Chelsea Michigan Home Buying

Ann arbor Rolling Sculpture

2009-07-10T18:10:00.000-05:00

A view from town tonight.

Flamingos invade!

2009-06-15T09:57:00.001-05:00

I'm at an inspection today and one of the neighbors has about a dozen
flamingos.

I remember 20+ years ago when I had a flamingo in my yard on West
Madison.

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.

The right way to cover an air conditioner for the winter

2009-05-05T13:28:00.001-05:00

I'm out at a home inspection again today and I ran across this. Many
times people put plastic covers on air conditioners. That can be bad.
Here is the right way to cover an air conditioner for the winter.

Inman reports on "Home Affordable" refinances

2009-04-10T17:49:00.001-05:00

Inman news reported today that Bank of America started doing their MHA refinances.

Here is part of the article:

Bank of America says it's begun refinancing mortgages under the Obama administration's "Making Home Affordable" initiative, which is designed to allow homeowners with loans owned by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac to take advantage of lower rates.

Homeowners who are current on their mortgages are eligible to refinance under the program even if their loan-to-value (LTV) ratio has ballooned to as much as 105 percent because of falling property values.

There's no minimum credit score for "Home Affordable" refinancings, and private mortgage insurance (PMI) is not required to refinance loans if insurance was not required on the original loan (Fannie and Freddie generally require buyers putting down less than 20 percent to purchase PMI).

Borrowers refinancing a loan with PMI will not be required to buy additional coverage, even if they now have a higher LTV (see story).

Bank of America said it's been contacted by 200,000 homeowners since the Home Affordable program was announced. In a first wave of refinancings, Bank of America said it will first serve homeowners whose mortgages are serviced by Bank of America or Countrywide, and who do not have mortgage insurance on their current loans.

Other borrowers will be served "as systems become operational," the company said in a press release.

Bank of America, which completed its acquisition of Countrywide Financial this year, will combine the companies' mortgage brands as Bank of America Home Loans on April 27.

Accuracy of property for sale data?

2009-03-28T20:08:00.003-05:00

There is a really interesting study about property for sale data comparing IDX sites like ours here: http://buyersagentannarbor.com/AnnArborRealEstateSearch.html

With Google, Trulia, etc.

The conclusion is that if you use a full IDX site with all the board data included that you ranked at about 97% accuracy compared to what REALTORs have.

But, if you just use a site like Zillow, Trulia, or Yahoo you may be missing from 20 to 40% of the listings.

Here's the link: http://blog.roost.com/2008/08/26/accuracy-online-property-searches-examination/comment-page-1/#comment-593

Website that has crazy listing photos

2009-03-16T15:22:00.003-05:00

There is a website that has collected the strangest listing photos from around the world.

I can't imagine someone puting a home on the market with a wall like this.

2008 Was a great year for us saving buyers money

2009-01-26T15:20:00.002-05:00

We had a record setting year in 2008 saving home buyers money.

Even though most regular real estate companies claim to be buyer agents or designated buyer agents, I haven't heard them say much about actually saving buyers money.

Here is the report: News & Information 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

New servers caused outage

2008-12-26T10:02:00.001-05:00

Not a big deal, but the new server cause the blog to be dropped for a couple days.

I think we are back now.

Local Buyer's Agent gets Green Certification

2008-12-23T00:26:00.004-05:00

I recently received my "Green Certification" for helping home buyers.

We helped a family buy a very nice home on the North side of Chelsea this summer and it had a tankless water heater. These are sometimes a good product, but they are not always what they are promoted to be.

The water heaters were a specific discussion topic during the certification training because they are heavily promoted as being more economical way to heat water.

There is more to it than that.

Call us if you are interested in home buying with specific insight into environmentally friendly living.

We've changes servers!

2008-11-24T16:15:00.002-05:00

We just changes servers for this blog and site.

If you notice anything now working please send an email to: jon (at) buyersagentannarbor.com

or call our office at 734-662-6240

Thanks!

Top Home Buyer Agents Meet to Discuss Market

2008-11-06T12:54:00.001-05:00

The nation's top buyers agents met this week in Orlando to discuss
home buying strategies and the technology in this changing market.

Buyer agents from around the country met at the NAEBA conference in Florida.

Blogged from my iPhone.

Chelsea Michigan October Weather

2008-10-08T22:20:00.002-05:00

Tonight in Southeastern Michigan the temperature is about 56 degrees at 11:21 and the low will be about 46 degrees.

A rainy, ugly day in Michigan.

Pre-Notarized documents?

2008-08-25T10:53:00.002-05:00

We helped a buyer purchase a home in Chelsea a few years ago when we ran across a very odd event. The title company had sent the documents to another state for the seller to sign, and they had witnessed the signature even though the seller was a few states away.

Bad idea.

Today I found out that we weren't the only broker that had seen this kind of problem. Ralph Roberts wrote a full article on it linked above.

A bad habit to watche out for when you are buying a Chelsea home, or any home for that matter.

Helping Home Buyers Locate, Evaluate, and Negotiate great home deals!
Jon Boyd, Broker/Manager
The 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!

Loan officer from ABN Ambro in Ann Arbor pleads guilty

2008-06-12T07:42:00.003-05:00

Interesting article linked above from the Columbus Dispatch about Kenyatta Johnson who worked for ABN Ambro here in Ann Arbor. (ABN was locally Standard Federal Bank, Lasalle Bank or now Bank of America.)

Johnson is the seventh of about nine defendants who are charged in connection to a $25 million mortgage scam that affected over 200 Ohio area home buyers.

If you scan to the bottom of the article you will see a defendant in the case with my same name, Jonathan Boyd.

Don't worry. He is in Columbus, and I've never been a loan officer or scammed any lenders or home buyers!

