HUD incentives going away... - 01/29/10 04:11 PM
was in some HUD training recently and they mentioned that most of the incentives that HUD had in place to encourage buyers ands reward buyer agents are gong away on February 1st of this year. The incentives that are being withdrawn include the $100 down financing plan as well as the owner-occupant incentive of $2,500 for buyers that HUD offered to help cover repairs, as well as the extra $500 to buyer agents. Obviously, I’m disappointed that I can no longer get the extra $500, but even more disappointing is the loss of the incentives for the buyers. Many buyers needed … (3 comments)

How they get there... - 01/28/10 06:57 AM
“The poor get poorer by acting rich, and the rich get richer by acting poor.” (Seen on a wall plaque) Ain’t it the truth. One major contributing factor to the current real estate crisis was the number of people who tried to act rich by over reaching on their house buying. Even today, I have to counsel many first-time buyers not to over reach and to consider the taxes that they’ll have to pay on that distressed McMansion that they covet. Most seem to think the taxes are going to magically go down and be based on what they paid for … (2 comments)

Get strategic Renee... - 01/27/10 08:01 AM
The real estate crisis has been in the national news for a long time - years now – however, last night on NBC News with Brian Williams they did a report on owners seeing walking away as the best option. Implicit in that strategy and explicitly reported by Williams is the failure of any of the Federal programs to provide much real help in the face of such large value loses by homeowners.

Also reported was the use of so-called “strategic defaults” by some large banks in the face of value losses on building that they bought with mortgages. Somehow … (1 comments)

There's no way around it... - 01/26/10 11:48 AM
“The best way out is always through.” (Robert Frost) from the Jack’s Winning Words Blog. How true. We often use terms like getting around something or over something, which both have the underlying premise that one is avoiding going through that something. Well, in life, it is seldom possible to go around or over the obstacles that stand between us and our goals – we need to work our way through them. For many that is a daunting thought. It means that you really can’t avoid doing those things that you abhor, that you just have to drive straight ahead and … (0 comments)

It's what you do whenyou get back up... - 01/23/10 10:09 AM
strong>“It’s not how you fall; it’s what you do after you get up.” (Scott Hamilton) – from the Jack’s Winning Words Blog. Scott was commenting on a fall by a figure skater. Everyone experiences a fall now and then. The recovery is the important thing. It’s not just in the sports world, but it’s in the world in general.
Last year was a fall down year for me in real estate. I actually sold more houses than ever, but made less money at it – barely above a subsistence level – and I was in the top quartile of my … (4 comments)

We live in interesting times... - 01/22/10 07:00 AM
One of the many fascinating reports that I get on a regular basis is the Brookings Institute Metropolitan Policy Program Update – a report on urban areas and the governmental policies and programs that impact them. The latest report is entitled "The Suburbanization of Poverty." Here is an excerpt from that report:

An analysis of the location of poverty in America, particularly in the nation’s 95 largest metro areas in 2000, 2007, and 2008 reveals that:

By 2008, suburbs were home to the largest and fastest-growing poor population in the country. Between 2000 and 2008, suburbs in the country’s … (5 comments)

Have we become a shades of grey society? - 01/21/10 05:38 AM
Have we become a “shades of grey” society, not longer able to discern moral black and white?

I live in Milford, a small Midwestern village in southeastern Michigan. I live on a corner across the street from a grade school. My corner has a four way stop. It has signs in all four corners and a big lighted overhead sign that says S-T-O-P on all four sides and above that is a flashing red light for each direction. Yet everyday, all day long, people ignore those signs and the flashing light and roll though this intersection, sometimes slowing quite a … (2 comments)

Oh no, now I live in a deadbeat state... - 01/20/10 06:53 AM
I got my 2009 corporate tax documents from my bookkeeper today and in with them was an explanation that Michigan is now a deadbeat state as far as the Federal Government is concerned, so I have to pay extra on my Federal Unemployment Insurance to make up for the fact that Michigan didn’t pay.

