St. Clair Shores is approximately 11.6 sq. mile suburb north of Grosse Pointe with about 7 miles of Lake St. Clair shoreline and about 20 some canals through out the city. Whether you are looking for that lakefront dream home or a canal front home to enjoy the waterfront life style, St. Clair Shores has much to offer. I did a market report earlier in the year comparing the lake and canal front real estate market of 2009 to the market almost 5 years ago in 2005. Of course everyone in MI is well aware of the local economy and the real estate market, we're reminded of it daily in some form or another. But the truth of the matter is homes are still selling. In fact, this is probably one of the best times ever to purchase a home with market values down and interest rates at record lows.

In doing my research comparing the closed lake front sales of 2009 to 2005, one thing that was not surprising was the average sale price. The average sale price of lakefront homes was down approximately 33%. The statistic that surprised me, was the number of closed units, they were only down 28% or 3 sales! Canal front homes were also down in average sale price some 45% from 2005 and no big surprise, sales were up 35% for 2009! Of course, buyers market right? Isn't that what we all want with any investment? To buy low and sell high. Of course this is not what sellers of Lake St. Clair homes want to hear, but the market is what the market is. I believe things will get better, it's going to take some time though.

3 things you should do when purchasing a waterfront home:

• Get your finances in order. Talk to a lender and get a pre approval. One thing you don't want to do is start looking at homes only to find out they are not in your price range or budget.

• Hire a Buyers Agent. You want someone working for you, assisting you in your home search, advising you throughout the transaction and most importantly, looking out for your best interest, not the sellers.

• Ask questions. Once you start your home search, depending on what you want to use the water frontage for, you may have some questions. How deep is the water? What size boat can you dock there? Is there a sea wall? Is it steel? Condition? Has the canal been dredged and if so when? Is flood insurance required on this property? Is there a neighborhood association?

I'm very excited about being a part of Lake St Clair Living On Line Magazine. My main focus for the web magazine will be to bring you useful information on the current Real Estate market that affects our community. When you're looking to purchase, sell, or lease your next home, we want you to have the information needed to make good decisions.

If you would like more information on Lake St. Clair real estate give me a call or visit my website. And Please, Help Keep Our Lake Clean!

Mike Mitchell - REALTOR®
GMAC The Kee Group
Office: (586)840-0400
Cell: (586)291-2652
www.MMhomesearch.com
www.ShoresRealEstateTalk.com