Plymouth MI Real Estate 

When you have a Michigan relocation in your future knowing about Plymouth Michigan Subdivisions will help you.  Each subdivision has Metro Detroit suburb homes for sale info, and recent Michigan sold homes.

I have listed below some of the "newer" Plymouth subs.  Ones that have been built within the last 20 years up to last year.

I try to tell your the average time on the market for each Plymouth subdivision for both listings and average time it took to sell the homes.  I put the average list price on there but that is just a guide.  The better way to get a rough estimate of what your house is worth is to figure out the average price per square foot for all the home that have sold.  Then multiply that number by the square footage of your home.  That will give you a rough idea of what your home is worth.  Again the key is "rough idea". 

Check out what is going on and what is selling in your sub or maybe a sub you have been looking in.

• Andover Lakes Recent real estate update
  
• Beacon Meadows Subdivision
• Brecken Ridge Plymouth MI
• Country Acres of Plymouth Subdivision
• Deer Creek Recent real estate update
• Fox Pointe Plymouth MI
• Greystone Subdivision
• Heather Hills Recent real estate update
• Huntington Park Plymouth MI
• Pine Ridge Subdivision
• Plymouth Commons Recent real estate update
• Quail Hollow Plymouth MI
• Quail Run Subdivision
• Ridgewood Hills Plymouth MI
• Ridgewood West Subdivision
• Rolling Oaks Recent real estate update
• Woodlore North Subdivision
• Woodlore South Recent real estate update

May you have a great day   Russ Ravary Your local Plymouth realtor

Plymouth MI photos

Do you want to sell your Oakland County home?

Then you will have to make it a little less like it is. 

• You need to get rid of the knic-knacs off the chest of drawers and shelves. 
• You need to have a clean fridgerator door.  No refrigerator magnets, no neices drawing, no appointment reminders, no realtor magnets
• make the counter tops clean.  No papers stuffed behind cannisters.  Get rid of the cannisters and applainces on the counter top.
• Get rid of the photos and all the junk on the end tables and coffee tables.
• Clean up the bathroom.  Put away all the q-tips, colognes, razors, pill bottles, and cosmetics.

By de-cluttering your Oakland County home will make  your home appear

•  more spacious
• neat
• clean
• more appealing to buyers

You do want your home to appeal to buyers?  You want the first time home buyer or the experienced home buyer to see the house, not the junk.  You want to sell the home.  So de-clutter your Oakland Home and sell it quicker.

You brought your check, you signed all your Michigan mortgage documents, you closed on your Novi home.  What a relief, no more stress, no more worrying.  The house of your dreams is yours!

You have already contacted Consumers Power and Detroit Edison to get the utilities in your name.  You have the keys.  Now what?  Should you run to the paint store?

No you should run to Home Depot, Hunt's Ace Hardware, ACO, Lowes, or S & W Pro Hardware to get new locks.  You should never leave the old locks on you new Novi home.  Change the locks, hire a locksmith to re-key them.

You  never know who might have a key.  An old girlfriend might have a key, a painter may have a key, the house cleaner may have a key.  So protect yourself and get the locks changed right away on your new home 

Yesterday was Veterans Day and it got me to thinking about my past.  Before I was a Michigan Realtor I spent 4 years in the military.  I didn't always live in the City of Livonia.

Before I became a Plymouth MI realtor I wandered around the country and ended up in the military.  I jined up and started out at Ft. Benning Georgia as a (infantry man "grunt"  I went through jump school there too.  But when I went to Ft. Bragg North Carolina they were looking for volunteers to become parachute packers.  They always say to never volunteer for anything in the military but I did.

I got lucky and I was sent to Parachute packing school in Ft. Lee Virginia for 3 or 4 months.  We had a great time there as it was the supply chain school.  There were more women there than I had seen in the first 6 months in the Army.  After infantry basic training it was a breeze.

After that I was shipped back to Ft. Bragg to work at the Special Forces Training School.  We packed parachutes for the school.  What was nice about it was that it was a 9 to 5 job and it was like we weren't part of theArmy.  We had the easy life.  The company did not even do PT.  But I was into running at the time.  I ran a lot of 5 and 10k RUNS.  I even ran the Ft. Bragg marathon one.  We got to jump out of helicopters and all sorts of small aircraft with the special forces trainees.  The one I liked to jump out of was the C-141 jet.  It was a huge jet.  We you jumped out of the aircraft it was like being sucked out by a vacuum. 

I guess I liked it because when I jumped out of the helicopter I had the fear of hitting the landing bar or the rotor.  There wasn't much chance of that happening.  At least I never heard of anybody hitting them but you know how some things get stuck in your head.

