In today’s real estate world, the job of a Grand Rapids real estate agent has become much easier with the evolution of the internet. Whether you are a Grand Rapids real estate buyer or a Grand Rapids real estate  seller, the amount of information that is available to the public consumer is endless.

If you are a seller, you can visit numerous major real estate websites and punch in your address and in minutes they will give you their estimate of your homes value. In my opinion, those are not very accurate, but it at least gives them a neighborhood guess of value.

If you are a buyer, again, there are many national and regional and personal websites available for people to do their own real estate searches and find homes that fit their criteria without any agents help at all. And that’s where my story starts.

How many of us Grand Rapids real estate agents pick out homes for our buyers to see? Not many I would guess. But, having said that, it is time to get more involved in what you are going to see with your clients. Too many times, I get a phone call from a buyer and they say they have a list of 14-18 homes that they would like to see on a given Saturday. In the past, I would say, ok, I’ll set them up. No longer.  We need to start asking questions. Does this really fit your criteria? Is this home is a neighborhood, because you told me you wanted a neighborhood with lots of kids? Is it too far out of the city?   This home has all of the bedrooms upstairs; you said you wanted a main floor master bedroom. Do you see where I am going with this?

Now comes the more frustrating part of this discussion. When I get a call to show one of my listings, of course set up the showing as requested. Then, after the showing period has ended, wait to hear from the agent, who doesn’t call, doesn’t email, or even leave a business card, have to hound the agent for feedback. Then, finally, when I do get feedback, I get an answer that frustrates me. They say things like, “ It was on a busy street, it was too far out, the home was not in a neighborhood.” All of those things are very apparent to the seller, and should be apparent to the agent showing the houses that day, but he or she didn’t ask any questions when given the list of homes to look by the buyer. The sellers spend a lot of time getting homes ready for showings and then leaving for the showing period, to come home to no business card and useless feedback, if at all.

Grand Rapids real estate agents….it’s time to better communicate with our buyers, our sellers and most of all, our fellow Grand Rapids real estate agents.

Tom & Tina,

Now that the big move is settled, I can sit down and write this overdue note.

I can’t begin to tell you how much we appreciate your excellent ability and patience in the sale of our home on Glenview in the Golden Triangle.  Your kindness and knowledge of the Grand Rapids real estate market, both in great abundance, are foremost in our memory of a perfect real estate agent.  The Sprich Group effortlessly personify the height of elegance, and Bob joins me in sending The Sprich Group our deepest thanks.

Love to you both,

Margie & Bob

If you are looking to sell your home in the East Grand Rapids real estate market, now is the time!!! As of today, this is lowest lowest inventory of listed properties in East Grand rapids schools district since 2004, 70 listings.  The average amount of listed homes in the East Grand Rapids school district is usually 85-95 houses.  In the past 5-6 years, we have been as high as 132 homes listed at one point in 2008. What that means is with the lower inventory of homes for sale in East Grand Rapids school district, that will drive home prices up, as the choices are fewer for home buyers. With interest rates still at historic lows and spring time around the corner, if you are thinking about selling your home, what a time to put it on the Grand Rapids real estate market.  Contact The Sprich Group….www.homes4saleingr.com

If you are thinking about buying or selling a home in the  Grand Rapids real estate market, now is the time to do it!!! The Sprich Group can help you.

In an article by Jim Hargar of The Grand Rapids Press, Grand Rapids home sales are up 5.7% from 2011 and the average Grand Rapids real estate sale price was up 3.1%. Another piece of news to pass along is the average days on the market for a home in the Grand Rapids real estate market was down from 90 to 77 days. For more on this article, click here.

Check out this article in The Grand Rapids Press and Mlive.com, by Cami Reister. Home sales are up 3.2% over this time last year and average home sale prices in West Michigan are up over 8% from a year ago. Proof again that the Greater Grand Rapids real estate area is on the rise. It is also proof that the State of Michigan is the #2 state in the country for the fastest recovery from the recession. Here is the link to the article.

Here is a testimonial from a happy East Grand Rapids real estate home buyer and home seller:

Dear Tom,

Here is a recent testimonial from a happy Grand Rapids real estate client that both bought and sold a home in Rockford with The Sprich Group.

Take a look at this great article in the USA Today newspaper. This article is great information for all of you trying to sell your home in in the greater Grand Rapids real estate market. The article discusses 5 ways to help sell your home in the winter faster. The winter months are always a very trying time for home sellers in Grand Rapids as the market is very slow. The weather isn’t very accommodating for looking at homes and the holidays are here as well.

Here is another testimonial from a happy Grand Rapids real estate seller.

Tom,

Thank you so much for all of your hard work and perseverance in selling my condominium for me. The way you communicated with me after every showing and open house was really helpful. Also, your weekly updates gave me a great perspective on the weekly market trends.  I truly appreciate everything you did and am so happy that I can now move on.

Your gift was so nice and appreciated, but totally unnecessary.  If anyone I know is looking for a great Grand Rapids real estate agent, The Sprich Group will be the first one I say.

Thanks again,

Mary Ann