BY GRETA GUEST • FREE PRESS BUSINESS WRITER • May 5, 2008
In the exclusive market for homes priced over $400,000, buyers can choose just more premium properties including a private rural setting, a lakefront home or an elegant Tudor in a historic urban neighborhood.
And the deals are even better than in more affordable price ranges as home prices and sales have steadily declined from their 2005 peaks.
Homes selling in this range -- from $400,000 up to $1 million and up -- are in cities such as the Grosse Pointes, Novi, Bloomfield Hills, Birmingham, Ann Arbor, New Haven, Washington Township and Northville.
And the homes are loaded with luxuries, such as finished daylight basements, gourmet kitchens, wine cellars, butler's pantries, home theaters and more.
Steven Roby, 51, a Royal Oak lawyer, and his wife, Annemarie, 50, recently bought a house in Birmingham for $700,000 that was listed at $819,000. They sold their Bloomfield Township home for nearly $300,000 less than they had hoped in order to make the big lifestyle change.
"We had 1.2 acres of grass. It was massive. It was extremely laborious to maintain after all the kids moved out," Roby said. "Once you discover Birmingham and realize how fantastic it is ... we could kick ourselves that we didn't move 15 years ago."
They looked for more than two years for the right house and found a 4,000-square-foot home with features including a finished daylight basement, home theater room with stadium seating, controls for the television and radio throughout the house, premium fixtures, marble countertops and virtually no lawn to cut.
As people move up to the top of the market, they are shedding their old homes as quickly as possible and taking the losses in stride.
Be practical and realistic
Dan and Sandra Quick, local attorneys, just moved their family into a new home in Bloomfield Hills but have not sold their home in Clarkston yet.
The Bloomfield Hills house was listed at $630,000, but the Quicks paid $592,000.
The 3,586-square-foot home has four bedrooms, three full bathrooms and two half baths. It has a gourmet kitchen, high ceilings, hardwood floors, designer fixtures and an attached three-car garage.
With a new job an hour away from Clarkston, Sandra Quick decided it was time to give up the old house, even though the family loved it. The house went on the market last week.
"Our house in Clarkston we listed at $279,000. We know we are taking a loss, particularly in light of the investment we made in a finished basement, updated bathrooms, hardwood flooring and other amenities, but we are gaining more on the other side," she said. "We have to be practical in this market."
Quick said the Bloomfield Hills home originally was listed at $847,000 and then taken off the market. The previous owner then put in $150,000 worth of improvements, including the gourmet kitchen complete with a Wolf professional stovetop and a Sub-Zero refrigerator that really sold her. Quick said she knows she got a steal on the house.
"There wasn't anything that worked for us in the $300,000 to $500,000 range. We definitely wanted an updated kitchen. We spend a ton of time in our kitchen and dining room as a family," she said.
Quick's agent, Sue Peterson with Hannett-Wilson-Whitehouse in Birmingham, said that it is critical in the upper price ranges that sellers are realistic in their pricing.
"They need to understand the amount of money they put into a home does not determine the amount a buyer wants to pay," Peterson said. "Everything is reduced to a buyer feeling they are getting good value for their money. Otherwise, the buyer will go on to another property."
And some sellers in this price range will take their home off the market if they can't get the price they want now, hoping things will improve in time.
Buyer's advantage
Buyers know they have the upper hand and are looking for recently updated kitchens with granite and premium appliances, as well as baths with jetted tubs and steam showers. These are features that previously were usually only found in higher-priced homes, she said.
Mike Fayz, an agent with Real Estate One in Dearborn Heights, who recently sold a $1-million home in Dearborn for $900,000, said the area is holding its value well.
"It's not like 50-cents on the dollar here. A lot of people would like to settle in this area," Fayz said.
The buyer was looking for a lot of amenities and also had looked in the Grosse Pointes and Northville before settling on the Dearborn home. It features three master suites, gourmet kitchen, theater room, finished daylight basement with a wine cellar, butler's pantry and a three-car attached garage in a gated golf community.
"They are still asking the same price that people did five years ago, and those are going to take longer to sell," Fayz said.
Local Realtors who specialize in the upper-tier market say these types of homes take a solid 6-10 months to sell.
Theresa Bunker Meushel, an agent with Coldwell Banker Schweitzer in Commerce Township, said the hot neighborhoods in the upper price ranges are in Washington Township, Hartland, Highland, Birmingham, Bingham Farms and Beverly Hills.
Other expected amenities include radiant floor heat, hardwood floors, more land and at least a three-car garage.
She said many of the buyers in this range are insulated from the job and real estate market disturbances.
"The people in the $500,000 and up range are the executives, and they don't have to worry about their jobs. I'm working with people coming in from Colorado, Pennsylvania and Florida, and they are executives relocating," she said.
