Kentwood Michigan is a large suburb of Grand Rapids with a population under 50,000. It has manufacturing, shopping centers, and lots and lots of residential housing. Kentwood Public Schools are one of the largest school systems in the area with over 9000 students and 16 buildings within a 24.25 square mile area. The downward trend of the last few years in Kentwood home sales  is still continuing this year. We are seeing  a slight price erosion from last month's figures.   The upper end homes in Kentwood aren't seeing the kind of activity that the lower end homes are getting.  They are priced too high for  today's timid buyers or it could be condition.  Your list price has to be close to the sale price or your home just doesn't get serious buyer activity.  And if you still have the brown... 02/06/2009

This Kentwood Michigan Single Family Market Report was generated on February 3rd, 2009. (Graph Above) Active Listings on February 3rd, 2009: 315 Pending Sales on February 3rd, 2009: 51 Closed Sales between Jan. 1, 2009 and Jan 31st, 2009: 23 Listing Supply: 13.7 Months Listing Price Breakdown Low List Price: $25,900 High List Price: $649,000 Average List Price: $145,335 Foreclosures and Short Sales are a large share of the Kentwood Michigan Real Estate Market (See Graphs Below) "Short Sales" make up 19.4% of Active Listings "Short Sales" make up 9.8% of Pending Sales "Short Sales" make up 4.3% of Closed Sales during January 2009   Foreclosures make up 15.5% of Active Listings Foreclosures make up 31.4% of Pending Sales Foreclosures make up 78.3% of Closed Sales during January 2009 This... 02/03/2009

We have gathered a list of the top Kentwood Homes to buy.  Please note that this list can change daily as some homes sell, prices are adjusted and other homes come on the market.  Check back often or just subscribe to our blog to get up-to-date local real estate information that you want to know.       The total square footage is noted here, although only the main floors are used to figure price per square foot.  The lowest price/Sq Ft range from $30.22 to $57.71 here. The lowest list price is $24,500 and the highest list price is $182,635 for January 2009  BEST BUY Homes in  Kentwood.    The Top Kentwood Homes to Buy by Price per Square Foot:   44 Violet St SW           $ 38,700     774 Sq Ft   $50.00/SqFt 114 Peony St SW        $ 45,000   1489 Sq Ft   $30.22/SqFt 62 60th St SW        ... 01/13/2009

Kentwood Michigan is a large suburb of Grand Rapids with a population under 50,000. It has manufacturing, shopping centers, and lots and lots  of residential housing.  Kentwood Public Schools are one of the largest school systems in the area with over 9000 students and 16 buildings within  a 24.25 square mile area. The downward trend of the last few years in Kentwood home sales has been continuing this year, with most of the fall due to foreclosures and bank owned homes flooding the market with homes at bargain prices.  The upper end homes in Kentwood are sitting on the market, most at prices too high for  todays timid buyers.  Your list price has to be close to the sale price or your home just doesn't get serious buyer activity.     In 2006, Kentwood has 495 home sales with an average ... 01/05/2009

Over the next few days I will be bringing you the top ten seller mistakes.  Stop back so you know what not to do. I think you will find the presentation entertaining and informative at the same time.  Here is wishing you happy selling. Stop Back often you never know what tip will be available next.  Go to www.FlexItRealty.com for over 30 free reports that could save you thousands of dollars in your next real estate transaction. 09/06/2008

I vividly recall the First Sale of this home on 5459 Greenboro SE in Kentwood MI several years ago.  The home was somewhat unassuming from the exterior.  But once inside, what seemed like a conventional home turned out to be out of the ordinary when it came to the issue of spaciousness. There were 3 living room areas: a formal living room, a sunken family room with a fireplace and a large recreation room downstairs.  In addition to a the dining area, there were 4 bedrooms, and 2 separate office areas.  The buyer who ran a home based business was thrilled!  This was the era in which sellers were advised to neutralize everything. The former home owners painted the wall surfaces off white, and the new owner in keeping with the times, added off white carpeting.  The look was clean and spaci... 09/05/2008

Have you ever had a client call and as for another Yard Sign? I have had this more than once over the years.  Most of the time when a yard sign is missing it has been kids acting out.  The sign usually shows up on some unsuspecting neighbor's lawn a block or two away.  I have gotten the call...."Hey, what is your for sale sign doing in my yard"?  I explain and tell them thank you for calling I will be by to get it. Sure it is an inconvenience but usually not a big deal. Now when you get a territorial sign predator that is a different story.  You may not know what a sign predator is...so let me explain. A sign predator is usually a home owner that doesn't like real estate signs or it can be another Realtor® who thinks every home in the neighborhood is only for him to list.  Either way th... 08/24/2008

