April showers bring May flowers... I'll refrain from the lame Pilgrim joke this year :0)

April Marks three significant things in the Henderson household. April 15th is Tax day... hopefully you're getting a refund. April 1 is my 5th year anniversary at Century 21, and April 1 also is my favorite holiday of the year, April Fools day.

I'm not sure why I like it so much, but my poor daughter Jessy usually gets the brunt of my "joy" each year. I've brought empty pizza boxes home from work and laughed as I held them up in the car window to bait them into a mad dash home for "dinner" (of course I paid for that one), I've dyed the breakfast milk green, I had Jessy call Mr. Lyon at school (naturally it was the Detroit Zoos phone number)...

This year, I needed an accomplice. I gave Anthony (Jessys boyfriend) the spare key to her car about a month ago. Late last night he stole it from her space, and relocated it to his apartment complex. Naturally this morning after a little panic, she located her car and was 20 minutes late for an appointment (because of her sophomoric fathers prank). Fortunately her professor understood and got a good laugh out of it, and her only punishment is to make up the assignment I made her miss. I suppose next year I need to find more constructive ways to amuse myself that don't disrupt her life... but we'll all laugh about it some day :0)

Dave & Lauren are anxiously waiting September when they get out of the Army and move back home (so are the grandma's & G-diddy). Kelly's company just finalized their fiscal year end, so our life should become a little less frantic.

Real estate is plugging along. I have some new listings, a few buyers I'm working with, and we're all anxious for spring selling season... if the weather actually starts cooperating.

Here's a few interesting stats I picked up from a presentation I did for a business referral group for the Troy Chamber of Commerce this month.

I ran numbers comparing 2006 to '07 & '08 real estate sales in Royal Oak, Troy & Rochester... if you are interested in a similar comparison for your city, give me a call, I'd be happy to do it for you. It helps to see things in print.

Number of homes currently for sale (inventory)
Troy = 597
Rochester = 751
Royal Oak = 708

Number of months supply of current inventory based on 2008 YTD sales
Troy = 12 months
Rochester = 12 months
Royal Oak = 11 months

Average sold price over three years
2006 2007 2008
Troy = $ 235,751 $ 200,098 <$ 35K (15%)> $ 190,390 <23% vs. Jan. 07>
Rochester = $ 253,419 $ 225,867 <$ 27K (11%)> $ 163,726 < 15 % vs. Jan. 07>
Royal Oak = $ 164,729 $ 139,800 <$ 24K (15%)> $ 114,359 < 11% vs. Jan.07>

($ 2,000 - $ 3,000 per month drop in prices = critically important for sellers
to pay attention to pricing for any chance of sale)

Rentals almost doubled from ’06 to ’07 in most markets
Troy number of homes for rent increased in ’07 by a total of 13% of all listings
Rochester number of homes for rent increased in ’07 by a total of 10% of all listings
Royal Oak number of homes for rent increased in ’07 by a total of 14% of all listings

These numbers are important to pay attention to when marketing a home. It almost doesn't even matter these days how well equipped a house is to a buyer. They just want a great price... and they'll find it. Banks are tightening up as well, the last word I received from a recent appraisor was that banks are now only allowing them to go back three months for sold comparables. Even if a home sells, there are no gaurantees the bank will appraise it for the buying price, which means the buyer either makes up the difference in cash, or the seller drops the price. Anything short of either situation results in a lost sale.

Words to live by when selling a house... location location location... price price price.

As always... your friends and family are my friends and family. I appreciate all of your referrals. See you next month.

Dave