Republican Presidential candidate, Mitt Romney, spent the last few days stumping for votes in Michigan. Most of his time was spent in the Metro Detroit area. For those of you who maybe didn't hear the news broadcast, Mitt and his group were very interested in going to the once beautiful Palmer Woods area of Detroit, where Mitt and his family lived when he was a boy. Palmer Woods, much like all of the once thriving and magnificent neighborhoods bordered by Woodward, W. McNichols, Eight Mile Road and Livernois, is now a mix of burned out buildings, boarded up buildings, ruin and beauty. Mitt Romney's boyhood home was also boarded and secured and is an REO home, going through it's second foreclosure!
Sherwood Forest, Palmer Woods, Green Acres and The University District, The houses in these areas were once so splendid and the Grande Dames of all houses. You can go into the University District right now and be amazed, as these homes are Tudor mansions, castles, fortresses of brick and leaded glass. The streets, with names like Fairfield, Muirland, Windemere, Parkside, are broad boulevards in a sub called "Golf Course. These neighborhood were home to judges, politicians, top executives, and over the years, the houses here have been bought and sold. Many lost to foreclosure and mortgage scams. But there is good news ahead!
I was blessed to have just acquired a Buyer interested in this area. She allowed me to show her seven homes and it was my absolute pleasure to tour these properties with her. Some were really beat up and neglected. Scavengers had removed any and all that was valuable. Leaded glass from windows was missing, fixtures, sconces, copper, entire kitchens removed. But always underlying was a beautiful natural fireplace with a fabulous mantle, gorgeous hardwood floors, tile bathrooms, graceful staircases! I felt like I was in that scene from Sleeping Beauty where the castle was all overgrown, but you can imagine what lurked under the overgrowth! My client found a house virtually intact and I was now doing my CMA for her. The house she wrote on was bought in July 2006, foreclosed on in July of 2007 at $264,000. She got the house for $100,000 with $6,000 back in concessions. She bought an all brick classic "castle" for $94,000! The taxes are going to be roughly 36 MIL for the next 11 years because it's now the Neighborhood Enterprise Zone. The CMA also showed me that almost every house once on the market that is now an REO house was PENDING! People, everywhere, were becoming aware of these phenominal locations and snatching up these properties like crazy! I came to find out that almost every block has it's own Association for security and for snow removal, that "Beat Cops" are out and about to enforce safety, etc. These beautiful houses are being bought up by families and people who will restore them and love them, and hopefully, realize handsome financial rewards as our Michigan real estate market begins to shine favorably once again.
The surge in these areas is a beacon of hope. We will rise above and we will prosper. We owe it to ourselves to live graciously. I absolutely LOVE these areas and you will too. Please find the time to drive through these neighborhoods and savor the splendor. I so look forward to spring and the sprawling lawns and gardens will come alive, beckoning us all.
If anyone out there might be interested in purchasing one of these mini-estates, please do not hesitate to give me a call. It would be my honor to get one of these historic beauties yet another family to carry on the tradition of folk like the Romney's, or families just like the rest of us average Joes making our own traditions!
Peace.
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