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Reinhart Realtors

Not Making a Plan
Whether you are moving across the country or across Washtenaw County, moving is a big job. To alleviate the stress of last minute planning and packing, create a schedule with a moving checklist. Real Simple has a great moving checklist.

Moving Things You No Longer Need
Not only do you waste money moving things you no longer need, you also waste time and energy. Before you begin packing, get rid of everything you don’t use or won’t need in your new home. Habitat for Humanity of Huron Valley’s ReStore is a great place to donate what you no longer need.

Packing Poorly
Safely and securely pack your belongings. Invest in quality boxes, specifically designed for moving to ensure that your belongs will be safe. Be sure to accurately label boxes to save time when you are unpacking. Don’t wait until the last minute; begin by packing a few boxes a day so the process isn’t so overwhelming.

Hiring the Wrong Moving Company
A quality moving company can save you time, as well as the stress and energy of moving on your own. Reinhart recommends working with Stevens Worldwide Van Lines for their quality service and great value.




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Reinhart Realtors

Each week, for 12 weeks, we will feature one of our top 12 reasons to live in Ann Arbor.

  1. Exceptional Public Schools


#2. Vibrant Local Culture

Ann Arbor has a rich tradition of a vibrant local culture. Downtown Ann Arbor has a variety of places to enjoy music, dance, theater and the arts, including:

Ann Arbor Art Center: For over 100 years, the Ann Arbor Art Center has engaged the community in visual arts through classes, exhibitions, a gallery promoting regional artists and outreach programs for teens, education for children.

Ann Arbor Hands-On Museum: A non-profit organization, the Ann Arbor Hands-On Museum offers an interactive, engaging environment for children of all ages to learn and play.

Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra (A2SO): Ann Arbor’s only professional orchestra, the Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra preforms in the historic Michigan Theater under the direction of Arie Lipsky. In addition to performances, the Ann Arbor Symphony provides youth concerts, KinderConcepts, ensemble performances, and “Petting Zoos” where children get to try out child-sized string instruments.

Kerrytown Concert House: Named a top jazz venue in the world, Kerrytown Concert House is an intimate 110 seat venue offering live music, theater, and rotating art exhibits.

Michigan Theater: Considered a “shrine to art,” the Michigan Theater offers two auditoriums: the Historic Theater, which seats 1,700 and the Screening Room, a more intimate setting, seating 200. In additional to showing movies, Michigan Theater, home of the Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra since 1984, is also a great venue for live events, concerts and special events.

Performance Network Theater: A professional theater, Performance Network Theater produces popular plays, creates imaginative sets and costumes, and performs in their intimate downtown theater. With a wide-range of musicals, comedies, dramas, Pulitzer Prize and Tony award-winners, Performance Network Theater performs something for everyone to enjoy.

Selo/Shevel Gallery: Located in downtown Ann Arbor, the gallery features the finest in contemporary American crafts and folk arts from around the world.

The Ark: Ann Arbor’s home for acoustic music, The Ark is considered one of the top music clubs in the world with live performances of the wide-ranging genres of folk and grass roots music. With live music over 300 nights a year, The Ark is an Ann Arbor staple.

University Musical Society (UMS): Focused on music, dance and theater, UMS presents 60-75 performances and over 100 free educational activities each session. While proudly affiliated with the University of Michigan, UMS is a separate not-for-profit organization.

University of Michigan Museum of Art (UMMA): With a recent 53,000 square foot addition, the restoration of the historic Alumni Memorial Hall and extended hours, UMMA has transformed for the 21st century. UMMA features more than 18,000 artworks, special exhibit spaces, “open storage” galleries and a range of lively education and event spaces.

University of Michigan Museum of Natural History: Offering a wide array of educational programs and exhibits, the museum is known for its displays of dinosaur and mastodon skeletons, pterosaurs, whales and other fossils. In addition, the museum has a planetarium and features Michigan wildlife, anthropology, and geology exhibits.

