Canton Michigan Home Buying

Ann Arbor as a good neighbor to have

2008-06-28T23:51:00.002-05:00

One of the great things about Canton is that you are half way between the big city life of Detroit and the college town life of Ann Arbor.
Often when we've helped families purchase in Canton they talk about going into Ann Arbor for some of the cultural entertainment (and college football games!).

Here is a video I noticed on another real estate broker's blog that shows some of what Ann Arbor has to offer:

Agency class misses the mark

2008-06-11T12:30:00.001-05:00

Today I'm sitting in a class for real estate agents and brokers on
agency. Unfortunately many of the topics and responses are off the
mark. The most difficult part of agency for buyers and sellers is
designated agency. And when the first hard question came up the
instructor couldn't (didn't want to) answer.

Designated agency is very complicated. Just because agents don't
understand it doesn't mean it isn't real.

Sent from my iPhone

Aldi grocery store coming to Canton

2008-05-14T08:59:00.002-05:00

The Mlive website just ran a story about International Grocery Store chain Aldi and how they are going to be expanding into Canton. The link above goes to the article.

I've read about Aldi and their unique service, I think they will be a great addition to the Ann Arbor, Canton, and Howell retail mix.

Important Inspection Tip for Canton Home Buyers

2008-05-11T12:31:00.003-05:00

This link talks specifically about Ann Arbor home inspections but the advice is super important for anybody buying a home in Southeastern Michigan where the home has synthetic stucco exterior. (Sometimes called Drivit or EIFS or Exterior Insulation Finishing System)

Here again is the link: Canton Home Inspection Issue

How To Buy A Foreclosure Class

2008-04-29T12:45:00.003-05:00

We had another one of our free "How To Buy A Foreclosure" classes last night here in Ann Arbor. Unlike last month, this time we had extra seats.

I could tell that a couple of the buyers who were there were gaining insights about the process. One of the buyers who had actually viewed a number of foreclosed and short-sale homes was clearly much more comfortable with the process when he left.

Since we are active helping Canton area buyers one of the examples discussed in the class was actually a Canton home.

Click on the link above for information about the next class if you are interested.

Home Buying Adventure

2008-04-14T09:50:00.003-05:00

Our office helps buyers in the Canton Michigan area but our main office is physically located in Ann Arbor so we also help a lot of home buyers there.

Last week when I was out evaluating homes in that area we came across a skeleton in the living room of a vacant home.

Not just a skeleton, one dressed in a suite and a top-hat. If you think I'm kidding click on the link above, I snapped a picture.

Aliens in the basement - when I'm previewing a home

2008-03-26T18:33:00.001-05:00

This link goes to an article about the funny things we see when we are showing homes.

(As Exclusive Buyer Agents we only work for buyers so we end up going through a lot of homes.)

In any case I still remember waiting for a buyer neat Beck and Geddes watching a roofer putting shingles on a new home. As I watched I thought something looked a little strange. Then I realized he was putting the shingles on right over the sheathing. (Violating the building code, which requires tar paper.)

Anyway, I hope you enjoy the article.

Planned Health Center Will Help Canton Home Values

2008-03-20T16:42:00.003-05:00

A sight along Beck Road North of Michigan Ave. is in the planning stages for an Oakwood Health Care facility.

If this gets approved and gets rolling they would also approve a new residential development next door.

The key to getting the right deal at the right level of risk here will be timing.

Call our office if you are thinking of buying in the Canton Michigan area. I believe we are the only exclusive buyer's agent who serves that part of Wayne County.

The Home Buyer's Agent of Ann Arbor
734-662-6240

Article on negotiating with a builder

2008-03-17T00:11:00.002-05:00

Here is a great article on negotiating with a builder when you are having a home built.

I actually know about 5 of the top buyer agents from around the country that were interviewed for the story.

One of the great things about being an Exclusive Buyer's Agent

2008-02-14T23:09:00.003-05:00

Regular real estate agents are faced with conflicting loyalties almost every day.

I was speaking to an agent today who lists a lot of foreclosed homes and she was talking about showing those properties to people. Now this is a nice person, but I know she isn't going to be telling those potential buyers what to look for and how to negotiate against her own seller. Even if they are an institution they are a repeat customer. I know she's conflicted.

On the other hand since we are an exclusive buyer agent we only work for home buyers. (Exclusive buyer agents are real estate companies who never list homes and never represent home sellers.) We never have to hold back critical negotiation information from the buyer.

Another example from that same agent. We were helping a buyer buy one of her listings that was a foreclosed home. Our buyer was paying cash. (No loan)

The lender who was selling the home insisted on using their own title company and when we saw the closing documents the title company wanted to charge the buyer $425 for a closing fee. This was completely outrageous. But do you think the listing agent is going to say anything and risk losing this source of business??? Not a chance.

I love helping buyers and being loyal to buyers!

Relocation Company announces bankruptcy

2008-02-09T23:48:00.000-05:00

The nation's fifth largest relocation company, Sirva, filed for bankruptcy in an effort to reorganize last week.

Relocation companies do provide an important service for employees that are relocated by their companies.

And....

They can be really obnoxious to deal with if you are a home buyer.

What Happens to the First Buyers When Developers Stop

2008-02-01T13:41:00.000-05:00

Here is a good article on the challenges faced by buyers of new construction when a builder stops building in the middle of a subdivision.

