As Labor Day Weekend has come to an end, we are reminded once again why West Michigan is such a great place to live. One of the great things about West Michigan and the Grand Rapids area is that we are only a small car ride away from Lake Michigan!! Recently, Good Morning America came out with a list of the 'Most Beautiful Places in America and the #1 most beautiful location was Sleeping Bear Dunes. Sleeping Bear Dunes is about a 2 hour car ride north of Grand Rapids and not only offers a beautiful scenery but the National Lakeshore will keep even the most adventurous outdoors enthusiast busy with hiking, fishing, canoeing, kayaking, skiing, snowshoeing and more. See ABC's article here http://abcnews.go.com/Travel/best_places_USA/sleeping-bear-dunes-michigan-voted-good-morning-americas/story?id=14319616. 

We'll let these descriptions and pictures speak for themselves but it's just another reason why West Michigan is one of the top place to live!

Every appointment we go on to present a Strategic Price Analysis to a seller we always make sure to present them with the honest market value rather than the number they want to hear. We feel it's best to be completely honest from the beginning so expectations can be set but quite often the seller believes the homes is worth much more than others that are selling around it. Trulia recently came out with an interesting article explaining that the best way to increase your odds of a successful sale is to price your home at fair market value. To avoid the temptation to overprice in order to get an unreasonable price, here are the Seven Deadly Sins of Overpricing:

1.) Appraisal Problems- Even if you can find a buyer at this inflated price, the buyer is still more than likely being financed to pay for the sale of their home purchase. If your home won't appraise for the purchase price the sale will most likely fall.

2.) No Showings- Today's buyers are well educated about the real estate market. If your home is overpriced they won't bother looking at it, let alone make you an offer

3.) Branding Problems- When a new home hits the market, every agent quickly checks the property out to see if it's a good fit for their clients. If your home is branded as "overpriced", reigniting interest may be very difficult.

4.) Selling the competition- Overpricing helps your competition because you make their lower prices seem like bargains.

5.) Stagnation- The longer your home sits on the market, the more likely it is to become stigmatized. People may immediately wonder, "what is wrong with that house?"

6.) Tougher Negotiations- Buyers who do view your home may negotiate harder because they see it has been on the market for a very long time and because it is overpriced compared to the competition.

7.) Lost Opportunities- You will lose a percentage of buyers who are outside of your price point. These are buyers who are looking in the price range that the home will eventually sell for but don't see the home because the price is above their pre-set budget.

Most buyers look at 10-15 homes before buying one so setting a competitive price at the beginning will help it sell and sell FAST.