Devin Fink - Realtor

Another one sold in Southfield 😎 Congrats to my first-time homebuyer client! Here's to many years of happiness and equity building 🥂

Selling a house is only half the battle.

The actual physical process of moving is something nobody enjoys. When we moved recently, we utilized storage pods just to keep our sanity while transitioning everything between houses. You always end up finding things you haven't seen in years and throwing half of it away. If you are selling your house, start packing and purging months before you actually list it. It will save you a massive headache on moving day.

A lot of people think being a real estate agent is just driving around opening doors for people. The reality is that a massive chunk of my time is spent behind a screen analyzing technical SEO, auditing metadata, and running digital ads for properties.

The market has moved almost entirely online. If your agent doesn't understand how to properly target advertising or optimize a property's digital footprint, your listing is losing money and visibility. It is a data job as much as a sales job. For those of you who run your own businesses, how much of your week is dedicated to the digital backend of things?

I come from a family of contractors, but I am not a licensed builder or a renovation expert. I do enough DIY on my own house, from replacing cellar doors to fixing window screens, to know that not every project gets a return on investment.

If you are thinking about selling this year, do not waste money on massive overhauls that the next buyer might just rip out anyway. Focus on the mechanics, a clean exterior, and fixing the things that will flag an inspection. If you are prepping to sell, let me walk through the house first before you spend a dime at the hardware store!

When my family moved from Fowlerville down to Gregory, the property maintenance needs changed. Buying a house with land means buying the equipment to maintain it.

I picked up a John Deere 3032e with a front loader and backhoe recently. It wasn't an impulse buy; it was a necessity for keeping the property functional. A lot of people want acreage out in the country until they realize the physical work it takes to maintain it. If you have a larger property, what piece of equipment has been the most essential for you to keep things running?

Let's talk about first-time home buying in Southeastern Michigan right now. It is a grind.

A lot of buyers are getting frustrated because the inventory in places like Brighton, Howell, and Lansing moves fast, and the prices aren't what they were five years ago. My job isn't to sell you a dream, it's to help you navigate the reality of this market. If you're looking to buy your first home, the first step is getting your finances in check and setting realistic expectations about what you can actually afford. Let's talk reality.

By the time Friday night rolls around, the last thing I want to do is cook. The routine usually defaults to ordering from Detroit Wing Company (or used to anyway, they left Howell! 😭 ) or grabbing Hungry Howie's for the family. It's predictable, but it works after a long week of showings and negotiations. What is your default local takeout when you are too burnt out to make dinner?

I spend a lot of time driving through Gregory, Howell, and the surrounding areas. You see a lot of picturesque posts about living out here, but the trade-off is the drive time and learning how to manage things like a well and septic system.

It's a great place to live if you want the space and quiet, but it requires a different mindset than city living. If you made the move out this way recently, what was your biggest adjustment?

Welp, I guess I'm a Farmer now!

Maybe ill add tractor services to my listing consults 🤣

Real talk: My "home office" usually ends up being the kitchen island, surrounded by half-empty coffee mugs and a very needy dog.

Working in real estate means I’m always on the go, but when I’m home, I’m just like everyone else—trying to find the quietest corner for a Zoom call! Where is your designated workspace at home? Are you a "desk person" or a "couch with a laptop" person? Let's see those WFH setups (messy desks welcome)!