Monthly Archives: January 2009

Kansas City Home Sellers Should Simplify & Neutralize Their Home

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Hands On The Heartland
Checking The Pulse Of The Kansas City Real Estate Market 

The majority of home buyers today aren’t messing around with homes that have “issues”.  Yet many sellers continue to miss the mark and doing so serves to push buyers to competing homes that are in great showing condition. Showing condition is one of the critical factors in getting a home sold and is no doubt just as important as a home’s pricing and the marketing on a home.  When starting the process of getting their home ready to sell, sellers should keep a clear focus on simplifying and neutralizing the home. Doing so will allow their home to appeal to the greatest number of potential home buyers.

Simplifying and neutralizing may sound boring but it may surprise you that these are the homes that often sell the quickest. It’s not uncommon to hear a homebuyer comment about a home’s boring tile and then move right along with making an offer on the property. On the other end of the spectrum, floral wallpaper usually means a contract doesn’t get written. Sometimes a seller just needs someone to explain what should be done. The following list includes the most common issues I see that seller’s overlook when getting their home ready for showings:

#1) Pack away all personal photos. Homebuyers want to begin thinking about their family living in the home and your personal photos can prevent that from happening.

#2) Remove pets from the home. Have a friend or family member care for the pets while the home is on the market. At the very least pets should be removed from the home for all showings.

#3) Update light fixtures, appliances, cabinet hardware and door hardware.  The home needs to be current to keep up with the competition. 

#4) Pack away all nic knacks. This includes school and sports memorabilia because a Jayhawk can be beloved to one and burn the eyes of another.

#5) Paint all interior walls showing signs of ware. Buyers in this market are going to expect it and remember that a neutral color is best.

#6) Remove all wallpaper. There’s no such thing as “neutral” wallpaper. You enjoyed the wallpaper while it was up but now it’s time to take it down.

#7) Remove all religious items. Religious items are personal in nature but if you’re hoping buyers get in and out quickly then by all means leave the voodoo doll on the fireplace mantle.

#8) Take care of deferred maintenance. There’s no reason to wait to make repairs because the home buyer’s inspections are going to uncover the issues anyhow. If the faucet or roof are leaking get them fixed immediately.

#9) Remove awkward furniture such as ottomans from all rooms. Bulky furniture makes rooms look smaller and items such as ottomans can do more harm than good when staging a home.

#10) Clean up lawn and landscaping. If the buyer doesn’t like the outside of your home they’re not going to want to come into your home. So work diligently to improve the home’s overall curb appeal.

Posted by Jason A. Brown

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Looking For Something To Do In Kansas City? Try Snow Creek Or Historic Westin

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Checking The Pulse Of The Kansas City Real Estate Market 

2009 is here and we know that the new year is sure to bring with it several more snow storms. That means kids out of school, many office closings (not mine) and many shoppers heading to malls – after the roads have been cleared of course. If you’re in town and looking for something to do, consider spending a day on the ski slopes at Snow Creek in Weston Missouri. 

Winter Wonderland

 

At Snow Creek they “create” their own snow, so most any day in the wintertime is a good time to head up north. Visitors be warned that this is not the Rocky Mountains and the most difficult trails compare to the easiest you’ll find in Colorado. But I’ve really enjoyed my trips to Snow Creek and I’ve found the best time to go is when temperatures are in the low 30’s – when the snow isn’t melting and turning into ice. Many however will argue that tubing down ice is even better and I can’t speak to snow boarding, as I’ve never tried it. For the skier, Snow Creek has 10 or so ski trails and for snowboarders there’s Rattlesnake Park’s jumps. For the more laid back tubers out there, there’s Tornado Alley slope. The last time I visited, daily passes cost around $40 and lessons were available too. Snow Creek is a 20 to 40 minute drive depending on where you’re at in Kansas City.

