Thanks to Bathmasters, a company that does Bathtub Resurfacing in West Michigan, my bathub looks like brand new.  I wrote a post several weeks back, Bathtub Refinishing West Michigan - Will they be able to make my tub look new again?,  about checking into having my bathtub refinished or resurfaced.  Not only did I need it done myself (as you can see my the picture to the right), but I wanted a viable option to be able to recommend to both my clients who have just purchased homes in West Michigan and those that are about to sell.

When my husband and I started thinking about ripping out our old one piece tub and surround, it sounded daunting.  Although we were fully capable of doing the work ourselves, it was still going to cost money and time.  I started calling around Grand Rapids for bathtub refinishing, a process by which they reglaze the bathtub.  As I explored the possibilities, I found that not only can your refinish a fiberglass bathtub but also ceramic tile, porcelain and counter tops. 

I got quotes from two different companies.  Bathmasters definitely beat everyone in price and they have been around a long time.  My bathtub and surround ran $450 which is well below the cost to rip the whole shower out and put a new one in.  Bathmasters called me back within the same day and had it scheduled for the next business day. 

They arrived exactly when they said they would at 8:30 am this past Monday.  He immediately started preparing the entire bathroom for the process by making sure everything was covered so as not to get over spray dust on anything.  All my cupboards, counters, toilet and towel bars were all covered.  Even the floor was completely protected.  The process with the tub was started by a very thorough cleaning.  I was concerned because there was some adhesive and also two small chips in the bottom of the tub.  But the chips were repaired and the adhesive taken off.

He began spraying the tub at around 10 am with the primer.  I was already excited with just the primer on!!  He then put the non-slip material in the bottom which I am really glad I got.  It was all said and done by around noon and it looked absolutely gorgeous!

This is definitely a much more inexpensive way to go and there is a 5 year warranty!!  If you refinish your bathtub, I would advise you do it before any painting of the bathroom.  If I were to do it again, I would definitely wait until we were going to be out of the house for several days.  We only have one bathroom and we were not to go in the room for at least 24 hours.  Additionally, the fumes are noxious--but well worth it because it looks great!  I am so excited to clean my new bathtub.  Instead of five hours to clean, it will only be 5 minutes.

Now I have to tell my husband we need to paint, get new light fixtures, get new cupboards.  Somehow I don't think my husband will be too happy to have more "honey do's" added to his list.  Thank goodness he is used it.  We do a lot of work ourselves.  You can also read Oak Cabinets with a New Face - Glazed Cabinets are Beautifulabout reglazing our cabinets!

So, If you are looking for someone in West Michigan to refinish your bathtub, I can not recommend Bathmasters high enough!  You can call them today at 800-585-1000.  Tell them Tami sent you!

West Michigan Short Sales-If I knew then what I know now about Michigan Short Sale Experts I would have been able to help some really incredible people stop their home from foreclosing.  I would have been able to put them in the position to purchase a home in 12-18 short months iinstead of years!

I was once told I would never make it in the Grand Rapids Real Estate business because I cared to much.  How can anyone care too much about people?

Many years ago I was referred by a lender to a couple who needed to sell their Rockford home because they could not make their payments.  He said he gave them my number because money was not the driving force in my life.  That was quite a compliment.

The meeting with the couple was heart breaking, to say the very least.  They had six children ranging in age from about 4 to 21.  They all lived in the Rockford house which was immaculately cared for.  The distress in their eyes was evident as they told the story of how they came to own the home.  Too many people in cahoots including a lender that dropped the bomb on them at close that there were two loans.  They wanted to back out but were told there would be lawsuits.

With all my heart, I wished I had been there when this couple purchased the house but it was too late for that and they were in serious trouble.  The financial information they gave me was devastating.  There was absolutely no way they were going to be able to sell this house and pay the real estate fees.  They were drowning in debt and this house was the cement block around their neck.  At that time, I didn't even know what a West Michigan Short Sale Specialist was!

