Plymouth Michigan Home buying

Sheep and LED lights do mix

2009-06-17T14:30:00.002-05:00

One of my children is spending a couple months this summer on a farm in New York. A farm that has a variety of animals.

With that in mind I saw a great Youtube video on sheep and LED lights.

Give it a look:

Wiring you don't want to see in your garage

2009-05-31T23:24:00.001-05:00

I was at a home this week that had this mess in the garage.

Is this how you want your wiring to look?

Anybody smart enough to do this and get the switches and outlets to
work should also be smart enough to know not to leave it like this.

Does your real estate agent know what this is?

2009-05-05T13:41:00.001-05:00

There is a controversy in the real estate business these days where a
lot of real estate agents say they don't want to know anything about
how homes work.

I think any buyer's agent should know that this indicates a high
effeciency furnace. Normally 93-96% effecient.

Robot legs pushing a shopping cart - on fire

2009-05-05T08:57:00.001-05:00

So the last post was serious.

This one is just silly. My wife ran across this online and I thought it was worth sharing.

It is amazing that people are just walking by this without freaking out.

Tax Credit Video For Plymouth First Time Home Buyers

2009-04-04T19:31:00.005-05:00

I just saw a good video on the $8,000 tax credit from the National Association of Home builders.

If you are interested in buying a home this year in the Plymouth/Canton area, we can help you and guarantee you loyalty.

Jon Boyd

Broker/Manager

The Home Buyer's Agent of Ann Arbor, Inc.

1908 W. Stadium Blvd.

Ann Arbor, MI 48103

Double generator set-up

2009-03-19T19:28:00.001-05:00

Funny listing photo

2009-03-16T15:14:00.004-05:00

There is a website I've been on called lovelylisting.com that has some great (terrible) photos that are actually on listings across the country.

This is a kitchen from a home on the market. Note the granite counters!

We had a good year for savings in 2008

2009-01-26T15:22:00.002-05:00

2008 was a record setting year in our office for saving home buyers money.

Most real estate companies these days claim to do what we do, but then you ask them if they actually save buyers money and they want to change the subject.

Here is a report on our 2008 numbers from a Business News site.

Download Suze Orman financial book for free till the 15th

2009-01-12T10:17:00.001-05:00

I just wanted to pass this on.

Suze Orman is a top financial advisor who has a very informative TV show. (She also recommends home buyers talk to Exclusive Buyer Agents if there are any working in the buyer's area.)

Here is the link:

http://www.oprah.com/article/oprahshow/20081119_tows_bookdownload

(This is courtesy of Oprah, Thank you Oprah!)

Jon Boyd

Broker/Manager, CEBA-Master, CBA, CBR, GRI, e-PRO
The Home Buyer's Agent of Ann Arbor, Inc. 1908 W. Stadium Blvd. Ann Arbor, MI 48103
734-662-6240, 888-566-2693
Helping Home Buyers Locate, Evaluate, and Negotiate
http://www.buyersagentannarbor.com

REALTOR scamming buyers by lying on Zillow

2009-01-06T23:12:00.002-05:00

I just read a disturbing story on a real forum about a real estate agent from Alameda California who intentionally changed sold properties on Zillow to active so buyers would contact her to see them.

This is a complete violation of REALTOR ethics and Zillow Terms of Service, but the agent didn't seem to see anything wrong with it. Fortunately another agent in the office has made some effort to stop her.

Locally here in Michigan I was just talking to a home buyer Saturday about Zillow and he wanted to know why I said the Zestimates were often more than 20% off. Zillow is fine for generalities. but don't trust it for important decisions!

If you are interested in having a company represent you when you are buying Plymouth Michigan real estate, contact us at http://buyersagentannarbor.com

Seattle Times has a good article on Winter care for your home

2008-12-23T12:31:00.001-05:00

A home inspector was interviewed in this excellent article on caring for your home this winter.

With these record-breaking cold temperatures it is good information to absorb.

We moved to a new server today - is everything looking OK?

2008-11-24T21:33:00.003-05:00

We moved our blog and search site to a new server today and things seem to be working well as far as I can tell.

If you happen to see something that isn't working please send me an email at jon (at) buyersagentannarbor.com or call our office at 734-662-6240.

Thank you Plymouth Michigan!

Home Buying Experts Meet at Orlando Conference

2008-11-05T10:17:00.002-05:00

A whole group of us real estate buyer agents are meeting today and
tomorrow to discuss the market and the new challenges home buyers face
today.

Posted from my iPhone.

Citigroup Closing Southfield office, moving to Ann Arbor

2008-09-02T13:28:00.003-05:00

Since we are very active in buyer agency and loan shopping, we find it interesting to watch the changing scene with respect to the major mortgage companies.

The link above takes you to a post on one of our other bloggs talking about Citigroup's move of their Southfield Michigan office to the existing Ann Arbor Michigan office.

Bad for Wayne County, good for Washtenaw County!

Real Depressing Look at Michigan's Economy

2008-08-19T08:46:00.003-05:00

I saw this post on another blog that I thought was worth sharing. But don't dwell on it!

The writer has collected a bunch of photographs of abandonded buildings in the Detroit area, and taken together they are pretty depressing.

It does make an interesting contrast to Ann Arbor right now where there are three or four huge crains on the skyline indicating all the new construction going on downtown.

Let me know what you think.

Helping Home Buyers Locate, Evaluate, and Negotiate great home deals!
Jon Boyd,
Broker/ManagerThe Home Buyer's Agent of Ann Arbor, Inc. http://buyersagentannarbor.com/
734-6620-6240
1908 W. Stadium Blvd.
Ann Arbor, MI 48103

Ann Arbor's Most experienced Exclusive Buyer's Brokerage!

