A recent National Association of REALTORS® study reveals Americans favor walkable, mixed-use neighborhoods over those that require more driving. Such "Smart Growth" communities are characterized by shops, restaurants and local businesses in walking distance from homes. According to NAR's Community Preference Survey, nearly 80 percent of survey respondents look for neighborhoods with abundant sidewalks and other pedestrian-friendly features when searching for a home. While space is important to home buyers, many are willing to sacrifice square footage for less driving. Eighty percent of respondents would prefer a single-family detached home and a shorter commute, but if that isn't an option, 60 percent of that group would chose a smaller home if it meant less driving. I remember growing ... 05/26/2011

My board of Realtors asked me to compete in a video contest put on by one of the Continuing Education companies our board has an account with.  The contest was for a Realtor to put together a promotional video on themselves, and have it be unique and original.  Three finalists will be chosen on May 31st, and if I am selected, voting will occur through the month of June and the winner chosen.  If I win, I win a cruise plus a Kodak Camera package and my Board of Realtors, having referred me, wins $1000 and a Kodak camera package. Here is my entry into the contest.  Let me know what you think, I would like to hear your feedback. Thanks.     05/20/2011

Buying a HUD home in Battle Creek, Michigan or anywhere requires that you work with a local REALTOR® that is registered to submit HUD bids through their brokerage and HUD.  As a local REALTOR® who works with a lot of first time home buyers, as well as investors, I can tell you that HUD homes offer a few advantages.  To begin, when buying a HUD home in Battle Creek, Michigan as a first time home buyer, you are given a unique opportunity over general property investors.  HUD places a property for sale on the market for a reserved period when they first come out that make them available to owner occupant home buyers exclusively.  What this means is that when a HUD home is placed for sale during this period, the only people that can place a bid on the property are ones that intend to live i... 05/18/2011

Life in Battle Creek, Michigan is perhaps similar to many cities around the country.  We have our own unique identity that sets us apart, and like any city, we have our ups and downs.  I have always looked at Battle Creek as being a survivor city, where many smaller communities may have failed, we survive.  Bound together with a rich history in the cereal and health food industry, Battle Creek is the best known city for its size in the world.  Not a day goes by there someone around the world does not open a cereal box somewhere, and see the name 'Battle Creek, Michigan' somewhere on the box.  Being the homes of Kellogg's, Post and Ralston, three of the world's leading cereal producers, the city has great name recognition. The city has not only a background in the food industry, it also ... 05/17/2011

There have been some new changes in HUD home sales in Michigan.  Last October Michaelson, Conner and Boul, commonly referred to as ‘MCB' did not have their contract with HUD renewed.  Instead, two new companies are now managing HUD properties statewide.  One is BLB Resources, and the other is City Side Corp.  There are differences on how HUD homes are found on the internet now, which make for a much improved change for buyers interested in them.  All HUD homes for the State of Michigan can be viewed in one central location: www.HUDHomeStore.com.   In fact, you can now search for HUD homes all over the country from this central website, whereas before under the prior system, there were HUD sites for various sections of the country.  The format is much more user friendly, and easy to navi... 05/14/2011

Every spring and summer, in the park across the street from my house, there are little league baseball games.  From our home you can see the baseball diamond and backstop, and one only need walk a short distance to be standing on the sidelines of the field of dreams.  I love baseball, so for me you might say this is a distraction.  Nonetheless, I still find myself pausing my work as a Realtor for an evening and wandering across the street to see the action.  In Piper Park, there are several age groups that play, but last night it was the age range of 9-12 it seemed.  I took my camera and began snapping photos, as any blogger will do nowadays.  Baseball is such a fun game, and adults play if with a lot of energy.  When it comes to kids, however, they play it with passion.  You can see it... 05/12/2011

