E Grand Rapids MI Absorption Report ~ Dec 15, 2008

Posted on December 15, 2008 by Terry & Bonnie

Current Real Estate Market Report for East Grand Rapids MI

Absorption rate for East Grand Rapids MI housing market is currently

at 13.8 months, which means if no new listings come on the

East Grand Rapids market, it will take 13.8 months for the existing

home inventory to sell.

There are 142 active listings on the East Grand Rapids market now,

ranging from $70,000 to $4,000,000.

12 Pending Home Sales w/ prices ranging from $ 48,000 to $ 449,900.

60 Sold Homes with sold prices ranging from $ 93,500 to $ 1,275,000

since June 1, 2008 in the East Grand Rapids housing inventory.

The lower end of this market (under $300K) has been 2/3 of the sales

in the last six months.

If you have any questions about the value of your East GR home,

please contact me.

Grand Rapids Ada MI Real Estate ~ Five Star Realty

Photo of East Grand Rapids Public Library by Bonnie Westbrook

Caledonia MI Absorption Report Dec 15, 2009

Posted on December 15, 2008 by Terry & Bonnie

Current Caledonia Real Estate Market Report

Absorption rate for Caledonia Market is currently 13.28 months, which

means if no other homes come on the market, it will take 13.28 months

for the current inventory to sell. This is a 4 month increase from last

month. If you are marketing your home in Caledonia you need to

be priced at the market price for your neighborhood.

There are 136 current active listings, from $60,900 to $1,100,000 in

Caledonia MI.

16 Pending Homes Sales & 77 Sold homes in Caledonia since

July 1, 2008.

The current average sold home price is about $10K lower than November.

December average sold price is $187,754 .

Average day on market for sold homes is 119 days.

If you have questions about your Caledonia home’s value, or are

looking to buy a Caledonia home, please contact us. Our team offers

the best web marketing available and years of experience in

negotiating offers for clients.

Grand Rapids Ada Real Estate ~ Five Star Real Estate

Photo of Thornapple River at Ruehs Park by Bonnie Westbrook

Rare Isotope Beam Lab Coming to MSU in West Michigan

Posted on December 15, 2008 by Terry & Bonnie

The Dept of Energy announced Thursday that it has awarded Michigan

State University, the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB), a

large federally funded research lab that will create hundred of jobs and up

to a billion dollars for our local and state economy.

This building project will take about 10 years to complete. The lab will

eventually employ 1000 university and student researchers, graduate

students, and post doctoral associates from the international community.

The Facility for Rare Isotopoe Beams will also conduct research into the

origins of the earth’s elements and the development of the cosmos.

Michigan State University also is home to the National Superconductor and

Cyclotron Laboratory.

Congratulations to MSU for its award of this scientific facility, which

should bring a much needed boost to Michigan’s economy. Once this

sprawling facility is completed, the hundreds of scientists and skilled staff

needed to operate it will also bring intellectual wealth to our state.

If you aren’t a rocket scientist, you might like to check out the additional

information about rare isotope beams here: Office of Nuclear Physics

Grand Rapids Ada MI Real Estate ~ Five Star Real Estate

Nuclei chart from Dept of Energy web page

Foreclosure Help for Kent County MI Homeowners

Posted on December 4, 2008 by Terry & Bonnie

Kent County Michigan has put together a response team to help individual

homeowners who find themselves facing foreclosure. This team has over

40 groups that are available through Foreclosure Response, including banks,

legal aid sources, housing and service agencies, city and county government,

and real estate professionals.

Home Repair Services serves a the central hub for information and

coordination of resources. They just hired their 5th counselor to help

people in Grand Rapids keep their homes. They have over 270 success

stories to date. An article in the Grand Rapids Press and an article in Good

Housekeeping’s Quick & Simple Magazine tell a few of their stories.

Home Repair Services fills a much needed role in our community. They offer

Financial Counseling classes, this month they start on Dec 10th. They

welcome donations of building materials, tools, volunteer your time, or

give financial aid. This great non-profit organization says a lot about our

community and the people who live here.

Grand Rapids Ada MI Real Estate ~ Five Star Real Estate

Realtor Magazine's Remodeling Cost vs Value Report 2008

Posted on December 4, 2008 by Terry & Bonnie

The New Realtor Magazine is out and with it comes the annual

Cost vs Value Report.

