Why Is This Former Homebuyer So Happy?

This latest client success story we’d like to share with you is one that’s 35 years in the making.

Selling your Grand Rapids home? Get a free home value report

Buying a Grand Rapids home? Search all homes for sale

A lot of people are afraid to buy a home, so I wanted my friend Matt to come in and talk to us about his home buying experience.

Matt and his wife were newlyweds in 2016 and wanted to buy a house right away. They had a nice sum for a down payment, but wanted to make sure they found a good Realtor. A friend mentioned our name to him, so he gave us a call and we got to work.

The process of searching for a home was enjoyable for Matt and his wife. We gave them a list of homes for sale that fit what we were looking for. I’ll let Matt take it from there:

“Once we found a good home, we got outbid the first time. The next time a great home came up, we wanted to make sure we got in right away. We helped them put in an offer right away, and it got accepted. We crafted the offer in a way that got them the home without having to pay the highest price.”

Matt and his wife had a very enjoyable experience.

It’s been a year and a half since they’ve been in the new home. They paid $140,000 and now it’s worth nearly $175,000. They've been keeping up with updates and they’re excited to have such a great investment in their possession.

Thanks to Matt for joining me. If you have any questions for us about the home buying process or anything else related to real estate, don’t hesitate to give us a call or send us an email. We look forward to hearing from you soon.

Why Are Homebuyers Feeling Optimistic?

Why are homebuyers more optimistic than they have been in the past few years? Here’s what we found.

Selling your Grand Rapids home? Get a free home value report

Buying a Grand Rapids home? Search all homes for sale

Here’s a paradox for you: Right now, homebuyer confidence is at an all-time high, according to a survey performed by Fannie Mae. Furthermore, an increasing number of people, particularly renters, think now is a good time to buy a home. Yet at the same time, housing inventory remains very tight. It’s down 6.5% nationally from last year. Home prices are also up 6.9% nationally over last year.

In other words, homebuyers are optimistic at a time that the market seems to be favoring sellers. So, what's going on? Why are homebuyers so optimistic all of a sudden? Here are three possible explanations:

1. Lending is loosening up. Over the past several years, mortgage rates have seen historical lows. This has meant that homes are actually more affordable, in spite of the increase in prices. However, lending has been very tight. Fortunately, that’s changing. Lenders are approving mortgages at the highest rate since 2011, with 77% of mortgages for home purchases approved.

2. Jobs are looking good. At the moment, fewer homebuyers are worried about losing their jobs, according to the same Fannie Mae survey. It's not just job security that's contributing to greater optimism about buying a home. Overall income is higher, making homes more affordable by comparison. The median household currently has 150% of the income needed to buy a median home, compared to a historical average of just 125%

Lenders are approving mortgages at the highest rate since 2011.

3. Long-time renters are ready to buy.Millennials, the generation of people born after 1980, have largely opted out of homeownership until now. They have been renting for a longer time, putting them higher up on the pay scale compared to previous generations of first-time homebuyers. But now, many millennials are finally hitting an age when they are willing to commit to buying instead of renting. This is reflected in the Fannie Mae report, which states that much of the increase in homebuyer optimism comes from current renters.

What all does this mean for you? If you're looking to buy a home, all of the above reasons should give you confidence that now is indeed the right time to buy.

If you’re thinking about buying or selling a home, click the links above to search for homes on the MLS or find out how much your home is currently worth.

And if you have any questions about the Grand Rapids area real estate market, whether you're thinking of selling or buying, give me a call. I'm here to help. I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Why I Love Helping People Sell Their Homes

I love what I do, so never hesitate to give me a call. I would be thrilled to help you in your transaction.

Selling your Grand Rapids home? Get a free home value report

Buying a Grand Rapids home? Search all homes for sale

Today I’m downtown checking out some properties for sellers. I totally love my job and have a great time doing it.

Since that’s the case, I never mind helping you out. It’s never a bother for you to call and ask me to come out to check out your house.

I love helping people figure out what their home is worth, and also giving people tips on how to make their house even better.

Some people even want to go out and look at a few different houses for ideas before selling their own. This will help me figure out what you’re looking for and get the process started.

I love hearing from and helping all of you.

I love my job, so I love hearing from and helping all of you.

If you have any other questions, would like more information, or want to know how I can help you, feel free to give me a call or send me an email. I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Join Me for Lunch

I’d love for you to join me for lunch sometime. Give me a call and we’ll set something up.

Selling your Grand Rapids home? Get a free home value report

Buying a Grand Rapids home? Search all homes for sale

I’m joining you today outside of one of my favorite restaurants, Core Life Eatery. It’s a great place for lunch.

If you’d like to eat with me here, or anywhere else sometime I’d love to get together. Whether you have plans to buy or sell now, or you're just curious about the real estate market in Grand Rapids, I would be happy to help.

I can give you solid advice and good estimates, but there’s no pressure to buy or sell if you’re not ready. Just give me a call or send me an email and we’ll set something up. I look forward to hearing from you soon.

How Can You Buy and Sell at the Same Time?

Buying and selling a home at the same time is contingent on clear communication and deliberate timing.

Selling your Grand Rapids home? Get a free home value report

 Buying a Grand Rapids home? Search all homes for sale

How can you buy a house if you already have a house to sell? The process is simpler than it sounds.

The first step is to go out and look at a couple of homes that you would like to buy. Once you feel comfortable with that, you would have a Realtor such as myself come over and take a quick look at your home and determine the exact price that it would sell for in a quick and efficient time frame. 

From there, you and your Realtor would communicate very clearly with the listing agent of the home that you intend to buy to determine what your game plan should be to complete the dual transaction. Your timing in this circumstance must be deliberate. With my clients, I typically institute a time frame of 60 days, which gives us time to sell the one house and have the closing done on the other. 

With my clients, I typically institute a time frame of 60 days to get the job done.    

So remember, timing and communication are key. This year, our team has handled more than 100 transactions where a homeowner has sold their house and bought another house in the same time period following that same formula, and we haven’t experienced a single problem with in any case.

If you have any more questions about buying and selling a home simultaneously or need help doing so, don’t hesitate to get in touch with me. Just give me a call or send me an email, and I’d be happy to help you!

How Can You Get Top Dollar for Your Grand Rapids Home?

Selling your Grand Rapids home? Get a free home value report

Buying a Grand Rapids home? Search all homes for sale

When selling, most homeowners want to know what they can do to get the most money for their home.

Not long ago, I went to a friend's house, looked at their home, did all the measurements, and determined that their home is worth a maximum of $155,000. I then gave them some staging tips, did some professional photography, and got the house ready to show. Over the next couple days, we generated multiple offers and a bidding war.

Once a few great offers were submitted, I told the potential buyers to go back and send in their best offer. This resulted in an incredible offer of $160,000! This was fantastic, as the friends I was helping had a dream of getting a new home; they wanted something beautiful for their family. The next day, we went out and bought a house for them that was exactly what they wanted!

This story demonstrates why now is a great time to take advantage of the market. Interest rates are fantastic, at around 4%, but they won't remain that low for long. If you want to take advantage of this fantastic market, please don't hesitate to reach out to me. I would love to hear from you!