No, but you must.

 Recently a customer purchased a rural home and pole barn on some acreage. The price was attractive and the buildings were in relatively good condition.  There were very few improvements required.

 The home was cleaned, painted in and out and new carpet was installed. Everything was completed to get it ready to sell. Since the purchaser was an experienced investor, a survey was not ordered at the time of their purchase.

 To maximize the investment, a decision was made to split the property. The survey was ordered, a necessary document for obtaining the approval of a split.

 To everyone’s surprise, the survey showed two homes with two pole barns on the property. In the very opposite corner of the irregular shaped property, the neighbor some fifteen years ago actually built a home and a pole barn on the wrong property. As he saw surveyor stakes surrounding his property, he wished he had spent some of his hard earned money on a survey and thus prevented the mess he is currently in.

 House numbers are important for several reasons. First and foremost, in case of emergencies, the police, firemen or other rescue people need to know the address and clearly spot it if called into action.

 Secondly, when a property is for sale it is important that prospective buyers and real estate sales people can find and identify which property is for sale. In this market environment you do not want to have people looking for your property for sale and mistakenly going to another property for sale.

Another suggestion, make sure the porch light works and the numbers are in plain view during the evening hours. Even after many years in the business, I am still amazed at how many homes for sale are not lit up at night. This makes it nearly impossible for prospective buyers to locate the property.

Third, in many cities, communities and villages house numbers are required by ordinance.   I was reminded of this fact recently by a violation letter sent by the city where this property was located. Talk about government paperwork and waste; I counted at least seven pages of paperwork they sent to inform me of the violation.  They could have told me what wanted to say in two sentences.

As with intuitional sellers, during the offer/counter offer process, they will have an addendum to the buy/sell agreement that will consist of many pages of verbiage that will slant in favor of  the seller.

One of the typical requirements will be that you accept their title company as the closing agent. Well, why not you may ask? Are not all title companies the same? Are there fees and services very similar? No!

Recently an offer was accepted by the former lender. They required the buyer to use their title insurance agency as the closing company, which happened to be an out of state company. As the custom, the date and location was determined and copies of all the paperwork were to follow.

The closing documents were received. Upon our review, the closing fees charged by the escrow company were shockingly high. In fact outrageous! Highway robbery! And, that’s putting it mildly.

After getting my blood pressure back in check, I decided to confront the thieving escrow company.  They quickly, and without any hesitation, cut them the fees in half. Thanks should be in order? No way, they are still twice as high as typical charges. From now on, a call to unknown closing companies for their fee schedule will on our list of things to do.

The lender often faces a lengthy process to recover possession of the property. In attempt to expedite the process, the lender may offer a cash amount as incentive for the occupant to vacate the premises before the deadline. Many homeowners or tenants see this as a way to help with moving expenses and to help in getting established in their new residence.

By having the occupant move and leave the property in a “broom clean” condition, puts the lender in a better position to begin the marketing process quicker.

The dollar amount can vary greatly.  We have heard instances of a few  hundred dollars to nearly two thousand dollars. Some lending institutions also use a sliding scale, with a larger dollar amount offered for earlier evacuation of the property. Not every lender will make such an offer, as lenders vary greatly on how they handle this.

Not only has this offer reduced the lenders amount of time to obtain the procession of the property, but it has also reduced their costs of maintenance or repairs of the property. Former occupants have been known to do damage to the property out of spite. If a cash incentive is offered, they will think twice about doing damage.

Often, vacant properties are a target of vandals looking for salvage building materials for resale or for copper, air conditioners, furnaces and anything else that can be easily removed and sold. By using a Cash for Keys incentive, the lender has better management of when the property is vacated and can secure the property promptly.

He was also viewing the property from a Google aerial map. He was asking questions regarding things he noticed.  With his questions and his reactions to my answers, it became clear he was not looking at the right property. He was not even on the right block.

He thought it was the smallest building, when actually it was the largest. The image displayed no garage, when in reality it had a two stall garage. The image showed a string of homes on the block, when in reality it was on a double lot.

Obviously, he did not enter the correct address as the pictures displayed were all wrong. But, even if the imaging is correct, it would not reflect the overall current condition of the property, let alone the interior of the property with all the updates.

