Man everyone has an opinion about what the subprime mortgage problem will do to the market...hello, we are over here! I said this 18 months ago I will say it again, Flint is at the front of the real estate trend, we will be at the front of the recovery because we get it.

Here is what the CEO of Coldwell Banker had to say about the subprime problems in America. Notice the excitement about doing business on the other side of the world!

Anyway:

Good news from the Detroit Free Press on property assessments in Michigan, (maybe the guy quoted in the story above should read the Free Press! Also notice in this article about homes there are no ads for out of state real estate interlopers like you get on MLive or ABC12! How cool.

Another Story out of the Free Press. UGH.

We almost hit 8000 listing on ChangingStreets.com today, 7799. I remember when ChangingStreets.com had shirts printed that said "see over 4000 listings"! That would still be over a 12 month supply in todays market.

REBA loves her some Elvis, you know. When I die I don't want any preaching or eulogy. Just play IF I CAN DREAM over and over until people "get it". Then skip the dinner and go out and do something good. The first album I ever got was the MOODY BLUE album. Does anyone remember that? The vinyl was actually blue. I loved it! I later learned that 2 of the songs off that album were recorded in Ann Arbor and a third, IF YOU LOVE ME (LET ME GO) was recorded at the April 1977 concert at the Saginaw Civic Center. Did you know that? My Parents were at that concert. They took me to the May 3, 1977 concert at the Civic Center. I was 7 years old all "elvised up" in a peach jumpsuit with lip gloss and open toe wedge shoes. 3 months later he was dead. How crazy is that? It was a pretty sad day at our house. Just today we were looking at pictures of me, Mom, and Aunt D on Elvis Presley Blvd, the masses of funeral flowers and the white hearst. We stood in the street for hours and waited for the funeral procession to come through. These are amazing memories for me, and you're only getting the tip of the iceberg cus I'm trying not to stray too far off topic! Someone asked me today what the big deal is. Why are we people still so crazy about him. I can't speak for everyone else but besides the concerts and the Tennessee vacations, Elvis songs were in the background of nearly every day of my life. And it all has such good warm feelings attached. I am only 38 and most of the people who formed me are gone now... and even though life isn't as carefree as it was then, when I hear those songs I FEEL good again. And when I watch the footage, especially IF I CAN DREAM from that 1968 concert... I can see my Mom again, dancing around the room singing and dancing with me. Roll that all up and that's why Elvis is still a big deal to me. Now here's the tidbit.... Did you know that when Elvis bought Graceland in 1957 he paid $100,000!!! CRAZY!

I will relate this to Real Estate by saying that it is a recommendation for all the recent Home Buyers in Burton, and certainly not a shameless plug...

A dear friend of a dear friend of mine recently purchased PALIANIS Restaurant in Burton. (Lapeer Rd at Belsay) She's from Burton, her cousin previously owned it, and she recently moved back home from SAN FRANCISCO to buy it. A group of us girls met there tonight for the Wednesday night buffet and it was so amazing. Traditional and specialty pizzas and pastas, salad, stromboli and breadsticks. If you haven't been there before they have the most incredible cream cheese dip for the bread sticks to which you will become addicted. Home made cheese cake!!! You've just GOT to check it out!

Also, how about a SHOUT OUT to Marina for making her investment in Flint! She has some cool ideas to bring some new experiences and culture to little ol' Burton in the future! BACIONI!

If a purchase agreement has expired with neither a closing nor release of contingency, and the Buyer has lost confidence in the transaction/home due to delays and feet dragging from the other side, is the buyer free to take his emd and walk away from the deal?

If you think this movie is not a sign of things to come, just scroll your local cable listings.

I just searched and found more "reality" tv than I could stomach. "Flavor of Love" the "Tori & Dean; Inn Love", WAY too many real estate shows, "Big Brother".....

It is only a matter of time.

Granted "Rob & Big" is the 3rd best show on TV behind Weeds and "Boston Legal". Who doesn't love Denny Crain.

