Tami Vroma-Realtor Grand Rapids MI Real Estate

West Michigan Lake Property-There aren't many people who wouldn't want to live in a West Michigan Lake home. Crockery Lake in Conklin was where I grew up hearing the sounds of peacocks yelling across the lake. Memories of swimming late at night when it was dark are very fond. I was sure the big rubber back turtles were going to come up and eat my toes--they never did but the fish did take an occasional nibble.Or, how about water skiing. At 6 I was being pulled behind a row boat with a motor.

The fact is that memories are made from experiences in Michigan Lakefront Homes and cottages. If you have made those memories and are looking to sell or if you are ready to make those memories and purchase a West Michigan Waterfront Property, please give me a call. As an avid boater and lake person, there couldn't be a better West Michigan Waterfront Realtor to help you! Below you wind find a search tool to help you find the perfect West Michigan Waterfront Home. It is categorized by County.

West Michigan Lakefront Property-West Michigan Waterfront Homes for Sale

Info from a Grand Rapids Short Sale Agent-What documents do I need to gather for my West Michigan Short Sale?

Grand Rapids Short Sales-What documents do I need to gather for my West Michigan Short Sale is a question many people ask. You have decided you don't want your Grand Rapids Home to Foreclose and have decided a short sale is the way to go. You have chosen an agent who is experienced in doing short sales in the West Michigan and Grand Rapids area. Before you call, many like to gather the documents they will need to do their short sale.

You need to understand that the banks want to know EVERYTHING. They may even ask for your first born—ok I am kidding there but they will want your entire financial history. Selling your Grand Rapids Home at short sale requires the bank to know everything about how you are sitting financially. To give them a clear picture of this, you will need to gather several pertinent documents. Collect the following documents and know you may need to update them regularly.

Last two year of taxes-Signed 1040’s with W2’s and any Extensions

Two months Most Recent Bank Statements

Two months Most Recent Paystubs or Proof of Income (Profit/Loss Statement or Unemployment)

Most recent Mortgage Statement (s)

Correspondence Regarding Mortgage Delinquency

These are the documents you should already have on hand to do your West Michigan Short Sale—all you will need to do is gather the information. For some this is easy because they are extremely organized but for others, this is something they will have to work at.

Our next blog will cover what expenses you need to consider and document in order for the banks to consider your Grand Rapids Short Sale.

Copyright © by Tami Vroma 2011* ALL RIGHTS RESERVED *Info from a Grand Rapids Short Sale Agent-What documents do I need to gather for my West Michigan Short Sale? *

Muskegon River Camping in Newaygo-Vic's Canoes-Salmon Run-NEVER AGAIN!!

It's summer again! In Michigan we look forward to our summer's in a big way. One of the best ways to spend a Michigan summer in Newaygo is to go tubing or canoeing down the Muskegon River. We have done it for 14 years and for 14 years we have stayed at Salmon Run Campground at Vic's canoes. Well we won't be doing that this year and my kids who are now 16 and 18 are so disappointed.

So why aren't we going camping at a place we have been at for 14 years? Why aren't we camping with the other 10 some odd couples, many of whom we met at church? Simple, last year the owner of Salmon Run Campground had us escorted off by the police.

It would be somewhat rebel like to be able to say this family of four got escorted off Salmon Run Campground for partying to hard--isn't that why most people get kicked out of a campground? It would be a heck of a story to tell for the guy who runs sound at his church. It would be fun for these teenagers to say they got in trouble for being to loud. But no that would not be the story.

So why, you ask, did this family of four, plus a friend, get escorted out of the campground by the police? Simple, for saying we would tell our story . . . . so here is what happened.

Last year we arrived at Salmon Run Campground late because my daughter was showing her horse at the Berlin Fair that day. We arrived around 9 pm. Since we have three teenagers with us in tents, we always get two sites because our living quarters horse trailer and two tents is just way to tight of a fit in these small sites. For the last approximately 4 years we have had two sites with our kids in tents on one site and us right next to them. Our big group usually takes up all of the river sites. When we arrived, however, there were several sites between us and our children.

Now mind you, the rules at the campground are that all children must have parents present. The year before, the kids were asked to quiet down and it wasn't even them-it was the site across the street. So that night the owner asked us to put up the tents all on one site with our big trailer and we would straighten it out in the morning and she would ask someone to move. I knew that wasn't going to happen because we had ended up with people between us that weren't in our group.

