyer agents. They were asked what the most annoying things were that they found sellers doing when the seller was trying to sell a home.

Another Title Company gets caught violating the RESPA

2007-04-12T17:54:00.000-05:00

I've posted elsewhere about how title companies sometimes "bribe" real estate agents and brokers for business.

Well another big title company got caught doing it. Fidelity National was providing real estate agents with services and provided a builder a $25,000 line of credit to direct business their way.

And the federal government caught up with them.

After they were busted Fidelity agreed to pay about $70,000 to the government and the builder agreed to pay about $20,000. Both firms admitted no wrongdoing.

Here is a link to the HUD website that has the actual agreements that kept them out of jail. http://www.hud.gov/news/release.cfm?content=pr07-041.cfm

Saline Real Estate Market is still slow

2007-03-26T07:49:00.000-05:00

Despite the nice weather we've had the last two weekends the Saline the market hasn't taken off like what we've experienced in previous years.

In the first-time buyer and move-up buyer markets there are 11 homes listed as being under contract out of 275 on the market.

And in all of last year there were about 250 closed purchases in that market.

So the current inventory of homes priced from about $100K to $550K is more than a year's supply.

In the luxury home market (Prices about about $550K) we see there were about 28 homes that sold last year in Saline.

Now there are 49 luxury homes on the market here. So that is about 1.7 years worth of inventory.

It is certainly not a good time to sell your luxury home in Saline. On the other hand, it is a potentially great time to buy one. If, you have a real estate company on your side.

REALTOR.com listings will start showing addresses

2007-03-13T14:18:00.000-05:00

One of the many frustrations people run into when they try to search for Saline Michigan real estate on realtor.com is that it historically hasn't shown listing addresses.

If you were smart you could go to a property search site like our http://saline-mi-real-estate.com/

But most people just suffered with realtor.com.

Well that is about to change. On May 1st realtor.com will begin showing addresses unless the listing office specifically restricts it.

My how things change.

New Hampshire lawyer/real estate broker gets busted

2007-03-06T21:56:00.000-05:00

Did you read this?
A lawyer, real estate agent and former speaker of the New Hampshire House has been convicted of forging real estate documents to give the appearance that he had a piece of property under a listing agreement when he actually did not.
The guy has already has lost his real estate license and his ability to practice law has been suspended for six months. The state is now moving to permanently disbar him. His sentencing on the criminal charges has not been set.
He apparently admitted forging a landowner’s name to a listing agreement and taking steps to sell the property.

The landowner, however, decided to use a different agent. Smart landowner!!!

Real Estate Agents afraid of buyer agent questions

2007-03-06T17:41:00.000-05:00

I've spoken to or gotten emails from no less than 5 brokers here recently who were confused about buyer agency. (And the evil counterpart designated buyer agency.)

These are some of the leading players in our market in the Saline - Ann Arbor area.

Here is the count:

1. A major Brokerage started advertsing "Full buyer brokerage services" when the brokerage hasn't provided full fiduciary services for seven years.

2. Another major brokerage stated advertising "buyer agency give you ..." "buyer agency helps you ..." The statements about buyer agency were actually true. But that company only provides designated buyer agency.

3. A managing broker from a major brokerage admits that their licensees often fill out the mandated agency disclosure as designated buyer agents but the smart home buyers don't want to sign the designated agency agreement. So the licensee doesn't give the buyer a new disclosure. Result: Buyer thinks they are represented while legally they licensee represents the seller. This is called undisclosed dual agency and I believe it is illegal in Michigan.

4. An associate broker from a larger company has two "buyer agents" that work for her. But, she says she doesn't tell them anything about her listing so she thinks they are buyer agents. Surprise! She is their supervising broker and she is a dual agent whenever one of her "buyer agents" shows one of her listings.

5. An assoociate broker who works for a large real estate company says she has decided not to practice dual agency. (Everytime one of her "team" shows one of her "team's" listings it is dual agency. I guess she forgot that.)

The point is if you are a buyer you should at least interview someone who knows what they are doing when it comes to helping you. Talk to an exclusive buyer's agent!

New Saline High School is beautiful

2007-02-26T10:59:00.000-05:00

The Saline High School actually opened in the 2004-2005 but I've just been inside it for the first time recently. It is really nice.

Here is a link with some data:

http://www.salineschools.com/newhighschoolfacts.html