Tom Gilliam-RE/MAX Classic

Tom Gilliam-RE/MAX Classic Experienced Farmington Hills real estate agent with 20+ years of success helping buyers and sellers across Oakland County.

🏡 Your Trusted Oakland County Realtor | 24+ Years Helping Families Buy & Sell Homes | Specializing in Farmington Hills, Novi, Northville, Birmingham & Bloomfield Hills | FREE Home Valuations | Call/Text 248-790-5594 I specialize in Farmington Hills homes for sale, Novi real estate, and Northville MI real estate, delivering accurate pricing, proven marketing strategies, and strong negotiation skill

s. Whether you need expert home valuation, first-time buyer guidance, or effective strategies to sell your house fast in Farmington Hills MI, I offer clear advice and personalized service. Recognized as a trusted Realtor near me and one of the Best Realtors in Farmington Hills MI, I combine deep local expertise with a client-first approach to make every move successful.

06/20/2026

Stop looking for the perfect house. Start looking for the perfect location. 📍✨

Hi everyone! After 24 years in the business and over 700 successful closings, if there is one thing I wish every single buyer knew before they started their search, it’s this: you can always renovate a kitchen, but you cannot move a house to a better school district or place it one block closer to Walnut Lake. 🌊

When you're starting your home search in Oakland County, getting the location right is step number one everything else follows. Let's talk location strategy first!

06/20/2026

Wide-angle lenses are doing the LORD'S work 😅
Always tour in person before you fall in love with the listing photos — what looks like a primary suite online can sometimes be... cozier than expected in real life.
24 years of walking buyers through this exact moment. Happy to help you separate the real deal from the camera trick. 🏡
📲 248-790-5594

Tom Gilliam | RE/MAX Classic | Farmington Hills MI

The mortgage is the smallest surprise in lake house ownership.After 24 years closing deals on Walnut Lake, Cass Lake, an...
06/20/2026

The mortgage is the smallest surprise in lake house ownership.
After 24 years closing deals on Walnut Lake, Cass Lake, and Union Lake, here's what nobody tells buyers upfront.
→ You don't own the water. You own the bottomland — and every right comes with limits.
→ Seasonal docks usually don't need a permit. Permanent ones do, and EGLE fees can run into the thousands.
→ Waterfront insurance costs more than a standard policy. Significantly more, in some cases.
→ Many lake communities fund w**d control and water quality through a special assessment that doesn't show up on a standard tax estimate.
→ Your tax bill resets to full assessed value the year after you buy — not what the current listing shows.
I had a buyer on Cass Lake get an insurance quote during due diligence that came back nearly double what they expected. We worked through it together because they found out in week two, not month two.
I put together a complete breakdown of what to actually budget for before you buy a lake house in Oakland County.
Link in first comment 👇

📲 248-790-5594

🏡 Tom Gilliam | RE/MAX Classic | Farmington Hills MI

06/19/2026

Hey Tom Gilliam here with RE/MAX Classic in Farmington Hills.

If you are thinking about buying or selling in Northville Michigan here is what you need to know.

Northville consistently commands some of the highest prices per square foot in all of Oakland County. The walkable historic downtown, top-rated Northville Public Schools, and the community investment we are seeing right now with the Maintaining Main project these are not talking points. They are structural advantages that protect property values through every market cycle.

I have been selling homes in Northville for 24 years. If you want to know what your Northville home is worth right now call or text me directly at 248-790-5594.

Tom Gilliam — RE/MAX Classic — Homes2MoveYou.com.

