If you're looking for something fun to do this weekend that won't break the budget and will get you out into the beautiful spring sunshine, you're in luck! Beginning today, Friday May 20^th and running through Sunday June 4^th, there will be 86 homes around the Greater Grand Rapids area available to tour in the annual Parade of Homes. For those who are unfamiliar with the Parade of homes, it is sponsored the the Homebuilders Association of Greater Grand Rapids. This annual springtime event allows people from all over to tour beautifully remodeled and redecorated homes, along with immaculate and innovative new construction projects. With houses in the tour located all over the city and throughout surrounding communities and suburbs, the event usually has something for every taste.

Adult general admission to the Parade of Homes Tour is only $10, and interested parties can purchase tickets online by clicking here. Homes included in the tour range vastly in value, from $150,000 to over $1,000,000. These homes, located throughout the city, on the lakeshore, and even in Marne, will showcase the latest styles, building techniques, green building practices, and landscaping. Attendees can prepare to be amazed by stunning flowers and foliage, unique, new floorcoverings inside, and gorgeous kitchens, bathrooms, and living spaces. If you're looking for inspiration for a remodel project, surely one of the nearly one hundred homes on the parade will provide that creative spark.

The Parade of Homes is aptly timed during one of the hottest home buying and selling periods of the year. The spring is always one of the busiest seasons for real estate transactions. This year, with the Grand Rapids market being so hot that it is considered not only one of the strongest markets in the state but in the Midwest (and possibly the nation), there is a lot of interest in the local real estate market. You can turn your interest into a family fun activity that will inspire and educate everyone present by picking a day between now and June 4^th to visit some truly remarkable examples of what can be done with dwelling spaces.

Here at Pyxis Realty, we're thrilled that our community has such great respect for our local home builders and such interest in design and landscaping that the Parade of Homes has become such a major part of West Michigan culture. It's exciting to live within an engaged, vibrant community, and it is truly a pleasure to work with the people who call our area home (or perhaps home to their investment properties). Whether you're feeling inspired to list your home for sale while the market is hot and inventory is low or you've been bitten by the home-buying bug so common during the Parade of Homes, the educated, hard-working team at Pyxis Realty is here to help guide you through the process of a real estate transaction. Call or email us today, and see how much of a difference working with a locally-owned and operated real estate brokerage can make!

As the local market has heated up and inventory has remained low, there has been a rush in some areas for homeowners to list their properties as “for sale by owner,” mistakenly believing that they will make more money on a home sale without needing to pay a Realtor's commission. We've already discussed in a previous blog why that idea is generally incorrect, and today we're going to explore it from the buyer's perspective.

At first glance, For Sale by Owner homes may seem like a chance to pay a little less for a home than you would in a Realtor-brokered transaction. Not needing to pay a commission to a seller's agent or a buyer's agent at first glance looks like a great way to keep the price lower, but will that actually be how the transaction plays out? In many cases, working with a Realtor saves not just headache, but potential financial losses as well.

3. The seller's choice to sell without a Realtor likely means that they want the most profit possible from the transaction. Although those kitschy, hand-written “For Sale by Owner” signs on the front lawn seem like a great cost-reducing measure, in reality, even a plastic yard sign costs money. A seller with a close eye on the bottom line of the sale is likely to account for each and every sale-related expense and pass it along to the buyer in the form of the asking price. Realtors, on the other hand, advertise widely as part of their profession and are unlikely to increase the expense to the buyer over advertising costs. Additionally, because they have lacked the services and advice of a professional Realtor while attempting to sell their home, they may have accrued many other unnecessary expenses that serve, in the course of the selling process, to inflate the asking price of the home and other expenses that may be passed along to the buyer at closing.

