Happy Thanksgiving!

Fed plan seen as housing boon

$600 billion spending plan should help interest rates
BY MATT CARTER, TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 2008.
Inman News

Anyone planning to buy or refinance a home with a conforming loan is soon likely to have more buying power thanks to a $600 billion government program to purchase mortgage-backed securities and debt issued by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae.

The plan should keep interest rates on loans eligible for purchase by Fannie and Freddie down, even if the demand for mortgage-backed securities weakens with the slowdown in the global economy. That, in turn, should provide support for housing markets, supporters of the plan said.

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Our new contract due diligence clause

From The Back Woods...

Okay... If you can't reach me by phone, email me instead. This is where I have been spending my evenings. Out in the back woods!

However, I do have my Blackberry cell phone with me and I am checking and answering emails from my blind.

To see some photos of my hunting spot, go to the Gladwin Real Estate Fun Page. They are posted there.

Remember this MONSTER Buck from the 2006 Firearm Deer Season?

Remember this huge buck? Well... I am looking for more photos to post on the Trophy Page for 2008.

You you have a great trophy photo to share and the deer was taken in either Gladwin, Clare, Roscommon or Midland Counties, please send me you photo with the details and I will post it on this page: CLICK HERE

Don't forget to visit my Michigan Outdoor Resource Page. Get your e-license, look at game charts, find out your deer's age and even participate in a hunting forum. I hope you find the information useful there.

Happy Hunting!

Accidental Photo-Op - Michigan Realtor Magazine

LOL! Made it into the Michigan Realtor Magazine by accident. There's me, chatting we another Realtor. Jim is in the photo too, but facing away from the camera. This was taken at the Real Estate Convention in Detroit this past September.

(Click on the photos to enlarge view)

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Purchase offers: How low is too low? (Inman News)

REThink Real Estate
BY TARA-NICHOLLE NELSON, THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 2008.
Inman News

Q: How low of an offer should I make on a 4-bedroom, 3-bath house in Atlanta listed at $300,000? It's not a short sale or an REO, but I searched the title records and found out that the owners paid only $90,000 for it about 10 years ago.

A: The answer to your question is, as with everything in real estate, "it depends." As you can probably already tell, you're not going to get a straight dollar amount answer from me. The decision of how much to offer on any particular property is, in my opinion, the single toughest decision a home buyer has to make once he or she has selected a property -- in fact, this is the single most frequently asked question I receive.

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