Did You Know 50% Of Realtors Haven’t Closed A Single Transaction In The Past Year?

Checking The Pulse Of The Kansas City Real Estate Market

Since the real estate downturn 1/5 of Realtors across the country have gotten out of the business.  The slow market has left many agents questioning whether they’ll be in business next month. The costs are certainly high to keep up with an agent’s monthly office fees, MLS dues, NAR dues, Lock box fees, gas costs, advertising costs, care for the kids when working night, etc. So, if you’re thinking right now about hiring a listing agent or buyer’s agent, consider that a recent CNN Money article estimates about 50% of Realtors nationally did not close a single transaction in the last 12 months. Wow, that’s incredible!


It’s hard to believe that half of Realtors with a current real estate licensed didn’t close a single transaction the past year. This tells me that half of my competition isn’t on top of the real estate market, aren’t current on what’s working well for buyers and sellers in today’s market and, most likely, are part-time real estate agents holding out for when they sell their own home or hoping a relative or a friend will call soon to buy or sell a home.

If you’re considering hiring someone you know, you should ask them about their business. Ask yourself, would you hire a financial planner who hadn’t completed a single investment transaction the past year? Would you choose an insurance agent who hadn’t written a single insurance policy the past year? You should definitely hire an agent because they’ll help you sell your home as quickly as possible and help you obtain the highest net proceeds… Or if you’re buying a home, you’ll want an agent who is not in a rush to get a closing and who will help you locate the best homes within your parameters, while providing expert representation all the way through the process.


Posted by Jason Brown

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Wilderness Valley Community Market Stats ~ Wilderness Valley Homes For Sale In Overland Park KS

Checking The Pulse Of The Kansas City Real Estate Market

Wilderness Valley Real Estate Market Stats
Wilderness Valley Is A Home Community In Overland Park KS

Looking over the Wilderness Valley market stats dating back a year to August 2010, 15 homes were put on the market and 6 homes were sold over the same year period. The average sales price in Wilderness Valley was $396,978 and the home community had sales prices ranging from $362,000 to $455,500.

Comparing the 5 Active homes for sale in Wilderness Valley to the 12-month sales rate in the subdivision, there’s 10.0 months of inventory currently on the market. This is high but not unusual in our current buyer’s market. The average current list price of $656,190 is much higher than the average sales price the past year in the community. Wilderness Valley is a popular Overland Park Kansas subdivision and located near parks and dining amenities and near access to 69 Highway in Overland Park.

Wilderness Valley In Overland Park Kansas

Wilderness Valley In Overland Park Kansas

Wilderness Valley is located in southern Overland Park Kansas and served by the Blue Valley School District. There’s approximately 146 homes in Wilderness Valley and many of the homes in the community were built from 2001 to 2007. If you are considering buying or selling a home in Wilderness Valley or in the surrounding Overland Park Kansas area, we look forward to assisting you with your move!

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 Posted by Jason Brown

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Lower Kansas City Mortgage Interest Rates Lead To Surge In Mortgage Applications

Checking The Pulse Of The Kansas City Real Estate Market

Kansas City mortgage interest rates have fallen drastically the past week and the result is the popular 30-year fixed rate mortgage loan has dropped from a 4.57% national average to 4.45%. These are the lowest mortgage interest rates we’ve seen all this year. Not surprisingly, the Mortgage Banker’s Association reports that mortgage loan applications jumped an astounding 7% over the past week.

Many economists feel home prices have bottomed out or will bottom out this year. Couple that with today’s low interest rates and this could be the best time ever to buy a home. Home buyers can certainly lock in an unbelievably low mortgage payment for years to come. Even if the real estate market encounters a slow rebound, first time home buyers will still be able to enjoy the pride of home ownership, a monthly payment lower than many rental payments, and building of long-term net worth when property values start rising again.


Posted by Jason Brown

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Wyncroft Community Market Stats ~ Wyncroft Homes For Sale In Olathe KS

Checking The Pulse Of The Kansas City Real Estate Market

Wyncroft Real Estate Market Stats
Wyncroft Is A Home Community In Olathe KS

Looking over the Wyncroft market stats dating back a year to August 2010, 12 homes were put on the market and 10 homes were sold over the same year period. The average sales price in Wyncroft was $202,661 and the home community had sales prices ranging from $174,000 to $222,500.

Comparing the 3 Active homes for sale in Wyncroft to the 12-month sales rate in the subdivision, there’s 3.6 months of inventory currently on the market. This is excellent in our current market and represents a seller’s market in the area. The average current list price of $203,000 is perfectly in line with average sales prices the past year in the community. Wyncroft is a popular Olathe Kansas subdivision and located near parks, shopping and dining amenities and near access to I-35 and I-435 highways in Olathe.

