Top 10 Tips #realestate

This link has a lot of real good information. I might add to the stopping over a perspective purchase on a Friday and/or Saturday night, to the list. I also like how it distinguishes the difference between pre-aproved and pre-qualified. It can be disappointing to say the least when everything is ready to go but the financing falls through.

https://www.key.com/personal/financial-wellness/articles/buying-a-new-home.jsp?ppc=1809_CMPSOC_mort_stips_li

Top 3 reasons to sell your house.

 

  1. I am lumping several reasons together under the term “Personal Reasons.” This is of course the most important reason we sell our home. We are all familiar with the game of life and know sometimes you have to do what needs to be done. As we get older kids go off to college, a single story house seems more desirable (less to clean), or we want to use some of the equity we have built up over the years of home ownership. #RealEstateProfessionals
  2. Reason number two is 30 year mortgage rates are still hovering around 4% which is not as good as they were but still pretty low (a. Amaya). Though market inventory is on the rise it is still limited. It is a sellers market.
  3. Differed maintenance would be my next reason (b. Weintraub). It may have been easy to take care of the yard and do house hold repairs. Over time maintenance can become an issue. Instead of replacing a roof it could be addressed in closing negotiations.

 

 

 

  1. Holly Amaya, located 9-20-18, published 1-10-18, https://www.realtor.com/advice/sell/reasons-to-sell-your-home-in-2018/
  2. Elizabeth Weintraub, located 9-20-18, published 9-29-18, https://www.thebalance.com/why-home-owners-sell-1799021

Mobile/Manufactured/Modular/ vs. Stick Build

Mobile/Manufactured/Modular/Stick Build

Choosing to build or purchase a home is likely the largest investment you will make. To help inform your decision-making, I ‘d like to present bullet point facts to define the different kinds of homes there are.

To begin, determine what will best meet your needs – a modular, mobile, or stick built home? When purchasing land for this endeavor you first must be aware that property deeds may state what may or may not be built on the property (like in the case of a qualified fee estate). My current home, for example, was required to be a stick-build only for the property. Be sure to read over the any deed restrictions carefully. You would not want to purchase property with the intent to place a modular home on it, only to find out there is a deed restriction preventing you from doing that. #RealEstate

 

Now let’s talk about what defines these different types of homes.   A mobile home is a home built before June 15th 1976 and not built to uniform construction codes (1. J.D. Power and Associates). This construction code was changed again with the “National Manufacturing Housing Construction and Safety Standards Act” also known as HUD (2. Meier, 2007). If the homes are to be considered as part of the real estate and not chattel (removable property), the deed had to be sent to the state in which the real estate is located and tied to the title. In 1980 Congress stepped in and changed the name from mobile home to manufactured homes (2. Meier, 2007). #MobileHomes

 

Manufactured homes follow the HUD code that took effect June 15, 1976 (1. J.D. Power and Associates). Manufactured homes are a single or multi-sectional home built on a permanent frame like a steel chassis (3. CMH Appraisals). #ManufacturedHomes

 

A modular home follows the building codes according to the state they are built in (1. J.D. Power and Associates). Modular homes typically use standard foundations, and are built inside a facility. They come in two or more sections (1 J.D. Power and Associates). According to CMH Appraisals, “Modular BOCA code homes are considered equal to a site built home due to quality deemed equal and in some cases superior to a site built home” (3. CMH Appraisals). #ModularHomes

 

Which one is the best overall? That depends on which one best meets your needs. I now see it as an evolution in safety and design: from 1976 when they started building homes to a uniform standard, to today when you can have a modular BOCA or IRC home that is at or above in some cases the code standard of a stick (site) build (3. CMH Appraisals). I hope these points help you to make educated decisions in your future home investments.

 

 

 

 

 

  1. On 9-5-18 J.D. Power and Associates at: http://www.nadaguides.com/Manufactured-Homes/Definitions
  2. 0n 9-6-18, Jim Meier, 2007, https://activerain.com/blogsview/123871/what-s-a-boca-

3. On 9-6-18, CMH Appraisals, http://www.cmhappraisals.com/MfgvsModularHomes

Bullet Points for 2018 Real Estate

The housing inventory will go away in Michigan 2018 on according to housing predictor.com on 8-29-18 (a. housingpredictor.com).

The average home price is $208,000 which is up 6.2% from last year (a. housingpredictor.com). #RealEstateInvestor

Michigan is below the US average for home foreclusres by 0.9%  (a. housingpredictor.com).

According to housingpredictor.com the three best cities to buy a house in Michigan are: Ann Arbor, Grand Rapids, and Lansing  (a. housingpredictor.com). This doesn’t take into account family, networking, and life style. #RealEstateAgent

US median list price is 268k and the US median sale price is 245k. The list price hasn’t gone down since last year but the sale price has gone up by 4% when compared to last year (b realtytrac.com).

a. Information pulled from https://www.housingpredictor.com/2018-michigan-housing-market/ on 8-29-18

b. Information pulled from https://www.realtytrac.com/statsandtrends on 8-29-18