Here is something that most never consider other than noise issues when purchasing a home in a flight path of an airport.  Here in Grand Rapids, Michigan we have an international airport.  The Michigan Department of Transportation handles the rules and guidelines for airports here in Michigan. How many miles does the airport jurisdiction extend from the airport?  The airports that are licensed for public use have certain guidelines.  They also have the right to control how high buildings can be, where subdivisions are placed and other planning issues.  How far does a public use airport have jurisdiction?  Public airports have a 10 mile radius from there location.  I was amazed when I found out this information.  This means that flight paths that may not exist today could exist tomorrow.... 08/16/2008

Bill Brouwers | Five Star Real Estate | bbrouwers@grar.com | 616 291-5036 4443 Julivan Ave SE, Kentwood, MI WOW! Remodeled Two Bedroom Kentwood Ranch 2BR/1BA Single Family House offered at $99,900 Year Built 1961 Sq Footage 1,283 Bedrooms 2 Bathrooms 1 full, 0 partial Floors 2 Parking 2 Car garage Lot Size 6,000 sqft HOA/Maint $0 per month DESCRIPTION WOW! Two bedroom one full bath remodeled Home in a great Kentwood neighborhood. This special home features- refurbished hardwood flooring- fresh paint- new flooring- central air conditioning- two stall garage- 5 year old roof,new vinyl windows- finished basement with new glass block windows-wet bar with lots of space. Now is the time to invest in this home. Rates are low, opportunity is high. You will not be disappointed. Act Today! Conta... 06/13/2008

Looking for affordable, well built condos in Grand Rapids under $180k? Cobblestone At The Ravines condos could be just the thing. These townhouse style condos in Kentwood schools offer you good square footage and amenities for the buck. I found one for one of my clients that we are closing on in a couple weeks and he is very excited about the deal he is getting. Cobblestone at the Ravines condos are located just west of Breton on 44th st, close to shopping and commuting via the E Beltline and the new M-6 highway. Kentwood offers a wide variety of attractions and parks and Cobblestone condos come with a lovely pool and recreation area. Each condo has washer/dryer hookups, daylight or walkout basements and 2 stall attached garages.   Association fees are a very reasonable $140/mo and that... 06/07/2008

How many times have you heard how you can save money by doing your own home repairs?  I am the poster boy of doing my own repairs.This past weekend something happened to make me think twice about which home repairs I would continue to do.  We had a long time Realtor pass of accidental injuries.  This was not a car accident or being at the wrong place at the wrong time, caught in a cross fire.He was home working doing a simple task of home upkeep.  This is something that millions of home owners do each spring.  They get up on their roofs and clean leafs from their eaves.  One slip and the fall can be your last!  You may not be aware of some of the easy things you can do to prevent some of the everyday injuries that will send you to the ER.Wear protective eye wear.  It only takes a second... 05/01/2008

Don't venture further if you have an aversion to evidence of the worst people can do to their domicile. This isn't pretty and I am only posting it as an example of what happens when people get desperate.  Desperate times make people do desperate, angry things.   This is an example of a bank owned foreclosure that a client asked me to preview. He is buying his first home and this sounded like a real deal to him. A house built in 2001 in a nice subdivision south of Grand Rapids, we knew the previous owner had removed some essential things, like the furnace and water heater. When you drive up to this home, there is no evidence on the exterior that it is any different than it's neighbors.   NO PICTURES on the listing, so I stopped by yesterday and took a few so he could see if he would be i... 03/17/2008

Brief back story...Eric has been a realtor in Grand Rapids since 1989.  I retired from teaching in 2005 and got licensed, so we're coming up on 3 years of working together and 30 years of marriage.#1) You "get" each other.  Nobody knows you better than your spouse.  This eliminates a lot of wondering and misinterpretation that's common in working relationships.  "What'd he mean?"  "Where's she coming from?"  NOT.#2) If people have a gender preference, you're covered either way.  And most clients think of a couple as "Two for the price of one."  Sweet!#3)  You can divide up the work so that people are responsible for their favorite parts.  I'm an English major and I like to write, so I write the marketing materials.  Eric likes to negotiate.  I do not.  Guess who does that?  #4)  There's... 02/18/2008

