lake and lodge realty llc: Expiration date...on the seller?
- 10/17/10 02:54 AM
When offering on a home our purchase agreements have all sorts of things covered including expiration of offers and such. We offered, they countered, we accepted counter and proceeded towards close. One thing I didn't see coming was the expiration of the seller. Two days before our closing the seller passed away. Didn't see that coming. I was a little ashamed that my first thought was my buyer's inconvenience. I think we tend to be so focused on what fires to put out to get to a closing we lose sight of the players. RIP seller, although I never met you, … (2 comments)
lake and lodge realty llc: Who is representing the HUD homes in Michigan?
- 10/17/10 02:19 AM
Selling homes is not easy...selling HUD owned homes is even more of a challenge, but lately almost impossible. The last several HUD homes I have sold I had to go through MCB. When I called MCB (Michaelson, Connor and Boul) to ask about a HUD owned property I was told they no longer represent HUD in Michigan. They also didn't know who did. HUD's website still directs people to the MCB site for sales of HUD homes so who knows where we are headed. I have always looked at available HUD homes when searching as there are often great deals there. … (5 comments)
lake and lodge realty llc: I see something...Under the sink
- 10/12/10 12:42 AM
When I was doing my morning ritual of reading the ActiveRain posts I came across a post by Karen Crowson entitled Under the Sink- Blog About Anything Challenge . It sounded like fun so I decided to see what lurked beneath my sink as it is an area rarely looked at. If you show homes in a rural setting one thing that is often forgotten during a showing is the quality of the well water. I bought my house long before becoming a Realtor® and one thing that never hit me was to check the water for both taste and chemicals. In … (3 comments)
lake and lodge realty llc: Beautiful Log Home to be Auctioned in Sears, MI
- 10/09/10 10:17 AM
Up for auction on October 30, 2010 at 11:00am in Sears, MI is this new home using large logs on 40 acres all fenced for horses within walking distance to All Sports Big Lake. How's 6 bedrooms, 3 1/2 baths sound? Main log home along with basement have combined sq. footage is over 5.000 sq. ft. Basement is finished off and has separate kitchen, living/dining areas along with 2 bedrooms and a bath so you can live downstairs while the top is being finished. Weather tight shell is complete with insulated windows and amazing woodwork throughout. Sold unfinished or seller will finish … (2 comments)
lake and lodge realty llc: Dear Seller, Clean your house. Thanks
- 10/08/10 05:01 AM
One of the most talked about and ignored posts has to be about the condition of a home for sale. I have actually had to drop listings that just refuse to clean their act up. Maybe when the inventory was low you could get away with it but now more than ever you really need to clean up your act. Having to step on clothes laying on the floor is not the selling tool you may think...it even offends some people. The question is (at the risk offending many sellers) Does your agent really have to tell you to clean your … (8 comments)
lake and lodge realty llc: Safe Bow Season Opener
- 09/30/10 11:54 PM
Wishing all of my ActiveRain family a safe opening day for bow season here in Michigan. For those who hunt be extra careful climbing in and out of old tree stands and for those who don't be extra careful on the roadways. With all the hunters hitting the woods the deer will be out in full force crossing roads and not always letting us know they are about to cross.
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lake and lodge realty llc: ActiveRain info overload?
