Tag Archives: Overland Park Listing Agents

Selling Your Kansas City Area Home? Where It’s Advertised Is More Important Than Ever

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Checking The Pulse Of The Kansas City Real Estate Market

Knowing where your home is going to be advertised is a critical part of the home selling process. We go to great lengths to promote our sellers homes because we know home buyers aren’t just using the same old methods to locate homes. Knowing which sites are most popular with home buyers is very important and what’s popular today may not be tomorrow. So we’re constantly studying the trends to help our sellers maximize their real estate investments.

Over the past several months, there’s been a lot of fluctuation among the most popular real estate sites. When I had a seller tell me another listing agent told them the only places their home needed to be advertised were MLS and Realtor.com, it took just a few minutes to show them how severely they’d be limiting themselves if they relied solely on that marketing plan. Though Realtor.com is still a popular site, it’s no longer #1 in home buyer’s hearts. That distinction falls to Yahoo Real Estate. In fact, Zillow is now consistently ranking ahead of Realtor.com so you can see the importance of having a thorough marketing plan.

You may be surprised to hear that if you add ALL three of these top sites together, they still only account for 20% of the market share. This means that even if an agent is marketing your home in ALL three of the most visited real estate sites online, you’ll still be missing out on 80% of the market share if nothing else is done. Real estate has really changed in recent years and I’d look forward to sitting down with you and showing you where the other 80% of home buyers are searching for homes.


Posted by Jason Brown

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Overland Park Kansas Real Estate Update – November 2011

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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 6.0 months of inventory currently on the market. This amount of inventory is considered a buyer’s market but not far from getting Overland Park into a balanced real estate market. Fewer homes have gone under contract the past 15 days than have sold (closed) and since all pending sales don’t close, that’s a trend worth tracking.

Type # Average $ Avg DOM
Listings Past 15 Days 101 $241,195 –
Total Active Listings 989 – –
Newest Contracts Written 77 $253,321 164
Newest Sold (Closed) 82 $276,392 130

* 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 average home sold the past 15 days did so in just over 4 months time. The average sales price of more than $276,000 was higher than the average new listing to come on the market over the same period – which is a solid trend. Should you be making plans to buy or sell a home in Overland Park Kansas, my group looks forward to guiding you through the process. Here’s some information about how we can assist you with selling your Overland Park home and buying an Overland Park area home. Please contact us with any questions!

Overland Park Kansas Relocation Information

Search Overland Park Kansas Homes For Sale

View Additional Real Estate Stats On Overland Park

Our Overland Park Kansas Buyer’s Agent Services

Our Overland Park Kansas Listing Agent Services


Posted by Jason Brown

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Overland Park Kansas Real Estate Update – July 2011

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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 6.2 months of inventory currently on the market. This is a little higher than the 5.1 months of inventory we found during our look at Overland Park’s June real estate stats. The average sales price was around $260,000 and higher than the average priced new listing to hit the market during the same 15-day period. The average price of the last 96 homes to go under contract in Overland Park was a solid $272,429.

Type # Average $ Avg DOM
Listings Past 15 Days 159 $251,998 –
Total Active Listings 1,146 – –
Newest Contracts Written 96 $272,429 99
Newest Sold (Closed) 93 $260,811 102

* 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.

It’s taking about 3 to 4 months to sell a well priced Overland Park home. If you will be selling or buying an Overland Park home, we’re ready to go to work as your Overland Park listing agent, Overland Park buyer’s agent… or both! Here’s information on how we can assist you with selling an Overland Park home and with buying an Overland Park home. Please contact us with any questions you may have and we look forward to assisting you.

Overland Park Kansas Relocation Information

Search Overland park Kansas Homes For Sale

View Additional Real Estate Stats On Overland Park

Our Overland Park Kansas Buyer’s Agent Services

Our Overland Park Kansas Listing Agent Services


Posted by Jason Brown

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Overland Park Home Sellers Need To Price Their Homes Ahead Of The Market

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Checking The Pulse Of The Kansas City Real Estate Market

In today’s buyer’s market, it’s important that home sellers in Kansas City, Johnson County, Overland Park and our surrounding areas price their homes ahead of the market. Many sellers want to price their homes at a price that would have been appropriate 12 to 24 months ago and what they’re not seeing is that strategy is likely cause them to languish on the market. Homes that languish on the market almost always sell for much less than if they had been priced appropriately and went under contract quickly. Sellers must understand that buyer’s are  looking for a deal like never before. This can mean that what appears to be a fair market value may not be enough.

