Kansas City North Real Estate Blog

The Real Estate Party is Over

I think it's pretty amazing how many other Realtors think that now that the first time home buyers tax credit has ended, the party is over. I just find it hard to imagine that there were this many people that purchased a home over the last year simply because of the tax credit.

Oh sure, there were the small few buyers that got pushed off the fence, but overall most of the buyers that my team has been working with could really care less. They've told us, "It's icing on the cake" but they would have bought a home anyway because it's the right time in their life or because interest rates are at an all time low or because home prices have fallen so far that they simply can't ignore the prices.

As a matter of fact, most of the first time home buyers that Christina and I have helped buy a home, don't even understand taxes or the benefits of tax deductions.  Most of them currently use the standard tax forms with no deductions so they can't imagine what the big deal is all about.

I certainly have not seen an overly huge rush to buy a home within the month of April (although my business is booming). Quite honestly, there is a buyer coming back tomorrow (Saturday, May 1st) to look at one of my listings for the 2nd time. Their agent has indicated they like the home and may make an offer. After telling my sellers this, they wondered, "Why wouldn't this couple come out to see it today? If they're going to make an offer, wouldn't it make sense to do that on the last day of the tax credit offer and at least have the opportunity to receive a $6,500 tax credit for getting this home under contract within the deadline?"  I thought the same thing myself.

Honestly, I don't know about other agents, but I don't plan on slowing down just because the tax credit has ended.  There will always be sellers that need to move to another state, buyers moving here from another city, young couple getting married in May and June that want to buy a home, and other people moving up, down or sideways for their own specific reasons. 

Foreclosure in Seven Bridges Platte City Missouri

AMAZING CASA BELLA HOME WITH ALL THE UPGRADES IN BEAUTIFUL SEVEN BRIDGES COMMUNITY, PLATTE CITY, MISSOURI. VAULTED CEILINGS, FAUX PAINTING, GRANITE COUNTERS, STAINLESS APPLIANCES, CENTRAL VAC, NuVo SOUND SYSTEM, HUGE WALK-IN PANTRY, LARGE KITCHEN AND HEARTHROOM w/BEAUTIFUL HARDWOOD FLOORING, OVERSIZED GARAGE DOORS, EXTENSIVE LANDSCAPING, SCREENED PORCH/PATIO - BEAUTIFUL MASTER WITH LUXURIOUS MASTER BATH. SEVEN BRIDGES SUBDIVISION IS A MUST SEE WITH CASCADING WATERFALLS, LAKES, WALKING TRAILS, LARGE PLAY AND POOL AREAS, TENNIS COURTS, AND THE BIGGEST PRIVATE CLUBHOUSE YOU'LL EVER SEEN.

  

Stop the Madness! - Kansas City Appraisals

I have a home in Northview Place in Kansas City North that was custom built by my sellers. They used a great builder and took one of his floor plans, then maxed it out with everything - granite, Wolf appliances, custom finishes, tons of trim, landscaping, security systems.  You name it; it's in this home.

Anyway, it’s been a somewhat challenging sale over the course of the last year, but we started at what they had in it around $440,000. At the time there were 2 other homes priced higher than ours in the subdivision.  The seller is a doctor and moved to St. Joseph MO to take a partnership at the hospital there. They’ve been wonderful to work with and I’ve been disappointed that we’ve had to drop the price down to $390,000 to find a buyer.  

We’re under contract at $387,000 and the seller is bringing around $20,000 to the table to get it done, but is willing to do that.  This last week we got the appraisal back and it came in at $370,000 - $17,000 UNDER our sales price!  Honestly, I wanted to be sick, but I’m the type to take 10 minutes to cool off, then dive in there and figure out a plan.

Long story, short – I think we have a worst case scenario plan in place and a best case scenario in place, but more importantly the buyers are not freaking out and still want to buy the home. I'm probably lucky there isn't another agent involved (buyers were unrepresented) because it sure makes it a lot easier to talk to them in person without another agent in there.

When I went over there to speak with the buyers at their home, as soon as we sat down at their kitchen table, the wife said, "Ron, before we get started, can I say something first"?  I thought to myself, "Oh no, they're nervous and want to back out,” but then she surprised me.  She said, "We LOVE this home and we want it bad. We've seen quite a few homes before this one and we simply do not understand how this appraisal came in so low. We don't believe the appraisal can be correct because we're 100% sure this home is a fantastic deal at our agreed price, but the bank is telling us they won't loan us the money and can't change the appraisal.  How can we make this work because we don't want to lose this home?”

Obviously I breathed a huge sigh of relief and then began to explain my plans for a best case and a worst-case scenario. I told them sometimes the lender will allow us to contest the appraisal, but in this particular case it appeared to me that their lender didn’t care to discuss it. I suggested we simply start over with another lender and that’s what they’re doing.

As I asked around my office this week, I heard other horror stories of buyers that backed out completely, sellers that took their homes off the market, and deals that were killed even though we had a buyer willing to pay what they felt was “fair market value”.

Think about how many people are involved in this and how it’s a lose-lose situation. You typically have two agents, a lender, a buyer, and a seller at minimum; that’s five people, but you may also have that many people involved again if the sellers were going to buy another home in that same area.

As I told this story to several people in my office this week, I realized that this is MADNESS and where does it stop? Believe me, I do understand how we got to this point, but it just seems like there’s got to be a better way.  Banks and appraisers will need to let up a little as we move forward. If a buyer is willing to pay a certain price and a seller is willing to sell it at that price, then that's the TRUE market value!!

Woodneath Farms in Liberty MO

 

VERY CLEAN 1.5 STORY HOME IN WOODNEATH FARMS. BEAUTIFUL MAIN FLOOR MASTER BEDROOM WITH LUXURIOUS MASTER BATH. HIGH CEILINGS/WALL OF WINDOWS IN THE LIVING ROOM. KITCHEN HAS GRANITE TRANSFORMATIONS COUNTERS, WITH NEW BLACK COMPOSITE SINK, AND LARGE PANTRY. ENJOY THE HEARTH-ROOM FIREPLACE. EXTENSIVE LANDSCAPING. SEPARATE STAIRS TO BSMENT THRU GARAGE.

 

With acres of green space and parkland nestled around the original Woodneath Mansion, Woodneath Farms is a 700-home, master-planned community located in Kansas City, Missouri featuring homes priced from the low to mid $300,000s.  Woodneath Farms is easily reached via M-152, I-35 and I-435. Neighborhood features include a recreation area with a competition-sized pool, beautiful lake and fountain, walking trails, playground, nature areas and elementary school; brick entrance monuments, decorative fencing, lush landscaping, tennis court and picnic pavilion. Liberty Public Schools. According to current boundaries, students in Woodneath Farms will attend Shoal Creek Elementary - (Grades K-5); South Valley Middle School (Grades 6-7), South Valley Junior High School (Grades 8-9) and Liberty High School (Grades 10-12) FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT WOODNEATH FARMS SUBDIVISION OR TO SEE AVAILABLE HOMES IN THIS AREA, CALL OR EMAIL RON HENDERSON WITH KELLER WILLIAMS REALTY.  816-651-9001  ronhenderson@kw.com