Happy New Year, everybody! The holidays are over, which means we are back to business as usual. For the Perna Team, business looks like trying to bring as much value to our clients as possible.

The start of the new year also means that tax season is near. You have your one and only opportunity to fight your taxes coming up sometime in the next 30 to 45 days, depending on which municipality you're in.

When you get your tax bill in the mail, you'll see your new Taxable Value and your new State Equalized Value. If you flip to the back or go to the second page, depending on the city, you will see the phone numbers, the days, and the times you can use to reach the people you need to in order to fight your taxes.

To make this a success, what should you bring with you? First, you need to bring a letter with you that states that you're fighting your taxes. We have a pre-made copy of that letter we would love to share with you. Just give us a call or shoot us an email at any time. In addition to that document, the city assessor's office is also going to be looking for three very specific comparable properties. There are a lot of criteria they go off of; for instance, they will not accept bank-owned properties, appraisals, short sales, or distressed sales to determine the value of your property.

The Perna Team knows exactly what you need in order to successfully fight your taxes, so don't hesitate to reach out to us for help. We'll get you the three comparable you need to give you the best chance at getting your taxes lowered in 2016.

We would love to help you save money this year!

so you know what buyers will pay for your home in today's market. You

may also call me at (248) 425-5082 for a FREE home buying or selling

consultation to answer any of your real estate questions.

Today, we have some great news for you. Over the last few weeks, interest rates have been coming down. If you've received a home loan sometime in the last few months, you've probably noticed that rates are hovering between 4.25% and 4.4%. 

Let's

say you have a $200,000 home loan with an interest rate of 4.25%. Your

principal and interest payment would be roughly $989 a month on a

30-year fixed mortgage. Recently, I've seen closings with interest rates as low as 3.6%!  If

you locked in this rate now, instead of the 4.25% rate, your monthly

payment would only be around $907, for a savings of about $80 a month!

Over the course of a year you could save $960, and about $2,000 over two

years! 

If you have an FHA loan, we have some good news for you. FHA has lowered its basis points from 1.35% to .8%! This

means that if you got an FHA rate sometime in the last three years,

you're probably paying $120 to $150 a month in mortgage insurance. You

could have it reduced to $65 to $110 a month if you refinanced! This is a $50-a-month savings per loan, which is fantastic. FHA also offers something called FHA Streamline, which allows you to obtain a loan without having to deal with appraisals, credit checks, and underwriting, all for $300.

We

have several lenders we can refer you to if any of these opportunities

interest you. Give us a call or shoot us an email - we would love to

figure out whether now is the best time to make your move and discuss

your options. We look forward to hearing from you soon!

5 More Questions to Ask a Prospective Agent

Welcome back, everyone. Last time we gave you 5 questions that agents hate to be asked. The reason they hate to be asked these questions is that it requires them to be honest about their business and business practices. We are back again with 5 more questions for you to ask your agent, so you can determine if they will be able to meet your needs. 

This is more of an intricate question and speaks to Real estate is not a one man job anymore. minimizing the hassle of a transaction. If you are hearing numbers that are 95% or above, that is great. Our team's average is 96%. Anything less is not effective and probably won't lead to a very smooth sale. 

This is of supreme importance when you are selling a home. The national average is 92%, but an experienced team of agents like ourselves have a 98.2% average. We can get you more than 6% more money than an average agent. 

Your agent must have a written, applicable marketing plan. Putting a sign in the yard and putting it on the MLS isn't a plan. A plan must be a written, repeatable system that is in place, like our 151 point marketing system.

A few small moves can result in thousands more for your home sale. A certified home-stager, like the ones we work with, can sae you thousands with investments of only hundreds. 

For sellers ,this figure shows a track record of success. If you're a buyer a high number tells you that this agent may have access to some homes that are not on the MLS. We personally get about 5 deals a month from homes that aren't publicly listed. 

Thanks for reading, If you have any questions, you can always give us a call or send us an email. We would be very glad to help. 

 There are many great Metro-Detroit area homes for sale. Click here to perform a full home search, or if you're thinking of selling your home, click here for a FREE Home Price Valuation so you know what buyers will pay for your home in today's market. You may also call me at (248) 425-5082 for a FREE home buying or selling consultation to answer any of your real estate questions.

What You Should be Asking Your Prospective Agent

Today we want to share with you 10 questions that real estate agents hate to be asked. These are great question to ask agents before hiring them, because it forces them to be honest and their answers will determine how good of an agent they are. We will cover the first 5 this week, they are:

 This is a very important question to ask. You want to make sure the agent has the experience to handle all the issues in your real estate transaction. 

 This is also very important, especially if you are buyer. If the right home comes up and there is no one else to help you besides your primary agent, you could miss out on the best homes in our market, which are typically selling within 24-48 hours. We have 13 buyer representatives that are always available to assist you with getting into homes and helping make offers. Real estate is not a one man job anymore. 

