News - Maureen Francis & Dmitry Koublitsky

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Guideline Change for Rental of Current Home	7/3/2008 12:29 PM
Breaking News! Fannie and Freddie are changing the rules on how payments on existing primary homes are treated when a buyer is purchasing a new home and plans to rent out the old house. In the past, we have been able to offset the payment on their existing home by showing a lease [...]
Don’t Let Your Furry Friends S(p)oil a Sale	6/18/2008 9:17 PM
Dogs are people too, right? Not when it comes to selling a house. As hard as it may be to accept and implement, when a property is on the market all traces of your beloved pets should be out of sight. This includes the food dishes, toys, cages, pet beds, litter and yes, [...]
Carnival of Real Estate #95 Visits The Motor City	6/15/2008 10:38 PM
Shhhh. Don’t tell anyone here in Metro Detroit. Unlike many of my neighbors, I don’t really know too much about cars. Last year when I hosted the Carnival of Real Estate #35, I used the Motown theme, so this year I am pretty much obliged to attempt to do something somewhat creative [...]
Short Sales: The New Frontier for Bank Fraud	6/12/2008 11:40 AM
I hesitate to write this post because I hate to put ideas in anyone’s head about how to commit fraud. The perpetrators are always one step ahead of the banks and “the system” and, just like with mortgage fraud, the rest of us will all end up paying the bill for the latest trend [...]
Impatiens	6/5/2008 11:24 AM
I was driving down Harmon Street in Birmingham today and I was compelled to jump out of the car to take pictures of a couple of homes with beautiful flowers in front of them. After our especially long winter, the bright colors seem even brighter this year. Thank you to this Harmon Street homeowner [...]
Home Stager Experiences Drop in Property Values Firsthand	5/31/2008 11:06 PM
When the Feds dropped the prime a couple of months ago, my husband and I decided to refinance our home in Rochester Hills. Our 5-year ARM was maturing in September. We never planned to refinance this home. In fact, I believe the phrase “if we’re still living here in 5 years, I’m going to shoot myself” [...]
Birmingham Farmer’s Market Season Kicks Off	5/30/2008 4:51 PM
Look for me Sunday morning, perusing the wonderful offerings at the Birmingham Farmer’s Market. The season kicks off at 9 am in the parking lot on Old Woodward at the end of Harmon, kitty corner from Booth Park. The organizers have done a GREAT job with the farmer’s market since it started, and I know they [...]
Good Things Come to Those Who Don’t Wait	5/27/2008 8:19 AM
In the last few weeks we got an offer on a new listing within 6 days of it hitting the market. Not bad, huh? For all the bad things you hear about the Southeast Michigan real estate market right now, there are lots of stories that are not sexy enough to make it in [...]
Listing Agent More Valuable Than Ever!	5/22/2008 7:02 PM
There has been a lot of buzz out there this year about how mortgage brokers created the current crisis in mortgage lending. Say it isn’t so! Well, it isn’t. Mortgage brokers can only work within the framework of guidelines set up by the investors (banks) who buy loans from them. The bank sets down rules for [...]
Birmingham Bassett Hound Parade	5/18/2008 7:01 PM
In typical Michigan fashion, we experienced hail, rain, wind and bright sunshine all within an hour span. The weather did not prohibit all who turned out for today’s parade from having a great time. I just realized I did not get any pictures of the Bassett Hounds! Next year…
$100 Well Spent: Inspect the Sewer!	5/17/2008 6:33 PM
For years now, we have been recommending that buyers have the sewer scoped during their home inspection period. For about $100, a guy named Dave and his colleague show up, head down the basement and stick a camera on the end of a long cable all the way down the sewer line until they [...]
HGTV: “The #1 Biggest Real Estate Mistake is Failing to Stage”	5/12/2008 9:02 AM
HGTV recently aired a special program entitled “25 Biggest Real Estate Mistakes” which featured experts in all aspects of real estate: agents, mortgage lenders, home inspectors, flippers and stagers. The experts opined about the top reasons a listing lags on the market. Catch the full list here. Better yet, watch [...]

miOaklandCounty - Our Real Estate Blog