home in henry county: Henry County Property Can Feature Good (or Not So Good) Water - 03/07/16 03:13 AM
It’s one thing when you see the word “water” figuring prominently in descriptions of Henry County properties. Any time that word comes into play, it’s a cinch that the property in question is more valuable than any waterless neighbors. Everyone knows that a shorefront or beachfront property is likely to be worth more than an identical inland place. In areas like Florida, condos with docks (or even access to a dock) are highly prized. Wherever a lake, river or stream is noted in a listing’s description, it’s likely to add significantly to the asking price—even if it’s only because of a distant view. … (2 comments)

home in henry county: Henry County Refinance Rates Send Homeowners to their Calculators - 03/07/16 03:11 AM
What goes up must come down. Every second-grader has heard and verified this. Second-graders also are reasonably confident that two plus two equals four, and a stitch in time saves nine. By the time second-graders hit high school, they all have developed their consumer common sense, too. They know that the best time to buy something is when it goes on sale. (I checked, but there doesn’t seem to be a maxim to cover this).
This same basic precept for how consumers behave would normally cover the refinance market in Henry County (you would think). Following this precept, the volume of Henry County refinance applications … (0 comments)

home in henry county: Selling Henry County Real Estate has a New ABC - 03/07/16 03:08 AM
Today, selling real estate in Henry County (or Kalamazoo, for that matter) has been transformed in important ways. In others, it’s remained pretty much as it was 50 years ago. Let’s start with the changes:
        The buyers’ ability to identify properties has undergone a revolution. Fifty years ago, the process of hunting for and comparing available homes was constrained by the availability of information. Selling real estate in Henry County involved getting the word out, largely through printed media. Newspaper and magazine advertisements drove buyers’ awareness—or else the agent’s Xeroxed listing sheets. That was about it (in addition to driving around, looking … (0 comments)

home in henry county: “IoT” and the Future of Henry County Home Automation - 03/07/16 03:06 AM
Home automation is going mainstream.
There: I said it. We all knew it would happen, but some of us hoped it would happen later. The prospect of our house being smarter than we are has been out there since as far back as when the first Terminator movie hit VHS (or was it Beta? Or Betamax?)…
Anyway, the “Smart House” idea has always had such a science-fictiony patina, it allowed many Henry County homeowners the valiant hope that the whole thing might be delayed—at least until there was a flying car parked in every garage. Now it looks like our hopes are soon to be … (0 comments)

home in henry county: Will a Low Down Payment Option Benefit Henry County Borrowers? - 03/07/16 03:04 AM
Last week brought an announcement­­ that should get the attention of a large segment of would-be Henry County home buyers­­—particularly those­­ who have been stymied by the difficulty of trying to build their credit scores by paying all the monthly bills on time while simultaneously saving up a pile of cash for a down payment.
For too many Henry County nine-to-fivers, the two ambitions are achievable—just not at the same time. Although inflation hasn’t been horrendous, even a modest degree of rising prices causes a crunch for those whose incomes are flat. For many Americans, coming up with the down payment has been an immovable … (0 comments)

home in henry county: Heads-Up! Henry County’s Spring Selling Season is Here! - 02/26/16 02:52 AM
Henry County’s spring selling season is underway!
Okay—it’s understandable if that seems like a somewhat premature announcement, but it is verifiable from any number of sources. Never mind that this year, spring doesn’t officially arrive in Henry County until March 20…but that’s only what astronomers say (and they can’t even decide whether Pluto is a planet). Meteorologists take issue with them, anyway. It’s always March 1 as far as meteorologists are concerned. But this year’s Godzilla El Niño has made everything they say subject to revision. And anyway, we’re talking about real estate—and when it comes to real estate, spring is here already!
Now, … (0 comments)

home in henry county: Henry County Landlords & the Professional Property Management Option - 02/26/16 02:49 AM
Everyone who owns a rental property in Henry County makes a continuing management decision concerning how much of the day-to-day operational responsibility to outsource. Some are inclined to tackle the nuts and bolts of tenant management, while others are content to leave it to one of Henry County’s professional property managers.
If the main motive for acquiring the rental was for its value as a long term real estate investment, there is an increased likelihood that one of Henry County’s professional property management firms will get the nod. Beyond the dollars-and-cents dimension—which can boil down to a calculation on how you value your … (1 comments)