Over the years I slowly earned my three stripes worked my way up to Sargent.  Military life wasn't for me but I took advantage of everything the military had to offer.  I finished my last two years of college while I was in the military.  The military also had a beautiful wood shop.  They had every tool you could think of.    Shapers, lathes, table saws, planers.    They had retired Military personnel that had tremendous knowledge of woodworking.  I made all sorts of tables, furniture, kids toys, and knic knacs.  And all it cost was 25 cent an hour.  That even included sandpaper, though you had to pay for the wood.

Eventually the good life ended and I was transferred to 82nd Airborne.  But once again I got lucky.  They were looking for somebody that could type.  I became an aide to the Bridgade commander.  They had just returned from Grennade a few months before I got there.

It was the real military there but somehow I was always selected to stay back at headquarters when the brigade went to the field.  And I didn't even volunteer to stay back.  They told me I had to!  So I never went to the field with the 82nd.  But I did have to get back into PT and marching. 

I am glad I went through it.  If I could do it anybody can.  I am not the best with absolute authority but I made four years without losing any stripes or getting into major trouble.  I wonder where some of my army buddies have ended up. 

So looking back from my office in Plymouth MI it seems ages ago.  I thank all of the past and present soldiers for what they have done for our country.  And for those that gave their life I wish that their families find peace and have the ability to carry on.  Those soldiers would want them to carry on.  

How about you did you spend some time in the military?  I am glad to say I supported my country even if it was in peace time.  May we bring our boys home soon and bring them back safe.

So you are relocating to the Metro Detroit area.  But you don't know whether you want to live in Canton, Plymouth, Novi, or Northville.  But what about Grosse Pointe, Farmington Hills, or West Bloomfield?

All the areas are foreign to you.  You may be relocating to Michigan from New Jersey or California.  But what ever you do research the area.  Go on line search for information about Detroit and Detroit area suburbs.  Find a local realtor that know the area well.  Find a Michigan Realtor that will go out of their way to explain the schools, the parks, the shopping, the freeways.

Drive the areas.  Is Canton Township a drive you don't want to make if you have to take Ford Rd.  Will you like Plymouth Township because you can jump on M-14.  Or do you have to go to Metro Airport all the time.  Then Shelby Township may not be the city for you.  If you like boating then Grosse Ile or St. Clair Shores might be the cities you want.

Here is a site that will give you information about cities http://www.city-data.com

Here is a site that will give you information about schools  www.greatschools.net

If you have a Michigan relocation in your future email me at info@russravary.com  I hope this gives you a starting point on you next move. 

I am going to tell you a quick story of a Novi home seller.  They have outgrown their home.  They have no backyard to speak of for their 3 growing kids.  They have a Novi ranch home that is way over priced.  They have moved down in price but not quick enough.  They have followed the market down.  The seller is now on their second real estate agent (neither one me thank goodness)  They want to move and buy a bigger home.  They want to sell.

They finally got an offer after a year and a half on the market!  But the seller was too stubborn and refused to come down any more.  The seller knew they were still high priced.  They thought it may not appraise.  But they would not negotiate any more.  They even had the gall to put a time limit on the negotiations.  What????  A seller putting a time limit on the negotiations?  Are they crazy????  In this Michigan buyers market?

If you want to sell your Redford home or your South Lyon home then negotiate.  If you haven't gotten an offer in over a year then you should really look at the offer and take it if it is in the market price range of current sold homes in the Metro Detroit real estate.

If you want to sell...................... then negotiate the best price you can and sell the house.  Don't be like that Novi seller that is still stuck in their home that they no longer want to be in .

"They didn't give their house away"

Wayne County sellers tips

What does move in ready mean?  It means that a Metro Detroit home buyer could move in and live in the house without feeling overwhelmed. 

• That they don't have to take down wallpaper. 
• That they don't have to tear up carpeting.
• That they don't have to paint.
• That they don't have to spend lots of money to get the house ready to live in.

If your Canton home has worn out carpeting over hardwood floors you might want to consider ripping out the carpeting and showing off those hardwood floors.  If your Farmington Hills home needs painting over those wild colors your kids painted in their rooms.  Paint it.

If your Plymouth home has rooms of wallpaper it's time to take down the wall paper.  If your Livonia home needs lots of little things fixed.  Fix that dripping faucet, fix the door knob.  

 By having your home move in ready will open your home up to relocation buyers.  Michigan Relocation buyers need  homes that they can just unload their furniture.  Michigan relocation buyers need homes right away.  Get ready to sell your home today.

Here is an update of recently sold homes in Farmington Hills in the $300,000 to $500,000 range that have sold in the last 6 months.

