Congratulations Wes and Sara!

Wes and Sara Karinen are the winners of February's Stillwater Grill gift certificate! Wes and Sara are repeat clients of The Buckley Jolley Real Estate Team and are long time residents of the Brighton Area. Congratulations and best wishes to the Karinens. Watch for our next contest coming soon...

April's Feature Property: 4269 Sonata Drive

4269 Sonata Drive; Howell, MI

$219,900

Built in 2004. 1800 square feet; with four bedrooms and two and a half baths.

We are excited to offer this like new colonial in the Hidden Creek Subdivision located off Latson Road in Howell.

Clean lines, neutral décor, and lots of natural light are some of the highlights of this flowing floor plan.

The modern kitchen has an island, ceramic floors, generous pantry and doorwall leading to a Trex deck. Kitchen is open to the Family Room where you can spend evenings cozying up to the gas fireplace.

Spacious Master Suite with walk-in closet, jetted tub and double sinks.

Sunny daylight basement offers the opportunity for even more space.

The Hidden Creek neighborhood offers many amenities- from the pool to the club house, volleyball nets, walking trails, and play ground, you will never lack for things to do in this community.

For more specifics on this property, please feel free to browse through the brochure:

http://www.buckleyjolley.com/docs/Brochure2-16-07.pdf

If you are interested in previewing this home or any of our other exceptional listings, call us today at 810.229.7000. We'd be happy to provide you with more information.

Join the Buckley Jolley Real Estate Team!

The Buckley Jolley Real Estate Team is looking to fill two open positions on our team. The position of Call Coordinator is a part-time position and has two shifts: Shift 1 M-F 8:30-2 and Shift 2 M-F 1:30-7. One weekend every two months is a requirement for both positions. Applicants must thrive in a fast paced environment, and have excellent phone, communication, organization and computer skills. Wages start at $9/hr. Please email resume to gr8place2work@gmail.com.

The Buckley Jolley Real Estate Team offers a fun and unique work environment. We are a group of specialists working as one unit to best serve or clients. We service the Livingston County area and also western Oakland, northern Washtenaw, and Southern Genesee Counties. Our office is located in Brighton.

The Buckley Jolley Real Estate Team supports SELCRA

The Southeastern Livingston County Recreation Authority (SELCRA) provides excellent recreation opportunities in our area. Programs include sports and educational activities for both kids and adults. Special activities also include the popular Daddy Daughter dance and a wildly popular Easter Egg Hunt.

My kids have enjoyed participating in many of SELCRA’s programs: Lil’ Bit programs, golf, baseball, and soccer. I have coached SELCRA soccer for a couple years now and have first hand knowledge of how these programs have a positive impact on kids. Therefore, Buckley Jolley decided to support SELCRA by providing two commercial grade canopies for their outdoor programs. Whenever you attend one of their events, look for the new red tents and the onsite SELCRA representative. They will be able to answer any questions you may have.

Buckley Jolley is excited to be working with SELCRA and supporting our community! - Todd Buckley

Heading Towards Foreclosure? There May Be A Way Out

Three months is all it takes to lose your home. Foreclosure has become a household word in Michigan over the past 12 months. Just about everyone knows someone or has a neighbor dealing with a foreclosure.

For most of the past year, Michigan has ranked among the three states with the highest percentage of late mortgage payments and foreclosures. In the fourth quarter, it came in third, behind Ohio and Indiana, with 2.39 percent of its loans in foreclosure.

While lax lending policies have been blamed for the unfolding home-mortgage crisis across the country, the distress in the Midwest has been exacerbated by fundamental problems with the economy. The region has been devastated by a severe drop in manufacturing jobs as the U.S. automobile industry shrinks.

Unfortunately, people who are behind on payments are too embarrassed to tell anyone in time to take corrective action. If you or someone you know is struggling to make payments, there are measures that can be taken to save a foreclosure from your credit report and sometimes more importantly your self-esteem. Due to the massive amount of foreclosures, banks are looking to cut losses as early as possible. They may be willing to take less than is owed if it means avoiding the costly fees of foreclosure. This concept called a “short sale” is handled in the Loss Mitigation department of the bank. They are trained to help find a mutually beneficial solution. Once you hit foreclosure, three months of missed payments, it’s too late, the bank no longer wants to help- they just want their money.

At the first sign of a missed payment, call your lender and strike a deal. Then find an agent who will help market your property to sell in the least amount of time. -Andrea Stanaway. Andrea is a Buyer Specialist with the Buckley Jolley Real Estate Team. She can be reached at 810-229-7000 or at andrea@buckleyjolley.com

Note: On April 16th, The Livingston Press & Argus published an article titled "Congress turns attention to rising tide of foreclosures". It lists the Proposals now before Congress regarding Foreclosures:

• Impose a six-month moratorium on foreclosures.
• Increase federal support for local foreclosure prevention programs.
• Strengthen the Federal Housing Authority and give it a "rescue fund" that would allow it to buy failed mortgages and restore credit on the loans.
• Increase penalties on banks that violate federal lending laws.
• Extend federal regualtions to mortgage brokers and other loan officers who are now only regulated by state laws.
• Create a federal anti-predatory lending law.
• Establish a federal standard to for a borrower's ability to pay.

Source: Gannett News Service research

Market Update For Our Sellers

Karen & Todd send our sellers an update on market conditions every two weeks. Here is an excerpt of that e-mail.

We are optimistic that the market may be showing signs that it will be leveling off in the months to come. Here at Buckley Jolley, we had more closings in March than we did in any other month in our existence: 16 sides. There are two sides for every closing, a listing side and a buyer side. It looks like our aggressive pricing, sound advice and effective marketing have helped. However, I have noticed that our average sales price is down quite a bit from ’06 and ’05. Two things have added to the decline of our average sales price: depreciation, and the lack of “higher end” homes selling.

Livingston County’s March sales stats have just become available and the downward trend has slowed a little. In March of ’07 there were 151 sales as compared to 176 in ’06 and 250 in ’05. This is still a 14% decline in 1 year and 40% decline in 2 years.

I need to make a correction form my last email update. I stated there was 15.6 months supply on the market. Actually there was 19.6 months supply. I had forgotten to factor in available condos. As of today, there are 3173 available homes and condos in Livingston County. This translates to about 20.9 months of supply of inventory right now.

Here’s some promising news…Pending sales (Purchase agreements accepted but not closed yet) are up from last March approximately 15%. I am looking forward to telling you about the April sales stats when they become available. It would be the first time in nearly 2 years that sales would have increased as compared to the same month one year earlier.

"Realtor of the year always on the move"

On Monday, April 2, 2007 The Livingston County Press & Argus focused on The Buckley Jolley Real Estate Team's own Todd Buckley in it's "Our Neighbors" section.

To learn a little bit more about who Todd is, check out this great feature.

"Realtor Of The Year Always On The Move" from the Livingston County Press & Argus site

"Realtor Of The Year Always On The Move" download in .pdf

- Photo by Gillis Benedict/Daily Press & Argus

Buckley Jolley In the News

Featured on the front page of the Livingston County Press & Argus, this Sunday April 1, 2007 was an article titled "In Tough Market, Realtors Pull Out The Stops".

In a cooling market, what is the magic formula to sell your home quickly?

Take a look at what Realtors around Livingston County are saying, including The Buckley Jolley Real Estate Team's own Todd Buckley.

"In Tough Market, Realtors Pull Out The Stops" from the Livingston County Press & Argus site

"In Tough Market Realtors Pull Out The Stops" download in .pdf