A Realtor for Upsizing Families in Metro Detroit
You loved this house. Your family outgrew it. I help growing households across Oakland, Macomb, and Wayne County sell one home and buy the next without a gap in between.
Upsizing Is Not the Same as Buying Your First Home
When you bought your first place, you had one job. Find a house you could afford and close on it. Upsizing is a different animal. You are running two transactions at the same time, and each one depends on the other. Your down payment is sitting in the walls of the house you are living in. Your family cannot pack up twice. And the timeline is not really yours, because it belongs to a buyer you have not met yet and a seller who has their own move to make.
Most families I meet have been circling this for a year or more. The stairs got tight. The baby is in the office. Somebody is doing homework at the kitchen counter because there is nowhere else. You know you need more room. What has been stopping you is not the wanting. It is the logistics.
Nobody sits down and decides to move with two kids under five in the middle of a Michigan winter. That happens when the timing gets away from you.
Founder & Principal Associate Broker
I have been in Michigan real estate for more than 10 years, and I built my practice around this exact move. Not first time buyers, though I love working with them. Not investors. Families who are outgrowing a house they still like, in a neighborhood they may not want to leave, who need both sides of the move to land in the right order.
I also know what it feels like when housing goes sideways. I lived in 15 different places in 30 years. I watched my childhood home go into foreclosure. Most of my family worked in mortgage and real estate, and in 2008 I watched them lose it. Home has always been more of a feeling than a place for me. That is not a marketing line. It is why I will not let a family walk into a housing gap they did not see coming.
How I Move a Family From Outgrown to Settled
This is the Curated Method. Four steps, in this order, every time. It exists so you are never making a large decision on short notice with incomplete information.
The Vision
We meet in person or on Zoom before anything else happens. The point of this conversation is not to look at houses. It is to figure out what is actually not working in the one you have. Sometimes it is square footage. Often it is a floor plan that stopped matching how your family moves through a day.
We talk through your goals, your budget, and your timeline so we start with the same set of expectations. You will hear back from me within 24 hours on weekdays and the next business day on weekends. No question is a silly one, and you will never be left guessing where I am.
The Plan
We walk your current home together and I give you an honest audit of its condition. You get a list of what genuinely affects how buyers see the house and what is not worth your money, plus my contractors when you need them. Painters, cleaners, carpet cleaners, and a stager if staging will move the number.
Then we price it. I come with recent comparable sales from your immediate neighborhood, not a countywide average, and we talk through what pricing correctly does for showing traffic and offer volume. We also build a plan for the in between. That might be a possession clause that lets you stay after closing, or a short term rental. You will have more than one option before anything hits the market.
The Action
Now we look. We go back to what you described in the Vision and use it as the filter, and we see as many homes as it takes. You will never feel pushed toward something that is close enough. If the existing inventory is not getting you there, we adjust the search area or the budget, or we look at building.
When building is on the table, we interview more than one builder and tour spec homes before you commit to anyone. Building takes longer and asks more of you, and you should feel genuinely comfortable with the company before you sign.
The Alignment
This is the step most families are actually worried about, and it is the reason the first three exist. We time the sale and the purchase so they land in an order that works for your family. Sometimes that means waiting for a new build to finish. Sometimes we sell first and negotiate the possession you need.
Whatever shape it takes, you will know the plan before the closings get close, and you will have a backup. The last thing anyone needs is a month of nowhere to live with small kids and a moving truck already booked.
Where I Work
Higher Living Real Estate is based in Waterford and I work throughout Metro Detroit. These are the communities upsizing families ask me about most, though the list is not a boundary.
Oakland County
- Clarkston and Independence Township
- Rochester and Rochester Hills
- Troy
- Birmingham and Beverly Hills
- Bloomfield Hills
- West Bloomfield
- Commerce Township and Wixom
- Novi and Northville
- Farmington and Farmington Hills
- Royal Oak and Berkley
- Huntington Woods and Oak Park
- Ferndale and Madison Heights
- Waterford and White Lake
- Lake Orion and Oxford
- Auburn Hills
- Milford and Highland
- South Lyon
Macomb County
- Shelby Township
- Macomb Township
- Clinton Township
- Sterling Heights
- Washington Township
- Utica
- Chesterfield Township
- New Baltimore
- Harrison Township
- St. Clair Shores
- Romeo and Bruce Township
- Armada and Richmond
- Warren and Fraser
- Roseville and Eastpointe
- Mount Clemens
Wayne County
- Northville Township
- Plymouth and Plymouth Township
- Canton Township
- Livonia
- Westland and Garden City
- Redford Township
- Grosse Pointe communities
- Dearborn and Dearborn Heights
- Allen Park and Taylor
- Trenton and Wyandotte
- Grosse Ile
- Belleville and Van Buren Township
- Detroit
Do not see your community on the list? It is not a boundary, just where families ask me most often. Ask me about your area.
Families Who Made This Exact Move
When we finally found a new build option Ashley navigated the complex process with us with ease and expertise. She advocated for our needs and she was always one step ahead of the process for us.Hannah & Nicole Figueroa
Questions Upsizing Families Ask Me
Should I sell my current home before buying the next one?
It depends on your equity, your financing, and how much uncertainty your family can carry. Some Metro Detroit families sell first and negotiate a possession clause that lets them stay in the home for 30 to 60 days after closing. Others are able to buy first. I build both options into a plan before either home goes on the market so you are not deciding under pressure.
How do I avoid a gap between selling my home and closing on the new one?
We time the two closings together from the very beginning. The common tools are a post closing possession clause, a short term rental in between, or building the sale timeline around a new construction completion date. The goal is that a family with young children is never without a place to live in the middle of a Michigan winter.
How much is my current home worth in today's Metro Detroit market?
A real valuation starts with recent comparable sales in your immediate neighborhood, not a countywide average or an online estimate. I provide a free home valuation and walk you through what those comparables mean for both your list price and your buying power on the next house. You can start with a home valuation here.
What should I fix before listing my home?
You get a room by room audit of the current condition along with a list of what actually affects how buyers see the house and what is not worth spending on. That can include staging guidance and my list of contractors such as painters, cleaners, and carpet cleaners. Every item comes with a timeline so you know which market date we are working toward.
Is it better to upsize into an existing home or build new?
Existing homes close faster and you can see exactly what you are buying. New construction gets you more of what you want but takes longer and asks you to make more decisions along the way. When building is on the table, I help you interview more than one builder and tour spec homes before you commit to anyone.
Which Metro Detroit communities are best for growing families?
I work throughout Oakland, Macomb, and Wayne County. Families upsizing for space and schools often look at Clarkston, Troy, Rochester Hills, Birmingham, West Bloomfield, Novi, Commerce Township, Berkley, and Huntington Woods in Oakland County; Shelby Township, Macomb Township, Washington Township, and Chesterfield Township in Macomb County; and Northville, Plymouth, Canton, and Livonia in Wayne County. The right fit depends on your commute, your budget, and your school priorities, which is exactly what we sort out in the first conversation.
How long does it take to upsize?
Most families move from the first conversation to closing in a few months, though the range is wide. Prep work on your current home, how quickly the right house comes up, and your financing all affect it. I set a realistic schedule at the start rather than guessing at it as we go.
How do I get started?
Call me at 248-410-7940 or send a message through the contact page. The first step is a conversation, in person or on Zoom, about what is not working in your current home and what you need from the next one. There is no cost and no obligation.
Let's Talk About What Is Not Working
You do not need to be ready to list. Most of the families I work with called me months before they moved, just to understand their options. That first conversation costs nothing and commits you to nothing.
Contact Ashley