Ann Arbor Real Estate Talk

Lately, it has been all over the news about the amount of foreclosure’s throughout the United State’s. According to reports,foreclosed homes are up 57%. That figure is staggering. Keep in mind, it is not 57% of all homes being foreclosed on, it is 57% up from the normal amount of 3%.

Not good, but not as bad as the media would make it out to be. If you are in trouble with your mortgage, Call your lender ASAP. Don’t wait for the letters to start arriving at your door. Many times, once a home is foreclosed on when the Realtor goes in to see the home and get it on the market, in the kitchen drawer sits all the letters from the bank.

Open those letters.

Call your bank.

They don’t want your home. Many times they are able to adjust your interest rate or hold off the forclosure. But, you must open the letter, read it and call them.

The HUD website is a good resource to find out more tips to avoid foreclosure.

One other caution, BEWARE of ANYONE who offers to pay your back payments and PAY off your debt. You have probably seen signs driving around Ann Arbor, “we buy your home for cash.” Sounds good, huh?

Due to the amount of homeowners in trouble, the scam artists are out in full force.

They may call you up, knock on your door with a pile of papers and have you sign documents that will give THEM the deed to your home. They look professional, act professional and seem like the “answers to your prayers”. They are not. They are wolves in sheeps clothing.

I had a lady call me a few weeks ago, because this had happened to her. She signed papers she did not understand, looking for relief, she gave her home away. They didn’t make the mortgage payments like they had promised.

Call your lender, should this happen to you. There is also a hotline number to call 1–800–4FRAUD8.

Here is a video to show you what to be aware of:

***The past two weeks, several of my buyer agents have been writing offers on foreclosed homes throughout Washtenaw County, they are competing with other offers in most every situation. The foreclosed homes are going quickly. If you need a list of foreclosed homes in Ann Arbor or Washtenaw County contact the Missy Caulk Team at 734–821–0757. ***

Next post… What is a “short sale” and how can this help me avoid foreclosure.

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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My good friend, Jeff Belonger, recently wrote a post on Active Rain. Active Rain is a Real Estate blogging community of over 60,000 Realtors, Lenders, Home Stagers, Builders, Brokers, Feng Shui Specialists.

I have been following Jeff’s posts for over a year. He is most definately the FHA Expert.

Last night Jeff wrote a post on FHA Bill Passing in the U.S. Senate. I asked him if I could copy it here for the Ann Arbor community. The last several years many lenders moved away from doing FHA Loans. Most of them wrote what were 80/20 loans or 80/10/10 loans.  Rates were low so that is what their recommendation was for most buyers.

Here is Jeff’s post on the FHA reform working its way into law.

today — 12/14/07

Today the Senate passed the FHA Modernization bill aka the FHA reform bill. This bill is the  American Homeownership Act of 2006 (H.R. 5121) which has been through several approval stages since its inception. This bill now heads back to the House for “reconciliation” before heading to the White House where President Bush has his pen inked, ready for his signature.

In regards to everything that has happened this year; the subprime meltdown and just recently the fannie mae & freddie mac (by Rey Gallegos), this is a huge lift for the mortgage industry.

So what are these changes going to be in the near future? Tim Bradford explains it all hear. Proposed change to FHA MIP scheduled for change Jan 1, 2008.  But I will give you a quick breakdown from a source close to this issue. The new bill would :

• Increase the fha mortgage limits. There are still mixed reviews on what direction will be finalized when the bill is signed by the president. HUD has proposed that they use $417,000 across the board. And in high cost areas, keeping that number around $500,000 and in low cost areas around $290,000.  The old calculation was a little more complexed. FHA’s current loan limits for high-cost areas are derived from 87% of the government sponsored enterprise (GSE) and in lower-cost areas are 48% of the conforming loan limit. The other side of the new proposal would be that HUD uses 95 to 100% for the high-cost areas and 65% for the lower-cost areas. Which would be better?  Keeping the main number at $417,000. But either way would be a huge improvement over what we currently have.