I live across from Piper Park in Battle Creek, Michigan.  It has its benefits, as it is a wonderfully kept city park here in Battle Creek.  In the park during the warmer months, there are frequent baseball and softball games.  In the last few weeks, I have observed a lot of teams showing up and using the field for practice.  In short order games will start to be held, but right now it seems mainly to be a time of year for working the kinks out of your batting swing, and loosing up the old throwing arm.  People of all ages use the park for baseball and softball, so I never really know from day to day whether I will see adults, teenagers or children playing ball.  To me softball and baseball games in Piper Park are the real indicator of spring being here.  Sure you have other wonderous si... 05/07/2011

Have you ever stopped along side a road where there are cows, and noticed that no matter what they are doing they will stop and look back at you?  Ever marvel at the unflinching stare of wonderment from... a cow? This has been something I have noticed a lot more than with any other domestic animal.  Recently in my driving around and my desire to collect photos for my future blogs, I pull over on a rural road somewhere and take a photo of cows.  It occured to me after I had done this a few times that no matter the location or breed, the cows all seemed to respond the same serious way.  One or more of the herd will stop eating, look over at you and just stare.  You can be 500 yards away and they just look at you with one of those thousand yard unflinching stares.  It is not a piercing or... 05/04/2011

There comes a certain time in your life when you have been renting for a long time that you want to know how to stop renting and buy your own home.  You are not alone.  There are people that can help you achieve that goal.  Uusually right there in your own community. The best place to start is to speak with a local Realtor, and tell them you want to learn how to stop renting and buy your own home.  There a several steps to effectively buying your own home, but the first and most important one is to work with a professional who help you through the process.  Sometimes you might encounter barriers, or obstacles in your way, but they can be overcome.  Sometimes it just takes a little time.  If you have credit problems, it is really up to you whether this become a set back.  Credit can be r... 04/26/2011

Easter so often marks the beginning of spring, and new things for the year, more so than any other holiday.  I hope eveyone has a wonderful Easter, with good weather, and a lot of fun times with family.  I hope you will enjoy my selection of flower photos to celebrate the occasion.  I tried to come up with a variety to show a colorful splash for the holiday.  All of these were photographed in my backyard last year.  So they all grow very well here in Battle Creek, Michigan! 04/24/2011

When you are buying a foreclosure in Michigan, there can be some differences that people familiar with previous closings where they bought a home from an individual seller will find.  For one, there are some circumstances where you may not recieve your key at the closing table, even though you signed all the papers and paid your required fees.  What has been happening in Michigan in the last five years or so is that the foreclosure companies are using a central title company based out of either Detroit or Lansing, and that title company either sends a representative to where you are or orders what is called a 'witness only' closing at a local title company.  Sometimes asset managers give instructions to not release the keys until the seller (the representative from the bank or mortgage ... 04/09/2011

I was showing some houses to some friends of mine last week that were looking for an investment property.  One of the men brought his daughter along, who proudly introduced me to her friend 'Free Willy' the whale.  Willy of course accompanied her throughout the showing, and at one point when her daddy and grandpa were engaged in conversation off to the side, she asked me to hold her whale while she went to get another toy from the car.  So there I was holding her stuffed whale, while the gentlemen were discussing how much to offer.  The good thing it that they did write an offer later that day, but unfortunately as it sometimes goes with investor bidding, we were not the successful bid.  However, I did walk away with this great photo of the proud whale caretaker.  It probably would not ... 04/06/2011

Tax season is underway and American home owners are once again enjoying the benefit of the mortgage interest deduction. The ability to deduct the interest paid on a mortgage can mean significant savings for these home owners. For example, a family who bought a home last year with a $200,000, 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage, assuming an interest rate of 4.5 percent, could save nearly $3,500 in federal taxes when they file this year. This is why accountants ask you for mortgage interest when you are compiling your information on your tax returns.  It is no small deduction. A recent survey conducted by the National Association of REALTORS, American Attitudes About Homeownership, revealed that 74 percent of home owners and 62 percent of renters thought it was "extremely" or "very" important th... 04/05/2011