Wyncroft In Olathe Kansas

Wyncroft In Olathe Kansas

Wyncroft is located in northeast Olathe Kansas and served by the Olathe School District. There’s approximately 211 homes in Wyncroft and many of the homes in the community were built from 1987 to 1996. If you are considering buying or selling a home in Wyncroft or in the surrounding Olathe Kansas area, please let us know how we can assist you.

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 Posted by Jason Brown

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Overland Park Kansas Real Estate Update – August 2011

Checking The Pulse Of The Kansas City Real Estate Market

Real Estate Statistics On Overland Park Kansas
15 Day Glance At The Overland Park KS Real Estate Market

After calculating the absorption rate over the past 15 days in Overland Park Kansas, we find the city has 5.4 months of inventory currently on the market. This is an improvement over the 6.2 months of inventory when we checked Overland Park’s real estate stats back in July. 5.4 months of inventory represents a slight buyer’s market but the average sales price the past 15 days was significantly higher than the average priced new listing to come on the market during the same time period. This is a promising sign for Overland Park home sellers.

Type # Average $ Avg DOM
Listings Past 15 Days 141 $261,720
Total Active Listings 1,074
Newest Contracts Written 103 $242,764 103
Newest Sold (Closed) 99 $288,696 111

* The Average $ of Newest Contracts Written considers the list price when the homes went under contract. Data pulled from Heartland MLS and deemed reliable but not guaranteed. Low samplings in a category can skew results. Stats cover approximately 15 days from post date. DOM = Days On Market.

The last 99 homes that sold (closed) in Overland Park were on the market an average of 111 days. Please contact us if you need the market stats on any particular Overland Park home community. We can help you buy or sell an Overland Park Kansas home and here’s some details on how we can assist you with selling your Overland Park home or with buying an Overland Park home.

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Posted by Jason Brown

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How An Olathe Kansas Home Seller Came Out A Winner In A Buyer’s Market’s

Checking The Pulse Of The Kansas City Real Estate Market

Home buyers are looking for the deal of the century so it’s important for serious home sellers to place themselves in the best possible position to achieve success. Far too many home sellers believe the best strategy is to price their home high and hope for an offer to come in. That’s a tough strategy in a seller’s market and simply isn’t working a buyer’s market. Other area home sellers are pricing their homes right at perceived market value when comparing their homes to the rest of the listings on the market. However due to our current market and fewer buyers being present in the marketplace, the buyers who are shopping for homes are expecting a deal. So pricing at market value today may not illicit any buyer response.

While many buyers will be looking closely at the price of the other area homes for sale, a good buyer’s agent and the appraiser (who will be appraising the home later) will both be looking instead at the comparable SOLD homes. So to get a home sold quickly and for top dollar, home sellers should look closely at what comparable homes have sold for recently and price their homes at or slightly below a value based on that information. Doing so will keep you a step ahead of the competition and will have your competition adjusting their price to match you, rather than you chasing them on pricing. This is important because the next buyer who comes into your neighborhood is probably going to be most interested in the best priced home. If you aren’t THAT home, you’re likely just going to help competition sell their home.

While some home sellers will view this as potentially underselling their home, the reality is that selling quickly almost always nets the most for a home, while the effects of overpricing are much worse. The home sellers in today’s market who price their homes ahead of the competition are giving themselves an excellent opportunity at a quick sale and for selling the home for the most the market will bear. This is exactly what happened with an Olathe home seller who took my advice, priced their home appropriately, and got it sold in just four days… while the comparable competition in the neighborhood is left wondering what just happened. This seller now gets to move on to the fun part… locating their new home.


Posted by Jason Brown

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Willowbrook Community Market Stats ~ Willowbrook Homes For Sale In Overland Park KS

Checking The Pulse Of The Kansas City Real Estate Market

Willowbrook Real Estate Market Stats
Willowbrook Is A Home Community In Overland Park KS

Looking over the Willowbrook market stats dating back a year to August 2010, 11 homes were put on the market and 8 homes were sold over the same year period. The average sales price in Willowbrook was $298,119 and the home community had sales prices ranging from $255,000 to $344,000.

Comparing the 4 Active homes for sale in Willowbrook to the 12-month sales rate in the subdivision, there’s 6.0 months of inventory currently on the market. This is a solid of amount of inventory and leaning slightly on the side of a buyer’s market. The average current list price of $269,463 is well below the average sales price ($298,119) the past year in the community, providing area home buyers some excellent options to consider. Willowbrook is a popular Overland Park Kansas subdivision and located near parks, shopping and dining amenities and near access to 69 Highway in Overland Park.