• The original bill was looking at zero down payments. But what seems to be on the horizon is that they will be lowering the down payment of 3% to 1.5%.

• Allow FHA to offer another type of term, such as a 40-year mortgage. This would serve two different purposes. It would make it easier for someone to qualify for a little more of a house while keeping their payment the same if the house value was less. Or, it would just give them a cheaper payment if comparing the same price of a home.

• Also allow FHA to price borrowers accordingly to the credit risks that are described in Tim Bradford’s post mentioned above. Even though this is defined as risk base pricing, something that we have seen with the conventional market just recently, this will still be cheaper for everyone involved. How this will work? Those with least amount of money down and with the lowest credit scores will pay the highest premium. You might think that this is negative, but it really isn’t. Right now, the premium adjustment, which is called One-Time Mortgage Insurance Premium, is only 1.5% of the base loan amount. There is talk that they would raise it to 3% as a maximum. Again, this is not as bad as it seems because back in the mid ’90s it was 3%. It’s been lowered 3 times since then.

Some interesting facts in regards to previous loan amounts :

• FHA has been priced out of many area housing markets. In California, FHA insured only about 5,000 home mortgages in 2005, down 95 percent from 109,000 in 2000.

My Opinion :  Will there be a Negative Impact?   Yes. Those lenders and loan officer’s that don’t know the basics of FHA financing prior to the new bill being approved. And those lenders that are trying to get FHA approved now so they can jump into the game. Why will this be negative?  I can say that I know for a fact that there were many loan officers that didn’t take their client FHA because conventional delegated underwriting and subprime was easier. I even worked with some that even told me so. But the end result? This will be very positive for so many Americans.  Even those that have 660 credit scores, FHA will be better now.

I would have to estimate that over 80% of the FHA loans approved are approved manually. Which means that you just can’t fool an underwriting system. An underwriter has to physically review the income, assets, and most of all, the credit. It has to make sense and most of all, that underwriter’s license could be on the hook. Keep in mind, it costs the lender money to be FHA approved, hence why so many never signed up in the past. But now so many want to jump onto this fast moving vessel that will be sailing into the sunset. The ship that might just ridden some of this mess that was created in the last several years. Make sure that you speak with an FHA Expert and not someone claiming to be part of this elite crew.

Some key FHA tips :

• Shoppers that shop themselves right out of the market……

• FHA Shopping, rate shopping, fee shopping…. call it what you want, just be careful!!!

• Good Faith Estimate  –  What to look for when shopping……

• No Closing Cost Loans VS Closing Cost Loans

• FHA — Conventional — APR vs Rate –  Understanding the difference……

• FHA origination fee and what it means……

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Last night the Michigan House of Representatives barely passed the ban on not smoking in restaurants and bars. It was passed by a margin of 56-46 in the Democratic controlled house.

It will still need to be passed in the Republican Controlled Senate.

The Michigan Restaurant Association and The Michigan Licensed Beverage Association are still fighting the legislation.

The group named The Campaign for Smoke-free Air is in support of the ban and has been advocating for years to see this enacted.

The beverage and restaurant associations position is it will hurt their client base and restaurants should be able to choose on their own based on their customers.

However, the advocates for smoke free environment advocate that everyone has a right to visit the places of business without worrying about second hand smoke.

What say you?

The Ann Arbor, MI market is is fluctuation. It is changing almost daily.Pricing a home right is THE MOST important thing I do.

Mr. and Mrs. Seller, buyers don’t care what you “need” to sell.

Mr. and Mrs.Seller, It is not wise to “test the market for a month.”

Mr. and Mrs. Seller, Yes, they can just “make and offer” but they won’t.

Mr. and Mrs. Seller, The buyer is looking at all the homes in the price range you have priced the home in. Your home just does not compare in that price range.

