Foto Friday: Why Robins Go South for a Michigan Winter

Posted on January 31, 2014 by Terry & Bonnie

Gone South for the winter!

Foto Friday: Why Robins Go South for a Michigan Winter

By Bonnie & Terry Westbrook

This little Robin’s nest is empty and filled with snow –

vacant for the winter. As the first of March rolls around,

our pair of robins will be back to add another layer and make

this Crabapple tree in our front yard home again.

They prefer to live in West Michigan Spring, Summer and Fall.

If you would like to find a home in West Michigan, especially the Greater

Grand Rapids area, we can show you some of the many reasons the Robins

return every year.

SEARCH for Grand Rapids Homes

If you would like specific information about a West Michigan or

Grand Rapids MI Home, please contact me directly.

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The authors of the this blog write about Grand Rapids Real Estate,

the Greater Grand Rapids MI area, and what it is like to live in West

Michigan. We believe: Grand Rapids is a Great Place to Live!

Westbrook Realty Grand Rapids MI Real Estate

Contact Terry 616-292-7263

OUR FLICKR PHOTOSTREAM

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Foto Friday – West Michigan Tulip Time

Posted on May 10, 2013 by Terry & Bonnie

Foto Friday – West Michigan Tulip Time

Peony Tulips

Our April showers have produced our May flowers here in West Michigan.

Just in time for Holland’s Tulip Festival. If you would like to see acres of

blooming tulips, head over to Holland, a mere 30-45 minutes away. Lots

of fun festivities planned for this weekend.

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The authors of the this blog write about Grand Rapids Real Estate,

the Greater Grand Rapids MI area, and what it is like to live in West

Michigan. We believe: Grand Rapids is a Great Place to Live!

Westbrook Realty Grand Rapids MI Real Estate

Contact Terry 616-292-7263

OUR FLICKR PHOTOSTREAM

Foto Friday – Grand River View Grand Rapids MI

Posted on March 31, 2011 by Terry & Bonnie

Foto Friday – Grand River View Grand Rapids MI

The view of the Grand River from the J.W. Marriott Hotel in downtown

Grand Rapids. The walkway on the right runs along the river for blocks.

Ab Nab Wen Park is to the left behind the trees lining the riverfront, where

you can see original Native American mounds that were left by the earliest

human settlers to the river valley.

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The authors of the this blog write about Grand Rapids Real Estate,

the Greater Grand Rapids MI area, and what it is like to live in

West Michigan. We believe: Grand Rapids is a Great Place to Live!

Westbrook Realty Grand Rapids MI Real Estate

Contact Terry 616-292-7263

Opportunity Knocks for Film Set Training

Posted on January 29, 2009 by Terry & Bonnie

Grand Rapids Community College Offers Film Training

Michigan is one of the few states courting the film industry with

rebates and tax incentives. This should bring more film makers

to Michigan in 2009. In anticipation of the films and film crews

that will be needed to bring these projects to completion,

Grand Rapids Community College is offering 4 different courses

in training for film production.

These classes run from $125 to $1750 for tuition fees and some

require some technical knowledge and expertise.

TicTock Studios in Holland MI is co-sponsoring the Basic Film Set

Training to supply needed expertise to film makers here. These

programs are state approved and might qualify for No Worker Left

Behind funding to participate in the film training program.

Henry Ford Community College is also offering classes.

The classes at GRCC start in March, so check out the links and

you could be working on a movie set this year!

Click here ^ to subsribe to my Grand Rapids Blog

Grand Rapids Ada Real Estate Five Star Real Estate LLC

Kent County "BEST HIGH SCHOOLS ~ 2009"

Posted on January 24, 2009 by Terry & Bonnie

The U.S. News and World Report has published their annual survey of the

best public high schools across the country.

These top open enrollment schools were placed into gold, silver,

bronze, and honorable mention categories.

Six public schools in Kent County were mentioned. Two Grand Rapids

inner city schools and 4 Grand Rapids suburban schools were named

in Best High Schools Kent County 2009.

City Middle/ High School, East Grand Rapids High School, Forest Hills

Central High School, Lee High School, Lowell High School, and Ottawa

Montessori School all received Silver or Bronze awards.

Schools are an important consideration when buying and

selling a home. Public schools in the Grand Rapids area

are some of the best in the country.