 

For those who don’t care to ski or brave the cold, the fun in Weston Missouri doesn’t end with Snow Creek. Weston is better known to many for it’s shopping, four star dining, fun, live music, antique shops and multiple hotels – including bed and breakfasts. An entire day in Weston can be spent visiting the historic sites, old tobacco bars, orchards, an old distillery and the popular new brewery. More than 20 blocks of the city of Weston are on the National Register of Historic Places. Many of these buildings were built prior to the 1800’s Civil War when St. Louis was the only larger port town west of the Mississippi.

 

 

Weston has true historic significance, weathering the devastation of the Civil War, a great flood in the 1880’s that changed the course of the Missouri (and removed Weston as a port town) and a huge fire that damaged much of the downtown area later in the 1800’s. It took more than a half decade, but Weston started making a comeback in the 1960’s and the comeback gained momentum in the 1970’s when residents decided to restore many of the areas homes and buildings. For those into camping and the outdoors, Weston also boasts a 1,000 acre state park located on the Missouri river.

 

Posted by Jason A. Brown

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Windsor Hills Subdivision Market Stats * Windsor Hills Homes For Sale In Overland Park KS

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Checking The Pulse Of The Kansas City Real Estate Market

Windsor Hills Subdivision Market Statistics
Windsor Hills Is An Overland Park Kansas Home Community

Going back to January 2008 and looking at right around a year’s worth of market stats in Windsor Hills, 33 homes were listed for sale and 14 homes were sold. Home sale prices in Windsor Hills ranged from $387,000 to $633,750 with an average sales price of $528,246.

Stats pulled from Heartland MLS & deemed reliable but not guaranteed. Stats cover approximately 12 months of market activity & may vary slightly. Note the date of this post as market stats quickly become outdated.

Comparing the current rate of sales over the past year to the 12 Active listings in Windsor Hills, there’s a little over 10 months of inventory on the market. The average current list price in Windsor Hills is $483,000 and lower than the average sales price over the past year.  

Windsor Hills In Overland Park Kansas

Windsor Hills In Overland Park Kansas

If you’re considering a move and would like to discuss these market stats and your specific situation, I look forward to speaking with you. When representing our client’s best interests, we dig in deep to analyze past market stats, current market stats, prevalent market conditions and, most importantly, our client’s needs.

View Windsor Hills Homes For Sale (updated daily)

Buying A Home In Windsor Hills

Selling Your Home In Windsor Hills

We post stats on many communities and subdivisions and are happy to post the stats for any particular community or subdivision that may be of interest to you. To make a request, comment at the bottom of this blog post and simply indicate the subdivision in which you’re interested.

Posted by Jason A. Brown

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Lenexa KS Real Estate Update * 15-days Of Lenexa Kansas Market Stats

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Hands On The Heartland
Checking The Pulse Of The Kansas City Real Estate Market

City of Lenexa Kansas Real Estate Update <> 15-day Glance:

Lenexa KS Real Estate Market Stats

Type

#

Average $

D.O.M.

–

Newest Listings

15

$302,746

–

View These Listings

Total Active Listings

333

–

–

–

Newest Pending

6

$229,442*

108

View These Pendings

Recently Sold (Closed)

4

$301,125

83

View These Solds

* Average Newest Pending considers the price the homes were listed at when they went under contract. Data pulled from Heartland MLS and deemed reliable but not guaranteed. Low samplings in any category can skew a particular category. DOM is Days On Market. Note the date of this post as market stats become outdated. Stats may not be an exact 15 days. Stats were pulled at 9 AM on 1/27/09. 

In the city of Lenexa KS there continues to be more homes coming on the market than homes going under contract (pending) or than homes being sold (closed). This creates a further surplus of supply in Lenexa Kansas. Using the past 15 days as a basis for figuring the absorption rate in Lenexa, there is just shy of 4 years of inventory on the market. There simply needs to be more than four sales in a 15-day period to get the months of inventory down. Of course a 15-day period is a small sampling of market activity designed to look at the what’s going on now in the current real estate market. 

