Southwest Michigan Realtor Blog

By Michael Delaware, REALTOR®

Category Archives: Marketing a Home


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Land Contract Homes for Investors: Download My eBook for Free

New LC II Cover 4In December of 2012, I published two eBooks on the subject of Land Contracts in a Kindle format on Amazon.  The first title was: Understanding Land Contract Homes: In Pursuit of the American Dream.  This covered the basics of the subject, bot both buyers and sellers to understand not only the mechanics of how they work, but also how to structure them, where to find them, etc.  The second book I released is entitled: Land Contract Homes for Investors and this book specifically serves as an information guide to investors who might consider selling a home on Land Contract.

Both of these books are available on Amazon, and have been selling very well since their release.  Today only (February 14th, 2013) I am making available the book: Land Contract Homes for Investors for free on Amazon.  One can just click on the link of the book cover image and be take to where you can download it for free.  I am making this available to help new investors who want to get a start.  I would ask that when you visit the link that you take a moment to ‘Like’ it while there by clicking the ‘Like’ button.  Also, when you are done reading the book, if you could return and post a positive review for others to read as well.

Land Contract Homes are an area of interest to many who are struggling with difficult financial times.  These books help to provide understanding on how Land Contracts can be used to achieve the goal of home ownership for those who need a period of time to recover their finances.  I hope that if you are reading this, you will spread the word to others about my books on the subject, and take advantage of the free copy available today.  I wish you the all the best.

This new edition has updated links, and a new cover design as well!

Low Valuation in Home Appraisals Causing Steady Level of Contract Glitches

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This article was provided by the National Association of Realtors®:

WASHINGTON (October 10, 2012) – The real estate market is recovering but still faces hurdles, notably from tight mortgage credit, but problems with a sizeable share of real estate appraisals also are holding back home sales, according to survey findings by the National Association of Realtors®.

Most appraisers are competent and provide good valuations that are compliant with the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice.  However, appraisals generally lag market conditions and some changes to the appraisal process have been causing problems in recent years, including the use of out-of-area valuators without local expertise or full access to local data, inappropriate comparisons, and excessive lender demands. In addition, before the beginning of last year, some lenders’ loan processors edited valuations, cutting them by a certain percentage.

Although 65 percent of Realtors® surveyed in September report no contract problems relating to home appraisals over the past three months,* 11 percent said a contract was cancelled because an appraised value came in below the price negotiated between the buyer and seller, 9 percent reported a contract was delayed, and 15 percent said a contract was renegotiated to a lower sales price as a result of a low valuation.  These findings are notable given that homes in many areas are selling for less than replacement construction costs.

Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said there has been a steady level of appraisal issues for quite some time.  “Though the real estate recovery is taking place, the combined issues of stringent mortgage lending requirements and appraisal frictions are hampering otherwise qualified buyers from purchasing a home in a timely fashion, and in some cases are preventing them from buying at all,” he said.

Major problems reported by Realtors® include:

• Some appraisers are using foreclosures, short sales and run-down properties as comparable homes, and are not making adjustments for market conditions or the condition of the property.

• Appraised values that do not reflect market conditions such as rising prices, the presence of multi-bidding and low inventory.

• Appraised values are very inconsistent and fluctuate widely.

• Out-of-town appraisers, who are not familiar with the area or local market conditions, are being used.

• Turn-around time by both appraisers and banks is slow, which delays closings.

A large concern is that some appraisers working for an Appraisal Management Company are operating under strict and limited parameters due to bank lending criteria, which appears to be related to banking regulations or risk aversion on the part of the lender.  Furthermore, unreasonable “put back” risks imposed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac could also cause banks to set unrealistic requirements for appraisers.

Appraisal concerns impact the market.

Appraisal concerns impact the market.

There is a clear difference between the value of distressed property and non-distressed homes, and some appraisers do not currently distinguish between these types of properties when making comparisons for valuation purposes.  NAR data shows that the typical foreclosure is sold for an average discount of 20 percent relative to traditional homes in good condition, while the typical short sale is discounted by 15 percent.

