November 24, 2025 • 16 mins
If you’re confused by headlines but serious about finding a home that fits your life, this conversation brings the noise down to human scale. We sit with Scott Zokoe of the Zokoe Team to unpack how Walker’s market evolved from pandemic bidding wars to a steadier, still seller-leaning landscape—and what that actually means for timing, price, and sanity. The goal isn’t hype; it’s clarity you can act on.
We trace the arc from near-zero interest rates to today’s cooler, more rational footing: days-on-market rising from seven to around nineteen, months of supply still under two, and why list strategy matters again. Scott explains how “golden handcuffs” kept owners locked into 3% mortgages, and how a glide toward the mid to low fives could finally free up inventory in 2026. That shift could open doors for move-up buyers, downsizers, and first-time buyers hungry for options, while putting negotiation and prep back at center stage.
Practical advice anchors the conversation. Start with curb appeal and clean interiors to remove buyer friction before features get judged. If you renovate, keep kitchens and baths simple and aligned to the neighborhood for better ROI—save luxury for forever homes. We also explore why renting longer is a smart bridge for newcomers and younger buyers, how local employers fuel demand, and where condos and zero-entry designs give residents low-maintenance, right-sized choices near Standale and beyond. Walker’s growth story is about options: single-family, rentals, and well-built communities that help more people live well here.
We close with an honest rule of thumb: the best time to buy was ten years ago; the next best time is when it works for your family and budget. If you’re weighing your move, subscribe for more grounded market insight, share this with a neighbor who’s curious about Walker, and leave a review with your biggest question—we’ll tackle it next.
If you have comments about this podcast, or ideas for future episodes, please email us at PODCAST@WALKER.CITY
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Episode Transcript
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SPEAKER_00 (00:07):
Welcome to Maiden Walker, the podcast that
connects you to the people, thestories, and the ideas shaping
our community.
From local innovators toeveryday change makers, we're
diving deep into what makesWalker a great place to live,
work, and grow.
Here's your host, NicoleIdenato.
SPEAKER_02 (00:26):
We're sitting down today with Scott Zoko of the
Zoko Team Five Star Real Estate.
They are local experts with deepties to Walker and the West
Michigan community's dynamicreal estate market.
So whether you're a longtimeresident, maybe looking to
relocate or a local business, wehope to give you some insight
into the real estate market herein your own backyard.
(00:46):
Scott, thanks so much for beinghere.
SPEAKER_01 (00:48):
Thank you for having me.
I'm excited to be here.
It's it's an interesting time inthe real estate market.
So I think this is a great timefor us to get on and talk about
what things are happening.
There's been a lot in the mediaabout interest rates and home
prices and the economy as awhole.
So I think we can kind of givepeople a quick little snippet of
what's happening and maybe helpthem uh in their decision
because not I don't want to bethe real estate agent who just
(01:09):
says now's the best time to sellor buy.
It's always about what's goingon in your family and your
story.
Um so I want to help people kindof guide them to the right
decision, not just the decisionthat, you know, the decision
that makes the most sense.
SPEAKER_02 (01:19):
Yeah, you're the best person for it.
So, you know, growing up in thein the area and now working in
the area, what has that beenlike with her?
SPEAKER_01 (01:25):
Yeah.
So I uh born and raised in thisarea and just love it.
Um, I think you know, ourbusiness is built on referrals,
and so it's you know, it'spretty important to get to know
the community you're in, um, todo business at the businesses
that you're working in and seethem, you know, you go to the
same restaurant, whether it'sWalker Roadhouse, uh Double Dip
Depot, it doesn't matter.
It's kind of like you get to bethere over and over and you get
(01:46):
to know the people and know thepeople who own the businesses.
Um, I've had the opportunity tobe involved with the City of
Walker and the DDA and theWalker Chamber.
Um, I think it's a reallyexciting place to be as you
know, I grew up here, and sothere's been a lot of change.
Um, and some people are you knowadverse to change, and you know,
but I think um it's an excitingthing for the community.
(02:07):
It's exciting to see newdevelopments, it's it's exciting
to see new libraries, um,whatever those things are.
I don't think you ever want tobe a stagnant community.
And and Walker is really good atsaying, hey, we have an
opportunity here, let's use it.
Um, and and so you know, for me,it's the people, you know, it's
like I think that's the easyanswer, right?
But it's also the right answerbecause people here love where
(02:27):
they're at.
They love, they've been, youknow, some sometimes we go and
list a house, it's been in thefamily for 60, 70 years.
It's like people want to behere, they want to stay here.
Um, you know, you see a lot ofgrowth from outside of you know
different states coming in.
Um, and so obviously we're doingsomething right.
Um, but I think it's when youyou see that grandma who's been
in the same house for for 80years, it's like, yeah, she
(02:48):
loves it here.
Um, she loves her neighbors, theneighbors care about her.
