Lansing Real Estate Update

Ladybug, Ladybug, DON'T fly inside my home

Since I'm on a roll with bugs, I thought this would be a good time to comment on another annoying little pest. Asian beetles, AKA Ladybugs, have been prolific around the Lansing area the past few years and have found their way into many of our homes.

What's the best way to handle an infiltration of Ladybugs?

Ed Jones, owner of No-Risk Exterminating, told me today that he gets lots of calls from people in the spring who want him to treat their homes because they start seeing hords of Ladybugs. Ed says this is NOT a good time to treat them. Although Ed could take your money to treat them, he's an honest guy and would rather give you good information than make a buck for no reason.

Ladybugs look for a place to hole up in the fall so they can survive the winter. Often this means our homes. They can fit into tiny nooks and crannies and go into a sort of hibernation during the winter months. Fall is the best time to call an expert like Ed Jones to keep Ladybugs out of your home. Ed can spray around the likely entry points to your home to keep your winter guests to a minimum.

In the spring time, the Ladybugs are simply looking for an escape route to get back to the great outdoors where they belong because their thoughts have returned to a good meal and romance. If you treat Ladybugs in the spring, you're going to set up a barrier to keep them inside your home AND you'll have a ton of bug carcasses to clean up. Ed recommends that you just let the Ladybugs go, since they want to be outside at that point anyway, and nail them when they try to hole up again in the fall.

Contact Sue and Keith

Wood eating critters - why they want to eat your home in Lansing

Did you know there are a host of little critters that want to make a meal out of your home? Carpenter ants, termites and powder post beetles are a few we have in Lansing, Michigan that would love to make an entree out of your house. What can you do to stop all this snacking on one of your most valued possessions?

I got a real education today when I met Ed Jones at a home so he could treat it for carpenter ants.  Believe it or not, these guys are looking for the same thing you and I want: shelter, food, water, and a place to set up housekeeping for the family. Ed says there are a few easy things you can do to make your home unattractive to keep the critters from taking up residence.

• DO NOT put wood chips or mulch in the flower beds around your house. This provides a food source for our undesirable friends and holds moisture that they'll be looking for later in the summer when other water sources dry up.
• DO NOT plant peonies next to your home. Sue tells me that every time I suggest planting peonies next to the house, but she has known Ed longer than I. Ants eat the wax-like covering on peonie bulbs so the flowers can open, and they have an uncanny way of finding their way indoors.
• Caulk around as many openings as you can so they can't get in.
• If you have worn shingles on your roof and water is getting through to the wood underneath, replace the shingles and any of the underlying wood that needs it. Ed says ants can sense this food/moisture source up to 800 feet away.

Finally, if you do notice a problem: a fair number of large black ants going in and out of your house uninvited (not just 1 or 2), tube shaped mud tunnels going up a wall, or lots of small tack size holes in the wood structure, call an expert to treat them. We've worked with Ed Jones for years and can recommend him highly. He knows his bugs. You might want to call Ed's office at 989-227-0050, toll free at 1-888-650-7378, or his cell phone 517-420-1613.

Contact Sue and Keith

Buyers PLEASE don't call the listing agent

Buyers, if you're working with a Buyer's Agent, I IMPLORE you to not contact the listing agent to obtain information about homes that interest you. It's ok to call the listing agent if you don't have a Buyer's Agent, they usually have the most information about the property.

So, why is it bad to call the listing agent if you have a Buyer's Agent? Because you could seriously jeopardize your ability to negotiate for the home. Besides, you'll give your poor Buyer's Agent a stroke by doing it.

Good Realtors are trained to gather information from potential buyers the minute they answer the phone. After all, sellers hire us to do the best job we can for them. Anything we can find out about a potential buyer could help the seller during negotiations for the home.

All those seemingly innocent questions we ask when potential buyers call often provide more information than you realize. Even the most "savvy" buyer divulges important information to us, and they usually aren't even aware they're doing it.

So, for heavens sake, call your Buyer's Agent when you want information about a home. They're on your side and can get the information without causing problems for you down the road.

