5613 Maxwell, Fowlerville, Michigan 48836

Please check out our latest video tour - this home is beautiful and is situated on 10 acres!

5613 Maxwell, Fowlerville, Michigan 48836

2010 Census Shows Modest Population Growth

The 2010 Census revealed that Livingston County's population increased modestly over the 2000 to 2010 decade. Cohocta Township and the Village of Fowlerville were the only two local communities to lose population over the ten year period, and the loss was less than one hundred persons in both cases. The communities with the largest population gains were the townships of: Genoa (3,955), Hartland (3,667), Oceola (3,574), and Marion (3,252). Overall, Livingston County gained 24,016 new residents for a percent population change of 15.3%

Livingston County is no longer the fastest growing county in Michigan. The 2010 Census notes that Clinton County now has the distinction of having the #1 largest percent population change in the state. Livingston County is #2. Despite the loss of this title, our County is very fortunate in comparison to many of our surrounding neighbors.

Source: Livingston County Department of Planning News Article, Spring 2011

RE/MAX vs. The Competition

What matters the most to buyers and sellers in this market?

 

According to statistics reported by the major national brands, RE/MAX agents once again rank the highest in productivity, outpacing the competition nearly 2-1.  That’s more properties bought and sold per agent.

 

View the 2011 RE/MAX vs. the Industry Report to see how your RE/MAX agent stacks up against the competition:http://bit.ly/REMAXvsIndustry

5 Steps to Deciding How Much to Offer – or Ask – for Your Home

There is a pretty short list of steps you need to take to make a smart offer – one that gets you a great value, but is also likely to be successful at getting the property. (A low offer does not make for a great deal if you don’t get the house!)  And most of the same steps apply to sellers trying to set the list price that will lure the most buyers (and net them the most cash)!

Step 1: What do the “comps” say?  When it comes to pricing a home, or making an offer to buy one, the ‘first thing” is the home’s fair market value. Both buyers and sellers should work with an experienced, local agent to understand what the home’s value is. THE TIM SOVA TEAM will do this by offering you a look back at similar properties that have recently sold in the neighborhood.

We look for comps that are very recent sales (3 months or less before you’re listing or buying), very similar properties (i.e., same number of bedrooms, bathrooms, square footage; and similar style, condition and amenities). These may be the same comps which will be considered by the appraiser, so looking at them before making an offer can result in a sale price at which the property will actually appraise, later on - avoiding the common glitch of the deal falling through because the appraisal comes in way below the agreed-upon price.

The fact that you bought or refinanced the place at a given value 5 or 6 years ago is entirely irrelevant to what it’s worth today, as is the buyer’s belief that the place was worth $100K less at the trough of the market, in 2009.

Step 2:  What can you afford?  This step is much more critical for buyers than for sellers. (Unfortunately, sellers, the facts that you need to net a particular amount to buy your next home or pay your existing mortgages or credit card bills off has no relationship whatsoever to the price at which you should list or will sell your home.)

Buyers: it’s a must to make sure that your offer price for any given home falls within the range of what is affordable for you.  This includes offering a price within the range for which your mortgage was preapproved, but also includes making sure that the monthly payment and cash you’ll need to close the deal (down payment + closing costs) are affordable in light of the particular house. If, for example, the property will require repairs for which you’ll need to conserve cash, or has HOA dues you hadn’t planned on, you may need to redo your offer accordingly.

Step 3: What’s your competition? (And what’s theirs?)  THE TIM SOVA TEAM will find this out by looking at things like how many comparable homes are listed in your town or your neighborhood in your general price range.  They will also consider what type of transactions your home will be up against – the more distressed properties (foreclosed homes and short sales) with which your home must compete, the more aggressive you must be with your pricing to get your home sold.

The more competition you have, as a seller, the lower you should tweak your list price to attract buyers to come see your home. (And the more buyers come to see your home, the more likely you are to get an offer!)

Buyers should also be cognizant of the competition level they will face for homes. In today’s market there are properties and neighborhoods in which multiple offers are the name of the game. THE TIM SOVA TEAM will help you understand the list price-to-sale price (LP:SP) ratio , which lets you know how much under or over the asking price properties are selling for in your target home’s neighborhood; the higher the LP:SP ratio, generally speaking, the less competition there is among buyers. 

4.  How much do they need to sell (or buy) it?  Buyers: Has the listing in which you’re interested been reduced at all?  By how much?  Has the listing agent informed you that her clients are highly motivated, flexible or have an urgent need to sell?   

Sellers: most buyers are not in a high state of urgency to buy these days, given the long-term, high affordability of homes and interest rates, except when they have an urgent personal reason for moving, e.g., buyers who are relocating for work.  Of course, all of real estate is hyperlocal, so it’s important to understand how motivated buyers are in your local market, generally speaking, before you set your list price.