Um, and so it's just a reallycool sense of community.
Um, and I think we see that youknow, people want to be here,
and we're seeing that again kindof across the country, people
are moving here.
SPEAKER_02 (03:01):
So yeah, and kind of starting with people want to be
here, what does the how has themarket really kind of changed
pretty much, especially in thisyear, yeah, compared to other
communities around WestMichigan?
SPEAKER_01 (03:11):
Yeah, that's a that's a good question.
So uh so maybe macro-wise, youknow, for the last four years or
since you know COVID kind of uhkicked in and interest rates
were near zero, all right.
So money was essentially free.
Um and so everyone in in theirmother wanted to buy a house.
It was a stressful process.
There was 30 offers on everyhouse, um, and you felt like you
(03:32):
had to give your right kidneyjust to be able to buy one.
Um, great for sellers, right?
There was a great time to sell.
Um, and it was a good time tobuy because interest rates were
low and your payments werelower, so that's awesome.
Um, unfortunately, that was uhour artificially elevated.
That wasn't a real uh interestrate in borrowing environment.
Um, so I think it's given macrowise sellers uh maybe this uh
(03:53):
illusion that every house, everytime they sell, that's gonna
happen.
And now we've seen some changesuh in the last year, and
interest rates have obviouslyrisen pretty significantly,
significantly over uh the lastcouple of years here.
We have seen them come down alittle bit.
Um, but that has led to umbuyers maybe feeling like, hey,
wait a minute, I've heard theinterest rates are up and that
(04:14):
things are sitting a little bitlonger.
Um, and sellers maybe feelinglike, oh, wait a minute, for the
last four years, all I've heardabout is, hey, I'm gonna get
whatever I want, multipleoffers, blah, blah, blah.
So we're seeing a little bit ofa um a learning here in the
market that people are like,maybe you can't just price it
wherever you want it to priceand it's gonna sell because
that's not the case anymore.
(04:34):
Um, days on market have gone up.
You know, we're seeing thingstake a little bit longer to
sell.
Now, all that being said, it'sstill definitely a seller's
market.
And and I think the problem iswe've seen it go from like crazy
to a little bit more normal, buteven that normal is still very
much out of whack with what anormal market is.
(04:54):
Um, I think if I look at ourmonth supply for September of
2025, uh we're 1.76 months.
So a normal market is sixmonths, so still very much a
seller's market.
Things are selling in uh 19 dayson average, and if you go back
to March, they were selling inseven days.
So um that's that's the hardpart, right?
We talk about a normal marketand it's like 19 days feels like
(05:16):
a lot compared to seven, butit's still pretty darn good if
you're sold within three weeksand you know you're getting
99.8% of your purchase price.
So um, yeah, I think it's it'san interesting time.
It's just more that I thinkwe've had expectations on one
end for both parties, and sowe're seeing them kind of learn
that hey, those things aren't inthe case anymore and they are
(05:37):
changing.
It's not a bad thing, it doesn'tmean that you know it's not a
good time to buy or sell, itjust depends on it.
It makes you think a little bitlonger about that decision.
Um, and make sure you're makingthe right decision for you and
your family.
I always tell people the besttime to buy a house was 10 years
ago.
You should have bought all ofthem, you know.
You know, that's the best time.
The next best time is when itmakes sense for your family.
Um, so you know, people say,well, now's a good time because
(05:59):
there's less I'm like, wait tillit makes sense for your family
and financially, you don't wantto buy a house and then have the
furnace go out and now you can'tafford to put the furnace in,
then you might as well berenting, right?
So I I don't we don't rushpeople into homeownership until
you're ready.
Um, because it's not uh, youknow, this there's gonna be more
than just the mortgage payment.
You know, you're gonna haveupkeep, you're gonna have
maintenance, you're gonna havethings to do to a house.
(06:21):
If you're not ready for that,just rent.
I don't want to be the realtoryou screaming to buy.
I want you to buy because youwant to own a home and you want
to change the paint colors andyou want to add and you want to
make it your own and make ithome, not just buy house because
that's what your mom dad toldyou to do.
SPEAKER_02 (06:34):
So it's very comforting to hear.
It's a it's a stressful processfor both sides.
So that's great to hear that youknow you you guys aren't you
know pressuring folks into doingthat.
It is just what is best for yourpersonal family.
Yeah.
Um looking into 2026, what areyou seeing as far as trends?
SPEAKER_01 (06:48):
Yeah, that's a uh that's a good question.
We like I talked about theinterest rates, they have gone
up, right?
We saw them hit almost eight.
Um, now they're like low sixes.
Um so they have come down offtheir highs.
And we do think that trend willcontinue into the mid fives to
maybe low fives by the end ofnext year.
Um, which, you know, for peoplewho bought at 7% or 8%, you are
(07:10):
gonna see people say, like,okay, one, we may need to
refinance, right, to get into alower interest rate.
