Why I Enjoy My BusinessVia email from a regular to SE Michigan Real Estate:"Yes, your blog was most helpful, especially the statistics.  I still go back now and then just because I find it so interesting.  If we had been less informed, we'd probably still be looking.  We made a low bid on our dream house (a high bid for us) -- and it was accepted!  Without your blog we never would have thought it possible." - David A.David, thank you!If this is Black-Tie Service via blogging, can you imagine what your real estate transaction would look like?!  Experience Real Estate Simplified with Black-Tie Service for yourself.  Email me today to begin the experience!  [todd-at-toddwaller-dot-com][stats provided by Big House Data, LLC]Technorati tags: Michigan Real Estate, Big House Data, Todd Waller,... 03/14/2007

Ann Arbor breaks the number of sales to over 200 in January !! The highest it has been since January of 2002. That is fantastic news even when we were all punched in the gut with Pfizer leaving. The average sale price in Ann Arbor was 248,500 DOWN from 269,822 in 2006. The real problem and has been for years is the number of listings coming on the market. WOW, 1318 new lisitngs is a all time record.What does this mean if you are a buyer trying to buy ? Lots of beautiful, affordable homes to choose from. What does it mean if you are a seller in today's market ? Work with a realtor that will tell you the truth about the market.  This is NOT the time to be told by a less than honest person the price of your home, just to get the listing. I personally have walked out of 8 listing appointmen... 02/16/2007

 Learning to blog here.  Thought I'd start with a history lesson about Trillium Real Estate, the home of my team:  The LindaLom.com team.  You can find them both on the web now:  http://www.lindalom.com/ and http://www.trilliumrealtors.com/ Trillium Real Estate was named after the wildflower. The trillium plant is a woodland, spring wildflower. It grows slowly, and eventually spreads into a ground cover, dotting the forest floor with white, green and a hint of lavender. The plant is prized by gardeners because of its beauty, and the tender care it needs for each and every bloom. Trillium Real Estate was founded on a good, solid business principle: Treat your clients well and they will come back to you.  Each client receives exceptional care to help them meet their real estate goals.The ... 02/15/2007

2007 could be an interesting year Well, the first month of 2007 is in the books and on charts!  My favorite provider of area real estate statistics, Big House Data, LLC, had a late Valentine's Day Gift for its subscribers - January Housing Numbers!As you can see from the chart to the left, there were a lot of listings in the month of January - 1,318 to be exact.  This is the greatest number of residential and condominium listings in the month of January...period.  1,300 listings in a month has typically been reserved for the summer months the last few years.While the number of new listings is spooky, there were 211 closed transactions in the month of January.  To see a greater number of closed sales in January, we would have to go back to January 2002 with 254 closings.From Big House Da... 02/15/2007

THE VALUE OF YOUR HOMEas seen by YOURSELF YOUR LENDER YOUR BUYER YOUR APPRAISER YOUR TAX ASSESSOR If you want your home to be viewed through the eyes of someone who will look impartially, you should contact a licensed real estate agent.  We have the ability to show you how things really look, and not through rose-colored glasses or black tinted ones either! Kathy Toth and Team 734-669-0337 Servicing Greater Ann Arbor. Michiganhttp://www.kathytoth.com/ 02/08/2007

A graph was put together  by a agent in my office, that shows where the buyers and sellers are coming from in Ann Arbor. This study was conducted by NAR Research Division. Click here to see the graph results of the study. The interesting thing about the results of this is that only 7% were from the main newpaper and 0% are from the Homes Magazine. That is great data. No wonder HOMEGAIN was bought by the Chicago Tribune. One of the goals of us as listing agents is to get the home in front of the most people possible to see the house. This is one reason I belong to 3 different MLS's. That's where the realtors are. I'd rather spend 120.00 a month in user fees than 120.00 per ad in the Sunday paper. A small 1 1/2 inch add on a Sunday that costs a small fortune is just not where the buyers a... 02/01/2007