While a 15-day period could indicate a trend it does not necessarily show a real estate markets long-term trend. For instance, if we use the sales over the past 60 days (rather than the past 15 days), It calculates to about 16 months of inventory on the market in Lenexa. Much better numbers, yet still too high, and hopefully the spring market will work off a bunch of the listing inventory.

Posted by Jason A. Brown

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Even If Kansas City Home Prices Fall, Buyers Could Lose If Interest Rates Spike

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Checking The Pulse Of The Kansas City Real Estate Market 

We’re seeing the most incredible mortgage interest rates in my lifetime yet many homebuyers are sitting the fence waiting to see if home prices will fall. The instability in many of our markets justifiably has investors moving cautiously. Yet it’s very important that homebuyers factor in the incredible low interest rates that we’re seeing today. If a buyer waits to see if home prices are going to drop and in the mean time interest rates spike upwards, there will clearly be an offsetting effect. Mortgage interest rates are eventually going to rise and, all other factors being equal, higher interest rates mean higher mortgage payments for a borrower.

Let’s consider a buyer who’s found the perfect home that today is listed for $200,000. In this hypothetical scenario, the buyer decides to wait and 6 months later he finds that his dream home is still on the market but now can be purchased for just $190,000. After doing a little victory dance, Joe contacts his mortgage lender and is informed that rates on a conventional 30-year fixed rate loan have jumped 0.5% in the mean time. Joe says he doesn’t care because he’s going to save $10,000 by having waited. There’s a clear flaw in Joe’s logic if interest rates have risen significantly during that time period. Check out the following two scenarios to see why…

Scenario 1 (Today’s market):
123 Oak can be purchased for $200,000.
Interest rates are 5%.
Buyer’s monthly principal & interest payment would be $1,074.

Scenario 2 (Down the road):
Home prices fall 5 percent and now 123 Oak can be purchased for $190,000.
But interest rates rise 1/2 percent and are now at 5.5%.
Buyer’s monthly principal & interest payment would be $1,079.

Scenario 3 (Down the road):
Home prices fall 10 percent and now 123 Oak can be purchased for $180,000.
But interest rates rise 1 percent and are now at 6%.
Buyer’s monthly principal and interest payment would be $1,079.

So if the price of 123 Oak falls 5% but interest rates rise a half a percent the monthly payment remains virtually the same! You see the same thing if a home’s price falls 10% but interest rates were to rise 1% over the same time period. For the sake of simplicity, these scenarios make the assumption of a borrower doing a 100% loan (no down payment). These examples show the importance of factoring in today’s interest rates when making the decision to move forward with a home purchase or waiting. When it comes to interest rates it could be a case of here today gone tomorrow.

Posted by Jason A. Brown

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Woodland Reserve Subdivision Market Stats * Woodland Reserve Homes For Sale In Lenexa Kansas

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Checking The Pulse Of The Kansas City Real Estate Market

Woodland Reserve Subdivision Market Statistics
Woodland Reserve Is An Lenexa Kansas Home Community

Going back to January 2008 and looking at right around a year’s worth of market stats in Woodland Reserve, 21 homes were listed for sale and 13 homes were sold. Home prices in Woodland Reserve ranged from $395,000 to $918,742 with an average sales price of $598,737.

Woodland Reserve

Woodland Reserve

Stats pulled from Heartland MLS & deemed reliable but not guaranteed. Stats cover approximately 12 months of market activity & may vary slightly. Note the date of this post as market stats quickly become outdated.

Comparing the current rate of sales over the past year to the 26 listings Active in Woodland Reserve at the time of this posting, there’s just over 23 months of inventory on the market. This is a lot of inventory and gives buyers plenty of choices when searching for homes in the area. The homes currently listed are priced from the $500’s to $800’s which is in line with the area’s sales prices the past year. 

