March | 2011 | Southwest Michigan Realtor Blog

March 28, 2011
by Michael Delaware

Buying a Home in Battle Creek, Michigan

If you are looking into buying a home in Battle Creek, Michigan you should understand that the buying market has never been better. Right now the home prices are at the lowest in decades, and interest rates on home loans are the lowest anyone has seen in a long, long time.

Buying a home in Battle Creek Michigan is easy when you work with a Realtor.

Buying a home in Battle Creek, Michigan

requires a little planning. If you are planning on buying a home for cash, then you need to simply connect up with a Realtor and look at homes within your price range. Being that a majority of people these days are most likely going to go with the financing route, a first step is to get pre-approved for a loan.

There are still a good variety of loan programs available for buying a home in Battle Creek, Michigan. The popular first time home buyer programs are the FHA (Federal Housing Authority) loan, the USDA (US Department of Agriculture) Rural Development loan and the VA (Veterans Administration) Guarantee program. All of these programs are designed to make it affordable for first time home buyers to get into a home. The VA and USDA Rural Development loans even offer a zero down payment option if you qualify.

So buying a home in Battle Creek, Michigan takes a little forethought and planning, a

Working with a Southwest Michigan Realtor that knows the market area can help you get into a special home for you and your family.

nd sometimes in these times of troubled credit conditions, buyers need to do a little work to repair their credit. Help for this can be found on my website at: www.michaeldelaware.com. One can also work with a lender and get a program to do it themselves. Do not feel alone if you are in this situation, as it is a common issue these days. The important thing that you should focus on is to stay motivated to become a homeowner.

If you are interested in buying a home in Battle Creek, Michigan, and would like some advice on how to go about getting started with that, give me a call at: 269-441-8182 or visit my website and contact me there.

March 25, 2011
by Michael Delaware

Waiting for Flowers in Southwest Michigan

In these final chilly days of the remains of winter hanging on, as the calendar crosses into officially spring, I find myself waiting for flowers in Southwest Michigan. To me seeing the first blossoms of tulips and daffodils is the true message to me that winter has gone to sleep until next year.

I am trying to be patient as I wait for flowers in Southwest Michigan.

I still have painfull memories of snow from just a few weeks ago, and with the evening chill in the air, I have reached that point as many Michiganders do this time of the year when we are almost screaming at the flowers to emerge from the ground. At least in our hearts and souls we scream that is. I am waiting for flowers in Southwest Michigan.

To make this blog more of a vanguard for the coming spring, I have inserted flower photos into this article of prior springs in Michigan. I need to remind myself from time to time that these are not forgotten memories, and indeed soon at some future date I will be able to walk outside without a wool coat and gloves. That the days of snow and mud will truly be gone, at least for a long while, and I can look fowards to walks in the park on warm summer days.

So bear with me as I scream at the tulip buds to ‘Hurry Up!’ when I see them perking their

I am really trying to be patient as I wait for the flowers... really...

lazy heads through last autumns leaves along side my driveway muddy with melted snow. In my heart of hearts, I want to roar at the trees and say ‘Wake up early for once’ and show some leaves.

I know it is still March, and in May I will look back at this post and wonder what possessed me to write it. However, tonight it is chilly, and there are no leaves on the trees and only tiny green heads of tomorrows flowers emerging ever so slowly outside. I will try to be patient, and continue my waiting for flowers in Southwest Michigan.

Waiting, and waiting, and waiting for flowers in Southwest Michigan...

March 18, 2011
by Michael Delaware 1 Comment

Investment Properties: Where Do You Begin?

When one is looking to take some investment dollars away from Wall Street, and placing it on Main Street in residential investment property, where does the average investor begin? There are countless ‘do it yourself’ investor groups out there on the internet, and many have some good information, but others I have found will lead a new investor into the ditch.

There are many great deals around Southwest Michigan these days.

It is important to have a basic foundation of understanding on the subject, to avoid costly mistakes. One key piece of advice I can offer as a Realtor is to do some homework. What kind of homework? Well for one, study the city you intend to invest in with residential rentals. Ask some other landlords in the area. A good way to reach them is through a landlord association.

Find out what areas of the City do they have a demand for rental homes. Are there any areas that they never seem to have trouble getting tenants? What are the rents? Ask these questions of several different landlords, and plot some of this information on a map. This will help you get a feel for where the demand is.