Home sellers willing to price their home at market value still have a good chance of selling. But if you have a great need for your home to sell quicker than average, you’ll need to price your home AHEAD of the market. What does pricing your home ahead of the market mean? It means staying one step ahead of your competition.  Let’s say there’s three homes on the market in your subdivision and they’re all very similar and all on desirable lots.  Let’s say they’re priced at $200,000, $210,000 and $220,000. If you list your home at $220,000 you and your other $220,000 neighbor are just going to help push buyers to choose the lower priced homes. If you price your home at $200,000, you’ve now got a great shot at being the next home to sell in your subdivision.

Pricing your home AHEAD of the market can certainly get your home sold quickly and for top dollar. If the other home priced at $200,000 had an initial list price of $225,000 and has now languished on the market for 120 days, it’s likely they’re about to take another price drop. So, rather than list your home at $200,000 and be behind in this buyer’s market when that home seller drops their price to $195,000 tomorrow, why not price your home at $195,000 out of the gate and make your home the most desirable home in the subdivision?

If you think this strategy is underpricing your home, consider that homes that receive quick offers often sell for near full price. So if you list at $195,000 and go under contract quickly at $193,000, it could be much better than listing at $210,000, languishing on the market for 120 days and eventually selling for $185,000… Or even worse if we’re in a declining market and the home is worth significantly less several months down the road. Ask yourself, do you want to sell for the maximum price NOW (quickly and at top dollar) or for absolute top dollar no matter how long it takes? Then consider that pricing AHEAD of the market will often accomplish BOTH goals.


Posted by Jason Brown

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Overland Park Kansas Real Estate Update – April 2011

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Checking The Pulse Of The Kansas City Real Estate Market
Real Estate Info for The City of Overland Park Kansas
Recent 15 Days of Overland Park KS Market Activity

After calculating the absorption rate over the past 15 days in Overland Park Kansas, we find the city has 9.4 months of inventory currently on the market. This is the same amount of inventory as when we checked the market stats in Overland Park about a month ago.  It’s still clearly a buyer’s market in Overland Park and we’ll need to see more closings or fewer new listings hitting the market if the months of inventory is to improve for area home sellers.

Type

#

Average $

Avg DOM

Listings Past 15 Days

 183 $277,832

–

Total Active Listings

 1,146

–

–

Newest Contracts Written

 115 $269,630 130

Newest Sold (Closed)

 61 $261,531 168

* The Average $ of Newest Contracts 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 results. Stats may not be an exact 15 days from date of this post. DOM = Days On Market.

There was good news in the average sales price as it was reasonably below the average list price over the 15-day period. The number of homes that went under contract were nearly double the number of closings and this could mean significantly improved stats in the near future. When buying or selling a home in Overland Park Kansas, it’s important buyers and sellers have an agent representing their best interests. If your plans involve buying or selling a home in Overland Park, we look forward to going to work as your listing agent or buyer’s agent. Please let us know how we can assist you further.

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Buyer’s Agents In Overland Park Kansas

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Posted by Jason A. Brown

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90% Of Kansas City Home Buyers Will First View Online The Home They Purchase

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Checking The Pulse Of The Kansas City Real Estate Market

In today’s buyer’s market, Kansas City home sellers need to be sure they hire a listing agent who’s up on current real estate trends and prepared to market a home in the places buyers are looking. If you’ve interviewed a Kansas City listing agent recently and the Realtor told you that open houses are going to be a prime basis for getting your home sold, that’s a farce. Open houses sell between 1 to 2 percent of homes and agents who are doing them are looking to turn the tire kickers into buyers many months down the road. That’s just the reality of open houses.


My group’s marketing plan is extremely thorough and goes far beyond the traditional marketing methods most home sellers have come to expect. We know that 90% of Kansas City home buyers will first view online the home they end up purchasing. Many agents have started putting their listings in a few prominent places, but we put our listings in ALL of the prominent places. I tell sellers to check a few weeks after we have their homes listed and let me know if they see anywhere important that we don’t have their home listing. I can go months without hearing any suggestions from home sellers and that reinforces that we’re marketing our listings well.

