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With Michigan’s economy seemingly forever flagging the rest of the Nation, how to purchase foreclosed homes in Oakland County Michigan has been gaining interest among real estate investors.

There are several methods real estate investors can employ when deciding how to purchase foreclosed homes in Oakland Country Michigan.

We will discuss these here.

First, you can bid on a home when it is being auctioned off at the sheriff’s sale.

Here’s how this works.

When a homeowner misses 3 consecutive mortgage payments they will be in preforeclosure. At this point, their mortgage lender (bank) will pass their info to an attorney who will file the mortgage default information once a week for 4 weeks as public information in a paper called the Legal News.

28 days later, the home will be auctioned off at the local county courthouse steps to the highest bidder. So if you go to bid, you will be competing against other investors and also an agent for the bank, who will also bid on the home to make sure it doesn’t sell for a ridiculously low amount.

If the agent bidding on behalf of the bank wins, the property will be called an REO (Real Estate Owned). This is just a term used to denote a property that has gone through foreclosure and that was taken back by the bank.

Before you decide to learn how to purchase forclosed homes in Oakland County Michigan, you may also want to consider learning the short sale investment strategy.

This is a strategy in which you try to buy the defaulted mortgage note before the foreclosure auction.

Here’s how it works.

You contact the homeowner facing foreclosure and present yourself as an investor who may be able to help their situation. You’ll need the homeowner’s approval.

You will then contact the loss mitigation department of the homeowner’s lender and try to negotiate a discount on the defaulted mortgage. You will make the case for the homeowner’s hardship and why the homeowner will not be able to make payments on the mortgage. You will try to show how the property has flaws or other problems that will make the bank think about taking it back as an REO after the foreclosure auction.

If the bank accepts your short sale offer, you will basically create instant equity. For example, say the distressed homeowner owes $200k on the mortgage and that the home is worth only $195k. If you could negotiate a short sale for $150k, you’ve just created 45k in equity.

You will also be helping the distressed homeowner because they will get to avoid the foreclosure and the damage to their credit that this event would case. Of course, they’ll have to move out of the home since you will be the new owner, but they would have had to move out anyway if it went through foreclosure and the redemption period ended.

How to Purchase Forclosed homes in Oakland County Michigan

Another example of how to purchase foreclosed homes in Oakland County Michigan is to try to buy the property from the bank when it’s become an REO.

After the bank takes the home back after the foreclosure (assuming it is the highest bidder at the auction) they will now have a “non-performing asset” on their books. Banks don’t like non-performing assets for several reasons.

One reason is because the bank is in the business of lending money and making money on interest, not from holding real estate. Second, Federal Law requires that the bank have a certain amount of cash reserves on hand for every dollar of “non-performing asset.” This means that for every dollar of bad debt the bank has on its books, it has an opportunity cost in the form of “good money” that can’t be loaned out until that bad debt is eliminated.

In short, this costs the bank money.

Lastly, banks, being publicly traded entities, suffer when they have too much bad debt on their books. Their stock price suffers as a result. The faster banks unload their bad debt from the books, the better their stock prices will be.

So, if you can get a hold of REO lists, either through a mortgage broker, or through networking with other real estate investors, you can make offers on REO’s that banks hold. Some investors can pick up REO properties from banks for 40 to 50 cents on the dollar.

In summary, being an educated real estate investor on how to purchase forclosed homes in Oakland County Michigan can lead to big profits.

In the past decade home sales have gradually become a buyer’s market. Although this is good news for the buyer, it is becoming somewhat of a nightmare for those who are trying to sell their home. Because of this, sellers often have to dramatically drop the price of their homes in order to make the sale, resulting in huge losses. However, there are ways of increasing the chances of making the sale without the seller having to take a big loss. The following will be a list of seven tips for successfully selling a home in a slow market.

1) Appearance is key- When looking to buy a home a buyer will naturally gravitate to houses that have a nice appearance. Fixer-uppers are not as popular as they once were. The first thing that a seller should do is to fix anything that may catch the eye of a potential buyer. For instance, the yard should look immaculate at all times. If the gutters on the house are drooping, that will be the first thing people will notice. If there is chipped paint on the house, paint it. It is worth the money to stage your property for curb appeal.

2) Be flexible- Be prepared to make yourself scarce on weekends if needed for the realtor to show the house. Keep things tidy at all times for any last minute appointments made by perspective buyers. Try not to limit the times that you are willing to provide access to the home.

3) Keep the home at market price- If you are stuck in the mind-frame of making big dollars from the sale of your home, chances are your house will be on the market for years. The best way to drive away potential buyers is to put the house up for sale above market value. Keeping the house for sale at a reasonable market price means that there will be more interest in coming to an open house, therefore bettering your chances of making the sale. It is a well-known fact by realtors that if the price is right, there is a buyer out there for every house.