2. The buyer must put extreme faith in the seller's honesty, with little recourse for lies except possibly fruitless lawsuits. Buying a home is one of the biggest, most important investments a person can make. Buying a “lemon” or a “money pit” can be devastating. Realtors, both seller's agents and buyer's agents, are held to a strict standard of honesty, disclosure, and ethical behavior. A Realtor who omits important, known information about property defects may be held financially and professionally responsible for that omission. The same is true of actively lying about a property; a Realtor risks their license and livelihood if they engage dishonestly with a client or buyer, while a non-licensed home seller can only be held accountable by taking them to court. If the court rules in the favor of the buyer, the seller must still co-operate or the judgement issued is meaningless.

1. Issues with the property could cause funding and therefore closing issues. Without the advice of a Realtor regarding what issues with the property must be remedied in order to pass an inspection and appraise at a value that justifies any money lent via a mortgage, there is a decent chance that come inspection or appraisal day, everyone involved in the transaction receives a nasty shock. Whether it's a missing handrail or roof repairs deemed too serious for as-is funding by the lender, there are so many things that can go wrong, even after the seller has accepted your offer. Working with a seller who has been aided by a Realtor minimizes the possibility of an unpleasant discovery after your offer has been accepted.

There are many reasons why working with a Realtor makes sense for buyers, and as many reasons why it benefits home sellers. Whether you're looking to buy a home, sell a home, purchase an investment property, or upgrade your current home, the team at Pyxis Realty has a great line-up of local, educated, West Michigan realtor estate professionals ready to help make that transaction as smooth and beneficial for all parties as possible.  

Pyxis Realty is proud to be owned and operated by West Michigan locals who love our community! We pride ourselves on community involvement, local knowledge, and a dedication to customer service that goes above and beyond. Whether you're looking to buy a small starter home or sell your family home to downsize to a retirement-sized condo, our team has the experience and education to make your real estate transactions as smooth as possible.

Over the course of the last few weeks, we have added three new Realtors to our staff. One of our previous staff members, Abigail "Abby" Whitener, has relocated to a different area, and we wish her the best in life and her career. Stepping up to fill the vacancy lefy by Abby, our newest team members bring with them a wide variety of experiences and educational and professional backgrounds, ensuring that Pyxis Realty can continue to offer a broad range of real estate services to the Grand Rapids area.

Are you a Realtor or real estate broker who has been or wants to work in the West Michigan real estate market or the Grand Rapids real estate market? Pyxis Realty may be the perfect brokerage for you to call home! Our office is always on the lookout to bring on more skilled, service-oriented real estate professionals. From our centrally located office space to our highly competitive monthly fees and commission structures, Pyxis Realty has a lot to offer the established real estate professional. But what if you're new to the business?

Pyxis Realty is also a great place to grow into your new career. Unlike massive, national corporate brokerages, where new Realtors are hit with massive up-front fees and treated with a disdainful “sink or swim” mentality, management at Pyxis Realty is dedicated to helping new staff members maximize their potential and grow their skill set. Instead of tossing you out into the real estate world with little oversight or guidance, Pyxis Realty can offer varying levels of guidance and ongoing education in-house. If you need it, our team can walk you through the entire process of listing or making an offer on a home, all the way through to closing. We are as dedicated to the success of our staff as we are to ensuring our clients all close, happy that they sold their home through us or used us to help them find their dream home!

As our staff grows, we will be updating and expanding our website. We are pleased to be able to expand our client base and handle more home sales and purchases than we could before, and very excited by the additional opportunity presented by adding Spanish-speaking staff members to our team! Regardless of the size or price of your home, our team will be there to handle all of the minutia every step of the way! Give us a call today if you're interested in listing your home with a Grand Rapids area Realtor, or email us! We're also always taking on new buyer clients who need help finding their dream home!

It can be rough being a buyer in a seller's market. Here at Pyxis Realty, our team of educated realtors understand the experience of purchasing a house, and they appreciate how important of a process it really is. While the Grand Rapids real estate market and the West Michigan real estate market are currently dealing with record low inventory numbers (meaning a low number of available houses on the market), there are a lot of amazing properties that are being listed right now because of the uptick in home sale prices. Here are three things to keep in mind when wading into the housing market as a buyer right now.