And two, if you get into thefives, those people who have the
3% interest rates, they may beable to stomach three to a five
easier than three to a seven oran eight.
Um, so we will, I think we'llsee that open up some inventory.
Um, so sellers is a lot ofsellers kind of have these
(07:31):
golden handcuffs we talkedabout.
I have it personally too.
I have a low interest rate.
My family and I love our house,but you know, if interest rates
were two percent, we might havemoved.
Um, but now we're kind oftrapped in these low interest
rates.
Um, and so at 3%, you can kindof stomach the fives, right?
It doesn't seem so uh aggressivewhere three to a seven, three to
an eight is like, I'm nottouching that.
(07:51):
So I think that is what we'llsee happen in next year.
I'm I'm we're hoping that itbrings the right inventory.
Um, you know, Walker is a fastgrowing place.
There's lots of new developmentsgoing in that Walker is busy uh
working on, and so we're seeinga lot of growth in this area.
So we still don't have enoughhomes.
You know, just again, we'relooking at 1.7 months of supply.
(08:12):
We need more houses.
Um, and in the city's been greatabout addressing that.
Um, and so we're hoping thatwith these lower interest rates,
home buyers, home sellers feelcomfortable about getting off of
that low rate and maybe movinginto the house that's actually
fit for their family, whetherit's too big or too small.
Um, and they feel comfortablewith that move and can afford it
and it makes sense for themfinancially.
Um, so we're hoping that levelsout the market even more and
(08:36):
brings a healthy amount ofsupply.
Um, and also brings those buyerswho have been skittish off the
high rates, brings them back in.
Um, because yeah, it's not funfor a house to sit for a long
time.
And it's also wasn't fun whenthere was 30 offers and buyers
felt so defeated.
So a healthy market is just alittle bit more of an even back
and forth, and I'm hoping that'swhat it means for 2026.
(08:56):
More affordability, moreoptions, um, and and sellers not
having to, you know, we don'twant them sitting for a long
time either.
So pricing and staging, allthose things are really
important.
SPEAKER_02 (09:05):
Yes, yeah, of course.
If you are um, you know, lookingto what are some of the best uh
you know ways to prep a home tomake sure that you're getting
the most for it, but uh, youknow, also it's good for the
next person.
SPEAKER_01 (09:16):
Yeah, curb appeal is everything, right?
Because that's we drive up andyou first thing we see if it's
run down and the hedges areovergrown and the grass is long,
and it's like, ooh, all right,you can walk into the house, be
great, but you're gonna havethis kind of pre we judge things
quickly.
Um, and so I always say, youknow, start outside, make it
look nice, fresh, clean.
It doesn't need to be fancy, butjust make sure it's clean and
(09:37):
fresh and it looks good so thatwhen you pull into that
driveway, you think, oh, thisokay, it's a nice house.
Now you go inside, you don'twant it to obviously smell like
dogs or cats or animals, um,smokers, any of those things.
You want to kind of eliminateodors whenever you can.
Again, that's the first thingwe're gonna feel.
You know, walk in and like, oop,they got dogs, you know.
And I love dogs and and I and Iget it, but uh, we want to kind
(09:59):
of keep phyto uh not so much forthe new buyers, right?
Because not everyone loves dogs.
And the new buyers, we don't wedon't need to know if they love
dogs or not.
They probably do, a lot ofpeople do love dogs, but not
everyone loves the smell ofdogs.
So I always tell people, youknow, get it fresh, get it
clean, and then if you'relooking to do projects, kitchen
and baths.
I mean, those are always gonnabe your highest return.
People spend a lot of time inthe kitchen uh and they
(10:22):
entertain in the kitchen, andyou know, that's just it's a
good uh place to, you know,whether that's a full kitchen
remodel or just update it withsome you know, paint and maybe
some backsplash and just kind ofrefresh it a little bit because
that's what you know, that'swhere people spend a lot of
their times in bathrooms, samething.
People love uh an updatedbathroom.
Um I always tell people don't uhdon't remodel it past where your
(10:45):
what your neighborhood is, youknow.
So if you're in a you know a$300,000, you know, kind of
starter home neighborhood, don'tput in the the fanciest tile
unless you want to live thereforever, and that's fine.
I tell people throw ROI out thewindow if this is your forever
house and this is what you want.
Well, life's life's too short.
Do what you want.
Um, but if you're thinking aboutwhen you're gonna go to sell
this thing, well, let's let's doit in a smart way.
(11:06):
Um, you don't need the fancystuff.
Buyers just want a clean, freshbathroom.
They don't need the fancy tileand you know the the really
expensive vanity.
Just put a nice vanity in a newtile and make it look nice, but
you don't need to you know breakthe bank to make it uh worth it
in terms of ROI.
SPEAKER_02 (11:20):
Yeah, that's a great point there.
