.embed-container { position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%; height: 0; overflow: hidden; max-width: 100%; height: auto; } .embed-container iframe, .embed-container object, .embed-container embed { position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; } There are many great Grand Rapids area homes for sale. Click here to perform a full home search, or if you're thinking of selling your home, click here for a FREE Home Price Evaluation so you know what buyers will pay for your home in today's market. You may also call me at (616) 942-2449 for a FREE home buying or selling consultation to answer any of your real estate questions. Why Would you Sell Your Home During the Winter? OK, let's talk about selling your home. A lot of people have been asking us if they should list their property now, or wait until the spring when there are more buyers. Most people generally think that listing their home this time of year is a bad idea, because there are no buyers out there.  Actually, there are a ton of buyers out there, especially with these low interest rates we have been seeing. At just over 4%, these historically low interest rates are an opportunity that most buyers have figured out they shouldn't pass up. Waiting for another decrease in interest rates doesn't really make sense, as they are expected by many experts do increase in the next year by at least 1.5%. That might not sound like very much, but could cost you an extra $100,000 throughout the life of your mortgage. We are currently at our lowest point of the year in terms of homes for sale. Combined with the fact that there are still a ton of great buyers out there, is great news for anybody thinking about selling their home. When we have low inventory, every home that comes on the market has a lot of traffic through it, especially with the number of buyers we have right now. The holidays are a joyous time, where we decorate our homes and create a warm environment for all of our holiday guests. This is great for the environment of holiday buyers as well. You will likely be one of the few homes in your area on the market.  If you have every reason to sell but are planning on holding off until spring, think again. You could be shooting yourself in the foot by not taking advantage of the trends we are seeing right now. If you have any questions, feel free to contact us via call, text, or email. We hope to hear from you soon!

.embed-container { position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%; height: 0; overflow: hidden; max-width: 100%; height: auto; } .embed-container iframe, .embed-container object, .embed-container embed { position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; }  There are many great Grand Rapids area homes for sale. Click here to perform a full home search, or if you're thinking of selling your home, click here for a FREE Home Price Evaluation so you know what buyers will pay for your home in today's market. You may also call me at (616) 942-2449 for a FREE home buying or selling consultation to answer any of your real estate questions. Who is our Big Winner? We recently finished our Zillow review contest, where we had past and current clients write online reviews about their experiences working with our team. It was a great success, as we went from  5 reviews to over 30 reviews in just 10 days! This is great because it showed that you enjoyed your time working with us, and it will be out there for potential buyers and sellers to see to help them make their decision on who to hire.  So, without further ado, our winners are... Jeff and Erica Poest!  Congratulations, Jeff and Erica, you have won an iPad Mini! Thanks again for your great review! We will be doing little contests like this from time to time, so keep an eye out for the chance to win another great prize in the future. In the meantime, if you know somebody who wants to have a great real estate experience, be sure to have them give us a call . Referrals are the lifeblood of our business and we can't thank you enough for helping provide us with clients who want to experience a high level of service. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to give us a call or send us an email. We would be more than glad to help. 

There are many great Grand Rapids area homes for sale. Click here to perform a full home search, or if you're thinking of selling your home, click here for a FREE Home Price Evaluation so you know what buyers will pay for your home in today's market. You may also call me at (616) 942-2449 for a FREE home buying or selling consultation to answer any of your real estate questions. Discussing Real Estate FAQ's On Air Today I thought I would share with you guys some snippets of an interview I did on the radio recently. I shared a lot of information on a lot of different topics, but here are some of the highlights: Affordability We are now in a 2nd year of improving market conditions. With interest rates right around the 4% mark, now is a great time to buy a home. Our market is one of the most affordable markets in the country.  Buyers or Sellers Market? When determining whether we are in a buyers or sellers market, the main variable that comes into place is the absorption rate, or how long it would take to sell all the inventory we have if no new homes came on the market. Right now, we are at 4 months. This actually puts us in more of a balanced market than anything else. It's not a hot seller's market, but there is not enough inventory for it to be considered a buyer's market either.  Pre-Approval In my opinion, pre-approval is about as important as the decision to buy a home. When you decide to sell your home and purchase a new one, you have to be pre-approved because if we sell your home quickly, you won't be able to get a new home right away.  Finding the Right Agent When you are deciding on the right agent to hire, throwing in a question like "How long have you been in the business?" or "How well will you negotiate for me?"  will give you insight to an agent's experience, skill, and strategy. The more you have been in business, the better you are at negotiating. A strong negotiator is invaluable. Staging When you prepare a home for sale, you need to stop looking at your home as your home and start looking at it like a home you want to sell. The way you prefer your home isn't necessarily the way the broad market will appreciate it.  Thanks for letting me share some of these tips with you today. If you have any questions at all, feel free to give me a call or send me an email. I would be glad to answer them for you.