Life has taught me that if you pay if forward, you will be given back.  I listed the house taking no commission for myself. 
Even with no commission for myself, the home did not sell.  Even though this home was only a few years old and on over an acre, there were other homes just as nice selling for less.  So many people had lied to this couple and I didn't want to give them false hope, so I told them honestly that there was no reason for me to keep the home listed.  My heart broke for them.  The house foreclosed!

With all that I am, I wish I had known then what I know now about Michigan Short Sales.  If I knew then what I know now, they would probably already be purchaing a home.  Now I count myself among the Michigan Short Sale Realtor Experts that our times have demanded.    There are quite a number of West Michigan short sale homes, but there are a very limited number of agents who really are West Michigan Short Sale Experts.  Not only is it important to have an agent experienced in selling a Greater Grand Rapids Short Sale, but it is also important for buyers to have a West Michigan Short Sale Expert representing them in the sale.

For sellers, it can be extremely difficult to weed through and find an agent who is truly experienced in selling Ottawa County Short Sales and Kent County Short Sales.  What questions should a seller ask to find a West Michigan Short Sale Expert?   See my next blog, West Michigan Realtors Experienced in Short Sales - 6 Tips on How to Hire a Short Sale Agent  to find out what steps you need to take to make the best choice.

Let me know if you would like a West Michigan Short Sale Consultation.  Everything is kept confidential and there will be no pressure--I think  you probably have enough pressure in your life at this moment.  When you fill out the information on to submit a West Michigan Short Sale, I will contact you.  We will go over your situation and I can let you know if I can help.  Please feel free to call if you just want to talk.

Copyright Tami Vroma West Michigan Short Sale -If I knew then what I know now about Michigan Short Sale Experts

Bathtub Refinishing West Michigan - Will they be able to make my tub look new?

I got a quote from a company yesterday to have a bathtub restoration done in my West Michigan home.  We just can't keep it clean anymore and we really don't want to rip it out-it would be so much easier to do a bathtub restoration. 

The pictures attached make it look like I am a pig and I really am not.  The process we have been following to get this tub to look even remotely clean, is absolutely ridiculous.  It is literally an all day event and it involves A LOT of Kaboom.  I go through a whole bottle and just keep spraying it, letting it sit, scrubbing and spraying it again.  It takes about 8 times of repeating this to get it to look even a little clean. Then we use it twice and it looks absolutely awful again.

I even tried getting it all clean and went out and bought this stuff that was suppose to seal the fiberglass.  What a waste of money!  The sealer did absolutely nothing but make it slippery for three days and then it was just as nasty looking again.

So about a month ago, I was watching a show called "Take five", a local talk show, that had a company  on talking about how they could restore a fiberglass tub and ceramic tile.  They showed pictures of this awful pink tiled bathroom and then they showed pictures of it restored.  I'm pretty sure as a Realtor I have been in that pink tiled bathroom five thousand times.  My clients could really benefit from this and I am more than willing to throw myself out there to be the guinea pig. 

Yesterday Scott came out and looked at it.  First off, he was a very nice guy.  Easy to talk to--just a genuinely good guy.  He talked about the steps they take to clean the tub--they even remove all the old caulk around the tub enclosure.  He talked about how they don't use acid etching because it is bad for the environment.  They spray the tub several times with a special bonding agent.  To top it off, there is a 5 year warranty. 

The cost to do it was $500.  At first it sounded really expensive.  Then I started adding up the cost to rip it out and replace it.  Now true, my husband and I are fully capable of doing all the work ourselves but it would still cost us about $1000 and a lot of time that we don't have.  So, I am jumping in with both feet to be the guinea pig.  We will let you know how this West Michigan Bathtub Refinishing goes.  I am going to be excited just to spend under 15 minutes cleaning a tub!  So hopefully this bath tub refinishing will be well worth it!!!  Stay tuned with a follow up on how it went.

Read my follow up post West Michigan Bathtub Resurfacing-

Copyright Tami Vroma Bathtub Refinishing West Michigan-Will they be able to make my tub look new again? 09/26/09 3:13 pm

My Daughter, Lindsey Vroma, named Top Student Web Designer in the Nation!


