Gary White FlexIt Realty~Real Estate & Updates, Grand Rapids & West Michigan

Washington somehow thinks that most Americans don't know what they do behind closed doors.  Me I think it is lucky for them we don't know!

I can relate to this pretty easy though.

We pull up to a home for a showing as a buyer's agent...our client has no clue what is behind that front door and most of the time neither do we.

It reminds me of the Price is Right!  You never know what your are going to get.

That is how I feel about congress.  You may think they have things under control the rhetoric sounds good and then....out from behind closed doors pops a whole new direction contrary to everything that is good for America.

It's all very hush hush, they worked through the night (poor souls) and then...you find out you have been had.  What looked like a good plan ends up being completely different.  Why?  Because it didn't fit what the power mongers wanted, the old guard that have rank and privledge.  I think they have hung around to long and most Americans can take them or leave them pretty easily.

Sometimes we find the perfect home...yet the seller thinks his home is a palace even though there is a wide selection on the market.  So the buyer has choices.  The sellers home is a bit nicer, less work to make the desired changes....$20,000 nicer probably not.  The buyer walks and the seller wonders what happened.

Today a majority was attained by Republicans with over 80 Democrats voting agaist their Democratic party lines to defeat a the bill.  Why?  Too many strings.  It could have been any number of issues to cause the bill to turned down.  One thing for sure, they would have not voted against their party if they thought the bill, once revealed to the public would have helped them get re-elected.  That is something you can take to the bank.  Ever see a dog on a chain chase a cat?  When he comes to the end of the chain the chase is over and many times the dog is too!  

Where were the holes in the plan?  Who knows it was secret.  But what we do know is, if those that voted against the bill would have thought the American people would have accepted the proposal their vote would have been for the bill in a heartbeat.  They felt they had a better chance with their face on a milk carton than voiting for that bill.   

Instead they knew the only thing that would be needed after the vote, if the bill was as bad as they thought, was a forensics team checking the DNA of the bodies left behind for identification!

So when we are taking buyers out looking at homes and they wonder what is behind door Number 1 you can smile....you don't know either!

A bill will be passed but it is going to take someone with the skill and leadership to make it happen.  The signal was on Wall Street today....it closed down 777!  That ought to even make the non-believers take notice.

What do you think?

Let me see if I can put some perspective on the situation.

Millions of folks are out of work, gas prices have double since last year, home values are falling and we (congress) is wondering on what to do?

Hell, I could talk to anyone on the street and they would have a more fiscal answer than what we hear at these staged news updates by our congressional leadership!

Think of it another way...we have a Republican Lame Duck for President, lame more ways than one!  We have a Democratic controlled congress who is in the drivers seat playing politics with the future of America and we are supposed to think it is OK.

I think my new title is "Are YOU Smarter Than A Fifth Grader"!  We know congress isn't.  Congress waits long enough and money will have no value at all!

I am not one to rush to judgment but has this issue of the economy and foreclosures been going on awhile?

Was the public the only one that could see we are in trouble?

OK, they (congress) recognized a problem....let's talk about it.  Have you ever heard the old cliche' "Roman is burning and you want to TALK"?

I loved the comment this morning by Nancy Polloser (POL Loser).  Wall Street...."The Party is Over"!  (I know I spelled her name wrong, it was on purpose.  She should be voted out...hope her constituents are watching.)

OK, again who is going to be the losers here with that statement?  Not Nancy.  It is going to be Americans 401K's, peoples retirement accounts, college funds not Wall Street.  Couldn't she have said...."we are still hopeful we can get an agreement...we have more work to do"? 

NO, she couldn't say that, you know why?  It wouldn't be controlling and powerful to make her important.  Little does she know becoming important at the expense of other people will be remembered by the American people a lot longer when it is time to vote!

It is time to vote for people that will make a difference.  It does not have to be party politics...it has to be America First Politics and that hasn't been done in a long time, maybe ever in my lifetime!

We don't want another bailout that is going to be frougt with corruption or pork barrel spending and ear-marks for special interest groups.  We all must agree something has to be done. 

The how and now are the issues.  Look we can make adjustments on the way to clean up any overlooked option which there always are oversights.

Send your congressman and House of representative an email.  Let them know is isn't Politics as usual...it is "America First Politics"!

If you don't know who your congressman or House representative is..Google them and get their email.

I wished I had a million people read this blog and send emails.  It's time for action, leadership and resolve.

What do your think?

HUD announced Friday that Kent Count and the city of Grand Rapids Michigan will receive more than 10 million dollars to help acquire and rehabilitate foreclosed homes.

This is a huge!  The spill over benefits for buyers, builders, re modelers and the local banking system is untold.