 Ann Arbor's positive attitude will prevail in Ann Arbor, since Prizer's decision to close in 2007. This is a brief excerpt from the Daily Review.  State commits $1 million to aid Pfizer workersThe Michigan Economic Development Corporation today committed $1 million toassist workers displaced by Pfizer Inc.'s decision to leave Ann Arbor.More than 100 community leaders and officials met this morning in a "summit"to discuss the impact of Pfizer's departure from the Ann Arbor community andwhat can be done moving forward.The group formed seven committees that will begin meeting Wednesday."We see this as a big opportunity," Ann Arbor Mayor John Hieftje said."We're long past feeling sorry for ourselves."Pfizer revealed last week that it plans to abandon its 2-million-square-footresearch-and-d... 01/29/2007

Pfizer leaving Ann Arbor is a sober reminder of the market in Ann Arbor. To read an article about the future of Pfizer published on mlive.com read here.Pfizer's Ann Arbor campus is 2 million square feet of laboratory, production and office space spread across 25 buildings and set on 177 acres, a prime location situated in northeast Ann Arbor. According to city records, the market value of its property - calculated by doubling its state equalized value - is more than $300 million.If the economy was strong it is suggested it could be a regional shopping area. But, that is just not the case at this time. With over 76 million invested the last few years to add on it is highly unlikely that they will be able to make out like bandits in the sale. Let's hope the Governor of MI, and Mayor of An... 01/25/2007

Here is some really good information about Ann Arbor and the current conditons of homes in Ann Arbor.Click HERE to see Ann Arbor and the surrounding area's data.With Pfizer announcing it was closing it's doors on Monday, the city is in shock !! Pfizer is the second largest employer in Ann Arbor next to the University of Michigan and that is non profit. Over 3100 jobs will be lost and N.E. Ann Arbor will be the hardest hit. The fallout is yet to be determined. Even as I type this, this is a closed meeting tonight with City officials to figure out what to do to keep the highly skilled people in Ann Arbor. What in the world do you do with 3 million square feet ? 01/25/2007

I just got back from Nashville, actually Brentwood, Franklin and Hendersonville. It is still a sellers market there. While I was gone, Pfizer decided to close its doors in Ann Arbor. WOW, tons of emails from agents in my office.No one knows quite what to think............or hope for...........we are already 5000 homes and condos' over our normal inventory. With Pfizer closing the doors, over 3100 people will be laid off. While I was in TN there was nothing on the evening news.But, I was able to log on and read the news. As you have read in recent posts. Ann Arbor is 24 miles surrounded by reality. Even though we are in a Buyers Market like the rest of the state of MI, Ann Arbor has still been fairly insulated. Now this?????????So I start to think about maybe starting over in Nashville, ... 01/25/2007

Via the inestimable Arbor Update comes this nifty article about the MichBio association looking to assist in job placement.  If you've been affected by your employer bolting from the state and would like to stay here, this would be a great way to find employment throughout the state.From the Executive Director's letter:MichBio announced this morning (see press release below) that we will accept resumes from soon-to-be displaced Pfizer employees seeking Michigan-based employment. If your company has current and/or planned openings, please help us by forwarding information about the postings, including specific job descriptions if available, to biojobs@michbio.org. MichBio will provide matchmaking support. We have a unique opportunity to retain the best and brightest in Michigan's life sc... 01/24/2007

In case you missed the announcement, the pain for SE Michigan and SW Michigan, continues with Pfizer closing its facilities in Ann Arbor and Kalamazoo.2,100 jobs gone by the end of 2008.  Not only are those 2,100 jobs lost for the Ann Arbor area, that's the City of Ann Arbor's largest single taxpayer, largest single private employer, and, likely, the city's largest charitable contributer.wowSo, 2,100 Pfizer jobs: Gone.  With the jobs multiplier for the Ann Arbor area somewhere North of 2.5, we are talking of at least 5,250 jobs gone.  With 70% of the 2,100 employees being relocated, that means nearly 1,500 residences could hit the market in the next 18 months.  Did I mention that our listings were up nearly 8.5% for 2006 compared to 2005?  1,500 new listings in the Ann Arbor area means... 01/22/2007

I have trained Sales Managers sitting in models for over 8 years. Chosing a home isn't just about the price but a life style choice. It is the job of the agent to help buyers find a home that will make them happy for years to come. I work not only in the Ann Arbor market but dexter, chelsea, Northville and all surrounding townships. Customer satisfaction is most important. They are our next referral. 01/21/2007

