2018 Year-End Grand Rapids Home Trends and Statistics
Images Courtesy of the Greater Regional Alliance of Realtors (GRAR)
Images Courtesy of the Greater Regional Alliance of Realtors (GRAR)
Posts
[Sold] $65,000 Midtown home in good shape, 13 Inlet Place
If you can get past a basement with a dirt floor, this home is a rare find in Midtown area: good shape, a street away from the farmers market, convenient to downtown and many neighborhood offerings. Plenty of parking also included, which is rare for the street. Two rooms upstairs, main floor laundry, bath and bedroom, fresh carpet paint and flooring throughout.
[Sold – $104,900] Just Listed: 3323 Paris NE $109,900
Grand Rapids Real Estate. This charming, nicely-renovated Dutch Colonial home sits conveniently near Riverside Park ten minutes from Downtown. Full of original oak floors, this roomy two bedroom home is big on living area with a flowing main floor layout. The newly-installed upstairs bathroom fits nicely alongside freshly refinished hardwood floors. Bay windows in the living room & formal dining room bring in lots of natural light and views to the quiet tree-lined street. View uninterrupted sunsets from the back deck. The basement is clean with plenty of headroom and a bonus room out to the back yard that could have once been a garage. Parking out front. Come visit today!
Freshly Squeezed
Thanks to Freshly Squeezed Print Shop for the fruits of this great collaboration.
Pete Interviewed by Fox 17 / Problem Solvers
Fox 17 News contacted Pete for comments on a rental scam happening in Grand Rapids. It ran as a popular “Problem Solvers” segment on July 14, 2015:
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Rental scams online are nothing new. However, a Grand Rapids realtor warns of a more sophisticated scheme. It starts with people posing as property owners or property managers.
“They’ll meet at the property. They’ll have a way to have gotten keys, made duplicates and let you in through the front door. Or they can break a window and break in just like any other theft,” Pete Bruinsma, with Grand Rapids-based Life Cycle Property Management said.
After the walk-through, the thieves take a cash deposit…
[Sold $95,000] – Convenient, renovated main floor condo near Centerpoint Mall – List Price $94,900
Great new condo just listed near Rishi’s International Beverage, Mikado Sushi, The Orbit Room and Centerpoint Mall. 3BR 3BA, in-ground pool, new paint and carpet, under $100K!
Household Net Worth of Homeowners vs Renters
I sat in on a two hour talk with Lawrence Yun the other week, and it was great. One of the things he brought up that really stuck is how directly home ownership can affect a family or individual’s net worth. Here’s an illustration of the results of the government survey he quoted:
In the short term, it may or may not be considerably easier to lease. But, investment in a home can absolutely help out in the long term, as a homeowner pays down the balance and achieves more and more equity. This is one major reason why the federal government offers so many incentives for first time buyers:
Let FHA Loans Help You
MSHDA Downpayment Fairy
Fannie Mae FIRST LOOK listings
(only available to owner occupants)
Celebrating 10 Years!
Today is Facebook’s 10-Year Anniversary, and also my 10-Year Anniversary as a Realtor. In commemoration, I started a Facebook Business page, and I hope you’ll join me by clicking here!
Grand Rapids Home Values Up 16 Percent After Healthy Spring Market
With the Spring Market well underway in Grand Rapids, its time to look back and see if the ecomonists favorable yet conservative predictions from 2012 have come true. After the big and constant decline over the past few years, I’m happy to say that Real Estate is trending upward, probably faster than we were expecting.
Comparing January-April 2012-2013, the numbers are looking great. Here are a few facts that point to a recovering market:
Heritage Hill & surrounding historic district, Grand Rapids:
In 2012, 42 homes in the surveyed downtown area were sold from the beginning of the year through April, as compared to 43 homes sold during that same period in 2013. The average sale price was $189,000 in 2012, and $215,000 in 2013. That is a healthy increase of around 14% from last year to this year.
Other neighborhoods of note:
Grand Rapids Downtown Historic District: up 14%
Grand Rapids Northeast: up 11%
Walker: up 15%
Northwest Neighborhoods: up 17-27%
Northeast Side: up 5-38%
East Grand Rapids: up 20%
Southeast Areas: up 2-23%
Wyoming: up 15-23%
Grandville: up 9%
Kentwood Neighborhoods: up 9-13
West Side: up 8%
Grand Rapids Township: up 26%
Cascade: up 25%
Overall, the Greater Grand Rapids area has had a similar number of listings and sales in Spring 2013 as compared to Spring 2012, but the average sale price this year is $132,688 as compared to least year’s Spring average of $114, 626. That’s an almost 16% increase across the Greater Grand Rapids area.
Right now, consumer confidence is up and foreclosure listings are down. Over the next 2-3 years, the banks will be selling the rest of their Shadow Inventory, which are the foreclosures that remain from the dark period we just experienced. Still, there are far fewer foreclosure listings now than there have been in recent years, and the confidence of home sellers continues to grow along with sale prices.
With inventory this low and lots of buyers out there, the market seems to favor the seller. Still, there are some foreclosure listings in the mix, which jostle the recent memory of a heavily-weighted buyers market. Right now, it is a great time to engage in this Real Estate market, whether you plan buy or to sell. Buyers are faced with historically low interest rates coupled with low prices. Sellers are experiencing the most success since prior to 2008. These are good times.
—
All statistics courtesy of Grand Rapids Association of Realtors
Grand Rapids Makes Forbes List of Top 10 Cities for Finding Employment
Full Article Link HERE
According to Forbes Magazine, Grand Rapids is one of the best places in the US in which to find employment.
Recently, Forbes also named Grand Rapids the #1 Best City for Raising a Family.
