Lee Morof's Real Estate Blog

I am a RE/MAX Associate Broker/Attorney selling homes in the North Woodward Area of Oakland County, Southeast, Michigan. About a year ago, I posted a blog entry about a law client of mine that decided to sell his home by himself on land contract to buyers he found through Craig List. For the record, I did advise him against it. According to the National Association of Realtors Survey of Home Buyers and Sellers, on average, FSBO sellers sold their homes for 25% percent less in 2007 than they would have, had they used the services of a realtor. Moreover, the fact of the matter is that if someone needs to buy a home on land contract, red flags should be flying all ove the place. I regularly advise my clients that if a bank has decided that the buyer will not pay the bank back, what makes you think they will pay you back?

Now, a year later, the client wishes he had listened to my advice. First, he sold the home for 32% less than the lowest comparable sale. Second, he has been in and out of court as the buyers rarely made their payments on time. Now, the seller has taken the home back through court proceedings and the home has been destroyed on the inside. I do feel bad for the client but you have to wonder, will he listen to my advice the next time? For his sake, let’s hope so.

Lee Morof
RE/MAX Showcase Homes
Birmingham, Michigan
www.NorthWoodwardHomes.com
info@NorthWoodwardHomes.com
Call:  248-514-2640

In July of 2007, I had a short sale listing with a well known Southeast Michigan real estate mortgage lender having a first lien. I was able to negotiate a $135,000 sale for the seller which was fair market value at the time. After several months of deliberation, the bank denied its approval for the short sale and ended up foreclosing. Now, approximately one year later, the bank sold the home for $95,000. Amazing!!!!!

Lee Morof
RE/MAX Showcase Homes
Birmingham, Michigan
www.NorthWoodwardHomes.com
info@NorthWoodwardHomes.com
Call:  248-514-2640

The good housing numbers continue for Southeast Michigan real estate in Oakland County Michigan. May 2008 sales are up by 9.3%, pending sales are up by 15.6%, and listing inventories are down by 7.43% as compared to May 2007. 37% of the homes sold were bank owned down from approximately 50%. I believe the worst is over as, in all fairness, the banks are no longer lending money to individuals with poor credit scores. As less bank owned homes are placed on the market, the laws of supply and demand will eventually stabilize home prices.

This statistical information has been obtained from Realcomp, the REALTORS MLS. Realcomp is Michigan’s largest Multiple Listing Service. Although not guaranteed, these statistics are from data Realcomp believes to be reliable. This information is not to be reproduced, redistributed, or combined with data from other sources without expressed permission from Realcomp.

Lee Morof
RE/MAX Showcase Homes
Birmingham, Michigan
www.NorthWoodwardHomes.com
info@NorthWoodwardHomes.com
Call:  248-514-2640

The good housing numbers continue for Southeast Michigan real estate in Oakland County. May 2008 sales are up by 9.3%, pending sales are up by 15.6%, and listing inventories are down by 7.43% as compared to May 2007.

This statistical information has been obtained from Realcomp, the REALTORS MLS. Realcomp is Michigan’s largest Multiple Listing Service. Although not guaranteed, these statistics are from data Realcomp believes to be reliable. This information is not to be reproduced, redistributed, or combined with data from other sources without expressed permission from Realcomp.

Lee Morof
RE/MAX Showcase Homes
Birmingham, Michigan
www.NorthWoodwardHomes.com
info@NorthWoodwardHomes.com
Call:  248-514-2640

I am a RE/MAX Associate Broker/Attorney selling homes in the North Woodward Area of Oakland County, Southeast Michigan. Like the rest of the country, we are in a buyers market with more homes than buyers to buy them. Many home sellers think that they can list a home at a price they have in mind and then “see what happens.” In my opinion, that can be a huge mistake and here’s why. In a buyer’s market, you usually have a pool of buyers who have been looking for a while for a home, usually more than thirty days. To attract those buyers, your home must first be in excellent condition. Second, you must price the home somehwhere between the middle and the bottom of the market as those are the homes that the buyers are looking at. Naturally, they are looking for the best deal. At the present time, in Oakland County, Michigan, one of every two homes sold is bank owned. The reality is that if you want to sell, you have to compete with the bank owned home. Most buyers will pay about a ten percent premium above a bank owned home because bank owned homes are usually in rough shape and have had the appliances removed. After thirty days, new buyers trickle into the market. If the existing pool of buyers have rejected your home due to its price or condition, you will be fighting an uphill battle. Some sellers I recently worked with in Ferndale, Michigan understood all of this and listed their beautiful home at a price around ten percent above the bank owned competiton. Within fourteen days, a first time home buyer who had previously looked at more than one hundred homes made an offer on a Ferndale Michigan home that was ninety six percent of the list price, right after he looked at the home.

Lee Morof
RE/MAX Showcase Homes
Birmingham, Michigan
www.NorthWoodwardHomes.com
info@NorthWoodwardHomes.com
Call:  248-514-2640