Many realtors today say that the top-value home improvement project is front-door upgrade.  Return on investment is up to 130%.  Siding, roofing, landscaping and other curb-appeal improvements also rank very high in getting your home sold faster than your competition.  The inside stuff like new capet, wood flooring, paint, and de-clutter are the top items to concern yourself with in order to beat the competition. If you take away the “pain points”, the ones that you see right away, you will be one step ahead of your competitors. . Photo and Web appeal is very important. ” Web appeal” is the new “curb appeal”!!  Nine out of ten buyers search online and spend 12 weeks looking for homes.  When they finally go out to look for a home in Grand Rapids, they narrow that search to 12-16 homes. You want to be one of those 12-16.

Here is another way for agents to market their listings in Grand Rapids.This is a great way to capture leads for both the agent and the lender.

Here is the web site:   click here

Here are some of the tools:

MARKETING SYSTEM FEATURES

If there was  ever a time to buy real estate in Grand Rapids, that time was now!!!  Interest rates are all time historical lows…..4-5% for a 30 year fixed.  We will probably never see interest rates that low again in the next 50 years.

Real estate prices are again at all time lows. The Grand Rapids real estate board came out early this year and said that we were at 1997 prices. You again will not see that for a LONG time.

Buyers are ready to sell. They have been on the market for a long time  and are ready to sell or negotiate.  Many of them have been commuting out of the area and others just need to sell.

Now, the good news is that we have hit rock bottom and are on our way back.  But, Grand Rapids has it’s own swagger and we are on the comeback trail. With the Michigan State Medical School coming to town, the new Medical Mile, the continued resurgence of the downtown area, the Hollywood movie industry shooting movies in Western Michigan and the new jobs coming into our area. These are all things that we as citizens can be thankful for and look forward to a bright future in Grand rapids for years to come. We are also home to the world’s biggest Art contest…Artprize.  ArtPrize is a radically open competition. Open to any artist in the world who can find space. Open to anybody in Grand Rapids, Michigan who wants to create a venue. Open to a vote from anyone who attends.

If you are thinking about buying…selling …or both, this is the time to get involved in real estate. prices are low, money is very cheap and the market is right.

Check out my most recent blog at Activerain.com. It discusses how communication with your buyers and sellers is the #1 priority in the Grand Rapids Real Estate market today!!!!  Click here

If you are looking for the best golf course in Grand Rapids or want to join a very family oriented country club, then I have the place for you….Blythefield Country Club.

History:

In 1920, financier Joseph Brewer bought most of the land known as Plainfield Village to create a country estate.  Mr. Brewer built a country villa on the bluffs east of Northland Drive overlooking the river and built Blythefield Country Club across the road from his villa.  He also owned and operated a dairy farm in the Rockford area called “Blythefield Dairy Farms.”  The word “Blythefield” is derived from ”Olde English” and means quiet fields.

The formal opening of Blythefield on June 14, 1929, was highlighted by the attendance of many golf celebrities.  In the dedication foursome were Walter Hagen, Horton Smith, Morey Wells, and our first golf professional, Nick Webber.  One of the caddies that day, Marvin Stahl, went on to become a Blythefield Country Club Golf Professional, club member, a member of the Board of Directors, and the Club’s President.

Blythefield hosted the 1953 Western Amateur, the 1961 Western Open, which was won by Arnold Palmer, and the 2005 Western Junior.

Make sure that you take a minute to visit the website at: http://www.blythefieldcc.org/ ,  or, stop out at BCC and play a round of golf, you won’t be  disappointed.

According to Woodtv.com, Grand Rapids may be getting a year round farmer’s market in downtown Grand Rapids.  Grand Rapids continues to enhance their wonderful city with things like this. These are the types of things you find in a much larger city with more and more of these venues in Grand Rapids, this city is becoming the place to be in Michigan!!!! Click here to see the piece at Woodtv.com.

Check out our Keller Williams new website at www.kellerwilliamsgr.com.  This is very good site for information about Grand Rapids real estate, searches, agents, mortgages and so on.

If you want to be a part of the newest and best retirement facility in Grand Rapids, come out and visit Beacon Hill at Eastgate.

Here is their Mission Statement:

Beacon Hill at Eastgate provides housing alternatives and health care services for mature adults to meet their ongoing physical, social and spiritual needs in a Christian family environment.

Here is their Vision Statement:

The vision of Beacon Hill at Eastgate is to continue to improve and expand a broad, varied, continuum of quality ‘resident-centered’ housing and health services to older adults that met their changing and ongoing physical, spiritual and social needs in a homelike Christian atmosphere.

The lastest Fox news headline:

Thoughtfully designed apartment homes. A community center with multiple dining venues, health and wellness facilities, activity spaces, and chapel. Naturally landscaped grounds and walking paths, located in the tree-lined Eastgate neighborhood, with all that greater Grand Rapids has to offer right at your doorstep. Individually tailored service plans that provide for changing health care needs with assisted-care and skilled nursing facilities on the same campus.

In a recent article in the July issue of The Grand Rapids Magazine, East Grand Rapids ranked # 1 in both school rankings and community life.  Some of the criteria used for schools were: graduation rates, test scores, crime rate, teacher education, diversity, tax dollars, class size and so on. Some of the criteria used for community life were : housing prices, housing density, housing value change, crime rate, violent crime rate, park acreage, voter turnout as well as other facts. Please go to your nearest newstand and check out this article on my home town of East Grand Rapids. It is not available on line at the Grand Rapids Magazine site.

We just dropped the price to $99,900 on this cute home at 1430 Philadelphia in Grand Rapids.  This 3-4  bedroom home is a real estate deal and ready to move your family in before  the summer. Take a look at this home: