Jules's Blog

While the deadline for the First Time Home Buyers Tax Credit is November 30, 2009, you may need to act now in order to take advantage of it.  Why you may ask?  If you are in need of any type of government financing (Rural Development, FHA, VA, etc.) you may find longer than expected delays in get...

I am currently working on 3 short sales with Bank of America.  Over the past 2 years I have been involved with many short sales and finally the banks (at least Bank of America) is hiring appraisers rather than ordering B.P.O's.   While I think this is a good idea, I am also seeing it kill a lot o...

Current list price -  Just $849,000.00Specifications:Bedrooms - 4Baths - 2.75Approximate Year Built - 1938Year Remodeled - 2004Approx. finished square footage - 2,956 It's literally just once in a lifetime that a property likes this comes one the market.  As the properties along Ahgosa Trail sel...

I am seeing an increasingly common trend here in Northern Michigan.  We are busy writing deals but now we are loosing deals because appraisers can not find suitable comps.  Are you seeing this anywhere else? That backlash to a lot of foreclosure sales is an appraiser's inability to find suitable ...

I am constantly reading posts about short sales and bank owned properties (referred to as REO's in the biz).  Often there is a big misconception that the two are similar.  This is not really the case. Briefly a short sale occurs when a property is valued less than the balance owing and the Seller...

It's Simple... You Can't so don't even try! I hear so many agents say that their buyer is "waiting until we hit bottom" and I want to scream.  On the grand scheme we are as close to bottom as any of us will ever see (at least in the Grand Traverse Region).   So what if prices drop a little bit mo...

As I celebrate my 21st year in business I look back and think...Wow it has been a long time.  I also can't help but notice a lot of changes in the past year.  Despite the economic downturn I have seen a huge increase in my business.  A large portion of those are foreclosure related (Bank owned, p...

Whenever I have a seller who is on the fence as to whether to take an offer on their home I tell them take the deal.  This may sound like bad advice especially if a seller is giving up a lot of equity but consider what savings that Seller will make up for when they take their proceeds and buy ano...

I have had a lot of people ask me this question recently so I thought I would share it with everyone.  The answer is generally quite simple...lower the price.  It's easy to say but being in a position to do so is not always the case.   Banks are the primary culprit for constantly lowering the pri...

In a market where competition is fierce, why not take some advice from seasoned veteran and raise the commission.  You may be saying to yourself that of course agents want to raise the commission and to some degree that is true but probably for different reasons. As a listing agent I know that in...