- 09/30/10 11:27 PM
We have all seen the commercials where people suffer from Search Engine Overload (I think Bing has them). Where we are subjected to too much information for our brains to handle. I just read a great post by Michael Thornton where 20days this past month there were over 2,000 posts in a single day. That means if it takes you longer than 90 seconds to read a post you simply can't read them all. The amount of info passed on this month alone would surely overload my brain's storage area. What is even better is it is all fresh content. Amazing. Keep … (1 comments)
lake and lodge realty llc: City's New Rental Inspection Policy
- 09/05/10 01:24 AM
Normally when our City leaders come up with new policies I am on board in full agreement. However, their new policy of having the County doing rental inspections is NOT one of my favorite policies they have added. A couple days ago a client whom I had sold a house to last year called me. They had a son attending our local University here in town so they purchased the home in April of 2009 and one of the items we found when doing inspections was an outdated water heater. The seller hired a local plumbing company to change it out and everyone was happy. Our City … (2 comments)
lake and lodge realty llc: The Train Wreck Continues
- 08/31/10 11:14 AM
Seems like every deal these days is a chore. Most lenders don't really want to lend and underwriters don't really want to underwrite but sometimes it isn't the financial side at all. Working on a deal for about the past couple months and it has been a daily challenge trying to keep it alive. It has been a train wreck on life support for the last three weeks due to zoning issues and "change of use" issues but finally I was able to appease the City of Big Rapids and the Mecosta County folks and was ready to close.....but wait....here it … (6 comments)
lake and lodge realty llc: Buying Local in Big Rapids, MI
- 08/28/10 12:52 AM
Being a Chamber member we are often reminded to buy local here in Big Rapids. We even have a Band of Locals Website to help people find where they can grab extra good deals. Here it is: Band of Locals. What a great program. You pay $10 for a Blue wrist band and it entitles you to all sorts of savings. Some deals like Preferred Office Machines who offer 1/2 off copying could save hundreds of $$$ depending on how many copies you need and John Milan is always eager to help. Shopping local isn' just for the stores either. When … (2 comments)
lake and lodge realty llc: Do Not Spam List
- 08/24/10 12:12 AM
Wouldn't it be nice if we could opt into a "Do Not Spam" list? I must get close to 200 spam emails a day in my business box that I am forced into sifting through making sure I am not missing an actual email. While the Do Not Call policy isn't perfect it has reduced the number of telemarketers that used to plague me so I think we need to come up with a Do Not Spam list that works. The whole unsubscribe button is useless and worse I always wonder if it doesn't increase the spam because by hitting it … (5 comments)
lake and lodge realty llc: Surveys Overlap?
- 08/10/10 07:35 PM
I knew when the legal read "Northerly down the center line of a well traveled road" we were in trouble. We paid for a survey had the title company do a search prior to close and of course now 3 months after taking possession a neighbor has laid claim to a small piece of waterfront claiming his survey shows him owning this portion. After review they both are correct with current legals. Not sure how this happened and I am thinking it won't be a quick fix. There was an interesting note attached to the neighbors survey cautioning the seller to … (4 comments)
lake and lodge realty llc: Change of Use or Just Abuse?
- 08/04/10 02:27 PM
Living in a University town, a good part of our real estate sales are students and parents of students looking for housing. I found a perfect house for my students close to campus and even zoned R3 allowing for student rental. We negotiated down to a reasonable price and during our inspection period I checked with the City to be sure zoning was correct for students. It was....but....here it comes....because the home had been single family it would have to go through a "Change of Use" process. Even though it was Zoned correctly it would need zoning approval of the change of … (9 comments)
lake and lodge realty llc: Pro's and Con's of a Multi Board MLS
- 08/01/10 12:14 PM
The West Central Association of Realtors joined SWMRIC last year and the Grand Rapids Association of Realtor's joined this year. There are now over 2,500 offices to keep track of. When we first heard were joining SWMRIC I was excited. The thought of having access to all those listings without having to chase down another agent for info. Another plus was the tax info button that came with. Now instead of calling separate equalization departments we have the info with the click of a mouse. Of course with any transition there will be growing pains and multi board MLS's aren't immune. … (4 comments)
lake and lodge realty llc: BR Bandshell Summer Concert 2010
- 08/01/10 08:42 AM
Every Wednesday in Big Rapids right behind the Middle School on N. Michigan the Big Rapids Bandshell Summer Concert has been doing free concerts. Free Wheelin was amazing and lst week Susan Morris and BlueMonk Jazzed it up. This week's must see event is Wednesday, Aug 4, 2010 7pm - 8:30pm. Gypsy Switch featuring Kelly Quinn will be performing for you live at the Band Shell. Should be another huge success. All concerts are free and open to the public so no reason to not stop by and enjoy. Bring a lawn chair and a beverage and enjoy. See you there.
