Lansing Real Estate Update

Lansing Real Estate Market Starting to hop

The Lansing real estate market is finally getting busy. It has pretty much been a buyer's market in the Lansing area for well over a year.  This means that sellers who needed to sell had a bitter pill to swallow because they had to sell for less than they hoped. The selles who did NOT have to sell, often had to change their plans and removed their homes from the market.

There were not many buyers snatching up homes either, compounding the problem sellers experienced. The buyers that were out there had no sense of urgency to buy because they kept seeing the same homes up for sale, and felt compelled to see ALL the homes for sale in their price range.

I'm hopeful this increase in the real estate activity here in Lansing will be the start of a trend. The local economy is not all gloom and doom as the Lansing State Journal and others in the print, radio and television media would have us believe.

What do you think? I'd like to hear what other people in Lansing think of our economy.

Contact Sue & Keith Barber

Younger people buy homes

There seem to be many more people under the age of 25 buying homes these days. Check out this article in the Detroit Free Press to see why and what these people think of owning a home.

The main benefits of owning a home are the tax write-off and the equity you build up when you own a home.

WHY NOT SHELTER YOUR INCOME AND BUY YOUR OWN HOME, RATHER THAN BUY IT FOR YOUR LANDLORD?

Business Network International (BNI) will help real estate sales in Lansing

Business Network International (BNI) is a networking group to which I belong, and is the reason for my recent hiatus from blogging. But BNI will increase my ability to help people buy and sell homes in the greater Lansing Michigan area, so it was worth the time away.

Our BNI chapter, the Nothing But Networkers Chapter in west Lansing, Delta Township, and Grand Ledge just had its first meeting as a sanctioned chapter on 7/29/05. We have members in a wide range of businesses including: mortgage lender, lawyer, chiropractor, life insurance, investment, bank deposit accounts, Melaluca and Mary Kay.

The best part about BNI, is that the members of my chapter have become an extension of Sue's and my sales force, they'll be looking out for ways they can help my buyers and sellers just as I will be looking for ways to help their businesses.

We still have many openings if anyone out there in the business community would like to get involved with a group of people that will be actively helping them get the business they request. Please attend as my guest. We meet every Friday at the Grand Ledge American Legion Hall beginning at 7 a.m. and concluding at 8:30 a.m. sharp so we can attend to our businesses.

Contact Sue and Keith Barber in Lansing, Michigan

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

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

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...