The Senate has reached a compromise on extending and expanding the $8,000 tax credit for first-time home buyers, a boost the housing industry believes will help it pull out of its two-year-old downturn. 

3.) Lawmakers in Washington also raised the qualifying income limits to $125,000 for single taxpayers and $250,000 for joint taxpayers, from the current $75,000 and $150,000, housing-industry

Welcome to 8266 Lake Pine, Commerce MI 48382 

Walk into one of the most magnificent lakefront homes ever listed in Metropolitan Detroit. Boasting 3 stories and over 7,000 square feet which includes 4 bedrooms, 5 full baths and 2 half baths, professionally finished lower level, walkout and 2 full kitchens just to start.

Before you get to the entrance, you'll notice the oversized circular driveway that houses over 16 cars. All your friends and family will admire the unique architecture and grand entrance including 2 solid cherry 8' entrance doors to a 2-story grand entrance, above is a Swarovski "old time" chandelier valued at over $15,000. Below is granite floors throughout the entire 1st floor and surrounded by imported hand carved solid cherry

Neighborhood information for all listings!

I don't know of another real estate website here in Metropolitan Detroit that has anything like this! This is probably the most useful information I have ever added to my website. From any listings details page there will be a tab called "Get Local." When you click on it, a google map will come up witih a neighborhood information tab that when clicked provides detailed statistics and other demographic information about the area directly surrounding the listing in question.

The "neighborhood information" tab details community characteristics, population statistics, financial statistics (average household net worth, median income etc), crime rates, weather & climate and much much more!

Not enough? Try the next

Never before has the United States government offered such an incentive to buy a home. Time is ticking and the deadline to qualify for the $8,000 first time home buyers tax credit is quickly approaching. Unless you are paying cash, you literally have 10-25 days to even have a chance at closing on time. You must close on or before November 30, 2009 to qualify. Here are 11 critical tips that could make your brake your ability to qualify for the $8,000 tax credit.

1. Avoid short sales. Have your agent exclude short sale listings. The average short sale takes 3-6 months to complete, you have 30 days to get an offer accepted in order to close by November 30, 2009. A lot of home searching websites have the ability to "Exclude Short Sales." Utilize this

Traditionally when times were good, within seven days of your offer being accepted you would conduct your private home inspection. After a successful private home inspection, your lender would order the appraisal and two weeksl later you were sitting at the closing table.

In a great market nobody thought twice about an appraisal coming in below the value the purchaser and the seller agreed upon. In the last three weeks, I have had over ONE MILLION DOLLARS worth of real estate transactions go sour because the appraisals didn't come in at value.

Meanwhile the buyer already spent $300-$400 on a private home inspection, the seller is packing their boxes, arranging moving trucks, and all parties involved are two to three weeks in the deal. Nobody is