3. The early bird gets the worm. If you need housing sooner rather than later, work with a realtor who will move aggressively on your behalf. You'll want to be one of the first people to view a house when it comes onto the market as a means to ensure you have an option to make an offer on the property. There's nothing more disappointing than deciding to make an offer on a house, only to discover that the seller has already accepted an offer or has multiple offers under consideration. Getting in those doors early can give you an advantage by letting your offer be the first or one of the first offers.

2. Make your offer seller-friendly. Don't sneak in a bunch of additional seller expenses or expect the seller to adjust their parameters for the closing. If they expect to retain occupancy for 30 days after closing, don't come to the table asking for immediate possession; you'll just end up disappointed, as the seller will likely have additional offers a similar financial amount on the table to consider. Also, don't expect the seller of your dream home to absorb all of the closing costs or finance minor repairs. Retain a small amount of the liquid capital you have available to make any minor repairs to the property that come up during inspection. A $200 railing replacement out of pocket is probably not worth losing out on a property that you really loved. Remember to be flexible, especially if you have a strict timetable for when you need to move.

    

1. Don't let rejection weigh you down. If you make an offer, or two, or five, and haven't gotten an accepted offer yet, don't let that discourage you from pursuing homeownership. Instead, speak with your realtor to see if they have any feedback about how to move forward. They may have recommendations about how to make your offer appear more appealing to a seller's agent and the seller themselves.

If you're ready to make the switch from renting to owning, or if you're ready to upgrade to a different house or community, give the team at Pyxis Realty a call or send us an email! Our staff is ready to help you make the most of your home buying bucks, regardless of the price and size of home you're looking for. Don't wait until prices and rates go up! Make the move to home ownership today!  

As the spring has been heating up the Grand Rapids area real estate market and West Michigan real estate market, many potential home buyers are finding that demand is vastly outstripping supply. What does that mean for you, potential future homeowner? How can you make the most of a market that is so hot, some properties are off the market within a day or two of being listed?

3. Don't hold your best and highest offer in reserve. This may seem like a foolish move, especially to those who have bid on items or houses before. However, because there isn't an auction structure to the housing market, if you present the seller with an offer that's only 80% of what you're actually willing to pay, there won't necessarily be time for you to remedy that mistake before the home is sold to someone else. While bidding wars can and do happen with houses, that essentially requires two potential buyers offering identical amounts, which is unlikely. If you're willing to bid up to 15% over the asking price of a home that's just been listed and you really love the property, it may very well be in your best interest to open with that best and highest offer, instead of hoping to slowly build up to it if your first offer is rejected. If your first offer is rejected, you may not have a chance to make a second.

2. Be ready to move when the time is right. You don't have to make an offer on a house you're not interested in or one that just doesn't appeal to you, but when you find a home you like, don't spend three days weighing the pros and cons. Take the time you need to make an intelligent decision, and then move aggressively as soon as you've decided. As the old saying goes, “he who hesitates is lost.”

1. Don't take rejected offers personally. It can be easy to get disappointed when an offer you make on a home ends up rejected by the seller. Especially if you really like the home in question, the disappointment can be intense. Don't get discouraged! Because of the steady rise in home values and selling prices, more and more excellent homes are coming onto the market every day! Talk to your realtor, schedule more showings, preferably as soon as you know you're interested in a property, and keep working at it until you find the perfect one, make an accepted offer, and finally close on it!

While a seller's market can be intimidating, especially to first time home buyers, the staff of dedicated, educated professionals at Pyxis Realty are ready to help you navigate this intense market! We're ready to make and revise offers, set showings, and help you locate and successfully bid on, the house of your dreams! Don't give up and wait for things to cool off; call or email us today and see what a difference having aggressive, professional representation can make.  

