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Wholesaling Middlemen Descend on Neighborhoods
/in National /by Tracy WillisStates and cities in the U.S. are cracking down on a niche in house-flipping known as wholesaling. The wholesalers do not typically hold real-estate licenses which makes regulation difficult. Wholesalers negotiate with homeowners and then put the homes under contract and sell those contracts to home-flippers. A home that just needs a little upgrade is long gone in today’s market. Instead, wholesalers are targeting homes that aren’t on listing services and need major overhauls. Most are in poorer neighborhoods. There are allegations that some wholesalers mislead struggling homeowners about the value of their property and take advantage of the situation.
Second “First” Home Buyers Accelerate Home Prices In Southwest Michigan
/in Outstate, Western Michigan /by Tracy WillisA beachfront house in New Buffalo will set a new record for Southwest Michigan. It will be the fourth home in New Buffalo to sell for $4 million or more in the past year. The real estate boom in Southwest Michigan is not only at the upper end of the market. Along the 16-mile strip of shoreline towns from New Buffalo to Bridgman, home sales were up 48 percent in the first quarter of the year from the same time in 2020. Buyers aren’t necessarily buying vacation homes. They may keep their first residence in another city, but think of New Buffalo as “home” for now as they wait to see how things play out with the pandemic. New Buffalo is seeing an influx of buyers from Indiana and the Chicagoland areas.
Short-term Home Rentals Create Debate
/in Detroit, Grand Rapids, Northern Michigan, SE Michigan, Western Michigan /by Tracy WillisTwo Michigan bills that address short-term home rentals have created intense debate about who will determine how to regulate dwellings like Airbnb or vacation rentals. The Ann Arbor-based Michigan Municipal League and Lansing-based Michigan Association of Realtors are on opposite sides with each asking its constituents to email, call and write to their local legislators about the bills. Under the bills, a short-term rental would be a residential use of property. It would be a permitted use in all residential zones. It would not require a special use or conditional use permit, and it would not be a commercial use of property. Opponents of the bills call them a “cookie-cutter approach” to legislation that ignores the different needs of Michigan communities.