Whenever a home seller does have a suggestion, we thoroughly review it and make a decision on either adding it to our marketing plan or explaining why it’s not worth the investment. One of the reasons we’re so organized is because we have one marketing plan for our homes. We don’t blow in the wind and do ineffective print advertising when the occasional seller asks about it. Every moment and dollar that we’d spend on such things would take resources away from doing the things that truly get homes sold in today’s real estate market. This means that we provide the same marketing plan whether the home is a $100,000 home or a million dollar home. So the next time you speak with a listing agent be sure the agent isn’t basing their marketing plan on ineffective marketing methods like open houses, print advertising and relying on the MLS as the only real tool for getting your home sold.

Posted by Jason A. Brown

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No Amount Of Marketing Will Overcome a Grossly Overpriced Kansas City Real Estate Listing

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Checking The Pulse Of The Kansas City Real Estate Market

There’s no amount of marketing I can do to overcome a grossly over-priced home. In the past 15 years as a land developer and Kansas City real estate agent I’ve sold more than 1,000 properties. In all of those home sales, I don’t recall ever saying to myself, wow that marketing just got us an extra $10,000 out of that home!  I’ve heard agents claim that their marketing generated such excitement in a home that it led to multiple offers, a higher sales price, etc… OK, maybe. But I’ll debate that the multiple offers were made because the home was perceived to be a great deal once the buyer’s viewed the home, rather than because of the home’s marketing plan.

I’m not saying marketing is unimportant. It’s critical in getting buyers interested in a home and I believe less than 5% of Kansas City real estate agents can compete with the marketing I do for my sellers. So I obviously find it important. But I’m not so naive as to think that knowing the how, when and where to market a home is going to get the home sold. It can get a buyer interested but from there buyers will be analyzing several critical factors in determining whether it’s the right home for them. The first thing most buyers ask themselves is whether the location is great. By location I mean the part of the city the home is located, the part of the home community the home is located, the direction the home is facing, what’s behind the home, etc.

From there, buyers start looking closely at the functionality of the home… by that I mean the size, layout and curb appeal of the home. If all of the works, buyers start eying the condition of the home more closely. Usually a home has to be in poor condition for a buyer to rule the home out if it’s met all the other factors.  Besides, that can be overcome by the factor I’ve yet to mention… the most important factor of all… price. Pricing of a home is absolutely THE most important in getting your home sold. Price must factor in everything I’ve mentioned plus the current market conditions. You see, if a home is priced 15% above comparable homes in the area, it won’t matter if the home is located on a cul-de-sac lot, if it’s the largest home in the neighborhood, if the home is completely updated with appealing decor, etc.

So, the progression most buyers will go through in buying their home is…
1. Marketing.
2. Location.
3. Condition.
4. Functionality.
5. Price.

But, if you asked me to rank them in order of importance, the first and last factor are flipped…
1. Price.
2. Location.
3. Condition.
4. Functionality.
5. Marketing.

Posted by Jason A. Brown

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Overland Park Kansas Real Estate Update – January 2011

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Checking The Pulse Of The Kansas City Real Estate Market
Real Estate Info for The City of Overland Park KS
Recent 15 Days of Overland Park Kansas Market Activity

After calculating the absorption rate over the past 15 days in Overland Park Kansas, I find there’s currently 16.5 months of inventory on the market. This is very high but not surprising given that many homes closing right now would have gone under contract during the holidays. The number of homes that went under contract was more than double the number of homes that sold over the same 15-day period, giving more hope that things will improve in the coming weeks.

Type

#

Average $

Avg DOM

Listings Past 15 Days

 105 $293,358

–

Total Active Listings

 957

–

–

Newest Contracts Written

 64 $264,901 134

Newest Sold (Closed)

 29 $263,104 164

* The Average $ of Newest Contracts 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 results. Stats may not be an exact 15 days from date of this post. DOM = Days On Market.