Of course they didn’t use the terms deadbeat in their explanation. They used the oh so much better sounding phrase that Michigan is a “credit reduction state.” They explained that what this means is that Michigan borrowed money to pay for unemployment claims which they did … (1 comments)

Sleazy lenders gaming the system again... - 01/19/10 06:48 AM
It appears that some ever-resourceful mortgage lenders are working hard at staying one step ahead of government regulations and gaming the new GFE rules through the use of new and unregulated “worksheets” and “fee estimates”. The reason that the new GFE rules were put into effect was to corral wayward lenders who essentially lied to their clients on the GFE and then surprised them at the last minute (often at the closing table) with new or larger fees. Who hasn’t had that happen?


The problem isn’t with the majority of lenders and their agents; it’s with the sleazebags in that … (1 comments)

Economy still in the dumps, but we're feeling better about it... - 01/18/10 07:39 AM
From a recently weekly feed that I get from ICONOCULTURE comes this report on the country's feelings of well being.

WHAT'S HAPPENING

•Beginning in January 2008, Gallup research developed the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index. The index measures the comprehensive emotional, physical and fiscal health of American consumers on a scale of 0-100.

•During the fourth quarter of 2009, the index stood at 67.8, equal to its highest previously recorded levels. Emotional health and "daily experience of enjoyment" were both at record levels as well (Gallup.com 12.10.09).

•Analysts say the steady uptick in well-being since its low last December … (0 comments)

Oh Crap, more of the same... - 01/16/10 08:07 PM
I don’t know whether it was misplaced optimism or just raw hope that drove me to believe that 2010 would be different that the very difficult 2009 year that we just competed. I wrote what turned out to be overly optimistic blogs and a newsletter articles about how it was going to be better due to various things like the extended tax credit and pent up demand to go with what I hoped would be a bottoming out and start back on the economic front.
br>Well, overwhelming evidence to the contrary from a number of prominent economic prognosticators leads me to … (4 comments)

Market Charts for Brighton Michigan - 01/15/10 08:12 AM
This is the last in my series of market chart posts, but remember that these charts will update automatically, so come back from time to time to see how things are doing For now they give us a good look back at the Brighton market in 2009 and how we ended the year in the Brighton, MI market. The data is from the 48114 and 48116 ZIP Codes.



This first chart looks at the trend over the year in median home sales prices (Median Sale prices dropped in Q1, then rose in Q2 and early Q3, only to … (0 comments)

Local Market Charts - West Bloomfield Michigan - 01/14/10 07:26 AM
Today it's back to the charts, as I try to keep people in my market area updated on what's been happening in the local market. These charts will update automatically; however, for now they give us a good look back at the West Bloomfield market in 2009 and how we ended the year in the West Bloomfield, MI market. The data is from the 48322, 48323 & 48324 ZIP Codes and is up to date through today. Unlike some of the earlier, more rural areas that were charted, the West Bloomfield market is one that is almost fully built out and … (0 comments)

The philosophers of Wii... - 01/13/10 08:09 AM
I've tired of just presenting real estate market statistics and charts and will take a break from that today. In what might be called the wisdom of the video game creators from the Jack’s Winning Words Blog come these tidbits of life philosophy from three game creators.

“Deal with the consequences of your actions, ‘cause life ain’t no video game.” (Ikkaku, Hosaka, & Kawabata) Jack goes on to say – This Japanese trio create video games for Nintendo. Sometimes, after we do and say certain things, we’d like to be able to push a button marked, REPLAY. Too bad! We … (1 comments)

Market Charts for South Lyon and Lyon Township - 01/12/10 07:47 AM
As we go into the new year these charts will update automatically; however, for now they give us a good look back at the South Lyon/Lyon Twp market in 2009 and how we ended the year in the South Lyon, MI market. The data is from the 48178 ZIP Code.



This first chart looks at the trend over the year in median home sales prices (Median Sale prices fell every month during the year, with just the little upward blip in Q3 when the first-time buyer spike was hitting the overall market) and the inventory that is sitting … (0 comments)

Market Charts for White Lake, Michigan - 01/11/10 11:25 AM
As we go into the new year these charts will update automatically; however, for now they give us a good look back at the White Lake market in 2009 and how we ended the year in the White Lake, MI market. The data is from the 48283 and 48386 ZIP Codes.



