Here's some hot real estate news for the Greater Lansing, Michigan Real Estate market on the proposed new Home buyer Tax Credit. According to an article written by Bloomberg the U.S. Senate leaders moved closer to an agreement replacing an expiring $8,000 tax credit for first- time home buyers with a smaller one that would expand access to so-called step-up purchasers.

The Senate deal would reduce the size of the tax credit to 10 percent of the sale’s price, capped at $6500.00. The credit would be available on home purchases that are under contract by April 30, 2010 and borrowers would have 90 days more to close the sale. The existing credit is due to end Nov. 30.

The new agreement, which is still being negotiated and may change, would grant the credit to borrowers who have lived in their current home for at least five years. Lawmakers want to keep home sales from slipping as the economy struggles to recover from the worst drop in home prices since the Great Depression. Economists say a recovery in housing is a key to rebuilding the confidence and finances of American consumers, whose spending makes up 70 percent of the world’s largest economy.

The demand for new homes and condominiums may increase by “more than two times because you’re allowing step-up buyers into the equation,” said Andrew Parmentier, a managing partner at Height Analytics, a research firm in Washington. “ You just opened up a whole new pool of people who can buy into those empty homes and empty condos that were built out.”

The Bloomberg article went on to say: 

The income eligibility for first-time home buyers would remain the same at $75,000 for individuals and $150,000 for couples. The income criteria for step-up buyers would be $125,000 for individuals and $250,000 for couples.

This is an opportunity for those sellers who have been sitting on the sidelines in the Greater Lansing real estate market to take advantage of selling their home, and moving up to more space for the growing family. Regardless of values coming down over the past 3 years, sellers who are moving up, should be able to pick up the loss on the new purchase, in addition to a tax credit if qualified. Keep in mind that if you have considered moving, now is the time to plan ahead.

Buying or selling a home in today's real estate market can be complicated without having the proper expertise and guidance throughout the process. Visit MikeBowler.com for additional tips to assist you. 

“Expect the Best” Mike

Mike Bowler Sr. ePRO, CRB, GRI, SRES
Coldwell Banker Hubbell Briarwood
1020 S. Creyts Road, Lansing, MI 48917
Phone: 517-492-3400 Fax: 888-832-6203
email: Mike@MikeBowler.com 
Website for Clients: MikeBowler.com
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Google WAVE has been an interesting opportunity up to this point and will benefit the real estate industry. I have been fortunate enough to get chosen for the beta test and have a couple Twitter sidekicks help me muddle my way through the confusion up to this point, however, I need to find the time to learn more.

Anytime something new comes out, it takes time, experimentation, and actually using the program to get into a comfort zone and begin to get the most of the program. WAVE is certainly no exception and still has some bugs to get worked out. Will WAVE be the next email to replace the traditional email systems that are pushing 40 years old, I think so.

Here's Three key points from Google that explain what it is and how it will work plus a short video:

1. A wave is equal parts conversation and document. People can communicate and work together with richly formatted text, photos, videos, maps, and more.

2. A wave is shared. Any participant can reply anywhere in the message, edit the content and add participants at any point in the process. Then playback lets anyone rewind the wave to see who said what and when.

3. A wave is live. With live transmission as you type, participants on a wave can have faster conversations, see edits and interact with extensions in real-time.

Cheryl Johnson, has posted some great material on Active Rain about the WAVE ad how it will benefit the real estate industry and find your way around. I would suggest you check it out and applying for your chance to get it or ask someone to invite you. (Sorry, my invites are gone)

"Expect the Best" Mike

 Dropbox, a cross-platform file-syncing tool, has now made it’s way to the iPhone and iPod touch, complete with offline file viewing for professionals who need access to files on the run. This will be a wonderful advancement for the real estate industry to use for documents and listing information.

Once installed on your device, Dropbox for iPhone provides access to all your Dropbox files, allows you to view any file supported by your iPhone (including documents, photos, music, and video), uploads any photo or video you’ve taken on your device to your Dropbox account, and lets you save any file as a favorite for offline viewing. If you want to share a file in your Dropbox with someone else, the application can generate an email with a link directly to the file.

I tested this on my iPhone last night with a sellers price change form and it worked fantastic. I can see how this will really be a benefit to Realtors who are already taking advantage to forms online. You can use it for sharing photos, forwarding a disclosure form, or line side to a prospective purchaser, and many, many other ways to go green and paperless.

Dropbox is revolutionizing the way that people think about and access their files. In particular, they make it easy to securely share files with other people, sync them across multiple computers, access them from anywhere, and keep them safe.

Drop Box has been featured in publications like the New York Times and TechCrunch, and have won awards from places like PC Magazine.

As you discover new ways for Realtors, and real estate ancillary businesses to use this program, send me your thoughts to share with others. I can see Dropbox for the iPhone being a great collaboration here for title companies, mortgage, and home inspectors, as well as appraisers and Realtors.

Worried about security? Dropbox uses secure servers. Put your files into your Dropbox on one computer, and they’ll be instantly available on any of your other computers that you’ve installed Dropbox on (Windows, Mac, and Linux too!) Because a copy of your files are stored on Dropbox’s secure servers, you can also access them from any computer or mobile device using the Dropbox website.

Well, I need to go organize my fies on my desktop, so I can start using this great new program on my iPhone today, while on the run.

“Expect the Best” Mike

 REALTORS, Who Get It, Resent Those Who Don’t Get It!

Over the years I have heard it all, however, in today’s market our challenges, pet peeves, and complaints amongst our peers have changed.  Here’s 10 items I can think of right off the top of my head that continue to grind away at others and myself, that I communicate with on a daily basis. I’m sure you could add more
to this list, I encourage you to do so.

Please note, that this is a constructive, reasonable list of what I feel would benefit our industry if improved upon.

1. Setting up a showing and finding out it’s pending, but the agent is waiting to see if it closes. (Waste of everyone’s time, usually a short sale with bank involved)

2. Listings indicating key box, only to find out it’s a combo box (Should be outlawed, all should be electronic)

3. Receiving offers on regular homes for sale at low-ball prices (These are not bank foreclosures and short sale homes).

4. Getting offers with low deposits or that say deposit upon acceptance (not worth the paper it’s written on)

5. Listings having no pictures or just a few. (All listings should have a minimum of 12)

6. Agents not using the Doc Box - Forms on-line system because they haven’t learned how to use it yet. (Eliminates paperwork and saves time)

7. Showing instructions on line-side says text me at ##### for showings; and you don’t get a response for 2 days. (The best technology is the technology you use.)

8. You email feedback to an agent on your showing of their listing, they don’t read their email, and so they call you for feedback. (Hello, read your email)

9. You email agents to schedule showings and never hear from them. (Because they don’t read their email or get email on Blackberry or iPhone to respond quickly)

10. Getting a call from the neighbors that your listing that was shown by a co-op agent was left unlocked or lights were left on. (Usually at night, right after you have settled in for the night.)

You may be saying: this comes with the territory.  Maybe it does, and yes, people make mistakes. However, we have much work ahead of us to get everyone going in the same direction for new standards of practice and professionalism in our industry and going green. What are your thoughts?

“Expect the Best” Mike