Laughfest is Returning to Grand Rapids in 2012
Great news. Laughfest is coming back again 2012, which will be it’s second year in existence. Gilda’s LaughFest was created by a team at Gilda’s Club Grand Rapids in 2011. More than 55,000 people from 25 states and Canada attended the 2011 festival that raised $330,000 for the cancer and grief programs offered by Gilda’s Club Grand Rapids. You may remember seeing the yellow posters with the smiling mouth all over town and all over Facebook. Get ready to see them again! The...
Read MoreReBar Camp 2011
I’m a little late posting this, but we were just looking through photos on Flickr and found some from the Realtor ReBar camp. If you are curious about what this event is, and why we attend it, please read on. What is it? This is an all day event where around 200 Realtors get together to discuss new technology and trends in the real estate market. There are discussion leaders that present topics that they are experts on. The members of the audience are encouraged to participate by asking...
Read MoreHudsonville Survey: What do residents think of their city?
In March of this year, a survey of 200 residents of Hudsonville, MI, was conducted. The large majority report that they are satisfied with the city’s services, but many feel that the taxes are too high. More than 90% of those taking the survey rated Hudsonville’s quailty of life, law enforcement, fire department, city parks and basic public services either “excellent” or “pretty good.” Just under half surveyed, coming in at 46% say that they believe taxes are too high,...
Read MoreFred Meijer Heartland Trail to Compensate Property Owners
The portion of the Heartland Trail affected here runs nearly 50 miles, from Lowell to Greenville. The trail replaced old CSX Transportation railroad tracks that had easements through many people’s property along this route. Here is where the trouble lies, and the reason court action was taken. By converting the railroad tracks to a trail, now this area of privately owned land is open for public use. The property owners fear that this will negatively affect the property’s value. The...
Read MoreMarket condition update for Grand Rapids and Byron Center
In this video I discuss some interesting trends we are seeing in the Grand Rapids real estate market. I took some time to look at the statistics in-depth, and what I am discovering is good news for our real estate market.
Read MoreEnjoying the New Office at 616 Realty
Opening 616 Realty earlier this year was a big project. There is a lot of thought that goes in to starting a new business, and we had a limited amount of time to get things put together. What made a huge difference was having the support of some very knowledgeable agents and staff as we put things together. We were able to create a real estate company that makes extensive use of modern technology. We use a paperless filing system to cut down on waste, and recycle any paper products that we do...
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