To say I am a proud Mama would be a serious understatement. How many parents can say their daughter took the title as Top Student Web Designer in the Nation according to Business Professionals of America? When my daughter Lindsey (far right) and her partner won at Regionals, I thought it was really wonderful. When they took 2nd at the state level and qualified to go to Nationals, I wondered if they could really pull it off.

When she boarded the plane to Dallas June 18, 2009, I was seriously bummed that I could not go with her!! I knew she had worked really hard on all the graphics. She is a wiz with Adobe Photo Shop and she taught herself!! Lindsey would spend hours and hours creating the most incredible graphics. She was constantly changing her computer desk top to show off her latest creation. She would sit for hours looking at code trying to figure out what was wrong--changing and tweaking as she went. When she decideded they needed to do a omplete make over before Nationals, I have to admit I was a little worried. They pulled off in days what it usually takes moths to do. My daughter was at it constantly. She wanted to win in the biggest way. Her partner, Alex, wasn't quite as in to it as my daughter was. In fact, at one point Alex decided she didn't want to go. It was hard for Lindsey who was after a career in web design. Alex wasn't pursuing a career in web design but opted to go to school for nursing. After urging from her instructor, she decided to go.

Each time they competed, they had to give a presentation and then take 5 mintues of judges questions. Their design, "Top 10 Things to do in Dallas" was judged on knowledge of web design, layout, graphics, team work, leadership and flexibility of browsers. Lindsey called and said they did really well on the presentation but she was still nervous. They were to get the results at the awards ceremony the next day. Saturday I was pacing waiting for Lindsey's call . . . phone in hand . . .waiting . . . . waiting. Finally at around 10:05 pm the phone rang, "Mom" she said in a sad voice, "your not going to believe what happened . . .", my heart dropped and I was ready with, 'just getting there alone means you are a winner' speech when she screams, "WE WON . . .WE WON". I was giddy, "You mean, as in first place?" "Yes we won first!!"

Lindsey is now attending Baker College for web design. She won a full ride scholarship to Davenport College but they wouldn't give it to her because they said it was past the application period. The finals were suppose to be held in May, but because of the Swine Flu epidemic, it had been postponed. One would think she would have won other scholarship money but they got absolutely nothing. That part makes me so sad. All these athletes get all these free ride scholarships and kids who are competing in what they would actually be attending the school for get nothing!!

But the important part is, she won!! She is showing the world what she is made of!!!! She recently went to the State Horse show and placed twice. She is an incredible singer and she can draw like I can not even believe. She also recently did the header desgn on my web site, Grand-Rapids-Homes-for-Sale.com

I am so proud to call her "Daughter"!

                                                Safety Steps for Women Realtors - Don't Make Yourself a Target!

I have not been in the Rain for a while.  After being gone for a while I have to tell you,  what I really want to do is write about how my daughter just took the honors of top student web designer in the nation.  But I felt this was more important.  Oddly enough, there have been many times I started writing this but it just seemed there was always something else more important.  Then it became to close for comfort . . .  .

Whether we want to admit it or not, women are sometimes at a serious disadvantage.  It has nothing to do with knowledge about the intricacies of real estate.  It has nothing to do with the fact that we have to take time off to have babies.  Women, I believe, are pretty much equals with men in real estate with one huge exception.  It was the way God created us, but we are smaller and for the most part will never have the power that a man has.  Unfortunately, there are men out there in the world who will exploit that weakness to their advantage.  I let my guard down last week but ,by the Grace of God, a mistake kept me safe when I believe it could have been horrible.  This is my story.

I have been really busy and I took a call and made an appointment to show one of my listings and continued on with what I was doing without missing a beat.  But I should have slowed down to think about what I was doing.  I AM smarter than this and I have always been really careful, but it didn't even sink in that it was a man by himself.  It didn't even dawn on me to be worried about--it is Hudsonville/Jenison for crying out loud.  Paul Harvey has even reported our area to have the highest number of churches per capita than any other area in the nation.  I am still usually much safer but I was on warp speed mode.

