Northland Home Sales

01 Wednesday Dec 2010

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I’ve been talking to everyone about the interesting trend that has developed recently in our market area.

The average sales price right now is sitting at about $180,000 according to Heartland MLS stats, but this information is very misleading. We’ve arrived at this average sales price by doing just that—-taking the average of the sales. This is very misleading, though. If you were a homeseller in the $180,000 price range, you might look at this and think ‘it’s a great time for me to sell because that’s the price of home that’s selling’. But I’m here to give you the ‘REAL’ story.

We’re seeing many, many investors in the market right now. These investors are buying all the $0-30,000 properties they can get their hands on. What they are planning on doing is fixing up these properties and not selling, but renting them out. This is a fantastic time for those investors to get some great deals on homes. And, to sweeten the deal, most of these investment properties can be found in good shape and in areas that are available to renters where the government offers a rent subsidy. Of course, you’re reading this paragraph thinking—-so why isn’t the average sales price $15,000?

Glad you asked…because that’s only half the story.

We’re also seeing a lot of buyers in the upper bracket price ranges around $300,000-$500,000. Now it’s obvious why the numbers seem so skewed, right? The people buying homes are smart, informed and savvy investors and they’re using their knowledge to help them either invest in real estate or purchase a larger home for themselves.

Now, I’m not saying that it’s not a good time of year to put a $180,000 home on the market. It’s definitely a good idea to try and beat the spring traffic…no matter what price range your home falls in. Spring traffic brings more competition resulting in lower prices and longer days on market. All in all, more frustration for the seller. If you’re wanting to sell around springtime, I’d suggest listing the home in January or February to beat the traffic.

October Heartland MLS Stats

16 Tuesday Nov 2010

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Clay, Ray & Platte County housing stats for October:

Clay/Ray CountiesClay/Ray County sales were down for the month, down 43.9% from 2009. Units were at 197 versus 351 last year. The average sales price for the month was down by 1.3% from last year, with an average price of $147,126. Year to date, average sales price is up 4.0%, to $154,479. New listings in Clay/RayCounty were down 92 units to 441, down 17.3% from last year’s 533 units. Inventory increased, up 19.1% from last year and is runningat 2,478 units. Inventory is down 74 units from last month.  Platte CountyPlatte County sales were also down for the month, down 41.7% from 2009. Units were at 81versus 139 last year. The average sales price for the month was up 8.6% from last year, with an average price of $200,064. Year to date, average sales price is up 2.4%, to $195,470. New listings in Platte County were up 6 units to 199, up 3.1%from last year’s 193 units. Inventory increased, up 14.5% from last year and is runningat 1,113 units. Inventory is down 67 unit from last month. Data analyzed from Heartland MLS, courtesy of Better Homes & Gardens Real Estate Kansas City Homes.

Property Appraisals Today

11 Thursday Nov 2010

Posted by in Home Buyer Advice, Home Seller Advice

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….WARNING…things aren’t the same as they used to be!

Bet you knew that, right?

Let me tell you, earlier this year this post would’ve been completely different than it is today. During the economic/real estate nightmare of the last two years, appraisals have been a ‘last minute’ issue when selling a home.

You may think, why?? Trust me, I’m of the school of thought that a home is only ‘worth’ what a buyer is willing to pay. But after this financial crisis, the lenders are understandably scared of lending money on homes that aren’t worth their price. They’ve lost a ton of money on foreclosures and new rules have been put on appraisals to keep this mess from happening again. The new HVCC (Home Value Code of Conduct) for Fannie & Freddie loans turned the real estate world upside down for a while.

But, thankfully, I can now report that informed consumers are now more reasonable about the value of their home. Real estate agents have been through enough transactions in this economy to be have more confidence in their pricing opinion.

Earlier in the year, I would’ve guessed about >50% of the homes that were selling were having appraisal issues right before close. When there’s an appraisal issue, the seller either has to come down on price or the buyer has to come to the table with the difference between the contract price and the appraisal price. If the parties can’t agree, the contract fails. You can see how this would not only be a nightmare for the agents to negotiate, but also extremely stressful for the buyers and sellers.

I can actually say that it’s been several months since I’ve seen an appraisal issue come through on a pending sale. Thank goodness!!

One thing is for sure, though. You need an experienced company on your side when you’re ready to buy or sell your home. We’re still stumbling through an economic crisis; and you’ll need a strong and confident helping hand.

You know where to find me!

Until next time—I hope you’re enjoying this beautiful fall weather as much as I am!

Cedar Siding Maintenance

10 Friday Sep 2010

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Tonight, we’re going to divert away from real estate sales and delve into a little home maintenance. I haven’t posted in a while because I’ve been pretty busy around the house….well, very busy.

Being in real estate, I think about curb appeal all the time and most often when I’m pulling into my own driveway. We purchased this home 6 years ago. We fell in love with it because it’s not your average cookie-cutter house, even though it’s on a cookie-cutter street.