HUD's community Block Grant program is going to get 6.2 million dollars.  Kent County will receive 3.9 million dollars.

The program is part of the revitalization efforts to stabilize neighborhoods that have been ravaged by foreclosures.  The details and exact requirements are not fully disclosed at this time.

How the bailout could impact this news released by HUD is also not clear at this time.  Knowing that Kent County and the city of Grand Rapids is ear marked for these grants should have the community breathing a big sigh of relief.

The grand rapids real estate market is down substantially from last year and the foreclosure sales hovers at 50% of the total monthly sales for residential homes on the Grand Rapids MLS.

The administrate of the funds, who qualifies all have to be made public...which will happen over the next few weeks.

This comes on the heals of the announcement that the State of Michigan is in a depression.  Who knew?  Everybody but our elected officials apparently!

We need the right elected officials that will help to regulate opportunities for businesses to grow and add jobs in Michigan.  We need more than advertising.

For this community and county the grants could not be more welcome or timely.

Thanks for stopping by my Grand Rapids Real Estate blog. 

FlexIt Realty is a HUD Authorized Broker.  Find out how you can Bid on HUD and Foreclosure Homes for pennies on the dollar!  Call or Email for your "Free List of HUD or Foreclosed Property List"  Let us know the area or City you would like to see.  Call Toll Free: 877-667-4699
Email: garywhite@FlexItRealty.com  Free Reports on our Website: www.FlexItRealty.com   Local Number 616-784-2360

Active Rain may be new to some folks others that have been here from the beginning are like "old shoes" comfortable and willing to help.

Me, I am not one of the "old shoes" but willing to help just the same.

What I have found over the last couple years is a wealth of information.  Some of the members probably should be writing articles for magazines and information services, how-to guides, teaching classes, creating instruction manuals that they can sell.  The talent on Active Rain runs deep...you don't have to wait for a rainy day....it rains wisdom everyday.  Pick a category and find some of the most informed talented professionals related to the housing industry, offering up to date cutting edge commentary.

This combines the workings of a social network, a professional blog site blended with the consumer who can comment, read and take advantage of specific information at their finger tips.

Where else can you have a blend of cultures, education and backgrounds pour informative posts categorized at the click of a button?  Most blogs have a narrow and specific approach with strict limitations to subject matter.  That in turn narrows the readership, the membership and the exposure to a very select group of bloggers.

Active Rain has taken a broader brush stroke to allow for a wide range of topics and thus the membership has exploded and continues to grow.

The public is finding many of the professionals who participate on Active Rain as a professional to turn to for their personal real estate related needs.  The reason is because they can get to know the person without ever meeting them....much the same way as we develop member friends that we have never met.

The referrals, the friendships and clients created by membership to Actice Rain impact our business and our lives.

I usually don't write this type of post...but I thought it was time...I have received more than I have given since joining Active Rain.  So I thought I would share a little of why I am still here after over 700 posts.

So use your seach option on the top of the tool bar.  Plug in a topic of interest and see what pops up you may be pleasantly surprised!

Thanks for stopping by, visit my website for more information and "Free Reports" if you are looking to sell or buy in Michigan.  It's free, simple and yours with a click of the keyboard.  Click on the Website Below.

Website: www.FlexItRealty.com  Want personal service?
Call Toll Free: 877-667-4699  Authorized HUD Broker
Buy homes for pennies on the dollar!

I made a cold call today on a home of a young couple.  I was told they had been moving furniture out slowly over the last several weeks.

The neighbors thought they were moving.  The fact is they are not moving...they are going into foreclosure and didn't know what to do.  He has a good job, she is on medical leave and they have two small children.

So what happened?  They were caught by a medical emergency and the insurance didn't cover it.  So as most people will do....the bill was out of sight, they tried to work out a payment plan.  They shared financial information with the hospital and said the amount they could afford to pay.  The hospital wanted all their savings and then they would do the payment plan otherwise it was off to court and wage garnishment.

So they handed over their savings and went on the payment plan.  Then the wife who had the medical emergency...her employer informed her that she had to return to work of lose her job.  She had not been released by the doctor but the company policy was only so many days and that was the policy.  The doctor said no...she tried anyway...she couldn't afford to lose he job.  She couldn't do it.  She was fired and replaced. 

They couldn't pay the mortgage or meet the hospital obligations on his salary alone.  They juggled tried and it just was impossible.  Of course the hospital garnished his wages, adding insult to injury. 

As I was being told this story the young couples children play close by not knowing their lives are going to change drastically.

The wife had tears streaming down her face.  He (the husband) was doing the best he could not to cry and they had me choked up too!