Contact Sue and Keith

First time buyers are a blast

First time buyers are a LOT of fun to work with, but many need to be educated about things they never thought about before. I love to watch their excitement when they find THE home for them.

When I bought my first house, I never thought about the impact Private mortgage insurance or escrowing taxes and insurance would have on my monthly payment. I also never thought about closing costs, what are they anyway, and how much they should be versus what some companies charge.

Even though many buyers are more educated than I was back in the day, I have found that there are still a lot of people that don't know much about these issues, which can be a huge factor in the amount of home you can buy and how much it ultimately costs you.

Contact Sue and Keith

Buyers Beware - Waiting too long might backfire

There doesn't seem to be a sense of urgency to buy right now because buyers often see the same home for sale week after week.

This mindset could come back to haunt buyers who come back to make an offer on a desirable home they passed on earlier just so they could see what else was out there, only to find out the home already has an accepted offer.

I have already seen examples of this in my corner of the Lansing real estate market.

How do you avoid this?

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BUYERS ARE LIARS - Is that old REALTOR adage true?

I thought that saying was true for a while, and I still have my doubts at times. But, as Sue patiently explains to me, buyers often don't really know what they want and it's our job to help them discover the kind of home that will work best for them from the myriad of choices available to them.

Deep down I know Sue is right based on the experiences with some of my buyers, but...

Lansing State Journal Article-Thanks

I just wanted to say THANKS to Stefanie Murray with the Lansing State Journal for her great article about blogs and the business community. I thought Stefanie did a good job of explaining blogs, how they work and what they can do.

Thanks also to Matthew Schulert for coming to our office to take the pictures. He's a real pro and has some pretty cool cameras.

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Welcome new readers who are looking for information about real estate

I want to welcome all the new visitors to this site.

My goal is to provide information that you will find useful about how the real estate market works, how to buy or sell a home, and identify some potential problems to avoid.

If you have a question regarding real estate in Lansing, or just a general real estate question, that is not covered on this site, please don't hesitate to send me an email and I will be happy to provide an answer. If I don't know the answer, or can't find it, I will tell you that too.

I usually update this site several times a week, and check my email frequently.

Sue provides a lot of information and ideas that I express here, but she doesn't like the entry part very well so I get to do that.

HAVE A GREAT MOTHER'S DAY WEEKEND!

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Commercial Property-a cool day in real estate

I attended the Lansing Planning Board's meeting tonight at City Hall along with my clients who are in the process of purchasing an old restaurant to convert into a church.

There was a public hearing tonight because the church has applied for a Special Use Permit to allow the building to be used as a church because of the way that area is zoned.

It was a very informative evening to see how the process worked, and to have the opportunity to address the Lansing Planning Board to explain the church's plans for the location.

The meeting was pretty positive and there were really no negative comments against using the building as a church. The next step is a meeting at the City Planning Office next week.

All in all, a cool day to be in real estate! Along with the Planning Board meeting, one of my client's offers on a home was accepted, I scheduled several showings for a number of our listings, put together around 20 letters to people with expired home listings, AND I finished and submitted our advertising to Homes and Lifestyles.

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Blogs will hit the news in Lansing - how they can help the real estate market

Our blog might be part of a story in the Lansing State Journal in a week.

Wes and Justin Thorp, owners of MyCapitalWeb.com , are scheduled to be included in an article in the Lansing State Journal's Business Section. MyCapitalWeb.com helps people learn how to create and use blogs.  Their blog states that it is new and can make a difference for getting your message to the right people. I highly recommend that you visit them by clicking here, to learn more about blogs.

Wes and Justin are the main reason I started this blog. It caught my interest as a unique interactive tool to help share information with the general public about the real estate process, reach and have a dialogue with buyers and sellers in the Lansing area, develop relationships with them, and look forward to an opportunity to meet with them to explain how Sue and I can help accomplish their goals. We believe people make the best decisions when they have the most possible information available to them.

Sue and I would like to thank Wes and Justin for their vision, technical ability, creativity, constructive criticism, and moral support. We're excited to be associated with them and a part of their story in the Lansing State Journal.

Contact Sue and Keith