The destruction of a home by fire caused by the inaction of DTE Energy resulted in a resolution by the Royal Oak City Commission Monday.

On August 28, 2011, a home on Woodslee Drive in Royal Oak was completely lost due to fire from downed electrical wires.  The loss of the home followed a two-hour wait for DTE to respond to a call issued by the Royal Oak Fire Department.  The fire occurred on a clear day with no weather emergencies, and the cause of the downed wires was never determined.

The owners, neighbors, and firefighters watched on helplessly as they waited for DTE.  Firefighters risked electrocution if they intervened.

Monday, the City Commission urged state regulators, the Michigan Public Service Commission (MPSC), to review safety rules for acceptable response times for downed electrical wires in instances where life and property are threatened.

DTE argued that the two-hour response time was within the MPSC’s blanket requirement that energy companies respond within four hours 90% of the time, under all circumstances.  However, the City found a two-hour wait to be unacceptable when the life and property of Royal Oak residents are threatened.

Commissioner Jim Rasor was “appalled by DTE’s response that somehow it took two hours to get somebody over here from Redford to do this.”

In retort to DTE’s response, Mayor Pro Tem Patricia Capello quipped “So the operation was successful, but the patient died.”  She indicated that it was important to “find some resolutions for what is an unsafe situation that exists in our community.”

City Manager Donald Johnson notes that “What we’re asking for isn’t unreasonable.  We want one response time for normal power failure and another one for situations that threaten life and property.  It’s one thing if my freezer isn’t running and I can keep the door closed, but it’s not acceptable if my house is burning and the fire department can’t do anything because DTE has four hours to respond.”

The resolution passed Monday recommends the MPSC adopt new standards that reduce response times to 20 minutes in urban areas such as Royal Oak when life and property are threatened.  It also suggests energy companies like DTE be required to work with local fire departments to develop a plan to ensure fire department requests are given first priority.

Royal Oak urges all Michigan communities to pass similar resolutions to ensure this public safety threat is eliminated, and homes are not needlessly lost in any community.

Michael Sheppard, owner of Northern TV since 1993, relocated the company from 1321 E. 11 Mile Rd. to 27633 John R Rd. in Madison Heights on Jan. 2, after the shop’s building in Royal Oak was purchased by a new owner.

“We tried to buy the building, but we were outbid,” Sheppard said of the 1949 structure. “It’s just as well. The building was starting to fall apart, and the new owner has deeper pockets than we do. He is going to fix it up. When he is done, I am sure it will be a very positive improvement to 11 Mile Road.”

The dawn of television

In 1940, Northern Radio became Northern TV. Its first store was on Griswold Street in Detroit. By the end of 1941, the business had three locations—the Detroit store, a Port Huron store and the Royal Oak location, which was originally at 1204 E. 11 Mile Rd.

“The early store had 400 televisions in stock, which was a lot back then,” Sheppard said. “Then Pearl Harbor was bombed at the end of ‘41, and the government seized all the TVs. They were worried television would be used to broadcast propaganda.”

By the end of World War II, the Griswold and Port Huron stores were lost, Sheppard said. “Only the Royal Oak store survived because it was so big into service and repair,” he said.

In 1947, Northern TV sold the first television set in Oakland County, according to Sheppard. “We have the third TV we sold on display in our store,” he said. “Only two more payments, and it’s going home,” he joked.

Sheppard was able to acquire the set from the original owner, a woman who told him how she waited in a line to purchase the Model BT-100 for $600.

“That was a lot of money back then,” he said. “She told me that after she bought it, she had to wait three or four days to watch a broadcast. Back then, they did not have daily broadcasts. She said the first thing she watched was a Red Wing game.”

Sheppard said he has a million stories, many of them learned from the shop’s former owner, Ray Olson, who died in 2011. Olson purchased the business in 1950.

“Ray was sound asleep in the store for three hours one day,” Sheppard said. “That’s when he knew it was time to retire”—but not necessarily time to stop coming to work.

“When I bought the store, I would have old these old guys come in the store every day—12 at a time,” Sheppard said. “Ray would come and all his former employees, too. They would sit around and watch ‘Regis and Kelly’ with the sound off and tell stories. One by one, they all passed away. Ray was the last to go.”

TV, the electronic baby sitter

Clay Walker was another owner of Northern TV. Sheppard described him as a ladies’ man who never married, but he had a child of sorts—a big boxer dog named Captain.

“Captain was the star of many of Northern TV’s early ads,” Sheppard said. “An ad would say, ‘Captain says buy this Motorola.’ ”

Walker was a marketing genius who knew the power of television, according to Sheppard. He would take out ads that said Northern TV would stay open on Sunday nights, when all the other stores were closed, so parents could stop by with their children to watch The Wonderful World of Disney in “living color.”