Morning came. We went in to talk to the owner. She said the people wouldn't move but we could use the site to park our truck on . . . WHAT!!?!?!!? There was no way I was paying $30 a night to park my truck. That would have been $60 a night for parking. I told the owner there was no way we were doing that--we would keep the tents on our site but we wanted our money back for the other site we weren't using. She said she wouldn't do that. Ok this is just wrong. This was not our mistake it was the campgrounds. She informed me that it was impossible for them to make a mistake--their computers wouldn't allow it. Ok now this is seriously commical. How many of you fine people out there have never had to deal with a computer glitch?

We argued back and forth and I could see that this was going no where so I thought compromise was in order. I suggested we split the cost and she could give us half our money back. She said she wouldn't do that unless she could get the site rented. Ok that is NOT compromise-she would end up ahead in this whole thing. I wish this was the first time I had heard something like this going on in this office--it wasn't. Over the years I have heard angry customers so we were just one more.

I said, "you can't do that, it is wrong and unfair especially when these aren't the sites we booked". The owner said, "I can do anything I want, this is a private campground". I commented to the owner that the days of a business being able to treat customers unfairly without anyone knowing were over. These days we have the internet where people can speak out and tell their story. I turned around and walked out the door.

We went down the river which is approximately a four hour trip from where we put in. When we got back there was a note on our camper door. "Come see Annette". I walked up to the office thinking we had worked something out but what I was told was to get off her campground that no one was going to threaten her. She handed me $30 and told me to get out.

ARE YOU SERIOUS?!?!?! You are going to kick someone out of a campground because they said they would write a blog about what happened to them in their campground? Someone who had been coming there with their kids for 14 years . . .people who had made their kids pick up every scrap of paper on their site before they left. Never mind the fact that we had already paid $120--$30 per night for two sites. We had used one campsite (as directed by her) which would have amounted to $30. By my calculations we should have gotten $90 back.

I was stunned. I walked back to where my sister was camping and told her what happened. She told me to sit down that they had many run-ins like this with her over the years and that no one would kick someone off for something so stupid. She said sit down and wait till the guys come back with the tubes and we will walk up there. In the mean time, after we weren't gone for an hour she apparently went to our camper and knocked on the door. My daughter said we weren't there and the owner told my daughter that she knew we were hiding in there. Does this sound crazy to anyone yet?

We were told by someone else in our group that she had been there so my sister walked up there with me and said we were going to work this out. We were met by the police . . yes I wrote that right. They were there to escort us off the campground. My sister couldn't believe it and tried to talk to the owner but she refused to compromise. She was more than willing to kick a patron of 14 years out of a campground for asking for money back for a site she didn't reserve. Keep in mind kids under 18 are not allowed to camp by themselves in this campground. She kicked us off because I apparently threatened her by saying I would tell my story in a blog.

So this is my story of what happend at Vic's Canoes-Salmon Run in Grant Michigan. My kids are so disappointed. We have been doing this for years-they won't be camping with their cousins and all the kids they have grown up with.

As a side note, when I got home I looked up the check I wrote. When we write a check there is a carbon. I looked at the check I had wrote and on it, in the memo section, were the the site numbers we had--they were sites right next to each other. So much for computers never making mistakes.

What type of business owers throw away patrons of 14 years--patrons who have brought friends with them who made them more money. Well you know the story now and who does that. Like I said . . . .

Muskegon River Camping in Newaygo-Vic's Canoes-Salmon Run-NEVER AGAIN!!

Thanks to Bathmasters, a company that does Bathtub Resurfacing in West Michigan, my bathub looks like brand new. I wrote a post several weeks back, Bathtub Refinishing West Michigan - Will they be able to make my tub look new again?, about checking into having my bathtub refinished or resurfaced. Not only did I need it done myself (as you can see my the picture to the right), but I wanted a viable option to be able to recommend to both my clients who have just purchased homes in West Michigan and those that are about to sell.

When my husband and I started thinking about ripping out our old one piece tub and surround, it sounded daunting. Although we were fully capable of doing the work ourselves, it was still going to cost money and time. I started calling around Grand Rapids for bathtub refinishing, a process by which they reglaze the bathtub. As I explored the possibilities, I found that not only can your refinish a fiberglass bathtub but also ceramic tile, porcelain and counter tops.

I got quotes from two different companies. Bathmasters definitely beat everyone in price and they have been around a long time. My bathtub and surround ran $450 which is well below the cost to rip the whole shower out and put a new one in. Bathmasters called me back within the same day and had it scheduled for the next business day.

