Ann Arbor Real Estate Talk

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.

Share This

I’ve been helping my past clients and neighbors fight their tax assessments for the last month throughout ALL Washtenaw County.  I was so encouraged when I received this email from one of my clients:

Hi Missy & Betty–  ( Betty is my assistant)

I wanted to thank you both again for the all the help and information you provided regarding our property tax appeal. Steve & I made an appointment and went before the township board armed with the comps you pulled and a letter requesting that our taxable and assessed value be reduced to what we paid (50% of $425K). We were being assessed/taxed on 50% of $549K. I am happy to report that WE WON!! Quite a savings in future taxes!

Thanks again,

XXXXX

This client lives in York Township.

I live in Hunters Ridge Subdivision in Saline, MI  and have for 15 years. One of my neighbors Chris asked me to collect the data for him in Hunters Ridge and I was glad to do so. First, we live in a neighborhood in Saline Schools, Pittsfield Township Taxes. We rarely have much turnover, which is why their is not much data. Seems like the same few homes sell over and over again as you will see in the graph.

When we refinanced in 2001, the appraisal for my home was 449,900. This December we refinanced again and it was 380,000.

See we are all in this together. When you received your property assessments did you SEV go down but your taxes go up? Yes, mine did.

Search All the Listings in Saline, MI here.

Share This

Saline Parks and Recreation has submitted a proposal to Hamburger Helper to help with funding the need for new equipment at the Saline Rec Center.

The proposal requests $13,900.00 grant to purchase Spinning equipment, BOSU balls, weight room equipment ( Nautilus Leg Press and Nautilus Torso) and water aerobic equipment.

Carla Scruggs, Director of the Saline Parks and Recreation Center is requesting help on the project. So I was glad to go help out by submitting my comment. I work out at the rec center 3–5 times a week depending on my schedule. So I agree we do need some newer equipment.

If you are a member of Saline Rec Center you can log onto My Home Town Helper. and support the project.

Once you log on: Find the project at the top.

Type in State Michigan and then City Saline

The name of the project is A Healthier Stronger Saline, just enter your name, birth date, email address and submit a comment. ( You will be asked to accept the terms and conditions) The just Click: ADD you Comment.

According to Carla, the more comments we have the better.

The Saline Recreation Center is located at:

 1866 Woodland Dr.  734–429–3502.

Share This

Despite the cold and snow melting and then more snow and more cold, January started off being a good month for home sales in Ann Arbor and Washtenaw County. Sellers always want to know, “Should we list now or wait until Spring?”

The answer is, “it depends”. There are more buyers in the Spring market, but the ones out looking in the snow and cold are serious. They are usually not out kicking tires, or shall we say taking boots off and on from house to house?

Closings were up in January by 10% compared to January 2007 and the good news is the listings were down by 13%. Now, those two facts alone should make sellers in Ann Arbor and Washtenaw County happy, happy.

Now the not so good news, the average list price was down to $276.422 and that is 18% lower than last January. The average sale price for homes throughout Washtenaw County was $228,512. and that is down nearly 13% compared to last year.

If your home is not selling, there is one thing you can control and that is price and condition. You can’t change the floor plan, you can’t change the location but you can control the price and the condition. There is nothing less expensive to make a house shine than to take down wall-paper and add fresh paint. Buyers don’t want your wall paper. Ann Arbor buyers are looking for value in a home and those homes in the best condition, priced to sell and with the buyers perceived best value are selling.

If your home is not getting any showings, chances are it is 10% over-priced, and if it is getting showings and no offer then it is 5% over-priced.

January data compiled by Big House Data and gathered from the Ann Arbor Board of Realtors.

For more graphs to be emailed to you, leave a comment with your request or call my direct line at 734–821–0757.

You can search all listings at Search Ann Arbor Houses.

Share This

Having been a Realtor in the greater Ann Arbor Area for 13 years, I have many clients that need to sell their homes. Perhaps their Residency is over at University of Michigan Hospitals, they got a job transfer to another state, they are retiring to warmer places, they lost their job.

Many people NEED to sell in Ann Arbor Area and for a number of good reasons. It saddens my heart when sellers bought their homes when the market was at peak. Somehow, Ann Arbor had always escaped most down-turns in Michigan.

You know… “24 miles surrounded by reality”.

Unfortunately, we have been hit with declining home values too. There is almost a 14% decrease in prices in homes throughout Washtenaw County. That is the average. Average means, certain townships have taken larger hits. Ann Arbor City has seen less of a decline. Townships like Ypsilanti have seen the largest decline, with up to 20%. They have also been the highest hit with forclosure’s.