Remember that real estate does go in cycles.

It is just a challenge working and living in between the peaks and valleys!

I can't count the number of times that I've cautioned buyers about buying in new developments.

That is part of what we do as the largest Exclusive Buyer's Agent in the Western Wayne County area. (We also help people buy in Washtenaw, Western Oakland, and Livingston Couties.But no matter how much homework you do the marketplace has a big impact.

Good article on assessments going up as values fall

2008-01-25T09:33:00.001-05:00

The article linked above from the Detroit Free Press is a good introduction to the nutty real estate tax situation we face now in Michigan with values falling, but some assessments rising.

Negotiating tactic to look out for if you negotiate with a lender buying a foreclosure

2008-01-06T20:32:00.000-05:00

We've seen a new tactic on a couple Ann Arbor negotiations when we've been helping buyers buy foreclosures from out-of-state lenders.

We are thinking we'll start to see this in our Canton area negotiations also.

Click the link above for the story.

Canton Condo gets Geo-Thermal heat, goes "green"

2007-11-30T11:20:00.000-05:00

I thought this was interesting.

A new brownstone style condo development in Cherry Hill Village is going to be offereing geo-thermal heating. Normally we see this in custom and semi-custom homes. Seeing it offered in a condo is quite interesting.

Note: I haven't lived in a geo-thermally heated home, but I understand the more recent designs are better than what was available in the 80's and early 90's when it first hit the mainstream.

Owners of the units from that time in Michigan's climate often felt that the heating was hot comfortable because the air temperature coming out of the heating vents wasn't warm enough unless the gas or electric back-up system was running.

Contact me if you want to talk more about this.

Stuff we see when showing homes

2007-06-24T23:01:00.000-05:00

As buyer agents we can tell it like it is without worring about upsetting a seller.

This article is about a survey of buyer agents across the country and shows what we put up with.

LINK

Canton Real Estate Buyer's Agent Profiled in Business Review

2007-04-12T19:29:00.000-05:00

As one of the only Exclusive Buyer's Agents who works in the Canton area I was interviewed a couple weeks ago for an Executive Profile. Specifically because I am the President of the National Association of Exclusive Buyer's Agents this year. (See http://naeba.org for more information.)

If you are looking at hiring a buyer's agent to buy a Canton home you might find this interesting. Here is a link to the article:

http://blog.mlive.com/ann_arbor_business_review/2007/04/executive_profile_jon_boyd.html

Real Estate Sales increase a bit - but prices fell

2007-04-11T16:09:00.000-05:00

I saw an article recently from the National Association of REALTORS siting a rise in home sales in March by 3.9%.

(They always focus on the positive sales news because they are always on the seller's side.)

But, if you look around enough you will also see that prices fell for the seventh straight month compared to one year earlier.

The Canton market is no exception.

We are seeing more available homes in Canton than I can ever remember.

It can be a good time to buy a home, but you still need to be very careful!

The Canton market is still slow, but it could be worse

2007-03-26T16:58:00.000-05:00

Activity in Canton is a whole lot slower than what we've seen for the last 15 or so years.

There are currently about 590 homes active on the market in what we refer to as the first-time buyer (up to about $250K) and move-up buyer (up to about $550K).

The bad news is that in all of last year 646 homes sold in those markets. So there is almost 11 months of inventory.

The luxury market is even more difficult. There are about 33 homes on the market in Canton above $550,000. But in all of last year only about 7 homes in that price range sold. That means about 4 years of inventory.

A rought time to sell a luxury home in Canton, but a good time to be buying.

Just make sure you are working with a real buyer's agent!

New Canton home or used Canton home?

2007-03-13T14:43:00.000-05:00

One of the surprising things in the Canton real estate market is that so many homes are so new. Since we work in the Plymouth/Ann Arbor/Ypsilanti/Belleville areas a lot of what we show to home buyers is a lot older than what is available in Canton.

I haven't done a study, but based on a bunch of property searches over the last 10 years I would guess that about 95% of Canton homes are less than 35 years old. Contrast that to Ann Arbor where the number is about 60%.

In any case here is a link to a short article on another one of our office blogs on new vs older homes.

Lawyer/real estate broker gets busted out East

2007-03-06T22:09:00.000-05:00

Here is a fun one:

A lawyer, real estate agent and politician has been convicted of forging real estate documents to give the appearance that he had a piece of property under a listing agreement when he actually did not.

The guy has already has lost his real estate license and his ability to practice law has been suspended for six months. The state is now moving to permanently disbar him.

(Interesting that they kick him out of real estate but he still has his lawyer license.)
.
He apparently admitted forging a landowner’s name to a listing agreement and taking steps to sell the property.

The landowner, however, decided to use a different agent. Whoops!

Simple things home sellers do the make buyers go nuts

2007-02-26T10:20:00.000-05:00

This is post from another blog that I thought was good:
http://annarbormichiganrealestate.com/?p=36

Canton is generally a nice place to show homes because the homes are recent enough that the closet doors usually don't fall off. (Read the linked post and you'll know what I'm referring to.)

Canton's good and bad

2007-02-26T10:16:00.000-05:00

Every time I am showing buyers homes in Canton I remark how exciting the area is. So much growth and activity.

I also mention the downside. Canton really doesn't have much personality of its own. I had one buyer tell me the only culture you can find in Canton is in the yogurt in the dairy departments of the convenience stores!