The next day rolled around and I was suppose to meet him at noon.  As I went to walk out the door, I told my son if he wanted a ride to work then he better hurry up and come with me and I would drop him on the way.  We were halfway to his work when I realized I had done it again, thought he had to be at work at noon when he is actually suppose to be there at 1 pm--he missed it to.  So I told him to come with me on my appointment which wasn't that far away.  Now normally he would be driving as he needs drive time, but this time he was sitting in the passenger seat.

We got there at about 5 minutes before noon and pulled into the parking spot in front of the house which was parellel to the road but kind of at an angel. . .  .and we waited . . .and waited . . and waited.  At around 12:15 a guy went by the house slowly and was really rubber necking it--leaning across the seat and looking really hard at the house--or so I thought!  Truthfully, I just thought wow he is really interested in this house.  The house sits about 200 feet off the road so with the angel and everything, he didn't see me watching him.  He could only see my son.  I didn't really think that much about it.  We waited until 12:30 and left--I haven't had a no show in years.  Still oblivious to what had just happened.

When I got back to my desk I called the seller to apologize that she and her family had to leave for no reason.  She asked me when I had taken the call to show the property and I said, "I don't know, sometime yesterday am".  She said there was a vehicle that was stopped in the front of the house talking on the phone at right around 10.  I said, "oh, what color was the truck".  There was  a long pause and she said, "Tami I didn't tell you it was a truck".  Serious chills ran down my spine.  "Oh dear Lord ," I said, "please don't tell me it was a red truck".  She confirmed that it was.  I felt sick to my stomach.  "Did it have a red matching topper?"  Long silence . . . ."yeah it did". 

I hung up the phone and with dread, pulled up the phone number he had given me and called it and listened to the computer voice tell me how this phone was no longer in service.  Dear God in Heaven . . .he had driven by and seen a man with me and had kept going . . . .he had planned on me being alone.  I knew it and my seller knew it.  I called the police and told them what happened and they asked me if I had taken the plate number.  I hadn't because it hadn't dawned on me what was going on until long after I had left.

I let my guard down and I shouldn't have.  Let's face it, most Realtors can't afford to give up a client and that includes women.  But, I have had a plan that I have adhered to for years. . . and I slipped.  I would not have been prepared if I had been in a bad position.  My first plan is to have someone come with me.  When I can't find someone, I have a plan in place that is pretty thorough and I would like to share it with you.

#1.  Find out what you can about him before you meet him.  Where does he work, where is he staying.  Call and verify that what he tells you is true.  Believe me, when you call businesses and explain you are a women and wanted to verify who this man is, they commend you for not being  . . .well . . . .stupid.  Even better, ask who he is pre-qualified with and get their phone and information and call and verify that he is working with them.  I know many of you will say they should be pre-qualified before you even meet them.  On this I disagree,  but I don't want to debate that right now with this post.  I have called several companies when people say they just moved here for a new job--not once have I had anyone refuse to let me know that he did work there or he did have an appointment.

#2.  Before the appointment, call him and ask him for his drivers license number, plate number and the make, model and year of his car.  I have only had it one time that they refused and I had a creepy feeling anyway about him.  Most men are impressed that I am on my toes and thinking.  Tell him you will verify it when you meet.

#3.  Plan ahead and have someone who is keeping track of where you are and what homes you are showing and the addresses of all of them.

#4.  Do not ever meet your male clients in a secluded place.  If you don't know that exact area, pull it up on Google maps and look at the aerial picture.  It will tell you a lot about if the home is secluded or in a subdivision.  If it is in a secluded area, meet them in a busy parking lot first.

#5.  Carry pepper spray.  Keep it in a pocket but don't put it on key chain so they see it--it takes away the surprise advantage.  You can buy it anywhere on line.

#6.  Keep your keys in your hand.  Hold one key through your fingers so if you punched, it would stab.  You should also make sure you have a panic button for your car that will make the alarm go off by pushing a button.

#7.  Have a secret text you can use with your point person to let them know if you are in trouble and a different text if you are ok.  My text that someone sends me 15 minutes after I am suppose to meet him is, "what did you do with the key".  If I text back, "I left it under the flower pot" they know I am ok.  If I don't text back within five minutes, they call the police.  If I know I am in trouble, I text back, "it is under the garbage can".  From there I have to text every 15 minutes.  The next text that my point person sends is, "the key isn't there".  If I am ok then I text back, "check both flower pots".  You get the idea.