Currently, there are 720 homes listed in the Ann Arbor MLS. Of the 720 homes listed, there are 55 under contract, either waiting to close or under a limited time clause. So in reality there are 665 homes available to purchase. Last year, in 2007, 1159 homes closed in Ann Arbor. The absorption rate is not too bad. (The absorption rate is determined when you take the number of homes available and divide number of homes sold in a given time period to determine how many months it would take to absorb the inventory, given no other houses come on the market)

I have been asked a lot lately? “We are thinking about selling our house, what do you think, is it a good time?”

What I think… depends on why they are selling. If they are not moving, or are not in a HAVE TO SELL situation, it might be better to wait. If they NEED to sell, then now is the time to sell and price it to SELL. I was out showing condo’s last weekend, all in the same condo community, and my buyers asked me,

“Why is there such a difference in price?” They are all basically the same floor plan.

“Motivation of the seller”, was my response.

Some people really need to sell, others don’t need to sell, but want to.

Motivation is extremely important when pricing your property and determing the time to sell. Life would  be great if we all had a crystal ball and I could say, this time next year or in 2010 the market will come back. Unfortunately, that is not the case. No one really knows.

Sellers, ask yourselves, “Do I need to sell or do I want to sell?” Those sellers that need to sell are homes priced the most appropriately throughout Washtenaw County.

Want to check what homes are listed at in your neighborhood, you can search all the active listings on Search Ann Arbor Houses.

Share This

Recently I was nominated for the Realtor of Year from the Real Estate Staging Association. What an honor to get nominated for this award.

I am a firm believer in a home being in perfect condition before it comes on the market. In Ann Arbor and all of Washtenaw County when I am working with a seller, if they are moving and leaving there house vacant, I require (yes I said require) that their home be staged before they move.

A vacant house is a sad, cold, lonely house. Most buyers will fall in love with a house before they buy it. The Missy Caulk TEAM wants to give our sellers every opportunity to get their home SOLD. Staging a home before it comes on the market is critical to make it stand out among the competition.

I work primarily with Denise Sloan at Show Case My Home in Ann Arbor, MI. Denise is an Accredited Staging Professional who is fantastic on knowing what to do to make the house look and feel like a “home”.

Not sure what to think about the difference in a staged home or a vacant one, take a look at two real estate shows, one staged and one not., same house.

Which house would you make an appointment to see?

The voting ends tomorrow, so if you like what you see you can vote for me at RESA here.

*How’s that for shameless self promotion?*

Share This

“What’s that smell?”

“I smell a cat?”

“A smoker lives here”.

These are some of the first questions out of a buyers mouth when they enter a home in Ann Arbor, they are viewing as a possible purchase.

 Be careful of odors in your home. If your family room smells stuffy and stale, or if your cat or dog has left a distinctive odor in the hallway, take action by eliminating the source of the odor rather than merely treating the effects.

Smells have a powerful effect on the way people react to a house, and no amount of room freshener or vanilla on the light bulbs can mask a serious odor problem.

In fact, such remedies may draw attention to the problem. We have seen homes in Ann Arbor with an odor problem languish unsold on the market for months or sell for significantly less than comparable homes in the neighborhood.

I once had to tell a client who had lived there all her life and smoked that we needed to have then entire house painted and carpet replaced. I didn’t like to do that, but better to hear if from me first, since I knew what the feedback would be and how long it would take to sell.

If you are getting ready to put your home on the market, make sure it smells good. Buying a home is an emotional decision and a bad odor can turn a perspective buyer off.

Bad odors = lower price, longer marketing time.

Fresh and clean odors= higher price, shorter marketing time.

Share This

I found a really cool YouTube yesterday, and it is being circulated on a lot of social networks. Sometimes we make this business so hard. When it is really quite simple. Many of the homes in Ann Arbor are priced correctly;however, many are still sitting on the market.

The average days on the market in Ann Arbor is 92.That doesn’t sound too bad, right? But, this is the average. Those homes that are selling are “priced to sell”.  In my experience the last 13 years, regardless of location,  condition, any home will sell if priced correctly. For instance, if you have a home that backs up to railroad tracks, some buyers will find that lot less desirable. So you can’t price it where other homes in the neighborhood are at the same price. But, if you sell it for less, it overcomes the obstacle.

Because the inventory is high, and their are more homes available, buyers are “unforgiving” in what they will accept in a home. Regardless, it all comes down to price.

Share This