Winter Alert: Get Outdoor Spaces in Shape

It is the perfect time of year to start thinking about your yard! Outdoor spaces and living areas are all too important and go hand-in-hand with the presentation of your house.

• Winter is the perfect time of year to prune bushes and trim trees as plants/trees are dormant (and bugs/pests too).
• Doing a yard assessment now can help save time and allow you to get your yard in shipshape before summer.
• Don't discount your yard, it is the first thing people see and often sets the expectation for the house.
• People put more value into a well cared for yard!

I like to get garden/yard tips from Better Homes and Gardens.

Mt. Pleasant company buys foreclosed Ann Arbor hotel for $5.3M

Hawthorn Suites near Green/Plymouth, which was foreclosed on in 2009, was just bought by a Mt. Pleasant company who plans on doing extensive renovations/improvements.

5 Reasons to Contact a Real Estate Agent

There are numerous reasons to contact a Realtor aside from the obvious 'I'm ready to list my house' or 'I'm ready to purchase a home'.

1. Property market analysis- You don't have to be ready to sell to ask a Realtor to provide a market analysis. A Realtor can come out and preview your home, compare it to some recently sold properties and give you a good idea of what our property is worth.
2. Assess your home- If you are thinking about selling in the near future it is reccommended to contact a Realtor to see what you need to do to get your house ready for the market.
3. Contractor contacts- Realtors deal with all kinds of home contractors. If you need a contractor referral, contact your agent.
4. Questions on the local real estate market?- Real estate is LOCAL. Even if you have a pulse on the national real estate market, you may not know how things are going in your neighborhood, town or county. A Realtor can keep you informed with the local market.
5. Want to see what is on the market- A Realtor can set you up with a search through the local multiple listing service (MLS) based on the criteria you choose, i.e. square footage, number of bedrooms and baths, price range, etc... These properties can be emailed to you automatically. You will be able to see new homes that come on the market, price ranges, when they go under contract and what they sell for.

Why is a Realtor willing to do all this when they work on commission? It's all about building relationships. Making a connection with someone and establishing a relationship means that person, when ready, will likely become a future client or refer their friends, families and colleagues.
Questions? Contact Kantha at kantha@kanthagardner.com.

Realty Times - Be a Staging Star

Staging, it really does help! How you present your house plays into how quickly it sells and how much people are willing to pay for it.

Making a ranch home more attractive and functional inside

Michigan Foreclosure Numbers Improving 15 Months In A Row!

More good news! 15 months in decline, that is great. We will have to see if the lastest lawsuit settlement on foreclosures opens the gate for more foreclosures though. Why the banks don't realize that working with homeowners to find a solution to keep their home is cheaper in the longrun, will help to stabilize the economy and the housing market is beyond me though!

Metro Detroit Housing Sales jump 7%

Good news for the overall Metro Detroit region!

Ann Arbor tops Kiplinger's list of 10 best cities for singles

Yup- that's my city! Kiplinger cited Ann Arbor for its combination of “ultra-high wages, reasonable living costs and a well-educated dating pool.” Ann Arbor has been ranked among the best places to raise a family, the best cities to retire and as the smartest city in the country. It’s also the best city in America for singles, Kiplinger says.

Locate moisture in your walls now to prevent major damage later

• Tips on home maintenance- always handy! It is so easy to forego preventative maintenance. The comparative amount of time, money and energy you put into preventative maintenance pales in comparison to the potential big problems a lack of maintenance can create.

MAVDevelopment buys ex-Proquest HQ at I-94 and Zeeb Road in Scio Township

Glad someone bought this building. Good news for local real estate and job potential. I don't know what I want to see go in here though. I live in Scio Township and use this freeway entrance and shops on nearby Jackson Ave. There are already a lot of traffic accidents there. Whatever goes in, they need to restructure the flow of traffic to handle the increase in vehicles.