WSG Gallery: Formerly Washington Street Gallery, WSG Gallery represents contemporary regional artists and features original fine art including paintings, prints, drawings, sculptures, ceramics, and art glass.

> Click here to search for homes for sale in Ann Arbor




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Reinhart Realtors

Realtor.com compiled a list of the top ten turnaround towns in the United States. Several factors were analyzed including unemployment rates, annual changes in median list price, median age of inventory and total listings. According to Realtor.com, the top ten turnaround towns show the greatest promise for growth and price appreciation despite the national economic situation.

With prices up and inventory down, Ann Arbor rounded out the top ten. According to Realtor.com’s October data, median list prices increased more than 8% year-over-year, while total inventory is down almost 25%. In addition, home sale prices are also steadily increasing, 4.4% for the year to be exact. Realtor.com also stated that the supply of homes is now considered balanced, with a 6.8 month supply of inventory at the current rate of sale, a decrease of 11% over last year’s numbers.

The Top Ten Turnaround Towns include:

  1. Miami, Florida
  2. Orlando, Florida
  3. Fort Myers – Cape Coral, Florida
  4. Phoenix – Mesa, Arizona
  5. Fort Lauderdale, Florida
  6. Sarasota – Bradenton, Florida
  7. Lakeland – Winter Haven, Florida
  8. Boise City, Idaho
  9. Fort Wayne, Indiana
  10. Ann Arbor, Michigan



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Megan Crosbie

Kiplinger.com recently posted a list of the “10 Great Cities for Raising Families” on their website. To those who live here, it isn’t surprising that Ann Arbor made the list.

Excellent public schools as well as low violent and property crime rates were cited by Kiplinger.com as reasons why Ann Arbor made the list. The Ann Arbor Public School District is consistently ranked as one of the best in the country with students scoring far above average on state and national standardized tests.


Click here to view the complete article.

Click here to Search for Homes for Sale in Ann Arbor.




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Megan Crosbie

The Ann Arbor District Library’s Traverwood branch was among WebUrbanist’s list of 14 Marvelous Modern Libraries. The library’s modern structure, completed in 2008, was designed by InFORM Studio. Described as long, low and geometric, the library has rustic natural tree trunk columns, high ceilings, and white paint to make it feel even more spacious.

Other notable libraries to make the list include:

  • Yale University Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library

  • Vancouver Public Library, Canada

  • Baton Rouge Downtown Library Concept, Trahan Architects

For the complete list, visit WebUrbanist.com.

Credit: All Photos from WebUrbanist.com.




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Megan Crosbie

Saline Area Schools continue their tradition of excellence with five of the six schools in the 90th percentile of Michigan schools. Rankings, based on the Michigan Merit Exam and Michigan Educational Assessment Program (MEAP), were released by the Michigan Department of Education.

Here is how Saline schools stacked up:




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Reinhart Realtors

Susan Kellam, Relocation Director, and Leslie Smith, Relocation Coordinator with the Charles Reinhart Company, Realtors recently attended the 2011 Leading Real Estate Companies of the World (LeadingRE) conference March 8th – 10th. The annual event attracted 850 top real estate brokers, managers, relocation professionals, sponsors and guests from the U.S. and eight countries around the world. Participating brokers represented one-third of the U.S. real estate market.

“The conference was hugely gratifying, bringing together so many industry leaders to create an energizing learning and networking experience,” said LeadingRE President/CEO Pam O’Connor. “Recessions are fertile territory for those who understand opportunity, and those who participated in the conference emerged more ready than ever to meet the needs of today’s consumers.”

The Charles Reinhart Company, Realtors is the local representative of Leading Real Estate Companies of the World, a global real estate network comprised of over 600 of the best-known local and regional real estate firms. With nearly 5,000 offices and 150,000 sales associates in the United States and 35 countries abroad, LeadingRE affiliates sell almost $300 billion in homes sales, representing nearly one million transactions annually.




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Leslie Smith

Featured in the February edition of DownBeat Magazine, the country’s leading Jazz publication, is their list of the top 150 jazz venues in the world. Ann Arbor’s own Kerrytown Concert House made their list!