5.  How much do you want to buy, or sell, the place?  Step #4 was about taking the motivations of the folks on the other side of the bargaining table into account when formulating your offer and your list price.  This step is all about you – what’s your level of motivation?  Buyers should offer within the range of the home’s fair market value, it may make sense to move higher within that range if you are highly motivated to get that particular property.

Sellers: think of your list price as the most powerful marketing tool at your disposal. If you really want or need to sell, get aggressive about setting your price as low as makes sense for your home's value and local market dynamics to attract qualified buyers and help your home stand out against all the competition.

Source:  Trulia

Click here for the latest issue of The Tim Sova Team's Housing Trends e-newsletter.....you'll be happy you did!

Order Pancakes, Help Kids - March 1st

It's that time again!

International House of Pancake's annual National Pancake Day fundraiser takes place Tuesday, March 1, to benefit Children's Miracle Network Hospitals and other local charities.

Visit an IHOP location near you that day to enjoy a free short stack of pancakes and to make your tax-deductible donation.

You can request a reminder phone call from NFL Hall of Famer Steve Young, entertainer Marie Osmond, TV star John Schneider, American Idol star David Archuleta or Miss America 2011 Theresa Scanlan.

This friendly reminder is brought to you by: The Tim Sova Team

How To Claim That Federal Tax Credit!

First we’re assuming that everyone who qualified for the tax credit last year knows that they could have filed an amended return as soon as they closed on their new home. And if they did that, they probably already have their tax credit.  But for everyone else, they’ll have to file for it on this year’s tax return.  So we wanted to make sure you know how to properly claim that credit in your tax return before it’s too late.

The first-time home buyers’ tax credit for 2010 was worth ten percent of the cost of the home, up to a cap of $8000. It does not have to be repaid, as long as the buyer lives in the home for at least three years after the date of purchase. If you end up selling the home earlier than that, you will have to pay back the government the entire credit, so keep that in mind.

That program was for first time home buyers. But it was soon followed by an expansion of the program, for existing homeowners who bought a replacement home. That program, which had terms similar to the credit for first-time buyers, had a maximum credit of $6500.

Both of tax credits required buyers to sign contracts for their homes by the end of April, 2010, and to close on those homes by the end of September, and the credits were subject to income limits and other restrictions as well. Single homebuyers, for example, had to have incomes of less than $125,000 to qualify for the full credit, while married couples had a $225,000 income limit.

But still – for the vast majority of homebuyers in the first half of last year, the credit will essentially wipe out up to $8000 of your tax liability for 2010.

Of course, if you want to collect that money, you’ll need to make sure you properly submit a claim in your 2010 tax return.

Now here’s the important part.

To get the tax credit, you’ll need to submit a 1040 form, along with federal form number 5405 and you can download these on the IRS website. You’re also going to need to attach a copy of your settlement sheet, also known as a “HUD-1” form, to prove that you actually bought a home within the proper time frame in 2010.

For better or worse, and we really believe better, the federal homebuyer tax credit program defined 2010 in residential real estate. It brought a spark to the housing market last winter and generated millions of sales in the spring that served to drain away a lot of excess inventory, and, in turn, allowing prices which had been falling since the beginning of the nation’s financial crisis to stabilize.

Feel free to reach us any time….we are happy to help!
The Tim Sova Team

Tim Sova, Associate Broker/Listing Specialist
Connie Lemley, Realtor/Buyer Specialist
Colleen Sova, Client Care Specialist

 

Source:  RET, Real Estate Today Radio

Don't Foreclose! Do A Short Sale!

Short sales are the hottest thing going in the distressed-property market.

These transactions, where lenders allow homeowners to sell their houses for less than they owe, account for nearly 51% of all residential real estate homes for sale.
Banks are realizing that they make out far better financially with a short sale than a foreclosure. Lenders lose 50% on a foreclosure and only 30% on a short sale. Short sales offer a way to get distressed properties off their books quickly.
On April 5th, the Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives (HAFA) program went in to place. With this program borrowers will earn a $3,000 "relocation incentive" and lenders/servicers will get various incentives too.
Lenders participating in the program must also determine the market values of properties early on and inform the owners of just what price they're willing to accept. Then, if owners come back to the lenders with a bon-a-fide offer, they have to accept within 10 days.
The boom in short sales may accelerate the end to the foreclosure crisis by cleaning out the overhang of borrowers in distress and replacing them with more stable homeowners.
Plus, these sales are better for distressed borrowers because their credit scores suffer less. Going through a foreclosure can knock 200 points off a FICO score, twice as much as the penalty for a short sale.
Homeowners, The Tim Sova Team, Howell Michigan real estate agents, have earned the critical designation of CDPE (Certified Distressed Property Expert) and SFR (Short Sales & Foreclosure Resource.
We have trained extensively in and understand the options, solutions and effective methods for dealing with Michigan homeowners facing hardships. More importantly we have successfully helped 23 Michigan families through the distressed property process by handling their short sales through to the closing table in the past year.
Click Here to see our thoughts on this very important topic of Short Sales

View an informational video on our site regarding the HAFA program and how it can HELP YOU!