They weren't moving they had been selling furniture and odds and ends to help make ends meet.  She had an aneurysm and required brain surgery.  She is blessed to be alive.

So here is the rest of the story.  They had no idea what to do...like so many others that have a Sheriff's notice pasted to their front door.  They were embarrassed, they were hurt that the lender wouldn't work with them, they were appalled to be in the situation.  The only thing they could do was nothing, or so they thought.  They had no money and they had no advocate to help them....That advocate was a Realtor that understood how to handle foreclosures and short sales. 

You do not have to go through foreclosure.  You do not have to be embarrassed...100,000's across the US are facing the same issues for one reason or another, loss of jobs, health, divorce and death.  Any number of reasons can cause a bankruptcy or foreclosure. 

You only have to know one thing!  Who to call!  You can get help that will give you a chance.  Waiting until it is to late by doing nothing is going to give nothing in return.

Don't wait, call a Real Estate Professional that understands and will help you!

If you think you are going to be in trouble and you live in Michigan, give me a call for a confidential interview.  If your home is not listed and you have fallen behind in payments don't wait for the Sheriff to paste a foreclosure notice on your door.  Act today...Call Today!

Toll Free 877-667-4699 or
Email: FlexItRealty@FlexItRealty.com   Website: www.FlexItRealty.com

There are thousand of people from Realtors, factory workers, truck drivers, teachers, investment bankers, nurses, retail store employees, small business owners all feeling what you are feeling.

Nobody told us life was going to be easy.  We joke sometimes when people have the blessing of babies come into their lives...there isn't a training manual!  Life is like that too.  There isn't a training manual.

Nobody thought the people sworn to protect us ( our elected officials), look out for our best interests would put their interests ahead of ours, the people of the United States.

All we can do is the best we can do....or is it?  I hear people say that little phrase..."all I can do is the best I can do".  Sometimes falling short isn't because we did our best.  It is because we gave up.  We didn't take the next step...so things just went out of control and it was to late.

I remember a training class I had years ago.  The class was asked why they wanted to be a real estate agent?  What was keeping them in the business?  The class looked at each other..no one was ready to give an answer, then a broker stood up and said,...."I found something I really like and can make a difference in people's lives.  The day I passed my test and was granted my real estate license I took off my construction boots and have never put them on again.  I tied the laces together and look at them hanging in my closet everyday before putting on my tie and going to work".

I never forgot his answer.  I would suspect there are many answers why people do what they do...but the best one is because you really like what you do, it isn't work. 

Real Estate agents can continue to learn more each day!  They can attend specialized classes specific to real estate.  Like any profession with advanced training comes advanced skill sets.  Pilots can take courses to use night instruments, jet training, rotary wing (helicopters) while surgeons learn so they can operate alone and not be the assistant.  Clerks can go from stocking shelves to running the cash register.  It is in all walks of life that people can move up within their organizations but they have to put forth the effort. 

So when people lose their jobs...sometimes they just simply have to move to find work.  Sometimes downsizing or renting instead of owning is the temporary answer to get our budgets back on track.

That can be a very devastating option.  Leaving what you love is gut wrenching and emotionally damaging.  It may not be forever but now is the forever or at least it seems that way.  If you need help seek out services, Google agencies in your area.  Don't wait.  If you know you are going to have a problem making you payments...act now call a Professional Realtor that has the training and skills to help you avoid "Foreclosure".

Things may be bad...but you are not down and you are not out!  You just are a bit off balance and need the skills of a professional to help you get past the bump in the road. :-)

Remember, being embarrassed is temporary caused by circumstances you couldn't control.  Letting yourself or your family go into foreclosure when you don't have too is a life altering event. 

Call a Professional Realtor that understands and has foreclosure training.  Put the brakes on foreclosure, sell your property, try to maintain your credit.

If you or a loved one is facing foreclosure and has not done anything and they live in Michigan give us a call.  We will offer you or them a confidential consultation to see how we can stop the foreclosure or salvage your credit with a short sale. 
Call Toll Free: 888-667-4699
Email: GaryWhite@FlexItRealty.com
Go to our Website for more details:  www.FlexItReatly.com

Do you ever feel like you get up and every day is the same with the same results at the end of the day?

One of the keys to changing the cycle of your "Ground Hog Day" experience is change itself.  We all know the old saying, "doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result", is the definition of insanity. 

For many of us, agents and clients, that is exactly what we do.  We call our client list, we look out the window to see who is driving by our listing, we place the same ad in the same publication that didn't work last time.  We talk to the same people, we say the same things....we start all over the next day and end up with the same result!  Why are we surprised?

