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GRAND RAPIDS — Real estate workers in West Michigan returned to in-person activities on May 7 after being halted for six weeks because of the COVID-19 outbreak.

From March 15 to April 15, housing sales in the region and the surrounding area were down 40 percent from the same time last year, according to the Grand Rapids-based Greater Regional Alliance of Realtors. 

Trapped in his home office, Grand River Realty LLC owner Pete Bruinsma said the drop felt much more dramatic. Moreover, the deals that did manage to go through were likely already in process since February or March. In a timeframe when he would normally sell about 10 properties, Bruinsma said he closed on just one vacant house, a sale that was in motion before the shutdown. 

Under the state’s stay-at-home home order and the classification of real estate agents as non-essential workers, realtors were forbidden from conducting business outside of their own homes from late-March until last week. Some relied on photos and virtual tours to show properties but most activities were curbed, according to Bruinsma, who said Michigan is the 49th state in the nation to allow real estate agents to resume showing properties with social distancing, including gloves and face masks.

“I started keeping a list of states who allow in-person real estate activity and quit when the list got too long,” Bruinsma said. 

Real estate open houses are still prohibited, but workers can now enter homes and conduct in-person meetings to develop a new listing. As well, clients can enter a home to view the property or to sign necessary documents.

Although housing activity in West Michigan had been effectively frozen during the state’s stay-at-home executive order, the markets are not expected to exit the crisis chilled, according to Bruinsma. 

“I highly anticipate the market picking up right where it left off before the shutdown,” he said. Spring is a critical time for real estate activity, especially in West Michigan where people avoid moving during the cold and snowy winter months, he added. 

“All of that pent-up demand over the winter kicks in in the spring and it kind of defines the year,” Bruinsma said. 

The housing market in the Grand Rapids metro area has consistently ranked among the “hottest” in the country during the past several years. In 2019, houses in the region were averaging just 10 days on the market with a median listing price of $178,050, up 11.3 percent from the year before, according to data from Realtor.com. 

After a normal lull for the holidays, market activity had already started to surge this February, according to Bruinsma, who said the spring sales spike has begun earlier and earlier each year. 

“It’s crazy. Right at the beginning of the year, when people started coming back out, I saw people bid way too much for stuff because there was just no supply,” Bruinsma said, noting that any suppressed inventory from the past several weeks will not fill the gap. “People have such high confidence in the value of real estate right now, especially in Grand Rapids. It’s kind of an anomaly because even if they think they’re not going to get their full value or they’re going to have to compromise on value at the moment, they’re going to maybe delay on listing it.” 

Those decisions will keep competition high in the area in the short term, but seasoned realtors are still wary of the effect a recession spawning from the COVID-19 crisis and widespread unemployment could have on their businesses. 

“There are no precedents for something like this,” Bruinsma said. “Yet, despite it being an entirely different type of situation, we have the 2007-2009 housing crisis in close memory and it affects perception.” 

Home Repair Services of Kent County offers educational and repair services for all homeowners. Most recently, the “Rookie Renovators” Series is comprised of regularly offered free classes each focusing on one area of a home. According to the web site, depending on your household size and income, you may qualify additional home repair assistance.

December 7, 2019: Basic Plumbing (at Home Repair Services)
December 10, 2019: Drywall (at KROC Center)
December 14, 2019: Basic Electrical Workshop (Home Repair Services)
December 20, 2019: Lunch & Learn about Home Repair Services
January 14, 2020: Plumbing
February 12, 2020: Home Maintenance

Class & Events Schedule

Home Repair Services has roots tracing back to the mid 1970’s and the local faith community, Home Repair Services has been a civic response for vulnerable homeowners facing critical health and safety repairs.   Always located in the Hall and Division area of Grand Rapids, Home Repair Services became an independent nonprofit agency in 1979 and moved to its current home, a converted Oldsmobile dealership, in 1999.  Home Repair Services has grown through the years to offer services that not only build up safer and healthier homes but it has added programs that build up the homeowners that live in them.  Over 35,000 Kent County homeowners have benefited from the work of Home Repair Services over the years.

Since moving to Grand Rapids in the 1990’s I’ve been intrigued by this whimsical carriage house and what it would be like to live here. I am sure its the same for many other fans of history, architecture, and Grand Rapids Michigan. This structure, next to Dégagé Ministries, is the last remaining evidence of the pre-industrial era of downtown Grand Rapids. It even pre-dates the period of protection governed by Historic Preservation. This is one of the reasons it is coming down.

Carriage House currently owned by Dégagé, used as a temporary pass-through from Sheldon to Division

Another reason the building is not long for this location is that it just doesn’t make a lot of sense in its current location. Times have drastically changed, and it is more of a museum piece now than a useable structure.  The building is wedged in between two commercial buildings, no stand-alone single family residences exist nearby. It’s a workaround spot right now, currently set up as a walk-through connection from the Dégagé building on Division to the building on Sheldon, with several steps up into the carriage house, and then several steps back down into their other building.

Dégagé Ministries is launching a capital campaign to remove this home and replace it with a more accessible building, adding much-needed services for women in need. The existing program has helped over 4500 women to date and is in need of expansion. They plan to move the dining hall & gathering area, currently on Division, to their building on Sheldon. It is notable that this may incidentally cause a minor shift in the amount of loitering along Division avenue.

To be clear, this plan is already in motion, already approved by the City of Grand Rapids and passed through the Historic Preservation Committee. Funds are being raised. Yet, the local organization admits it would be a bit of a shame to tear this building down if there is a will and a way to save it.

Current law office, former carriage house moved from Heartside Neighborhood

Buildings like this have been moved before. Take for example the law office that currently resides at State & Lafayette. This is a former brick carriage house from the same era and location as the Dégagé building.

I’ve been asked by Dégagé to check around and see if there is any interest from the community in possibly moving the structure to a new location. This process would need to begin with an engineering assessment to see if the place would withstand a move. Then, an intricate plan would have to be made for digging it back out of its current location then moving it somewhere uphill.

The process of moving a home is costly, especially a very old one, and there are some additional special considerations such as stop lights, automobile traffic, power lines, but surprisingly people exist around town who can move things like this. I first encountered Rollaway Movers in 2009 when I had a rental property on National Street that was shifting in a counter-clockwise direction. The foundation was giving out in one corner and I had to have it rebuilt in order to save the home.

National Basement Overhaul

Rollaway also gave me a quote on moving the Magnum Opus building at 1422 Wealthy. My company Life Cycle had been managing the property, had just finished 90% of its rehab when it was sold and slated for tear-down. The buyer eventually decided to save it, but not before I’d received a reasonable quote for moving the building. I was highly impressed!

Rear of referenced Dégagé carriage house, built into a commercial structure

For further information or any questions please don’t hesitate to contact Pete Bruinsma at Grand River Realty.

According to Mlive.com on April 16, 2018:
“With jobs losses hammering the state, the population dropped to 9.88 million by 2011, based on Census Bureau estimates. It’s slowly increased since, and Gov. Rick Snyder has said he would like to see the population hit the 10 million mark again by 2020. Below is a look at year-by-year population estimates for all 83 counties from 2010 to 2017.”

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