Um now, you know, as far asbusinesses, uh we have a lot of
uh space available, maybe somefor like rent or things like
that.
Yeah, um, what are you seeing asfar as uh with that kind of uh
demographic?
SPEAKER_01 (11:34):
Yeah, uh well, we're seeing people rent longer than
ever before, right?
It's the average age of lasttime I heard was up to like 36
or 38, uh is the first-time homebuyer.
So you're seeing those peoplerent a lot longer.
Um, and I think again, Walker'sdone a great job addressing
that.
If you look at Standale, there'sa lot more rental options.
Um, and again, those that'salways met with mixed emotions.
Um, and uh but people need tounderstand that we just talked
(11:56):
about that stat.
People are renting until they're36 or 37, 38 years old.
Um, so there's the first timehome buyers moved up, and which
means we need more places forrent.
Uh, and if we want to be a cityand an area that is full of
growth and excitement and andnew businesses, and um we need
the people here, and so we needrentals, right?
It's all they're all connected,and that's not always an easy
(12:17):
thing to talk about becausepeople love old Standale or love
when you know it was the olddrive-in movie theater.
I'm like, I do too, you know, Iwasn't alive, but you know what
I mean.
It's like it, I I love thenostalgia too, um, but I also
love Walker and I want to shareit with other people.
And and so if that means we needa few more spots for people to
be able to rent, um that thatthat's that's what we have to
do.
Yeah, and and so yeah, I thinkit's great to see those options
(12:40):
available.
Um, and people can get to knowWalker, you know, whether it's
Meyer or Bissell or we have somebig corporations here um that
bring in talent from outside ofjust our area.
Um, so not everyone's familiarwith the area.
So renting is a great spot tosay, okay, we're gonna start
here, it's close to work um andit's close to everything, and
then we can go find whatneighborhood we want to be in,
you know, what specific area wewant to live in.
(13:01):
It just gives people an uh atime to kind of adjust and not
be so locked into a house.
I I can't imagine moving to anew city for a job and just
buying a house.
I mean, people do it, and youknow, you gotta have a good real
estate agent to help with that.
They know the area, but it's gotto be stressful, you know,
because you don't know thecommute, you don't know the
restaurants.
Um, so I tell people come rentfor a little bit, just figure it
(13:22):
out, go try a bunch of things umand make sure you like it in the
specific area that you'relooking before you buy.
So um, yeah, I think as we talkabout businesses and new
corporations and in and newgrowth in the job market, um,
rentals is a is a very importantpart of that because that's
that's what people need.
It's it's harder to buy a houseright away.
So hey, we have something torent.
We can learn about you know thisnew development, whatever the
(13:44):
project is.
You know, there's some excitingones and that you know you guys
are are working on.
Um, and so that's you know,that's what we need.
We need more options for thosepeople.
SPEAKER_02 (13:52):
And you were speaking about development.
One of them the um is actuallyTom and Woods, so that you guys
are the the main listing agentsfor that.
That's just south of Standale onCummings there.
Um, another option again, condosfor uh for folks to to look to
kind of live near the city, alsohave some nice greenery and
space near them.
SPEAKER_01 (14:09):
So yeah, absolutely great development.
Um the Jag the developers arejust world-class builders.
Um we've we've worked with otherbuilders um and and these guys
are just top of the line.
They do things right.
Um, they built them the wayyou'd want your house to be
built.
Um, and it is exciting to youknow, yeah, have these these
condos that are built this wayand in there, but they're tucked
(14:31):
away, right?
It's like you drive off Cummingsand you pull in and like you
kind of forget you're in almostthe middle of Standale.
Um, so yeah, it's just anotherexample of, you know, that's
obviously those are forpurchase.
Um, but it's just another optionof hey, here's some flexible
living space, it's not allcookie cutter houses um because
not everyone wants to live in aneighborhood.
The condo offers a different uhsolution for people who don't
(14:52):
want a yard to take care of andum zero entry.
So as you're aging, it's it'sbetter for them.
And there's there's optionsavailable for for people, and
that's what I think is coolabout Walker in this area of
growth that we're seeing GrandRapids.
You know, as Grand Rapids grows,we're gonna grow, right?
Because people are gonna bepushed out of affordability and
they're gonna move into ourcommunities.
Um, and so we have a spot forthem, whether that's the Vista
(15:14):
45 projects, whether that'sTalman Woods, whether that's you
know, obviously single familyhouses.
Um, but we have optionsavailable for people who want to
move into this area, and I thinkthat's really exciting.
SPEAKER_02 (15:23):
Scott, great information.
And where can folks find um forinformation for you if they are
looking for a realtor possible?
SPEAKER_01 (15:30):
Absolutely.
Yeah, our uh website iszocotiem.com, so that's
z-o-k-o-e-team.com.
Um Scott Zoko, that's absolutelywho I am.