#8.  When you arrive at the appointment.  Verify his info, then take his picture and a picture of the vehicle and text it to your point person.  They should be waiting for this.  If they don't get your  info, they immediately send the secret text.  If you don't respond or respond the wrong way, they immediately call the police.

Is this fool proof?  I am sure it isn't-- nothing really is.  But, this sure puts us in a better position!

Pass this around, print it, reblog it, copy it in any way you want.  You never know what women you might save!

THIS IS AN ADDITION AS I THOUGHT IT WAS GOOD INFORMATION

Dawn Maloney had some good advice:

Check out their name on www.pipl.com, google.com or 123people.com - she actually kept herself from showing a serial rapist a home by doing this.  Thank you Dawn!!

Brian Block said:

I'd highly suggest to you, and all women (and men) to read the book "The Gift of Fear" by Gavin de Becker. I can't recommend it enough. This book will change your perspective on the world and make you more aware of your surroundings and how you can prevent dangerous situations.

It feels good to be missed . . . . . . .

I have gotten several emails inquiring . . . "Tami where have you been?" I still find it unbelievable that people you have never really met in person actually notice your missing on line presence. Well the answer to why I haven't been on Active Rain is pretty simple. Life totally went crazy--everything that could happen, happened; everything that could break broke.

First my, daughter graduated from high school.  That, in and of itself sounds, so simple.  Let me tell you that it isn't!!  It takes a ton of time to put together initiations, especially when you don't have your family addresses and such together. Then you add in the whole graduation party thing--planning, preparing, cleaning up the yard, buying food, making food, etc, etc--you don't realize how much time it takes!  We went with an e-invitation and it was huge hit. Everyone said it was 10 times better than getting the card in the mail! 

Check out the e-card we sent out.  The first page pictures load really slow-if you let it sit they will come up.  If you mouse over the pics, you can make them bigger.  At the end is video, wait until the music is done playing to click it.  That's my girl singing!

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Second, my new assistant quite.  That was a killer.  She didn't like how real estate is really slow and then bam . . you work like crazy for days.  She had actually wanted to be a Realtor . . .not so much anymore.  I decided to go back to just paying for a listing to go up but then I had to go through trying to find a virtual assistant.  I avoided that for a long time.  Because I had so many other things going on.  We solved that, my 18 year old daughter is working for me.  I don't know if it is going to work out but she needs a job and she definitely knows her way around the computer (see number 5 below).  I figured if it doesn't work out, I seriously don't want to take the time to train someone again so I took the time to do video training tutorials--at least if it doesn't work out I don't have to take the time to train again.

Third, one side of our duplex opened up.  Man I hate it when that happens!!  We needed to put in a new floor in the kitchen because the worst renter I had ever had put in linoleum squares (without asking) and caulked around the outside.  All the squares were pealing up and he caulked, yes I said caulk and it was white to boot and against wood, around the outside and it looked like crap.  Then there is all the painting and ads to get up to get it rented,  dealing with the tenant that moved that didn't feel she she should have to pay for the holes bunched in the door or the cleaning that didn't get done.  That was a real time sucker!!

Fourth, my little laptop died, my phone died and my printer/scanner/fax died.  Serious time suckers because I really hate learning curves.  I had to get used to Vista--by the way, I still hate Vista.  The phone thing was a serious time sucker because it really dominoed a chain of events.  I had to change from a Palm platform for a calendar to Outlook so I had to learn Outlook calendar.  Nothing transferred right and I had to renter all my appointments.  And of course when I got the new laptop, I knew I had to finally update to Office 2007.  So I now have the Blackberry pretty much down pat and have to admit that I have finally joined the ranks of Crackberry fans all over the world.  I absolutely love that I can answer emails in a traffic jam instead of just sitting there.  I realized that Outlook is really powerful with tasks and managing my contacts.  I am still learning that and still haven't put 2007 on my desk top computer.  2007 is really different so I am working on the new laptop to try and learn that before I put it on my desktop and have to know it.