 It's important that each member of the team has a specific, defined role. A closing coordinator may not be the best negotiators. A good negotiators is not necessarily the best at marketing. Each person should know their job and be trained well to help close a transaction quickly and smoothly. 

 This is of the utmost importance. For our sellers, we communicate with them a minimum of twice a week. For buyers, we will keep in touch at all times to let you know about new listings that match your criteria for a home. We cater to your communication needs and can communicate with you however you would like. 

 This is a great question to ask to gauge experience. If you work with an agent in the bottom 20%, they don't always have the pedigree to get your home sold or bought correctly. Our team is #2 in Michigan and #12 nationally.

Thanks for checking out our first set of questions. We will be back in a few weeks with the final 5 questions, so stay tuned! If you have any questions in the meantime, feel free to give us a call or send us an email. We'd be glad to help!

Detroit Metro Real Estate Market Update for Fall 2014

Thanks for joining us again. We are excited to bring to you another market update for Metro Detroit. We have been seeing some exciting trends lately that have us very excited for the present and the near future. 

One great trend we have seen from the past month is that interest rates are holding steady at historic lows. This is a great sign, as rates have remained steady for 40 days now. This has resulted in a continuation of buyer interest as we head into the fall, which is great for home sellers. 

If you have any questions about the market, or what you need to do in order to have a smooth transaction, give us a call or shoot us an email. We'd be happy to answer any questions you may have.

The Importance of a Buyer Consultation

Today we are talking about the importance of buyer consultations. Recently, we were fortunate to attend the Hear it Direct conference. This is a conference that brings real estate consumers and agents together from around the country to discuss their home buying and selling experiences. 

What we found out from a panel of 20 buyers and sellers were some startling facts. Mainly, that 19 our of these 20 didn't do an initial buyer consultation at all before looking. Out of those 19, 17 of them said things would have been much easier if they would have gotten a buyer consultation before they bought. 

An overwhelming majority of buyers also felt that once they wrote and had their offer accepted, they had no idea what to do. No one helped them with the next step or sat down with them and let them know the entire home buying process. 

Here are some more responses to some of the questions asked of the panel:

We don't want you to make any of these mistakes. We at the Perna team take it upon ourselves to have a consultation with our buyers. It usually only takes 20 or 30 minutes, but the rewards you get from having this meeting before you buy are huge. 

If you are thinking of buying or selling real estate in Detroit, give us a call or shoot us an email. We can set you up with a time to go through the process with you so you don't make the same mistakes as so many other buyers. 

Comparing and Contrasting Buyer's and Seller's Markets

Today we want to talk to you a little bit about the differences between a buyers market and a sellers market so you know how to take advantage of each.

Going into Spring this year, we saw an increase in inventory and this slowed the pace at which home values went up. In 2013, we had a huge increase in average home value at 25% This year, so far we have only had a 3.2% increase in home values.

If you've been waiting to sell, now is the time to do so. This month, a lot of buyers are going to be coming back into the market around the 2nd week in September.

For buyers, experts predict home mortgage rates to go up next year and people are going to want to lock in rates now.  If you are pre-approved for a rate this year as opposed to next year, you could be saving thousands of dollars in the next year alone.

Typically the best time to sell is in the Spring, but a lot of people have been looking at the market and know that this fall is a prime opportunity to sell. Buyers that would be entering the market next Spring are going to be entering this fall, and taking advantage of this fact is key.

If you have any questions, please give us a call or send us an email. We'd love to talk to you.

Steps to Preparing Your Home for Sale

Before you put your home on the market, you need to make sure that it's properly prepared to sell for top-dollar. Today we want to talk about home staging and why it's such an important step when you decide to sell your home. 

A home is generally the biggest asset that most Americans own. Right now, by professionally staging a home before we sell it, we are able to decrease the average market time from the Detroit average 196 days to just 53 days. With an average investment from a homeowner of $1360, we are able to command a $7600 higher average sale price. So by staging your home correctly, we can cut the time it's on the market by 2/3 and get you a 7-1 return on your investment for improvements to the home. On the Perna team, we use a full time home stager to assist you with redecorating and demanding top dollar based on current cosmetic trends. 

Although it's probably not worth it to do extensive and expensive home renovations, it is worth putting a little bit of money into your kitchen and bathrooms so you can make sure they are looking their best when you are ready to sell.

If you have any questions at all about staging your home or anything else, please don't hesitate to reach out to us. You can reach us by phone or e-mail and we would be delighted to assist you.

Detroit Real Estate Market Update for Summer 2014

 It's summertime in Oakland and Wayne counties, and we are currently experiencing a hot sellers market. Homes are moving extremely fast. Most are not even lasting three days on the market, while some of the "lingerers" are, in reality, only on the market for 7-10 days. That is an incredible number and the situation could not be more perfect for anybody who want to sell their home. Here are some more important things you should know about our market so you can make the best decision possible for your real estate needs.

If you have any questions about the real estate market or are interested in buying or selling a home, please give us a call. We would love to help you out with all of your real estate needs.