Learn from our expertise and market insight.

 

I like to think there are three categories of items when it comes to looking at houses: Love It, Leave It and Need It. Sometimes people think they already know what items fall into which category, other times we learn as we go and the lists get narrowed down over the more houses we see. While a lot of things can be changed in houses like cosmetic things such as paint, flooring, or even the number of bedrooms, other items are not as easy to change or not even possible such as lot size, school district, or type of utilities available. 

In a competitive market, like we are in, it can be very difficult to find a house that a buyer loves everything about. I would love to show my buyers a house that checks every single important box they have and is…

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The super-simple (and fun) way to separate needs from nice-to-haves.

When you embark on the home-buying process, your heart is filled with all the dreams in the world. It’s really easy to get caught up in the “I have to have ___________,  so I’ll cut back somewhere else” game, even when you don’t actually know where that somewhere else is or if you can realistically cut back there.

This post will show you how to pare down the excess and make sure to get the things you really NEED.

 

Make a List of Wants

Start by making a list of everything you want in your house. If you love it, jot it down. Have your spouse or partner do the same thing in a separate document.

Once you and your partner have everything down, start sorting your wants…

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It’s a new year which means many people are setting goals, and maybe one of those goals is to buy your first house or move into a new one. For many first-time buyers, there are plenty of rumors or myths that you might hear from those in your circle of friends, family, or coworkers. It seems everyone has a couple of house shopping stories they are willing to share, either a fairytale version of the one where they got super lucky fell in love with the first house they saw and the offer was accepted and they moved in without an issue, or the absolute nightmare of a story where anything and everything went wrong from lending issues, inspection scares, and paying for a house they couldn’t afford. I’ve outlined four common myths that might scare you enough…

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In today’s real estate climate, it can be difficult to know how much your home is worth and what to base those numbers on. This is where our Comparative Market Analysis (CMA) comes in. Simply put, a CMA is a tool real estate professionals use to determine the value of your home based on the other homes that have sold in your area. 

Although you may be aware of some factors that influence the price of your home, there’s really no substitute for having a professional prepare a CMA. You can be confident your Steve Volkers Group agent will give you the most accurate estimate of a home's value in the current market. 

A CMA can give you a competitive advantage when it comes to selling your home, making critical decisions, and closing quickly.

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While the spring and summer continue to be popular home-buying seasons, there’s no reason you can’t purchase a home during the winter months! Winter isn’t quite as unpopular in the real estate world as you’d think— Ramsey Solutions reports, over a million homes were sold in the U.S. last winter. That being said, there are some major advantages of purchasing in the winter that you won’t find in the spring or summer.

The Market Looks Different

In the winter, there’s significantly less competition and typically lower prices. Less competition means you’re less likely to enter a bidding war with other interested parties. If you’re willing to brave the Michigan winter, chances are other people won’t be (and won’t be showing up to tour your prospective…

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Article courtesy of: GRAR

Current market conditions are prompting more and more buyers to conduct pre-inspections of listed properties before writing an offer.  While that practice isn’t necessarily a problem, issues can arise if the true intent of the visit to the property isn’t shared with the listing agent and seller. 

For example, the seller of a listed property was surprised to hear from a neighbor that there were two men on the roof during the day while the homeowner was away.  The homeowner reached out to the listing agent.  The listing agent investigated and learned that a buyer’s agent scheduled a visit to the property using ShowingTime.  The “appointment type” was referenced as “showing”.  However, the purpose of the visit was to…

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 Let's talk money!

Real estate can be a lucrative industry, but that doesn't mean starting off comes without financial risk. If you're moving from a full-time job to real estate, it can be difficult to navigate how to manage your money.

Steve gives us some helpful insight on the importance of paying yourself a salary from your business account.

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At Steve Volkers Group, we typically don't hire people who don't plan on making real estate their full-time job...Why?

We want a crew that's all-in and fully committed. Some crew members have transitioned from a full-time 9-5 job into real estate, and our biggest piece of advice is always this: keep your real estate money and your other income completely separate.

This allows your real estate account to grow, which better equips you to move away from your full-time job and jump into real estate with some money saved already.

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