Plenty of focus in the local news (and, to a lesser extent, at the national level) has been placed on the rebounding real estate markets in the United States. After the massive real estate crisis of 2008, which saw plummeting home values, home owners underwater on their mortgages by tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollors, and skyrocketing foreclosure rates in many markets, recovery is finally in full swing. For the average homeowner, this means a number of things.

First, your property values have been slowly creeping back up toward what they were prior to 2008, making your mortgage less top-heavy. Secondly, as valuations increase, so does demand for home ownership in many communities. And Thirdly, those blighted, foreclosed homes have, for the most part, been purchased and move into by new residents, whether rental tenants or primary homeowners. That means it's a great time to sell your home. Here are some quick tips on how to make the most out of selling on a seller's market, which is certainly how things are on the West Michigan real estate market and Grand Rapids real estate market right now.

Get a strong home valuation. Make sure that your Realtor is looking at the most recent home sales and listings in your area, as opposed to those a year old or older. Because prices have been steadily increasing over the last year, older transactions won't do your home or neighborhood's values justice. If you list and sell your home this season, chances are good you'll be looking at a substantially higher selling price than you would have been a year or more ago. Take advantage of that fact and sell while the market is strong!

Pass along upcoming maintenance to the buyer. Are you on year seventeen for your twenty-year shingles? If so, that means that in the next few years, the roof will need expensive upgrades and maintenance. While this can be a real deal-killer on a buyer's market, with the level of homes for sale so low across West Michigan, that is no longer the case. You may not even need to drop your asking price to receive an offer. Make sure that any known defects are disclosed to potential buyers before closing, but expect to receive interest despite the fact that you know the windows need to be updated.

Sweat equity can finally be cashed in. Did you buy your hoe during the housing downturn? For the better part of a decade, homes in need of real care and upgrades were selling for rock-bottom prices across the West Michigan region. If you purchased one of these homes and performed the necessary maintenance and work on the property, chances are very good that you can make a substantial profit on the sale of the home this season.

Whether you're looking to sell an investment property or change the size or location of your personal home, the team at Pyxis Realty is on call and ready to help you sell your home and maximize you profit!  

With this last cold front moving through West Michigan, it may be hard to believe that in the near future, spring will truly be up on us. Regardless of that Michigan melt uncertainty and our relatively mild winter this year, spring is something that most people in the region look forward to. Not only do the temperatures start permitting shorter sleeves and some barefoot walks in the grass, but flowers are starting to show their faces all over the place. Few things help bring a sense of warmth and romance to an outdoor space like brilliantly colored spring flowers.

When you're in the process of selling your home, the flowers you once enjoyed each spring can become a major selling point for potential buyers, provided you're showing and selling your house during the spring season. Although it's likely too late in the year to plant (unless you're planting forced, already blooming bulbs, which could be quite expensive), if your five year plan includes selling your home and buying a new one, this season may be the perfect time to look around and figure out what areas of your yard would best suit a perennial flowering bulb garden.

3. Look at spacing carefully. Some people will just cover their parkway (that strip of land between the street and the sidewalk) with as many bulbs as they can fit in the space. Others may create a small bed using paving stones or other building materials to contain the flowering plants and make for easier mowing (without risk of killing your botanical investment). What size and shape is your yard? What areas receive the most natural sunlight early in the season? What about after the leaves start coming in on nearby trees and bushes? Would your walkway look lovely flanked by nodding daffodils, or is it a narrow walk that would look crowded by the spilling leaves and flowers? Take written notes and tuck them away someplace where you can refer to them later this year, during the fall bulb planting season.

2. Pick the perfect colors. Few people would argue that yellow, white, and even pink daffodils are likely to lift someone's spirit, but if your home has yellow or beige siding, they may get lost in the shuffle. Would bright red, orange, or deep purple tulips pop more and draw more eyes to your yard? Don't just consider your home; look at your neighbor's colors as well, and try to select flowers that will compliment the existing colors in the space while still contrasting enough to “pop” out of the background and draw the eye.

