The April 30th deadline is near.

I am curious to hear how successful it has been for people. I would like to hear from agents, buyers, and even sellers.

I would love to know if you think the Tax Credit has improved your situation. Whether we are talking about your business, if it did indeed entice you to buy a home, or if it brought you the buyer you have been trying so hard to find.

My business was certainly impacted by the Tax Credit. I just struggle with how to measure the success. My business has certainly increased of the past 90 days. So many of the buyers that I worked with were probably going to buy a home anyway. The Tax Credit was just a bonus. I don't think I can name a particular buyer that was NOT going to buy if it wasn't for the free money from the Federal Government.

The listings that have sold during this period also present the same issue. Would we have sold them anyway? Hard to say.

The past 90 days have been one of the best 90 day stretches of my career. The issue is, so was the same 90 day period last year.

So while I am not quick to give "credit" to the Tax Credit, I am holding my breath to see what happens after the end of the month. If we see a measurable decrease in activity; my questions (and fears) will be answered.

Would love to hear your input on the matter!

An interesting- and true article about why this is a GREAT time to be a home owner!

Realty Times – Benefits of Homeownership

 

"GIANT" Open House Extravaganza!

Saturday and Sunday February 27th and 28th!

Join in on the "GIANT" Open House Extravaganza!

Click on the link to view the full list of great listings that will be Open for you to finally view for yourself.

http://forsalebyjeff.net/Shiawassee_MI_listings/open_houses.shtml

You can even pull up a map of all the Open Houses to plan your route!

 

 

I have just started to investigate the buzz that is Google Buzz.

Truth be told, I am really just starting to discover all that Google has to offer.

Wow!

Meticulously maintained 3 bedroom, 3 bath brick ranch in a quiet subdivision. Nice finished basement with a beautiful family room, office area, kitchenette, laundry room and workshop. Fenced yard with nice in-ground pool, 2 car garage. This home has it all and has a GREAT price tag! - For more info visit http://www.ForSaleByJeff.net

It's a big country and you can be sure that each year someone will win the lottery, someone will be hit by lightning, and someone will buy a home at a steep discount, with predatory terms, and no money down.  The odds in every case are grim.  

The essential issue is NOT buying property with no money down, it is buying property that can produce a positive cash flow and/or be sold at a profit.  Unless one or both of these conditions can be met, then the economics of buying a home with no-money-down are unlikely to make sense.                                                                                                          

Those buying under the VA program can buy with no money down, and residential financing with 5% down or less is widely available, especially for first-time homebuyers.  However, all of these programs require appropriate credit and income. 

As in all aspects of life, be cautious with the "Get Rich Quick" approach to anything. In my opinion, real estate is best viewed as a mid to long term and low risk investment. If you are looking to get rich quick real estate investment might not be the best place to do so. If you are looking for a sound investment that will provide the positive cash flow for you give me a call anytime at 989.494.1BUY (989.494.1289) or visit my website 24 hours a day/7 days a week!

To Those That Are Capable of Buying A Home But Choose Not To:

There are plenty of good reason to be buying a home right now: Up to $8000 in FREE money, interest rates at an all time low, and home values at an unprecedented low. Yet there are a significant amount of people "riding the fence" between homeownership and well.....no homeownership. I am hoping to get the answer once in for all from you.

On behalf of (literally) hundreds of sellers in Shiawassee County: Why are you choosing not to buy a home right now?

Don't get me wrong. There are quite a few active buyers in Shiawassee County looking at homes in the frigid cold Michigan winter. I have good reason to believe that with all the incentives and current buying conditions that there are more people out there that could (and should) be buying their next home right now- they are just choosing not to.

So I present you with a challenge that, if accepted, will reveal the answers to questions that sellers, other buyers, and people in the real estate profession would like to know: Tell us all what your reasons are for not choosing to take advantage of all the perks of buying a home right now versus waiting until conditions become less favorable.

Share with us what it would take for you to buy a home right now. Are there more incentives you need from the government, is THE perfect home for you just not there? Please SHARE with us so that we might LEARN the reason this market has not improved as many of us have hoped it will.

If enough of you choose to ENGAGE in this discussion we might be able to decipher the mystery. We may finally know the real reason that the Average Days On Market for a home in Shiawassee County in 2009 was 150 days and why the average sales price in Shiawassee County in 2009 was only $75,000. By the way, that is out of only 463 single family residential homes.

So please respond to my challenge. Enlighten us all. So that we can do our part to make conditions better, or understand why you are not willing to come down off of that fence and own your own piece of Shiawassee County (yet).

We will be waiting for your input....patiently....done yet?.......ok......how about now?