“The kids would watch TV, and the parents would be invited into a back room to drink beer and smoke,” Sheppard said. “The parents began to realize that TV was mesmerizing.”

For better or worse, Sheppard said, the parents discovered that television was a way to “keep kids out of your hair.”

“Walker sold a lot of TVs that way,” he said.

Today, Sheppard sells very few TVs. Those he does sell are mainly to elderly customers who have been coming to Northern for years. Sheppard said in 2009 that a lot of his customers brought him their black-and-white TVs when the government mandated digital television. He said he installed a lot of converter boxes.

Bill Moon, 82, is one such customer who has been bringing TVs and radios to Sheppard for a long time.

“(Sheppard) and his wife are extremely nice people,” Moon said. “They are the kind of people anyone would want to do business with. I have never been disappointed with any of their work.”

These days, Sheppard repairs TVs and vacuums. He also sells vacuums and accessories and does electronic fire restoration. He also transfers tape, film and old audio recordings to DVD.

One last bittersweet sound bite

Even something that sounds as mundane as converting old audio recordings to digital technology comes with a great story from Sheppard.

He said a customer was going through her deceased mother’s belongings when she discovered an old 78 rpm record. With no way to play it, she brought the record to Northern TV to have him convert it to a CD, which he did.

Sheppard said he asked the woman not to play the CD in her car, but to wait until she got home. The record he converted was a recording the woman’s father had made for her on the European war front in 1940.

“On the recording, the father told his daughter how he built a rocking horse for her and how he painted it right before he left to go to war. As he left home, he told his daughter his coat accidently rubbed against the paint,” Sheppard said. “Her father told her he did not realize his coat was ruined by the paint until he arrived in New York. He told her, ‘We’ll buy me a new coat when I get home,’ but he never came home.”

“What a treasure for her to find,” Sheppard said. “The very last words on the recording were, ‘I love you.’ ”

“She told me later she had waited 70 years to hear those words.”

Northern TV is up and running at its new Madison Heights location. The phone number is the same, 248-545-1800, and Sheppard is still a member of the Royal Oak Chamber of Commerce. He has lots more stories to tell (we just ran out of room), so stop in and say hello.

Shadow inventory is housing that is not yet listed on the market for sale, but that is likely to end up on the market through distressed means: either a short sale, a foreclosure auction, or a bank REO (bank-owned property). Estimates range from 1.6 million homes on the very low end up to 15.3 million homes, which would take between 1 year and 4 years to unload. Current rate of sale is 4.97 million homes/year, and there’s currently 3.5 million homes listed for sale (a 9 month supply – for reference, a normal market has a 6 month supply). Even if home sales improve dramatically (which few experts are holding their breath for), we’re looking at several years just to clear out all the shadow inventory, which suppresses prices because foreclosures, short sales, and bank REOs all sell for less than normal market prices.

Brian Davis is a rental industry expert and the Vice President of ezLandlordForms. He is a frequent guest on radio programs ranging from Fox Business to the Wall Street Business Network to CBS Radio and more. He is also a landlord himself, who owns and manages over a dozen rental units

It’s estimated that 2011 will see a record low 302,000 new home sales, which is obviously bad news for developers and the construction industry. Single family housing starts are down 3.9% since this time last year, but building permits for single family homes are up by 4.6%, suggesting that we’ll see a bump in new home construction in 2012, and that developers are confident that 2012 new home sales will be substantially stronger.

In the third quarter of 2011, home prices were down in 111 out of the 150 markets that the National Association of Realtors monitors, which is disheartening for anyone looking to sell. For landlords and property managers however, the news is brighter: 81 of the 82 rental markets that Reis Inc monitors saw rising rents. At a certain point, this trend will drive up home prices, as renters start deciding it makes more fiscal sense to buy a home.

Brian Davis is a rental industry expert and the Vice President of ezLandlordForms. He is a frequent guest on radio programs ranging from Fox Business to the Wall Street Business Network to CBS Radio and more. He is also a landlord himself, who owns and manages over a dozen rental units

While easily overstated, there has been something of a rental boom in 2011. Vacancy rates dropped sharply to 5.6% in the third quarter of 2011, the lowest level since 2006. Meanwhile, rents rose to a nationwide average of $1,004 in the third quarter, a rise of 2.4% year over year, and Reis Inc (the source of the above data) estimates that the total rise in rents for 2011 will be 3.6%. Developers (who tend to do plenty of market research before committing to construction projects) are acting on this information as well: rental unit construction starts are up 33.3% in the third quarter since the same period last year, to 48 million units according to the U.S. Census Bureau. A look at the November figures (the most recent monthly figures) show even more drastic differences: the rate of housing starts for apartment buildings with 5 or more units rose to 230,000, an increase of 25.7% since October, and 219.4% since November of 2010.