In the exclusive market for homes priced over $400,000, buyers can choose just more premium properties including a private rural setting, a lakefront home or an elegant Tudor in a historic urban neighborhood.
And the deals are even better than in more affordable price ranges as home prices and sales have steadily declined from their 2005 peaks.
Homes selling in this range -- from $400,000 up to $1 million and up -- are in cities such as the Grosse Pointes, Novi, Bloomfield Hills, Birmingham, Ann Arbor, New Haven, Washington Township and Northville.
And the homes are loaded with luxuries, such as finished daylight basements, gourmet kitchens, wine cellars, butler's pantries, home theaters and more.
Steven Roby, 51, a Royal Oak lawyer, and his wife, Annemarie, 50, recently bought a house in Birmingham for $700,000 that was listed at $819,000. They sold their Bloomfield Township home for nearly $300,000 less than they had hoped in order to make the big lifestyle change.
"We had 1.2 acres of grass. It was massive. It was extremely laborious to maintain after all the kids moved out," Roby said. "Once you discover Birmingham and realize how fantastic it is ... we could kick ourselves that we didn't move 15 years ago."
They looked for more than two years for the right house and found a 4,000-square-foot home with features including a finished daylight basement, home theater room with stadium seating, controls for the television and radio throughout the house, premium fixtures, marble countertops and virtually no lawn to cut.
As people move up to the top of the market, they are shedding their old homes as quickly as possible and taking the losses in stride.
Be practical and realistic
Dan and Sandra Quick, local attorneys, just moved their family into a new home in Bloomfield Hills but have not sold their home in Clarkston yet.
The Bloomfield Hills house was listed at $630,000, but the Quicks paid $592,000.
The 3,586-square-foot home has four bedrooms, three full bathrooms and two half baths. It has a gourmet kitchen, high ceilings, hardwood floors, designer fixtures and an attached three-car garage.
With a new job an hour away from Clarkston, Sandra Quick decided it was time to give up the old house, even though the family loved it. The house went on the market last week.
"Our house in Clarkston we listed at $279,000. We know we are taking a loss, particularly in light of the investment we made in a finished basement, updated bathrooms, hardwood flooring and other amenities, but we are gaining more on the other side," she said. "We have to be practical in this market."
Quick said the Bloomfield Hills home originally was listed at $847,000 and then taken off the market. The previous owner then put in $150,000 worth of improvements, including the gourmet kitchen complete with a Wolf professional stovetop and a Sub-Zero refrigerator that really sold her. Quick said she knows she got a steal on the house.
"There wasn't anything that worked for us in the $300,000 to $500,000 range. We definitely wanted an updated kitchen. We spend a ton of time in our kitchen and dining room as a family," she said.
Quick's agent, Sue Peterson with Hannett-Wilson-Whitehouse in Birmingham, said that it is critical in the upper price ranges that sellers are realistic in their pricing.
"They need to understand the amount of money they put into a home does not determine the amount a buyer wants to pay," Peterson said. "Everything is reduced to a buyer feeling they are getting good value for their money. Otherwise, the buyer will go on to another property."
And some sellers in this price range will take their home off the market if they can't get the price they want now, hoping things will improve in time.
Buyer's advantage
Buyers know they have the upper hand and are looking for recently updated kitchens with granite and premium appliances, as well as baths with jetted tubs and steam showers. These are features that previously were usually only found in higher-priced homes, she said.
Mike Fayz, an agent with Real Estate One in Dearborn Heights, who recently sold a $1-million home in Dearborn for $900,000, said the area is holding its value well.
"It's not like 50-cents on the dollar here. A lot of people would like to settle in this area," Fayz said.
The buyer was looking for a lot of amenities and also had looked in the Grosse Pointes and Northville before settling on the Dearborn home. It features three master suites, gourmet kitchen, theater room, finished daylight basement with a wine cellar, butler's pantry and a three-car attached garage in a gated golf community.
"They are still asking the same price that people did five years ago, and those are going to take longer to sell," Fayz said.
Local Realtors who specialize in the upper-tier market say these types of homes take a solid 6-10 months to sell.
Theresa Bunker Meushel, an agent with Coldwell Banker Schweitzer in Commerce Township, said the hot neighborhoods in the upper price ranges are in Washington Township, Hartland, Highland, Birmingham, Bingham Farms and Beverly Hills.
Other expected amenities include radiant floor heat, hardwood floors, more land and at least a three-car garage.
She said many of the buyers in this range are insulated from the job and real estate market disturbances.
"The people in the $500,000 and up range are the executives, and they don't have to worry about their jobs. I'm working with people coming in from Colorado, Pennsylvania and Florida, and they are executives relocating," she said.
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