Grand Rapids Ada MI Real Estate ~ Five Star Realty

Photo of Forest Hills Central High School by Bonnie Westbrook

Reading at the Zoo Saturday, January 10th ?

Posted on January 8, 2009 by Terry & Bonnie

As bizarre as this sounds, that is exactly what is being promoted

by the Kent District Library’s One Book One County Reading

Program for Saturday, January 10th.

The book that will be chosen for this year’s program will be unveiled

at the John Ball Park Zoo’s Aquarium building at 11:00 am.

Besides announcing the new book for this year, the zoo staff will

give tours and presentations, and the zoo will be free from

11:00 until 2:00 pm for visitors.

Winter isn’t the usual time you think about going to the zoo, but

lots of animals are more active in the winter months, such as

the tigers, who have warm coats and like cooler weather.

Grand Rapids Ada Real Estate ~ Five Star Real Estate

Stone Falls of Ada ~ New Apartment Complex Update ~ Ada, Michigan

Posted on November 22, 2008 by Terry & Bonnie

UPDATE: The Stone Falls of Ada Apartment complex has went up fast.

Our last post was in June. The units are up and some are occupied. Not

all units are completed yet. In the short video here, you can see the

approach to Stone Falls of Ada on Spaulding Ave and just how big this

complex is. There was a little excitement a few weeks ago when an empty

unit caught fire, the damage can be seen on our video tour.

I am leaving my original post, so you can the how fast the project has

went up.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q5Ec-AribkY&hl=en&fs=1&color1=0x234900&color2=0x4e9e00]

Stone Falls of Ada Apartments

Original Post about Stone Falls of Ada:

A new 210 unit luxury apartment complex is taking shape in Ada, Michigan.

The new complex, named Stone Falls of Ada, is scheduled to be completed

in spring 2009. The Dayton Ohio based group that is constructing the

development, the Miller-Valentine Group,and their partners, Boston based

Cross Harbor Capital Partners LLC reports that the complex will have one,

two, and three bedroom apartments ranging in size from 856 square

feet to 1460 square feet. The location of the project is on the east side

of Spaulding Avenue just south of Fulton Street.

stone falls of ada mi

As you can see, construction is well under way. The buildings in the far

background are the Townhouses and condominiums of Clements Mill. This

part of the Clements Mill project was sold to be completed as apartment

dwellings. This is a fairly new feature in Ada Township.

Prior to this development 98 per cent of the homes in Ada Township were

single family residences. There are a lot of apartments in the Grand Rapids

area but very few in Ada. It will be interesting to see if Ada is attractive to

renters.

Grand Rapids Ada Real Estate ~ Westbrook Realty

photo by Bonnie Westbrook

Wyoming MI Real Estate Market Report ~ November 2008

Posted on November 17, 2008 by Terry & Bonnie

Wyoming Michigan is a large suburban community of Grand Rapids, MI.

Wyoming MI homes are moderately priced, which should make it an active

market in this economy.

Obviously the lower price levels have affected the average price

(low price $54,200 vs high price of $236,835).

I assume some of the lowest price levels are bank owned foreclosures

negatively affecting the market price.

As you can see by the graph pictured below, Wyoming homes listed at a

high price are not selling until the price gets close to the average or below.

188 Wyoming MI Homes Actively on the Market October 2008

36 Wyoming MI Pending Sales for January to November

61 Wyoming Sold Homes for January to November

Wyoming MI chart of November 2008 listings

Wyoming MI November 2008 listings price

Wyoming MI Nov 2008 listings $/sqft

Wyoming MI Nov 2008 listings DOM

In Wyoming, MI there is a lot of sold activity in the lower price brackets,

$ 50,000 to $ 85,000. There are some great bargains here for

savvy home buyers. The lowest average sold prices have risen about

$15,000 since August. At the top end, it looks like the higher prices have

started moving towards the middle, they have lost about $13,000 in

average sold prices.

Wyoming MI Market Report August 2008

Wyoming MI Market Report Sept 2008

If you have any questions about Wyoming or Grand Rapids Homes,

contact me directly at: 1-888-240-1968 ext 0

Grand Rapids Ada Real Estate Five Star Real Estate

All information is subject to verification and no liability for error or omission is assumed.