4) Find an agent with an extensive sales track record in your town- A good realtor will know exactly how to determine fair market price for your home. He should also have a record of being able to sell a home within three or four months. A realtor that is experienced in selling property in your particular neighborhood will be able to take you through the process efficiently and in a timely manner. If you have a realtor who doesn’t have many years of experience, this will waste valuable time and money while he is still working on perfecting his craft.

5) Give the home have a warm and welcoming feel- If the walls in your home are painted in vibrant colors tone them down with neutral shades of tan and beige. This will allow perspective buyers to picture their own furniture in the home without distraction. Set the mood with lightly scented candles in the bedrooms and bathrooms. Soft calming music in the background will give the buyer a relaxed comfortable feeling. Buy new linens for the beds and throw pillows for the sofas. Give your home that “homey” feeling that everyone is looking for.

6) Do your research- Go to open houses and check out the other houses that are on the market in your area. See what they have to offer a potential buyer. If they have a cozy seating area in the master bedroom, create your own cozy seating area to entice those potential buyers. You would be surprised at the things you can do with just a few over-sized throw pillows and a window with a view. Gather ideas from other houses and use your imagination for the rest.

7) Offer incentives to potential buyers- When a buyer is interested in purchasing your home but wants you to come down on the price, try using other incentives instead. For instance, you may want to offer to pay the buyer closing costs. This is always tempting to buyers since it will save them money, allowing them to have more money for a down payment. Some sellers choose to throw in appliances such as the refrigerator, dishwasher or washer/dryer.

In a buyer’s market, the seller has the task of being inventive in finding a way of moving his property. Making the sale is not always a piece of cake, but with a bit of effort, it can still be done quite successfully.

Senior citizens need love, care and attention just as a child requires. But, due to some unavoidable conditions, it becomes difficult for the family members to make adjustments amongst themselves. Also, caring for the elderly is a bit tricky. They need medical professionals and nursing care round the clock depending upon their physical state. Fortunately, there are elder care homes that provide care and protection to senior citizens who are vulnerable and need help. Some of the important senior care services are:

Nursing facility: Some senior citizen homes are provided with intensive nursing care professionals who are ideal option for highly dependent patients. People suffering from acute dementia, Alzheimer’s disease or critical ailments require 24 by 7 support. Nursing facilities of such kind are, sometimes, not possible to attain at home. Thus, these senior citizen homes are good option for keeping highly dependent elderly people.

Assisted living: With the growing age, people are not able to do all of their daily chores, especially those related to outdoors, on their own. They need help in buying groceries or for carrying out the banking procedures. Public dealings of various kinds require agility of mind which fades away with age. Thus, residences with assisted living facility help elder citizen live on their own and also provide assistance wherever required.

Independent living: There comes a stage in life when the people who have just retired from the job feel like giving complete time to themselves. They do not feel like staying bonded or burdened with family responsibilities. The period of life after job is the time when they can pursue what they actually loved but could not do so due to family obligations. So, for such group of people, there is an option of independent living too. Separate apartments, fully furnished in all possible ways, with home assistants are designed to suit the lifestyle of elderly people and on a meager rent, senior citizens can choose to stay there for as much time as desired.

Care at home: Some NGOs or care for senior citizens have designed programs to provide health care assistance to those elderly people who need assistance at home. Not all people are interested in moving out of their houses at old age. They love the familiar environment of home and prefer staying among the memories they built there over the years. Also, moving to new residence is something they cannot afford too, due to poor health or financial restrictions. Thus, senior care services at home are ideal solution for such elderly people.

Everybody can do their bit by contributing to any of the causes related to senior citizens care. They can contribute to the building expense of the health care home for elderly, or sponsor the assisted living program of any such needy person.

Health care programs for elderly require volunteers, professionals, and resources. Some donors may also choose to provide their services free of cost, or sponsor food and medicines for the residents of health care homes. All of these options are sure to earn you lot of mental peace as well as tax benefits.

As the temperature drops, problems arise especially to those living in log homes. Before the snow flies, make sure to inspect the condition of your logs. Pay attention to the areas of your home that are subject to splashing or accumulation of heavy snow.

Take the following pieces of advice to maintain your log homes cozy and energy – efficient during winter.

* Know your maintenance duties to deal with before winter starts

Inspect the chinked joints of your log homes. Pay special attention to seals at corners and in vulnerable locations close to the ground, where rain or snow from previous winters may have weathered or loosened the sealant. If the sealant is damaged, pull it off and replace it.

Sometimes, what you only need is touch up gaps. In other instances, you might have to remove the sealant and replace it. Never add new sealant on top of the old, loose materials because this will only join the old one allowing air and water in your log wall.

Spray your log walls with a garden hose to determine if the wood preservative has been compromised. If water beads and runs off, they’re ok. If the wood darkens and stays damp – or you find gray or black splotches on the logs – its time to reapply a preservative.

Give your gutters a thorough cleaning, and make sure downspouts are free to carry water away from your home. Position splash blocks so water can’t reach the logs. Trim shrubs and don’t forget to rake leaves – they absorb moisture like a sponge and create conditions favorable to wood rot.

