Thought for the Day

Choose a job you love, & you will never have to work a day in your life. - Confucius

10 Outdated Design Ideas

Sometimes a design feature is really popular, then fades into oblivion.  Frankly, some of these things just don't stand the test of time, and their faults overcome their virtues.  Houses that retain those features become temples to bad ideas.  Here are some of those bad ideas to avoid.



http://www.zillowblog.com/2012-09-20/wanted-dead-or-alive-10-criminally-outdated-design-features/

Pine Lake Mansion Looks Awesome

I absolutely freaking love the outside of this house.  Currently on the market for $1.8 million, this house benefited from an extensive restoration and some smart remodeling.  For example, the turret is a recent addition.



http://www.freep.com/article/20130929/BLOG46/309290028/Michigan-House-Envy-Pine-Lake-Victorian-rehab-ditched-orange-shag

Thought for the Day

Believe you will be successful and you will.

Thought for the Day

 Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure, than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much, because they live in a gray twilight that knows not victory nor defeat. – Theodore Roosevelt

Thought for the Day

 A kite flies highest against the wind.

How to Buy A Tree or Shrub

Since this is an article that quickly covers the basics, we are going to quickly cover the basics of describing the article.  It's about trees and shrubs.



http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/urban-gardening-how-to-buy-a-tree-or-shrub.html

Thought for the Day

 Move out of your comfort zone. You can only grow if you are willing to feel awkward and uncomfortable when you try something new. 

BREAKING: Metro Detroit Home Prices Continue to Rise

Metro Detroit home prices continue their recent upward pattern.  No reason to think it will not continue.

25 consecutive months of increases is kind of a big deal.  Getting back to 2008 prices is kind of a big deal.  Don't forget, though, that Metro Detroit started its housing slide earlier than the rest of the country; we are still not up to 2005 levels.



http://www.freep.com/article/20130924/BUSINESS04/309240080/Metro-Detroit-home-prices-Case-Shiller-June

Thought for the Day

Failure doesn't mean you are a failure... it just means you haven't succeeded yet

Tax Auction Houses Owe Taxes Again, Part 2

Nancy Kaffer is quickly becoming one of my favorite Free Press reporters.  In today's article, she clearly spells out the issue of tax-foreclosed properties going right back into tax foreclosure.

http://www.freep.com/article/20130924/COL43/309240020/Nancy-Kaffer-How-rules-help-fuel-cycle-blight-Detroit

Tax Auction Houses Owe Taxes Again

News from Wayne County.  Houses up for foreclosure auction get bought by investors who then do not pay the taxes.  The County treasurer really can't stop people from buying the houses, but it appears he is trying to do something about it when they immediately fall behind.

I am seriously thinking about bidding in the auction, so this matters.  Silly me would pay the taxes, though, which shows I may not be as sophisticated in these things as other investors.


http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20130923/METRO01/309160111/Most-properties-Wayne-foreclosure-auctions-repeat-cycle-unpaid-taxes?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|FRONTPAGE

Thought for the Day

If you don’t know what you want, don’t say you never had a chance.

Thought for the Day

Failure is a blessing when it pushes us out of a cushioned seat of self-satisfaction and forces us to do something useful.

Thought for the Day

Where will you be ten years from now if you keep on going the way you are going?

Thought for the Day

It’s not the epitaph on your tombstone but the record of your deeds that may perpetuate your name after death.

The Most Expensive Listing in Michigan

Yes,you probably think it is awesome when you watch the video.  But $15 million awesome?

Regardless of the value ratio, this is clearly a dream house.  Someone will live here.  As my son James asks, "Are you jelly (jealous)?"

http://www.freep.com/article/20130908/BLOG46/309080015/Wallace-Frost-mansion-Michigan-s-most-expensive-listing-birmingham-Realtor

Thought for the Day

It WILL hurt. It WILL take time. It WILL require dedication and sacrifice. But it WILL be worth it.

Thought for the Day

Never get so busy making a living that you forget to make a life..

City of Detroit to Review Tax Assessments

In the Department of About Time, Detroit will review all of their tax assessments for accuracy.  Considering that probably none of them are, except for those that have been recently contested and adjudicated by the Michigan Tax Tribunal, this is a big job.  So big that it will take about five years.  And yet, you would think that they would be reassessing properties to market value every year, right?  Obviously not.

Detroit is notorious for over-valuing property, and also has an appeal process with extra steps peculiar to Detroit that make it harder to contest them.

Doing it accurately will result in a significant revenue drop to the city.  Oh well.

Here's the Detroit News' report.

http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20130905/METRO01/309050046/Detroit-reassess-all-property-values?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|FRONTPAGE

Thought for the Day

How can you judge others accurately if you have not learned to judge yourself accurately?

Hoarder Tenant

Click the link below for the video.  Thank goodness this was not my tenant.

http://youtu.be/DkaIQoAV2v0

Thought for the Day

There is no elevator to success. You have to take the stairs.

Great House on the Lake

This might be one of the more unusual and cool homes we have seen for a while.  Fenton, Michigan.  Five bedrooms.  It's for sale for $1 million.

http://www.freep.com/article/20130901/BLOG46/309010016/Lake-Shannon-fenton-Michigan-house-envy

Thought for the Day

Participate in life instead of just watching it pass you by.

20% down

Maybe not for the first house, but many people put 20% down on their home purchases after that by rolling over the equity.  Or at least that is what I thought.

Yahoo Homes tells me I am wrong.

Not only that, but that 20% down may not always be the way to go.

http://homes.yahoo.com/blogs/spaces/puts-20-down-house-not-nearly-many-might-175056896.html

Happy Labor Day!

Yes, we have been publishing on an occasional basis as of late, as we have been very busy elsewhere.  However, we will be back to a more regular schedule starting tomorrow.

In the meantime, today is a good chance to reflect on the profound influence of labor, especially in our local metro Detroit area and our state.  From timber and logging up north at the turn of the century to the rise of the auto industry, Michigan, more than most states, has had its identity shaped by the efforts of working people.