Brian Davis is a rental industry expert and the Vice President of ezLandlordForms. He is a frequent guest on radio programs ranging from Fox Business to the Wall Street Business Network to CBS Radio and more. He is also a landlord himself, who owns and manages over a dozen rental units.

The crystal ball is murkier than usual, between the unstable US markets and economy, the upcoming election cycle in 2012, and the continued uncertainty in the European Union (yes, it matters: a collapse in Europe would have a devastating impact on US economic markets which are intimately tied to the housing market). But enough equivocating, here are some firm predictions:

• Home prices will continue to decline through the end of the second quarter in 2012, and will then roughly stabilize for the following year.
• Rents will continue to rise. My official forecast: 2.5%.
• We’ll still be talking about shadow inventory this time next year, and we’ll still have 1-2 years’ shadow inventory looming over the market.
• Jobs & local markets: One of the other qualities real estate markets share with politics is that all housing markets are local. National trends are all well and good, but there are some markets that basically haven’t seen a recession at all (Washington D.C. comes to mind) and others that have been annihilated (Las Vegas comes to mind). As local job markets improve, local housing markets will improve, starting with the rental market and then spilling into the home sales market.
• Cash will remain king: Sure, interest rates are low, but guess what? Only buyers with plenty of cash are being qualified for loans! LTV (loan-to-value) ratios are down, which mean buyers need to put down more money at the table than they did 5-10 years ago. Stay liquid, and don’t over-leverage yourself – the rental industry in particular requires a hearty cash cushion, as rental income can be inconsistent, and repair expenses are unpredictable.

It’s a good time to be a landlord, but only if you’re not mortgaged to the hilt, and only if you have a comfortable cash cushion. With some foresight, some cash, and a little luck, 2012 will be a great year to buy and hold rental properties, as real estate prices remain low and rents continue to rise.

Brian Davis is a rental industry expert and the Vice President of ezLandlordForms. He is a frequent guest on radio programs ranging from Fox Business to the Wall Street Business Network to CBS Radio and more. He is also a landlord himself, who owns and manages over a dozen rental units.

Kortney Glassford, Real Estate Consultant , Dec. 27, 2011

Many home owners can qualify for this option of selling their underwater home and not damaging their credit for more than two years.

Mortgage Lenders are becoming slightly more accommodating for home owners who are in need of loan modifications but the truth is many people who haven’t tried can still qualifying to short sale their home which, in the long run, can save tons of money. Most home owners don’t know their options and are scared to seek the information because they might discover the worst option: having no options.

Take a few moments to read through the simple steps in finding out if you may qualify for a short sale.

Tops Ways of Qualifying for a Short Sale: Qualify for Hardship

• Loss of employment – or lowered income
• Illness resulting in debt and loss of employment
• A death in the family leaving income deficiency

These are the top ways to qualify but are not the only, if you have a different situation still seek advice from professionals.

While you may feel these items may not pertain to you consider this: were you making the same income now as you were when you purchased the home? If yes, you may not qualify. If the answer is no and you are making even just a few thousand dollars less a year that could be enough to qualify for a short sale.

But Will My Credit be ruined?

A short sale will damage your credit about 200 – 300 points. If this remains the only large negative item on your credit that score can be repaired though on-time payments and low credit card balances in as little as 24 months.

How can I find out if I qualify for a short sale?

You can contact your lender directly and attempt to negotiate the short sale yourself; this process is labor intensive and typically takes 90 – 120 days. Take advice from professionals and let them handle the short sale. Contact a real estate attorney, real estate agent or lender in the mitigation department.

What will the outcome be?

The outcome will be that you’ve sold a home you’re most likely upside down on and you’ll need to either live with family or rent a home while your credit is being repaired for around two years. Even if you are paying a similar amount each month in rent once you are able to purchase a home again you’ll be able to get into a home which is similar or most likely nicer than the home you’d short sold.

Don’t Spend 10 -15 years trying to get your home’s value equal to what you owe on it.  Stop treating your home like a moral obligation and start thinking about it like an investment.

Written by

Jennifer Clark

Guest Columnist

The Maximizing Your Chamber Membership countdown continues with #9: Help customers find your by business type and name with free placement on the Chamber web site.

Across the nation, chambers of commerce are recognized as the key source for information on local business and community activities. Historically, such information was provided over the phone and via U.S. Mail. But in our get-it-now, technologically-driven economy, chambers of commerce provide this resource to consumers through web sites.

The Royal Oak Chamber web site, revised and re-introduced in June 2011, features a variety of ways for customers — and potential customers — to find a business. They can search by 20 different “business types” or type in a specific “business name.” In this manner, the Royal Oak Chamber of Commerce can provide accurate and timely consumer to business connections and “referrals” 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Upon joining, each member receives automatic free placement on the chamber web site, establishing credibility in the community through that membership. If provided by the member, even logos are included on the member’s link. This enables potential customers to find complete business information, including the member company name, logo, address, primary contact names, phone and e-mail address. Additionally, the Chamber member web site provides a map to the business as well as the ability to link directly to the member business’ web site, thus offering another way for customer to access information easily, conveniently and quickly.

