Is it any wonder people are worried about the economy.  The only thing happening is bonus money being handed out instead of securing the housing market.  Home values are still dropping in many parts of the country.  Michigan is included in the dropping home values.   Bloomberg along with other reported today the housing index fell again in the top 20 markets.  Nobody had to tell homeowners their homes are not worth what they were 3 years ago.  The slide in home values started in 2008 we are just entering 2012 and many homeowners are wondering when this will end. Economist and investors don't have a crystal ball, yet they can look at history to give themselves some trends.  Brokers and real estate agents that have been in the industry for awhile know one month does not make a trend! Last... 01/31/2012

Sell Your Home in 12 Easy Steps, “Step #7”(originally posted on FlexitRealtyBlog.com)  Preparing the Inside of Your Home For Sale.   We have gone through the outside of your home, now we step inside your home to review and stage it to sell.   Most home owners live in their homes and do not maintain the inside of their homes in buyer showing condition.  By this, I mean, we enjoy our homes.  Magazines, newspapers, books may adorn table tops.  Small families and singles that use dishwashers do not run them everyday.  The tendency is to have a full load and accumulate a few days of dirty dishes inside the dishwasher.   Laundry is the same way.   Households with small children have toys and drawings pasted about. When we prepare the inside of our homes for an open house, we start at the fro... 01/31/2012

12 Easy Steps to Selling Your Home “Step #6  (originally published on Flexit Realty Blog) Preparing the outside of your home for sale. Attracting buyers to your home is one step in the homes selling process.  We learned in some of the previous steps that creating the proper website presence creates the opportunity for buyers to find your home.  Your website presence, marketed correctly, creates buyer showings.  Buyers looking at your home must be converted to personal tours, seeing inside your home, if you are going to sell your home. Before you get the personal tour, many buyers take a drive-by to see what your home looks like from the outside. Another step in the home buying process for buyers.  Buyers are evaluating neighborhoods, condition of homes, the look and feel of a Selling Y... 01/30/2012

12 Easy Steps to Selling Your Home  (originally published on Flexit Realty Blog) Step #5 Property Descriptions, survey and narrative details Creating your property descriptions, including a survey of the property boundary lines, will help you sell homes faster.  Being able to express home information in a narrative to buyers and others during your home selling phase convert home lookers to home buyers! Your selling phase of home selling process is the time before securing a written accepted contract from a buyer to buy your home. You may not have thought too much about property descriptions as being important.  This may change your mind how to write your selling descriptions, when selling your home or homes as in the case of the real estate agents. Property Descriptions convert readers ... 01/29/2012

12 Easy Steps to Selling Your Home  (originally posted on the FlexitRealtyBlog) “Step #4  Marketing Methods to expose your home to the maximum number of buyers". Many home sellers and agents think, a home for sale listing is completed when the photos are taken and the home has it’s description written and recorded on the local real estate agents MLS (Multiple Listing Service) and the real estate companies website.  This is far from the end, this is the beginning of the marketing campaign to promote a home for sale! Real Estate Agents let the MLS spread the word of your home being listed for sale, for them.  Meaning any linking or rebroadcasting of the listing is done explicitly by the MLS on behalf of the agent and your property, is caused by the agents MLS membership.  This may seem li... 01/28/2012

Real Estate Business Plans are talked about but seldom implemented. Here is an opportunity to create your real estate business with an easy to follow program. I'll bet you thought I was going to show you how to build a business plan! Get Outta Here! I may do a lot of things but you have to build your own business plan. You have to decide on your own goals and how a business plan will fit your lifestyle and methods. I do have a little help for you to get your business plan implement quickly. I will provide you with a link to the National Association of Realtors site, "Build Yourself a Business Plan in about 5 minutes".  Here is what it the "FREE"  NAR screen looks like.  They of course offer options so review and only subscribe to features that make sense for your business.   It is never... 01/27/2012

12 Easy Steps to Selling Your Home “Step #3”  Originally posted on the FlexitRealty Blog. “Step #3” Deciding to sell you home with a real estate agent or without. For some, the option of using a real estate agent is a real struggle and for others there is no question.  A real estate professional is going to handle the sale of their home for them.  The Internet has increased home marketing opportunities for real estate agents who understand how to use these resources to reach more home buyers than ever before.  Home owners recognize buyer exposure created by the Internet can help them sell their homes with and without a real estate agent.  Some compare selling your own home like the first walk in space, "you can do it successful or you can fall on your face while the world watches".  Our... 01/27/2012

