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Let's Have an Honest Conversation
“Tell me where things stand. I'll listen first, give you a straight, unhurried read on your options, and go from there. It's an honor to get the call, and I mean that.”
Market Intelligence
Real numbers from across five West Michigan counties. What's moving, what's sitting, and what it actually means for the decision in front of you.
The West Michigan Market, County by County
Across the fifteen counties we serve, August closed 2,012 homes at an average of $393,143, averaging 26.1 days on market, with 4,610 listings active, counted September 7, 2026 with sold counts still firming up for about a week. Rather than freeze a copy of those numbers here, I keep the full breakdown in one place at the brokerage so it is always the current month.
Active inventory, sold counts, days on market and average sold price for all fifteen counties, refreshed every month rather than pinned to the week it was published.
See the current market read →Profiles for 358 communities across the footprint: what sold, what is being built, population, income, home values and each municipality's own website.
Open the community profiles →Market Intelligence
West Michigan is not one market. Kent, Muskegon, Ottawa, Newaygo, and Montcalm each move at their own pace, and lately the gap between them has been real. Here's what I'm actually seeing on the ground.
Property taxes are rising just about everywhere right now, and it's worth planning for before you commit to a number. If you're buying, always have an exit plan for when you eventually decide to sell, even if that's a long way off. Inventory has been climbing in Kent County, which gives buyers more to choose from without the same pressure we saw a few years back, and homes in the $350,000 to $500,000 range are still active but behaving more evenly than they used to. Newaygo and Montcalm Counties still offer real value for buyers willing to look past the core metro area, and I spend a lot of time in both. What separates a smooth outcome from a rough one right now is preparation and knowing the real numbers before you commit to anything, not luck.
What I Watch Closely
You have more room to think than buyers did 18 months ago, but rising property taxes mean the real monthly number matters more than the sticker price. Run your actual numbers before you run toward a property.
Buyer guidance →Homes still sell here when they're priced honestly and show well, but it's not automatic. We never get a second chance to make a first impression, and pricing is part of that first impression.
Seller guidance →Free Guides
Plain-language guides that walk you through each phase of your move, written the same honest way I'd explain it in person. All free.
A roadmap from our first conversation to closing day, financing, search strategy, offers, and inspections, explained plainly.
Read the buyer's guide →Pricing, preparation, marketing, and negotiation from first conversation to closing table. No surprises along the way.
Read the seller's guide →What to expect, what it actually costs, and the mistakes that trip up most first-time purchases.
Read the first-time buyer guide →How to evaluate a rental the right way: cash flow, financing, and the condition of the bones, before the numbers ever get run.
Read the investor's guide →What to know about moving to West Michigan: communities across five counties, schools, and how a purchase works from out of the area.
Read the relocation guide →Support for homeowners facing a hard season: foreclosure, divorce, financial hardship, or an estate. Your options, your rights, your timeline.
Read the Home Protectors guide →First-Time Buyers
Buying your first home starts with knowing where you actually stand. Work through it on your own, talk it out with me directly, or sit in on a free live class. No pressure, no cost.
Work through the questions, budgeting, and planning on your own schedule, and know exactly where you stand before we ever talk price.
Open the workbook →A short call with a Legacy advisor, no pitch, just an honest look at where you stand and what the next step actually is.
Book a readiness call →A free live class with Legacy and VanDyk Mortgage covering the real numbers, the loan programs, and what it actually takes to close on your first home.
Register for the class →Market & Timing Questions
It comes down to your situation more than the calendar, your timeline, your finances, what you're actually trying to accomplish. Market timing is real, but it's rarely the biggest variable. The better question is whether your situation is ready, and that's what the first conversation sorts out.
Genuinely mixed, county by county. Kent County still favors sellers in the right price bands, with homes moving quickly when priced right. Newaygo and Montcalm sit closer to neutral, where buyers have real room to negotiate. There's no single label for the whole region, which is why local context beats a national headline every time.
Timing the rate is a hard game to win, nobody actually knows where they're headed. What matters more is whether the payment fits your budget today. If the numbers work now, waiting on a rate you can't predict often costs more than it saves. We run the real math first, then decide together.
Days on market by county, how often homes fall back out of contract, where sellers are pricing above what buyers will pay, and how property tax increases are changing what people can afford. No single number tells the whole story on its own.
Because real estate doesn't move as a country, it moves block by block. National headlines average together markets that have nothing to do with each other. West Michigan is its own set of micro-markets, and Kent County alone behaves differently from Newaygo or Montcalm.
Whenever conditions actually change, not on a fixed schedule, because the point is accuracy, not a calendar. If you want a current read on your specific neighborhood, the fastest path is just to ask me directly.
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“Tell me where things stand. I'll listen first, give you a straight, unhurried read on your options, and go from there. It's an honor to get the call, and I mean that.”