You will also want to check with the local police department, and find out where the

Investment homes are a growing trend.

troubled areas of the city are, and places they suggest you avoid. I once had an experienced investor describe the perfect neighborhood as one that “You can send your Grandmother to collect rents at on a Saturday night, and have no worries.” As humorous as it sounds, you may have to go collect once in awhile, and this will make sense to you when faced with that situation.

I created a short video on some of this information for the new investor, and have included it here in this blog. If you would like some more information on investment property in Southwest Michigan, give me a call at: (269) 441-8182 or contact me through my website at: www.michaeldelaware.com.

March 13, 2011
by Michael Delaware 1 Comment

What a Home Insurance Inspector is Looking For

As a Realtor in Southwest Michigan, I find it important for homeowners to know something about homeowners insurance, particularly when it comes to inspections. Most of the time their home is inspected and they never see the inspector. The main reason is that home insurance inspections are mainly done from the exterior, and the inspector dropped by during a weekday when they were not at home.

A treehouse can be considered a hazard as there is potential risk of a child coming onto the property when you are not home and injuring themselves.

An insurance inspector is the eyes and ears for the insurance underwriter, the professional person behind your homeowners insurance policy. The inspector will take note of the distance your home is from a fire hydrant, and also the distance from the fire department. If you are home, they will ask you whether there are fire extinguishers and smoke detectors on each level of the home. They will also ask whether there are deadbolts on the exterior doors, and whether or not you have a wood burning stove.

On the exterior of a home, they are going to take a front and back photograph of the house and any out buildings. They will also photograph the roof. Among other things they are looking for are hazards. Hazards are essentially anything that can place another at risk of injury, or cause damge to the property.

Hazards can include swimming pools without a fenced, or locked gate. Also things like

Leaning buildings on the property are also considered a risk, as they could fall on someone.

treehouses, vicious dogs or even a trampoline without a protective net. They will also note hanging electrical wires, missing gutters, missing downspouts, trees overhanging the roof, and flaking paint. There could be numerous types of hazards, but these are the main ones that will draw attention to the inspector.

Other things that can get noted as a hazard is abandoned vehicles in the yard, flamable chemicals stored next to a house or structure and junk in the yard. With regards the roof they are looking for missing, curling or lifting shingles. Also moss on a roof, or missing flashing on a chimney will be noted. If the chimney is missing tuck pointing, or is leaning, it will also be noted.

All of these things can have a negative impact on your premium, and in some cases may even result in being denied for coverage. That all depends on the insurance carrier that is writing the policy, and thus one can see that having hazards on a property can limit the field for you in terms of shopping for a policy. So if you want to reduce your costs, consider addressing these things if they exist in your home, and talk to your insurance agent.

March 12, 2011
by Michael Delaware 2 Comments

Preparing to Buy a Foreclosure

When you are new to the process of buying a home, it is easy to jump into the process much the same way you might have bought some of your other major purchases in life. You go looking at the product first, and then go figure out how to buy it, similar to when you walk on a dealership lot and buy an automobile.

Getting pre-approved for a loan is an essential first step in buying a home.

The major difference in real estate is that the loan process is much more extensive and by the time you go through the steps of getting approved, the home you have selected has been bought by someone else. Thus in Real Estate, we have buyers get pre-approved before shopping for homes.

There are many reasons for this, but the common ones are the fact that the loan approval will determine the value of a home one can purchase. It will also sometimes determine what types of home you can buy, and where it is located. Being new to the process, a prospective home buyer is not going to know all of these things.

This is why you need to work with a Realtor, and find one that can listen and understand

Working with a Realtor can make the process of buying a home easy.

your basic needs. A Realtor usually has local connections to reliable lenders that can make the pre-approval process easy.

Preparing to buy a foreclosure is important because there is a lot of interest in these discounted properties. However, one cannot submit an offer such a home without something in writing that says you are pre-approved. So this should create a sense of urgency on getting the steps of pre-approval out of the way before shopping for houses, as it is the essential first step.

For help in the Southwest Michigan area with the home buying process, you can call me direct at: 269-441-8182 or contact me through my website at: www.michaeldelaware.com.

March 8, 2011
by Michael Delaware

Rural Property: Advantages Vs Disadvantages

New homebuyers buying a home in Southwest Michigan often consider rural properties when looking at houses. There are some advantages to rural properties, and some distinct disadvantages that one needs to consider when looking at these homes. I recently created a video to cover some of these points. I believe in helping my buyers to become well informed, so that they can factor in all the aspects into their decision making. I hope you enjoy the presentation:

If you are looking for rural property in Southwest Michigan, give me a call at: 269-441-8182 or contact me through my website at: www.justcallmichael.com.