A neighbor two houses away from me listed her house.  There are three realtors on our block and she didn't list with any of us, but that's beside the point.As I sat at my computer and looked out the window one Tuesday morning, I observed a curious and baffling scene.  A car would pull up.  An adult would emerge and go into the house, walking at a fast clip, 30 seconds later the person would emerge and drive away and the process would repeat.  Sometimes the adults came in groups of two or three.It finally occurred to me that this company must still do broker open houses.  Further, attendance must be required and verified by sign-in.This is how it all looked to me.  There is no way most of the agents saw more than the rooms that led to the sign-in sheet.Draw your own conclusions.image fro... 02/14/2008

When Ralph, the last Voigt child, died in 1971 he left a precious gift to the City of Grand Rapids.  It was his family's home, built in 1896 by his father as a retirement home and packed to the attic with possessions of the senior Voigts and four of their five children.  Only one child never lived in the house.Household records, photographs, baby clothes from the children who had grown old and died.  Wedding clothes.  Skating outfits.  Mourning clothes.  Christmas ornaments.  Furniture.  Books.  Artwork.  It was all there. Now owned by the Public Museum, it's one of my favorite places to visit.  It was last remodeled in 1907 and the silk wall coverings that were installed are still on the walls.  Docents take you through rooms and their contents that preserve a snapshot of life in the l... 02/11/2008

They're available now for personal use.  There are even house parties where pink tasers and leopard print tasers are sold and customers can practice on a target.  They run about $350.This disturbs me and I can't identify why.  Because we might actually need one?  Because society has come to this?  Because I wonder if we're really in more danger on the job than anywhere else?  Because I'd worry that if I used one and the person had a heart attack and died, I'd be sued?  (Yeah, I know.  Self defense.  But I'd still have to live with it)I grew up in a small town where nobody locked their doors.  My dad died when I was very young and every night my mom and her three daughters slept with unlocked doors.  Everybody knew it.  We never gave it a thought.  Nobody bothered us.It was a long time a... 01/24/2008

Any kid who was raised in a cold climate knows the thrill.  You wake up to lots of fresh, new snow.  It looks bad out.  Is it?  Is it bad enough?  OMG yes, it is, we got a SNOW DAY!!!  WOOHOO!  Crawl back in bed or do anything else you feel like doing.  The hours you would have spent at school are now all yours!  It's an act of God.I woke today to cold temps and about 6 inches of new snow.  There were a couple of meetings I was supposed to go to.  "Nah," I thought.  "It's my snow day.  Hmmm...what do I want to do?"  The beautiful part of it is that it's guilt-free.  It's the prudent thing to do to stay home and avoid getting in all the accidents I'm seeing on TV.  Nobody blames me.In case it's your first winter in a cold climate, here's what you need to know.  Never let yourself get clo... 01/22/2008

It was about one year ago that Eric and I started to hear that blogging was the next big thing that all realtors would need to do to get business.  Our immediate thoughts were "What's a real estate blog?"  and "How can it bring you business?"  With these in mind, I started to read existing realtor blogs (they weren't on AR).   It's a gross understatement to say that I was unimpressed.  One blogger who sticks in my mind, even when I whack it with a hammer, professed to be a bisexual high school dropout who made less than $35K/year.  "Hmmm...," I thought, "How is that going to bring this person business?"  I had no answer.  If this blogger is one of you, I'm really, really sorry to use you as a bad example.Then, last summer, I stumbled on AR.  It was confusing at first.  What's a tag?  Ho... 01/12/2008

As we start a new year it is good to review and look back to see if we can learn from the past. So much of the news lately is on the Housing Market and the difficulties that sellers are having through the erosion of prices. Buyers are waiting for the lowest point in the market to buy. Sellers are looking at prices that were higher a year ago to set prices for today.  In some markets we have seen the average price go down while in others the prices has been stable and even risen. How do you make the right decision in this market? I don't think there is a economist or an "expert" in the business that can say with certainty what the market will do in the short run. I have sold Real estate since 1973 and I have seen almost all the cycles in this business.     One thing remains constant - gi... 01/02/2008

Why am I writing about this in December?  Poinsettias!  Amaryllis!  Cyclamen!  Christmas Cacti!  'Tis the season.While plant shopping last weekend, Eric and I encountered unusually colored poinsettias at Romence Gardens.  Turquoise, purple, etc. (click the link), as well as all the many colors we normally see.  Romence also designs and sells beautiful containers year 'round.  The winter ones have greenery, red twigs, pine cones, etc.  During the gardening season, they're one of my favorite stops for roses and unusual perennials.Ludema's  has the biggest and most beautiful pansies I've seen in the spring.  They're such a treat for winter-weary eyes.  They also have wonderful perennials in the spring and summer.  I've bought roses from them in the past as well.  It's a treat to wander thr... 12/12/2007