They arrived exactly when they said they would at 8:30 am this past Monday. He immediately started preparing the entire bathroom for the process by making sure everything was covered so as not to get over spray dust on anything. All my cupboards, counters, toilet and towel bars were all covered. Even the floor was completely protected. The process with the tub was started by a very thorough cleaning. I was concerned because there was some adhesive and also two small chips in the bottom of the tub. But the chips were repaired and the adhesive taken off.

He began spraying the tub at around 10 am with the primer. I was already excited with just the primer on!! He then put the non-slip material in the bottom which I am really glad I got. It was all said and done by around noon and it looked absolutely gorgeous!

This is definitely a much more inexpensive way to go and there is a 5 year warranty!! If you refinish your bathtub, I would advise you do it before any painting of the bathroom. If I were to do it again, I would definitely wait until we were going to be out of the house for several days. We only have one bathroom and we were not to go in the room for at least 24 hours. Additionally, the fumes are noxious--but well worth it because it looks great! I am so excited to clean my new bathtub. Instead of five hours to clean, it will only be 5 minutes.

Now I have to tell my husband we need to paint, get new light fixtures, get new cupboards. Somehow I don't think my husband will be too happy to have more "honey do's" added to his list. Thank goodness he is used it. We do a lot of work ourselves. You can also read Oak Cabinets with a New Face - Glazed Cabinets are Beautifulabout reglazing our cabinets!

So, If you are looking for someone in West Michigan to refinish your bathtub, I can not recommend Bathmasters high enough! You can call them today at 800-585-1000. Tell them Tami sent you!

West Michigan Short Sales-If I knew then what I know now about Michigan Short Sale Experts I would have been able to help some really incredible people stop their home from foreclosing. I would have been able to put them in the position to purchase a home in 12-18 short months iinstead of years!

I was once told I would never make it in the Grand Rapids Real Estate business because I cared to much. How can anyone care too much about people?

Many years ago I was referred by a lender to a couple who needed to sell their Rockford home because they could not make their payments. He said he gave them my number because money was not the driving force in my life. That was quite a compliment.

The meeting with the couple was heart breaking, to say the very least. They had six children ranging in age from about 4 to 21. They all lived in the Rockford house which was immaculately cared for. The distress in their eyes was evident as they told the story of how they came to own the home. Too many people in cahoots including a lender that dropped the bomb on them at close that there were two loans. They wanted to back out but were told there would be lawsuits.

With all my heart, I wished I had been there when this couple purchased the house but it was too late for that and they were in serious trouble. The financial information they gave me was devastating. There was absolutely no way they were going to be able to sell this house and pay the real estate fees. They were drowning in debt and this house was the cement block around their neck. At that time, I didn't even know what a West Michigan Short Sale Specialist was!

Life has taught me that if you pay if forward, you will be given back. I listed the house taking no commission for myself.
Even with no commission for myself, the home did not sell. Even though this home was only a few years old and on over an acre, there were other homes just as nice selling for less. So many people had lied to this couple and I didn't want to give them false hope, so I told them honestly that there was no reason for me to keep the home listed. My heart broke for them. The house foreclosed!

With all that I am, I wish I had known then what I know now about Michigan Short Sales. If I knew then what I know now, they would probably already be purchaing a home. Now I count myself among the Michigan Short Sale Realtor Experts that our times have demanded. There are quite a number of West Michigan short sale homes, but there are a very limited number of agents who really are West Michigan Short Sale Experts. Not only is it important to have an agent experienced in selling a Greater Grand Rapids Short Sale, but it is also important for buyers to have a West Michigan Short Sale Expert representing them in the sale.

For sellers, it can be extremely difficult to weed through and find an agent who is truly experienced in selling Ottawa County Short Sales and Kent County Short Sales. What questions should a seller ask to find a West Michigan Short Sale Expert? See my next blog, West Michigan Realtors Experienced in Short Sales - 6 Tips on How to Hire a Short Sale Agent to find out what steps you need to take to make the best choice.

Let me know if you would like a West Michigan Short Sale Consultation. Everything is kept confidential and there will be no pressure--I think you probably have enough pressure in your life at this moment. When you fill out the information on to submit a West Michigan Short Sale, I will contact you. We will go over your situation and I can let you know if I can help. Please feel free to call if you just want to talk.

Copyright Tami Vroma West Michigan Short Sale -If I knew then what I know now about Michigan Short Sale Experts