For those of us who have spent any time hanging around Ann Arbor in the summertime, we surely remember the hustle, bustle and excitement surrounding the Ann Arbor Art Fair.  The Art Fair, originally established in 1960, is a combination of four award winning, independently juried art fairs, held simultaneously throughout Ann Arbor.  This year, the annual Art Fair runs between July 21-24.  The hours on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday are from 10am – 9pm and Saturday, from 10am – 6pm.  Visitors in town searching for homes will definitly wish to attend this event.  We suggest you go early at 10am (preferably on Wens) thereby avoiding much of the larger crowds and this will help you see most of the display areas.  The cost for attending this renowned event is free!
            Together, the four fairs attract over 600,000 visitors from across America, and create an amazing outdoor gallery featuring over 1,200 artists.  There are an abundance of things to see and do while spending an afternoon outdoors at the Art Fair.  Activities include learning about and buying art from the nation’s best artists, lively entertainment, artists’ demonstrations, 4 Imaginations Stations for art activities, more than 150 restaurants, and special sidewalk sales from downtown Ann Arbor to the University of Michigan campus.  You can also check out a complete list of exhibiting artists  and artist applications are available here.  This spectacular event attracts the finest artists producing top quality art work in every price range and is considered to be the largest art fair in the country.
            Transportation to and from the Ann Arbor Art Fair is extremely convenient.  There are several parking structures around campus, including the Maynard Parking Structure which has recently been renovated.  It is generally $10 per day for the parking structures and $5 after 5pm.  There is parking in and around nearby neighborhoods for low cost as well.  If you wish to avoid parking downtown near the Art Fair altogether, there are also shuttle buses that run throughout Ann Arbor.  Parking to catch the shuttle bus is available at Briarwood Mall or Pioneer High School.  The AATA Art Fair Shuttles will run every 10-15 minutes from 9am to 10pm, Wednesday through Friday, and on Saturday from 9am to 7pm.  The fares will be $1.50 each way, and children 7 years old and younger ride free.   Click here for a complete list of maps, parking and bus schedule.  You can visit the Visitors and Conference Bureau for infrmation on lodging, restaurants and more. Don't miss this nationally renowned art exhibit here in town! 

Get local real esate information here.

Congress Passes Tax Credit Closing Extension

Congress passed an extension of the closing deadline for the Homebuyer Tax Credit, the Homebuyer Assistance and Improvement Act (H.R. 5623). 

This extension applies only to transactions that have ratified contracts in place as of April 30, 2010, that have not yet closed. The legislation is designed to create a seamless extension; the new closing deadline for eligible transactions is now September 30, 2010. There will be no gap between June 30 and the date the President signs the bill into law. 

Contact our office for further details and as always you can get new listing update reports at www.ShelterQuest.com

As of July 1, 2010, it is illegal in Michigan to text while driving and could result in fines.

The law says that reading, typing, or sending a text or email on any wireless two-way communication device behind the wheel is illegal. This civil infraction carries a first-time $100 fine and $200 in fines for subsequent violations.

To read the full story about the new Michigan Texting Ban, please visit AnnArbor.com at:http://www.annarbor.com/news/michigans-texting-ban-takes-effect-today-will-it-reduce-crashes/

Get new property listings reports at www.ShelterQuest.com

In a state suffering from the decline of the auto industry and the loss of manufacturing jobs, Ann Arbor remains an economic and cultural oasis. The city has grown up around the university, which moved to Ann Arbor from Detroit in 1837, shortly after Ann Arbor was founded. A focus on research, technology, arts, and tourism has spared the local economy many of the hardships felt elsewhere in Michigan.

If you live here, it helps to be a Wolverines fan. The roar from Michigan Stadium—which seats more than 100,000 and is known as the Carnegie Hall of sports—resounds through town on football Saturdays in the fall. The games always sell out, drawing fans from around the country. If sports aren't your thing, there are still plenty of other activities, many associated with the university: several museums and galleries, an arboretum, an annual arts fair, an orchestra, and local opera and ballet companies.