Call a professional to checkup your heating system thoroughly. Make sure that the furnaces, boilers and heat pumps are in good condition and do not forget to replace the filters. Check the fireplace chimneys if there are birds or chipmunks nesting there. Install a damper in the flue.
Examine the window glass seals and check if they’re carefully intact. Look if the area between the double – pane windows is clear and not cloudy.

* Prevent critters from hollowing up your log homes

Do not just sit there and wait for the critters. Remember the medical saying that it is always important to prevent than cure? This is also true to our case during winter season. So, get up and look for any opening in your roof which can allow critters to enter. Make sure to cover up the soft ball – size openings by heavy gauge wire mesh. Do not use light window screens because these can be easily chewed by these not so friendly creatures. Remember to check the crawlspaces that can provide entry to chipmunks, mice, squirrels and the like. After all, they are tenants during winter that do not pay rent at all.

* Avoid the formation of ice dams in your roof

When moist air inside your log homes settles underneath your roof, snow on top of it will melt; thus, ice dams form. The said melted water runs down the roof until it hits the overhung unheated roof and freezes. The ice tends to accumulate and forms a dam in that part of your roof and a fabulous ice sculpture will be formed. However, your problem will start here because this ice formation can destroy your gutters and create leaks into your roofs.

But don’t panic. You can still do something about it. If you log home has an attic, always inspect it regularly to make sure that the insulation layer is intact. Just in case you’re just on the planning stage of having a log home, you still have the chance to prevent this worse scenario. Involve yourself in the construction part of building your homes. Be sure that the workers will install vapor and insulation barriers to prevent having ice dams.

* Make sure window glass seals are intact

Create a seal that stops air and water as close to the surface as possible. Keep water from getting behind the trim. If you prefer to have the caulk seal visible around the window and door trim, remove the trim and seal behind it before replacing. But remember that exposed cavities between logs and trims provide habitat for the insects during warm weather. Thus, make sure your window glass seals are intact. If there is cloudiness in between the double – pane windows, that means the seal has been broken. Call a window manufacturer or window company to replace the glass units.

* Check your wood burning place

During winter, everyone loves to sit in front of the roaring blaze set in the fireplace. If you don’t want to spoil your ultimate time to warm your body, get ready for the winter. Install glass doors to prevent the warm air to go out.

Consider the installation of dampers to the chimneys. When the fireplace is not in use, cold air settles in the chimney and flows through the damper back inside your home. A top damper seated on the op of the chimney and prevents the water and air to come in.

These are just some of the tips we can check out when the winter season comes. This will definitely ensure the safety and comfort of the log home owners.

Earthbag building (sometimes called sandbag building) is surely one of the lowest cost, most practical building methods. First used by the military for building durable, bullet and blast resistant structures, this building method has recently experienced a surge of interest among do-it-yourself builders. There are now an estimated 1,000 to 1,500 earthbag structures, including homes, offices, shops, schools, temples, clinics, orphanages and even ecovillages.

One of the strongest selling points is affordability. A simple earthbag dome, for example, using recycled grain bags and earth can be built for around $100. A larger, more comfortable home can be built for around $500-$1000. The EarthDome House at Terrasante Village in Tucson, Arizona is just one example.

Earthbags are ideal for owner-builders. The necessary skills for each step of construction can be learned in a few minutes. It boils down to simply filling bags with an appropriate fill material (typically subsoil or gravel) and tamping them solid. It doesn’t get much simpler than that. Also, few tools are required – shovels, buckets, garden hose. The few additional tools needed (tamper, slider) can be made cheaply and easily.

Earthbag buildings are sustainable since they are made primarily of earth from or near the building site. Earthbag domes do not require wood, thereby reducing pressure on our forests. Expensive concrete foundations are not required if you use gravel-filled bags. In addition, these structures are safe, quiet, nontoxic, rodent proof, and fire, hurricane and flood resistant.

Energy efficiency is another strong plus in favor of building with bags. The massive earth walls stabilize interior temperatures in hot climates. In cold and hot climates, earthbags can be filled with an insulating material, such as lava rock, pumice, vermiculite or perlite. Some builders are experimenting with rice hulls for insulation, which are often free for the taking. In general, lightweight insulating materials (such as those just mentioned) require far less labor than those of tamped earth and provide comfort through the harshest winters or hottest summers.

Earthbags can also be used to create underground (root/storm cellars, etc.) or earth-bermed structures, privacy and retaining walls, planters, furniture (built-in benches, etc.), and many other uses. Earthbags are very adaptable and work just as well for domes as they do for structures with vertical walls. They also excel at creating free-form, curving structures.

As earthbag building grows by leaps and bounds, NGOs and other organizations are exploring their use for emergency shelters. Millions of victims of wars and natural disasters need low cost housing and temporary shelter. More durable than tarps and more comfortable than tents, earthbags work perfectly since even unskilled workers can build their own shelters – all without destroying local resources.