Kerrytown Concert House, located in the heart of Kerrytown on Fourth Avenue, is known for being a place for the community to enjoy local, national and international jazz musicians. In addition, Kerrytown Concert House features all genres of music, theatre and rotating art exhibits. There is always something new to see, hear, experience and enjoy at Kerrytown Concert House.

For more information about Kerrytown Concert House visit their website.




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Megan Crosbie

Stevens Worldwide Van Lines was established in 1905 in Saginaw, Michigan. Founder Frederick H. Stevens, Jr. used a single horse and dray to haul baggage to and from the Michigan Central Passenger Depot. Today, Stevens has grown to a full-service moving company with nearly 150 agent locations throughout the United States.

Stevens is an integrated, high touch provider of local, in-state, long-distance and global relocation services. Stevens handles household goods moves, office moves and specialty moving services. Stevens has special divisions for corporate moving services, affinity moving services and clergy and church denomination moves as well as a division dedicated for military and government moving.

For more information about Stevens Worldwide Van Lines, visit their website or call 1-800-234-2035.

Reinhart Rewards offer: Are you moving locally? Receive 25% OFF replacement value protection and a Complimentary “Get Started” Kit

Reinhart Rewards offer: Are you moving a long distance? Receive a complimentary “Get Started” Kit

To learn more about Reinhart Rewards or to sign-up for the program please visit our website.




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Jennifer Fry
RentSMART: Renting in 2011
February 1, 2011
Filed under: Apartments, Relocation, RentFAST

If one of your top priorities for 2011 is finding a new apartment, you no doubt want to accomplish your goal in as little time and with as little stress as possible. Whether you’ve been looking for a while or you’re planning to start your search now that the holiday season is over, here are five tips to help you find a great apartment:

  1. Determine what you want. You don’t want just any apartment, but one that’s right for you. This means you should think about what you want and then design a search around those parameters.

    Most apartment hunters begin their search knowing how many bedrooms they want. But what about bathrooms? If you think you need two, have you considered whether one-and-a-half bathrooms would work? (If it would, giving up the half-bathroom could save you money in rent.)

    Aside from basic considerations such as the number of bedrooms and bathrooms, take a moment to decide what other features are important to you. For instance, if you don’t own a dog, you might not care if a building is pet-friendly. On the other hand, you might want the flexibility of knowing you can get a dog later on. Already knowing what you want means not having to waste time visiting apartments that won’t fit the bill.

  2. Know how flexible you can be. Landlords may offer tenants different rental options, and you need to know what you feel comfortable with before you commit to anything. For instance, you might agree to a two-year lease so you can lock in a good rental rate. Or, if your goal is to rent an apartment for a year and then look to buy, a one-year lease is probably your best bet. However, if you’re concerned you may need to relocate because of a job you might want to find a landlord who’s open to a shorter term or offers a transfer clauses.
  3. Answer the roommate question. Living with roommates is an important decision to consider. Roommates can provide needed companionship and make your apartment living more affordable by splitting expenses but they are not for everyone. Before asking someone to room, weigh the pros and cons carefully. Apartment complexes almost always require everyone to be on the lease and therefore you are all held responsible.
  4. Anticipate the finances. It’s not enough to find an apartment you love; you must also be able to afford it. The biggest expense you’ll face is the monthly rent, but you must also be prepared to pay for utilities, security deposit, and other expenses. Keep in mind that most apartment communities require you to make at least 3 times the monthly rent to qualify. You may also qualify under a savings account.
  5. Take your search online. The Web has a wealth of resources for apartment hunters, including sites that let you search for apartments in the area you want at no charge. However, for even more personal assistance, let RentFAST, a FREE apartment locating service in Ann Arbor do it all for you! Just call Jennifer Fry at 734-669-5937 with your wish list, set your price range, bedroom size, pet preference, and more (remember Tip #1?) and you will be on your way to finding the perfect apartment!



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