Dmitry & Maureen: Moving Metro Detroit

Nope, that pasty looking guy is not dressed up for Halloween. . .  And I don't think he will be handing out Snickers bars tomorrow night.  At least not in Detroit. 

Metro Detroit has a rich musical history. Think Motown, Bob Seger, Kid Rock, Eminem, Ted Nugent, Mitch Ryder and The White Stripes. My non-hipster self has to confess that though I have heard of The White Stripes, I know more about them from reading about them in the papers than I do from listening to their music. My radio is generally tuned into NPR and I don’t own an IPOD. The horror. I must be old.

Anyway, Detroit born Jack White, who took his wife’s name when he married and then told the world she was his sister, has moved to Nashville. I offered Dmitry my last name when we married, but he politely declined. But that is another story too. Back to Jack…

Jack’s home in Detroit’s historic Indian Village neighborhood is now in need of a new owner. Could it be you?

The home was designed by C. Howard Crane, the architect responsible for the intriguing grandeur of The Fox Theatre, a National Historic Landmark. Crane was a renowned theater designer who designed 52 other theaters in Detroit alone (Detroit Symphony Orchestra Hall, The Bonstelle Theater), in addition to other significant theaters across the United States, like the August Wilson Theatre in New York City.

Jack White bought the home in 2002, and though the sales price is hidden in public records, the asking price then was $599,000. Today it is on the market for $930,000, according to information we pulled from the MLS. This makes it the 5th most expensive home on the market in the City of Detroit, where only 3 homes exceed the $1,000,000 price point. I think we can safely discern that Jack did a bit of work on the home during his ownership.

What could one expect from the historic home of a youthful rock star? Well, as you might have anticipated, Jack is looking for serious buyers only. In order to cross the threshold and peek inside, potential buyers must submit proof of financial where with all. So, I will give you a brief run-down, based on what we can discern from cruising around on the web. The web site for the home is probably the best place to send you for beautiful photos. While you are snooping around, take a look at:

• The Herring Hall Walk-In Safe. Certainly a convenient feature, even if you are not a rock star. It seems that the safe was put in by the original owner, a banker. Looks like he did not trust the bank vault.
• The delicious old cabinetry in the butler’s pantry
• The ‘white stripes’ on the basement bath tile. I’ve read that Jack’s favorite 3 colors are red, white and black, and he shows it off in his decor. For my personal taste, its a bit much in the library, so I am relieved somebody suggested the lovely color scheme they’ve got going in the sun room.
• That site provides a photographic first for me, after looking at thousands of on-line listings: pictures of the attic. Its unfinished, so I am not exactly sure why they are included.
• It’s got some of Detroit’s famous Pewabic Tile.
• The wrought iron gate with the home’s address is beautiful. And it looks like the driveway is gated for rock star privacy/security.

A couple of basics, before you call me to make your offer:

• 2005 taxes on the home were just under $20,000, so figure that into your monthly budget.
• In ‘02 it was listed as a 5 bedroom, and now its being marketed as a 4 bedroom. My guess is that Jack converted a bedroom for that nice new dressing room.
• You would be buying a home that sits on slightly over an acre, has 4 full baths, steam heat and a detached garage.

If it sounds like this might be the one for you, call me. We would be delighted to be of service.

1. Only open to ActiveRain bloggers
2. Deadline for entry is November 1st at midnight EST.
3. All entries must be originally written and posted between October 20th, 2006 and November 1, 2006.  Older posts are not eligible. 
   
4. Only one entry per member.  Multiple entries will disqualify the entrant.
   
5. This carnival is limited to ActiveRain members who have never been a finalist or won the Carnival of Real Estate.
6. One award will be made for each of the following categories.
7. Clarification:  Post your entry first on ActiveRain on your blog.  Then go to submit it at the Carnival link at the end of this post.
   

• ActiveRain Community
• Industry News
• Tips, Tricks and Advice
• Real Estate Opinions
• Off topic, humor, etc
• Finance/Mortgages

And here is the official guidelines on the categories, if you are unsure.

