Detroit Real Estate

I had a client call me and ask me how good are Zillow estimates?  He said he just went to Zillow and the Zillow estimate on his home was $145,500.

I honestly do not know how Zillow's formula for Zillow estimates works but everytime I look at them and compare them to what the house is worth, they are usually off.  Now you have to remember Zillow doesn't see the inside of a house, or know the condition of the house.  Nor are they able to know each individual real estate market.  They can't possibly know how the metro Detroit real estate market is this month and be able to factor it into the computer generated Zestimate. 

When I pulled recent sold comparables for this Livonia home.  The two HIGHEST COMPARABLES IN THE LAST 6 MONTHS WERE $125,000 and $117,000.  So there it is almost impossible that this house can sell for much more than $125,000.  The house won't appraise for much more than that in today's market with the banks being tight on appraisals.  The Livonia home would have to sell for cash to sell much higher than $130,000.  So the true market value would be closer to $125,000 on this Livonia home.

That's a $20,000 difference.  That's a difference off being able to sell the house and not being able to sell the house for this Livonia home owner.

I think it is impossible to determine the value of a house with a computer.  It's hard even as a local Realtor to get an exact figure of what a house is worth.  Any good Realtor will usually give a range of what a house will sell for.

So my opinion is that Zillow may sometimes be able to get a good estimate in some circumstances, but I would call a Realtor when considering what to sell your house for.  I wouldn't put to much faith in some estimates.  But that is just my opinion.

Wondering where you need to go to get rid of the stuff the garbage truck won't take.  Well here is the information you need.

The first Household Hazardous Waste and Electronic Waste Drop-off event in 2010 will be held Saturday, March 27, 2010.  Wayne County will be conducting a drop-off event from 8:00am to 2:00pm at the Redford Township Public Service Yard located at 12200 Beech Daly Road (South of I-96).

This event is your opportunity to rid your garage, basement, shed, etc., of items such as paints, stains, fertilizer, lawn & garden chemicals, antifreeze, gasoline, etc.  In addition, electronic waste will be accepted including computers, monitors, printers, scanners, cell phones, fax machines, televisions, etc.

Additional information is available at the City of Livonia website www.ci.livonia.mi.us under Departments-DPW Public Service-Household Hazardous Waste

The Saturday, March 27th event is open only to residents of Wayne County and only household waste will be accepted.

I hope this helps you.  I believe if you are a resident of Plymouth, Canton, or Northville you can go to Redford to get rid of your Electronic and hazardous waste.

 I got a call a few weeks ago from a Metro Detroit real estate buyer.  He was all upset with a local big foreclosure agent..  He thinks the foreclosure agent never put the offer in.

I honestly don't know whether he did or not, but I always submit the offer no matter how crazy it is or how little it is.  It's not my job to decide whether the seller will accept your offer.  I have told clients that their offer would never fly, but still put it in.  Sometimes the seller refused to negotiate other times they did. 

As a real estate agent it is in our code of ethics that we must present ALL OFFERS..  I take that seriously.  I many times drop what I am doing to get the offer in.  It's not unusual for me to run to the office in the evening to complete the paperwork for my home buyers.  Then I fax and email it to the sellers agent. ( I like to do both to make sure the listing agent doesn't try to say they never got it.)

But this got me to thinking..... did any of my clients ever think that?  It's possible because sometimes the house sell for less than what we have put in.

1.)  In fact I looked up a piece of Livonia real estate that we bid on in the fall.  Our bid was $121,000 FHA bid.   The house sold for $107,000 on a conventional loan.  It was a highest and best offer situation on a Livonia foreclosure.  The bank accepted a $14,000 lower bid.  It was conventional loan with more money down.  The house did need some minor repairs.  The bank and the agent may have decided that they did not want to deal with FHA's required repairs.

2.)  Another Livonia foreclosed home was listed at $65,000.  The house needed a roof.  There was no way that it would ever pass an appraisal inspection.  My clients thought was to put a roof on before the appraiser came by.  We put an FHA offer of $81,000 in.  We still LOST IT!     This house sold for $55,000 cash.  This was really a no brainer for the bank.  They didn't want to put the time or money into putting a roof on.  So they sold to a cash buyer instead a FHA buyer.  

3.)  Another home we put an offer in one had a renter in it.  We put an offer in.  It was never accepted.  I has never shown up on the MLS as sold.  The bank pulled the house back.  Right now the banks are giving some consideration to people that are renting the homes.  In this case they are probably working out some deal to get the renter to buy the home.  My friend Larson did it.  He was living in a home that was in foreclosure.  He contacted the bank and they let him rent for a year. And then did a FHA mortgage for him after a year.  The bank helped somebody that needed a hand.

So the bottom line is that yes banks make some strange decisions and accept lower offers.  But I think most agents put your offer in,  even though it may not make sense why it wasn't accepted.

Search Livonia foreclosed homes

If you have a Michigan relocation in your future and are thinking about Livonia real estate here are some photos of Livonia Michigan home styles.  These photos of Livonia are from the Northwestern corner of Livonia.  I would say that is one of Livonia less expensive areas.

Some small Livonia ranch homes are slab homes with no basements and about 1000 square feet

Livonia has small 1000 -1200 square foot bungalows with both brick exteriors and vinyl exteriors

In the last ten years most of Livonia's empty lots have been built on.  Here is one example of the biggest house possible being built on a small lot.  New, reasonably priced in the City of Livonia with good schools.

Livonia doesn't have a lot of bi-level homes but they do have some blocks of them.  A bi-level home is where the first floor is half under ground.  Or you could say the basement is finished or half above ground.

This is what I would call the common Livonia ranch home.  A Livonia ranch home has brick exteriors with a basement.  Average square footage of homes of 1000 -1200.  Many of them have detached garages, but some do have attached garages.

Here is a bi-level home with a one car attached garage.  Most of these homes shown here range from $50,000 Livonia foreclosures to $150,000 updated ranch.

Search Livonia foreclosures, real estate, and condos

The Livonia real estate shown here is along 7 Mile Rd east of Merriman.  If you are relocating to Michigan I hope these photos help you.

Here are some Southeastern Michigan real estate explanations.  This should help you read listings whether you are a first time homebuyer or an experienced Michigan homebuyer.

BATVAI - Buyers Agent To Verify All Information

HUD homes - FHA homes that have gone into foreclosure

REO - Real Estate Owned by banks

ROI - Return on investment

MLS - Multi Listing Service - the organization that Realtors list homes through - the company that puts all the listings out on the internet for buyers to look at.

A/C - Air conditioning

BDRM - Bedrooms

A/C - Air Conditioning

WIC- Walk in Closet

FP - Fire place

LBP - Lead Based Paint

EMD - Earnest Money Deposit

Short sale - should be called long sale.  Where a seller is trying to sell a home for less than what they owe,  They must get the banks approval to do so.

If you have any other abbreviations or questions feel free to call me or email me.  Cell 313-310-9855 or Yesmyrealtor@gmail.com

LATPAO - Listing Agent To Present All Offers

My quote of the day:

We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, therefore,
is not an act but a habit.

David Ogilvy