The 4th Quarter 2010 Greater Lansing Real Estate Market Report was released today by Coldwell Banker Hubbell BriarWood. This report is a 14 page comprehensive report that details many factors in todays real estate market including values, market times, pricing and much more. Here are a few highlights:

Download Complete Report Here

FREE Webinar for REALTORS – Stefan Swanepoel

January 26, 2011 at 2 p.m.

Surviving Your Serengeti – A Safari of Self Discovery

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Starting in 2011 Stefan Swanepoel, motivational and inspirational guest speaker and well-known real estate trends guru, will launch his new keynote talk based on his new business book, “Surviving Your Serengeti: 7 Skills to Master Business and Life” Mike will be interviewing Stefan for the full hour to help you as REALTORS discover your own Serengeti (Personal ordeal, burden, battle, or challenge)

We will be chatting about the latest real estate trends, social media and then take a wide turn in the Serengeti as well and discuss Stefan’s upcoming “non real estate” book.

Filled with the magic of Africa, where Stefan was born, the mystique of wild animals and the epic saga of the 1,000-mile Serengeti migration itself, Surviving Your Serengeti is a thrilling presentation that delivers an inspiring message.

Every day another company cuts jobs or slides into bankruptcy forcing hundreds of thousands of Americans into uncertainty, anxiety and a sense of helplessness. With a failing economy, even the normal tribulations of life have been intensified, so that regular hardships may seem insurmountable.

Stefan will also discussways for you to discover the 7 essential success skills required to survive your own personal Serengeti and thrive regardless of your current circumstances or the state of the economy.

Surviving Your Serengeti: 7 Skills to Master Business & Life due for publication by Wiley & Sons on February 22, 2011 is available for early-order at Amazon.com.

Stefan Swanepoel

No one researches more about change and trends impacting the residential real estate industry than Stefan Swanepoel. He always provides a balanced and objective evaluation of the market, highlighting the key players and facts of tomorrow.

Stefan Swanepoel is a successful businessman, a best-selling author and widely travelled public speaker. He spent the first 35 years of his life in various countries across the globe before immigrating to the USA. Today he is an American citizen and lives in California.

His academic accomplishments include a bachelor’s in science, a master’s in business economics and diplomas in arbitration, mergers & acquisitions, real estate, computer science and marketing. He is the former President of a technology company, an education company, a non-profit association, a movie studio and a 2,000 office international franchise.

Stefan’s professional career has focused on identifying trends and changes in the real estate industry and is widely recognized as the leading visionary in this field. He has penned over 19 books, reports and whitepapers, over 1,000 published articles and given more than 700 presentations to over 300,000 people. His most popular books include the including the 1998 Amazon.com bestseller Real Estate confronts Reality, the annual Swanepoel TRENDS Report (2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 & 2010) and the new Swanepoel SOCIAL MEDIA Report (2010). (READ MORE)

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Trulia, Zillow, and ActiveRain are getting into the money game when it comes to real estate agents.Hey, that’s America, everyone deserves a profit. I do not despise the idea of having add-on’s or  premium services, however, I do resent the idea of a competitor appearing on my listing pages. Let’s look at Tulia to start with.

Trulia has a listing by company XYZwith an agent listed as your Trusted Professional on the same page. The agent who listed the property does have a button to contact, however if I were a consumer looking at this, I would assume the REALTOR on the right is the listing agent.  This kind of makes you wonder what IDX is good for. This seems to be a Premium IDX.  They promote it as owning the territory, buy buying a Zip Code.

Zillow’s Premier Agent program offers the same setup with no takers yet on this zipcode in Lansing, however, I wonder how the agent of this $500,000 plus listing will feel when his/her competitor shows up on the right column

I went to post on ActiveRain the other night, which I have been doing for four years and discovered that if I wanted to have the public see the Blog post, I would have to upgrade to their premium version. This went from FREE to $39.00/month recently.  Thank goodness for WordPress.org and owning my own site and posts.

So, here’s three big players getting smarter about the bottom line, or are they? I wonder how long agents will opt in to syndicating their listings to these sites or continue posting Blogs?

I think it’s boiling down to not putting all your eggs in one basket. Smart agents will get their own domain name, own their own WordPress Blog with IDX search capabilities, and use social media to drive traffic, in addition to other good tools. Then again, I may be wrong, but I know, I am not going to pay the three companies above any money for them to advertise my competitors.  But, what the heck, maybe whoever bought the Zip Code will sell my listing. What do you think?