Fifth, I took a SEO Above and Beyond with Katarina Gassett!  I loved it!!  Loved it loved it!! So much so that I built a whole new web site!!   I also manage the forums for her with each class--wich I also love!  I am so looking forward to her next class that starts September 2.  I loved her class when I took it the first time.  When I helped her with the second class, I loved it again and it was the same exact class--I still learned more.  I am looking forward to helping her with the third round of students and managing the forums because I learn something every single time!!  I am telling you all . . . . . if you haven't taken it . . . . do it!!!  Her boot camp is also coming up and I am totally geeked about that also!!  If you are interested shoot me an email or give me a call.  Katerina has her hands a little full right now but I would love to tell you why I loved it so much!

Sixth, and this is a big one.  My daughter took FIRST in Web Design in Dallas, Texas three weeks ago.  My daughter, if you can believe, is the top student web designer in the nation!!  This one requires it's own post!!

I have not been on my horse once since the beginning of June which is sad because here in Michigan, we don't ride much in the winter-- it is just to darn cold.  I have missed several camping trips because I had to stay home and work.  But I count myself as lucky because at least I am working!!  A lot of agents aren't.

The good thing is that the learning curve is almost over and not so severe and frustrating, the daughter is graduated, the college is picked out, the duplex is rented, the Blackberry is learned, the scanner is scanning, the new lap top is set up and life is coming under control.  It is still busy but that is ok with me!!  Winter will come soon enough and it will slow down.  But I am excited for any extra time so that I can put into action all the things I am learning with Katerina!!

Every once in a while I like to do a post on who I am besides Tami Vroma, Grand Rapids Real Estate Specialist.

Today I was driving back from doing a walk through on house that is due to close next week (thank you God!).  A song came on the radio that put a lump in my throat and I felt the tears start to well up.  It wasn't the usual song that would bring a women to tears but it reminded me that I have been through worse than this real estate market.  Only God knows what the next year will bring but nothing will compare to that period in my life 5 years ago when I begged my husband to put me in our local mental institution.

My son was completely out of control.  I did not understand what was going on because the same rules were in place for him as they were for my daughter.  My son would rage.  He was destructive.  He was ten years old and our family was going under. 

At the same time my husband was not working regularly, I was starting a new real estate career, our tenant had done $6000 damage to one side of our duplex and the other side was not rented.  To say I was a little stressed would be an understatement.

I was feeling extreme despair.  Though my son was out of control most of the time, he had a golden retriever that was always by his side, no matter how cruel my son was to him.  He would get put in the corner and the dog would go and lay by him.  Honestly, it seemed the dog was the only one that could stand him when he was raging.  The dog was extremely emotional also- when we left we would have to tie him up in the basement or he would potty on the floor.

My breaking point came on a super-bowl Sunday.  We had went after church to work on putting the duplex back together and then we were going to head to a super bowl party.  This day would be the worst day of my life--everything went into slow motion as my son came up the stairs saying Tanner was dead.  He had run himself in a million circles and had hung himself and my ten year old son had found his dog.

I remember sliding to the floor begging my husband to put me in Pine Rest.  I couldn't take anymore- I was at my breaking point.  My husband picked me up off the floor with tears streaming down his face.  "You can not go to Pine Rest and leave me with him because I don't know what I would do to him."  Him being our son-our life was so far out of control.

Shortly after the dog died, my son got in trouble at school yet again.  He was raging and I had to get him up a flight of stairs to his room.  On the way up he was kicking me, biting me, pulling my hair, scratching me and punching me.  We fell several times as foul words, that we don't use in our home, streamed from his mouth.  Our regular routine was to get him up to his room and sit on him where we would wait until the rage would come to an end. 

This time was different. I had small children here and did not want them hearing the F-bomb so I put my hand over his mouth.  He bit me and would not let go.  I had to slap his face in order to get him to let go.  This was our life.  It sucked.