One of the most common questions sellers and buyers ask me is:

“Should I remodel or add on to my house? Is it going to be money

I can recoup when I sell?”

This report gives an estimation of the return and an approximate cost

of several common remodels, additions and rehab projects in the home.

It is specific to different regions of the country.

COST vs VALUE

Since I am from Grand Rapids Michigan I have directed you to that page

but you can navigate to other areas of the country from there. I hope this

article is helpful in the decision making process if you are considering a

home remodel or addition.

As always feel free to call me about specific questions for our specific area.

Grand Rapids Ada Real Estate ~ Five Star Real Estate

Wm Seidman Talk hosted by GVSU Alumni

Posted on December 2, 2008 by Terry & Bonnie

We had an interesting start to our day. We had a sit down talk with William Seidman,

commentator for CNBC, former FDIC chairman, and Grand Rapids native son.

Well, we were sitting in the audience with about 200 other Grand Rapidians while Bill

told us how he believes we got into this financial crisis. He was scheduled to talk about

which candidate would be the best one for our financial times. With all that has

happened in the last few weeks, his advice was sage and to the point.

Check out their financial advisors.

Neither candidate is a businessman or financial expert, so they will be getting lots

of advice. Try to find out who is advising them and vote for the one whom you

considered to be well advised. He also said we are in uncharted waters with this

whole mess. It will take some original thinking to get us out. And we need to come

out of the “PANIC STAGE” we are in now.

We caught a few minutes of Bill’s Talk at the GVSU downtown campus that you can

see on this short video:

Grand Rapids Ada Real Estate ~ Five Star Real Estate

Why Pricing Your Home is Soooo Crucial to Getting Top Dollar

Posted on December 2, 2008 by Terry & Bonnie

When we sit down with potential clients to list their home, there are so many issues

and hot buttons to discuss. Inevitably we come to the one where we really have to

agree to get the home sold quickly and for the most money.

P-R-I-C-E

Most homeowners want to start high and then come down – if they have to – to sell.

Of course, they are hoping their home is an exception, it will sell for more than the

market value of all the other homes in the area. We see this over and over again.

If you don’t price your home within the price bracket it will eventually sell for, you

are hurting your chances of selling it for top dollar. If you price your home correctly,

You are not giving away money!!

I repeat, YOU ARE NOT GIVING AWAY MONEY.

This phantom money that you think you might get if the one person comes along

who will do anything, pay anything to own your “special” home does not exist.

Let me repeat that –

The uneducated buyer with money falling out of their pockets, sprinkled in fairy dust,

so you can make the money you would like to out of your home sale —–

DOES NOT EXIST!!!

You are not letting go of money, you are letting go of the dream scenario where you

get the price that is 25-30% over market value. We have seen literally thousands of

home sales and it just isn’t going to happen.

What will happen, is your home will be posted on the MLS, online, many places where

buyers can look at it. Buyers then compare your price to others, and say, why would

I buy this house?? There are 10-15 others I can look at that are competitively priced

and look great.

Then…. they are gone.

They don’t come back and revisit your home as an option. Other homes are new on

the market to consider. Your home has been rejected as: too expensive, too

much work, not what they are looking for.

Buyer Activity on Listed Homes

The charts above illustrate the buyer trends we tell our sellers about. These

charts of buyer activity are on actual listings that are currently listed by us.

You can see that the first month is usually the only month that gets

high traffic.

Some of our sellers will listen, most don’t.

Sadly, two, six, eight months later, we are still trying to get them to agree to

the price they should be listed at, if they want their home to sell. Chasing this

downward price spiral is not the best way to get top dollar from your home.

When it first hits the market it has the most exposure and best chance of getting

the best price!

Have questions about pricing your Grand Rapids home?

Contact me directly at 1-888-240-1968 ext 0

Grand Rapids Ada Real Estate ~ Five Star Real Estate

Forest Hills Fine Arts Center – A Fun Evening With Bandtasia

Posted on December 2, 2008 by Terry & Bonnie

We are very fortunate to live in a community with a fabulous public school

system. One of its more popular assets is the Forest Hills Fine Arts Center.