Many of the inappropriate comparisons appear to be made by appraisers lacking local expertise, who generally live outside of the market where the appraised property is located – often without full access to local data from a multiple listing service.

NAR President Moe Veissi, broker-owner of Veissi & Associates Inc., in Miami, said some appraisal practices lack common sense.  “Our long-standing policy is that all appraisals should be done by licensed or certified professionals with local expertise, which also is what Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac recommend, but clearly this isn’t practiced universally,” he said.

NAR has long advocated for an independent appraisal process and enhanced education requirements that allow appraisers to produce the most accurate reports possible.  However, appraisers have faced undue pressure – whether from a lender or an AMC – to complete appraisals using distressed sales as comps, to complete an appraisal in an unacceptably short time frame, and to complete a scope of work that is not justified by the fee being offered.

Appraisals impact home sales.

Appraisals impact home sales.

These are major problems.  In addition, some appraisers are required to provide as many as eight to 10 comparable sales, which almost guarantee the use of distressed properties as comps in many cases.

Previously, three comparable homes were the norm for most appraisals.  In many cases there simply aren’t enough apples-to-apples comps to comply with the excessive demands by lenders, so discounted distressed homes are sometimes used in valuating traditional homes in good condition without appropriate adjustments.

“In short, there has been an inconsistent appraisal process leading to disruptive delays for home buyers and sellers,” Veissi said.  “All home valuations should be made without undue pressure from any source.  Even so, buyers, sellers and agents are free to ask appraisers to consider additional data and to correct errors, or discuss unique aspects of the home, the neighborhood or properties used as comps.”

The appraisal industry has made strides in adapting to market conditions, expanding education and making appropriate adjustments for distressed homes that are used as comps.  It appears many of the remaining problems are tied to appraisals made through AMCs.

Fortunately, the level of distressed sales is trending down – they accounted for about one-third of all sales in 2011, but have averaged roughly a quarter of sales in recent months.  By 2013 NAR expects the distressed market share to decline to about 10 to 15 percent.  As distressed inventory is cleared from the market over the next two years, it should help to correct ongoing problems.

“In the meantime, buyers, sellers and real estate agents need to be aware that there are problems with some real estate appraisals, but also be aware of their rights to communicate with appraisers and lenders about errors or concerns with individual valuations,” Veissi said.  “In some cases, a second appraisal may be justified.”
The National Association of Realtors®, “The Voice for Real Estate,” is America’s largest trade association, representing 1 million members involved in all aspects of the residential and commercial real estate industries.

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Homes Selling More Quickly, Time on Market Down with Tighter Supplies

The following article was provided by the National Association of Realtors® in September of 2012, but I felt the information has relevancy to the upcoming Spring market, so I am publishing it here:

WASHINGTON (September 5, 2012) – A new measure shows the typical amount of time it takes to sell a home is shrinking, and for traditional sellers is now in the range of historic norms for a balanced market, well below the cyclical peak reached in 2009, according to the National Association of Realtors®.

Home buying marketThe median time a home was listed for sale on the market1 was 69 days in July, down 29.6 percent from 98 days in July 2011.  The median reflects a wide spectrum; one-third of homes purchased in July were on the market for less than a month, while one in five was on the market for at least six months.

Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said there is a clear relationship between inventory supply and time on market.  “As inventory has tightened homes have been selling more quickly,” he said.  “A notable shortening of time on market began this spring, and this has created a general balance between home buyers and sellers in much of the country.  This equilibrium is supporting sustained price growth, and homes that are correctly priced tend to sell quickly, while those that aren’t often languish on the market.”

At the end July there was a 6.4-month supply of homes on the market at the current sales pace, which is 31.2 percent below a year ago when there was a 9.3-month supply.

