Ann Arbor Real Estate Talk

Today was the much anticipated Spring game where the University of Michigan Wolverines gave us a glimpse of the new “spread offense”. There was a lot of excitement in the air to see new head coach, Rich Rodriguez and the unfolding of the offense.

The game was held at Saline High School, where all my children have attended or graduated from. Saline has a top notch football stadium and it was fun to see the Wolverines on the field.

It was so cold……………….and windy, worse than most of our fall games.

It was exciting to see Michigan go into a no huddle offense and take most of the snaps from the shot gun.  

Included is an audio of Rich Rodriguez summary on the game today, posted my Jim Carty of the Ann Arbor News.

We were invited inside the stadium because the Missy Caulk TEAM with Maria Labie our preferred lender from Citizens First Bank were the exclusive sponsors for the Maize and Blue game. Due to it being in a smaller stadium the “The Big House”, it was not open to the public.

My daughter, Christa and Buyer Agent on our team was in the press box and did a quick interview with Sam and Andy on WTKA, Sports Radio in Ann Arbor.

Here is some footage I shot with my new flip video.

Remember it’s C A U L K….like around the bathtub and windows.

GO BLUE !

The Missy Caulk TEAM

734–827–0757

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Every year the Saline Chamber of Commerce honors three citizens at their Business Enterprise Award Reception.

This year the awards go to Betsy Marl for the Citizen of The Year. Besty was born and raised in Saline and has been a first grade teacher since 1975. She is married to Gary Marl, former owner of Saline Dodge in Saline.

Taylor Jacobsen is this years recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award. Taylor was also a teacher in Saline Schools,where he taught art for 40 years. Taylor also graduated from Saline High School. He is a founding member of the Saline Historical Preservation Committee and was involved extensively in the restoration of the Weber-Blaess one room school house. A school that he attended as a child formally called the Lodi Plains School.

Finally the George A Anderson Vision Award goes to newly elected Saline Schools Superintendent Scot Graden. Formally a teacher, football coach and Community Education Director for Saline Schools, Scot has been involved in many project around Saline. Scot has served for eight years as the Chairman of the CARES Mileage Advisory Board. The board annually gives out grant money to fund various projects around Saline, including Soccer, African American Culture and Historical Museum of Washtenaw County and is currently funding the restoration of Henne Field.

Congratulations to Betsy, Taylor and Scot.

The Youth of the Year Award, which is also presented the night of the Business Enterprise Awards goes to Andrew Schantz. Andrew is a Jr at Saline High School and was responsible for the Dress for Less Saline which donated homecoming and prom dresses to benefit Charity. He has been chairman of the Saline Youth Council for 2 years and is running for FCCLA, which oversees 250,000 youth.

Congratulations to you Andrew.

This is a great, fun event honoring our Citizens and we hope you can attend and get to know and congratulate the current winners.

Tickets are $20.00 per person and can be purchased by calling the Saline Chamber of Commerce at 734–944–4494 or visiting their web site at Saline Chamber.com The event is held at Saline High School and is Friday, April 18^th.

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The Smithsonian has taken on the task of finding the best places to retire. Ann Arbor was named in the guide to Cultured Retirement. Initially naming 15 cities throughout the United States, I was excited to see Ann Arbor named in the Heartland Region, along with Lexington, Ky (the college I graduated from) and St. Louis.

Where to Live Next is the series and they would appreciate your comments by adding favorable comments about our town.

To read the entire review of Ann Arbor and add your comments on why you think this is a great place to retire, you can click here to the Ann Arbor page.

Access to health care, public transportation, performing arts, museums, restaurants were some of the criteria used to determine Ann Arbor being a great place to retire for cultural diversity.

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Let’s see if I dig really hard I can find some good news! Ok, the amount of homes and condos being listed is down, 42%.

That is good news and mostly attributed to Pfizer homes for the most part being gone.

The average sale price in March for Washtenaw County is down to $205,400. That is just unbelievable.

Rather than interpret the data here are the charts for your review. All data is from the Ann Arbor Board of Realtors, where I serve as a Director and compiled by Big House Data in Ann Arbor.

If you are a buyer this is A GREAT TIME TO BUY !!

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Attorney General Mike Cox issued an important opinion this week clarifying the proper application of an obscure exemption contained in the Michigan Transfer Tax Act. The opinion, arising out of a request from Representative Martin Griffin (D-Jackson), should afford certain home sellers immediate financial relief as Michigan’s real estate market continues its road to recovery.

Exemption “t”, as designated in the Michigan Transfer Tax Act, sets forth that a seller may seek an exemption from paying the state transfer tax if the following criteria are met:

1. The property must have been occupied as a principle residence, classified as homestead property;
2. The property’s State Equalized Value (“SEV”) for the calendar year in which the transfer is made must be less than or equal to the property’s SEV for the calendar year in which the transferor acquired the property; and
3. The property cannot be transferred for consideration exceeding its true cash value for the year of the transfer.

With property values and corresponding SEV declining due to the struggling economy, home owners and real estate agents first took notice of the exemptions possible applicability under the State Transfer Tax. However, absent an official interpretation, there was little awareness of its proper application.

The opinion from the Attorney General uses examples to show how the application would apply. One example illustrating application provides:

If the SEV of the principle residence when acquired in 2006 is $74,000.00 and the SEV when transferred in 2008 is $72,000.00 then criteria one and two above are satisfied. You can establish the true cash value by doubling the SEV at the time of transfer. In this case the true cash value is $144,000. If the sale price in 2008 is $140,000.00 then the sale does not exceed its true cash value. All three criteria are satisfied and the exemption would apply.

The Attorney General’s opinion provides immediate relief to home sellers already faced with the reality of declining value on their single greatest asset.

Sellers should be cautioned that a request for the exemption that fails to meet all three criteria could bring a penalty equal to 20% of the tax assessed in addition to the tax due.

Additionally, no similar exemption exists in the County Real Estate Transfer Tax Act.

This is good information for Michigan homeowners that are in the process of selling and afford them some relief.

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