The university employs about 16,000 people from all over the Detroit area, plus another 12,000 at the University of Michigan Medical Center. Private-sector employers add to a vibrant white-collar economy largely based on research and technology. Automakers like General Motors and Toyota account for some research jobs; the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and companies like General Dynamics and Google provide others. Longtime local companies include Domino's Pizza and Borders.

Ann Arbor has cold, snowy winters, and moisture from nearby Lake Huron and Lake Erie contributes to a high proportion of cloudy days. But summers tend to be warm and comfortable, with highs in the low 70s and nighttime temps in the 50s or 60s. And Ann Arbor—known as "Tree Town"—is one of the greenest, most densely forested residential areas in America.

If you can tolerate cold winters and can afford the slightly above average cost of living, Ann Arbor is a dynamic retirement spot with year-round enticements. Detroit's metropolitan airport is about 40 miles away, with nonstop or one-stop jet service to most big cities, so grandkids can visit—or you can easily flee to the south in the winter.

In addition to the University of Michigan, there are several smaller colleges nearby, including Cleary, Concordia, and Eastern Michigan. Big Ten rival Michigan State is about 65 miles away, in East Lansing.

The University of Michigan Medical Center is one of the top hospitals in the country. There's also a VA hospital in Ann Arbor, and St. Joseph Mercy Hospital is just a few miles away (with some facilities in Ann Arbor itself).

After the University of Michigan, the biggest employers are auto supplier Visteon, General Motors, St. Joseph Mercy Hospital, Eastern Michigan University, and Borders. Drug aker Pfizer has employed several thousand in the area but is closing its operation.

The median home price in 2008 was about $206,000, higher than in many surrounding areas. But consider that a sign of a relatively healthy economy: Prices in 2008 fell by a modest 6 percent, a small decline compared with other areas. Much cheaper homes are available in surrounding communities, where builders binged during the housing boom. In 2009 and 2010 both nearby Saline and Ann Arbor realty prices have gone up an average of 3% per year.  

To get real time foreclosure, short sale and other realty listings click here.

LOOKING FOR LANDSCAPING SERVICES?

Well, beware....I would not recommend Brian Stimach or Meadowbrook Acres Sod Farm located in Brighton, Michigan.  I tried this service last year requesting some simple services like putting in black corrugated landscape pipe in the ground with drains to extend away from the building the downspout water running off from the roof.  Simple stuff right?

Their crew was more interested in getting the job done quick instead of the right way.  Trenches were dug too shallow, no care or concern to fill in and compact the soil so it didn't settle and leave indentations a week later after the first rain fall, drains installed to high, poor seeding techniques, etc.

Worse yet, when I called the foreman Brian Stimach, he resisted fixing these issues and finally kept saying how he would have someone get in touch with me in a few days.  Never happened even after a few follow up calls.  He actually spent more time telling how busy he was, that his family was living in Florida and he had more important things on his mind with the business down there and the commute coming up on the weekend.  Guess I was suppose to be sorry to have an expectation that they cared about the quality of their work and a satisfied customer.

What happened to the success business plain of putting the customer first and quality of service??  But I have to admit, this type of approach to customer satisfaction is too common in the landscape business.  Beware of contractors who want to get a deposit for your job with promise to come back next week to get started.  While deposits are not that unusual, I would never recommend you pay one until their first day on the job.  Landscaping contractors are notorious for running around booking jobs in the spring and taking deposits so they have work to carry them through the 4 months of prime landscaping season.  Everybody wants their work done in the Spring, but guess what....that's not possible regardless of their promises, so beware.  

A good larger company to consider might be Continuum Services. Their contact number is 248-286-5200.  They do a lot of commercial work involving design, and grounds maintenance.  If you ever have any problems with them, let me know as I know the guy in charge personally and unlike the company and foreman mentioned above, he IS concerned about customer service and satisfaction.  He even volunteered to get MeadowBrook Sod back out to fix my problem as he subcontracts some work out to them and other smaller or specialty firms.  Of course, having grown tired of making numerous phone calls and receiving false promises, we decided it was easy to get someone else to correct the previous inferior work.