There are consistent and related findings between annual consumer research in NAR’s Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers, and sets of data in the existing-home sales series, that show current market conditions are comparable with median selling time in balanced markets.

In periods where the existing-home sales series averaged close to a 6-month supply of homes in listed inventory, which is near the low end for market equilibrium, the home buyer and seller series showed a median selling time of just over six weeks.

In such balanced market conditions, home prices generally rise 1 to 2 percentage points above the overall rate of inflation as measured by the Consumer Price Index.

“Our current forecast is for the median existing home price to rise 4.5 to 5 percent thisHome buying in America year and about 5 percent in 2013, which is somewhat stronger than historic norms because of the inventory shortfall that is most pronounced in the low price ranges,” Yun said.  CPI growth is projected at 2.1 percent for 2012 and 2.3 percent next year.

From 1987 through 2011, analysis of the NAR Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers series showed the typical time on market was 6.9 weeks, while the existing-home sales series showed an average supply of 7.0 months, just above the high end for a balanced market.

The new measure of days on market shows a longer selling time than the historic findings which measured traditional sellers of non-distressed homes.  The new series include short sales that typically took three months or longer to sell.  “Factoring out short sales, the median time on market for traditional sellers appears to be in the balanced range of six to seven weeks,” Yun explained.

During the peak of the housing boom in 2004 and 2005 when inventory supplies were historically low, averaging 4.3 months2 over the two-year peak period, the median selling time was 4 weeks.  Prices in that time frame were bid up and rose at an annual rate of 10.3 percent, historically higher than the 3.1 percent average growth in CPI during the period.

In the economic downturn, time on market for non-distressed sellers peaked at 10 weeks in 2009 with a 10.0-month annualized supply.  The median price fell 12.9 percent that year, which was the biggest annual decline on record.

“Ironically, if housing construction doesn’t pick up to normal levels within two years, supply shortages could be sustained for an extended period and lead to above average appreciation,” Yun said. “Therefore, any unnecessary hindrance to housing starts, such as excessive local zoning regulations or stringent bank capital rules for construction loans, should be carefully re-examined.”

The National Association of Realtors®, “The Voice for Real Estate,” is America’s largest trade association, representing 1 million members involved in all aspects of the residential and commercial real estate industries.

# # #

1The new days-on-market figures, which will be included in future existing-home sales releases, are derived from a monthly survey for the Realtors® Confidence Index, posted at www.Realtor.org.  The median time on market includes all listings, which can be misleading at times because an abundance of fresh listings can skew the average downward.  Previously published data were expressed in ranges of selling time, but the data has been adjusted to also show median selling time; calculations date to May 2010.

2Supply figures are adjusted to cover the survey periods of the NAR Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers.  Annual surveys since 2004 are based on 12 months of transactions between July of the preceding year through June of each study’s publication year.  All but one of the earlier studies were on a calendar-year basis.


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More Cash Sales, Shrinking Time on Market Show Changing Buyer Dynamics

The following article was provided by the National Association of Realtors®:

ORLANDO (November 10, 2012) – All-cash buyers have surged since the housing downturn while the typical amount of time it takes to sell a home is shrinking, revealing the changing dynamics of today’s home buyers and sellers.

Buying a home with cash is becoming more challenging.

Buying a home with cash is becoming more challenging as dynamics change.

Academic experts took a closer look at cash buyers and how time-on-market impacts home sales during the “Changing Dynamics of Recent Home Buyers and Sellers” session today at the 2012 Realtors® Conference and Expo. Funding for the research was provided by the REALTOR® University Center for Real Estate Studies.

“We’ve seen a tremendous increase in cash buyers since the housing downturn that we haven’t seen before in history,” said Lawrence Yun, chief economist of the National Association of Realtors®. Yun said a decade ago all-cash home purchases were less than 10 percent of the market but have increased steadily since 2008, to as much as 30 percent of sales.