There are many great Grand Rapids area homes for sale. Click here to perform a full home search, or if you're thinking of selling your home, click here for a FREE Home Price Evaluation so you know what buyers will pay for your home in today's market. You may also call me at (616) 942-2449 for a FREE home buying or selling consultation to answer any of your real estate questions. Grand Rapids Real Estate Market Update for Fall 2014 Here we are, the fall of 2014. The leaves outside are starting to turn and we want to give you an update on the Grand Rapids real estate market. A lot has happened this year as we head into the 4th quarter. We are going to recap you on what's been happening, and give you an idea of what to expect in the near future. For the first 3 quarters of 2014, the Grand Rapids market was very healthy. Home prices have escalated, but not as dramatically as they did in 2013. We have seen low interest rates, as well as low inventory as we head into the latter part of the year. Inventory is really starting to fall right now, and when that happens we will usually see demand start to pick up.  As for mortgage interest rates, all the information available to us points that yes, they are going to rise very soon. We talked to some mortgage professionals and we are looking at about a 1% increase in the next year.  People don't realize how low that really is and what it means to take advantage of these low interest rates before they rise. According to Freddie Mac, a 1% increase in interest rates is like putting an extra $10,000 on a home over the life of the loan.  If you are a first time home buyer, rates won't be like this for long. If you are a seller, inventory is dipping and soon, we will see some increases. If you have any questions about our market, don't hesitate to reach out to us. We would love to help you out.

There are many great Grand Rapids area homes for sale. Click here to perform a full home search, or if you're thinking of selling your home, click here for a FREE Home Price Evaluation so you know what buyers will pay for your home in today's market. You may also call me at (616) 942-2449 for a FREE home buying or selling consultation to answer any of your real estate questions. The Top 5 Questions You MUST Ask When Interviewing Agents to Sell Your Home Today we are discussing the top 5 questions you should ask a listing agent before you hire them. These 5 questions are rarely asked of us, but we feel they are very critical to understanding if your real estate experience will be successful. We recommend you ask these questions of every person you are considering hiring.   1. How long have you been selling real estate? A lot of people will just hire a friend or family member without even asking or knowing the answer to this question. The listing process is a marketing-based experience and your agent needs to have experience. The agent's tenure will give them the ability to navigate situations that newer agents won't know how to deal with. 2. How many homes did you sell last year? The number of homes an agent sells is usually a sign of things to come in terms of their selling ability. If someone is making hundreds of sales per year, it's an indicator that they are experience and have systems in place to get you a great deal on your home. Someone who doesn't do as many transactions is somewhat of a tossup.  3. What is your average list price vs. your average sale price? If an agent has a good statistic in this area, they will be tracking it and will let you know personally, as well as through their marketing.  4. What is your average days on the market? An agent's marketing style will impact the days on the market through photography and staging. A good agent can decrease days on the market through marketing techniques and increasing the home's exposure 5. How well will you negotiate and how will you get me a better price? How well an agent negotiates is based on both experience and fiduciary function, which means they will do anything to put their seller's interest above all else to get them more money in a shorter time . A good agent will have the systems in place for the negotiation process to start earlier rather than later.  Start with these questions, but be sure to also ask about commission, length of contract, and other standard questions. These 5 questions above are not standard, so they might throw the agent off a bit, which isn't a bad thing. It might actually get you a more honest answer than you would have gotten otherwise.  If you have any questions, please feel free to give us a call. We'd be glad to help. 

There are many great Grand Rapids area homes for sale. Click here to perform a full home search, or if you're thinking of selling your home, click here for a FREE Home Price Evaluation so you know what buyers will pay for your home in today's market. You may also call me at (616) 942-2449 for a FREE home buying or selling consultation to answer any of your real estate questions.  Western Michigan Real Estate Market Update for Fall 2014 Part 2 Welcome back everyone to part 2 of our real estate market update. Today we are going to talk about just a few more things you should keep an eye out for right now in the real estate market. Some of these market shifts may impact your current or future home and we want to make sure you are aware of that. The absorption rate in real estate is the number of homes that sell in a given time relative to the number of homes available. The absorption rate right now is about 30%, which means that 30/100 homes on the market right now are the ones that are going to sell. Any absorption rate over 20% is considered a seller's market and as you can see, that's where we are at. As far as how long a home stays on the market, right now we are at a healthy average of 39 days. The average is about 55 days and in Western Michigan it's even higher. These homes are also selling for about 97% of their asking price, which is above average as well. While conditions seem to be perfect for sellers and sellers only, that's not the case. Interest rates for mortgages are at historical lows right now in the 4% range. This is so much lower than these rates have been in the past. If you are thinking about making a move, now is the time to do so because locking these interest rates in now could save you thousands of dollars down the road over the life of your loan. If you have any questions about this topic or any other, please give us a call or send us an email.