Uh, we're part of the Zoko teamat Five Star Real Estate.
Um, so you can look us up onInstagram, Facebook, uh website,
whatever works best.
SPEAKER_02 (15:43):
Love it.
It's a small business,family-owned business.
We love seeing you guys here.
Thank you for this greatinsight, Scott.
SPEAKER_01 (15:48):
Thank you.
Yeah, we appreciate you.
SPEAKER_02 (15:49):
And we thank you for tuning in as well.
SPEAKER_00 (15:52):
Thank you for joining us for this episode of
the Maiden Walker Podcast.
If you have comments orquestions about this podcast, or
if you have suggestions forfuture episodes, we'd love to
hear from you.
Please drop us an email atpodcast at walker.city.
Maiden Walker is the officialpodcast of the city of Walker,
Michigan.
(16:12):
You can find Maiden Walkerwherever you get your podcasts.
Welcome to Maiden Walker, the podcast that
connects you to the people, thestories, and the ideas shaping
our community.
From local innovators toeveryday change makers, we're
diving deep into what makesWalker a great place to live,
work, and grow.
Here's your host, NicoleIdenato.
SPEAKER_02 (00:26):
We're sitting down today with Scott Zoko of the
Zoko Team Five Star Real Estate.
They are local experts with deepties to Walker and the West
Michigan community's dynamicreal estate market.
So whether you're a longtimeresident, maybe looking to
relocate or a local business, wehope to give you some insight
into the real estate market herein your own backyard.
(00:46):
Scott, thanks so much for beinghere.
SPEAKER_01 (00:48):
Thank you for having me.
I'm excited to be here.
It's it's an interesting time inthe real estate market.
So I think this is a great timefor us to get on and talk about
what things are happening.
There's been a lot in the mediaabout interest rates and home
prices and the economy as awhole.
So I think we can kind of givepeople a quick little snippet of
what's happening and maybe helpthem uh in their decision
because not I don't want to bethe real estate agent who just
(01:09):
says now's the best time to sellor buy.
It's always about what's goingon in your family and your
story.
Um so I want to help people kindof guide them to the right
decision, not just the decisionthat, you know, the decision
that makes the most sense.
SPEAKER_02 (01:19):
Yeah, you're the best person for it.
So, you know, growing up in thein the area and now working in
the area, what has that beenlike with her?
SPEAKER_01 (01:25):
Yeah.
So I uh born and raised in thisarea and just love it.
Um, I think you know, ourbusiness is built on referrals,
and so it's you know, it'spretty important to get to know
the community you're in, um, todo business at the businesses
that you're working in and seethem, you know, you go to the
same restaurant, whether it'sWalker Roadhouse, uh Double Dip
Depot, it doesn't matter.
It's kind of like you get to bethere over and over and you get
(01:46):
to know the people and know thepeople who own the businesses.
Um, I've had the opportunity tobe involved with the City of
Walker and the DDA and theWalker Chamber.
Um, I think it's a reallyexciting place to be as you
know, I grew up here, and sothere's been a lot of change.
Um, and some people are you knowadverse to change, and you know,
but I think um it's an excitingthing for the community.
(02:07):
It's exciting to see newdevelopments, it's it's exciting
to see new libraries, um,whatever those things are.
I don't think you ever want tobe a stagnant community.
And and Walker is really good atsaying, hey, we have an
opportunity here, let's use it.
Um, and and so you know, for me,it's the people, you know, it's
like I think that's the easyanswer, right?
But it's also the right answerbecause people here love where
(02:27):
they're at.
They love, they've been, youknow, some sometimes we go and
list a house, it's been in thefamily for 60, 70 years.
It's like people want to behere, they want to stay here.
Um, you know, you see a lot ofgrowth from outside of you know
different states coming in.
Um, and so obviously we're doingsomething right.
Um, but I think it's when youyou see that grandma who's been
in the same house for for 80years, it's like, yeah, she
(02:48):
loves it here.
Um, she loves her neighbors, theneighbors care about her.
Um, and so it's just a reallycool sense of community.
Um, and I think we see that youknow, people want to be here,
and we're seeing that again kindof across the country, people
are moving here.
SPEAKER_02 (03:01):
So yeah, and kind of starting with people want to be
here, what does the how has themarket really kind of changed
pretty much, especially in thisyear, yeah, compared to other
communities around WestMichigan?
SPEAKER_01 (03:11):
Yeah, that's a that's a good question.
So uh so maybe macro-wise, youknow, for the last four years or
since you know COVID kind of uhkicked in and interest rates
were near zero, all right.
So money was essentially free.
Um and so everyone in in theirmother wanted to buy a house.
It was a stressful process.
There was 30 offers on everyhouse, um, and you felt like you
(03:32):
had to give your right kidneyjust to be able to buy one.
Um, great for sellers, right?
There was a great time to sell.
