Lansing Real Estate Update

Buyers and Sellers and Lenders - OH MY

I learned an important lesson about communication this week - it's the difference between a smooth transaction and one laden with speedbumps. That probably shouldn't be a newsflash, but a breakdown in communication can happen faster than you think and often without your immdediate awareness.

Buyers, sellers, lenders and Realtors develop an intricate relationship during the sale of a home. It's essential to communicate on several levels: buyers need to communicate their housing needs to Realtors, their monetary needs to the lender and their desire to purchase a home to the seller.

Sellers must communicate their decision about an offer to purchase to their Realtor so it can be communicated to the Buyers' Realtor.

Lenders have to effectively determine the goals, needs and wishes of the buyer so the appropriate mortgage program can be selected; lenders communicate with Realtors to ensure the buyers' mortgage program is understood as it can make a difference with the way an offer is written; and, lenders communicate with the title company to ensure the closing documents are prepared properly.

Realtors must communicate clearly with all of these individuals, as well as a variety of others from buyers'/sellers' family members to home inspectors and licensed contractors.

I found this week that I need some work with that.

Contact Sue and Keith in Lansing, Michigan

Should you have mulch around your home's foundation in Lansing?

You may not know it, but the wood mulch many of us like to use in the flower beds around our homes is a potential disaster zone for your home.

Wood mulch around your home can be bad because it retains moisture, the very job for which it was developed.  The moisture it retains helps keep the plants in your flower bed healthier. However, the moisture also promotes the decay of the wood mulch, a virtual dinner bell to a number of wood destroying varmints.

Is there a way to have the best of both worlds?  Yes - rubber mulch.

Contact Sue & Keith

Lansing Market Update

It appears that the Buyer's Market continues. Sue and I have been pretty busy lately so I hoped that things were leveling off, but that doesn't seem to be the case.

Last year around this time there were approximately 2-3 new listings coming on the market for every home that sold. Right now it looks like there are closer to 4 homes that come on the market for every one that sells.

Buyers still apparently have the advantage. Sellers have been taking a hit on price, but if they're moving up to a more expensive home they're getting more bang for their buck on that end. More expensive homes often have to come down more in price in the current market than homes in a lower price bracket, so sellers in the lower bracket often make up the lesser price for selling their home with the money they saving buying the new home.

Contact Sue and Keith