Yun said the increase in more buyers paying cash for real estate reflected tight lending conditions and an increase in investor sales, which account for the bulk of cash sales. Increases in the number of international buyers, who often have financing difficulties when purchasing a home in the U.S., are also adding to the rise in cash sales. NAR research shows that 62 percent of international purchases were all cash; the percentage has continually increased since 2007.

Recent NAR research on down payment sources may offer insights into how cash buyers are receiving funds for home purchases. According the2012 NAR Home Buyers and Sellers Profile, 40 percent of repeat buyers use the proceeds from the sale of their primary residence as a source of down payment, but downsizing boomers may have enough equity left from their home sale to pay all cash for their next purchase. Yun also noted that one in 10 buyers rely on proceeds from the sale of stocks or 401K disbursements for down payments; those with stable jobs and who saw investment gains in recent years may be using those cash funds to buy a home outright rather than financing the purchase.

Dr. Grant Ian Thrall, president of the American Real Estate Society, agreed that cash sales

Home buying in Michigan is often driven by cash buyers in smaller markets.

Home buying in Michigan is often driven by cash buyers in smaller markets.

have increased dramatically in recent years. Thrall spoke at the session and conducted an in-depth market analysis to gain greater insights into cash buyers.

“Research shows a bias toward cash sales for newer and lower priced homes,” Thrall said. “Many of those sales are occurring within the first 60 days that the home is on the market, and more than half sold within the first 120 days.”

Thomas Springer, professor of Finance and Real Estate at Clemson University, discussed how time-on-market responds to employment changes and varies with shifting market and economic conditions. Springer analyzed market data from more than two dozen metro areas.  His findings indicate that, at the property level, time-on-market is a function of property characteristics, price and market factors; however, at market level, time-on-market is a function of local, national and global economic and market factors.

Springer determined that time-on-market is a possible indicator of market conditions or risk and that in a vibrant market, time-on-market is shorter, whereas distressed markets often have a longer average time-on-market.

Yun said that tightened inventory conditions are also impacting time-on-market, which has steadily decreased nationally since the start of the year, as are home buyers’ search processes.

“Tightened inventories in some places mean homes are selling more quickly and reducing time-on-market,” Yun said. “Our research shows that last year, home buyers saw 10 homes before buying, down from 12 the year before, and more than half of buyers reported that finding the right home was the hardest part of the home search process.”

The National Association of Realtors®, “The Voice for Real Estate,” is America’s largest trade association, representing 1 million members involved in all aspects of the residential and commercial real estate industries.


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Joint NAR/Google Study Shows More People Use Internet to Research Homes for Sale

The following article was provided by the National Association of Realtors®:

WASHINGTON (January 7, 2013) – Real estate-related searches on Google.com have grown 253 percent over the past four years, according to a joint study from the National Association of Realtors® and Google.

“These results parallel the trends shown in NAR’s economic research reports,” said NAR President Gary Thomas, broker-owner of Evergreen Realty in Villa Park, Calif. “As home sales and prices continue to trend up, more people are regaining confidence to invest in their future through homeownership.”

The Digital House Hunt: Consumer and Market Trends in Real Estate is a joint report from

Buying a home in Michigan is easier than you think.

Buying a home in Michigan is easier today.

NAR and Google that examines the connection between consumer Internet use and online home search and shopping patterns. The study leverages NAR’s custom research and Google’s proprietary and third-party research. Google collaborated with Compete in 2011 and 2012 to survey and analyze the behaviors of people in the market for new and existing homes. That research focused on people who had completed an online “conversion”– taking the next step of contacting an agent or requesting additional information from a real estate brand’s website.

According to the analysis, buyers used specific online tools at different points during their home search process. Buyers tend to rely on search engines and general websites when they begin their search, use maps more in the middle of the process, and engage mobile applications most toward the end of their search.

Using the internet to shop for homes is the common trend.

Using the internet to shop for homes is common.

In their online search queries, first-time buyers frequently searched terms like “FHA loan,” “FHA,” “home grants,” “home loan,” and “home buyer assistance.” Last year, more than four out of 10 first-time buyers purchased their homes with a Federal Housing Administration-insured mortgage.