1. Follow your nose. Lots of modern cultivars of popular flowers have been bred for flower size and color, and scent is one characteristic which all too often gets left behind in the flower selection process. If there's a breed of narcissus (which includes daffodils and similar flowers) whose shape and color pleases you, check out varieties with similar appearances which are regarded for their fragrance. Place scented flowering bulbs in areas where they'll be closest to humans, such as near the front door or by any permanent structures, such as a stone bench in the yard.

Making the most of a property and space can include a lot of different aspects. Pyxis Realty's professional staff of local, Grand Rapids area realtors, is always here to help you buy or sell a home, and we're also happy to help in long-term planning to maximize the appeal of your home. Give us a call today if you're ready to buy a home or get your house on the market!

These days, thanks in no small part to the internet, many people with little background or knowledge of a field of expertise can start thinking they fully understand something they truly don't. As the saying goes, “a little bit of knowledge can cause of lot of trouble.” While it always behooves a potential home buyer to be well-informed, it's as important to acknowledge the things you don't really know or understand as it is to research as much as possible before making a big decision. When buying a home on a highly competitive market like what currently exists in the West Michigan real estate market, it is incredibly important to have professional, educated representation to ensure you aren't overlooking any glaring issues or setting yourself up with a potential money pit disguised as a honey pot. Here are three examples of ways having a buyer's agent can help you close on your dream home in a highly competitive market.

3. An agent has standing relationships with other agents. Simply put, an agent who will have to repeatedly work with another agent in the future will want to keep things amiable between the two of them. This means that an agent may be more courteous to or forthcoming with, another agent, as opposed to an unrepresented home buyer. Because their livelihood depends on being able to cooperate with other agents in the area, seller's agents may work harder to meet a represented buyer halfway, even in a hot market like we're experiencing right now in West Michigan.

2. Buyer's agents can be aggressive so you don't have to be. If you're like most Americans, you want a good deal, especially on one of the biggest purchases of your life, but you don't want to have to haggle for days in order to close the deal. After all, you've got your own job to work, a home (or rental home) to maintain, and a family to care for on any given day. Your realtor's only job is to represent you in this transaction, meaning they'll be able to take those last-minute negotiation calls or respond to a counter-offer email while you're trapped in a boardroom meeting or doctor's appointment.

1. Agents know what to look for and what questions to ask. Remember the caveat: buyer beware. While certain things must be disclosed under law, there are plenty of issues with any given property that a casual visual inspection will not reveal that an agent may be able to discover on their own or via their relationship with the seller's agent. When entering into one of the biggest purchase agreements of your life, it really is in your best interest to have professional, educated representation when making offers, viewing homes, and finalizing the purchase of your home.

No matter what the home price range you're looking for, no matter what neighborhood, city, or township you'd like to call home, the local, experienced team at Pyxis Realty is here to help make closing on your dream home a simple, enjoyable process instead of the protracted nightmare it could become without adequate, aggressive representation. Don't let your dream home get bought out from under you! Call the team at Pyxis Realty today and see what a difference they can make!

Spring is peeking its bashful head out from under the curtain of late winter storms, and soon-to-be home sellers should take note: now is the perfect time to begin the process of listing and selling your home. As temperatures rise and residents shake off the winter blues, home buyers will be coming out in force to find their new dream home. If you have a well-appointed, clean, and carefully decorated home, the prospect of public open houses in your space can be daunting, especially in the middle of the muddiest season of the year. What's a person with clean, well-maintained, light color carpeting to do?

3. Consider investing in cheap rugs for the entranceway. While you always want to present a home in its best light, with all of its most attractive features on display for potential buyers, you also want to protect the space and its amenities against staining and water damage. Providing large, textured rugs near the front door will allow those viewing the space to adequately clean their shoes or boots off before tracking in any unnecessary reminders of spring's presence.