Mr. and Mrs. Seller, Your home is helping to sell the other homes listed in your price range, because it looks like they are getting a good value on the other ones.

Mr. and Mrs. Seller, All the marketing of your home will still not sell an over-priced home.

Mr.and Mrs. Seller, get it right the first time.

A Comparative Market Analysis is only what a house is worth in a certain location, in a certain condition and at a given point in time, within a 30-90 day time period. In the Ann Arbor, Michigan market homes need to be re-evaluated every 30 days. Your realtor should stay on top of what is listed, what has sold and what has been reduced. A market value is always changing so you must change with it and price accordingly.

My website offers lots of great tips for selling your home.

Search other homes and see on-line how your house stacks up to the competition. Look at location, size and ammenities. Be brutely honest with yourself. Put on your buyers hat. Would you buy your house or another one?

In our market right now, it is not so much the comparables that have SOLD but what your competition will be looking at.

Mr and Mrs. Seller, we will price your home to be in the Top 5 homes that are looked at for any buyer moving to Ann Arbor or Saline, MI.

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Hi Tom and Michelle,

Thanks for visiting my web site: Search Ann Arbor Area Homes and contacting me about your move to Saline, MI  As a mother of five children who has been in the Saline School System for many years,  I can tell you I am very pleased with the education my children have received.

Here are several web sites you might want to check out, since you are considering moving to Saline.

Saline Area Schools

Saline Chamber of Commerce

Also I have written many blog posts about Saline, MI and our schools. You will especially enjoy the one where Saline Schools were ranked in the top 16% of the nation. The City of Saline was also ranked in the Top 100 Best Places to Live by Money Magazine.

You mentioned in your email that you would like your two children to be able to walk to school. We have two new subdivisions in Saline, called Centennial Park and Centennial Farms. Both of those are within walking distance to the new Heritage School.

I have included three homes that I think you would be interested in and that your children would be able to walk to school.

1035 Bicentennial, with 3558 square feet, includes a finished basement. This home is priced at 399,900. Walk to Heritage School. Views of protected wet lands, walk-out LL with 3rd bath. Two story great room with soaring ceilings.

6439 Wilson, with 2404 square feet, priced at 389,700. You can still pick your colors and cabinets. Walk to Heritage School. First floor master bedroom suite, 3 car garage, and two story family room. 9 ft basement walls for finishing off at a later date.

6176 Wilson, with 2447 square feet, priced at 339,900. Plus a finished basement. Walk to Heritage School. Professional landscaping, and a view  of the pond are one of the highlights of this home. First floor study, formal dining room and generous size bedrooms. This home is really priced very well.

I believe these homes fit your price point, square footage requirement and the children being able to walk to school.

Before your trip to Saline, next weekend, I am including my list of preferred lenders. Please call any or all of them. I can promise you great customer service and many programs to choose from. I have worked with each one of the lenders over the years and can recommend them without hesitation.

Maria Labie

Citizens First Bank

734-353-0505

MLabie@cfsbank.com

Kay VanOrman

Wells Fargo

734-213-8981

S.Kay.VanOrman@WellsFargo.com

Sandy Stanford

GMAC Mortgage

888-648-4622

Sandra.Stanford@gmacm.com

I look forward to meeting you both. We will have a good time, as I love to show off my home town and community. I know you will find Saline to be a warm, and welcoming community. My husband and I like to joke that Saline is the most doting, family community in Washtenaw County.

I will pick you up at the Marriot at 10:00 on Friday the 29^th and we can start our tour at that time. Please send me your top 10 MLS numbers at least 48 in advance so I can confirm they are still available and set up the tour. Don’t hesitate to me if you have any questions.

Warmest Regards,

Missy Caulk & TEAM

RE/MAX Platinum-Ann Arbor

Direct Line: 734-302-1500

Search other homes at this wonderful site with Google satellite images, Google maps and many photos.