The next day he went to school and told them I beat him because he had a bruise on his face.  I was horrified that I had done that until I realized that the bruise was on the wrong side of his face for me to have done it but the machine was set in motion and I was investigated by protective services.  It was a scary experience but protective services knew that something was off.  As I stood there terrified they were going to take my daughter away, the case worker hugged me and offered to help.

I learned that day that God has a plan for everything.  Had my son not turned me in to protective services, we never would have been offered help by protective services and we never would have found out he was bi-polar.  So we started our journey of finding the right meds.  Once we found the right meds, life got much better.  Still more than most can handle but way, way better than the past few years had been.

But life was about to offer us another punch in the gut.  We noticed a large hump on my sons back so we took him to the doctor.  You can always tell when something is serious by the look on your doctors face and by the fact that he won't tell you anything and you get into a specialist within days.

We took him to the specialist and I was in shock as they described how my son's spine was curved to the point that it could compromise his life.  I was stunned as they described how he would need to have a titanium rod put in his back and how they would fuse his spine.  As if this kid didn't have enough going on we were put on yet another roller coaster.  To make matters worse, everything he loved would be gone.  No more motor cycle, no more snow boarding, no more skate boarding.  The spine will have no flex.  Great one more thing to make a very angry kid even more angry.

So we went down that road and my son had the surgery.  At one point we almost lost him because the morphine had suppressed his system.  I am pretty sure that night took 10 years off my life span.  It was at that time the song by Rodney Atkins came out.  I would just sing it and keep moving in the hospital and on the days after where my son had to use a walker to walk.   It was my montra.  I would sing it with tears running down my face . . .but I kept moving. . . .and tried not to show I was scared and kept hiding from the devil by repeating Romans 5:3-5 over and over again.  I was building some major character here!

We made it through those times and today my son is one of the lights of my life.  He was the number 1 JV runner on his cross country team last year and he is an incredible kid to be around.  He is still a teenager but where I used to wish for just 5% of happy times with him, now I have 100% times of happiness.  Even when he is angry he is joy because I am so darn proud of how well he handles his anger now.  He is a different kid with an incredible smile and we have a new life.

One more thing--I have the most incredible friends one could ever have.  It was my freinds who came and helped my husband bury the dog and it was my friends that kept my husband and I going.  Friends are the most incredible thing in the world and I have THE MOST incredilble!

So while I don't know what the next year may bring and things are really tight here . . . .it isn't anything compared to where we have been!! 

Enjoy the video and sing it to yourself when you aren't sure if you can put one foot in front of the other--God is there.

If you had to give one piece of Advice for Hiring a Grand Rapids Realtor, what would it be?

Isn't it interesting how people love to ask questions in elevators?  Being one of those people who can talk to anyone  and being a Realtor in the the Grand Rapids Real Estate Market, the question I hear the most is, "If you had to give one piece of advice for a seller interviewing agents to sell their Grand Rapids Home, what would it be?"

That's easy . . . .HIRE ME!!  Ok all kidding aside, it is a question that is very easy to answer and one I have been answering the same for several years!

If I had to give just one piece of advice on hiring an agent to sell a home in this difficult West Michigan housing market it would be to Google the agents name. 

While there are a lot of important considerations to make, this one will certainly tell you what decade the agent is operating in.  The days of  the Realtor being the keeper of all the information pertaining to a house are gone!  It used to be, the only way to find out the listing price on a house, was to call a Realtor and ask.  The internet has changed that idea tremendously.  No longer are Realtors the keepers of the information.  They are distributors of the information. 

Will your realtor know how to distribute that information out on the world wide web to market  your home to its fullest potential?

So what does Googling their name have to do with anything?  What it will show you is what type of on-line presence they have.  An agent who has very few hits on their name is not one that has a huge presence.  The probability of being able to Google one of their listing addresses and have information come up is slim to none.  One site is not enough because different buyers search in different areas. 

When you Google a name, put it in quotes.  Jennifer Kassick could return, Hal Kassick, but if you Google "Jennifer Kassick", the search will make sure the first and last name are kept together.  Once you have your list of hits, look to see if it has to do with real estate.  So what is a good number of hits?  When my name is Googled, "Tami Vroma", there are 3,890 hits.  This is something I have worked on for over 5 years.  The agents with hits in the 1000's take internet marketing very seriously.