Wm Seidman discusses Financial Crisis at Grand Valley State University

Posted on October 11, 2008 by Terry & Bonnie

Wm Seidman discusses Financial Crisis at Grand Valley State University

We had an interesting start to our day yesterday. We had a sit down

talk with William Seidman, commentator for CNBC, former FDIC chairman,

and Grand Rapids native son. Well, actually we were sitting in the audience

with about 200 other Grand Rapidians while Bill told us how he believes

we got into this financial crisis. He was scheduled to talk about which

presidential candidate would be the best one for our financial times.

With all that has happened in the last few weeks, his advice was sage and

to the point.

Check out their financial advisors.

Neither candidate is a businessman or financial expert, so they will be

getting lots of advice. Try to find out who is advising them and vote

for the candidate whom you considered to be well advised. He also said

we are in uncharted waters with this whole financial mess. It will take

some original thinking to get us out. And we need to come out of the

“PANIC STAGE” we are in now.

We caught a few minutes of Bill’s Talk at the GVSU downtown campus

that you can sample on this short video:

Bill Seidman Talk at GVSU 10-9-08

Pricing Your Home is Crucial to the Sale

Posted on October 10, 2008 by Terry & Bonnie

Pricing Your Home is Crucial to the Sale

When we sit down with potential clients to list their home, there are so many

issues and hot buttons to discuss. Inevitably we come to the one where we

really have to agree to get the home sold quickly and for the most money-

PRICE

Most homeowners want to start high and then come down – if they have

to – to sell. Of course, they are hoping their home is an exception, it will

sell for more than the market value of all the other homes in the area.

We see this over and over again.

If you don’t price your home within the price bracket it will eventually

sell for, you are hurting your chances of selling it for top dollar. If you

price your home correctly – You are not giving away money!!

Money, Money, Money

I repeat,

YOU ARE NOT GIVING AWAY MONEY.

This phantom money that you think you might get if the one person

comes along who will do anything, pay anything to own your “special”

home does not exist.

Let me repeat that –

The uneducated buyer with money falling out of their pockets,

sprinkled in fairy dust, so you can make the money you would like to out

of your home sale —– DOES NOT EXIST!!!

You are not letting go of money, you are letting go of the dream

scenario where you get the price that is 25-30% over market value.

It isn’t going to happen.

What will happen, is your home will be posted on the MLS, online,

many places where buyers can look at it. Buyers then compare your

price to others, and say, why would I buy this house?? There are

10-15 others I can look at that are competitively priced and look great.

Then…. they are gone.

They don’t come back and revisit your home as an option.

Other homes are new on the market to consider. Yours has been rejected as:

too expensive
too much work
not what they are looking for

The first month your home is listed is usually the only month that gets

high traffic. Some of our sellers will listen, most don’t.

Sadly, two, six, eight months later, we are still trying to get them to

agree to the price they should be listed at, if they want their home to sell.

Chasing this downward price spiral is not the best way to get top dollar

from your home. When it first hits the market it has the most exposure

and best chance of getting the best price!

Photos from Flickr Creative Commons photostream

http://www.flickr.com/photos/quinnanya/2904370326

_____________________________________________________________________________

The authors of the this blog write about Grand Rapids Real Estate,

the Greater Grand Rapids MI area, and what it is like to live in West

Michigan. We believe: Grand Rapids is a Great Place to Live!

Westbrook Realty Grand Rapids MI Real Estate

Contact Terry 616-292-7263

OUR FLICKR PHOTOSTREAM

Grand Rapids Real Estate

Grand Rapids Real Estate Information

Tag Archives: Grand Rapids Michigan

Foto Friday: Why Robins Go South for a Michigan Winter

SEARCH for Grand Rapids Homes

Foto Friday – West Michigan Tulip Time

Foto Friday – Grand River View Grand Rapids MI

Opportunity Knocks for Film Set Training

Grand Rapids Community College Offers Film Training

Kent County "BEST HIGH SCHOOLS ~ 2009"

Reading at the Zoo Saturday, January 10th ?

Stone Falls of Ada ~ New Apartment Complex Update ~ Ada, Michigan

Wyoming MI Real Estate Market Report ~ November 2008

Wm Seidman discusses Financial Crisis at Grand Valley State University

Wm Seidman discusses Financial Crisis at Grand Valley State University

Pricing Your Home is Crucial to the Sale

Pricing Your Home is Crucial to the Sale

PRICE

I repeat,

YOU ARE NOT GIVING AWAY MONEY.

Then…. they are gone.