Ann Arbor area builders seek edge in troubled housing market

Innovation lives in the Ann Arbor-area housing market where one home builder is coming up with new ways to move homes in one heck of  tough market. Excerpt: One local homebuilder recently added guaranteed buy-backs and expanded leasing to the list of options facing potential buyers. The strategies are among the ways builders are seeking an edge amid a market defined by falling prices for existing homes and slowing new-home demand – which is off 44 percent so far in Washtenaw County this year. Jim Haeussler of Saline-based Peters Building Co., now says he’ll buy back any new home in the third year of occupancy for the original price. He said that offers some protection for buyers concerned about having to relocate for job-related reasons. Haeussler also provides “lease-to-own” and “lease-to-build” programs meant to allow residents to contribute to the eventual purchase of a spec or newly built home. The Saline builder said had two goals with the programs: He was looking for something to pull potential homebuyers away from the existing home market and its decreasing prices, and it’s a way to try to stabilize the values of already-purchased homes in his subdivisions. “We want to protect our existing buyers,” Haeussler said. “If we offer discounts … it doesn’t help the people we sold to in the past.” Read the rest of the story here.