The Christmas music did get me to thinking about what the Lansing real estate market is usually like for buyers during the holiday season.  Buyer’s usually don’t want to look for homes in November and December because they feel like the market is cursed after Halloween.  They think the inventory of homes is low, that the won’t have enough homes to choose from.  I don’t think a lack of selection is going to be a problem this year.  Here are some current inventory statistics for homes in the average first-time buyer’s price range, between $100,000 and $150,000.

Lansing: 1,579 homes available

East Lansing: 201

Okemos: 221

Haslett: 158

Total for areas covered by the Greater Lansing Association of Realtors: 5260

That is a lot to choose from – Happy House Hunting!

photo by Frankeys Creation

You just need to embrace the fact that selling a home takes some elbow grease and a willingness to be realistic.

The first thing you’re going to have to be realistic about is the exterior appearance of your home.  Don’t pretend that a buyer isn’t going to see the flaking paint, dead grass and cracked driveway.  Be realistic about the problems and fix everything you can.

Secondly, be realistic about the condition of your home’s interior.  If your home features shag carpeting, avocado appliances and floral wallpaper in every room it isn’t going to appeal to most buyers and it definitely isn’t going to sell for as much as the updated house next door that had stainless steel appliances and new hardwood floors.  Stage your home to play up the good, down play the bad and go ahead and update the ugly.

And finally, be realistic about your listing price!  I know you want to sell your house for top dollar – everybody does, and you deserve as much return as possible on your real estate investment.  When your Realtor advises you on a listing price and backs that opinion up with cold hard data you need to believe what the numbers are showing you and list accordingly. 

If you’re realistic you’ll end up with a home that looks good inside and out and is priced to sell.

Unfortunately Prudden Place is a rental community, but if you want to buy a downtown Lansing condo check out The Stadium District.

1. Central Air

2. Oversize Garage

3. Walk-in Closet in Master Bedroom

4. Backyard/Play Area

5. Cable/Satellite TV-Ready

6. High-Speed Internet Access

7. Separate Showers in Main Bath

8. Patio

9. Fencing

How do your desires stack up? 

You’ll find us now at:

3493 Woods Edge, Suite 100
Okemos, MI 48864

That’s just off Jolly Rd. between Okemos High School and Okemos Rd.  Come check out our new digs anytime.

Chances are you qualify for more than you want to spend.  If you’re like me you want to know what the bottom line is - you want to know how much the monthly payment would be on the homes you’re interested in buying.

Here is a mortgage calculator that will help you find the bottom line. 

So, I’m sorry if I go on about them too much, but there are some beauties available right now in the Westside Neighborhood and I wouldn’t feel right if I failed to mention them. 

You don’t see homes like these three on the market very often. 

Now the homes I’m about to show you are on the higher end of the price range.  Most of the homes in the neighborhood are a little smaller and sell in the mid 100s.  These three are some of the beauties of the neighborhood and I’m surprised that they’re all available at the same time.  Even in a slower buyer’s market I don’t expect them to be available for long.

First Up: 1330 N. Genesee  – MLS #159783 – Listed for $229,900

The Second Lovely Contestant: 520 Westmoreland – MLS #162543 – Listed for $259,900

And Finally: 405 S. Jenison – MLS #162877 – Listed for $269,900

You can click on the pictures for more info about each home.

If I were a buyer right now I’d have a hard time choosing between these three.  Ultimately I think I’d go for 520 Westmoreland.  Unfortunately I can’t talk my husband into buying a new house at the moment. 

Printer’s Row was one of the first development’s in downtown Lansing to take advantage of a trend toward New Urbanism, a trend toward housing that is walkable. 

I’m excited to see what downtown Lansing is going to look like in the near future.  New housing options and new businesses (especially entertainment businesses and restaurants) are transforming our downtown.  After 5:00 and on weekends downtown Lansing used to be a ghost town.  Go down there now on a Thursday at 8:00 and you’ll be surprised by what you see. 

If you want to be a part of it and you can’t buy the last condo in Printer’s Row – don’t worry…  There will be other cool developments following in the footsteps of these row-houses. 

The average listing price in Greater Lansing was $148,442 and the average sale price was $142,758. 

The highest sale was a home in Haslett that sold for almost 1 million bucks. 

Compare these numbers to September 2006 when 450 homes were sold with an average listing price of $156,237 and an average sale price of $151,010. 

Looking just at East Lansing sale prices are up even with sales volume down.  In September 06 the average sale price in East Lansing was $199,801, but in September 07 the average sale price was $217,810.  Goes to show you how important location is. 

Infomation is based on residential home sales – does not include condos or commercial properties.

I’m sure you are – so for a little pick-me-up you can spend a few minutes perusing Lansing Area Capital Gains, a new website that focuses on everything going right in Lansing.  In particular I was excited by their Capital City Comeback article.  Check it out!