National Association Rountable Call on Short-Sales - 05/22/08 09:35 AM
Yesterday I spent about two hours chairing a conference call of our National Asslciation of Exclusive Buyer Agent members on the topic of  short-sales.
John Rygiol, an EBA in the Orange County area in California was the opening speaker. He has worked for buyers in well over a dozen short-sale transactions to far this year, and he made the additional effort of sitting down and talking to some listing agents who specialize in short-sales.
Sixteen other members participated on the call so we were able to share insights from Michigan to Las Vegas to North Carolina to Boston to Colorado and … (0 comments)

The Worst Seller Walk-Through Behavior Yet - RANT - 05/15/08 08:29 PM
 
I just heard this from an Exclusive Buyer's Agent friend in the Midwest.
They go to do their walk-through of the home and things look fine, but the key for the 800 sq. ft. outbuilding isn't at the home.
A call to the listing agent finds that it is at the title company in an envelope waiting at the closing table.
Being a good, loyal, and experienced buyer advocate the agent jumps through some hoops to get the envelope before closing and goes back the the home with the buyer. The envelope has a note in it that says "The … (7 comments)

Recommendation: When You Are In The Publishing Business, Always Check The Strange Stuff On Snopes - 05/14/08 08:37 AM

If you are blogging and writing newsletters like I am, often you run across interesting tidbits that you want to pass along to the readers of your publications.
What I've learned is that it is best to do some fact checking, and the best place I've found to do that is Snopes.com
Two examples from my newsletters over the years:
1. I read and published the statement that the soft drink Coke was originally green. Snopes says it is a common urban legend. Whoops!
2. I read and later published that you get significantly more gas in your car … (1 comments)

Great True Story About Identity Theft From Scambusters - 05/14/08 08:18 AM

Scambusters, ( http://scambusters.org ), is a great resource and in this month's newsletter they relayed a story from the San Francisco Chronicle on how an identity theft victim actually chased down the crook that had been going through thousands of dollars of her credit cards.
The downside is that after a dramatic chase and arrest, the scammer gets off on probation!!!!
Here is the link to the "Must Read" story from last year:
SF Chronicle Story on how a victim snared an ID thief
… (0 comments)

Another Ann Arbor Home Inspection Story - 05/11/08 10:35 AM
Somewhere I know I posted a blog article about a home on Washtenaw in Ann Arbor that we almost helped a client buy.
I say almost because when the buyer's home inspector looked at the home he found EIFS that had been incorrectly installed. He couldn't determine if it was a $5,000 problem or a $30,000 problem so he recommended some actuall testing be done. The builder on this brand new $1.1 million home refused to have the issue looked at. He then accused us of being unreasonable and our buyer walked away. (Interesting note to add to this paragraph - … (6 comments)

Another "Funny House" in the Ann Arbor area of Michigan - 05/11/08 09:52 AM
A couple weeks ago I was out with buyers evaluating homes and we came across an unusual home North of Ann Arbor. I posted about it here: Funny Home
Well just South of Ann Arbor is this unusual home:

This is actually the front view.

This is the back view. The white home is across the street.
It certainly is bold. And I could imagine that it might have some glass floors to give a view of the creek that I assume runs underneath it. But overall I guess I would say I'm not too entheusiastic about it.
… (2 comments)

Interesting Home Inspection Story - 05/11/08 08:38 AM
 
I was helping a home buyer evaluate a home this week and I noticed that there was a basement wall that had been built with steel studs.
This is not unusual and certainly many if not most commercial buildings are built with steel studs. What was notable was that the wiring in the wall was just done with Romex and the studs I could see did not have the protective grommets that are required for code. (The steel stud can cut into the plastic sheathing on the romex if it is not protected by grommets.)
It may actually be a … (4 comments)

Thank You Mother! Thank You Wonderful Wife! - 05/11/08 08:05 AM
 
I generally don't have a lof of enthusiasm about the holidays that seem to be so heavily promoted by the greating card companies. Bose's day, secretary's day, neighbor down the street day...
But Mother's day is a bit different for me.
I have a great mother who is still sharp and engaged. And I am blessed with the fact that she is involved in the business and more importantly, that she is local. I've got a dozen roses to give her when we see her today and I hope I can do some things for her around her house.
 
… (0 comments)

How many Ash Trees survived? - 05/08/08 04:32 PM
 
For the last six years of so Southeast Michigan Ash trees have suffered terribly from the Emerald Ash Borer bug.
Some local neighborhoods have had their trees devistated.
So ther question is... how many have survived?
Our agent Laura Degiovanni has two in her yard that are alive. One that is very young and the other that is half the size it was in 2000, but still looking healthy.
Anybody know the statistics?
… (0 comments)

Another loss in the real estate downturn - 05/08/08 04:05 PM
 
Certainly there are many real estate licensees who are leaving or have already left the business because of the market downturn.
But, I was especially saddened to find out recently that our local Board of REALTORs had to lay off a long time administrative person.
Nancy had been answering the phones at the Board for as long as I can remember. I played in the Pioneer Concert band with her son Bob thirty some years ago and I met her daughter Becky at Bell Northern Research about 20 years ago when I was still an engineer.
Nancy was great. Always polite but efficient. Knowledgeable … (0 comments)

Buying a Home Without Losing Your Shirt - Home Buying Class - 05/08/08 03:27 PM
 
Monday night on May 12th from 7:00 to 8:30 we will have another of our home buying classes.
The focus is on putting togehter a well planned, well researched home purchase.
This class is a lot of nuts and bolts down and dirty information about the four stages of home buying.
The class and materials are free, but confirmed registration is required because we have limited seating and sometimes fill-up.
To reserve your spot call 734-223-9831 and leave a message with the number seats you would like to reserve, your name, and a phone number where we can call to confirm your place.
This class can … (0 comments)

Amazing data on Detroit area home sales - 05/07/08 09:03 AM

The Detroit News published an article today discussing the possible rebound of the housing market in Detroit. The article is interesting but some of the numbers are actually amazing.
For example; there were more foreclosure transactions in Detroit in April than there were non-foreclosure transactions.
No kidding.
Here is the link: Detroit News Article on the real estate market
Since we serve Western Wayne County some of that news does effect us, just kind of indirectly.
… (0 comments)

Detroit Free Press has a good article on the market - 05/04/08 09:53 AM

Sometimes we see newspaper writers who will go out of their way to paint a rosey picture of the marketplace, usually in papers that receive a significant amount of their income from Advertising.
In this case the Free Press seemed to be relatively objective.
Note especially the quote:
"There is absolutely nothing in data out this week -- not from the Case-Shiller home price indexes or RealtyTrac's foreclosure stats -- that contains even a hint that the housing is bottoming out," said Bernard Baumohl, managing director of the Economic Outlook Group in Princeton, N.J.
Here is the link:
Detroit Free Press Article on … (0 comments)

 
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Jon Boyd Ann Arbor Real Estate Buyer's Agent

Ann Arbor, MI

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Home Buyer's Agent of Ann Arbor

Address: 1905 Pauline Blvd Ste 1, Ann Arbor, MI, 48103

Office Phone: (734) 662-6240

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Insights on home buying in the Ann Arbor Michigan area, including Saline, Plymouth, Canton, Chelsea, Dexter, Brighton, Ypsilanti, Belleville, Howell, and Whitmore Lake


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