GRAND RAPIDS, MICH. — Real estate in Grand Rapids is selling faster than ever before. One listing that is quite unusual might make more sense than it appears to.
At 716 Lake Michigan Drive sits a multi-unit home. One that burned in February. No one was hurt in the fire, and the exact cause is undetermined.
But even in its charred state, the home isn't worthless. In fact, it's worth more now in its burned state than it was just a decade ago in perfect condition.
“It wasn’t that long ago that, maybe 10 years ago, any house in this area would be 25-50 thousand dollars in good condition,” Realtor Julie Grevengoed said.
It's what realtors call, "an extreme seller's market." They can't get enough houses on their hands to sell to the people who want to buy them in Kent County.
“Even the last two months have been super intense. There’s an extreme lack of inventory,” Grevengoed said.
In the last month alone, the average price of a home in Kent County was more than $280,000.
“We’re hovering right in the 2 weeks of inventory, or close too. There’s a lot of competition to buy a house. You make an offer, and you feel like there may be 30, 40 people making offers on the house the same way,” Realtor Mike Childress said.
Real Estate Broker Mike Childress says it's because the market is so good for sellers, a home like the one at 716 Lake Michigan might be more desirable because it'd be less competitive to buy a home in need of so much work.
The walls are salvageable, according to the listing. The home can't be torn down in full. But realtors say it's a chance to make it your own, in a neighborhood on the city's west side, that's only being developed more each year.
“The west side has things going for it, and the market has things going for it,” Grevengoed said.
