Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Ann Arbor Area MLS Now Searchable by Foreclosure, Short Sale, etc.

Better late than never. The Ann Arbor Area Multiple Listing Service database is now, finally, searchable by the data fields of Short Sale, Private Owned, Bank Owned, and Government Owned. For the first time, prospective buyers can set their search parameters based on the ownership status of the property. Prior to today, it was pretty difficult and cumbersome for buyers and their agents to easily determine the ownership staus of a house without sorting through listings individually for identifiers within the 'remarks' section of the listings.
Agents are now required to enter the ownership staus as they input the data when they take new listings. This should prove interesting in some circumstances. For example, one Asset Management company that I work with makes it very clear that they do not want their listings identified, advertised, or promoted as Bank Owned. Now that this is a local Board of Realtors requirement, it should make for an interesting discussion.

Friday, September 11, 2009

August 2009 Ann Arbor Home Sales Report

August 2009 comparative analysis shows an average sales price drop of 9.4% over August 2008, bringing the Year to date average sales price drop to 17.8%. Here are the latest statistics from the Ann Arbor Board of Realtors. These numbers are for Single Family Homes (SFH) Residential, and do not include condominiums:

SFH Listings in August 2008: 677
SFH Listings in August 2009: 528
Decrease: 22.1%

SFH Sales August 2008: 343
SFH Sales August 2009: 282
Decrease: 17.8%

SFH Sales Year to Date 2008: 2,141
SFH Sales Year to Date 2009: 1,976
Decrease: 7.8%

SFH Avg. Sales Price August 2008: $218,626
SFH Avg. Sales Price August 2009: $198,121
Decrease: 9.4%

SFH Avg. Sales Price Y.T.D. 2008: $224,287
SFH Avg. Sales Price Y.T.D. 2009: $185,028
Decrease: 17.6%

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

You're Invited to Join the Washtenaw Real Estate Investors Group

You're invited to join, learn, and get all your questions answered about investment properties in and around Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Our group, the Washtenaw Real Estate Investors, has been meeting for more than a year, and is now 46 members strong, and growing! At our monthly MeetUps we learn about market conditions, successful strategies, hear from interesting Guest Speakers, discuss opportunities, and share experiences. We're meeting next Tuesday, and you're invited to join us.

We're planning a full agenda for next Tuesday's MeetUp. Here's a quick overview of who we are:

First, our approach is to seek out, learn from, and implement successful investing strategies from other successful investors. Our groups "Bible" is the book: 'The Millionaire Real Estate Investor' by Gary Keller. You will get the most value out of this group if you purchase and read a copy of this book.

Second, once we have an overview of a successful Real Estate Investing career, we implement one of Steven Covey's 7 habits by Beginning With The End in Mind, and creating our own, individual written Business Plans. Skeleton Templates were provided at our last MeetUp and will be made available to new members and those who attend our MeetUp's in person. Each member has their own Real Estate 'Success Book' in the form of a 3-ring Binder, filled with the information and discussions from each MeetUp.

Third, moving forward, we will be discussing other valuable books, which are more specific in focus than the Keller book. The next book we will read and discuss will be: "Investing in Duplexes, Triplexes, and Quads" by Larry Loftis.. You can purchase a copy on Amazon for about $11.

Fourth, we have been very fortunate to have had a series of knowledgeable Guest Speakers who have shared valuable information with us over the past several months. We are grateful for their contribution, and are working to get more Guest Speakers for our group in the future.

Finally, I'm very excited that I have in development, a proprietary WREI Investment Analysis Software Program. My plan is to have this available by November.

We have a dynamic group of 46 members who are committed to learning, encouraging and helping each other have successful real estate investment careers.

Please check out our groups website, and make plans to attend next Tuesday's MeetUp.

Thanks again, and I look forward to seeing you on Tuesday, 9/15/2009.

Monday, September 7, 2009

Live in the Moment and Be Thankful

Unemployment numbers are distressing. We all know family and friends impacted by the economy. Perhaps our own businesses have been negatively impacted by the economy. It would be easy to wallow in the bad news, and lose track of the good news. Today's message is an encouragement to turn all the bad news 180 degrees into good news by completing the following exercise:

Begin your day by writing down or saying aloud: "I thank you Lord, for . . . " filling in the blank with 25 or 30 specific things, great and small, for which you are grateful.

Encourage your spouse and children to join in this. Express thanks for the food you are eating, your health, the clothes you are wearing, the school you're attending, and for your business. Express thanks for family, friends, teachers, colleagues, clients, customers and neighbors. Give thanks for fire departments, police departments, our military. Give thanks for church leaders and political leaders (yes, them too).

Once you boldly make these expressions of thanks out loud, you will have established the mind-set of being in the moment of today with immense gratitude, and will help build up in you the resilience t handle any obstacles that you encounter during the day. When you are armed with your arsenal of thanks, any problems you encounter are just little annoying bugs on the windshield of life.

Make it a GREAT day, and a GREAT week!