Greater Lansing Real Estate Buyers and Seller's seem to be getting mixed messages these days about the real estate market from disaster to recovery. An example sprang up yesterday as one of our leading news sources for real estate news, Inman News had two separate articles with headlines titled: Real Estate Market: Worse Than Expected? And the other titled, Another Record Week for Mortgage Rates.

Sometimes headlines are what confuse the buyers and sellers on market conditions because the headline might be all they read. Both of these articles are great and have some valuable information that would be a benefit to read.

My point is, the market may be good for some, bad for others, real estate is local, it's a buyer's market, and a great time to buy a house.Yet, it may not be the best time to sell, unless you're moving up and can take advantage of the pricing on the home you buy, to make up for the price you end up selling your home for.  

The current economic fiasco with recession, job losses, foreclosures, falling home prices, individual debt and almost everything else in between have made this one of the toughest economic times in our nation's history. I can see why many people are still feeling stress and uncertainty.

If you're a potential home buyer and interested in homeownership, check your credit score and keep your credit looking it's best, make sure your job is stable and make sure you have enough savings and income to support homeownership. Owning a home is a long-term investment and cannot be approached as it was in the past.

Seller's on the other hand, should expect a challenge in this market.Pricing your home correctly is crucial; selecting the right agent to market your home is also a top priority. Be prepared to interview 3 REALTORS to compare each agent and their marketing strategies to get your home the most exposure.  Ask them to go into detail on the Internet marketing your home will experience, since 90% of home buyers begin searching homes on the Internet prior to even contacting an agent to buy.

Should you even consider selling now? That depends on your situation. Interviewing an experienced seasoned real estate agent who doesn't have $$$ signs in their eyes, to list your house, will help you determine if the timing is correct for you. A good real estate agent might just tell you to stay put for now, or they may even say, sorry, I cannot help you make this work.

There are all kinds of things to take into consideration when buying or selling a home. What I addressed above are only a few of the important areas to keep in mind. When you think that time is near, feel free to ask my professional opinion. You may not like the results or news I bring you about buying or selling in this market, however you can depend on a frank and honest opinion.  

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OK Greater Lansing Michigan, Common Ground is coming to downtown Lansing along the banks of the Grand River in Adado Riverfront Park. This event features an outstanding line-up of musical acts, focusing on top-level, national, contemporary music performers, plenty of food vendors, and a dynamic display of outdoor interactive activities for kids. 

Common Ground is the premier special event of the summer in the greater Lansing region offering music, food, and activities designed with the goal of entertaining and satisfying people of all ages and backgrounds..

Here's a lineup of performers, dates and pricing. Greater Lansing is a wonderful place to live, work, and play. 

 “Expect the Best” Mike

 Mike Bowler Sr. ePRO, CRB, GRI, SRES

Coldwell Banker Hubbell Briarwood
1020 S. Creyts Road, Lansing, MI 48917
Phone: 517-492-3400 Fax: 888-832-6203
email: Mike@MikeBowler.com 
Website for Clients: MikeBowler.com
Search Listings

Back in May, 2010 I had the opportunity and pleasure of participating in the Grand Rapids Association of REALTORS Real Estate Bar Camp. The concept for RE BarCamp came from a technology BarCamp event held in San Francisco. Wikipedia defines a barcamp as: an international network of user generated conferences — open, participatory workshop-events, whose content is provided by participants.

RE BarCamp is a BarCamp for Real Estate (R.E. BarCamp). What that means- the event is not structured like a typical planned conference. Every session is not planned out in advance. Nobody is paid to deliver a session. Anybody can deliver a session and attendees are strongly encouraged to participate.

While I was there, I met 4 Grand Rapids real estate agents that are in the forefront when it comes to technology, social media and innovation for real estate. It is always exciting to see those who are helping to drive the message forward with this paradigm shift in our industry. There were many other talented individuals who spoke that day also. I would encourage you to follow these REALTORS on Twitter, FaceBook, or LinkedIn. You'll be impressed with the example they are setting for Grand Rapids REALTORS. 

