Where To Move In Northern Michigan?

Where would be the best place to invest your hard earned retirement monies? Northeastern Michigan real estate by far is the area where you will recieve the most return on your money. Traverse City Michigan and the Petoskey region are great places to live. If you like Malls, high-dollars surrounding and traffic, you can't beat the northern Michigan element. However, don't expect to be achieve the traditional high returns on your recreational property investment. If you have a portfolio of over ten million dollars, then you really don't need to worry about your golden years. If your networth is less than that amount, consider northeast Michigan real estate. You can purchase that same type of beautiful lakefront property or vacant land for often times 25% of the price. 40% is probably more common. You just need to decide how close you need a Wal-Mart. - Jamie Gwilliam.

Northern Michigan Property Listing

When you list your home, lakefront property, riverfront property or vacant land with a realtor, make sure to request extra advertising. If you make this request apart of your listings condition, you will receive it. Extra advertising in a local newspaper or magazine doesn't hurt. Realtors really do a great job getting your listing out in view of the public, but why take the chance. More is better, right? Well, it makes you feel better anyway. It really isn't cost effective, but it's not your money either. What I find is that local advertising is only for the sellers. All the active buyers will recieve your listing through whichever realtor they are working with. 99% of all sincere buyers have at least one realtor working for them. Paper advertising is a thing of the past, but Realtors do it anyway to make sellers feel good. Paper advertising pales in comparison to today's world of online real estate advertising. Weigh out your options and just be honest with your up north Michigan realtor and they will take care of you. - Jamie Gwilliam, Northern Michigan

Northern Michigan Real Estate

Which company should you list your property with? The answer is easy, the company who offers the best online exposure. Next question, who is the best. The answer is not so easy, but in a nutshell, I am one of the best. Here is the problem. If an search engine optimization (SEO) expert is that good, he'll need to get paid for it. A person with my knowledge needs to make $100,000 per year. Here is the problem. Which northern Michigan real estate companies can justify that. Answer: None of them. So, what we are forced to do is create a database of real estate companies under one website. This way the costs can be shared by 50 different real estate companies. The result is no one company really stands out. My recent divorce from my wife, who is the owner of a few small real estate offices, had the luxury of somebody of my skill level only promoting her real estate website. This is unheard of, but due to our relationship, I was able to do that for her and maintained the #3 real estate website in all of northern Michigan. Now, I am for hire. - Jamie Gwilliam Contact My Northern Michigan Services Here

Michigan Real Estate Commissions

Sellers beware! How many times have you been told to shop around for the lowest commission? When you do shop around for the cheapest real estate commission, what do you find out? Basically, everyone is about the same give or take a percent. In the overall picture, it doesn't add up to much. If you have a home in the city, the commission will be hire than if you have a highly desirable home on a lake. If you're home is under $50,000 you will be paying a much higher commission than your neighbor who sold his $200,000 home on 40 acres at a 6% commission. Bottom line is that when companies start cutting commissions, there is something wrong. In northern Michigan, if you are in a bigger city with jobs, commissions will be competative. If you own a home in small town USA up north, these are very tough sales that bring low national average selling prices. Commissions will be hire. The costs to the real estate in Onaway Michigan is the exact some as a "big time" real estate company in Traverse City. Advertising is advertising and closing costs are closing costs. Remember this, when companies start lowering their commission rates substantially, they are hurting for business. There is a good reason they are hurting for business! Refer back to my latest article about homes not selling cost sellers on average $8,000 per year. - Jamie Gwilliam, Northern Michigan Properties

Part-Time Michigan Real Estate Agents

To those part-timers offering their opinions of real estate values, STOP IT! You are not familiar with the market just yet. You create conversation by telling innoscent victims that their homes are worth 50% above market value. Boy, do they appreciate your thoughts and really think you know what you're talking about. Guess what, you are doing is destroying the local real estate economy and stagnated the market. Do you realize these people take it to heart when you tell them their home in town is appreciated just like vacant land and waterfront property? Do you realize that each year the average northern Michigan home owner sits on their listed home that doesn't sell costs them over $8,000 per year in taxes, interest, insurance, maintenance etc. Full-time agents who take overpriced listings are even more guilty of such immoral practices. You actually know better! For more of my northern Michigan property opinions, view my northern Michigan listings here. - Jamie Gwilliam

Northern Michigan Employment vs. Real Estate Values

The fact is high paying jobs will never come to northern Michigan. Because of the shortage of stable work up north, there is tremendous opportunity for factories to flourish. Northern Michigan residents by their very nature are appreciative of employment. We know how hard fullt-time work is to come by. For this reason, there is a vast number of people in the area that have been use to working odd jobs just to get by. We are not leaving northern Michigan! For this reason, should factories decide to take an interest in northern Michigan, $10 per hour jobs would be highly applied for and cherrished. Several "factory" atmospheres are seeing this potential and competing globally due to the willingness to work for less than top-dollar wages. Learn more about me and my northern Michigan opinoins. Northern Michigan Real Estate.
- James Gwilliam

What is going to Happen to the real estate market in Michigan?

With the troubles of automakers, what is going to happen to the northern Michigan real estate market? My best guess is nothing. "Homegrown" northern Michigan folks have always gotten by on very little. Those "downstaters" wanting a piece of heaven up north are those who have done better than most financially downstate. Our potential clients downstate have already put in their 20+ years of hardwork, they have made their money. Recreational property, in my humble opinion, we continue to increase in value for the next decade. Property will not increase, especially vacant land, at the rate is has for the last decade. Conclusion: Don't be alarmed when talks of decreasing property value in northern Michigan. Homes in small towns will continue to maybe compete with inflation, but recreational property will continue to flourish. - James Gwilliam, creator of powerful northern Michigan Real Estate Websites.