Connect
Start the Conversation
“No pressure, no pitch. Just tell me where you're at, I'll give you a straight read on what makes sense from there.”
Market Intelligence
County-by-county context, free guides, and straight answers about West Michigan, built to help you think before you ever have to talk to anyone.
West Michigan by the County
Active inventory, new listings, pending and sold counts, average 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
The market isn't one thing right now. Different price points, property types, and locations are all behaving differently, and if you treat them the same, you end up giving people the wrong advice. There are still homes moving fast. There are also homes sitting and cutting price. Which side you land on comes down to strategy, not luck.
The worst place to understand West Michigan is a national headline. Real estate does not work as a country, it works block by block. What I do is read the local signals honestly, then translate them into a plan that fits your situation rather than a story written about somewhere else.
What I Watch Closely
More room to think and negotiate than there was 18 months ago. Higher rates mean the payment math matters more, so run the numbers before you run toward a property. The best-priced homes in strong school districts are still moving, so a clear strategy beats trying to time the market.
Buyer guidance →Homes are still selling when they're priced right and show well. But it's not automatic anymore. Preparation and pricing accuracy are everything, and you need a plan built around where the market actually is, not where it was two years ago.
Seller guidance →Free Guides
Plain-language guides that walk you through each phase of your move, written with no agenda except helping you make a better decision. All free.
A step-by-step roadmap from first conversation to closing day. Financing, search strategy, offers, and inspections, explained clearly.
Read the buyer's guide →The process from first conversation to closing, including pricing strategy, preparation, marketing, and negotiation. No surprises.
Read the seller's guide →What to expect, what it actually costs, how to compete, and how to avoid the mistakes that derail most first purchases.
Read the first-time buyer guide →How to evaluate rentals the right way: cap rate, cash flow, financing structure, and what the numbers need to look like for a deal to make sense.
Read the investor's guide →What you need to know about moving to West Michigan: communities, schools, market dynamics, and how to navigate a purchase from out of area.
Read the relocation guide →Support for homeowners facing a hard situation: 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 stand. Work through it yourself, talk it out one on one, or come to a free live class. No pressure, no cost.
A self-paced workbook with the questions, budgeting, and planning that show you exactly where you stand on the path to your first home.
Open the workbook →A quick 10 to 15 minute call with a Legacy advisor. No pitch, just an honest look at where you stand and what comes next.
Book a readiness call →A free, live class with Legacy and VanDyk Mortgage. Learn the real numbers, the loan programs, and the path to your first home.
Register for the class →Market & Timing Questions
It depends on your specific situation: your timeline, finances, and what you're trying to accomplish. The market timing question is real, but it's rarely the most important variable. The better question is whether your situation is ready. That's what I help you figure out in the first conversation.
It is genuinely mixed, and that is the honest answer. Certain price points and certain school districts still favor sellers, with homes moving quickly when they show well and are priced right. Other ranges sit closer to neutral, where buyers have real room to think and negotiate. There is no single label that fits the whole region, which is exactly why local context matters more than a national headline.
Trying to time the rate is a hard game to win, because nobody knows where rates are headed and life rarely waits for the perfect chart. What matters more is whether the payment works for your budget and whether your situation is ready. If the numbers make sense now, waiting on a rate you cannot predict can cost you more than it saves. We run the actual math first, then decide.
Days on market, how often homes come back after going under contract, how frequently sellers are cutting price, and the balance between active inventory and real demand. No single number tells you much on its own. The signal is in how they move together, and how they read differently across price points, property types, and locations.
Because real estate does not work as a country, it works block by block. National headlines average together markets that have nothing to do with each other, so they almost never describe what is happening on your street. West Michigan is its own set of micro-markets, and even within it, one county can behave very differently from the next.
The read on the market here is refreshed as conditions change, not on a rigid calendar, because the point is to reflect what is actually happening rather than to fill a schedule. If you want a current take on your specific situation or neighborhood, the fastest path is to start a conversation and ask directly.
Connect
“No pressure, no pitch. Just tell me where you're at, I'll give you a straight read on what makes sense from there.”