The reviews below were taken from the roster of speakers: 

 STEVE VOLKERS has been with Keller Williams Realty for the past 3 years.  He specializes in downtown condos, but has a vast knowledge in all areas of West Michigan.  Steve credits social media to much of his success, noting that his main communication tools with other realtors, professionals and friends are facebook and twitter.  Steve is also very active in blogging and is always researching for the new trend in real estate.  At least 50% of the closings Steve has done in the past year have been from leads that find him on the internet.  Steve looks forward to seeing the real estate community grow and adapt to these tools, and being one of the people who helps that growth.  Come see him at GRAR REBar to learn more about how you can use social media to grow your business!  

LOLA AUDU is a real estate broker & blogger who uses social media to engage and inform her clients and readers. Her blogs, which started back in 2006, have garnered millions of hits resulting in many business leads and over $100,000 gross commission in closed transactions.  Her courses on Blogging Basics & Blogging Ethics (L1061 & L1062) were the first to be approved for Continuing Education in social media for real estate professionals in the State of Michigan. Through her subsidiary Blogging Seminars, Lola provides seminar training, keynote speeches and individual coaching on Relationship Marketing and Social Media.  

JOHN DOORN has been in the real estate business for over 18 years. Currently an agent with Five Star in Cascade, he started using video about three years ago to enhance his listings and promote his services. “Virtual tours make me nauseous, and I love the show, ‘MTV Cribs’,” says John. “Using video is a great way to showcase a home and get my name and face in front of the general public.” John has been happily married to his wife, Shayne, for 21 years, and together they have three children – Jake (16), Josh (14) and Elli (11). John will be at Rebar to help YOU learn how to use video in your own marketing plan to give your business a fun and creative boost.

JULIE GREVENGOED is a broker/owner at JGR Real Estate and has been in the business for 6 years. She runs her business almost exclusively by referral, using Facebook, Twitter, blogging and LinkedIn to cultivate and deepen her relationship with clients and prospects. With the help of a recently acquired iPad and other tech tools, Julie is currently in the process of making her office “paperless”. Got questions about the iPad and how it works, or about those many iPhone apps? Come and see Julie at Rebar, where she will also be speaking on leveraging time by use of social media and other fun techno gadgets! 

I hope we have the opportunity in the near future to host a Real Estate Bar Camp in the Greater Lansing, Michigan area. When we do, these four agents will be on my list to request their presentations on how they're using technology, Social Media, and innovation to enhance their careers. 

"Expect the Best" Mike 

Home Sellers in Greater Lansing Real Estate Market Can Get Creative.  With another month packed away for 2010 it appears the market is much stronger then it was last year at this same time. The home buyer tax credit expired, however Coldwell Banker Hubbell BriarWood, greater Lansing Michigan, is participating in this 3 month-long national sales promotion. Here's how it works: 

WHICH HOMES CAN PARTICIPATE?
Any property listed with a Coldwell Banker Hubbell BriarWood agent is eligible for inclusion in the Buyer Bonus Incentive.

WHICH HOME BUYERS ARE ELIGIBLE?
Unlike the Homebuyer Tax Credit which had income limitations and property eligibility requirements, all home buyers are eligible to participate in the event.

I've been following the social media ranting about ActiveRain servers being down and thought, wow, I should have backed up my posts for the past 4 years. Fortunately I use more than one Blog and sometimes do duplicates, however, it's not the same each time. Anyway we're back for now and I just did a backup. (About time)

ActiveRain is one of the best places for a real estate agent, company, and ancillary related business to get started. It is also the best place for anyone to learn, by reading other posts, comments and groups. So, regardless of the current server problems, I'm sure the management team and technology staff are working hard to correct this set back and plan to keep providing one of the best technology/media services and will remain one of the most active social media platforms in real estate space.

By the way, I logged right in and had no problems. (knock on wood) I hope this is all over except for the PR campaign that will probably start tomorrow a.m.

"Expect the Best" Mike

The 4th annual duel between the Lansing Lugnuts and Michigan State Spartans was rescheduled for Monday April 26th. Bummer, I can't make it, however, I hope you can. As you can see Mr. Lug and Sparty will be there, along with other surprise guests. So you can Go Green! or Go Nuts! Hope you enjoy.

The event is being held at the newly named Cooley Law School Stadium at 505 E. Michigan Avenue, Lansing, Michigan. Downtown is looking great with lots of new and exciting things happening. 

You can learn more about the Lansing Lugnuts and Cooley Law School Stadium here.

Expect the Best" Mike