This first chart looks at the trend over the year in median home sales prices (Median Sale prices were relative flat right close to $200K all year with a slight "bump" in Q3/Q4 when the first-time buyer rush was on) and the inventory that is sitting on … (0 comments)

Market Charts for - 01/10/10 09:27 AM
As we go into the new year these charts will update automatically; however, for now they give us a good look back at the Commerce market in 2009 and how we ended the year in the Commerce, MI market. These charts use data only from the 48382 ZIP code.



This first chart looks at the trend over the year in median home sales prices (consistently down, with a slight uptick just after mid-year) and the inventory that is sitting on the market (up through mid-year with a huge drop at the end). Some of the drop in … (0 comments)

Market Charts for Highland, Michigan - 01/09/10 07:07 AM
As we go into the new year these charts will update automatically; however, for now they give us a good look back at the Highland market in 2009 and how we ended the year in the Highland, MI market.



This first chart looks at the trend over the year in median home sales prices (down, then back up near the end of the year) and the inventory that is sitting on the market (up through most of the year with a big drop at the end). Some of the drop in inventory can be attributed to the big … (0 comments)

Find your invincible summer and brng it out... - 01/08/10 07:34 AM
strong>"In the depths of winter, I finally learned that there was in me an invincible summer.” (Albert Camus) from the Jack’s Winning Words Blog. What a great quote for this time of year, although it was meant in a much more figurative way, I’m sure. Having seen Invictus over the Holidays I can relate it to Nelson Mandella’s unwavering resolve to remain the captain of his soul while he was imprisoned.

We have certainly been living through the depths of a long real estate winter, one that claimed many victims in our business. For most this has been a character … (0 comments)

Stop lurking in the Rain - find your voice and sing... - 01/07/10 05:21 AM
ActiveRain claims to have almost 170,000 members, which is great, although that represents less than 10% of the Realtors in the U.S. (my estimate, since NAR membership is somewhere around 1,3Million to 1.5Million and not all real estate brokers and agents belong to NAR). Whatever the true numbers, a large percentage of the members of ActiveRain are lurkers, people who have not yet found their voices and don't "sing in the Rain." I get lots of emails from these people asking me how to get started blogging, how to find their voice. This post is for them.
First, let's reestablish that … (7 comments)

IRS clarifications on tax credit… - 01/06/10 04:13 PM
Oh what webs we weave. From the National Association of Home Builders Web site came this short piece. The IRS has "clarified" its position on two scenarios that have arisen with the extension of the first-time home buyer tax credit and creation of the new repeat home buyer tax credit. With the addition of the second tax credit, there may now be a situation in which two unmarried buyers purchase a residence together where one qualifies for the $6,500 repeat buyer credit and the other qualifies for the $8,000 credit. According to the IRS, they must allocate the tax credit in … (2 comments)

Understand what you don't understand... - 01/05/10 07:56 AM
"Sometimes it proves the highest understanding not to understand."  (Gracian)   BG was a 17th century Spanish Jesuit who is known for his witty maxims and a writing style called conceptism.
I could start out by saying, "I don't understand", but I think I do. Lots of times my wife will ask me something and I'll take some wild guess and throw that back, to which she always says, "Why don't you just say, I don't know?" I don't understand why I do that, other than thinking at the time that saying something is better than not having an answer. However there … (0 comments)

All we have is time - use it wisely... - 01/04/10 08:20 AM
"All that really belongs to us is time; even he who has nothing else has that."  (Baltasar Gracian), from my favorite source for quotes - the Jack's Winning Words Blog. Good advice to keep in mind as we start a new business year. As Realtors, we generally all have access to most of the same tools and services that we might use in our business. Some of the things that we could use might cost too much right now, so we don't use them. Other things that are available just might be effective in a particular market. Some agents face competition … (4 comments)

 
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Norm Werner

Milford, MI

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Real Estate One

Address: 560 N. Milford Rd, Milford, MI, 48381

Office Phone: (248) 684-1065

Cell Phone: (248) 763-2497

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Posts about things going on in Real Estate in Milford, Michigan; Highland, Michigan; White Lake, Michigan; Commerce Twp, Michigan,; West Bloomfield, Michigan; South Lyon, Michigan; Birghton, Michigan and HArtland, Michigan in Oakland and Livingston Counties of Michigan


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