If you’re considering a move and would like to discuss these market stats and your specific situation, I look forward to speaking with you. When representing our client’s best interests, we dig in deep to analyze past market stats, current market stats, prevalent market conditions and, most importantly, our client’s needs…

View Woodland Reserve Homes For Sale (updated daily)

Buying A Home In Woodland Reserve

Selling Your Home In Woodland Reserve

We post stats on many communities and subdivisions and are happy to post the stats for any particular community or subdivision that may be of interest to you. To make a request, comment at the bottom of this blog post and simply indicate the subdivision in which you’re interested.

Posted by Jason A. Brown

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Park Crossing Subdivision Market Stats * Park Crossing Homes For Sale In Overland Park Kansas

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Checking The Pulse Of The Kansas City Real Estate Market

Park Crossing Subdivision Market Statistics
Park Crossing Is An Overland Park Kansas Home Community

Going back to January 2008 and looking at right around a year’s worth of market stats in Park Crossing, 11 homes were listed for sale and 12 homes were sold during the time period. Home prices in Park Crossing ranged from $193,000 to $250,000 with an average sales price of $220,416.

Park Crossing

Park Crossing

Stats pulled from Heartland MLS & deemed reliable but not guaranteed. Stats cover approximately 12 months of market activity & may vary slightly. Note the date of this post as market stats quickly become outdated.

Comparing the current rate of sales over the past year to the 3 active listings in Park Crossing, there’s 3 months of inventory on the market. This is very good in current real estate market. The three homes listed for sale are within the price range of the homes that sold during the prior year. 

If you’re considering a move and would like to discuss these market stats and your specific situation, I look forward to speaking with you. When representing our client’s best interests, we dig in deep to analyze past market stats, current market stats, prevalent market conditions and, most importantly, our client’s needs…

View Park Crossing Homes For Sale (updated daily)

Buying A Home In Park Crossing

Selling Your Home In Park Crossing

We post stats on many communities and subdivisions and are happy to post the stats for any particular community or subdivision that may be of interest to you. To make a request, comment at the bottom of this blog post and simply indicate the subdivision in which you’re interested.

Posted by Jason A. Brown

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Is Your Johnson County Kansas Tax Appraised Value Accurate?

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Checking The Pulse Of The Kansas City Real Estate Market 

Do you think the county has incorrectly assessed the value of your home? Well you’re probably right because it’s impossible for the county to truly know the value of your home. Unless your home just closed yesterday and the county did your tax reappraisal today, assessing the value of a property is going to be subjective. The more time that passes after a property has sold, the more likely it is that the tax assessed value is wrong.

So just about everyone can make the argument that their county tax appraised value is inaccurate. If you believe the county has over-valued your home then you could be paying too much in property taxes. If you believe the assessed value is too low you’re probably not going to complain because you would be enjoying lower taxes. Though keep in mind that many a buyer and buyer’s agent have attempted the (very weak) negotiating tactic of implying that a home’s sales price should be reflective of the county’s assessed value of the property.  That tactic is ridiculous for the reasons I’m about to mention.

Johnson County Kansas Real Estate Appraisals

Johnson County Kansas Real Estate Appraisals

There are many ways that a county tax appraisal can be called into question and, for starters, consider that the county doesn’t have a clue whether a home has granite  countertops or cardboard countertops. Seriously, the county appraiser doesn’t come into your home and they don’t want to risk getting shot while peaking in your windows to find out. This detail alone could make a difference of many thousands of dollars to a home’s value.  How about the county appraisers inability to factor in whether a home is updated, outdated, or needing fumigated? The county just doesn’t know those details or whether you have brand new carpet or that blue carpet from the late 1980’s – was that really in style then?   Another big ticket item that is often misstated in the county’s assessment is whether a home has a finished lower level (basement). Discrepancies such as these can create obvious problems with a home’s appraised value. 