Dumming down of America? What do you think?

Need more proof I am drinking my Brawndo and watching a show on house flipping. ROFL!

This is great question in todays market.

Like Reba you get sick and tired of seeing what is happening, especially when kids are involved. There should be a law that the lender that gave the 4th mortgage for the snowmobiles has to pay to house the children!

But to the question. ChangingStreets.com statistically does the best job (of all companies )of saving their buyers money. The interesting part is they also do a very good job of protecting their sellers interest.

John is correct, he is looking out for his family.

I personally do all I can to get a strategic advantage when negotiating, my clients demand the best representation, what can I find out about the seller, what do they owe, do they own another home, why are they selling, what is their motivation...likewise when I represent the seller, why does the buyer want this home, what else are they considering.

But more than anything else I size up the other agent, how hungry are they? How hard will they work to get MY client what they want.

I actually saw a foreclosed person leaving their home for the second to last time in a brand new truck, pulling a new bass boat, and was coming back for the four wheelers in the garage.

Truly interesting times.

Good points on both sides.

Some sellers make really bad decisions by listing with the person/company they do, I hate to say it but it is true. Example....ChangingStreets.com has sold 180 homes this year with 13 agents, the second largest independent company has sold 160 homes with over 50 agents. Do the math on a per agent basis. One company is on pace to have agents average 21 homes per agent (the top companies in the country this year will average 12), the other company is on pace to have their average agent (average agent is being generous) sell 6. Yet this company has over 220 active listings right now (ChangingStreets.com has 110-do the math). Sellers making bad decisions. Reba I hate to say it, but If seller read this blog they would know the truth and could protect themselves, if they don't....what can you do. Buddy has been trying to save the world for years now, I hate to say it, the world does not want to be saved.

They want a new snowmobile, or the false sense of superior intelligence. Whatever floats your bass boat.

Man is my spelling bad! LOL. Well read, calculator for a brain, the ability to see into the future, can't spell a lick.

Hey, I just have a thought to add to Buddy's advice from the other day. He identified some bad mortgage business as having a major part in driving the foreclosures up. Then he basically gave us the good advice to save/buy now and get a good deal/live beneath our means. I have a secondary group to blame and some advice of my own. You know, "getting a good deal" doesn't have to include taking advantage of anyone. If the house is already a steal at 20k below where it should be and you're comfortable with the payment, BUY THE DARN HOUSE!!! Don't negotiate to the point that your Seller has to wipe his tears off the paper as he signs. The couple thousand dollars makes no difference in your payment, but it requires the Seller to beg and borrow the money it will take for him to BRING to closing. I hear about this and experience it in my deals so much and it makes me so mad. It hurts people and it hurts the market. Isn't this the stupidest situation... Seller is on the verge of losing his house. He's already priced lower than everyone else and the house is an amazing deal. Buyer comes along and is so excited to learn that the seller is in a bad way, then walks away from negotiating because he doesn't feel that the Seller is motivated and willing to work with him. THINK ABOUT IT BUYERS! If the Seller had extra money floating around he wouldn't be losing his house. So why in the world would you haggle over a few thousand dollars? How can he come to closing if he can't come up with the money? So what happens? The Guy loses the house and it becomes another foreclosure. Maybe I am oversimplifying, but it seems to me if we'd just buy the freaking houses at good and fair prices instead of trying to screw our neighbors we'd all be much better off.

Pretty interesting couple of days in the world of real estate.

Huge mortgage companies are falling off the face of the earth; See Home Banc & American Home Mortgage (not to be confused with the local Amerihome Mortgage, which is a model for how mortgage company should be run).

French officials halting trading on American Investment vehicles that contain subprime mortgages and markets all over the world falling. The dow took one on the chin. Whispers are coming out that this mortgage problem may actually see 1% of all US homeowners in foreclosure.

WHAT! 1%?!?!? Wake up!

Flint has areas with 40% foreclosures. Some Grand Blanc neighborhoods are 2-3%.