It has been reported that foreclosed home sales have dropped by 3.5% in December 2011, according to Bloomberg.  This was after posting a home sales gain in November 2011. The Foreclosure sales numbers, we knew were going to drop because of the pending litigation against banks for processing foreclosures wrong.  The sales slump showed up and everyone was shouting we have turned the corner on the foreclosure market.  Not so, just a blimp in the processing cycle because of litigation. President Obama may have a refinance program offered up, that has yet to pass congress or even be written as a proposed bill, to help existing homeowners save $3000.00 per year on mortgage costs.  This mortgage option will not have an impact on the housing industry to sell more homes or increase your homes va... 01/26/2012

Originally Published on the FlexitRealty Blog Step #2 Who Is Your Homes Selling Competition? We priced your home based on your condition, location and neighborhood.  Is that your competition when selling your home?  Selling your home, may have competition for areas other than just your neighborhood.  If a buyer has no children, not married or does not have a specific reason for selecting your neighborhood over another neighborhood your homes selling price, might be the only home buying motivator for that buyer.  If the buyer is single and not considering partners or marriage the motivation might be distance from work, parents or recreational decisions.  The point is we do not know what every buyers motivation is to buy a specific Exposing your home to the widest range of buyers when you... 01/26/2012

12 Easy Steps to Selling Your Home in the Grand Rapids Real Estate Market.    Deciding to Sell Your Home? What Home Selling Steps Are You Going to Take?    12 part series Easy to Follow Home Selling Steps Providing you with key home selling information. Each Day, Over the Next 12 Days Flexit Realty will be adding a Step in the "12 Easy Steps to Selling YOUR Home Guide".  Content previously published on the FlexitRealtyBlog.com Step # 1 Estimating your homes Sell Price.   The number one question all home owners ask, “How Much Money will be left over for me (family) after I sell my home”.   This question of home value can be answered if you know how much your home is worth in today’s housing market, where your home is located. This question has had many answers and most are just cliches. ... 01/25/2012

A Home Selling Series of 12 Steps to Selling Selling Your Home in the Grand Rapids Real Estate Housing Market. The 12 part series of begins tomorrow.  Here is the outline. Deciding to Sell Your Home?  What is the Next step in the Selling Process?  (12 Steps to Selling Your Home.)   Estimating your homes Sell Price value. Who is your homes competition? Deciding to sell with a real estate agent or without. Marketing Methods to expose your home to the maximum number of buyers Property Descriptions, survey and narrative details Preparing the outside of your home for sale. Preparing the inside of your home for sale. Photos, the visual details to attract buyers Showing your home to potential buyers Financing  Open Houses. Personal Buyer Showings   Estimating your homes Sell Price value.  Step... 01/25/2012

According to the Better Business Bureau the "Top 20" business types with the most complaints for 2011.  This is the top twenty for West Michigan and the Grand Rapids Michigan area. This would not be one of the lists any company or business would like to make.  The reason for the complaints can be a varied as conduct, contracts, service, invoices and many more issues people face everyday when hiring services. Appliance Manufacturers topped the list as having the most complaints. Manufacturers or Products was second and we can see why with the number of imports that flood our retail shelves. Mail Order & Catalog Sales hit number three with quality and delivery coupled with advertising issues make this one an easy one to understand as well. New Car Dealers, let me see, you'll get 200 miles... 01/24/2012

Sometimes people use the word ratings and Page Rank interchangeably.  Ratings are more about readership and content approval based on age, gender or preference.  Page Rank was developed by Larry Page and pertains to how Google views your site based on a secret checklist of items Google feels important to their users experience. The new change is all about user experience and less about the website.  Ever see a telephone pole on a corner with ads and posters stapled, nailed or glued to it?  We some website have little content but offer a host of ads selling unrelated products in banner or spot ads.  Some of these of these ads flicker, you are a "WINNER" click here to claim your prize.  Other offer special body part enhancements.  Others they tell you your website can be at the top of any... 01/21/2012