This venue hosts Broadway Shows, a Gallery for local artists, High School

Musicals, Grand Rapids Symphony, Grand Rapids Ballet Events, and other

local school shows.

We are new volunteers at the Fine Arts Center and have learned a

lot about its background and what keeps it running.

: Forest Hills Fine Arts Center Ada MI

A list of over 300 volunteers are unpaid staff that help host all the shows.

Even though this wonderful building is part of the Forest Hills Public School

System, it is expected to operate at a profit. The only way to do this is

keep a small staff and have community volunteers man the events. This

keeps the cost of shows at a level where it is affordable and gives us a

wonderful building to host our local artistic events.

This is the Fine Arts Centers Fifth Season Subscription Series:

Clint Black Sept 21

Michael McDonald October 24

Three Dog Night November 7

Movin’ Out December 7

Golden Dragon Acrobats February 3

Phoebe Snow March 1

We just went to our first volunteer event a few weeks ago, Forest Hills

Central High School’s Bandtasia. Forest Hills Central’s marching

band puts on this show for the local community to strut their stuff. We

thoroughly enjoyed their performance.

We made a short video of some highlights, if you would like to take a look

at our excellent community arts resource- The Fine Arts Center:

Grand Rapids – Ada Real Estate – Five Star Real Estate

photo of Forest Hills Fine Arts Center by Bonnie Westbrook

East Grand Rapids MI Real Estate Market Report Nov 2008

Posted on December 2, 2008 by Terry & Bonnie

East Grand Rapids is a small city, population of 10,784 located just east of

Grand Rapids city limits. It has been a desired place to live in the Grand

Rapids area for many years. East Grand Rapids is primarily residential with

some commercial business areas. Many homeowners are attracted by

Reeds Lake which plays a prominent role in the community, its award

winning public school system, proximity to downtown Grand Rapids,

and its overall small town feeling.

East Grand Rapids is definitely a community that you can walk to school,

the ice cream store, or just around the tree lined blocks to visit the

picturesque lakes, Reeds Lake & Fisk Lake.

Homes range in all prices here in East Grand Rapids. There are small 3

bedroom bungalows and ranches that were built just before and after WWII,

there are mega-mansions built on the shores of Reeds Lake for wealthy

citizens, and all ranges in between.

Reeds Lake East Grand Rapids mi

RESIDENTIAL REAL ESTATE MARKET

EAST GRAND RAPIDS MI ~ November 2008

EAST GRAND RAPIDS Homes Listed at $850,000 +

EAST GRAND RAPIDS Active Listings:10

EAST GRAND RAPIDS Average Active Price: $1,743,800

EAST GRAND RAPIDS Sold Homes : 1

EAST GRAND RAPIDS Average Sold Price/SqFt: – $ 309.54

East Grand Rapids real estate market report Oct 2008

East Grand Rapids Homes Listed $450,000 to $ 850,000

East Grand Rapids Homes Active listings:32

East Grand Rapids Average Active Price: $ 608,003

East Grand Rapids SOLD Homes: 7

East Grand Rapids Average Sold Price: $ 522,143

East Grand Rapids Average Sold Price/SqFt: $ 152.57

EGR 450-850K $ per SqFt 11-08

EGR 300 -450K $ per SqFt Listings 11-08

Homes Listed $ 300,000 – $ 450,000

East Grand Rapids Homes Active Listings: 41

East Grand Rapids Average Active Price: $ 397,927

East Grand Rapids SOLD Homes: 17

East Grand Rapids Average Sold Homes Price: $ 354,441

East Grand Rapids Average Sold Price/SqFt: $ 135.91

EGR 200-300K Area Listings 11-08

Homes Listed $ 200,000 – $300,000

East Grand Rapids Active Listings: 25

East Grand Rapids Average Active Price: $ 264,604

East Grand Rapids SOLD homes: 34

East Grand Rapids Average Sold price: $231,003

East Grand Rapids Average Sold Price/SqFt: $ 123.61

Homes Listed $0- $200,000

East Grand Rapids Homes Active Listings: 39

East Grand Rapids Active Average Price: $ 164,454

East Grand Rapids SOLD Homes: 49

East Grand Rapids Sold Home Price: $156,774

East Grand Rapids Sold price/SqFt: $ 113.61

EGR 0-200K Area Listings 11-08

It is difficult to do a market synopsis for a housing area this broad.