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lake and lodge realty llc: Morley Celebration on the Pond 2010
- 08/01/10 08:31 AM
This coming weekend is another "must do" if in the Morley Area. The dates are Friday, Aug 6, 2010 - Sunday, Aug 8, 2010 for the Morley Celebration on the Pond for 2010. Located in downtown Morley with tractor pulls, an antique car show, street dance and much more. The tractor pulls have several classes incuding farm tractors, light trucks and even semi tractors. There will also be Food Venders, Portable Toilets and Bleachers available. See you there.Directions to the event are: 131 Expressway to exit 125 Jefferson Rd/Morley, East on Jefferson to Northland Dr, Left on Northland Dr and follow … (0 comments)
lake and lodge realty llc: Price Drop on an Amazing Log Home
- 08/01/10 12:40 AM
Here is an amazing deal I had to share. Here is an incredible Log Home. New construction using large logs on 40 acres all fenced for horses and within walking distance to all sports Big Lake. How's 5 bedrooms, 3 1/2 baths sound? Log home along with basement have combined sq. footage is over 5.000 sq. ft. Basement is finished off and has separate kitchen, living/dining areas along with 2 bedrooms and a bath so you can live downstairs while the top is being finished. Weather tight shell is complete with insulated windows and amazing woodwork throughout. Sold as a copmleted shell or seller will … (2 comments)
lake and lodge realty llc: Are You Kidding Me Moments
- 07/28/10 02:28 AM
Seems like I could start every conversation these days with "are you kidding me?" and at some point in the chat it will play. Whether you are talking to fellow agents, lenders, insurance agents, inspectors, appraisors or clients, everyone one has a "are you kidding me" moment they have ran into recently. This weeks moment is a buyer I am working with who has an high 700's credit score. He is buying a second home so he was going just get a second on his main home and pay cash. He has a really nice home in a newer sub division and value … (3 comments)
lake and lodge realty llc: Why Are We Standing in the Rain?
- 07/27/10 01:36 PM
My morning ritual begins about 4am with a good dose of Active Rain posts with toast and coffee. This morning's post by Justin Bowers caught me totally off guard. His post "I cannot understand why real estate professionals waste their bloggin on AR. Please help and explain." Justin questioned why we spent so much time in the rain. He went on to let us know about the benefits of posting a blog on our own site but could not understand why we would keep blogging here. I guess the biggest reason I post here and read here is the other 185K people that … (5 comments)
lake and lodge realty llc: Big Rapids Wheels in the Field Car Show
- 07/25/10 04:05 PM
The Big Rapids Wheels in the Field car show will be held Saturday, July 31, 2010 9am thru Sunday, August 01, 2010 10am right here at the Big Rapids Fairgrounds, bring the whole family to go back in time with these classic cars. Last year it was a great event and this year looks to be even better. Great way to spend the day going back in time and spend the day with the family. See you there.
Author Bio: Randy Ostrander, Broker/Owner of Lake and Lodge Realty in Big Rapids, MI covers all of West Central Michigan. He does work weekends so he can be there wheneve you are ready to handle all of your real estate needs.
When offering on a home our purchase agreements have all sorts of things covered including expiration of offers and such. We offered, they countered, we accepted counter and proceeded towards close. One thing I didn't see coming was the expiration of the seller. Two days before our closing the seller passed away. Didn't see that coming. I was a little ashamed that my first thought was my buyer's inconvenience. I think we tend to be so focused on what fires to put out to get to a closing we lose sight of the players. RIP seller, although I never met you, … (2 comments)
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