Detroit Real Estate

If you are looking for a Northville home to lease because you have just relocated to Michigan, or re building your credit, or not ready to buy here is a list of single family homes that are currently for lease as of 1/8/2010.

If you notice there are 4 homes to lease in Northville under $1200.  And there are some very high end homes for lease now too.  When you are going to lease a home in Michigan they are going to usually pull a credit report on you, ask you to fill out a financial statement, and require 1 1/2 months deposit plus the first months rent.

So if you are looking to rent or lease a home in Northville give me a call.  I helped quite a few people find places to rent last year.  I had quite a few young residents coming to Providence, Botsford, and U of M hospital that need place to lease.  I know the area and can help you find homes that are close to work that fits your needs.

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Pickney Chain of Lakes in Livingston County

Buying Metro Detroit investment Properties

Russ Ravary your local Metro Detroit real estate agent

My Quote of the day is:

Even if there is nothing to laugh about, laugh on credit.  A smile or laughter always makes you feel better.

info provided courtesy of RealComp II LTD

If you are going to be relocating to Michigan how do you know where you are going to live?  As a real estate agent we can't steer people to one area because of race, religion, family status.  Over the years there has been housing discrimination against different religions, different races, different ethnic groups.

Detroit and it's suburbs were once racially divided.  I believe because of the sub-prime mortgage market it allowed Metro Detroit to become more ethnically and racially diverse.  The ease of getting a mortgage helped us become a better city.  It's natural the immigrants move into the poor areas because that is where the low cost housing is.  It's natural that people want to be with people that are similar to them.  New York has little Italy, San Francisco has China town.  Most major cities have ethnic areas.

Metro Detroit has those areas but what is a little different is that even amongst our "individual ethnic areas" many other religious, cultures, and races live.  Metro Detroit has become a melting pot.  Metro Detroit ethnic areas are like other big city ethnic areas.  We have great ethnic stores, bakeries, restaurants that are unique to the area.  They aren't chain restaurants.  They are unique and great places to visit different cultures right in our city.   Places to worship according to their culture and sometime in their language.

If you live here in the Metro Detroit area you know that

• Ford Motor Company employees live on the West side of town
• Hamtramck is where our "Polish community live"
• Birmingham, Grosse Pointe, Northville, Grosse Ile, Plymouth, Bloomfield Hills, West Bloomfield, Rochester are our wealthier towns 
• Our "Greek town" no longer has Greeks living together because it has become a commercial area.
• Dearborn MI has one of the highest concentrations of Arabic descent citizens in the US.
• Royal Oak, Rochester, Milford, Howell, Plymouth, Northville have old time central down towns
• Chrysler employees live north of Detroit
• Southwest Detroit is home to our Mexican population
• Ypsilanti, Ann Arbor, and Lansing are our college towns
• Ann Arbor and Novi have a good sized Asian population
• Oakland County is our lake real estate area
• Canton has a high population of Indian and Pakistani citizens 

But if you look deeper into the cities none of them are over 50% of the ethnic groups I described.   Italians, Greeks, Irish, Eastern European, Russian, and Germans all live in these cities.  We have all come from some other country.  Some of the cities only have a 10, 20, or 30% concentration of the ethnic group I described.  Like Novi it is a beautiful diverse city with great schools the Asian population may only be 10%.  Many of the foreign car company house their employees in Novi.  Mazda used to house their oversea employees down river.  But I wanted to give a glimpse of the metro Detroit area where you can find great authentic places to eat, and find people that you relate to and feel comfortable with. 

Metro Detroit is a great place to live.  If you are going to relocate to Michigan there are lots of great places to live.

Russ Ravary your Metro Detroit real estate agent. 

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 Here's what is happening in the Northville real estate market in the last ninety days.  The market has changed since the beginning of the year.  It was a buyers market during the winter but it has change a little bit.  Homes are not staying on the market as long.  If you notice the average time on the market is only  4 monthes right now. 

If you look at the table below you will notice that the over $800,000 Northville real estate market is dead.  Only one home in that price range has sold.  It is quiet.  I would say the over $800,000 price range is a buyers market right now.  Whether the sellers are willing to negotiate is another matter. 