In Johnson County Kansas, the appraiser is required to revisit each property at least once every six years. Do you think a lot could change in the years in between? Room additions and the general condition of the property quickly come to mind. Even in the year’s the appraiser DOES visit the property, the appraiser is unable to take the interior of a home into consideration (because they don’t see it). The county appraiser will attempt to reverify the dimensions of a home by measuring the home’s perimeter, but that won’t accurately indicate a home’s true square footage. This is especially true on two-story homes where the area over the garage on one home may have several hundred square feet of finished area while the next home may have none. Again, the county appraiser can not determine factors such as this because they don’t go inside the home.      

Because of the costs that would be involved, it’s not practical to argue that the county should visit each home every year or attempt to schedule appointments to view the inside of each home.  That’s simply not going to happen and the system we have will have to do. Since it has it’s obvious flaws, the county allows for property owners to appeal their taxes. If you believe the assessed value of your home is way off base then you can read up on the appeals process at the Johnson County Kansas Appraiser’s Office or here at the Jackson County Missouri Appraiser’s Office.

Posted by Jason A. Brown

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Looking For Something To Do In Kansas City? Check Out The Overland Park Boat Show

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Hands On The Heartland
Checking The Pulse Of The Kansas City Real Estate Market 

Many of us are dreaming about the warmer days of summer and the ensuing excursions to our favorite Kansas and Missouri lakes. Don’t have a boat you say?Take some time this weekend to visit the Overland Park Boat Show at the Overland Park Convention Center. The convention is being put on by the Lake of the Ozarks Marine Dealers Association. Since the Ozarks is the premier lake destination for many Kansas City residents from spring through fall, this event should be a good one.

On The Lake

On The Lake

If you were to try and visit all of the marinas at the Lake during the summer, it could take many weekends to complete the task. So they’re bringing the show to you here in one place in Overland Park. The boat show is open 10 AM to 10 PM on Saturday and hours vary on other days. If you’re thinking about going, be sure to check out all of the details on the Overland Park Boat Show before heading out. 50 different marinas will feature the latest in boating fun, including cruisers, performance boats, pontoons, personal watercraft, docks and more.

Posted by Jason A. Brown

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The Reserve At Heritage Subdivision Market Stats * The Reserve At Heritage Homes For Sale In Olathe Kansas

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Checking The Pulse Of The Kansas City Real Estate Market

The Reserve at Heritage Subdivision Market Statistics
The Reserve at Heritage Is An Olathe KS Home Community

Going back to January 2008 and looking at right around a year’s worth of market stats in the Reserve At Heritage, 17 homes were listed for sale and 8 homes were sold. Home prices in The Reserve At Heritage ranged from $212,500 to $282,500 with an average sales price of $256,875.

The Reserve At Heritage

The Reserve At Heritage

Stats pulled from Heartland MLS & deemed reliable but not guaranteed. Stats cover approximately 12 months of market activity & may vary slightly. Note the date of this post as market stats quickly become outdated.

 

Comparing the current rate of sales over the past year to the 2 active listings in The Reserve At Heritage, there’s 3 months of inventory on the market. This is very good in our current real estate market. The homes for sale are priced from the mid to upper $200’s and are in line with area sales prices over the past year. The Reserve at Heritage is located in close proximity to Heritage Park and offer buyers a country feel but with amenities nearby. 

If you’re considering a move and would like to discuss these market stats and your specific situation, I look forward to speaking with you. When representing our client’s best interests, we dig in deep to analyze past market stats, current market stats, prevalent market conditions and, most importantly, our client’s needs…

View The Reserve At Heritage Homes For Sale (updated daily)

Buying A Home In The Reserve At Heritage

Selling Your Home In The Reserve At Heritage

We post stats on many communities and subdivisions and are happy to post the stats for any particular community or subdivision that may be of interest to you. To make a request, comment at the bottom of this blog post and simply indicate the subdivision in which you’re interested.

Posted by Jason A. Brown

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