Northern Michigan Real Estate

The State Bar of Michigan has now stepped into the fray in its opposition to Governor Granholm's ill-advised sales tax on services proposal.  They have put together a position statement which clearly articulates numerous reasons why this proposal must be defeated.According to Kimberly M. Cahill, ...

Governor Granholm's proposed 2% tax on services was introduced in the State Senate last Thursday.  Senate Bill 307, introduced by Senator Liz Brater (D-Ann Arbor) includes taxing real estate commissions and other real estate related services.According to the Michigan Association of Realtors, the ...

Despite a beleaguered Michigan economy, Petoskey residential real estate sales volume, measured in terms of both unit and dollar volume, actually increased in 2006 from 2005.  Unit sales of single family homes and condominiums in the Petoskey School District increased from 273 to 282 units, an im...

Two prominent members of the National Association of Exclusive Buyer Agents were recently interviewed by eFinanceDirectory.com and asked the question, "Do Buyer Agents Protect the Buyer's Interests?"Barry Nystedt is currently the president-elect of NAEBA and also serves as the president of the Ma...

I just wanted to let you know that the new Homeland Security Bill has passed. Things will be different now and Internet surfing will be tracked by what the FBI calls a "non-intrusive method." The FBI says you will not notice anything different.  For a demonstration, click on the link below. Homel...

Bulletin - This just in from the Michigan Association of Realtors: "Granholm's Tax on the Real Estate Industry = Pay Cut for Realtors."Yes that's right, folks.  Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm is proposing a sales tax on real estate commissions, along with numerous other services one would us...

Once again I find myself asking the question, do Realtor ethics really matter?  Presumably, one of the principal reasons for using a Realtor is the fact that we are bound by a "strict" code of ethics.  In many instances, however, the Realtor Code of Ethics seems to fall short of its stated goals....

The National Association of Exclusive Buyer Agents (NAEBA) continues to get some good ink this year.  This time, a mention in Money Magazine.  Although I disagree with some of the author's advice, specifically the "Go It Alone" technique, it cannot be disputed that the issue of so-called buyer's ...

The Board of Directors of the National Association of Exclusive Buyer Agents (NAEBA) is meeting in Minneapolis this week to develop its strategic plan for the coming year.  I feel very fortunate to have the opportunity to work with such a wonderfully talented group of like-minded professionals.  ...

A recent scholarly study entitled "The Tradeoff Between Mortgage Prepayments and Tax-Deferred Retirement Savings," authored by Clemens Sialm of the University of Michigan's Ross School of Business, Gene Amromin of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago and Jennifer Huang of the University of Texas a...