“The fact that first-time buyers are looking for information about FHA loan programs and home buyer assistance underscores some of the challenges today’s home buyers face in today’s tight credit environment,” said Thomas. “Realtors® are excellent sources of information and can help buyers navigate the mortgage financing process.”

Both first-time and repeat buyers rely on Realtors® in their home search.  According to the 2012 NAR Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers, multiple listing service websites and Realtor.com were the top two websites used in recent home searches. Realtor.com, NAR’s official property listing website, attracts an average of more than 20 million unique visitors per month. Mirroring the Google/NAR study, search activity on Realtor.com has picked up significantly in recent months – a 31 percent increase nationwide between March and October of this year.

According to Google internal data, the five states with the highest number of online queries

Selling Your Home in Battle Creek, Michigan requires traditional and modern methods of online marketing.

Selling Your Home in Battle Creek, Michigan requires traditional and modern methods of online marketing.

from people who can be presumed to be first-time buyers were Delaware, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Dakota and Wyoming. Queries related to retirement homes were highest in Nebraska, North Carolina, Oregon, Virginia and Washington. For vacation home searches, the top five states were Florida, Ohio, Oregon, South Carolina and South Dakota.

According to data from Realtor.com, today’s buyers search most frequently on numbers of bedrooms and bathrooms; square footage; garages; heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems; and swimming pools. These home features represent 70 percent of all searched features on the site.

Mobile devices are significantly changing the way people search for homes, as well. According to results from Google’s aforementioned home shopper research with Compete, 48 percent of people who used a mobile device in their home search used the device to get directions to homes for sale, and 45 percent used the device to request more information about specific home features or real estate services.

“Increasingly, online technologies are driving offline behaviors, and home buying is no exception,” said Google Head of Real Estate Patrick Grandinetti. “With 90 percent of home buyers searching online during their home buying process, the real estate industry is smart to target these people where they look for and consume information – for example through paid search, relevant websites, video environments, and mobile applications.”

“Technology has transformed the way Realtors® do business, but in real estate, high tech doesn’t come at the expense of high touch,” said Steven Berkowitz, CEO of Move, Inc., which operates Realtor.com. “Rather than displacing real estate agents, the Internet is actually helping connect them with home buyers. And Realtors® are responding by leveraging resources like Realtor.com, Facebook and YouTube to engage buyers and sellers in ever-evolving ways.”

The National Association of Realtors®, “The Voice for Real Estate,” is America’s largest trade association, representing 1 million members involved in all aspects of the residential and commercial real estate industries.

Information about NAR is available at www.realtor.org. This and other news releases are posted in the “News, Blogs and Video” tab on the website. 


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NAR Statement on the Qualified Mortgage Rule

“The National Association of Realtors® applauds the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau for creating a broadly defined Qualified Mortgage rule that establishes strong consumer protections while ensuring continued access to safe, affordable mortgage credit.

Mortgage interest“NAR forged a coalition of partners that urged regulators to honor Congressional intent by crafting a broad QM and we are pleased that the rule encompasses the vast majority of the safe, high quality lending being done today. We will continue to work closely with the CFPB to ensure that the cap on fees doesn’t restrict consumers’ mortgage options, but believe today’s QM rule is a positive step to bringing certainty to the housing finance system.

“Realtors® urge regulators to mirror the forthcoming Qualified Residential Mortgage rule after the QM rule to ensure affordable credit remains available to qualified borrowers.”

The National Association of Realtors®, “The Voice for Real Estate,” is America’s largest trade association, representing 1 million members involved in all aspects of the residential and commercial real estate industries.

This information was provided by the National Association of Realtors® website.


