As we begin September, let’s take a look at what’s happening in the Grand Rapids and Michigan real estate markets. 

Right now, there are 2,007 homes for sale. That number is a little higher than normal. There are 1,730 pending home sales. In other words, there are almost the same number of homes for sale as there are under contract. 

So far this year, 8,476 homes have sold at a rate of about 1,060 homes a month. That means our market has a total of 1.89 months of inventory. 

If we look specifically at Kent County, there are only 1,500 properties for sale and 1,355 pending sales. So far this year, 6,700 homes have sold in Kent County at a rate of 838 home sales a month, leaving Kent County with 1.81 months of inventory. 

What do all of these numbers mean for you? 

Inventory has gone up slightly as we head into fall. With school starting, people are too busy to concentrate on real estate as much as they did this summer. Since inventory is slightly higher, buyers have a better selection now than they’ve had all year. 

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Slightly higher inventory means buyers have more options to choose from.

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If you’re thinking of buying a home, now may be the time to seize the market. 

If you are thinking of selling your home, there is still a lot of action in our market, which means you have a great opportunity to sell. Keep in mind that inventory has increased a little, so there may not be as many multiple offer situations as there were this summer. 

If you have any other questions about buying or selling a home in our current market, just give me a call or send me an email. I would be happy to help you!

Is waiting to buy a home costing you money? The answer is yes, and there are two main reasons why. 

The first is price appreciation over time. Property values are rising every day now, and supply and demand is pushing prices upward. The longer you wait, the more you’ll be missing out on a better home price.  

The second reason is interest rates are also rising. A 1% increase in interest rates decreases the average homebuyer's affordability by about 10%. That means if you want your mortgage payment to stay the same, you will have to buy a less expensive home. In other words, your buying power drops 10%. The Fed announced that they would be aggressive with interest rates this year, and they have more planned increases in the future. 

For a more detailed look at how interest rates are expected to impact the market in the coming months, you can click here. For a look at home price expectations for 2017, click here.

With both prices and interest rates moving up, every day you wait is costing you more money. Don’t get caught on the sidelines. 

If you have any questions or are interested in purchasing a property, give us a call or shoot us an email. We’d love to help you out.

Spring's officially here, so I wanted to take a minute to update you on the important factors currently trending in our market. 

As of the end of March in Kent County, we have 939 properties for sale, which is extremely low. In our market in the last 12 months, 10,212 properties sold, giving us a rate of roughly 851 homes sales per month. That means we have about 1.1 months of inventory, which is extremely low.

The market currently has 1,240 pending sales as well. When you step back and take a big-picture look at our market, it's an absolutely amazing time to sell your house since buyer demand is high and inventory is low, pushing prices up. 

On the other hand, if you're buying a home, you want to hurry and try to buy one before interest rates keep going up. Prices are going up as well, so the longer you wait, the more difficult it will be to find a home and the more it will cost you.

If you'd like any more detailed information about your specific area or you're ready to buy or sell a home here in the Grand Rapids market, give me a call or send me an email soon. I'd love to help you out!

I’ve recently found myself running into clients who hired contractors to do work for them, and unfortunately, it seems that many of them overpaid and were taken advantage of.

I wanted to be sure to take this chance to let you know that if you have any projects coming up, I have a list of reputable contractors that includes everyone from electricians, plumbers, roofers, to anyone else you might need. We’ve vetted them through years of experience.

I’d be glad to send you a list of reputable vendors for any job you need to have done.

Similarly, if you know someone who you think is an absolutely amazing contractor, I’d love for you to share their name with me so I can continue to refer a list of wonderful people who do amazing work for my clients.

I just wanted to quickly reach out to you today with some holiday greetings. My video crew has digitally placed a Santa hat on my head just for the occasion.

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We are grateful for your support.

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So let me wish you a very merry Christmas, to you and your entire family. We are grateful for your support, whether it be in the past, present, or future.

If you have any questions for us, we’re always here to answer them. All you’ve got to do is give us a call or send us an email. We look forward to hearing from you.

I wanted to drop by with a quick Grand Rapids market update to give you an understanding of how this market relates to last year's market and what we could see moving forward.

