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Let's Talk About the Market
“I grew up watching people talk themselves out of homeownership before they even tried. My job is to make sure that does not happen to you.”
Market Intelligence
Real signals from inside the market. What the data is showing for buyers, sellers, and investors across Muskegon and West Michigan right now.
West Michigan by the County
Active inventory, new listings, pending and sold counts, days on market, and average sold price across every county we serve. Pulled weekly from the MLS. No spin.
| County | Active | New | Pending | Sold | Avg DOM | Avg Sold Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kent | 910 | 214 | 192 | 115 | 24 | $480,566 |
| Ottawa | 569 | 105 | 70 | 61 | 25 | $510,263 |
| Kalamazoo | 526 | 98 | 89 | 58 | 24 | $350,035 |
| Muskegon | 417 | 65 | 53 | 34 | 42 | $258,772 |
| Allegan | 233 | 37 | 36 | 17 | 19 | $461,885 |
| Barry | 84 | 22 | 14 | 10 | 27 | $340,130 |
| Montcalm | 122 | 24 | 15 | 8 | 25 | $573,788 |
| Oceana | 157 | 18 | 5 | 7 | 30 | $371,000 |
| Mason | 134 | 8 | 5 | 7 | 37 | $333,571 |
| Newaygo | 132 | 10 | 6 | 5 | 75 | $338,500 |
| Manistee | 124 | 6 | 2 | 5 | 21 | $363,480 |
| Mecosta | 138 | 9 | 5 | 5 | 26 | $342,380 |
| Lake | 106 | 12 | 2 | 5 | 35 | $132,478 |
| Ionia | 80 | 15 | 16 | 1 | 12 | $325,000 |
| Osceola | 63 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 194 | $374,900 |
Market Intelligence
Muskegon is not the market most people think it is. More than 50% of homes purchased here over the last several years were bought by people living out of state. That is not a depressed market. That is a market with real demand and real competition for buyers who come in prepared.
Some homes are moving fast and some are sitting with price cuts. The difference is almost always strategy, not luck. First-time buyers who come in with their financing sorted and a real offer strategy are still finding opportunities. Sellers who price honestly from day one and show well are still getting strong outcomes. The people struggling on both sides are the ones operating on outdated assumptions about what this market is.
What I Watch Closely
More room to negotiate than there was a year ago. Muskegon buyers have more options and more time to make a thoughtful decision.
Buyer guidance →Homes are still selling. The ones priced right and presented well are moving. Pricing strategy matters more right now than it has in years.
Seller guidance →Free Guides
Plain-language guides that walk through each part of the process. Written with one goal: helping you make a better decision. All free.
A step-by-step walkthrough from first call to closing. Covers financing, search strategy, offers, inspections, and what to expect at every stage.
Read the buyer's guide →Everything from pricing strategy to closing. What to prepare, how the marketing works, how to negotiate, and how to not leave money on the table.
Read the seller's guide →What the process actually looks like, what it costs, and how to compete without overpaying. The mistakes that trip up most first-time buyers, written out so you can avoid them.
Read the first-time buyer guide →How to run the numbers on a rental the right way. Cap rate, cash flow, financing structure, and what a deal actually needs to look like before it makes sense to buy.
Read the investor's guide →Moving to Muskegon from out of area? More than half the buyers I work with come from out of state. This guide covers the communities, the market, and how to buy smart when you are not local yet.
Read the relocation guide →For homeowners in a tough spot: foreclosure, divorce, financial hardship, or an estate. Your options, your rights, and a realistic look at what comes next.
Read the Home Protectors guide →First-Time Buyers
If your first home is the goal, here are three ways to start. Work through it on your own, talk it out with me, or come to a free class. No pressure, no cost.
Download the free guide and work through it whenever you're ready. Covers budget, timeline, credit, what to look for, and what to watch out for.
Open the workbook →Book a free 30-minute call and we'll talk through your situation, your timeline, and what your options actually look like. No pitch, just honest answers.
Book a readiness call →Join a free class for first-time buyers. We walk through the whole process from credit to close so nothing catches you off guard.
Register for the class →Market & Timing Questions
That depends on your situation, your timeline, your finances, and what you're actually trying to accomplish. Market timing matters, but it's rarely the deciding variable. The better question is whether you're ready. That's what we figure out in the first conversation.
It's mixed, and that's the honest answer. In Muskegon, certain price points still favor sellers when a home is priced right and shows well. Other ranges are closer to neutral, where buyers have real room to think and negotiate. There's no single label that covers the whole area, which is why local context matters more than any national headline.
Trying to time interest rates is a hard game, and nobody actually wins it. Life doesn't wait for the perfect chart. What matters more is whether the payment works for your budget right now. If the numbers make sense today, waiting on a rate you can't predict can cost you more than it saves. I run the actual math with you first, then we decide.
Days on market, how often homes come back after going under contract, how frequently sellers are cutting price, and whether active inventory is growing or shrinking. No single number tells you much on its own. The signal is in how they move together, across different price points and property types.
Because real estate doesn't work at the national level. Headlines average together markets that have nothing to do with each other. Muskegon is its own market with its own patterns, and even within the county, neighborhoods can behave differently from one another. National news tells you almost nothing useful about what's actually happening here.
The read here gets updated as conditions change, not on a set calendar. The goal is to reflect what's actually happening, not to fill a posting schedule. If you want a current take on a specific neighborhood or price range, the quickest way to get it is to just ask me directly.
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“I grew up watching people talk themselves out of homeownership before they even tried. My job is to make sure that does not happen to you.”