Or, How a Region Learned to Love ‘The Google'Over the weekend the Ann Arbor News had an article about the real estate goings-on of Google and it's landlord McKinley.  It appears as though McKinley is trying to buy up the block of real estate that the new Google Adwords headquarters are to be located.  Currently, Google is under lease agreement for roughly 85,000 square feet of space in the McKinley Towne Center for the next four years.  It is estimated that they will need at least 200,000 square feet for the 1,000+ jobs that they intend to bring to the area in the next 5 years.  This article highlights the possibilities for a future Googleplex at the Towne Center and Tally Hall location.Interestingly enough, there is an article in the most recent Fortune Magazine about why Google is the... 01/08/2007

While CNNMoney/Fortune Magazine recently published their list of top real estate markets for 2007 in terms of expected home price increase, they also point out some relevant facts about the Midwestern housing market.  If you check out that last link, you will see that for Michigan, the magazine highlights two Michigan metropolitan areas, Grand Rapids (expected 2008 increase of 2.6%) and the Troy-Farmington Hills area (.6% increase expected).So why point out a flashy article online that only highlights that the state of Michigan's housing market is slower than seemingly everywhere else in the country?As I have pointed out in the past (and here), Michigan is ahead of the curve in the housing market compared to the rest of the nation.  Considering that we are ahead of the housing market cu... 12/28/2006

Of interest to those agents in and around the Ann Arbor, Michigan neck of the woods (aka Paradise), here are some area statistics for you to chew on!  From Big House Data's Executive Summary:Two important twelve month moving average trend lines are  beginning to flatten! The diving trend line on the number of sales is starting to pull up and the climbing trend line on the number of new listings has ceased its ascent. This means that the number of sales is coming back into line with normalcy and that potential sellers are hesitant to go "price fishing." In fact, Big House Data came across a great column a few weeks ago about just this subject. Brian J. O'Connor, in his December 2nd, 2006 Detroit News column nails the problem with the current glut of homes on the market.  Still a buyer's ... 12/18/2006

Google has created quite a stir in Ann Arbor by bringing its AdWords division to our city.  So far, they have about 40 people working here and have plans to increase that number to around 1000.  Read more here.  The fact that Google has chosen downtown Ann Arbor only further validates that we have a HOT downtown that is still relatively affordable. With 9 Downtown housing developments on the books adding 800 housing units, we are getting just what we need to make our town even more dynamic.   Now comes the parking problems and the traffic which I am hoping will lead to ever better public transportation in the city.    12/18/2006

 Illinois real estate developer Joseph Freed & Associates says its three downtown Ann Arbor projects are still moving forward. On Tuesday, the company closed on its purchase of a less-than-an-acre piece of property at the northeast corner of Washington and Division streets, where it plans to build Citi Centre Lofts. That site, just north of the Google Inc.'s future offices in McKinley Towne Centre, had been owned by Ann Arbor real estate company McKinley. "We are absolutely 100 percent committed to completing our projects in Ann Arbor,'' said Laith Hermiz, a managing director at Joseph Freed. "We continue to actively look for other opportunities in Ann Arbor.'' In Ann Arbor, aside from Citi Centre Lofts -- a proposed 10-story condominium complex -- Joseph Freed is constructing Ashley Te... 12/17/2006

Dwell Realty and Development of Ann Arbor has two new exciting condo developments on the North Side of Ann Arbor that buyers need to know about. Hideaway Lane   http://www.hideawaylane.com/ located off of Traver road next to the lovely Leslie Park Golf Course (the hidden Gem!).  Convenient to downtown, U of M north campus and the U of M hospitals should provide an in town location within a very natural environment. Plymouth Green Crossings http://www.plymouthgreencrossings.com/ offers an urban mixed use development located at Plymouth and Green roads near Pfizer, North campus and the U of M hospital complex.   For up to the minute information on these developments in Ann Arbor,  please contact Andy Piper at http://www.piperpartners.com   12/15/2006

Welcome David to Active Rain, I know you like to write so I look forward to your comments on the Ann Arbor Michigan mortgage environment and ideas for realtors and consumers alike.  Read David's post on zero down financing in the Ann Arbor area.  Or have a look at brand new Ann Arbor Mortgage Website here:  http://www.annarborfinancing.com/index.htmlAndy 12/11/2006