Not Only do I Love My City, I Love my Association of Realtors

This really is an event you do not want to miss. TAAR is hosting an awesome, free expo entitled The Housing Game. I will be sitting on the panel with the discussion topic, "Why do I need a REALTOR®?

Immediate Past President of the National Association of Realtors® Pat Combs is going to be a panel moderator at the Housing Game Expo on Saturday, April 5, at the Hagerty Center. Ms. Combs is from Grand Rapids, Michigan, and is the 2008 Immediate Past President of the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® (NAR). NAR is America's largest professional association, representing more than 1.3 million members involved in all aspects of the residential and commercial real estate industries. Pat served as NAR President in 2007 and NAR President-Elect in 2006. In 2005, she was NAR First Vice President. She served as NAR Regional Vice President in 1997 of Region VI, composed of Michigan and Ohio. She will be moderating two sessions of "Why Do I Need a Realtor®".

The event will be at the Hagerty Center, 715 E Front St., overlooking the west arm of Grand Traverse Bay, Traverse City, Michigan.

I Love My City!

Too much entertainment. Too little time. It is not possible to enjoy every entertainment possibility that is happening right now in Traverse City, Michigan. Last night I went to the Inside Out Gallery to enjoy the April Verch Band. She is one very talented woman. She can dance, sing and play the fiddle at the same time. Her husband is an awesome percussionist. Such talent and energy. They played Appalachian, Celtic, Bluegrass, Old Time and Ottowa Valley music.

This afternoon, I am going to Union Street Station to watch Beoga. I have not seen them before, but here is one review: “A heady, virtually head-spinning, sonic blend stamping Beoga as perhaps the most audacious Irish band rooted in trad today” The Irish Echo



The newly remodeled State Theater is featuring the Irish movie "Once". I may go see that in the evening. Song of the Lakes is playing at Kilkenny's. While that is tempting, I will wait and see them for free at the library 3:00 PM on St. Patrick's day.

On St. Patrick's Day Out and Beyond is playing at Kilkenny's from 3 - 6PM followed by Song of the Lakes. The Ruby John Band is playing at Bench Warmers in Maple City. I am taking my guitar to a house party and celebrating quietly.

You would probably think this is all the entertainment one would need for a few days. Well, you are wrong. Who could pass up an opportunity to experience Little Feat at the newly renovated City Opera House on Tuesday the 18th.

Yes, I plan on getting some work done this week also. I am finishing up my Realtor's Code of Ethics curriculum in order to be ready to teach it in May. I will also be scheduling my real estate continuing education classes for summer and fall and writing curriculum for some specialty continuing ed courses for the local Association of Realtors.

The Future of Real Estate in Michigan

As most of my students know, a lot of real estate classes in Michigan have been canceled due to lack of interest. Some people have a "gloom and doom" image of the real estate industry. This is not true of the graduating class of March 2008, U. S. Brokers Institute, Inc in Acme, Michigan. They are all realistically ready to tackle today's market. The fundamental class contained both Broker and Salesperson candidates. By combining the two, we are able have sufficient attendance to continue to offer quality education to both. After their names, I have either put the initials BC or SC, which stands for Broker Candidate or Salesperson Candidate. If you look for these people in a couple of years, you will find they are all outstanding in their field. I know when I spot a "keeper". To have an entire class of them is awesome. This is the class teachers get when they go to teacher heaven.
L to R: Luke Altman, SC; Jim Jesse, SC; Carolyn Collins, BC; LouAnn Ford, BC; Lisa Grise, SC; Karen Copeland, SC; Jean Hughey, BC; Matt McCullough, SC; Doug Taylor, BC.

It is not a seller's market or a buyer's market. It is an agent's market. More millionaires per capita were created during the Great Depression than any other period. All nine of these are realistic and ready to do whatever it takes to position themselves for success. In fact some of them already have. The broker candidates were all busy on every break taking care of business.

I am looking forward to having the broker candidates as students again in my real estate law classes. Go to www.TheAcmeInstitute.com for a more complete list of upcoming classes.

IRS Ruling 1031 Exchanges on Vacation Property

Daily Real Estate News | March 10, 2008

IRS Releases Vacation Home Ruling
The Internal Revenue Service recently issued a Revenue Procedure ruling that spells out how vacation properties can qualify for 1031 exchanges, which involve the exchange of investment properties.

