Jackie Hawley's Real Estate Blog for Southeast MI

Lake Nepessing is a 414 acre, all sports lake in southwest Lapeer County- just minutes from I-69. Whether you own a cottage or year 'round home, when you buy real estate on Lake Nepessing you are buying a lifestyle. With 2 lakeside restaurant/bars, an 18 hole golf course on the north side of Hunt...

Why it’s best to close on your Oakland County home as soon as the buyer gets loan approval There are many reasons to close immediately after the loan is approved and the buyer is clear to close. Even if that happens 3 or 4 weeks prior to the close by date. ·         Seller can die ·         Buyer...

Do Lapeer MI Houses Sell in the Winter? I have been asked this question quite a bit lately. The short answer is yes. Not as many as in the summer- as you can see from the graph below, there's a big drop in January. This is due mostly to the Christmas holidays. Thanksgiving and New Years affect th...

Do Oakland County MI Houses Sell in the Winter? I have been asked this question quite a bit lately. The short answer is yes. Not as many as in the summer- as you can see from the graph below, there's a big drop in January. This is due mostly to the Christmas holidays. Thanksgiving and New Years a...

A Follow Up To My Dinosaur Rant Below is a business plan an agent can follow without touching a computer except for MLS searches. Mail daily- to expired listings, FSBO's, past clients and sphere. That is snail mail daily. Mail just listed and just sold cards. Mail open house cards. Follow up via ...

I've been reading quite a few blog posts recently about why old time agents suck, or agents chortling about "big agents" sales production slipping away. Tweet or die seems to be the mantra these days.  And it's all a load of crap. In my area we saw the production of the larger producing agents dr...

 Clarkston MI boasts an excellent location with I-75 intersecting the township twice - M-15 and again at Sashabaw. It is the fourth largest township in Oakland County with a population of approximately 32,000 residents. Independence Township can be characterized as a growing residential community...

What is the job of an Oakland County Michigan buyer’s agent? Many agents, and buyers, seem to have the idea that the primary job of a buyer’s agent is to get the seller to come down on his asking price. The more you can get the seller down, the better you’ve done your job. NOT!! My job as a buyer...

How to make your Oakland County Michigan VA offer stronger VA offers are not what makes a seller’s heart flutter. Too many things can go wrong. In my experience you tend to get poor appraisers who are not local. The appraised values tend to come in low. One of the primary reasons a buyer goes VA ...

Why VA for your Oakland County Michigan Home Purchase? When I receive an offer on one of my Oakland County listings, and the financing is a VA loan, my first question to the buyer’s agent is “Why?” The usual answer is “because they can” or “because they qualify” or “earned it” or some other vague...