Meet the new boss..... NOT the same as the old boss!

I have moved on from Prudential Preferred Realtors and joined Jaqua Realtors. I feel I will be better able to serve clients here thanks to the phenomenal support staff and Jaqua's commitment to the local community.
It has been a smooth transition and in the 3 weeks I have been here I have had two of my listing go to pending status. Nice!!

Frank Lloyd Wright designed Eppstein House... let the restoration begin!

The bids are coming in and soon the restoration will begin for the Eppstein house. It will be wonderful to see this home completed.

Some brief history....
The Acres (officially named "Galesburg Country Homes") is located in Galesburg Michigan. It is a very unique place as it consists of 75 acres with only four FLW homes on it and one Willy Willis home. Willy was a student of Franks at Taliesin.
As the story goes a group of scientists at Upjohn got together and brought FLW here to design these homes for them. Part of the group decided that they did not want to be in the country so they split off and created Parkwyn Village. Parkwyn has only four FLW homes in it too, but it also contains a large number of non Wright homes that are more traditional.
At The Acres each home is situated on a circular shaped one acre lot. The remaining acreage was meant to have a great many more homes built on it. However, the association maintains control of the land and many years ago it was decided that it would not be sold. No more homes will be built here thus allowing the layout of the land to feel very much like a wildlife refuge.
Of course each home has it's own story to tell and the focus here will be on the Eppstein House.

The restoration will be documented in before and after photos that will be put into a book that will also contain original plans of the home and original letters that were written between FLW and the Eppsteins. The book, once completed, will remain with the home for the new owners and visitors to enjoy.
Stayed tuned for part 2...

Up Up Up and Away We Go.....

What's going up? Home values that's what. If you purchased a home in Portage school district in February of 2012 then today it's value is up 5.7%! This is great for sellers and highly indicates that NOW is the time to sell. It also means that NOW is the time to buy. Interests rates are going up, home values are rising and sale prices are too.


The graph above shows the number of homes listed vs sold. As you can see the sold homes are up 39% from the same month last year while the number of listed homes are down -26.1% The number of listings are at the lowest they have been in 20 years! I mentioned this a few months ago that the trend was heading towards a sellers market and it is here. The same amount of buyers + fewer listings = SELLERS MARKET. However, we are still in the early stages. But as the spring season comes along so will the increase in buyers and if the numbers follow the past trends the number of listings will only go up slightly. This will lock in the sellers markets. Some may want to hold out until it is in full swing but the advice is not to wait. A sellers market can be short lived and nobody can determine how long it will last or how high it will drive up prices.
So... if you are thinking about buying or selling you should act soon.

Kitchen Trends and the Death of the Formal Dining Room?

Lately clients tell me they do not care for a formal dining room and they would rather have that space for something more functional, such as a home office or larger kitchen. Kitchen design trends have been moving away from dining rooms and toward eating, drinking, and entertaining in the kitchen itself for a while now. A large kitchen island complete with bar stools, prep sink and wine fridge is the perfect way to make this happen. 
So is the formal dining room dead? Perhaps, for the time being.

Another current trend is open spaces. So a kitchen, with a large functional island, that is open to a dining area (not room) and into the living room is in... BIG time! Now throw down some granite tops, tile or wood floors and you are in business. How about upgrading the appliances? You betcha! Stainless? Sure. Stainless has been big for a a few years now. Avocado green and bisque are certainly out... still. So what else could there be? How about "white ice" from Whirlpool. They may be on to something with this new style, although stainless is going to be a major seller for while yet. Just keep in mind that they are called trends for a reason, because they come and they go. In the near future stainless will be dated, just like everything else that came before it. Will "white ice" be the new king? It's possible. 

If you are looking to do some updating and or remodeling, because you want to sell your home, keep this in mind, open spaces, kitchen islands, granite tops and stainless are key ingredients to help get it done.

Home Sales and the Shifting Market

The times they are a changing..... For the Greater Kalamazoo area Pended Homes for the month of November are up 15% from last year at the same time.
What is even better is that the Sale Prices are up 18% over the same time.
If you are more interested in the Portage area specifically then you you will be glad to see that sale prices are up 7.9% and pending homes are up 45%.
 Across the board the numbers show a rise in pending homes, sale prices and avg price per square foot.
The only thing that is going down, and this is important, is the inventory. It is down 6.6% which shows that we are in the shift to a sellers market. More homes pending for higher prices with fewer homes for sale certainly means that we are in the shift right now.
Combine this with lower interest rates and MSHDA providing a first time home buyers assistance and we are all set to see prices continue to rise thru the year.
Give me a call or send me an email and I will be glad to provide you with a more detailed data report that is specific to your neighborhood.

First Time Home Buyers Assistance

MSHDA (Michigan State Housing Development Authority) has officially kicked off the First TIme Home Buyers Assistance program here in Michigan.
$15 million has been allocated to assist first time homebuyer with purchasing a principle residence. First time homebuyers are defined as persons that have not owned a home as their principle residence for three years prior to the date of purchase. Non military homebuyers are eligible for grants up to $3,000 and active duty military and veterans are eligible for grants up to $5,000. Neither grant can exceed 25% of the purchase price. You can read more about it at the MSHDA web site where forms can also be found.
http://www.mich.gov/mshda

Greater Kalamazoo Area Real Estate Market

In the Greater Kalamazoo Area the real estate market is showing good signs. The average days on market are down to 75 days on average, and the sale price to list price is up to 96%! Those are signs that our market is doing well. I mentioned months ago about how it was a good time to buy. Well it is still a good time to buy and still a good time to sell, however, the other information states that there are 10% fewer homes for sale vs one year ago and the same number of homes selling. This directly effects the sale price to list price ratio and is a good indicator that we are moving towards a sellers market.  

Greater Kalamazoo Area