What I am saying is, even with all of our technology, you still have to go and look for yourself.  There is no substitute for that. That has become one of our real estate rules.

One of those is my 15 Minute Rule.  If I am to meet a client or potential client to look at an apartment, view a home or inspect some dirt, I will wait for fifteen minutes and then I am gone. Fifteen minutes is not a long time, but it seems that way because it is my practice to be early.

My policy always is  that the potential client must have driven by the property and viewed it from the street prior to setting up an appointment. A no show is a waste of my time, the seller’s time and the time of the current occupant. Since implementing that strategy, my percentage of “show ups” has increased sharply.

In today’s culture it is easy to make the appointment, not write it down and forget. Or just plain not show up. That’s rude.

Over the years, I think I can count on the fingers on one of my hands the times someone has called and said they were late and could I possibly come back. I will if the schedule allows.

I know the name is not real original. Perhaps I should have chosen something like “Dave’s List”, but I believe people appreciate a website whose name accurately portrays it’s purpose. And the purpose of this site is to connect people who want to buy or rent Michigan lakefront property with those who have Michigan lakefront property to sell or rent. It is as simple as that.

It is a site where anyone can place listings to buy, sell or rent Michigan Lakefront Property. The site is basically free and anyone can list their property.

The site is doing very well.  There are close to two hundred listings at this point in time and that number is growing. We have an increasing number of hits and page views every day. And, best of all, there have been sales from the site.

If you have any type of Michigan waterfront to sell or lease, it is free. You do not have to be a realtor, anyone can use the site, and many are. All you have to do is send me an email and I will send you a free promotional code.

We have some interesting changes on the way for the site. It is a work in process. As for changes, look for this site to get an update soon.

These men and women are not your enemy. They simply enforce a building code that was put into place to maintain safety, health and structural code regulations. After all, you do not want to be next door to the guy who does it his own way. Trust me, that can be a nightmare.

Anyway, recently we recently completed a job in a community that has a regulation that, as the president might say, is stupid. In this particular community, abandoned structures are required to be registered as vacant and posted as such.

The problem is that everyone notices these posted stickers. They are on the entrance doors and windows, and are clearly visible from the street. They are also subject to a $500.00 penalty for removing without first obtaining an occupancy permit.

Not only do the honest folks notice these notices, but also the dishonest. In a residential area, even if it does not have a high crime rate, these postings are like invitations that say “How about this one for your consideration?” Perhaps a smaller and less oblivious posting would be more appropriate, maybe located on the side or rear doors.

One last pointer to check out. Most communities also have, coupled with this type of posting, a monitoring fee attached to the notice. In this case, the community has  a monthly $50.00 assessment to monitor your property to make sure the lawn is cut and the property is secure.

When buying Michigan real estate in these communities, check to make sure these fees are paid by the lender before they become your inherited responsibility.

Generally speaking,  you may have sand brought in to place and spread along your shoreline. You may not place any sand or any other type of fill on or under the water of the lake.

You may construct a seawall at or above the high water line, but you may not construct a seawall below the high water line or in the lake.

You may construct a seasonal dock of 300 feet or less on your waterfront, but nothing permanent or longer than 300 feet.

You may use the water for sprinkling of the lawn or other domestic purposes.

You may not dredge or dig any channel to connect a pond or wetlands to the lake. No construction of a marina or any building below the high water mark.

If you are in doubt, call the local office of the DNR or DEQ.

Occasionally, while traveling through the countryside, you will see a batch of them in what appears to be the middle of nowhere. This always tells me that at one time there was a farm homestead on the site. Years ago, a farmwife (or the farmer himself!), lovingly planted these hoping for many years of color to brighten the landscape. Well, the farm and it’s buildings are long gone, but the daylilies continue to bloom. That tells you how hardy this plant is!

I had never given much thought to why daylilies were named daylilies. I guess I just assumed they opened during the day and closed at night. I have since found out that the daylily blossom only blooms for one day, a pretty brief life, but the many blossoms per stem make for a long running display of color.

Someone who owned our property in the past must have loved daylilies, because our property is filled with them. But, that’s OK with me because I like the splash of color they provide.  I sometimes wonder how old these plants are and how many changes have taken place on the property since the were planted. If only daylilies could talk!