If you notice there are not many homes that have sold lately under $200,000 in Northville.  Only 15 Northville homes have sold in the last 90 days under $200,000.  It's  to imagine that there were 2 homes in Northville that sold for under $100,000.  There are bargains in Northville real estate right now.  I have recently helped a client buy a nice house for under $200,000 and it wasn't a bank foreclosure, it was a corporate relocation property.  There are deals in short sales, estate homes, and relocation homes.

I hope this helps you understand the Northville real estate market right now.  Feel free to call me with any questions or if you want to see some Northville homes.

Russ Ravary your Metro Detroit real estate

Search Northville foreclosures and Northville homes for sale and get the latest Northville listings emailed to you weekly or daily

Sold information courtesy of RealComp II Ltd

Are you upset with a Northville real estate agent because they won't show you a house without a pre-approval letter?

Here may be the real estate agent's reasons why they won't show you a house without a pre-approval letter

1. Northville Home sellers and listing agents won't accept a purchase offer without a mortgage pre-approval letter.  Metro Detroit Home sellers want to know that the buyer can buy a house and that it isn't a dream.  I used to do mortgages and I can't tell you how many people think they can buy a house.  But there is no way they would be approved for a mortgage by lenders.  So if you don't have a pre-approval letter then you can't get your purchase offer accepted.  It won't even be looked at.  They won't even accept it if there are no other offers.
2. Without a pre-approval letter you are just a "looker".  If you are not serious enough to get a pre-approval letter then you aren't a serious buyer in the eyes of many real estate agents.  So why should they waste their time and gas to show you a house you are not serious about.  It doesn't take much time to get a pre-approval letter.  So many real estate agents feel if you won't take 20 minutes to get a pre-approval letter you are not serious about buying.  Agents want serious buyers.  They have seen enough houses they don't need to see another one with somebody that isn't ready to buy.
3. The line "I'm serious" or "I'm going to buy" and it won't be with a real estate agent that won't show me a house with out a pre-approval letter.  Unfortunately as most experienced Metro Detroit real estate agents and mortgage people will tell you.... they want serious buyers that can prove it.  In today's market many people can't get approved because of the tougher bank rules.  Even though you think you can or that your were approved a year or two ago.  It's a new world of banking and mortgage lending.
4. Real estate agents are busy like everybody else in life.  They only have so much time in a day.  Do they spend it with a serious buyer who has a pre-approval letter or a "looker".  They would rather spend time with their family or enjoying time off than a spend time with a non-serious buyer.
5. You are going to be upset if you got a house offer accepted (which it would never get that far in Metro Detroit) and then found out you couldn't buy.  You will most likely be mad at everybody but the person who didn't get pre-approved.

So my advice to anybody thinking of buying a home..... get your financial affairs in order and see a mortgage lender to get a pre-approval letter.  It will make the whole buying process going easier once you are pre-approved.  Plus you should have figured out what you want in a monthly payment before you go to the mortgage lender.  It will only take a few minutes to get pre-approved and you will be ready to get the home of your dreams. 

Whether you are a Livonia real estate home buyer, a Northville home buyer, or a Farmington Hills home first time buyer get yourself a pre-approval letter.

Russ Ravary your Metro Detroit real estate agent

helping Oakland and Wayne County real estate buyers and sellers (Michigan)

My Quote of the day is:

"Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great."

Mark Twain

Northville Twp MI a great place to live

5 good reasons to live in Northville Township are:

1.  Northville Township has one of the lowest milleage tax rates in Wayne County MI. 18.8593 for 2008 homestead summer taxes. (from Northville Twp site) That's a great rate.

2.  Northville Twp is one of Wayne Counties more affluent areas.  Home prices range from 100,000 to over a million dollars. There are beautiful subdivisions like Fox Hollow and Stonewater neighborhoods.

3.  Northville Twp has rolling terrain unlike most of Wayne County.  Much of Wayne County was flat farmland.  Northville has gently rolling hills. Add in some of the small lakes it is beautiful throughout the year.

4.  Northville Township MI is conveniently located close to major expressways.  Just east of Northville Township is I-275 and to the south is M-14/ I-96.  Being close to these expressways makes it easy to get to downtown Detroit, downtown Ann Arbor, or to metro Airport.

5.  Most of Northville Township residents can send their kids to Northville schools.  Northville Schools consistently rank as above the state average. 

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Russ Ravary your local Northville real estate agent