Farmington Hills Price Statistics Legend

Price Range Number of Listings Days on Market       300,000 to 310,000 10 153 310,001 to 320,000 5 129 320,001 to 330,000 4 332 330,001 to 340,000 3 63 340,001 to 350,000 2 91 350,001 to 360,000 0 0 360,001 to 370,000 1 116 370,001 to 380,000 1 119 380,001 to 390,000 5 112 390,001 to 400,000 1 420 400,001 to 410,000 1 76 410,001 to 420,000 0 0 420,001 to 430,000 0 0 430,001 to 440,000 0 0 440,001 to 450,000 0 0 450,001 to 460,000 1 896 460,001 to 470,000 1 281 470,001 to 480,000 1 38 For the 30 Farmington Sold listings:   Average Sold Price $353,797.00   Median Sold Price $338,750.00   Highest Sold Price $475,000.00   Lowest Sold Price $300,000.00   Sales Volume $10,613,900.00   Avg. Days On Market 193

Like some of the other city real estate updates I have done there are not many homes for sale that have sold in the last six months.  The average days on the market for Farmington and Farmington Hills real estate is 193 days.  Over 6 months!!!!

If you notice there was on home on the market for almost 3 years and another one on the market almost a year!

For more on Farmington Hills real estate feel free to call me on my cell at (313) 310-9855 or email me at info@RussRavary.com

Let's say you are buying a Canton Michigan home.  You got the seller to reduce their price $10,000 .  You have a purchase agreement signed for $265,000 for a 2000 square foot colonial.  So you go to your mortgage loan officer and start filling out the paperwork.  The mortgage lender submits the loan to the lender.  Of course the lender wants an appraisal.

The mortgage loan officer gets an appraisal done.  But the appraisal on the Canton home comes back at $225,000.  What does that mean to you?  IT MEANS THE CANTON HOME IS ONLY WORTH $225,000.  Don't listen to your real estate agent and try to get better comps.  The house is really worth $225,000.

So if you are getting a 80% loan the bank is only going to loan you 80% of $225,000.  Which is $180,000.  So you have two options.

1. Go back to the seller and ask for a price reduction to $225,000
2. Or pay too much for the Canton home at $265,000.  Of course if you do that the bank is going to loan you the $180,000.  Which means you will have to bring $85,000 to the table as a down payment.  Do you have the extra money?  Do you love the house that much to over pay for it?  Are you willing to overpay and not be able to sell it in the short term because you owe too much.

An appraisal is done by a licensed Michigan appraiser that is only giving his opinion of what a home is worth.  They are supposed to be impartial and to give a fair opinion of what the Canton home is worth.  So if your appraisal comes in much lower than the purchase price do number one.  If the seller doesn't lower the price then let the house go.   That is just my opinion of what to do. 

What you chose to do is entirely your decision.

Russ Ravary

Your local real estate resource

Recent Home Sales Statistics for OAKLAND County Michigan

Single Family Homes
Time Period	Number of Sales	Median Sale Price
Sep 2008	922	$174,450
Sep 2007	748	$185,000
Aug 2008	835	$169,900
Aug 2007	1,018	$190,000
2008 YTD	7,233	$173,900
2007	10,216	$185,000

Oakland County Condominiums
Time Period	Number of Sales	Median Sale Price
Sep 2008	144	$141,000
Sep 2007	320	$204,632
Aug 2008	129	$140,000
Aug 2007	315	$185,000
2008 YTD	1,408	$150,000
2007	3,106	$182,665

As you can see Oakland County home prices have fallen from August and September 2007 to 2008.  But the number of Oakland County home sales has flucuated.  But with Oakland County Condos the prices have fallen dramatically and the number of sales have fallen dramatically.

There are bargains in Oakland County condos if you look.  Good luck.  Give me a call if you are looking for a realtor that will work hard for you.

I was called for a listing appointment for a Northville Home about a year and a half ago.  They had their Northville home for sale because they had moved from West Bloomfield.   The West Bloomfield home had been listed for a year and still had not sold..  So they had to list their Northville home too.

I didn't get the listing a year and a half ago, because I told them they needed to lower the prices of the homes.  They had the homes listed with a relative.  So they decided they could lower the price and stay with the relative.  I also told them to consult with a bankruptcy attorney.  I thought one of their better choices was to let one of them go into foreclosure to save them from financial ruin.

Well fast forward a year and a half.  They stayed with the relative until 8 weeks ago.  They hired an agressive Michigan realtor.  They have been paying $4000 a month for a house they have not lived in.  They never went to see a lawyer to see the legal downsides of letting the house go into foreclosure.