Our category hosts for this round: 

Mary McKnight has graciously agreed to host Tips, Tricks and Advice

Brian Brady has graciously agreed to host Finance/Mortgages 

Jay Thompson has graciously agreed to host Industry News 

Maureen Francis has graciously agreed to host ActiveRain Community 

Colleen Kulikowski has graciously agreed to host Real Estate Opinions

The Real Estate Tomato has graciously agreed to host Off Topic, humor, etc. 

(Thanks, hosts, for volunteering!) 

Submit your articles here (Yep, that's how you would submit to the Carnival of Real Estate)  If you have trouble with the submission, you may sent it to activerain(at)gmail.com.  Please include your category.

So, don't be shy.  Send in your submission.

(No, you are not on someone else's blog.  Keep reading.) 

Hosting the Super Bowl this year was certainly fun for Detroit, but even this non-sports fan finds the Tigers' participation in the World Series more than slightly infectious.  In honor of their achievements we bring you some other Big Cats.

Honey, Get the Tiger Poop.  A Reuters piece on uses for tiger do-do.

Some delicious looking Tiger bread rolls.  I never knew that is what they are called.

Another athletic Tiger.  Being Tiger has worked out well for him.  And you knew I would have this link.

An adult beverage to enjoy with the game.  But not with the bread rolls.

ActiveRain's resident Roar-er.  Did everyone else notice she took the ROAR out of her profile name?   Hey is she a lion or a tiger, anyway?

Hungry Tiger Press.  Specializing in all things Oz.  Detroit's Tigers are over the rainbow now.

An on-line shopping mall.  But I don't shop there, so this is not an endorsement.

A conservation group.  For big cats, of course.

THE Tiger wiki.

The Hungry Tiger blog.  A foodie!  She even wrote about lychees!!

Some Cubs who want to be Tigers.

A very scary looking cartoon character.

Some Sri Lankan Tigers.

We are experiencing it in Detroit, but it was a 1924 romance film too.  Tiger Love.

PS.  Title 100% inspired by our big cat, The Lovely Wife. 

PPS.  GO TIGERS!!  We'll be watching, cheering and roaring here in Detroit tonight.

A few months ago we organized a tour of SKBK Sotheby’s Beverly Hills listings. It was a big success. One of the things that we did was map out all the listings for our web site and flyers. At the time, the maps were a bit of a pain to do well without buying mapping software.

Today I came across a new mapping tool that I think will solve this problem. We are organizing a tour of In Town Birmingham homes and mapVine will be put to use to map the tour. mapVine has only been out for a few days, so you are getting the first shot at using this nifty tool.

I just set up a test map of a few of our Birmingham listings to see how it works. The user interface is very easy to use. Anyone who has uploaded listings to their own site or to craigslist, should be able to do it. There is a short on-line video tutorial that will lead you through building your first map.

MapVine uses Google Maps, and you have your choice of street map view, satellite or hybrid. You can zoom in as close as you like, or cover a whole state or metro region if need be.

I am going to point you over to an article on my other blog to see how cool mapVine is because I cannot insert html into this post for you to appreciate the full functionality of the finished product.  The map is interactive.  You can click on the balloons to see more info about my listings.  If you click on the links in the balloons you'll be lead back to the pages about those homes on my web site.

I see lots of cool uses of this tool for Realtors and bloggers. Check it out. And if you have feedback for the guy who wrote the code, he's anxious to hear it.

Some Fun Facts About the Top 10 Most Expensive Homes on the Market in Oakland County

• Highest Price: $11,900,000
• Lowest Price: $5,750,000
• Average Price Per Square Foot: $722
• Highest Price Per Square Foot: $1,083
• Lowest Price Per Square Foot: $378
• The smallest is 6,000 Square Feet
• The largest is 16,000 Square Feet
• Highest annual property taxes are $125,000
• Lowest annual property taxes are $15,000

Where are they:

• Northville
• Lake Angelus
• Birmingham
• Bloomfield Hills - 4 homes over $5,000,000
• West Bloomfield
• Rochester

What else

• Half are on lakes
• Half are new construction
• Only one was built before 1990

Observation: At those prices per square foot, a 1,500 square foot home would go for between $567,000 and $1,625,000! I am glad I don’t have to pay that $125,000 annual property tax bill.