How To Buy A Foreclosure Class Tuesday Night

2008-05-22T20:48:00.003-05:00

Next Tuesday after the holiday we will again be having our "How to Buy a Foreclosure" class.

This is a fast moving, nuts and bolts type class where we discuss what foreclosures are legally, the foreclosure time-line, foreclosure dangers, and the opportunities. We give real local examples from Washtenaw county and right here in Chelsea

The class is actually free, but seating and materials are limited so we require you to have confirmed reservations.

To reserve your seats you can email classes @ buyersagentannarbor.com (without the spaces) or call and leave a message at 734-223-9831. You need to leave your name, the number of seats you need to reserve, and a phone number where we can call you back with confirmation. (If you email your reservation you can leave an email for the confirmation.)

We hope to see you there!

What your "buyer agent" doesn't want to tell you

2008-04-18T13:35:00.003-05:00

Many experts have said that you shouldn't look for a buyer agent at a regular real estate company because of the conflicts of interest.

Now here is a real specif example:

At one very large local real estate company the "buyer agents" get paid 20% more if they sell you one of their company listings than they do if they sell any other company's listings.

So much for unbiased advice!

I use the term "buyer agent" in quotes because these agents aren't even buyer agents, they are designated buyer agents. (Which they are required to disclose to you by state law, but they rarely allow you informed consent.)

Class for Chelsea first time home buyers

2008-03-31T22:01:00.002-05:00

In two weeks we are having our next free home buying class.

The class runs about 90 minutes and is packed with information on the processes and problems you might face as a first time home buyer.

Click on the link above for more information.

Maryland court rules that real estate agents can break law

2008-03-25T15:51:00.004-05:00

I just heard the very unfortunate outcome of a two year court battle centered around a real estate company's obligation to disclosure their agency status.

The link above is an article on the history, but here is a short version:

The buyer hires a company to represent him as his buyer's agent.

Then the agreement expires and they don't tell him. They act like they are still on his side, but get him to sign a purchase agreement that puts him and his whole earnest money at risk.

When he finds out he has been scammed, he tries to stop the process, and he goes to court to get his earnest money back.

Now, 2 years latter, after the real estate agents admit that they broke the agency disclosure law. The court finds that the buyer still looses his earnest money along with tens of thousands of dollars in court costs.

Very unfortunate. And a strike against buyer's rights.

Fake Buyer Agents - Now Fake Exclusive Buyer Agents

2008-03-10T08:43:00.002-05:00

Most home buyers don't start out wanting to know about agency.

Usually they get interested if they get burned by a bad real estate agent or if they read the many consumer publications that advocate using a buyer agent or an exclusive buyer agent.

If you do research you will find that the definition of "Exclusive Buyer Agent" is a company who only represents buyers, never sellers. They never take listings.

However now there are some real estate agents who are falsely advertising "EBA" in hopes of tricking uneducated buyers. It is quickly becoming a national problem.

Julie Tuggle, a home buying expert from North Carolina recently posted an article here that goes into some detail here:

Will the REAL Exclusive Buyer's Agent Please Stand Up?

The bottom line, if you want to buy a home it is worthwhile to learn the real story about buyer agency.

Home Warranties

2008-02-13T15:20:00.006-05:00

A nationally recognized home buying expert named Mike Marshall has written the best article ever on home warranties. He really exposes the good and the bad.

Here is a link to the article: Home Warranty Article

A couple years ago I produces a web video about home warranties that was hosted on our website. It is now up on youtube. You can see I share many of Mike's views.

"The seller was insulted....."

2008-02-06T22:43:00.000-05:00

As the most experience buyer's broker in the area I've heard that a lot. But listen, I don't insult sellers. Going back 24 years I almost never insult anybody.

But, a seller may be insulted by an offer if they aren't familiar with market values or purchase negotiations for real estate.

However, in the last year or so when we hear "the seller was insulted" it is usually ignorance.

We have a transaction being negotiated now in another area where the listing agent came back with that after we made a ~$480,000 offer on a ~$600,000 listing. However the home originally was listed at ~$700,000 10 months ago.

I have to ask the question:

Is a buyer insulted when a home is listed at way over what it is worth?????

Like a home listed at $700,000 that is reduced to $600,000 and still doesn't sell? Like this one?

$700,000 is 14% more than $600,000 which is still more than the home is worth.

I think the listing agent is full of herself and the sellers are misinformed.

Chelsea Named Best Michigan Suburb By Newsweek

2008-02-01T10:31:00.000-05:00

Business Week just named Chelsea as the best affordable suburb in Michigan. (See the link above to go to an MLive article on the award.)

I was just showing some Chelsea homes to a past client who is looking to buy a larger home.

Two of the homes were way overpriced and the third was a bit quirky. (Speaking honestly about homes is one reason home buyers look for Exclusive Buyer's Agents like our office.)

But, it is a great place and I congratulate Chelsea on the terrific award.

Chelsea Michigan real estate agents

2008-01-20T12:03:00.000-05:00

Now that it is a buyer's market (more homes for sale than buyers buying) it seems a lot of traditional real estate agents want to start working for buyers. And that is creating confusion, because in our area most real estate agents aren't able to be buyer's agents, only designated buyer's agents. But the real estate agents are often too confused to be able to even explain the difference. (In designated agency buyers must agree in advance to disloyalty from the company, anytime the company can sell you one of their own listings.)

There is one way to guarantee loyalty from a real estate agent, that is to use an Exclusive Buyer's Agent (EBA). Exclusive Buyer Agents and their companies never take listings and never represent a home seller. They only represent buyers like you.

Our office in Ann Arbor

is the largest Exclusive Buyer Agent company in the area and we would be happy to discuss your home buying needs and how we can help you. And, unlike other real estate companies, we can keep your situation confidential!