The homeowner called me for advice.  They got an offer for $125,000 less than what they owe.  They wanted to know who would loan them the money.  I said credit cards or a personal loan from a bank if they could get it.  They no longer had enough equity in their Northville home to get a home equity   loan.

I once again told them they should consult an attorney and consider letting the Northville home or the other home go into foreclosure.  They are between a rock and a hard place.  They are not bad people.  They just got caught in the market downturn.  They have to make a hard choice.  Or they can continue to pay $4000 a month for a house they don't live in ..... indefinetely.    

Sure the Northville home will become just another one of Metro Detroit's foreclosures.  But I think that is their best choice.  

Which towns or cities would be called upper end cities in Wayne County Michigan?  Well it all depends on who you talk to.

2 towns that many people would call affluent are Northville and Plymouth.  Another town that many people would call affluent is Grosse Ile in the downriver area.  Of course Grosse Pointe, Grosse Pointe Woods, and Grosse Pointe Farms is old time money in Detroit.  It has been an area that many of Metro Detroit's business leaders have lived.

I had an out of town relocation buyer looking in many different areas in Wayne County.  He asked his co-workers which town they liked.  What he found out was that his co-workers loved the town they lived in.  If they lived in Plymouth Michigan they liked Plymouth over Northville.  If his co-worker lived in Grosse Ile they wanted to know why he wanted to look in Canton Township.  To them thier town is the best. 

For home buyers that are relocating to Michigan here is some info to help make your Michigan relocation easier.  But to make it easy here are cities or towns that you can find homes that have sales prices of over $400,000.

Grosse Ile

Plymouth

Northville

Grosse Pointe

Grosse Pointe Farms

Grosse Pointe Woods

Michigan property values are still falling and you should be ready to fight your Michigan property taxes this winter.  Call your local city and talk to the assessors department.  Find out what time frame your comparables should be from.  (Comparables are sold homes that are similar to yours in size, features, and in similar neighborhoods)

Michigan property values have fallen from 25 to 40% in the last 3 years.  If you have bought a Metro Detroit area home in the last ten years you most like have a Michigan property tax assessment that is way too high.  

So get ready to fight your Michigan property taxes.  You may be able to reduce what you are paying to your local city.  If you want to get comparables for your area I provide them at a small fee.  I will provide a market analysis that you can bring to the local tax board of review.  I will provide you with the information to make a good case to reduce your Michigan property taxes.  Feel free to email me at info@RussRavary.com

I have seen over and over too many first home buyers getting confused in this Metro Detroit Home buyers market.  They look at Canton homes for sale,  then they jump to Livonia homes for sale, and then they end up looking at Farmington real estate.

My best advice to any first time home buyer is to write down what you want in a home.

• First decide what price range you want or need to stay in
• Second make a list of your wants and desires.
• Divide it into "must haves" and "possible plus"  If you need a 3 bedroom house put it as a must have.  If you would like it to have a private back yard then put that on a possible plus.
• Decide on the area you want to live in.  Is it close to work?  Does the area have a good school system?

  Decide what or where you want to live before you start looking.  Then sticking to your wants and needs will help you make your search for a home easier.

Stay focused and good luck on your Michigan house hunting.

Metro Detroit real estate is a buyers market.  So how do you make your Oakland County home stand out?  How do you get your Livingston County Home to stand out above and beyond the cheap Livingston County foreclosure?  So you have a Wayne county home for sale how do you get it sold quickly?

If you want to sell your Metro Detroit home quickly it has to be move in ready. 

• It should be neutral colored.   
• The home should be freshly painted.
• The carpeting needs to be in very good shape and in neutral shades
• the home needs to be uncluttered for showings
• your home should not have mildew smells, cigarette smells, pet smell, or any other odor that may be considered offensive to some people

For example remember Metro Detroit home buyers have to chose between a Oakland County foreclosure that is listed between $20,000 - $50,000 and your home that needs work.  Sure the Oakland county foreclosure needs a lot more work.  But your home will sell quicker if it is move in ready..

So you finally found a home that you liked and you put in a purchase offer.  Whether it is a Northville luxury home, A Canton Colonial, or a Livonia ranch home it is time to apply for a Michigan mortgage.

If you are not self-employed and recieve a w-2 here is what you need to bring to your meeting with the Michigan loan officer.   