Take care and good luck.  Remember you can get the latest new MLS property listings by clicking on this link.

 Help for the Hardest-Hit Housing Markets 

1. $1.5 Billion to Work with State Housing Agencies to Innovate and Help Address the Problems Facing the Hardest-Hit Housing Markets 

• There will be a formula for allocating funding among eligible states that will be based on home price declines and unemployment. 

• HFAs must submit a program design to Treasury. 

• Programs may include:  Measures for unemployed homeowners; 

 Programs to assist borrowers owing more than their home is now worth; 

 Programs that help address challenges arising from second mortgages; or 

 Other programs encouraging sustainable and affordable homeownership. 

2. Accountability and Transparency for these Housing Programs 

• All funded program designs posted online. 

• Accountability for results – program effectiveness measured and results published online. 

• Effective oversight under the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008.

Click here for more information on this program.

Well its that time of year again when we get our notice's from the local tax assessor.  The notice will contain your new tax assessment and what we can expect to pay for property taxes.  Remember you can appeal this decision if you do not agree.  Generally there will be instructions with your assessment that tell you how to sign up for to appeal initially to the local Tax Board of Review. 

I am please to announce that this past year I was notified that I would be getting back two checks for different properties that I had appealed to the State Tax Tribunal.  It should be noted that initially I did not receive any adjustments on the local level.  Initially, your case is reviewed by individuals appointed by local government that is very concerned about declining tax revenue due to declining tax values (Tax Board of Review).  No mystery here why they smile and tell you they will take your matter into consideration and then send you a denial letter once you are out of their door and confrontation range.  I have a few suggestions if you think your taxable value is higher than 50% of your market value and you want to lower your tax bill.

You will need to start by requesting a meeting with your tax board of review. This is a panel that will meet for several weeks straight following the mailing of your assessment and you need to request a time slot right away while they are convened.  Being a broker I can put together a market report showing comps or sold price data on similar properties.  I did this in the past but was unsuccessful on my appeals.   I would recommend that you spend $2-300. dollars for a formal appraisal.  The appraisal should be dated December 31st of the previous year which is the value date that your assessor is trying to establish.  Often, several of us in the community will go together and negociate a discounted price with a local appraiser for doing several appraisals at once for this purpose.  This makes the process much easier both at the local and state levels.  You now have an unbiased, third party market value opinion to present initially to the Tax board of Review and if needed, the State Tax Tribunal appeal.  I recommend this approach highly.  To start, you will make several copies (4) to supply to the local board and assessor at your first meeting which generally only last 15 minutes or less.  From my own past experience, this yields limited or no satisfaction at the local level, but you could get lucky.  You will receive an opinion from the Board of Review within a few weeks after your informal meeting along with instructions on how to appeal to the State Tax Tribunal.  Unhappy with the results?.... then don't stop and send a copy of your appraisal to the State if you disagree and then be prepared to wait up to two years for a notice from them, though you should receive a confirmation of receipt and case number within 60 days.  You can check you status online to by going to the State Web site as well.  If this is concerning your home or principle residence, the appeal to the State is Free.  If its for investment property, then there is a $75. charge.  I have found far more receptive ears at the State level, so don't be shy about taking this final step.  

Of course there are more formal approaches involving hiring a tax attorney, but generally most people do not wish to speculate spending money on their fee's.  This is something you will need to weight vs. the potential return. 

Please call me if you have any questions or would like for me to send you some comps just to see if you should start with the appraisal route.  Remember, I got back thousands on each of my appeals to the state so think positive.  

Please scroll down and review other older posts herein for info on this and similar topics while your in this category.  

Good luck!

