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[Sold – $87,000] Just Listed: 1747 Delwood $89,000

Walking into this beautifully maintained 3 bedroom arts & crafts two-story feels like home. Main floor features hardwood floors and a generous layout with living room, formal dining room and sliders to a great deck, all with a nice-sized kitchen. Upstairs has been recently refinished, carpeting has never been used. Take Engle just two streets over to Battjes park where there is fishing, green space and a kids playground. Located an easy 3 mile bike or car ride to downtown Grand Rapids down Chicago Drive.

lp-delwood

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Renting vs Buying in Grand Rapids Michigan | Summer 2015 Update

You think you’re having a tough time looking for a place to buy in this market? Try renting one! Grand Rapids is currently at nearly 100% rental occupancy, the lowest rental vacancy rate in the US. Home prices have been back to pre-crash levels for about a year now, and the market is increasingly competitive if you are looking to purchase. No surprises here!

So, what’s the best route to go? You’re putting all of this effort in…should you rent or buy? Lets take a look at typical scenario in a great rental area, Eastown, a popular Grand Rapids neighborhood near downtown, where there is a high demand and quantity of both rentals and purchases.

The Eastown Comparison:

52 homes recently sold
(What’s currently for sale in Eastown? Glad you asked.)
Average sale price: $131,780
Average #BRs: 3.5
Avg SQFT: 1743

Average Rent for a 3-4 BR 1750 sqft home in Eastown: $1400/month.

Here’s how it looks, running this scenario through the Realtor.com calculator:

eastown-rent-v-own

The Upgrade

Looks like buying in Eastown quickly pays for itself, comparing $1400/month rent to a purchase of a $132,000 home. But what if you’re already leasing a home in that price range, but you’re ready for an upgrade and/or increased square footage. You want a home with a nice bit of land, an entry-level home in East Grand Rapids, maybe a distinctive spot in East Hills, or something in an historic district. Your lender says you can afford a $230,000 purchase price. Here’s how that looks:

erg-or-hh

Try out your own scenairo! Here’s a tool from Realtor.com:

Rent Vs Own Calculator Link

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Biggest real estate story of 2013: Homeowners gain $2.2 trillion in equity

Full Article at KPBJ.com

“The biggest story in American real estate in 2013 hasn’t gotten the attention it deserves, so let’s shout this out: Homeowners’ net-equity holdings soared by $2.2 trillion between the third quarter of 2012 and the third quarter of this year, according to new data collected by the Federal Reserve.

“This is a record rebound for a 12-month period.

“And it’s crucially important in personal-financial terms for hundreds of thousands of owners who’ve been underwater on their mortgages for years.”

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TV’s “This Old House” names Grand Rapids’ Heritage Hill a 2011 Best Old House Neighborhood

Thanks Rapid Growth Media: ARTICLE
This Old House: FULL ARTICLE

THURSDAY, MARCH 10, 2011

Photo: Courtesy of the Heritage Hill Association

ThisOldHouse.com touts Grand Rapids’ historic Heritage Hill neighborhood as one of the top 12 “old house neighborhoods” in the country for sustaining a sense of place in a storied residential area, and the best Old-house neighborhood in Michigan.

excerpt:

Why Buy Here?
Though short sales and foreclosures haven’t hit Grand Rapids (long the center of the office-furniture industry) as they have Detroit and other automotive cities, the down market hasn’t overlooked Heritage Hill. Today, you can grab the former castle of a lumber baron or wealthy judge—and walk from home to work in the city’s center—for what amounts to pocket change in other places.

Read the complete story here.

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