Here are all the lake homes that have sold in the last 60 days (from 11/16/2011)

If you price your West Bloomfield lake home right and it is in good condition it should sell relatively quickly. For more information about lake sizes, all-sports or not, photos, real estate data, school info click on Oakland County Lake homes and properties You can search for Oakland County Lake home listings and lake foreclosures.

Have a great day,

Russ Ravary

My quote of the day is:

When you are in love you cant fall asleep because reality is finally better than your dreams.

Dr Suess

The City of Belleville has Horizon Park on Belleville Lake.

The lake access is good sized with more the 100+ parking spots for vehicles and trailers.

Belleville Lake is 7 miles long with 25 miles of shoreline and a total size of 1280 acres.

Belleville Lake is an "all sports lake" with excellent fishing and lots of area to ski, wakeboard, and tube.

Belleville Lake is really just an area where the Huron River has been damned up. When most of the nation started being concerned about our nations lakes and river the DNR took notice of Belleville Lake in the 1970's. They lowered the lake and removed all the unwanted species of fish. The re-stocked the lake with game fish. Today Belleville Lake boasts excellent fishing for bass, crappie, catfish, and walleye.

In the 1920's Thomas Edison purchased the land along a stretch of the Huron River and had a damn built that produced Belleville Lake.

Search Metro Detroit lakefront homes for sale

Michigan Lakefront homes

The newer metro Detroit subdivisions usually don't allow fences unless you have a pool. Usually most of the subdivisions built after 1980 do not allow fences. It doesn't matter whether you have small children or even a dog. The bylaws usually state no fences.

There are usually no dog runs allowed or fences around a garden.

In the newer subdivisions they have neighborhood associations that are in charge of maintaining the common areas of the subdivisions. Many of the subdivisions have green spaces with walking paths and small parks. Sometimes the associations are very active in putting on social actives for the neighborhood residents, sometimes they do very little. The home owner associations have monthly or annual dues.

As I tell everybody that is buying a home in a subdivision with an association is to read the association by laws. To make sure you can live with them. Usually the rules are set up to keep up nice appearance of the neighborhood.

If you are moving to Metro Detroit and need more relocation information or information on where to find a home with a fence give me a call or email me. YesMyRealtor@gmail.com

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Portage Lake is the biggest lake on the Hamburg Chain of Lakes. Portage Lake lies in both Putnam Township and Hamburg Township. Though if you buy a Portage lake front home your kids will be going to Pinckney Schools.

Portage Lake is one of the many Portage Lakes in Michigan but this one is located in Livingston County though there is another one in Dexter Township in Washtenaw County just a short distance away. Many people confuse the two lakes.

Big Portage Lake is a 644 acrea all sports lake and Little Portage Lake is also an all sports lake.

Big Portage Lake, the largest lake in the Hamburg Chain of lakes. Little Portage Lake is accessible thru a canal that goes under Dexter-Pinckney Road. From Portage Lake, boats can go under either of two bridges to the Huron River and go north to Baseline Lake. Following the Huron River canals, you can get to Tamarack Lake, Whitewood Lake, Gallagher Lake, Strawberry Lake, and Zukey Lake.

If you would like to see any of these Portage Lake homes give me a call or email me and we will get you inside to see them. Or if you have questions send me an email. If I don't know the answer I will try to find it for you.

Search Livingston County Lake homes for sale

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Information provided courtesy of Real Comp II Ltd. Listings shown above have been listed by various member Realtors

Then those expensive home improvements your partner wants don't always fit in the budget. I always say men and women think differently. I just never know where to come up with all the money my spouse wants to spend. There were always other expenses like kid's college and vacations so some things got put off.

The $1000 chimney repair was put off for years. But if you are thinking of selling your Canton home down the road now is the time to start doing some of those projects.

Is the kitchen lineoum looking shabby? Are some of the tiles cracked? Then pick out something neutral colored and get it fixed?

I am possibly thinking of selling my own home in a couple of years so I am going through and doing some of the projects.

I am finally putting that extra insulation in the attic. I did get the chimney fixed. I already did one bathroom remodel and I am going to do the second one in the beginning of the year. Little drywall work and painting I'm doing. I fixed the slow drain.

All those projects I hate, but if I want to sell quick and for more money then I need to get these things done. Sure I'm not going to get all my money out of the house that I put in, put I'm going to enjoy some of the improvements while I am still thinking of selling.

If I had to wait to do all these repairs and improvements before I sold my home - they wouldn't get done. Too many repairs, too costly, too overwhelming. So if you are thinking of selling give me a call - I do free no-obligation walk throughs to tell you what will help you sell your Canton home. You don't have to do any of them, but the clients that listen to me sell their homes quicker because their homes appeal to more people.

What do I get out of doing a free walk through for you? Well I hope to earn your trust and that you learn that I know how to get your home sold quicker and for more money. It's a twenty minute chance I take to earn your business.

So feel free to give me a call or email me. I'll be glad to help you start planning to sell your Canton home

What makes a home appreciate? Of course everybody thinks all real estate will go up in time. But that's not always true. Sometimes real estate goes down in value because of economic downturns, and the other reason is decay of the city. So what factors will indicate possible appreciation of the real estate you buy. I picked Northville real estate as my topic because I think Northville real estate will appreciate in the years to come. Why? Because of these factors:

1. School sytem
2. Crime
3. Demographics
4. Prestige of the city - perception of the city

Let's start with schools.  You have to have a good school system for people to want to move into the city.  The better the school system the more it will attract home buyers. A good school system will help make the city.

Low crime, means lower insurance and again people wanting to live there.

Demographics - higher the education of the people that live there, the higher the average income, the higher the percentage of students going on to college all make the city more desirable. Yes to be blunt.... high end cities with rich people tend to appreciate better. The reason why is the old reason of "wanting to be in the In crowd" Some people may not be rich, but they want to appear to be" So a city with affluent residents will attract more people that a poor city.

Public perception - prestige of a city. Northville, Bloomfield Hills, Grosse Pointe are percieved to be good or better cities. People want to live there. Even people who move to Michigan know the better cities. Those perceptions and the prestige of the city will help your home to appreciate.

So if you are a first time home buyer you may not be able to afford to buy a piece of Northville real estate or Northville home, but look at the city you are going to buy in does it have a decent school system? How is the crime rate? What is the perception of the city?

Take all these factors into an account. You may be limited to buy in a certain city because of cost. You may have on $50,000 to buy a home and that won't buy you a Northville home. But buy in a city that will appreciate that is close to your work, your family, your friends, and place of worship.

I hope this helps you in ten or twenty years when you go to sell the home you are going to buy. Make a good decision for your future. You won't regret it.

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My quote of the day:

The most wasted of all days is one without laughter. ~e.e. cummings

It is just a duplication of the same effort. I have not seen anybody prove that it is a financial benefit to the home buyer. Do they offer you a less expensive title insurance policy? Are they giving you a discount to use their company. Unfortunately they want you to use their company because the owner of the company most likely has a financial interest in the title company. It's corporate policy sometimes for agents only to use their title company. So they want to line their bosses pocket and help support the company.,

It does not protect you any better to do a split closing. All title insurance companies are writing insurance policies to protect from title defects. You have the same protection no matter what company you go with. So why would you use a second company to do the same exact job.

Do you realize they sometimes ask the other title company for the some of the same information.  Sadly it is work duplication, 

but just splitting the work between two companies.  To me it is a waste of time, money, and energy that just gums up the system.

Just so the company can make more money.