Um, and it was a good time tobuy because interest rates were
low and your payments werelower, so that's awesome.
Um, unfortunately, that was uhour artificially elevated.
That wasn't a real uh interestrate in borrowing environment.
Um, so I think it's given macrowise sellers uh maybe this uh
(03:53):
illusion that every house, everytime they sell, that's gonna
happen.
And now we've seen some changesuh in the last year, and
interest rates have obviouslyrisen pretty significantly,
significantly over uh the lastcouple of years here.
We have seen them come down alittle bit.
Um, but that has led to umbuyers maybe feeling like, hey,
wait a minute, I've heard theinterest rates are up and that
(04:14):
things are sitting a little bitlonger.
Um, and sellers maybe feelinglike, oh, wait a minute, for the
last four years, all I've heardabout is, hey, I'm gonna get
whatever I want, multipleoffers, blah, blah, blah.
So we're seeing a little bit ofa um a learning here in the
market that people are like,maybe you can't just price it
wherever you want it to priceand it's gonna sell because
that's not the case anymore.
(04:34):
Um, days on market have gone up.
You know, we're seeing thingstake a little bit longer to
sell.
Now, all that being said, it'sstill definitely a seller's
market.
And and I think the problem iswe've seen it go from like crazy
to a little bit more normal, buteven that normal is still very
much out of whack with what anormal market is.
(04:54):
Um, I think if I look at ourmonth supply for September of
2025, uh we're 1.76 months.
So a normal market is sixmonths, so still very much a
seller's market.
Things are selling in uh 19 dayson average, and if you go back
to March, they were selling inseven days.
So um that's that's the hardpart, right?
We talk about a normal marketand it's like 19 days feels like
(05:16):
a lot compared to seven, butit's still pretty darn good if
you're sold within three weeksand you know you're getting
99.8% of your purchase price.
So um, yeah, I think it's it'san interesting time.
It's just more that I thinkwe've had expectations on one
end for both parties, and sowe're seeing them kind of learn
that hey, those things aren't inthe case anymore and they are
(05:37):
changing.
It's not a bad thing, it doesn'tmean that you know it's not a
good time to buy or sell, itjust depends on it.
It makes you think a little bitlonger about that decision.
Um, and make sure you're makingthe right decision for you and
your family.
I always tell people the besttime to buy a house was 10 years
ago.
You should have bought all ofthem, you know.
You know, that's the best time.
The next best time is when itmakes sense for your family.
Um, so you know, people say,well, now's a good time because
(05:59):
there's less I'm like, wait tillit makes sense for your family
and financially, you don't wantto buy a house and then have the
furnace go out and now you can'tafford to put the furnace in,
then you might as well berenting, right?
So I I don't we don't rushpeople into homeownership until
you're ready.
Um, because it's not uh, youknow, this there's gonna be more
than just the mortgage payment.
You know, you're gonna haveupkeep, you're gonna have
maintenance, you're gonna havethings to do to a house.
(06:21):
If you're not ready for that,just rent.
I don't want to be the realtoryou screaming to buy.
I want you to buy because youwant to own a home and you want
to change the paint colors andyou want to add and you want to
make it your own and make ithome, not just buy house because
that's what your mom dad toldyou to do.
SPEAKER_02 (06:34):
So it's very comforting to hear.
It's a it's a stressful processfor both sides.
So that's great to hear that youknow you you guys aren't you
know pressuring folks into doingthat.
It is just what is best for yourpersonal family.
Yeah.
Um looking into 2026, what areyou seeing as far as trends?
SPEAKER_01 (06:48):
Yeah, that's a uh that's a good question.
We like I talked about theinterest rates, they have gone
up, right?
We saw them hit almost eight.
Um, now they're like low sixes.
Um so they have come down offtheir highs.
And we do think that trend willcontinue into the mid fives to
maybe low fives by the end ofnext year.
Um, which, you know, for peoplewho bought at 7% or 8%, you are
(07:10):
gonna see people say, like,okay, one, we may need to
refinance, right, to get into alower interest rate.
And two, if you get into thefives, those people who have the
3% interest rates, they may beable to stomach three to a five
easier than three to a seven oran eight.
Um, so we will, I think we'llsee that open up some inventory.
Um, so sellers is a lot ofsellers kind of have these
(07:31):
golden handcuffs we talkedabout.
I have it personally too.
I have a low interest rate.
My family and I love our house,but you know, if interest rates
were two percent, we might havemoved.
Um, but now we're kind oftrapped in these low interest
rates.
Um, and so at 3%, you can kindof stomach the fives, right?
It doesn't seem so uh aggressivewhere three to a seven, three to
an eight is like, I'm nottouching that.
(07:51):
So I think that is what we'llsee happen in next year.
I'm I'm we're hoping that itbrings the right inventory.
Um, you know, Walker is a fastgrowing place.