Willowbrook In Overland Park Kansas

Willowbrook In Overland Park Kansas

Willowbrook is located in southern Overland Park Kansas and served by the Blue Valley School District. There’s approximately 111 homes in Willowbrook and many of the homes in the community were built from 1990 through 1997.  If you are considering buying or selling a home in Willowbrook or in the surrounding Overland Park KS area, we’d look forward to assisting you.

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 Posted by Jason Brown

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Show Me The Buildfax… Will It Help Kansas City Homebuyers?

Checking The Pulse Of The Kansas City Real Estate Market

You probably know someone who has used the internet to run a background check on someone they’ve just started dating. You’ve heard the commercials imploring consumer to tell car dealers “show me the Carfax”. So you’d think it wouldn’t have taken this long for someone to attempt to give potential home buyers the ability to do a background check on the home they’re buying. That’s what Buildfax Property History attempts to do and they’re offering home buyers the opportunity to get a free Buildfax Property History report through the end of August.


Buildfax touts their reports are beneficial to just about everyone associated with the real estate industry, including home buyers, insurance companies, title companies, home inspectors and appraisers. I presume the reports will come from a database of city permits and Buildfax readily admits it has access to less than 2/3 of such records across the U.S. But the potential exists here to find out a lot of interesting things about a home at a reasonable price.

If it does indeed lead to uncovering issues like major structural issues it could save home buyers thousands of dollars. Even if it just helps a buyer better understand major work done to a roof,  electrical, plumbing or HVAC, it could be well worth the $40 they’re going start charging after the end of this month. If you’re thinking about giving it a trial run, now’s the time while it’s free… so go check it out here.


Posted by Jason Brown

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Post Oak Farm Community Market Stats ~ Post Oak Farm Homes For Sale In Lenexa KS

Checking The Pulse Of The Kansas City Real Estate Market

Post Oak Farm Real Estate Market Stats
Post Oak Farm Is A Home Community In Lenexa KS

Looking over the Post Oak Farm market stats dating back a year to August 2010, 11 homes were put on the market and 7 homes were sold over the same year period. The average sales price in Post Oak Farm was $170,888 and the home community had sales prices ranging from $130,000 to $198,215.

Comparing the 3 Active homes for sale in Post Oak Farm to the 12-month sales rate in the subdivision, there’s 5.1 months of inventory currently on the market. This is a good amount of inventory and indicates a balanced real estate market in the Post Oak Farm community. Post Oak Farm is a popular Lenexa Kansas subdivision and located near parks, shopping and dining amenities and near access to I-435 and I-35 highways in Lenexa.

Post Oak Farm In Lenexa Kansas

Post Oak Farm In Lenexa Kansas

Post Oak Farm is located in central Lenexa Kansas and served by the Shawnee Mission School District. There’s approximately 215 homes in Post Oak Farm and many of the homes in the community were built from 1972 to 1978. If you’re considering buying or selling a home in Post Oak Farm or in the surrounding Lenexa area, please let us know how we can assist you.

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 Posted by Jason Brown

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Olathe Kansas Real Estate Update – August 2011

Checking The Pulse Of The Kansas City Real Estate Market

Real Estate Statistics On Olathe Kansas
15 Day Glance At The Olathe KS Real Estate Market

After calculating the absorption rate over the past 15 days in Olathe Kansas, we find the city has 4.7 months of inventory currently on the market. This is a huge improvement over the 6.8 months of inventory when we looked at Olathe’s market stats near the end of June. In fact, this amount of inventory represents a balanced real estate market and that’s a good sign for Olathe home sellers. It should be noted that the average sales price the past 15 days was close to $205,000, while the average new listing came on the market at close to $232,000.

Type # Average $ Avg DOM
Listings Past 15 Days 141 $231,802
Total Active Listings 949
Newest Contracts Written 100 $204,183 131
Newest Sold (Closed) 102 $205,714 133

* The Average $ of Newest Contracts Written considers the list price when the homes went under contract. Data pulled from Heartland MLS and deemed reliable but not guaranteed. Low samplings in a category can skew results. Stats cover approximately 15 days from post date. DOM = Days On Market.

The homes that sold (closed) the past 15 days did so in 133 days. If you are making plans to buy or sell a home in Olathe Kansas, we look forward to helping you achieve your real estate goals. You can find out more about how we’ll help you sell your Olathe home or purchase an Olathe home. Please contact us with any questions you may have!

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Posted by Jason Brown

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