East Grand Rapids homes in the lower values seem to be the most active,

especially under $200,000. This is still a very strong market in our

weakened economy but buyers are still looking for bargains. If you need

to sell your East Grand Rapids home, you will need to anticipate the new

buyers price threshold to sell your home in the current market, which seems

to be going down every month.

East Grand Rapids Market Report October 2008

East Grand Rapids Market Report Sept 2008

East Grand Rapids Market Report August 2008

If you have questons about your Grand Rapids or East Grand Rapids Home

in this market, please contact me directly.

Five Star Real Estate LLC

Reeds Lake photo by Bonnie Westbrook

Grand Rapids MI Real Estate Market Report Nov 2008 – Ada Woods in Ada Township

Posted on December 2, 2008 by Terry & Bonnie

Ada Woods is an established development of homes in Ada, Michigan,

just west of Ada and south of Fulton Street (M46). Ada Woods started

out as an E.L. Ladd development, but towards the end of the project

many lots were sold to other builders and completed by individual owners.

The dates of building range from 1980’s to 2005. Most of the homes

have more square footage and more amenities than Adacroft Commons,

its adjacent neighborhood. As with Adacroft Commons, there is designated

common land in the development that remains heavily wooded and in a

natural state. This development is in the Forest Hills School System and

close to several private schools.

Ada Woods Real Estate Market Report

November 2008

5 Sold, 1 Pending, 5 For Sale, 7 Expired

Fall in Ada MI

Ada Woods Active Listings: 5

Ada Woods Average Active Price – $ 333,920

Ada Woods Average Active Price/SqFt – $131.28

Ada Woods Average Days on Market – 131

Ada Woods SOLD Listings: 5

Ada Woods Average Sold Price -$ 340,480

Ada Woods Average Sold Price/SqFt – $124.15

Ada Woods Average Sold Days on Market – 110

Ada Woods Expired Listings: 7

Ada Woods Average Expired Price – $ 295,329

Ada Woods Average Expired Price/SqFt – $ 133.37

Ada Woods Average Expired Days on Market – 155

The average home sale for 2008 in Ada Township is $ 304,411.

171 homes have sold so far in 2008.

Ada Woods is a popular home market in the Ada area. Part of the appeal

is the proximity of Ada Elementary, Forest Hills 5/6 School, Ada Christian

Schools, St Roberts School and close to the village of Ada and Fulton Street.

MARKET SYNOPSIS: As you can see by the numbers, average sold price has

lowered, and the average asking price has risen. The expired number is up

which tells me that some sellers have given up trying to get their asking price.

If you don’t have your Ada Woods home priced about $ 125.00 a sq ft, you

will be waiting for a stronger sellers market to sell your home.

Ada Woods Market Report June 2008

Ada Woods Market Report July 2008

Ada Woods Market Report August 2008

Ada Woods Market Report Sept 2008

Ada Woods Market Report Oct 2008

If you have any questions about Grand Rapids or Ada Homes,

please contact me directly.

Grand Rapids Ada MI Real Estate – Five Star Real Estate

Fall Color photo in Ada Mi photo by Bonnie Westbrook

Grand Rapids Real Estate

Grand Rapids Real Estate Information

Monthly Archives: December 2008

E Grand Rapids MI Absorption Report ~ Dec 15, 2008

Current Real Estate Market Report for East Grand Rapids MI

Caledonia MI Absorption Report Dec 15, 2009

Current Caledonia Real Estate Market Report

Rare Isotope Beam Lab Coming to MSU in West Michigan

Foreclosure Help for Kent County MI Homeowners

Realtor Magazine's Remodeling Cost vs Value Report 2008

COST vs VALUE

Wm Seidman Talk hosted by GVSU Alumni

Check out their financial advisors.

Why Pricing Your Home is Soooo Crucial to Getting Top Dollar

P-R-I-C-E

I repeat, YOU ARE NOT GIVING AWAY MONEY.

DOES NOT EXIST!!!

Then…. they are gone.

Forest Hills Fine Arts Center – A Fun Evening With Bandtasia

East Grand Rapids MI Real Estate Market Report Nov 2008

Grand Rapids MI Real Estate Market Report Nov 2008 – Ada Woods in Ada Township