Allendale- Sellers market? (Grand Rapids, Walker, Jenison: real estate, lease, how much) - Grand Rapids metro area - Michigan (MI) - City-Data Forum

jpbumich · 03-11-2015, 08:21 AM

Hello, we are looking to buy our first home. We found one that just came on the market, went to see it 2 days later. We loved it and put an offer in, they already had a couple offers made earlier that day. Knowing this we only put in one contingency, that we get a couple days to review the home owners associate rules. We offered 10k over list. (Any more and we were afraid it wouldn't appraise). We didn't get it. This was the first offer we have ever made on a house. So my question is, is this going to be common in Allendale/ Hudsonville/ Jenison? Is it really this much of a sellers market, where we will need to act even faster? Or was it just bad luck on finding a hot property we liked?

Thanks for your advice.

Zenstyle · 03-11-2015, 08:24 AM

10k over listing price! And for your first home-buying experience! I'm...amazed.

I don't know real estate in Allendale, so I can't credibly answer your question.

michigan83 · 03-11-2015, 10:00 AM

I have heard similar stories from around the Grand Rapids area. I don't think you are alone. I may be attempting to buy a home in Kent County in the next few years, so I look at the listings just for fun. The good listings disappear in a hurry, and the selection is limited. Unless things change, I am getting mentally prepared for it to be a frustrating process.

jpbumich · 03-11-2015, 10:14 AM

I wish I would've prepared myself better. We fell in love with the house, and now I am afraid we are going to be judging all the other houses against it.

In a last ditch effort (in case something falls through) I wrote the owners a brief note saying how nice the home was and if anything should happen to the accepted offer, that I hope they re-consider our offer.

I also called our agent and let him know that if for some reason the appraisal doesn't go through that we are willing to work with the sellers and make up some of the difference.

I don't think any of these things will help, but for my own sanity, I want to give it my best shot. If we miss it after doing everythign we could, i'll feel better than wondering "what if" . . .

One more question for people that have been in this situation, how long before you think we will hear that the appraisal/other offer is going to go through? It should happen long before closing I would think . . Now I just need to hope the other offer didn't get financed . .its a long shot.

beachmouse · 03-11-2015, 01:39 PM

Ottawa County seems to have issues with housing supply keeping up with demand when the local economy is good. Would consider Walker/Comstock Park as alternatives- decent schools, not too far from much of what's interesting in the area, and there's a tendency for people to kind of forget they're there so might be easier to find something.

mjlo · 03-11-2015, 02:10 PM

Walker and Comstock Park have the same hot housing markets. A friend of mine listed a Comtock Park house on a monday, and by wednesday accepted an offer 5k over listing. It's not Ottawa County is West MI/ GR as a whole that has demand out pacing inventory. It's a hot area to live right now.

RitaTome · 03-11-2015, 02:23 PM

We just bought a house in Comstock Park that we offered $1000 over list price and our offer was accepted. There were 2 other offers on the table. Our real estate agent says she has clients who are desperate to buy and can't seem to find anything that doesn't come down to a bidding war.
We made our offer on Feb 20th and haven't heard on the appraisal yet, so it can take a while (we should hear tomorrow or Friday). There is a 10 day period where the buyer can have inspections on the property done and can back out of the deal without penalty, so my guess is that the bank won't order an appraisal until that 10 day period is up.
I wouldn't wait to see if this house doesn't appraise unless you're in no hurry to buy.

jpbumich · 03-11-2015, 02:58 PM

We aren't in a hurry, but we don't want to be sitting around waiting for no reason either. We will give it a week, maybe the other buyer will back out at the last second.(I know that it doesn't happen often). We don't need to be in the new place till august when our lease expires, and even then we can go month to month. breaking the lease is easy since we have lived there for a couple years. We thought the flexibility would be an advantage. I guess we might have to settle in for a few disappointments along the way

Just following the listings we like, you guys seem right, they seem to go within a week. With the listings that sell, I don't follow how much over list they go, but I will have to start.

The bidding war thing is new to me. I guess I wasn't expecting it here in Michigan, I thought the bidding wars were only on the coasts, and that you would have a day or two to think about the houses before making an offer.

We will just try to see the houses even sooner in the future and hope our agent can get a feel for whether our offer is good or not. He thought our offer would be plenty good enough, if not we would've probably tried a little higher.

actinic · 03-11-2015, 03:23 PM

It has been a seller's market for decent properties for nearly 2 years now.

magellan · 03-11-2015, 03:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jpbumich

Hello, we are looking to buy our first home. We found one that just came on the market, went to see it 2 days later. We loved it and put an offer in, they already had a couple offers made earlier that day. Knowing this we only put in one contingency, that we get a couple days to review the home owners associate rules. We offered 10k over list. (Any more and we were afraid it wouldn't appraise). We didn't get it. This was the first offer we have ever made on a house. So my question is, is this going to be common in Allendale/ Hudsonville/ Jenison? Is it really this much of a sellers market, where we will need to act even faster? Or was it just bad luck on finding a hot property we liked?

Thanks for your advice.

You should think about building, depending on your price range. My wife and I have built 3 homes and will never buy an existing home.

Then you get the home you want and you're not paying more than market value. The one issue that comes up with people paying more than asking (market price usually) is that the home then won't appraise, and the buyers have to come up with extra cash to close the deal. If you build, you know exactly what you're paying before they even break ground, if you use a good builder.