Spring Newsletter

Traverse North Realty Spring Newsletter

We are calling this our spring newsletter, however, Traverse City still appears to have one more week of winter.   We were actually skiing fresh snow at Boyne Mt yesterday and there is not one bare spot on the entire hill.   Warmer temps are coming this week and hopefully we just move right on to summer.

Automatic Email Data Base Update:  

Our MLS system has joined with a couple other boards to expand our data base and one of the results of the revised data base is that the automatic email system went down.  Some people are getting way to many updates, while others are not getting any at all   We have access to two systems, the mls system and one through IDX Broker that we have more control over.

Please let us know if you are not getting automatic email updates, or if there is something not right with the information we are sending.   Our new system only sends one per day and only if a new or revised listing becomes available.   Keep in mind  that you also have the option to make changes or opt out at any time.

Just reply back to this email or click here to let us know if you want any changes to your saved searches and automatic email notifications   We are also looking into an improved and more interactive system that is tied directly to our Traverse North Realty site and will let you know the details as we proceed.  As always, our goal is to make searching for real estate and keeping up with new listings as easy as possible and continue to look for improved tools for our customers.

With our improving market, receiving notifications of new or revised listings is the best way to stay on top of the market and to move quickly if we need to.  Just let Traverse North Realty know anytime if we can be of assistance in your Traverse City real estate search.

Market Update

Starting early in 2013, we have seen a sharp increase in buyer activity, especially in the residential market.   Homes that are in desirable locations with good features are selling within weeks and multiple offers are not uncommon.   This appears to be due to a combination of low interest rates and a greatly reduced inventory of homes.  Interest rates have increased slightly, but are below levels at the same time last year and the 15 year fixed rate is still under 3%.  This is still an exceptional time to purchase, however, there is definetly an increase in buyer urgency and the best deals tend to go quickly.  There are very few bank owned properties on the market, however, we have seen an increase in BPO requests (broker home pricing on distressed properties) and we feel that opportunities for bank owned homes will be around for a while.

Traverse City Activities

Interlochen Music and Arts Camp has just announced the summer concert series.  Click here for a link to this summers terrific line up.   Tickets go on sale Friday, April 19 and the best seats will go quickly. 

The 2013 The Traverse City National Cherry Fest also has announced much of the music line up and you can see the full schedule of events here.  (June 29 - July 6)

The Film Festival will be held July 30 - August 4 and here is a link to their line up.    They are now adding a new venue and are converting the Con Foster Museum at the beach front park into a beach side movie theater..  This is part of the bayfront park upgrade, including improved tunnel access from downtown to the bay

Old Mission Peninsula Blossom Days is May 18.  Tickets are $25 and include a commemorative glass.  All seven Old Mission Peninsula Wineries are taking part in this great event.

Traverse North Realty and Old Mission Real Estate Websites

We plan on having both of these sites fully mobilized this summer.  They now do show up on mobile devices, but we are having the developers fully upgrade these sites with click to call, click to email and a more mobile freindly appearance and navigation.  We hope you find these sites easy to use with easy click tabs for bank owned, waterfront and just listed homes and properties.  Old Mission Real Estate is focused only the the Old Mission Peninsula, including the base area, while Traverse North Realty has data from the five county area.

We also continue to add more local information to these sites and are always open to suggestions on format and content.

Please let us know anytime if we can be of assistance or if there is anything we can do to help.   Keep in mind that if you need a cottage rental anytime, Cottage North LLC has some very nice cabins and homes available

Archived Newsletters February 2013