[Northman]

I'm having a Super Bowl party today with friends who are coming over for the first time since I moved here. It'll be good to pound some suds and watch the pigskin fly with my fellow midwestern folk!

January flew by, February is a short month.......delightful visions of spring are beinning to form WAY in the back of my mind.........I know we still have a ways to go up here, but AH to the thought! Pristine waters, emerald green lawns......Chipmunks, Robins, Black Squirrell, Gulls. They'll be here before we know it!

And until then - bring on some more snow!

[Coldjensens]

Originally Posted by TigerDan

Additionally, I don't know where people are coming up with the 40% drop in home values number.

I am simply gong by appraisals on my house in May 2006 and in September 2007.

[FERRETI]

Last time i checked based on what this agent told me in 2004 that my house was worth 250k and now was saying 220k best.That`s 15%,but a right figure would be 20%.He went of course lower than that figure as he continued to talk so anything from 20-40% is real.Again i believe a 40% drop is the highest and can not be the case for every home in this state.Why?People would have dumped their houses and i mean millions.Say i bought a house at 200k and now that house is worth only 120k and i have lost my downpayment in it too...what should i do??

[TigerDan]

Coldjensens and FERRETI,
Showing estimates of what you believe your house to be worth hardly makes it a reality. I can point out that my house is actually worth about 5% more than when I bought it in late 2003. In the last two years, it has not declined at all, and I live in one of the most, if not the most, depressed areas of the state. Based on this, I could say there is no housing decline. This is no further from the truth than using estimates from your own homes to say that declines are rampant.
Looking into studies performed on the topic, the LARGEST decline number that I have seen based on any studies is a drop of 7.1% in metro Detroit only. Most of the studies that I've seen put the average decline in the state between 2% and 5%.
Now if you live in one of the worst areas, such as within the city limits of Detroit or Flint, than I could agree with the assessment on your own individual home. Just don't pawn it off as an average for the state.

[Coldjensens]

This is not what I think it is worth, but what a professional loan appraiser appraised it at for the purposes of obtaining a loan. His appraisal in turn is based on what houses within two miles of our house sod for recently and on comparing those sales to saes from two years ago. I am not sure that there is a better way to make that determination other than actually selling the house.

That is why I said "appraisal" not what I think that the house is worth. If I want on what I think it is worth, there is no decline at all.

Read Tigerdan - read the words.

Where did you find this study? I cannot find any for Michigan. I would like to see one that addresses Michigan.

Back to our subject of positive posts:

There seem to be some signs of our economy improving or at least leveling.

We are getting another warm spell this week. The repeated warms days scattered through the winter are really nice, but I wish that there was more snow in between. I want to take the kids sledding.


It was a great weekend!

[Georgiaonmymind]

I am thankful I sold my house in Michigan and moved out while the getting was soso. Now that things have colapsed if I would have taken the job that was offerd to me, I would most likely be laid off and have to drop the price of my house another 20% to sell.
I invested my money in a home in a nice warm southern state that will see a small increase on my investment.
I am thankful I am planting a magnolia in feb. and think it is a cold snap when it hits 20 deg. F.

I am thankful I can look at snow and then log onto another web page.

I am thankful I could sell my snow shovel,and not have to buy a plow for my chevy, and that I moved before the salt did any damage to my truck.
I am thankful for much more but this is enough for now.

[Michigansnowflake]

I am thankful I dont live anywhere where 20 degrees is considered a *cold snap*. I am thankful for the beautiful snow and my good health that allows me to shovel it and play in it. I am thankful I can look at earthquakes, hurricanes and swealtering heat and then log on to another page. I am thankful I dont have to run AC (heck, I dont have it) all summer and live in a AC box cause its too hot outside to enjoy anything. I am thankful for the deer that are in my yard every night eating the corn I put out for them.

I am thankful for the 35 acres that I live on, peace and tranquility at its finest. I am most thanful for 4 different seasons instead of basically the same weather day after day. I am thankful I live in such a beautiful part of the state with so much around me to enjoy.

I am thankful that my husbands work is one of the few in Michigan that is actually expanding this year. Seems the decision to get out of the Auto Industry, SE Mi and move North was the right one.

I am thankful for all that Michigan has to offer and will never leave her.

[odinloki1]

The state has more natural beauty than the rest of the country combined.

When the southwest drought drives water prices up to $10 a gallon everyone will move back and property will skyrocket.

The people (at least all the Michiganders I know) are the nicest friendliest people on earth. Nowhere else to get good neighbors.

[TigerDan]

You can Google any combination of items for Michigan real estate or average housing value decline in MI, etc. You will find several. The same studies will show you how other states (particularly Florida and California) are hurting more.

As for the positives, my original post discussed how Michigan is actually one of the best, if not THE BEST state for cost of living compared to average income (including all of the unemployment). Something like 90% of the working people can afford the average home on the market, compared to about 2% in California. I'd much rather be tied into a 3% loss on my $130K house here, rather than a 10% loss on a $600K house in Cali (in a worse neighborhood).

If you have a job, MI is a great place for living. All of the positives listed here with the natural beauty of the state and things to do prove as much.

[Driller1]

Originally Posted by Michigansnowflake

I am thankful I dont live anywhere where 20 degrees is considered a *cold snap*. I am thankful for the beautiful snow and my good health that allows me to shovel it and play in it. I am thankful I can look at earthquakes, hurricanes and swealtering heat and then log on to another page. I am thankful I dont have to run AC (heck, I dont have it) all summer and live in a AC box cause its too hot outside to enjoy anything. I am thankful for the deer that are in my yard every night eating the corn I put out for them.

I am thankful for the 35 acres that I live on, peace and tranquility at its finest. I am most thanful for 4 different seasons instead of basically the same weather day after day. I am thankful I live in such a beautiful part of the state with so much around me to enjoy.

I am thankful that my husbands work is one of the few in Michigan that is actually expanding this year. Seems the decision to get out of the Auto Industry, SE Mi and move North was the right one.

I am thankful for all that Michigan has to offer and will never leave her.

Thank-you! That was refreshing!