According to Executive Director Shelly Kemp, “The Royal Oak Chamber web site is designed in such a way to reach an audience already geared to focus local.”

Since the release of its new web site, www.royaloakchamber.com receives 8,885 monthly visits. That is an increase of 100 percent over the old site’s average visits of 4,300 per month. Additionally, statistics show that the average number of pages visited each time someone comes to the site is a total of nine, thus indicating the site’s use as a resource and that visitors come to the site and stay around a bit … looking for local business and event information.

“For members looking for additional marketing opportunities on the site, we do offer the option to purchase various sizes of banner advertising,” added Kemp.

Royal Oak Chamber businesses maximize their membership with the help of a welcoming, well-traveled, easy to use web site: www.royaloakchamber.com. Additionally, the longevity and reputation of the Royal Oak Chamber of Commerce gives consumers confidence and makes the site a source for trusted information.

Jennifer Clark is events coordinator for the Royal Oak Chamber of Commerce.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood met with members of the delegation Wednesday morning to brief them on his discussions with Gov. Rick Snyder and Detroit Mayor Dave Bing who, LaHood said later in a statement, “have come together around a high tech vision that will provide state-of-the-art, reliable transit to far more people and in a far more cost-effective way.” He promised the transportation department’s support.

And that support will be key: It could cost $400-$600 million to build and operate rapid bus lines running from downtown to Selfridge Air National Guard Base, to Sterling Heights and Birmingham, then south again to Detroit. But that would be equal to the cost of building and operating a single light rail line from downtown to the city’s northern edge at 8 Mile.

“My takeway was that the light rail wasn’t feasible because of Detroit’s financial situation, that Detroit wouldn’t have the money,” said U.S. Rep. Hansen Clarke, D-Detroit. But he and other members of the delegation argued that the decision should be reconsidered and a solution found to build and connect light rail, high-speed rail and rapid bus service – perhaps by embracing his idea of pumping all federal tax receipts from Detroit back into the city for its own use for a time. That would provide enough matching funds to pay for the project and more.
Light rail, he said, would create enthusiasm and draw investment better than rapid bus service.

“When you’ve got fixed rails, you get permanent investment which leads to permanents jobs,” he said. “I’m not going to allow it (light rail) to be over.”

But LaHood, when asked at the meeting if he would reconsider, said it wasn’t his decision: It was local leaders’, meaning Snyder and Bing. Clarke said he would continue to work on them — as well as businesspeople and community leaders – to keep light rail on the table.
Meanwhile, U.S. Sen. Carl Levin, D-Michigan, criticized Bing for making such a decision that rejects the $100 million raised for light rail by local investors who Levin called “angels for our city.” Levin has long been a supporter of light-rail along Woodward Avenue and said he asked LaHood to “delay any decision until the investors’ ideas and concerns … receive a response” from Bing.

U.S. Rep. Gary Peters (D-Bloomfield Township) also wants LaHood to take another look at the light rail proposal. But he was encouraged by the tone of what he heard, however. He said it was clear that LaHood “is very committed to make sure we’re able to develop a transit system in the Detroit area that works for people.” Successful light-rail system tend to be larger projects, requiring even greater startup funding. Smaller projects, like this one, can lack the same level of use a larger system – like the proposed rapid bus system – can provide.

Peters, who is running in the same district as Clarke next year, said no one should believe the bus system isn’t substantial, either: If it’s like the others he has seen, the buses look more like train cars on tires. They pick up and let off passengers at permanent stations and run on a set schedule with notices when the next bus will arrive – just like a train. And they can be built at a cost of about one-third the cost of the same length of light-rail.

LaHood showed the delegation sketches of the proposed routes. Peters said his biggest concers are getting the route to Pontiac – it’s not connected as of now – and making sure the bus lanes and service generate economic activity similar to what a light rail line would create

LaHood said he thought a $25-million grant previously awarded for light rail could go toward Bing and Snyder’s plans.

Pugh says scrapping light rail was a mistake

Council President Charles Pugh said scrapping the light-rail project was a mistake because the city is in desperate need of investment and hope.

“We are moving toward becoming a much more vibrant city, but we can’t do that without a comprehensive transit system, which I believe needs to include light rail,” Pugh said. “This was about more than transportation. This was about transit-oriented development.”

If there’s a silver lining, Pugh said, it’s that bus rapid transit could generate more interest in a regional transit authority that is more efficient and inexpensive than SMART and the Detroit Department of Transportation.

Staff Writer Steve Neavling contributed to this report