The guidance aims to clear up the debate about whether vacation homes are investment or personal use properties. The ruling states that the property must be held by the taxpayer for 24 months. The holding period is broken into 12-month blocks, and during each the property must be rented at the fair market rate for no less than 14 days.

Additionally, the owner can use the property for 14 days or 10 percent of the days rented, whichever is greater, plus a "reasonable" number of days devoted to maintenance tasks. Because it is a safe harbor ruling, experts say failing to comply with all the rules does not mean the exchange will be denied or an audit will automatically occur.

However, they underscore the importance of keeping good records of the property's rental history and the dates the property was occupied by the owner for maintenance.

Source: Realty Times, Gary Gorman (03/06/08)

© Copyright 2008 Information Inc.

Let’s Stay Optimistic

Let’s Stay Optimistic

While much of the nation is geared up for 2008 to be the worst year on record for real estate foreclosures, Michigan, traditionally near the top of the list for state’s with the worst foreclosure rate, experienced a substantial drop in property foreclosures during the first month of the year.

A recent report comparing the foreclosure inventory for January of 2007 with January 2008 showed that the rate in the current year is 8 percent lower than it was a year ago. Furthermore, the statistics showed a 7% drop in real estate foreclosures from December to January, remarkable considering that in many locations December is one of the slowest months for foreclosures.

This also resulted in a drop in the states with the highest rate of foreclosure. While Michigan held solid to the number three spot behind Florida and Nevada for most of 2007, it has now dropped to 10th on the list.

Of course, it’s far too early to tell if this will have any lasting effect on the real estate foreclosures market in the state. With a sluggish economy and more adjustable rate mortgages scheduled to go into periods of adjustment during 2008, we have yet to see whether Michigan’s housing market will slowly begin to rebound, but it is a promising sign.

Several other states experienced drops in their foreclosure rate in January, and experts are attributing this to state and federal efforts to start raising awareness amongst citizens about what to do when faced with a default to avoid a foreclosure. In some cases, homeowners are even receiving money or stalled proceedings to allow them to catch up. However, as time goes on we’ll see if this is actually helping people to start being able to deal in a timely manner with their mortgages, or if they are simply temporarily preventing the inevitable.

For investors, getting involved in the Michigan real estate foreclosures market could still be risky, but for homebuyers there may not be a better time. There are plenty of great Michigan foreclosure homes out there that would make great family residences for cheap prices, and if you’re willing to wait out the market, these could become incredible investments once property values start to rise again.

Michigan Real Estate Legislative News

Michigan lawmakers squabble over plans to ease property taxes

by The Associated Press

Monday March 10, 2008, 6:17 PM

LANSING, Mich. (AP) -- Democrats and Republicans in the state Legislature on Monday accused each other of stonewalling some of their efforts to provide property tax relief.

Democrats who run the House want the Republican-led Senate to pass a bill that would put an 18-month moratorium on the so-called 'pop up' tax resulting from home sales. Supporters say the House-approved plan would give buyers an incentive by letting them pay roughly the same amount of property taxes paid by the previous owner if the home is bought during a specified time, rather than a higher tax bill that ordinarily would be due under state law.

Under current Michigan law, the assessed taxable value of a home can rise annually by no more than 5 percent or the inflation rate when it has the same owner. But when the house is sold, the new owner's property taxes usually rise by far more because the cap is lifted.

The plan has opposition from some local government groups because tax revenues could be lower than otherwise allowed by state law.

Senate Majority Leader Mike Bishop, R-Rochester, said in a statement his caucus won't back "one-time quick fixes." Instead, Bishop pointed to a GOP-backed package in the House that he said may give lasting property tax relief.

House Republicans on Monday called for Democrats to allow votes on the legislation that would prevent a homeowner's property taxes from rising in a year when the home's value declines. The plan also would give property owners more time to appeal assessments, eliminate the real estate transfer tax and provide some relief from the pop-up tax.

Some elements of the Republican plan may yet be considered in the House. But others are similar to bills already approved, said Greg Bird, a spokesman for Democratic House Speaker Andy Dillon of Redford Township.

Bird said the Democratic plan is the best and quickest of the proposed options to provide homeowners some relief and spur home sales. Another concern about the Republican plan is that it could further limit revenues to government.