06/19/2026

Waiting for prices to drop sounds simple — but buying in Oakland County rarely is.
If rates drop, more buyers come back to compete for the same homes. If inventory stays tight, the homes you want may not get cheaper. Waiting without a plan doesn't make your position stronger.
Know your numbers. Watch the local market. Figure out what actually makes buying make sense for you.
Comment "PLAN" if you want help thinking it through.
📲 248-790-5594

About 8.6% of home appraisals come in below contract price. In Oakland County's lakefront and luxury markets, that risk ...
06/19/2026

About 8.6% of home appraisals come in below contract price. In Oakland County's lakefront and luxury markets, that risk is often even higher.
After 24 years and 700+ closed transactions, here is what I have learned about why appraisals fail.
It almost always comes down to one of three things. Poor comp selection by an appraiser unfamiliar with the area. Property condition issues that were never addressed before listing. Or missing permits that nobody knew were a problem until it was too late.
I have watched a seller on Cass Lake price their home based on a neighbor's sale from two years ago, only to have the appraisal come in $80,000 below contract because the appraiser pulled comps from inland neighborhoods and completely missed the water premium.
That kind of gap is avoidable. But only if the prep work happens before the appraisal — not after.
I put together a complete guide breaking down exactly why homes fail to appraise across Farmington Hills, Novi, Northville, and West Bloomfield, and what buyers and sellers can do to prevent or fix a low appraisal when it happens.
If you are getting ready to buy or sell in Oakland County — this is worth reading before you sign anything.
📲 248-790-5594

🏡 Tom Gilliam | RE/MAX Classic | Farmington Hills MI

06/18/2026

Homes in Farmington Hills are going pending in just 6 days right now. Bloomfield Hills is up 47% in value since 2020. Buyer activity is picking back up this summer across Oakland County.
If you have been thinking about selling — this is your window.
📲 248-790-5594

🏡 Tom Gilliam | RE/MAX Classic | Farmington Hills MI

After 24 years and 700+ closed transactions across Oakland County — here is what I know about estate property investors ...
06/18/2026

After 24 years and 700+ closed transactions across Oakland County — here is what I know about estate property investors that most people never talk about.
The ones who build real wealth do not chase the hottest market or the biggest return projection.
They buy right. They manage well. They hold long enough for the local fundamentals to do their work.
And in Oakland County — those fundamentals are genuinely different from almost anywhere else in Michigan.
Bloomfield Hills has a finite number of estate-caliber lots. The waterfront corridors around Walnut Lake and Cass Lake have buyers who have been watching specific properties for years. The school districts in Farmington Hills, Northville, and Novi create a tenant pool that pays premium rents, maintains properties carefully, and renews leases because their children are enrolled in top-rated schools.
That combination — land scarcity, lifestyle demand, and school district premium — is what makes Oakland County estate properties one of the most resilient long-term investment vehicles in Southeast Michigan.
I put together a complete 2026 guide covering the inflation hedge advantage, how to build multi-generational wealth through 1031 exchanges, the portfolio diversification case backed by hard data, and what investors need to watch out for in today's interest rate environment.
If you are thinking seriously about estate property investment in Oakland County — this is the guide I wish existed when I started 24 years ago.

Link in first comment 👇

📲 248-790-5594

🏡 Tom Gilliam | RE/MAX Classic | Farmington Hills MI

Serving Farmington Hills · Bloomfield Hills · Novi · Northville · West Bloomfield · Birmingham

Most sellers I meet have never actually read their listing agreement before they signed it.Not the carryover clause. Not...
06/17/2026

Most sellers I meet have never actually read their listing agreement before they signed it.Not the carryover clause. Not the termination rights. Not the marketing cost language. Just the commission rate — and their signature at the bottom.I have watched that decision cost sellers time, money, and in some cases the sale itself.Here is what 24 years of Oakland County transactions taught me about this contract.The listing agreement is not a formality. It is a professional service contract that determines how hard your agent works, what happens if things go wrong, and whether you are protected when the unexpected happens.The carryover clause alone can cost you a commission on a closing you thought was free and clear. The 2024 NAR settlement changed how buyer-side compensation works in ways most sellers still do not understand. And the type of agreement you choose — exclusive right-to-sell vs exclusive agency — directly shapes your agent's motivation from day one.I put together a complete guide covering all of it — in plain language, no legal jargon.If you are thinking about selling anywhere in Oakland County this year — read this before you sign anything.📲 248-790-5594

🏡 Tom Gilliam | RE/MAX Classic | Farmington Hills MI

Link in first comment 👇

Address

29630 Orchard Lake Road
Farmington Hills, MI
48334

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