When one is looking to buy a foreclosure, there seems to be a mindset of ‘let's get an incredible deal' but what gets lost sometimes is an understanding of what makes a stronger offer.  What does make a stronger offer when you are competing with other buyers for a foreclosed home?  In my market area, I typically see the bidding competition on the lower range homes, where investors are competing against first time home buyers.  Each have a desire to obtain the property, but each has a different intended use.  Let's take an example of a foreclosure listed for sale at $45,000 by some mortgage company.  Let's assume that there are three buyers with offers on the table.  One investor submits an offer for $25,000 cash, and no inspections or closing costs.  The second buyer submits an offer wi... 04/05/2011

There is not a day that goes by it seems that I do not run into someone who is trying to figure out how to go about getting a home in Battle Creek, Michigan.  The main reason for this is that I am a local Realtor in the area, and this is my field of work.   However, getting a home in Battle Creek, Michigan or anywhere seems to be a bit of a puzzle for those that have never bought a home before.  The usual first step they take is to look online at these conglomerate websites that spew out supposed information about the housing market in their area, which often leads to a vast confusion.  Another route they take is to look at homebuyer magazines that are generally free publications in their area.  Both of these are good places to start, but there is no better place to start than making th... 04/05/2011

When you venture out into the world, there is so much that is seemingly disregarded.  When you begin writing a blog, you tend to start taking notice of those things that are overlooked by many.  Perhaps that is part of the virtue or role of the creative writer in our society, to help us all notice things that would otherwise become seemingly disregarded.  As one ventures into blogging, one cannot help but take the additional step into engaging in creative photography as well.  It becomes an adventure to notice details to photograph that will later make interesting content for a story or article.   I have long been engaged in creative writing, having taken an early interest in it when I was a growing up.  In our modern age of the blog, it opens many doors for writers to embark on a journ... 04/04/2011

USDA Rural Development loans in Calhoun County, Michigan are popular with first time home buyers.  A buyer seeking to use the USDA Rural Development program cannot own another home.   Rural Development loans are designed primarily to provide adequate housing to low and middle income families.  Because of this reason there is an income cap per household.   This means that all working household members will have their income counted.  This includes spouses, significant others and even adult children who may still live at home, whether or not they contribute to household bills, etc.  The current annual income cap for Calhoun County for a household of 1 to 4 people is $74,050.00.  For a household of 5 to 8 people it is $97,750.00.  These numbers are based on current information as of the wr... 04/03/2011

In March I went on a tour of the Michigan State Capital with the Battle Creek Area Association of REALTORS.  During this visit we met with our State Representatives and Senator, but what was also an exciting aspect of the tour was seeing this magnificent building.  It is a incredible piece of architecture, and a great symbol of our wonderful State.  There are so many details in the beautiful ceilings, ornamental woodwork and glass ceiling of the dome that one can lose hours just looking, and looking at everything.  It is not a wonder that schools take students there of all ages for a tour. While we were there, classes of school children were laying on the floor of the atrium looking up at the dome ceiling. During our visit our Association was announced from both the Senate and House flo... 04/01/2011

Living in Michigan, we grow accustomed to cold winters.  However, another interesting aspect of living here is that the winter months tend be cloud covered most of the time, so one constantly sees gray skies, gray skies, and gray skies.  It is so commonplace that one finds themselves somewhat energized when the blue skies finally return for even a day or two.  Lately in the past week or two we have seen blue skies more often, which is a great indicator that spring is coming.  Our friends in the Northern part of the State are still getting snow off and on, and so it is blue skies in Southwest Michigan right now.  I was out showing houses yesterday and I was waiting for some clients of mine to finish their romping around this vacant home and I stopped to snap a few photos.  I hope you enj... 04/01/2011

On the North side up Battle Creek Michigan there are some very classic historic homes that were the mansions of their day in the later 1800's to early 1900's.  They consist of an interesting mix of architecture that still facinates people as they drive North of Capital Avenue.  I love looking at historic architecture, and about two weeks ago I decided to take a walk along this three mile stretch of road and take some photos and a little video. Today I decided to compile all of those elements into a short video on the Historic homes of Battle Creek's northside.  It is a kind of fun little journey looking at some of these grand homes.  Some of them are just truly amazing.  As you go along on this little walking tour you soon learn that no two are the same, and each has a different style. ... 03/31/2011