There's lots of new developmentsgoing in that Walker is busy uh
working on, and so we're seeinga lot of growth in this area.
So we still don't have enoughhomes.
You know, just again, we'relooking at 1.7 months of supply.
(08:12):
We need more houses.
Um, and in the city's been greatabout addressing that.
Um, and so we're hoping thatwith these lower interest rates,
home buyers, home sellers feelcomfortable about getting off of
that low rate and maybe movinginto the house that's actually
fit for their family, whetherit's too big or too small.
Um, and they feel comfortablewith that move and can afford it
and it makes sense for themfinancially.
Um, so we're hoping that levelsout the market even more and
(08:36):
brings a healthy amount ofsupply.
Um, and also brings those buyerswho have been skittish off the
high rates, brings them back in.
Um, because yeah, it's not funfor a house to sit for a long
time.
And it's also wasn't fun whenthere was 30 offers and buyers
felt so defeated.
So a healthy market is just alittle bit more of an even back
and forth, and I'm hoping that'swhat it means for 2026.
(08:56):
More affordability, moreoptions, um, and and sellers not
having to, you know, we don'twant them sitting for a long
time either.
So pricing and staging, allthose things are really
important.
SPEAKER_02 (09:05):
Yes, yeah, of course.
If you are um, you know, lookingto what are some of the best uh
you know ways to prep a home tomake sure that you're getting
the most for it, but uh, youknow, also it's good for the
next person.
SPEAKER_01 (09:16):
Yeah, curb appeal is everything, right?
Because that's we drive up andyou first thing we see if it's
run down and the hedges areovergrown and the grass is long,
and it's like, ooh, all right,you can walk into the house, be
great, but you're gonna havethis kind of pre we judge things
quickly.
Um, and so I always say, youknow, start outside, make it
look nice, fresh, clean.
It doesn't need to be fancy, butjust make sure it's clean and
(09:37):
fresh and it looks good so thatwhen you pull into that
driveway, you think, oh, thisokay, it's a nice house.
Now you go inside, you don'twant it to obviously smell like
dogs or cats or animals, um,smokers, any of those things.
You want to kind of eliminateodors whenever you can.
Again, that's the first thingwe're gonna feel.
You know, walk in and like, oop,they got dogs, you know.
And I love dogs and and I and Iget it, but uh, we want to kind
(09:59):
of keep phyto uh not so much forthe new buyers, right?
Because not everyone loves dogs.
And the new buyers, we don't wedon't need to know if they love
dogs or not.
They probably do, a lot ofpeople do love dogs, but not
everyone loves the smell ofdogs.
So I always tell people, youknow, get it fresh, get it
clean, and then if you'relooking to do projects, kitchen
and baths.
I mean, those are always gonnabe your highest return.
People spend a lot of time inthe kitchen uh and they
(10:22):
entertain in the kitchen, andyou know, that's just it's a
good uh place to, you know,whether that's a full kitchen
remodel or just update it withsome you know, paint and maybe
some backsplash and just kind ofrefresh it a little bit because
that's what you know, that'swhere people spend a lot of
their times in bathrooms, samething.
People love uh an updatedbathroom.
Um I always tell people don't uhdon't remodel it past where your
(10:45):
what your neighborhood is, youknow.
So if you're in a you know a$300,000, you know, kind of
starter home neighborhood, don'tput in the the fanciest tile
unless you want to live thereforever, and that's fine.
I tell people throw ROI out thewindow if this is your forever
house and this is what you want.
Well, life's life's too short.
Do what you want.
Um, but if you're thinking aboutwhen you're gonna go to sell
this thing, well, let's let's doit in a smart way.
(11:06):
Um, you don't need the fancystuff.
Buyers just want a clean, freshbathroom.
They don't need the fancy tileand you know the the really
expensive vanity.
Just put a nice vanity in a newtile and make it look nice, but
you don't need to you know breakthe bank to make it uh worth it
in terms of ROI.
SPEAKER_02 (11:20):
Yeah, that's a great point there.
Um now, you know, as far asbusinesses, uh we have a lot of
uh space available, maybe somefor like rent or things like
that.
Yeah, um, what are you seeing asfar as uh with that kind of uh
demographic?
SPEAKER_01 (11:34):
Yeah, uh well, we're seeing people rent longer than
ever before, right?
It's the average age of lasttime I heard was up to like 36
or 38, uh is the first-time homebuyer.
So you're seeing those peoplerent a lot longer.
Um, and I think again, Walker'sdone a great job addressing
that.
If you look at Standale, there'sa lot more rental options.
Um, and again, those that'salways met with mixed emotions.
Um, and uh but people need tounderstand that we just talked
(11:56):
about that stat.
People are renting until they're36 or 37, 38 years old.
Um, so there's the first timehome buyers moved up, and which
means we need more places forrent.