Wow, what a great call!  The caller says, "I need to buy a home today and I am paying cash, will you help me"?  Sure I'll help, can I ask a few questions?  I get a phone call out of the blue to my Grand Rapids Michigan Real Estate office.  The voice on the other end says, "I want to buy a home today".  I have seen the inside of this Grand Rapids Foreclosure home, had contractors through, have cash, can you write the offer for me so I can buy this home? OK, I have seen shooting stars, my mom believes in aliens and my dad was sure we could be haunted but why me?  I asked my home buying questions like I would for any real estate buyer thinking of buying a foreclosure home. What is the Grand Rapids property address? How much are you going to bid on the property when we write the purchase ag... 01/19/2012

Today I was contacted by a father of a potential client.  I had talked with his children last year in late summer.  Very nice people with a credit and income problem.  Spending more than their income can support.  Hum mm, where have I heard that before? We discussed a short sale to market their home.  They had already picked out another home to rent in another more influential community.  Status and location were more important than affordability since he was a college instructor. The father was concerned that they never moved forward with the short sale and just simple moved to their new location.  Of course they are renting the new home and left the old one behind.  The new neighborhood offers better schools and the social status that the husband wanted to portray. Since the father or... 01/19/2012

Rule are rules and we all have rules we follow.  Social rules, workplace rules and rules at home so growing up in a world of rules isn't new for any of us. Workplace rules are governed by the Federal government, by the state we live and work in and by our employers unless you are lucky enough to be the owner...then my wife makes the rules! (most of the time) :-) What would you say if you had a receptionist that was required by law to take a lunch.  So she punched out at the appropriate time and came back to her desk on her own time to finish a project you had assigned.  Knowing you had a deadline she worked on her own time to make sure you were prepared with the reports you requested.  I would say thatwould be an employee I would want to keep.  Just my opinion.  Well what if I told you ... 01/17/2012

Most of us use Twitter and over 60 percent of the search engine queries are done on Google.  Many do not know that Twitter did not renew it's feed contract with Google.  Meaning that your tweets do not feed out with the same recognition they had before. Twitter released an article crying fool about Google's action of adding name recognition options to their feeds using Google+.  This may impact many unsuspecting users of Twitter and Facebook.  There was not a public announcement of the contract feed issues until Twitter outed themselves in the formal display of the disapproval of the direction Google has taken Google+. Twitter accounts won't see functionality changes to their twitter accounts unless you are looking for it to be added marketing boost.  Unless you are linking to relevant ... 01/17/2012

I just wrote and article on this topic "Have You Heard This is The Best Time to Buy Real Estate". The home mortgage interest rates hit a 30 year low.  Home selling prices in our area are still near or at the lowest point in years.  The combination make it a great time to buy or Sell.  I know sellers always say I will lose to much.  The truth is, you sell for a lower price but you buy for a lower price.  Your financing costs area lower and the value of what you are buying is higher at a lower than expected price based on economic conditions. Have you ever wondered why the smart investers buy in a down market?  I don't think anyone wonders about that, if the truth be known.  Everyone knows investors buy low and sell high.  It works in the stock market, it works in business and it works wh... 01/17/2012

With all this wonderful unseasonably warm weather, it seems that Spring has come early to West Michigan in more ways than one.  The Grand Rapids Association of REALTORS indicated that over the past 65 day, over 12,000 requests have been received for home showings! The year end stats also showed positive trends with an increase in the average sales price and most importantly for future home sellers, a decline in inventory.  The good news for home buyers is  that interest rates remain incredibly low...as low as below 4% for buyers who qualify for Freddie Mac loans. So, if you're out and about this weekend, we thought it would be helpful to have links to Open Houses in the area.  The links are arranged by school district and include interior pictures and directions.  If this weekend doesn'... 01/07/2012

Grand Rapids Michigan November 2011 Sales Stats The November home sales statistics are in and the news looks good. Sales are up in November across the board in all price ranges. The price range that has seen the most activity is $100,00 – $ 139,999; almost 1 in 5 homes sold in November 2011 were in this price category, with overall highs ranging over $1 million and lows under $ 19,000.   The Grand Rapids housing market has 24.6% fewer listings year-to-date than last year.  This means shrinking inventory for buyers and good news for sellers.    The Average Home Sales Price is up from 2010 by about 3%; from $ 118,217 to $121,920.  In our opinion, this increase is caused by the REO’s and foreclosure sales numbers are down and more banks are embracing short sales.   Please note these prices... 12/22/2011