2. Make your open house a shoe free zone. If your realtor looks at the space and agrees it is feasible, you could place a small, printed sign near the front door asking prospective buyers to please leave their footwear by the door. While this may create a temporary inconvenience to some buyers, you can easily offset this by placing a bench or a sturdy chair near the front door, allowing guests with compromised mobility a safe space to remove their shoes or boots. Provide a rug, carpet, or tray for visitors to place their shoes in while they are not being worn, and make sure the cleanliness level of the home compliments a bare-foot or sock-footed tour.

1. Consider disposable plastic runners. Available at most moving companies and some home stores, these over-sized rolls of plastic wrap can save you quite a headache when there is a lot of traffic coming in and out of your home during muddy, wet seasons. They can be stapled, anchored, or taped in place while there is traffic, and then removed and recycled, keeping mud and water off your floors and therefore minimizing clean-up and waste. Don't wait until someone had left size 14 prints all over your new cream carpeting on the stairs; take precautions during the showing process to avoid any accidental damage that could send a potential buyer elsewhere.

Considering the impact of weather on the desirability of a home for sale is just one of many aspects of showing a home, maximizing its potential value, and minimizing the amount of time it is on the market. The team at Pyxis Realty is standing by, ready to help you navigate the ins and outs of the home selling process with minimal headache and stress. Give us a call or drop us an email today to get the process started, and see how easy selling your home really can be!

Right now, there is no question that on a local (and national) level, real estate markets are on a major upswing. In the Grand Rapids real estate market, and more broadly, most of the West Michigan real estate market, the demand for homes is outpacing the supply substantially. That means that while spring is a great time to buy, there will be a lot more competition for the best houses being listed on the market this season. It is at times like these that having a professional, experienced realtor on your team as a buyer's agent can make all the difference in the world. Here are three changes  to expect if you haven't purchased a home on a seller's market before.

3. Prices will be up; plan accordingly. This is simply a given. Depending on the area, home prices in West Michigan have generally increased since their sharp decline in 2008. That means that the same $175,000 mortgage may buy you less home, in terms of amenities and square footage, than it would have five years ago. However, this increase in prices has also resulted in owners finally being willing to list homes that may have been undervalued for years, meaning there will also be some truly excellent, beautiful homes for sale. Be sure to adjust your expectation in terms of size and price by talking to your realtor about what homes in the area are currently falling within your price range, so you don't find yourself surprised when you get ready to view properties.

2. You may not win bidding wars. When two or more possible sellers decide they are both in love with the same property, the seller can, in a real estate market like our currently, sit back and wait to see who wants the home more. Many buyers are currently making offers at or even exceeding the asking price, while five years ago it was common to have a first offer well below the advertised asking price. It's always best to lead with your strongest, highest offer in a very competitive market. If you offer $10,000 less than the other buyer, the seller will have little reason to consider a second offer from you before accepting the higher offer. Discuss your strategy with your realtor, and be prepared to view and make an offer on more than one property, as there is a chance another buyer may be more motivated than you on any given property.

1. Don't expect many seller concessions. When the market is tilted in the buyer's favor, as it has been for nearly a decade in this area, sellers will often make concessions in order to sell their home at or nearly at, their asking price. This could include offering to pay all the closing costs, making repairs or modifications before closing at the request of the buyer, or allowing pieces of furniture or appliances to be sold bundled with the home. In a seller's market, however, the current owner of a home has little motivation to bend over backwards for a potential buyer. Coming to the table with an offer that puts a lot of demand on a seller may be the difference between them accepting your offer and another one. Be reasonable with your expectation for seller concessions, and discuss what is likely to be offered or accepted by a seller with your realtor.

When the market is hot and buyers and their agents must be aggressive, there are usually some high-quality properties for sale on any given market. Working with an educated professional representing you as a buyer's agent during the bidding and viewing process can make acquisition of your dream home a much smoother process. Give the team at Pyxis Realty a call today, and find out how we can help you get into your new home!