If buyers are not coming to your listings...would you venture to take a wild guess there is something wrong?  It might be the marketing plan, it could be the price...it might be both but if nobody is coming and other homes are selling there is no mystery...some body has to make a change or it will be the same thing repeated day after day.

Open houses not working, nobody coming to them?  Seller upset that their house is lingering on the market after 20 showings without and offer?  Guess what, they should be upset.  They should be upset with themselves and you for not making a change so they are getting offers. 

Our job isn't to do the same thing over and over....IF....it isn't working!  Clients can help us sell homes by pricing them within the market.  Clients can help by having the home in top condition, they can help by allowing us to show the property with flexibility in showing times, clients can help by staging the home to sell.  One thing a client can't do is help us if we don't ask!

The market is a moving target....last months price may be overpriced!  I check my listings weekly to make sure we are priced competitively. 

Some of the seller frustrations are based on lack of communications.  They don't know what is happening or going on around them.  They listen to co-workers, relatives, newscasts....but they don't hear from their agents...the one person they hired and thought was going to help them sell.

I send off a quick email every week.  A market update with general information of market information and news.  With technology we can communicate quickly and easily.  If they do not have a email address the other helpful technology advance is mass phone broadcasts.  This is a pre-recorded message that mimics your weekly newsletter market update.  Clients can call you if they have questions, but you are in touch and communicating.  If they are home they listen to your update when they answer.  If they are not home they have a personal message from you waiting for them to hear.

This is set up at the time you list the property normally but you can start today and change from the "Ground Hog Day" syndrome.

You and your clients will be happy and you will not wake up in the morning doing the same thing over and over again...you both will be looking at the market from the same perspective everyday!

Hope this helps!

If you are a seller in Michigan, haven't listed yet or your listing has expired and you still want to sell...give us a call or drop us an Email for a confidential personal appointment at a time convenient to you.  We design marketing programs to meet YOUR needs.  "We turn For Sale signs into Sold signs"!

If you are a licensed agent in Michigan and are thinking of a brokerage change or leaving the business, give me a call or drop me a confidential email.  It may be the best career decision you ever made.

Call Toll Free: 877-667-4699  Email: GaryWhite@FlexItRealty.com

Selling your home can be a challenge, in a buyers market it can be even more challenging.  Here are some tips that can help you sell your home faster and for more money!

Stop back often for more selling and buying tips.

You can go to our website:  www.FlexItRealty.com and find over 30 "FREE" reports that can save you thousands of dollars in your next real estate transaction.

Remember we are "only a Call or Click away"!

Call Toll Free: 877-667-4699  Email:  garywhite@flexitrealty.com

All rights reserved.  FlexIt Realty® is a Michigan corporation.

Round and round where she goes nobody knows!

The was a chant you could hear going down the midways of carnivals, as they spun the wheel and the ticker clacked away, anxious on lookers hoping to win a prize.

Today the stock market is on a bumpy ride up one day down the next...then back up.  Financial markets are singing the blues and home owners are stunned by the plummeting values of their homes and fortunes.

You can see the concerned.  The financial and housing market news is on everyone lips, they are wondering what is going to happen next.  Yet in the midst of this economic "crisis", my term because that is the position it has placed many families, investment gains in the real estate market are happening all over the country.

How can that be?  Simple!  If you have money and good credit now is the time to expand into investment properties.  Buy low and rent.  People have to live somewhere.  Why not in one of your rentals?  Why not in one of the many single family homes that are on the market for half the purchase price through foreclosure and bankruptcy?

Many of these homes are located in great neighborhoods, sound school systems, close to shopping and offer a real opportunity to rent and maintain occupancy for extended periods of time, even years. 

If you are looking for a return on your investment...wall street sure isn't it, 401K's are in the cellar...but real estate investing can offer an immediate cash flow and a ROI (return of Investment).  Interest rates are still low...as the market changes you will have to put 20% down but the return in rent, depreciations and appreciation over the next 10 years may have you humming a different tune.

Think of the market in a way that makes you money.  You can wait and see what happens but if you screen your rental clients you can have a very profitable opportunity while others are singing the blues...you will be keenly looking for the next rental to increase your wealth.  You may be singing but it won't be the blues!

Give me a call if live in Michigan and want to know more about investing in a down market.  It could be one of the best wealth building decisions you have made.

Call Toll FREE: 877-667-4699
                       or
Email: GaryWhite@FlexItRealty.com

It was some guy in congress looking for votes that said, everyone deserves to have the American Dream, home ownership. 

Then to help make the American Dream come true someone else said, our guidelines of having people be tied to the responsibility of home ownership are too restrictive!  Let's give them a ZERO down program then people from all walks of life can buy a home!