home in henry county: Home Prices in Henry County Reflect Remodeling Choices - 02/26/16 02:46 AM
Here’s an instant spot quiz— (see what comes to mind within a second or two):
If you decide to sell your Henry County home, if you had a crystal ball, what’s the most important detail about the sale result?  Quick! Answer!
If you’re like seven out of ten people, you were curious about the bottom line: “what price did it sell for?” Some people come up with “how long did it take?”—but usually, that’s the second or third choice (“what were the buyers like?” is another contender).
It’s hardly surprising that the closer they get to putting their own house up for sale, home prices … (0 comments)

home in henry county: Choosing Your Henry County Real Estate Agent: Easy First Step - 02/26/16 02:44 AM
When interviewed following the successful close of their home’s sale, a convincing majority of homeowners say that one of the most decisive factors came early on: choosing the right real estate agent. The reasons given go further than simply chaperoning the business transaction. The right agent does more than pare down the stress level that can creep into the process at any moment; does more than handle the numerous contractual issues that need to be addressed before a sale can reach a tidy conclusion.
The right agent lets you rest easy, knowing that your listing is getting the full energy and professional … (2 comments)

home in henry county: Homeowner Tax Deductions: Real Estate’s Ace in the Hole - 02/15/16 04:59 AM
Sure, even the idea of homeownership is appealing for all of the traditional emotional and lifestyle reasons. Having proprietary control over your family’s center of operations is a goal for most Henry County residents—just as most of us would consider it a necessary evil if professional obligations make frequent moves unavoidable. Travel may be broadening, but most rolling stones (no matter how moss-less) eventually hanker to settle down.
But aside from the lifestyle aspects, another major advantage to settling down and owning your home gets its turn in the limelight at least once a year. This advantage is anything other than abstract. The … (0 comments)

home in henry county: Ways that Henry County Location, Location, Location! Affects Value - 02/15/16 04:56 AM
“Location, location, location!” is one of the few proclamations which needs no verb, no adjective, no preposition to fully communicate its message. Everyone in Henry County understands—and usually agrees with—its meaning: The location [of something] is all-important.
In the commercial context, it used to mean “your store better be situated somewhere that gets a lot of the right kind of traffic.” Today, in the same context, that “traffic” can be clicks on the web rather than auto or foot traffic. Either way, location, location, location! stands for a truism that’s inarguably valid.
What’s interesting about the Henry County location, location, location! axiom when it’s invoked … (0 comments)

home in henry county: A Henry County HELOC Can Add a Liquidity Option - 02/15/16 04:53 AM
It’s hard to imagine anyone in Henry County who hasn’t been hearing worried Wall Street commentators discussing the latest news. Starting with the worst January performance on record, even people without a lot of affected investments are aware of how ripples from that part of the finance world tend to reach almost everyone’s doorsteps.
Henry County homeowners can feel at least partially insulated—at least to the extent that the value of their homes constitutes a ‘real’ investment in ‘real’ property. That remains one of the principal attractions of owning your home. If a high-flying tech stock falls off the end of the world, investors … (0 comments)

home in henry county: Today, Henry County Homes For Sale have Two Levels of ‘Curb Appeal’ - 02/15/16 04:39 AM
The way the ‘curb appeal’ phenomenon applies to a Henry County home for sale is explained simply enough. Like the packaging on a store shelf item, its mission is to break through the competition—to strike a responsive chord with potential buyers.
That is the goal, but no Henry County home that’s up for sale can possibly ‘bat a thousand’ when it comes to curb appeal, since buyers start out with differing mental images of what constitutes an ideal home. For some, it’s a well-kept colonial; for others, a clean-lined contemporary. Today, most house hunting begins with the online Henry County listings. Each offering is introduced … (1 comments)