For more information on the real estate market in Oakland County, please visit miOaklandCounty.com 

I admit to coming from a family of proud bargain hunters. We all love the thrill of the chase. For some of us, its an obsession, for others its a source of entertainment.

So today I decided to check in on the 10 most expensive homes listed in Oakland County, just to see what my money would get me. These days, you have to list your home at a price over $5,000,000 to qualify for a top 10 spot on my list.

Ladies and gentelmen, today I came across a bargain hunter’s dream. I’ve never saved $3,000,000 on anything! Have you?

730 Vaughan Road, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan

Let me draw your attention to the home with the highest current list price in the area, 730 Vaughan Road. A spec house built by Sally Russell Building Co., rumors abounded during construction about who the home was being built for. Was it a rock star? Athlete? Or Titan of Industry? No one guessed it was a spec. Today, it can be yours for $11,900,000, down from $15,000,000 earlier this Spring.

Here are the quick stats

The Vaughan house includes the most modern amenities. Mechanically, there are five boilers that provide radiant heat throughout the house, heat for the pool and spa, snow melt for the auto court, front walk approach, hot tub path and upper terrace. The house has over thirteen miles of wire and utilizes the Lutron dimming system, a computer-driven programmable electric system. Fiber optic lighting can be found in the foyer, master bathroom, great room and family room. There is an integrated sound system throughout the home and outside entertainment areas. Thanks to a standby gas generator, the house will never be without power. All the waste and water lines have been insulated for energy efficiency and soundproofing.

I’ve been through the home, and was impressed by the grandeur. Any buyer in that range will expect to be impressed, and this house will live up to expecations. Did I mention the heated space under the patio for winter storage of your patio furniture? There is plenty of room for a pool on the 3 acre site, too. The woodwork throughout the home is spectacular and they managed to reuse Pewabic tiles, chandeliers and some wrought iron work from the original home. Here is the virtual tour.

It’s a bit too much space for my family of 3, but it might be just right for you or someone you know. If you are prequalified for financing or if you have verified funds for a cash purchase, I would be happy to take you on a tour of the home. Just call me at 248.961.0801.

Just a reminder that tomorrow night, Sunday, October 8th, is the deadline for submitting to the next Carnival of Real Estate.  We've had LOTS of finalists from ActiveRain in the past, and I hope to see more of them this week.  Our own, The Lovely Wife, was the big winner a few weeks back.

For those of you unfamiliar with blog carnivals, basically real estate bloggers from all over submit their favorite posts, and the host selects one post as the winner for that week.  There is often a list of honorable mentions, or top 10 posts.

A carnival is a spectacular way to see some the the best real estate blogs out there and to get exposed to some wonderful, mind stretching ideas.  As a side benefit, you'll likely see an increase in traffic to your site.

So go find your favorite post and throw your name in the hat. We need another winner from ActiveRain!

I get tired just thinking about it.

I was checking the stats on my Birmingham Michigan Real Estate blog tonight, when I noticed an unfamiliar incoming link.  So I clicked on it and was shocked with what I found.

Pittsburgh Homes Daily has been busy (for quite a while I'd say) assembling a list of links to 500 top real estate blogs across the nation.  There are even international real estate blogs here.  If I were a gambling woman, I would take bets that he will be the winner in this week's Carnival of Real Estate, if he enters.  And he should enter.  The guy deserves to win if only for the shear amount of time he invested in collecting all of those links.

There are lots of familiar blogs there, and obviously, even more that I have never heard of.  Its a great list to check out to get inspiration for your own blogs and to find out who is blogging in your state.  I am headed back over to add some feeds to my RSS reader.  See you there. 

PS. If your blog is there, add it here. I'll stop by to see you 'off camupus' one day soon.