The front of our home is covered with beautiful cedar siding. We didn’t know anything about cedar siding when we bought the house, all we knew was that we liked the look.

In the spring, yes spring, we were hit with an extreme two hail storms right in a row. This storm damaged everything. Tore our screens to shreds, damaged our roof, put a hole in the hardboard siding on the side of our house—-you get the picture. Since then, we’ve been having everything fixed and replaced. We’d like to leave it in better condition than when we bought it. Anyway, this has put us outside a lot and I’ve been looking at the cedar siding even more than usual and it’s become an eyesore. It’s all dark, old, and stained looking.

So, we do our research and read several blogs about how to maintain our siding. Step 1, spray down with diluted OxyClean. Step 2, clean siding with a brush. Step 3, rinse. Step 4, waterproof/stain. Perfect, sounds easy. We get the OxyClean, the sprayer and a brush, and we get started one Friday night after work.

OHHHHH MYYYY!!

Sounds easy. Mind you, we haven’t touched the siding for the 6 years we’ve lived here, so it’s probably a little extra dirty. Either way, we were not prepared for the amount of work that ensued over the next 3 days—-we finished Monday afternoon. Here’s the REAL instructions: Step 1, spray down with diluted OxyClean until wood is saturated. Some pieces may even need a second coat. Step 2, wait about 15 minutes for the OxyClean to do its thing. Step 3, scrub each and every board thoroughly until it’s free of dirt and grime. (We found this to take about 5 minutes per board) Step 4, rinse and scrub at the same time. Step 5, completely rinse entire area free of debris and start on the next section. Step 6, well that would be waterproofing/sealing—-we haven’t gotten to that step yet. Maybe this weekend?

Needless to say, the siding looks great already, our driveway?…Not so much.

See ya on the flipside—I’ll be back to my usual posts soon.

Kearney, MO: One of 25 Wealthiest Zip Codes

13 Friday Aug 2010

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The Kansas City Business Journal printed an article today showing the 25 wealthiest zip codes in the Kansas City area and my hometown, Kearney, MO, slipped in at #25.

These are the top 25 wealthiest ZIP codes in the Kansas City area, ranked by Esri on numerous factors, including income, median net worth and average home values.

1. 66221, Overland Park
2. 66209, Leawood
3. 66211, Leawood
4. 66224, Overland Park
5. 66220, Lenexa
6. 66085, Stilwell
7. 66206, Leawood
8. 64113, Kansas City
9. 64064, Lee’s Summit
10. 66213, Overland Park
11. 66217, Shawnee
12. 66207, Overland Park
13. 66223, Overland Park
14. 66208, Prairie Village
15. 66227, Lenexa
16. 66226, Shawnee
17. 66216, Shawnee
18. 64166, Kansas City
19. 66218, Shawnee
20. 66205, Mission
21. 64082, Lee’s Summit
22. 64152, Kansas City
23. 66210, Overland Park
24. 66215, Lenexa
25. 64060, Kearney

Source: Esri’s Updated Demographics – 2010 estimates
For more information about ESRI’s data products, call 1-800-447-9778, or visitwww.esri.com/data/esri_data/index.html

That’s What Your Contract Says

25 Sunday Jul 2010

Posted by in Home Buyer Advice, Home Seller Advice, Random Thoughts

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The current housing market has created an interesting problem. Sellers are feeling like they’re “giving” their house away, and buyers feel like they’re doing the sellers a favor by taking it off their hands.

Problem is, both parties are a bit disgruntled with each other. Sometimes, when a seller is moving out, they may accidentally damage something. Let’s say, they put a little hole in the wall or spill something on the carpet. Usually, by the time something like this happens the buyer has already done a final walk-through on the property and everything looked fine. So, the sellers move out, leave the damage; then the buyers move in and find it. Who’s the first person they call and scream at?? Their agent.

It’s not your real estate agent’s fault this has happened. It’s the seller’s fault for not bringing it to anyone’s attention and/or repairing it. You see, the contract says that the seller will deliver the home to the buyer in the same condition it was whenever the contract was written. If the home was damaged by a tornado or fire, the buyer would either have the right to cancel or the right to the insurance money for the repairs.

Now, I’ve been preaching this to the agents in our office since we’ve had many issues with this lately. Every seller out there needs to read and understand that paragraph in our contracts. Ultimately, the agent cannot really do anything after the sale has closed. We can offer to put the two parties in contact with each other, or even act as a mediator for a face-to-face meeting with the sellers and the buyers. But, we are not the ‘judge and jury’ enforcers of the contract. If there’s a serious problem with the property after closing, your only option may be small claims court.

Either way, please know that your agent isn’t leaving you high and dry in this situation, it’s that we can only legally offer so much.

Disclaimer: We sell real estate in Missouri and Kansas. Laws and contracts will vary from state to state.