• last 2 years w-2 from all jobs you have had
• lastest month of pay stubs (if you get paid weekly 4, bi-weekly 2 of them)
• 2 months of bank statements for each account you have ( copies of front and back even if it seems it does not have anything to do with you account)   All lenders require ALL PAGES OF THE STATEMENT
• All Asset statements from items such as 401-k accounts, mutual funds, stocks, retirement funds. (Again all pages front and back)
• A fully signed and executed purchase agreement signed by  both the seller and you
• a copy of the earnest money check

This should be what you should initially need.  The Michigan loan officer absolutely needs this vital information to get the loan submitted.  So start gathering this information up today.  Call your bank or mutual fund company for the latest statements if you don't have them.

By being prepared it will make your Purchase of Wayne County real estate go much smoother.  But still be prepared for the loan officer to ask for more information.  He or she is not being rude.  They are just doing what the mortgage lender asks for.  It is the mortgage lenders moneys, so you and I have to get the documents they need to get your Michigan mortgage done.

May the weather today be beautiful for all your outside activities.  Russ Ravary

Your Southeastern Michigan local real estate information resource

When searching Wayne County homes for sale, you as a home buyer need to consider the location of the home.  You have heard the saying Location, Location, Location.  It is so true.  Sure you love the inside of the home.  Sure it is the home of your dreams.  But if the Wayne County home has some outside location issues your new home may be very hard to sell in years to come.

Some of the things you need to consider carefully are:

•  the home is on to a busy road (side, back, or front)
•  is the home too close to commercial building
• there are cell towers or electrical towers nearby
• the house sits next to a church or  school

Many new construction homebuyers in the last few years bought "their brand new Metro Detroit dream home"   They forgot about outside influences.  They bought on busy roads, near a cell tower, or near a freeway... now they can't sell their house because the home isn't new and people don't want the outside influence.

I am not saying not to buy these types of Wayne County homes.  What I am saying is to be sure the price you are buying the home at is less than the other homes in the subdivision.  Because when you sell this home you will be selling it less than other comparable homes in the area.  For more questions or information feel free to contact me by my cell phone (313) 310-9855 OR email me at info@RussRavary.com

We have parties for graduations, birthdays, football games, new year eve but one of the most important things in our lives we don't have a party for. 

Paying off your Michigan mortgage is an important milestone in your life.  We buy a house and pay the mortgage for thirty years but we don't celebrate when we pay it off.  Maybe it is too classless.  Maybe it is like saying we are better than you.

But everyday people buy status symbols.  People buy rolexes, Mercedes, designer bags to show off.  So why not have a mortgage payoff party.  So when you pay off your Michigan mortgage celebrate.  Take your wife out to dinner, or open a bottle of fine wine or champagne.  Reward yourself to when you pay off your Michigan mortgage.

That should the be the goal of every Michgander.  Plan to pay off your mortgage.  You will live better in your retirement if you have no mortgage payment. 

So you found a Livonia home or Canton Home or Plymouth MI home.  You put in an written purchase offer.  And now you are waiting to hear what the seller has to say.  You are nervous.  You hate waiting.

How long will you wait before the sellers replies?  You have to remember the seller may live out of town.  The seller may be traveling on business.  The seller may have some family emergency.  Remember to you hearing an answer to your offer on this piece of Metro Detroit Real estate is the most important thin in the world to you.  But to the seller and the seller's agent it may not be.

So be patient and relax.  Keep busy.  Go to the movies, go out and have a good dinner, visit friends.  Just keep your cell phone with you.  I will call you as soon as I hear something from the seller's agent.  I try to call you at the end of the day to give you an update.  Sometimes it can take up to two or three days to get a response on our purchase agreement. 

So keep busy while you are waiting to make the time go faster.

Over the years I have looked at thousands of homes.  I see great beautiful new homes, I see lots of Michigan foreclosed homes, and I see homes that are totally trashed.  All of these homes need a home inspection.

For a small price you get a professional looking out for you, the home buyer.  Whether you are a first time home buyer or a experienced home buyer a home inspector protects you.  A home inspector in trained, has gone to schooling to know what to look for.  You are his client and his only interest is finding and showing you deficiencies in the home you want to buy.

As I said I have seen hundreds of houses in a month yet I am always amazed what a good home inspector can find in a few minutes.  The clients and I have thought a home was in good to gret shape only to have the home inspector find something that was a major deficiency.  Mold, bad basement walls, water issues, and structural damage that the new home buyer could not afford to fix or not want to buy into.

I have had "uncle Joe" or "builder Bob" or my best friend that is a contractor do inspection for some of my Metro Detroit home buyers.  Then they hired a real inspector.  The real home inspector was able to find so many things that "builder Bob" or "uncle Joe" didn't.

So if you have found a Michigan home for sale that you want to buy pay the money for a good home inspector.  You won't be sorry.  It could save you from buying a Metro Detroit Home that is a money pit.