Uh, and if we want to be a cityand an area that is full of
growth and excitement and andnew businesses, and um we need
the people here, and so we needrentals, right?
It's all they're all connected,and that's not always an easy
(12:17):
thing to talk about becausepeople love old Standale or love
when you know it was the olddrive-in movie theater.
I'm like, I do too, you know, Iwasn't alive, but you know what
I mean.
It's like it, I I love thenostalgia too, um, but I also
love Walker and I want to shareit with other people.
And and so if that means we needa few more spots for people to
be able to rent, um that thatthat's that's what we have to
do.
Yeah, and and so yeah, I thinkit's great to see those options
(12:40):
available.
Um, and people can get to knowWalker, you know, whether it's
Meyer or Bissell or we have somebig corporations here um that
bring in talent from outside ofjust our area.
Um, so not everyone's familiarwith the area.
So renting is a great spot tosay, okay, we're gonna start
here, it's close to work um andit's close to everything, and
then we can go find whatneighborhood we want to be in,
you know, what specific area wewant to live in.
(13:01):
It just gives people an uh atime to kind of adjust and not
be so locked into a house.
I I can't imagine moving to anew city for a job and just
buying a house.
I mean, people do it, and youknow, you gotta have a good real
estate agent to help with that.
They know the area, but it's gotto be stressful, you know,
because you don't know thecommute, you don't know the
restaurants.
Um, so I tell people come rentfor a little bit, just figure it
(13:22):
out, go try a bunch of things umand make sure you like it in the
specific area that you'relooking before you buy.
So um, yeah, I think as we talkabout businesses and new
corporations and in and newgrowth in the job market, um,
rentals is a is a very importantpart of that because that's
that's what people need.
It's it's harder to buy a houseright away.
So hey, we have something torent.
We can learn about you know thisnew development, whatever the
(13:44):
project is.
You know, there's some excitingones and that you know you guys
are are working on.
Um, and so that's you know,that's what we need.
We need more options for thosepeople.
SPEAKER_02 (13:52):
And you were speaking about development.
One of them the um is actuallyTom and Woods, so that you guys
are the the main listing agentsfor that.
That's just south of Standale onCummings there.
Um, another option again, condosfor uh for folks to to look to
kind of live near the city, alsohave some nice greenery and
space near them.
SPEAKER_01 (14:09):
So yeah, absolutely great development.
Um the Jag the developers arejust world-class builders.
Um we've we've worked with otherbuilders um and and these guys
are just top of the line.
They do things right.
Um, they built them the wayyou'd want your house to be
built.
Um, and it is exciting to youknow, yeah, have these these
condos that are built this wayand in there, but they're tucked
(14:31):
away, right?
It's like you drive off Cummingsand you pull in and like you
kind of forget you're in almostthe middle of Standale.
Um, so yeah, it's just anotherexample of, you know, that's
obviously those are forpurchase.
Um, but it's just another optionof hey, here's some flexible
living space, it's not allcookie cutter houses um because
not everyone wants to live in aneighborhood.
The condo offers a different uhsolution for people who don't
(14:52):
want a yard to take care of andum zero entry.
So as you're aging, it's it'sbetter for them.
And there's there's optionsavailable for for people, and
that's what I think is coolabout Walker in this area of
growth that we're seeing GrandRapids.
You know, as Grand Rapids grows,we're gonna grow, right?
Because people are gonna bepushed out of affordability and
they're gonna move into ourcommunities.
Um, and so we have a spot forthem, whether that's the Vista
(15:14):
45 projects, whether that'sTalman Woods, whether that's you
know, obviously single familyhouses.
Um, but we have optionsavailable for people who want to
move into this area, and I thinkthat's really exciting.
SPEAKER_02 (15:23):
Scott, great information.
And where can folks find um forinformation for you if they are
looking for a realtor possible?
SPEAKER_01 (15:30):
Absolutely.
Yeah, our uh website iszocotiem.com, so that's
z-o-k-o-e-team.com.
Um Scott Zoko, that's absolutelywho I am.
Uh, we're part of the Zoko teamat Five Star Real Estate.
Um, so you can look us up onInstagram, Facebook, uh website,
whatever works best.
SPEAKER_02 (15:43):
Love it.
It's a small business,family-owned business.
We love seeing you guys here.
Thank you for this greatinsight, Scott.
SPEAKER_01 (15:48):
Thank you.
Yeah, we appreciate you.
SPEAKER_02 (15:49):
And we thank you for tuning in as well.
SPEAKER_00 (15:52):
Thank you for joining us for this episode of
the Maiden Walker Podcast.
If you have comments orquestions about this podcast, or
if you have suggestions forfuture episodes, we'd love to
hear from you.
Please drop us an email atpodcast at walker.city.
Maiden Walker is the officialpodcast of the city of Walker,
Michigan.
(16:12):
You can find Maiden Walkerwherever you get your podcasts.
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