If we assume that all of the homes that went under contract the past 15 days will end up closing (and use that figure to calculate the absorption rate), the result is 7.5 months of inventory on the market. Still high, but much improved over the sold figure used to calculate the absorption rate. If you’re planning to sell an Overland Park area home or move within or into the area, please contact me for assistance. I look forward to learning about your real estate goals and guiding you through your home purchase or home sale.

View More Real Estate Stats On Overland Park Kansas

Buyer’s Agents In Overland Park

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Posted by Jason A. Brown

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Thinking Of Taking Your Kansas City Home Off The Market For The Holidays?

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Checking The Pulse Of The Kansas City Real Estate Market

It’s that time of year! The leaves are down. It’s getting really cold outside. And the holiday season is here! For home sellers who didn’t get their homes under contract before December, showings typically slow down heavily this time of year. Many sellers analyzing their situation decide it makes sense to take their homes off the market for 30 days or so. Others simply pull it off the market completely and choose to restart in the early spring. Some will wait 90 days so the days on market starts over on their listing. But savvy Kansas City homes sellers will consider all the factors when deciding whether to take their home off the market.


Remember, there may be fewer home buyers out shopping this time of year but there’s also typically far fewer listings – one of the reasons being the sellers who pull their homes temporarily off the market for the holidays! Less competition of course means higher prices for Kansas City home sellers. Probably more important to me, the buyers who ARE out looking are likely not just out kicking tires. If they’re going to be out looking in 20 degree weather, I’m betting they plan to buy a home very soon. The buyers I work with during the holiday season are usually in a great mood too, thinking about family and excited about the prospects of getting into a new home.

Kansas City MLS stats show the month of December is great for sellers in regards to volume of new listings compared to home sales. Corporate transfers are also in the works at this time of year and usually remain abundant through the month of January. As far as the inconvenience, don’t let it be. There’s nothing wrong with picking a day or two – or even a week – during the holiday season where you won’t permit showings. Most people understand it’s the holidays. While taking your home off the market is never ideal, it can be a good compromise to taking your home off the market for a longer period of time.

Posted by Jason A. Brown

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Is Your Overland Park Realtor Using Quick Response Barcodes On Their Marketing To Get Your Home Sold?

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Checking The Pulse Of The Kansas City Real Estate Market

With more than 4, 5… 10 months of inventory on the market in some of our local areas, it’s important that sellers are choosing agents who understand and make use of today’s technological advancements. 87% of home buyers are currently finding their homes online, before they ever step foot in the door. So your home better be in all the places buyers are looking for homes — and be memorable once they find it.

Some of the best buyers are the ones who have narrowed down the area they want to live and are spending time driving through a particular neighborhood. When that happens, does your agent provide home brochures at the yard sign? Probably 3/4 of the listings I see do NOT have brochures. That amazes me. Print advertising such as newspapers are dying out, but one type of print marketing that is still a very effective means for marketing a home are the brochures a listing agent puts at the yard sign. When buyers drive by our listings, we provide color brochures on glossy, water-resistant paper. We want to be sure they take something valuable with them to help them remember your home by later. We also want them to be able to get more home details and more photos than can be put on a brochure.

If we can get a home buyer to go and view your home online, we know that they’ll benefit from the mapping features online, get to view a virtual tour of your home, ask any questions and schedule a showing on your home. So how do we get buyers to our listings online? We were one of the first Overland Park Realtors back around 2005 to provide each of our listings their own domain to take potential home buyers straight to the listing online — rather than having to navigate through our home page or featured listings to get to the client’s listing. We still advertise a unique web listing domain for each of our listings. For example, here’s the domain for an Overland Park home we listed this week… http://16044.JBPRealtyGroup.com.

We’ve more recently piggy backed on these web domains through the use of Quick Response (QR) Barcodes on our brochures. This allows potential buyers to use their smart phones to snap a photo (with the camera in their phones) and a bar code application on their phones will take them straight to that home’s listing online – without ever typing anything! Most new phones come with a scanner app already included. If you have an older Blackberry, iPhone or Android a couple of good FREE applications are ScanLife and NeoReader.  The most important thing you can do when listing your home is hiring an Overland Park real estate agent who is on the cutting edge when it comes to marketing their real estate listings.


Posted by Jason A. Brown