There are a lot of Grand Rapids homes for sale, so this is not the only parameter you should use to guide yourself when hiring an agent but it will certainly give you a good place to start.  For more guidance on hiring your Grand Rapids Realtor, check out my series, How to Hire a Grand Rapids Realtor. 

Photo Attribute: Elevator; Google

West Michigan Short Sales - FAQ's to buying and selling in the West Michigan Real Estate Market

The West Michigan real estate market is loaded with listings that are termed, "short sales".  You hear it all the time.  "They are selling their house on a short sale".  So what exactly does it mean?  Is selling it short as opposed to selling it long . . .well no not really.  What does a seller need to know about selling a short sale in the Greater Grand Rapids Real Estate Market?  Are there things a buyer should know about purchasing a short sale in West Michigan?  This is part I on a series of information both buyers and sellers should know when considering purchasing a home that is a short-sale and selling a home as West Michigan Short Sale.

Most would agree there is no good way to lose a home.  If there were one best way to lose a home, a short sale would probably be the least damaging to the credit score.  It has been said that when you sell a house at short-sale, you could potentially get on your feet and purchase a new home in 12-18 months.  If your home forecloses, you have 7 years of bad credit.  It has also been explained like a car accident.  In some accidents the car is fixable, you may have to wait a while to get it back from the body shop, but it is fixable.  In some car accidents the car is totaled, there is nothing you can do to fix the car.  A short sale is much like a fixable accident. 

So what exactly is a short sale?  A short sale is when a home owner is asking the bank to take less than the actual amount owed on the home loan, so that the home may be sold instead of foreclosed.  For example, Mr. Smith bought his home in 2006 for $200,000 and financed it 100%.  He still owes $198,000 on the home.  He has lost his job and has been struggling to make the payments and finds he can no longer make the payments.  He has had the home listed at $200,000 for a month but there has not been one call.  His Realtor tells him the home is only worth $140,000 in this market.  If he drops the price down to $140,000 and he gets an offer for $140,000, his realtor will be negotiating a short sale with the bank.

There is another home for sale in West Michigan that I want--can I just sell my home short so that I can purchase that one?  It is not that simple.  You can not just request a short-sale because you want to purchase another home.  Short-sales are for people who are no longer able to make the payments on their home and who do not have the funds to make up the difference.  It is not for the person who just wants a different home.  There are certain criteria that must be met.  In addition, for a short sale to even be considered, you generally already have to be behind on your mortgage payments.  In that case, your credit would already be damaged and the likelyhood of finding a lender to loan you the money for the new house is slim to none.

Will the home owner be responsible for bringing the deficeit amount to close?  If the owner does not have the money, the answer is usually no.  One of the biggest jobs of a Realtor in the West Michigan Real Estate market is to negotiate with the bank for the short-sale.  The bank is usually more apt to accept a short-sale because the cost of selling the house short is much less than the home foreclosing.  A good realtor with a negotiating team can usually get the bank to accept only the amount offered on the home. Many times this leaves the seller in a position to purchase a smaller home in which they can afford the payment in just a few short months.l

Why would I want to negotiate with the bank to owe anything . . .if it forecloses I don't have to pay anything?  The number one reason you do not want a house to foreclose is that it will destroy your credit for up to 7 years or more.  In addition, the bank has every right to come after you for the entire amount.  In the case of a short sale, the bank has negotiated that, in exchange for a small sum of money, they will consider the debt cleared.  It will all depend on the terms of your negotiations.

Are all banks the same and do they all have the same rules?  Absolutely not!  Each institution has its own set of rules and criteria for accepting a short sale.  What works for one bank may not work for another bank.  It is important to understand that not all  short-sales will be approved.  It is a long and tedious process that sometimes ends in disappointment.  It may take anywhere from 6 weeks to 6 months to get an approval on a West Michigan Short sale.

What is the process for working toward selling my West Michigan home in a short sale?  Check out the next installment in this series as we examine how to sell your West Michigan home as a short sale.

Photo Attributes: Picture 1; Picture 2