Plymouth Michigan - How To Boost Your Credit Score For Home Buying

2008-06-20T11:38:00.001-05:00

You know that your credit file is critical in determining what kind of home loans yu qualify for, but did you know that potential employers will check your credit? Did you know that your credit score has a dramatic impact on your insurance rates? Even renting an apartment is impacted by what is in your credit files.

"How To Repair Your Credit & Boost Your Score By 100+ Points!" Is a class about dispelling some of the myths of credit and showing you exactly what is possible and why it is possible. (In terms of improving your credit file. REALLY improving your credit file.)

Why do we know so much about credit and how to improve it? Because as we have been looking out for the best interest of home buyers for close to 20 years, and that includes helping buyers with their credit files dating back for over 15 of those 20 years.

For example we have personally helped people remove negative student loan information. It isn't something you can do overnight, but it isn't brain surgery either.

So, come to the free class Monday night, June 23rd and find out all about what can be done to turn your credit around in the next six months.

Again the class is free, but pre-registration is required.

Call the voice mail system at 734-223-9831 and leave a message with the number of seats you would lie to reserve, your name(s), and a phone number we cal call to confirm your reservation.

And, we will see you Monday night!

Plymouth Michigan gets top honors from RelocateAmerica

2008-05-30T13:00:00.001-05:00

From the Journal Newspapers: (Full story at the link above.)

"The Plymouth community is receiving national attention after a group of real estate and development experts declared the area as one of the best locations to live in the country.

The City of Plymouth and Plymouth Township were among 100 cities and towns across the country to make the RelocateAmerica.com 11th Annual Top 100 Places to Live lists."

Congratulations Plymouth/Canton area!

How To Buy A Foreclosure Class Tuesday Night

2008-05-22T21:07:00.002-05:00

Next Tuesday after the holiday we are having another FREE class on How To Buy a Foreclosure. The class is in Ann Arbor but the information is still very much on target for Plymouth. (The Plymouth/Canton area actually has a higher percentage of foreclosures that Ann Arbor at this point.)

Reservations are required because we have limited seating and limited handouts.

If you are interested you can get some additional information at the link above.

To reserve a seat call 734-223-9831 and leave your name, the number of seats you want to reserve, and a phone number where we can call you back during the business day to confirm your reservation. (An answering machine is fine.)

We hope to see you there!

What Do You Know About Garage Doors?

2008-04-29T14:07:00.003-05:00

On one of our office blogs we posted some photos from some homes we've been involved with recently. Kind of fun stuff.

Garage door post #1

Garage door post #2

Cool Stuff!

Another clueless "buyer agent" from a "team" office

2008-04-17T19:55:00.006-05:00

I ran across a really embarrassing post on Trulia today. An agent who works in a big team got a question from a home seller and responded:

"In this market all Buyers care about are price and condition. If you want to receive the bonus for selling your home yourself, under price everything in the neighborhood by about 3%. At the xxxxxa Group, of which I am exclusive buyer agent, my experience is that right now there are lots of buyers out there who are looking for a good value and will make an offer immediately if the value is there. There is no reason your home should languish on the market for more than 60 days if priced correctly to begin with. Feel free to contact me for further advise or to learn more about listing with the xxxxx Group, where we sell a home every 1-2 days!

Note she says she is an "exclusive buyer agent". Then she tries to get the listing. The whole point about being an exclusive buyer agent is that your office DOESN'T TAKE LISTINGS!!!

Then it gets worse... In the next post she answers a question from another agent about how she gets paid 25% more if she sells an in-house listing!

"I am a buyer agent on a team and we are paid 40/60 split, no higher for friends and family, and 50/50 on our in house listings. I would much prefer 50/50 across the board. The keller Williams Mega agent suggested split is 50/50. However, we do have a closing agent who handles the transaction from u/c to close, which frees up a lot of our time and energy. "

So when she has promised a buyer that she will be loyal to the buyer's needs. Her compensation jumps 25% for selling one of her office listings. Gee I wonder if her buyers know that????

Bazaar shower

2008-04-08T12:01:00.001-05:00

I was out previewing homes for a luxury home buyer and I came across
this in a nearly new home.

Anyone want to shower in a spaceship?

Free Home Buying class for Plymouth - Canton - Ann Arbor areas

2008-03-31T21:25:00.002-05:00

We are offering another home buying class at our Ann Arbor office on April 14th.

These classes pack a lot of information in about 90 minutes and offer a great overview of the home buying process in our area.

If you want to feel confident about your home purchase, (or confident enough to hold off on a purchase you really shouldn't be making...) come to one of our classes.

Click the link above for more information.

Local Exclusive Buyer's Agent quoted in the LA Times

2008-03-25T16:33:00.002-05:00

I was quoted last week in the Los Angeles Times in reference to work I have been doing with the National Association of Exclusive Buyer Agents (naeba.org).

The topic was staging, and specifically the effect of staging on home buyers.

Check out the link above.

Wayne County employment Outlook Not Good

2008-03-16T23:21:00.002-05:00

Here is a recent article from the Free Press about the employment survey from ManPower which shows that employment will be probably be dropping in both Washtenaw and Livingston Counties.

Not good news for real estate values.

Cover Up Fad -- kind of funny

2008-02-14T19:58:00.001-05:00

OK,

This isn't about real estate, but my wife showed this to me and I wanted to share it:

Cover Up Fad