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Land Contract Homes for Investors by Michael Delaware

I recently published a new book entitled ‘Land Contract Homes for Investors‘ which addresses the subject of Land Contracts from an investors perspective.  Buyers in Michigan where I am a licensed Realtor have often approached me inquiring about the existence of homes for sale on Land Contracts. Many want to become homeowners, and there are often few homes available on the market.  Often this is because they are sold quickly when they are, and the other reason is not enough investors are educated on the benefits of seller financing.

Land Contract Homes for InvestorsLand Contract Homes for Investors was written to help fill the gap of missing knowledge out there for investors seeking new ways to survive in real estate during the current times of high foreclosures, and challenging financing terms offered by conventional lending.  Seller financing by means of a Land Contract or ‘Contract for Deed‘ as it is sometimes called offers a great return on investment that at present is even superior to most people’s 401K stocks, bonds and mutual funds.

My first book entitled: Understanding Land Contract Homes: In Pursuit of the American Dream was written to educate both buyers and sellers in the process.  This second book however, is to educate the investor into the advantages and how to survive successfully in using seller financing to build their investment portfolio.  It also addresses issues that were not relevant in the first book, such as capital gains, means to defer capital gains and what exactly are the best ways to market a Land Contract home to find the right buyer.

So Land Contract Homes for Investors is a new viewpoint on the subject, and it is entirely that of the investors viewpoint. It is about not only profit, but also purpose. You will find insight in the book about how to succeed, as well as what to avoid in this type of investment activity.


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Selling Your Home in Michigan Today

Selling your home in Michigan today can require some adjustment in thinking.  In previous years when one bought a home, they improved the home in the time they lived there, real

Selling your home in Michigan requires an uncomfortable shift in thinking in this new market.

estate values increased year to year, and when it came time to sell, there was a profit.  Additionally the home sold in a relatively short marketing time, and one moved on with a down payment for their next home, wherever that may be.

Today, in Michigan, when real estate values have fallen consistently for over a 5 year period or more to a drop of over 40% in some areas, this changes the playing field dramatically.  Selling a home becomes an entirely different game, and requires a different mindset.  If you need to sell for relocation purposes, then you need to sell, period.  To sell quickly, one may need to confront the harsh reality that there most likely will be no profit in the sale.  Additionally, you might be bringing money to the table.  Scary, but true.

Many homeowners who cannot bring money to the table, and cannot sell, are faced with essentially three undesirable options. 

1) Do not sell, and wait a few more years and see if the market returns where you can sell

Selling a home in Michigan can sometimes mean bringing money to the table, which often homeowners have difficulty doing.

and break even or make a little return on your investment. 

2) Sell your home as a short sale, and hope your lender will accept a shorter payoff of your mortgage so you can settle this debt and move on.  This can damage your credit, but might be an option if you can endure the long timelines associated with approval on this process. 

3) Walk away and let your home go into foreclosure.  This will leave a damaging mark on your credit for over seven years, and place you in a position where you are not likely to qualify for a mortgage again for several years into the future.  Even then, your next mortgage years down the road may have a much higher interest rate due to this mark.

These unfortunately are the cold hard facts of the Michigan marketplace right now.  The price of your home is the driving index as buyers compare your home with others.  Improvements have some value, but spending large sums on improvements will often never return any additional sales value.  Improvements for a home should be regarded as for your enjoyment only while you live there, and not as a potential additional return on the homes value.


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Selling Your Home in Battle Creek, Michigan

Selling your home in Battle Creek, Michigan can be challenging if the home is not marketed or price properly. Working with a Realtor that knows the market area, and has a good understanding of many different approaches to marketing is essential to your success.

Selling Your Home in Battle Creek, Michigan requires traditional and modern methods of online marketing.

As a Realtor in the Battle Creek, Michigan area, I have sold many homes for sellers looking to move on for whatever reason. Some sellers need to downsize, others need to find something larger and still others are just trying to get out of a bad situation. Sometimes people experience life changing events in their lives, such as job loss, death of a spouse or even divorce that greatly impact their ability to remain in the home. Whatever the reason, or the circumstances, it is important to have a sound approach to getting the home sold when putting it on the market.