Anyone can be a real estate investor in todays market.  I have many clients who are investing in homes prices between 15-80K who are buying to earn income.  Current investors should note the recent underwriting change dropping the 90 day wait for flip type sales to buyers using FHA loans. (see below) 

For newcomers, generally the plan is to flip the property.  In other words you buy asset, make the necessary repairs and/or upgrades and then place it back on the market for sale.  Most of the time in order to replenish capital an investors first choice is usually to sell it for cash or buyer financing ie:the buyer gets a mortgage and pays the owner in full.  Second option.... the seller enters into a land contract with terms above market interest rate after receiving a downpayment from the buyer. The terms often will call for a balloon payment after three years at which time the buyer will then seek a mortgage to cash out the seller.  Often the buyer is not in a position to get a mortgage right now and the seller can chose this type of transaction because perhaps the property location or market conditions in the subdivision didn't yield a cash buyer right away.  The other option for the seller is to rent the property out until which time as they may decide to sell it.   All three choices yield a nice return on investment.

New and current investors should note  ... short sale and REO flipping 
are becoming more and more accepted by the government and major 
lending institutions.  This is evidenced, among other things, 
by Freddie Mac's recent bulletins, updated credit policies by 
major lenders allowing for C buyer financing, and revised title bulletins 
stating that the C purchase price does not need to be revealed 
to the A lender as long as certain disclosures are made. 

Last Friday the FHA has rescinded its 90 anti-flipping rule and will, 
for a period of 1 year, allow FHA buyers to obtain loans 
on properties that have been recently purchased by investors 
who intend to flip them for a profit.

This "green light" by FHA means that if you've been on the 
sidelines of property flipping, you need to educate yourself 
as soon as possible, because investors will be coming on 
strong for 2010 given this latest news. 

contact me to discuss this further.  You can also stop by this web site to get easy to use investment tools etc.  www.A2Realty.info or stop by our MLS access and custom report web site at www.ShelterQuest.com for easy and current review of the latest listings.   

Tom can be reached on his cell phone at 734-516-2000 to answer any additional questions that you may have.  

Principal Residence Exemption

Sellers who have taken advantage of the opportunity to retain two principal residence exemptions must file Form 4640 by December 31.

Legislation (signed in 2008) enables that the seller can retain an additional exemption for up to three years on property previously exempt as the owner's principal residence if the following criteria are met:

• the property is not occupied
• the property is for sale
• the property is not leased or available for lease
• the property is not used for any business or commercial purpose.

For your convenience, a copy of Form 4640 is available at link to the form on the Michigan Government website.

There is a new Good Faith Estimate and HUD coming January 1st.  The same Good Faith Estimate (GFE) will be used by all companies.  The government stepped in and "helped" with the Good Faith...and made it 3 pages long. 

Something that will help buyers is whatever is disclosed on the GFE, is what has to be on the HUD.  Some costs will have a 10% tolerance, but most will not.  One item that we still are a little unclear on how buyers can receive a GFE before a home is found.  The reason this may be a problem is what is disclosed, must be charged.  The buyers sale price obviously may change from their pre approval, and if their costs go up (for example...title insurance) because their sale price increases, the mortgage company must eat that cost.  Not being able to give a buyer a GFE at the pre approval stage concerns loan officers presently.  I'm sure they want buyers to feel comfortable about the purchase and be able to confidently make offers.  One idea is to put together a Homeowners Worksheet that will be given at the pre approval stage rather than a GFE.  This will help buyers know what their costs are and what you need to ask for in concessions.  The GFE, of course, will be given at the time of the application.  You could ask for an unsigned GFE I suppose too?

Another step that is being required is for the mortgage company to send the GFE to the title company at the time of closing.  The title company will be required to compare the GFE to the HUD and make sure it is in compliance and exactly the same.  Mortgage companies and title companies will be working closely together on this part. 

There have been a lot of changes throughout this past year.  Most recently, new disclosures laws (MDIA), HVCC and Short Sale changes.  I will continue to keep you updated throughout the rest of this year and next.  Some upcoming changes will be the finalization of the condo underwriting changes, FHA appraisals being good for 4 months rather than 6 months (est. to be January 2010) and some more changes for sure.  Lets hope for a strong year next year for all of us!  For listing information please click here.  Have a great holiday!