 

As a BOD member of the Shiawassee Association of Realtors I was fortunate enough to take part in this year's strategic planning meeting. Most of the time strategic planning is somewhat of a daunting task.

Alice Martin from NAR was here to help us decide if our organization was headed in the right direction. If we weren't- she would help get us there. She did a wonderful job of guiding us through revising our Mission Statement as well as putting us on task to actually achieve our mission. So Kudo's to Alice Martin and NAR's Leadership Development Field Team.

After NAR's propaganda videos that Alice played for us based on the shift of thinking from small local MLS's to the larger regional/state/national MLS's that seem to be the way of the future, I felt as if NAR had more of an agenda to rid of the small MLS's that I had first realized.

I am not here to say that there is a conspiracy behind NAR "pushing" for a national MLS that THEY control. I don't know that this is the case at all. NAR does make a good case for "if it is going to happen, we are the ones who would be the best at keeping it accurate and secure".

So the point I would like to readers is this...if you are faced with having to draw a conclusion or form an opinion on whether you are in favor of keeping MLS's local or regionalizing make sure you research both sides of the issue.

The Shiawassee Association of Realtors is now faced with the obligation of doing the research to decide what is best for our REALTOR members as well as the public we serve.

I can't wait to post our findings...and whether or not we move forward with any changes at all.

Jeff McIntyre

 

Hi Everyone,

Some of you already know that one of my great friends Tim Thompson is running for Mr. Owosso on behalf of Shiawassee Habitat for Humanity. Tim believes in this cause so much that he has agreed to dedicate over 3 months of planning and 1 full month of actual campaigning to raise as much money for Habitat as he possibly can.

For those of you that don't know what the Mr. Owosso contest is here is a brief description:

Non-profit organizations around Shiawassee County pick a candidate to raise money on their behalf through the month of May up until the Saturday of the Curwood Festival. This year's campaign will run from May 9th - June 7th. The candidate that raises the most money for their charity during the campaign period will be crowned Mr. Owosso during the finale party on June 7th.

It is a great time and a great way to raise money for local charities that will do so many things to make this community a better place to live for many families.

Shiawassee Habitat for Humanity (www.ShiawasseeHabitat.org) will be the recipient of the funds raised by Tim and his campaign. To learn more about the cause, the effect it will have on this community, and how you can help please visit http://www.MrOwosso.com (our campaign's official website). You will find a biography on Tim, a schedule of events, ways to help the cause, and be sure to watch the video (http://www.mrowosso.com/html/our_candidate.html) that does a great job of explaining how this campaign and any future funds can change the way people in this community will achieve decent and affordable housing for their families.

Thank you in advance for your support - and we look forward to seeing you at one of our many fundraising events.

Jeff McIntyre

Campaign Manager

Tim Thompson For Mr. Owosso

On Behalf of Shiawassee Habitat for Humanity

http://www.shiawasseehabitat.org/

http://www.mrowosso.com/

I am sure that by reading the title of this blog- many agents with any experience with doing business with a family member cringed!

Today was day 1 of moving my dad and step mom into their new home.

The home that is the EXACT opposite of what they told their Realtor (me) they wanted. As well as the EXACT opposite of what their son (me) tole them they should be buying at their age and health.

Listing their home was no problem, house hunting was only mildly frustrating. Once we got an offer on their home- that is when the "fun" began.

The offer was a good enough offer to consider the price. But the possession time offered was only 14 days after closing- and we hadn't found them a home to make an offer on yet. After some tough negotiations on ridiculous issues in the purchase agreement, we came to an amicable agreement with our buyers. But we were still left with having to quickly find my folks a home that would allow for less than 14 days possession.

This all would have been stressful with a normal client. But being my dad and step-mom I felt the extra pressure to make sure this didn't get screwed up!

The fact that they felt very comfortable calling me at 10pm or 7am with questions that I have answered 4 or 5 times, or just to vent because they are stressed out about everything working out- made things even more interesting.

Needless to say, it all worked out.

They do have a beautiful home, sold their previous home at a good price in a short time- in a tough market, and got my moving services for the past 12 hours and probably at least that much more over the next few days.

I have been stressed out for almost 30 days straight, wanting to make sure my folks can be happy with the fact that they had no choice in the Realtor they hired.

But it was an experience that I hadn't previously gone through. I have learned tons about dealing with "difficult clients", and about how to guesstimate how many trailer loads it takes to move the belongings from a 1400 Square Foot ranch on 1 acre to a 127 year old 1800 Sqaure Foot Italianate Style home in the city!

I am sure my experience could have been much worse. I would love to hear about some other agents' experiences in doing business with family members!