home in henry county: Is There an ‘Election Year Effect’ on Henry County Homes For Sale? - 02/08/16 02:18 AM
This one was news to me. The Wall Street Journal had it buried in a ‘spread sheet’ section of their online Real Estate section: “Why It’s Harder to Sell Your Home in an Election Year.” If you are like me—never having had an inkling that Henry County homes for sale have rough sledding in an election year (like this one)—you’d have to read the details.
“The uncertainty of a looming election can cause a dip in home sales,” it detailed, “especially if the race is close.” The article was illustrated by a cartoon showing a neighborhood street whose every lawn was graced by … (0 comments)

home in henry county: New Survey Could Reveal Henry County Real Estate Attitude Shifts - 02/08/16 02:00 AM
Any way you cut it, real estate makes up a huge chunk of the overall economy. One consequence of that is that the health of the real estate industry is constantly being put under a microscope (if it were a human patient, it would probably grow alarmed by all the doctors and specialists constantly calling it in for routine check-ups).
Everyone from Washington regulators to Henry County tradespeople look to the performance of residential real estate as one of the most meaningful indicators of how everything else is doing. Locally, it’s not surprising that the pace of real estate sales in Henry County always … (0 comments)

home in henry county: Many Henry County Homeowners Recover in Equity “Bailout” - 02/01/16 02:34 AM
Looked at from one perspective, there has been a “bailout” of enormous magnitude. Okay—maybe you have to expand the meaning of “bailout” just a bit, but if you do, many Henry County homeowners can be counted among the most prominent beneficiaries. We Henry County real estate agents wouldn’t be complaining, either. As bailouts go, it’s the least controversial in a long time—probably because there are no politicians involved (so they aren’t quarreling about who’s responsible for what).  
The colloquial term “bailout” has become a household word of late. “Bailout” comes from a straightforward nautical solution for a sinking ship: grab a bucket and … (0 comments)

home in henry county: Henry County REALTOR® Launches Real Estate List Inquiry - 02/01/16 02:32 AM
When you go searching for the latest Henry County real estate news online, as likely as not you will find the lion’s share is dominated by advertisements (not to complain: I advertise, too) and the current Henry County listings. There is rarely any true Henry County real estate news as such—since what’s ‘new’ is principally the arrival and departure of the latest batch of Henry County homes for sale.
All the other nuggets of Henry County real estate “news” are actually news’ first cousins: features about real estate—most of which deal with the age-old verities of the field rather than anything that is truly up-to-the-moment new. The other … (0 comments)

home in henry county: Appraising Henry County Appraisals: Adjustments are the True Art - 02/01/16 02:29 AM
Built into the way an Henry County home changes ownership is the institution of the appraisal report—the document which attempts to place a dollar value on the property in question. That word “attempts” is the key when it comes to appraisals. Although it would make life easier if Henry County appraisals consisted of completely objective, scientifically verifiable calculations, in the real world, they can’t be.
Henry County appraisals are created by locating comparable properties that have sold recently on the open market, then adjusting that dollar amount to reflect the differences between them. That’s where perfect objectivity becomes…um…subject to interpretation.
If only any two homes were … (2 comments)

home in henry county: What’s More Important to Henry County Renters than Interest Rates? - 02/01/16 02:27 AM
You’d think that the single most influential factor governing a potential Henry County home buyer’s decision on whether to buy now or hold off would be the ongoing bottom line—that is, the amount of an anticipated monthly mortgage payment.
Maybe not.
The New York Federal Reserve argues otherwise. Not just a little bit otherwise; “dramatically” otherwise.
To cut to the chase (and that’s a good idea, for reasons that we’ll get to later), what is more likely to impact that decision—especially for those who are currently renters—is the size of the down payment. It follows that Henry County home renters are more likely to be encouraged … (0 comments)

home in henry county: Buying Your First Henry County Home: More Doable Than You Think! - 01/25/16 01:17 AM
For Henry County first home buyers who are of a certain age (for the moment let’s call that 40+ or so), the prospect of making such a prodigious commitment should be less intimidating than for the younger set.
You have been around for long enough to have seen the ups and downs of the economic cycles; most likely have had a number of different jobs with good and bad employers; may even have entered into the entrepreneurial arena yourself. You’ve also observed friends, relatives and colleagues who as they acquired their Henry County first homes, and have seen how they have fared as they … (0 comments)