So with little thought of the financial consequences lenders said, no problem, Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae will insure these loans.... lets figure out how to make money providing the American Dream.

So let's see if we can simplify this....the borrower doesn't have any money down, the lender can turn over the property to the government backed insured loan and get almost all their money...leaving the tax payer holding the bill (bag)

Better yet the LTV on the property isn't worth what the mortgage was written for....yet the lender wants all his money...the buyer walked destorying the property and the public (tax payer) funds the whole thing!  Sounds like something congress would do.  No checks, except ours, no balances....and everybody walks and the CEO's get a bonus.  Now that is pretty much it in a nutshell simplified...but pretty accurate.

Of course Realtors, title companies, insurance companies, appraisers anyone else connected to the business of selling, financing or insuring homes had a big ride.  That sound about right to everyone so far?  I didn't say that those of us that are Realtors or the title companies, appraisers did anything wrong..the opportunity to serve was there and we did it.  Well maybe some of the appraisers had a hand in value issues when providing numbers to lenders.

I know this is a simplistic view of the process but nevertheless pretty close to factual.  The lenders threw out the window fiscal responsibility.  Zero down even 110% LTV (loan to value) loans were given.  In the not to distant past lenders would have required something down. 

That was to restrictive not everyone could come up with 1, 3 or 5% down to get a loan.  The numbers that told the borrower that your loan to debt ratio was a critical issue were out the window too!  Everything was fair game.  Manipulated so anyone with a pulse could qualify.  Greed reigned supreme.

Now here is where I have to say....if the loan is available and people use it why do we want to blame them?  I don't, they didn't know gas was going to hit 4 bucks a gallon...they didn't know their weekly grocery bill was going to double and they didn't know the economy was going to take as part of the loan process they participated in at the time.

People have some tough choices when it comes to feeding the kids and going to work over paying the mortgage.  The mortgage that they stand to lose nothing but their credit score.  The mortgage that the lenders hand over to the insuring party....WHO....everyone paying taxes...us, you!  The insured value is about 80% of the actual loan...so you can see the losses are stagering for companies to go out of business if they can't stand to lose 20%.  That also suggests this was a house of cards and any blimp in the economic winds would blow the house down. 

Now do I feel sorry for the big firms that dumped economic prudence down the tube for short term profitability...NOPE.  Do I feel bad for those people that stepped up and took advantage of a loan that qualified them for a home that in any other time in history they would not have been able to buy?  NOPE.

These loans looked good at the time...and most that took advantage of these loans did so with a dream in mind.  They looked at home ownership as a way of gaining a step up in the world.  Who can blame them.

We are all going to pay for the congress, our elected officials, sworn to protect us for letting business and greed over shadow common sense. 

The loan to value principle has been around for hundreds of years.  Down payments have been a way of life for Americans.  A free ride hasn't been something anyone expected.  But that too became part of the deal.

So where are we headed?  The wacky days of zero down unless a private party puts up the dough are gone.  It probably with be gone forever.  Sure there are down payment assistance programs...those too may fade.  The sellers will be able to assist buyers with closing cost and prepaids but will lending rules change so the buyer has to put some money of their own down?  I personally think that is where we are headed.

Do I think we are going to see a very conservative loan policy, by most lenders, like we seen in the late 80's, I think so.

Do I think we are going to see a whole flurry of new rules placed on lenders...that is for certain.

Do I think you will be able to buy a home with good credit?  Absolutely.

Do I think you will be able to find deals in this market?  Absolutely.

Do I think it is time to act now while rates are as low as they are going to go...ABSOLUTELY!  If you are thinking about buying...NOW is the time to do it!

The lending regulations are going to change.  The lending rules are changing daily right now.  So if you want to take advantage of a great buyers market while you can....now is the time!

If you are a buyer in Michigan and not under contract, want information on great buys give me a call.  We'll talk about what you want, get you poised to make the purchase of a lifetime.

Don't wait thinking the rates are going to get better or that the prices are going to go down.  If the lending guidelines change you may not be able to buy that home!  Do it NOW, while the rates and lending rules are in place so you can buy.

Why take a chance on the lending guidelines changing and the down payment requirements going up too.  Sellers know they have to be priced right to sell.  My job is to help you get the best buy possible.  I know how to do that...all you have to do is qualify and we find the right home that is perfect for you.  You could not have picked a better time!

There are more homes to choose from which means you have more choices and options to select a home that is perfect for you and your family.  Call or Email today be on your way to owning your dream home at a bargain price. 

Call Toll Free: 877-667-4699 Email: GaryWhite@FlexitRealty.com