Buddy has said forever, literally forever and especially since this blog started "we have a huge problem".

We are in the 1st inning of this story. No one has asked were all the money from inflated appraisals and mortgage fraud went. I will give you hint...the creepy cousin of yours that is a Loan Officer probably bought a bunch of useless cheesy stuff with some poor families HOUSE!

Why are values going down, because the absorption rate for foreclosed homes is a lot slower and putting downward pricing pressure on all prices. In Flint I have seen 3 homes on Second Ave. go into forclosure with $90,000 loans on them and they were listed in the MLS for $10,000. Why are we not reading about jail time and restitution?

I am ranting, but I am angry.... and I want to see people step up and stop this crap from harming innocent people. I want the smart people and the others that care make a stand. I want to see families suck it up and pay down their debt. I want people realize they screwed up and work to fix it.

Jeez, I saw a home that sold for $249,000 23 months ago listed for $209,000 pending short sale. The house was worth $270,000 when they bought it and is still even in this market because of its uniqueness worth $249,000 all day long. But the agent listed it with the bank taking the hit! GUESS WHO THE BANK IS FOLKS? YOU! Lazy agent! Irresponsible sellers. Let someone else do it.

Buddy is accountable, Buddy pays his debts, Buddy spends less than he earns....Buddy is sick of lazy, irresponsible people screwing up his favorite town, state & country.

I guarentee someone reads this and calls Buddy a jerk and totally neglects to see the point.

Good people are getting victimized, Kids are going to suffer, and we are only talking about the situation not the problem or the solution. GOSH!

If you know someone with a 89 IQ that is a loan officer, punch them for me. They literally screwed up the American Dream.

Save, Save, Save, Buy a nice house now at a rediculously low price, get a 15 year mortgage and get on the right side of the growing wealth gap in our country.

A lot has been happening at ChangingStreets.com!

The new office looks great! If you haven't seen it or heard about it ChangingStreets.com has relocated headquarters to the Gateway Center in Mundy Twp. The office is brand new and build to fit ChangingStreets.com. The office is very cool we will get some photos up for all to see.

An open atmosphere to promote team and community, high exposed ceilings, a new server room and much, much, much more bandwidth to support the future growth of ChangingStreets.com technology efforts and a sign on I-75! The agents now have better access to every corner of the region and a much more synergystic work environment. Very cool indeed.

Adam Abt, Pat Oakes & Shannon Jones have taken over day-to-day operations as Scott Hoyt has headed south on a new venture. Scott maintains his financial interests in ChangingStreets.com and his position on the Flint Area Association of Realtors Board of Directors.

Adam, Pat & Shannon have done a fantastic job, ChangingStreets.com is UP in every catagory in 2007 vs. 2006 going against the grain in a tough market, and doing this through the stress of the new office build out and move. Fantastic job.

Scott is working with a team from the 7th largest real estate brokerage in the country, Real Living Inc. in launching a new division featuring a business model he helped create. A huge undertaking, and Buddy wishes him the best, he needs it. Moving to an area he has never been, selling a company no one there has heard of, developing a new model for a company he just joined while his family adjusts to a totally new area, with the goal of going from zero in sales to $500,000,000 in 30 months.....he mize well be trying to assemble an airplane as it is screaming down the runway! Crazy part is it will happen, if he can get the same market share in Raleigh the team at ChangingStreets.com has they win. Scott is convinced it will be easier becoming a top five firm in Raleigh than it was becoming a top five firm in Flint.

I am very impressed with what ChangingStreets.com has accomplished they will be a regional force in this country, please help them get there. For everyone that doesn't know they still have the best client stats in our market.

ChangingStreets.com has 51 listings to sales ratio while the board as a whole is at 30 and most big companies hover around an appauling 25. Trust me they don't even know this, this is Buddy at work. If I was listing my house would I list with the one with the most sales?

Not if they sold 1 out of 5! Would I list with the company that sold 1-2 and had less over all sales? YES, I am a quality guy.

