Buying a Home

https://youtu.be/jcOsfM6Qo3o If you are thinking about buying a home in Metro Detroit in 2026, the biggest question is probably not which house to buy. It is whether you should buy now or wait for mortgage rates to drop. That is a fair question. It is also the one that can cost buyers the most when they turn “waiting for a better time” into a long delay. I hear this all the time, and the truth...

Dual Agency in Real Estate, Explained You walk into an open house. You fall in love with it. You find the listing agent and ask if they can represent you too. The answer is usually yes. It is called dual agency, and on paper it sounds simple: one agent, two parties, everyone treated equally. In practice, it is more complicated than that. https://youtu.be/GTy0vrQ2qK4 What Dual Agency Actually...

Real, local numbers for the five communities I call home and serve every day. If you have been waiting for a market update that actually names your street instead of lumping you into "Metro Detroit," this is it. I pulled current data for Flat Rock, Gibraltar, Rockwood, Trenton, and Woodhaven so you can see exactly what is happening where you live, not a regional average that does not reflect your...

Most people buying or selling a home in Metro Detroit assume the number their real estate agent gives them and the number a licensed appraiser produces are roughly the same thing — just delivered by different people. They are not. They serve different legal purposes, they are produced through different processes, and confusing them has cost real buyers real money right here in our market. This post...

Buying a home in Metro Detroit is one of the largest financial decisions most people will ever make. And in a competitive market, the difference between a smooth transaction and a costly one often comes down to a few avoidable mistakes. After years of helping buyers across Metro Detroit, I have seen the same patterns repeat themselves. These are not obscure mistakes. They are the ones I watch buyers...

If you planning on buying and selling a house at the same time, there is a conversation most agents are not having with you before you make an offer. After seven years working with buyers across Metro Detroit, I can tell you those gaps are not small.They are the difference between a smooth transaction and a deal that falls apart three weeks before closing.This post covers the 5 things your realtor won't...

Just got engaged? Congratulations. Truly — this is one of the most exciting seasons of life, and I love seeing couples step into it. And if you're here because I handed you my card at a bridal show, or because you Googled me after, I want you to know: you are in exactly the right place at exactly the right time. I'm Leslie E. Martin, a real estate agent serving all of Metro Detroit. I work with...

Most buyers sit down with a lender and wait to be told what they qualify for. But what lenders know, and what buyers rarely think to ask, can make a real difference in what you can borrow, what you actually pay at closing, and whether you walk into this process set up to win or scrambling to catch up. I sat down with Vincent Newsome, home loan advisor at National Mortgage Funding in Troy, Michigan, for...

Are you asking yourself how mortgage rates impact your home affordability in Metro Detroit or whether you should wait to buy a home? You are not alone. Mortgage rates directly influence how much you can afford, what your monthly payment will be, and the competitive landscape for both buyers and sellers in today's market. In this article, I sit down with mortgage expert Vincent Newsome to explain in...

Before the next housing market shift becomes obvious, the most important question to ask isn't what the market will do. It's whether you're positioned to benefit when it does. As a Metro Detroit real estate agent, I've spent years helping buyers and sellers navigate changing housing markets across Metro Detroit. In this series closing post, I'm breaking down who actually wins during a housing market...