WEST MICHIGAN, Mich.– For West Michigan homeowners like Milton Smith selling has been on his mind for almost year.
“Bad timing with jobs, the market,” said Milton.
This spring, his family decided to put their East Grand Rapids home on the market and it sold almost instantly.
“I think we had an offer in two days,” said Milton, who was pleasantly surprised at the quick results.
They ended up selling for close to the asking price, but had to cover closing costs.
“It was awesome,” said Milton, who is now looking at buying a home in Florida.
Those warm and fuzzy feelings are something sellers have been waiting for ever since the market crash.
“We are seeing sellers who list and sell within in hours or days, much more quickly than they used to. Sellers are selling for more money that they anticipated they would sell for,” explains Craig Wolffis, Mortgage Sales Manager at The Bank of Holland in downtown Grand Rapids.
Insiders say with an increase in eager house hunters and fewer homes on the market, sellers are back in the driver’s seat.
“So people can’t take the time that they used to take in their home searches,” said Wolffis.
He cautions both sellers and buyers to always do their homework.
“Before you put the sign in the yard spend time making sure you have that pre-approval in hand because it could happen that it sells quickly and they have to move quickly,” he explains.
The quick turnaround of the hot market and higher selling prices are also leading to an increase in new construction. Something West Michigan home builders are hoping to cash in on at the 2013 Spring Parade of Homes that kicks off Memorial Day weekend.
“I’m seeing a lot of people who wanted to sell their house in the past few years that haven’ been able to, values are starting to increase there, so they are able to go ahead and sell that home and go into a custom-built home,” said Jamieson Dutot, real estate sales with Mosaic Homes.