Selling your home in Battle Creek, Michigan requires more today than just putting a sign in the yard, distributing flyers and running print advertising. The market has changed in the world of buyers in the last 5 to 10 years. Distribution of local newspapers in many areas, Battle Creek included, has been greatly reduced in recent years. The printed home buyer’s guide that used to cover Calhoun County has been merged in an effort to cut costs for the distributor to include both Calhoun and Kalamazoo counties. Its weekly distribution was reduced to every two weeks a few years ago, and most recently changed to once a month. So this is not as popular a source of selling a home as it was just 5 years ago as just one example on this.

So what does it take to go about selling your home in Battle Creek, Michigan?It takes

Marketing with a comprehensive online marketing plan is essential to get more exposure for your home to prospective buyers.

working with a Realtor that will not only do the traditional methods of print advertising, flyers and the sign in the yard. Selling your home in Battle Creek, Michigan requires getting your home out there where buyers are looking and shopping: the Internet. And when I say ‘internet’ I do not mean just putting it out there on the Multiple Listing Service, and having it exported to the dozens of listing conglomerate sites out there. These things should be done, but they are still somewhat of a traditional method.

What I have found works is to get the home written about in blogs that I write, and make these known on social medial lines such as Facebook and Twitter. Further, making a video with a good presentation about the home, and uploading and promoting it on YouTube is also a must. Tying in all of these forms of social media together to draw a higher level of exposure for the home is important. Putting it out there where someone may search for it on Google, or Yahoo is equally important.

My website is a vehicle for buyers and sellers in Real Estate.

Buyers of the modern day are searching 90 to 95% of their time online these days, as opposed to just 10 to 15% a decade ago. Traditional methods are giving way to the internet age, and although they serve their purpose to draw some buyers to the home, they are not the only one a seller should concentrate on.

So when I take the approach to selling your home in Battle Creek, Michigan, I use a formula that goes somewhat like this: 25% the traditional methods, 30% the online listing promotion traditional methods and 45% social media through blogging, Facebook and Twitter. Click here to see my Facebook business page. Click here to see my Twitter page. Click here to see my website at http://www.michaeldelaware.com, where I have a list of my various blogs in the right hand column near the top. You can also take a look at my Youtube channel where I not only promote the properties I am selling, but I also educate buyers on how to buy a home in the area.

As always, if you are interested in selling your home in Battle Creek, Michigan or anywhere in Southwest Michigan, give me a call at: 269-441-8182 or contact me through my website.

 


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Selling Your Home in Battle Creek Michigan

Selling Your Home in Battle Creek Michigan

Selling your home in Battle Creek, Michigan in the present market environment can be a challenge.  However, selling your home in Battle Creek, Michigan is possible.  I can mean that new marketing approaches need to be tried, and most likely they do.  Sometimes it can mean examining new ideas about how you sell the home, or offer some additional buyer incentives to see your home and make an offer.

Traditional methods of print advertising and open houses should not be discounted, however, one cannot overlook the importance of having a strong online campaign to draw attention to your listing.  There is more to online marketing than just placing it on a local mutliple listing service. 

I have taken to making videos of the homes I am marketing for my clients, as the present day home buyer is looking online most of the time in search of a new home.  Having them see some quality videos of the home are key to raising their interest, and getting them in the door for a closer look.  This all ties in with traditional methods, as it provides a road map to directing the people to the home for a showing.

In addition to a video presentation, it is important to have a Realtor that help you utilize the power of social media and blogging to get the home additional exposure.  Tying in video marketing with all the aspects of blogging, and social media is the new effective way to increase exposure for your home above the competition.  Being that most homeowners are not doing this to a full extreme, if you have a Realtor that can pull all of these elements together it can give you the greater edge in the marketplace. 

For more information on selling your home in Battle Creek, watch this video I have put together below.  You can also visit my website at: www.michaeldelaware.com.

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