Currently, we've got a little more than 2,000 homes for sale, which is actually down from last year at this time when we had 3,327 homes for sale. Year to date, we've sold almost exactly as many homes this year as last year. We front-loaded a lot of sales in the spring, however, when the market was crazy and inventory dropped to nearly 1,500 homes available. 

In four of the last five months, our sales have been down compared to last year. I'm not sure if this is an indicator of anything, but going into the winter, we have fewer homes for sale than last year. As a seller, this means it could be a really good time to get into the marketplace. As a buyer, that stretch between Thanksgiving and Christmas is the best time to potentially buy a home as well. Sellers are serious and you'll have less competition, leaving you the opportunity to get a great deal.

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Don't hesitate as a buyer or seller at this time!

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Don't be hesitant as either a buyer or seller at this point! If you'd like any more details about what's going on in your area or you're thinking of buying or selling a home, give me a call or send me an email today. I'd be happy to help!

If your property is currently on the market, how do you know if you need a price adjustment?

There are obviously a lot of variables involved in attracting buyers to a property. The three things buyers consider when looking at a home are condition, price and location. You obviously can’t change location, but you do have control over price and condition.

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Price is just one variable buyers look at.

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If you’ve been on the market long enough, listen to what your Realtor is telling you about the feedback received from all the showings because the market will respond accordingly. If you’ve been on the market for a long time with a number of showings and no offers, you’re basically getting rejected by the market.

You and your Realtor need to evaluate the market rejection along with those other variables to see if it’s time to drop the price, or decide if the price is really the issue. There may be other objections to the property, like a water tower in the backyard or proximity to an expressway. You can position the home at a level that will overcome all buyer objections if you’re willing to come down below what you might think is a fair value.

If you have questions about pricing, or you’re thinking about buying or selling a Grand Rapids home, give me a call or send me an email. I’d love to work with you.

With Britain voting to leave the European Union, it has left the financial world in some uncertainty and turmoil. Has it had an effect on the Grand Rapids market?

Because of this, most institutions are dropping their mortgage rates, and that’s going to continue until at least December, according to the economists that I’ve read about. Because of the lower interest rates, there is going to be a refinance boom, so lenders’ pipelines are going to be quite full of people trying to take advantage of the moment.

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Homeowners are also taking advantage by refinancing.

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When it comes to our market in Grand Rapids, the effect we’re seeing is that buyer demand is staying high because access to money is good with incredibly low interest rates. Because of that, supply and demand will still push in the seller’s favor, even though our local market has kind of gone on vacation, so to speak.

As long as you’re in the price range of $150,000 and under, you’re going to be in really good shape. Because of vacation, some of the higher price ranges may struggle a bit.

Today, I’ll talk about the State Real Estate Transfer Tax Refund. If you haven’t heard about this new legislation, this information is invaluable to you.

Last July, the Michigan Supreme Court passed a bill that affects anyone that has sold their home within the last four years. It provides Michigan homeowners the right to claim an exemption of $7.50 for every $1,000 in value that was sold. 

You’re entitled to this benefit if you sold your home anytime after June 24th, 2011 with the SEV value lower in the year of sale than the year of purchase. For example, if you bought a home with an SEV value of $60,000, but sold it for an SVE value of $50,000, you’re qualified for this new refund to meet the difference. Additionally, the property must be claimed as the seller’s principal residence.

With this refund, you’d qualify for funds previously collected by the title company at closing. It must be an arm's-length transaction, not a family member or a friend; it needs to be a typical, traditional transaction.

Click here for a SRETT refund application form. There are only a few boxes to fill out, so it’s relatively painless paperwork. This is serious money that shouldn’t be ignored! If you have any questions about this refund, don’t hesitate to contact my office by phone or email. I’m happy to answer any questions you might have!

Today, I wanted to fill you all in on a quick market update. I want to make sure you know about the latest market data and trends going on in the Grand Rapids housing market.

According to numbers we compiled, we have approximately 1.62 months of inventory as of this past March. This means the market favors sellers. It’s an opportune time to list if you’ve been on the fence about it.

However, that’s the market overall, and I have more specific numbers broken down into particular neighborhoods. I can let you know what it looks like exactly for you, whether you’re buying or selling. Additionally, I can let you know how much power you have as a consumer in a specific neighborhood within the Grand Rapids region.

If you’re considering buying or selling a home in the surrounding area, please reach out by phone or email! I’d be happy to answer any questions you might have.