Google Street View, Traverse City

Very cool technology news to announce today. Downtown Traverse City has been added to Google Maps Street View. This feature provides 360 degree horizontal and vertical street level views of all streets north of S Airport, east of Division, and west of 3 Mile Rd. This is a nice tool that lets you check out neighborhoods throughout Traverse City from anywhere in the world. You can view our tri-plex listing located at 224 W 8th Street (corner of 8th and Pine) and play around with the mapping by CLICKING HERE. This is a neat technology that is similar to the 360 degree real estate tours that we also provide of some of our listings. Large metropolitan areas have been mapped for years but I am extremely surprised to see it in small communities such as Traverse City.

-Jonathan Oltersdorf

Leelanau / Grand Traverse Real Estate Blog

Welcome!

You have found your way to our newly fashioned real estate blog, the internet’s popular newsletter of today! Our ultimate goal is to inform past clients, future clients, and curious bystanders on the basic national real estate news as well as customize our entries to give as much local news as possible; hence, our creation of a real estate blog! Unfortunately the final few months of 2008 didn’t bring the economic stability of years past, but that doesn’t mean that my first blog entry can’t close 2008 with some good news for everyone.

Mortgage rates fall to 37-year low!

30 year-fixed mortgage rates fell to a national average of 5.19%. If you would like to read the corresponding article on CNN Money, you can find it by clicking here. Hopefully by the Fed slashing key interest rates to near zero, we will finally see an increase in mortgage applications which will ultimately help shorten this housing slump. We are quite blessed to be in Northern Michigan, not only for the natural beauty that we are all quite aware of, but also for shelter from the large decreases in property and home values the rest of the state is experiencing . We will be ok! Make sure to check back in January as I will post data on 2008 sales figures in our area compared to previous years. See you all in 2009!

Jonathan Oltersdorf