Rock on ChangingStreets.com!

Lake Fenton Homes

Well, it is true there are three big foreclosures coming on Lake Fenton, plus one that I am unable to find anything about, anyone know whats up with the Jail? Let me know please.

All this was confirmed with deed filings. This makes me sad. This is the highest concentration of high earners in Genesee County. The median household income on the lake is around $275,000. Is this number cyclical? Why is this happening? I will try and find out. If anyone has any suggestions please let me know.

Doing research has been pretty eye opening.

A very bright man here in Genesee County once told me pointing out things people don’t want to hear is not being negative, it is being educational. Any thriving community learns from its’ mistakes.

I know I can be over the top when pointing out the obvious and people have come to not like Buddy because I hit them to close to home sometimes. I am only trying to help.

I have two favorite movies right now, Idiocracy & Maxed-Out. Why? Because I love the human race, I love people and all the great things each individual brings, their strengths & weaknesses, passions & fears. Unfortunately these movies may not be movies they be predictors. If you watch Idiocracy twice and don’t see it happening around you, you might be the problem.

Note: Idiocracy contains some lewd material and profanity and is not for everyone, they use this to prove the point but it may offend some.

For those who have seen it: I was walking thoughtlessly through a retail store the other day totally numbed by the Muzac when I heard the monotone voice of the computer generated “customer service optimizer” say “please move to check out 5, please move to check out five there is no waiting” I immediately laughed and thought of Carl’s JR.

Have three hours to kill check these movies out, eye opening and thought provoking.

Maxed out really troubles me, it does a great job of showing the pattern of “victimhood” we hear about. People are put in positions to fail, some by free will & others because they trusted someone. The people that were duped bother me the most. I see this everyday in this town; I would bet 60% of the foreclosures in this town could have been prevented by loan officers and mortgage companies doing the right thing. A good portion of the rest was flat out fraud; People doing the wrong thing intentionally for profit, at the costs of others.

These investors and flippers profited at the costs of communities and families, which is flat out sick. The worst part is most of the money “stolen” has been spent on real life improving items like cars, boats, and other solid investments.

People can only help themselves; Buddy can only bring up the “negatives”.

Having been out of the ball game for a while today was interesting talking to people in town and getting a grip on the market.

Genesee County Homes Sales are down 250 units, repo sales are up 180 units!?!?! Huh, over 6320 Homes for sale in Genesee County?!?!?

Over 30 months supply of civillian owned homes for sale? A 4.5 year supply of homes on Lake Fenton! More Grand Blanc repos coming and some monsters foreclosures in Fenton? Two Lake Fenton Repos that I have yet to confirm.

Real Estate Company's going out of business while I was gone, sorry I missed that.

ChangingStreets.com moved into new digs! They are sweet! Nice sign guys.

Lots of stuff to investigate and write about over the next couple of days, Buddy loves Flint.

I am really anxious to talk to people and see what we have learned from all this.

Where are all the loan officers and the money they made doing cash out refi's? LORD.

Watch out, I am back!

Buddy has been busy! Assisting my boy Scott complete his move and get his new venture in Raleigh going. But now I am back and don't have him around to bug me and delete all my good posts! Remember Grunt, yeah Scott censored that but those days are over.

Left my boy down in Apex eating cheeseburgers with bread & butter pickels on them and trying not to say Y'all and useguys in the same sentence. He sends his love back to Genesee County.

You wouldn't believe it, check out the town where he is working:

Scott actually helped out on this video with the local business people in Apex, NC. I am pretty sure that is why there is so much food in it.

Anyway came back from what I thought was hot in North Carolina to what I know is hot in Flushing. It may take a couple of days to get into the blogging groove again, but as soon as my heat stroke subsides I will be all over it.

What the heck happened to Reba while I was gone. You don't want me on this blog, you need me on this blog.

Glad to be back, hope everyone has been behaving-----Your Buddy....Buddy Kane