Futuring Real Estate in Michigan

      Yesterday my new Real Estate Agency Howard Hanna invited the top Realtors from our company to the Toledo Museum of Art for an amazing lunch and an amazing tour of this amazing museum. After the lunch our company President Hody Hanna spoke about the future of real estate in Michigan.

     Howard Hanna recently bought the brokerage that I have been working for (Edward Surovell). And what Mr. Hanna started talking about was all the reasons they have decided to take an adventure into the Michigan Real Estate market, by purchasing our company. He started talking about the unemployment rate and he said that "over the last 18 months the unemployment rate in Michigan has dropped at a more aggressive rate than any other state in the country". This is obviously a good sign for real estate as the more people that are coming back to work the more can afford to purchase homes.

   He also talked about the fact that people usually start getting aggressive about buying a home when they really see the market going up (which makes sense), comparing it to stocks and when a stock starts to rise how many people all the sudden feel a need to get in before its too late. And he as well as I can see that the market is starting to rise here in Michigan and cant stay this low much longer.

     I can see Michigan's real estate recovery on the horizon in the news as well. This week Chrysler added 1,250 new jobs (not old jobs new jobs) http://www.foxnews.com/leisure/2012/11/15/ap-source-chrysler-to-add-1250-jobs-at-3-detroit-area-factories-in-near-future. And the government granted Detroit 6.5 million to remove one of Detroit's biggest eyesores http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/11/15/vacant-housing-project-where-diana-ross-supremes-lived-before-motown-stardom. I know that this is just some good news among a sea of negative news out there in the world, but I guess its a choice on how you want to view the world.

    I am so excited to see what will happen next in our great state and am looking forward to doing my part in helping our cities shine.

The Ypsi Times: Renting Vs. Buying in Ypsi

The Ypsi Times: Renting Vs. Buying in Ypsi: So, have you been asking your self what if it makes sense to buy yet? You are not alone more and more renters are becoming home owners every...

Times They Are A Changin'

Things in Ypsilanti are a changin' today I visited the new Bona Sera Resturaunt on the corner of Michigan Ave and Washington in downtown Ypsi and it was amazing. This business popped up do to the property owners adjacent to this business "MIX". The owners Ed and Bonnie were inspired by a visit from EMU business college on a visit that looked at their business and how to move it forward. They wanted to do something with the vacant biz across the street so.....they did it. For a little under a year they ran MIX Marketplace a weekly pop up market for local vendors. The Bona Sera Supper Club became involved when renting the space for non profit fundraiser dinners (here are more details http://bonaserasupperclub.com/).

This is just one of the examples of what an inexpensive commercial space can do for businesses and a city. I can see the economic momentum starting in our fair city with the addition of Red Rocks, and the Wurst Bar just to name a few. The next question we have is how will these impact affect our city and the real estate market?

As people become more and more interested in sustainable living, walkable, and bike able cities more and more people will want to see what Ypsi offers. I am going to attend the Regional Transit Meeting in a few weeks and this will be the next step in a progression of value in our city and our region. Soon there will be a day that homeowners in Ypsi can take a Bus, a Train, or Bike to just about anywhere. Being able to spend so much less time, money and energy on commuting will really affect the way we live and in turn greatly benefit our community.

The only question for the potential home buyers out there is are you going to be ahead of the curve or behind it? Because one thing is for sure the Times They Are a Changin'.

Ypsi Real Estate Is Hot

Are you looking to buy? Well you are no longer alone I work mainly in Ypsi and Ypsi Twp. and I cannot begin to tell you how the market has changed in the last few months. One of the reasons I have not been posting blogs is because I am too busy showing homes and writing offers. I have shown my clients well over 200 homes since the start of 2012, and closed on seven homes as well as had 12 accepted offers.

One thing that has been particularly notable is that there is many more people looking to buy than looking to sell. For the region we are down 14% year to year on the amount of homes listed. That means that there are less homes on the market and with more and more young people getting turned on to buying vs. renting there are more buyers than ever.

One home in my neighborhood that was priced at $99,000 had eight offers on it in three days. I wrote an offer for $15,000 more than the asking price, and we were no where near the top offer on this home. This has been happening increasingly in "hot" neighborhoods, and because of this the prices for homes listed has also been increasing. A lot of this has to do with the warn temperatures for the winter, but even more of it has to do with people realizing that they are paying more for rent than they would for a monthly payment on a home. All I am saying today, is don't be a turtle on this opportunity to change your life in a dramatically positive way, and start thinking about the home you always wanted as a reality, not a dream.