Kansas City North Real Estate Blog

Need Extra Storage Space? Look up!

If you're running out of storage space in your home, and you're not quite ready to buy a new home in Kansas City, here's an alternate solution. It's going to take a little work on your part, or we can recommend a good carpenter to get the job done for you.

Everyone has seen these bins you buy at Wal-Mart or Target and most of us have a few full of Christmas decorations and stuff we don't use all that often (or at all!). Get them out of the way and keep them accessible at the same time!

Check out the instructions here.

-Elizabeth Gilbert, Administrative Assistant

The Ultimate Guide to Moving to a New Place

Being in the real estate industry, I read a lot of articles related to home ownership. I found this one to be particularly interesting. Moving your entire household can be a huge ordeal, probably only just a little easier than planning a wedding! And if you're getting married AND planning to move, I hope you carry a bottle of aspirin with you wherever you go.

This is a great article from Adam Dachis over at lifehacker.com. If you've never visited their site, you should. A lot of it is tech related, but they do have some practical, hands-on advice as well.

Check out the article here. Got any great stories about moving? Be sure to share them with us!

Bank Owned Home in Northview Place subdivision

Spacious 2 sty on cul-de-sac has 9' walk-out basement. Kitchen island with granite countertops, wood floors, Knott Aider cabinets, full view of stone fireplace w/built-in side cabinets. Hardwood floors in the entry, dining room, & kit. All baths & laundry tiled. Boot bnch entry. HUGE walk-in master closet w/blt-in dresser. BRAND NEW FRIEZE CARPET!! This is a Bank-Owned home, but in perfect shape.  For a personal tour or to find other bank owned homes in the Kansas City area, call Ron Henderson Keller Williams Realty at 816-651-9001.

 

5 Tips for Buying a Foreclosure in Kansas City

Get prequalified for a loan and set aside funds, and you’ll be ready to purchase a foreclosed home.

When selling a foreclosed home, set a price well under market value so the home will sell quickly. Image: Image Source/Getty Images

When lenders take over a home through foreclosure, they want to sell it as quickly as possible. Since lenders aren’t in the real estate business, they turn to real estate brokers for help marketing their properties. Buying a foreclosed home through the multiple listing service can be a bargain, but it can also be a problem-filled process. Here are five tips to help you buy smart.

1. Choose a foreclosure sale expert.Lenders rarely sell their own foreclosures directly to consumers. They list them with real estate brokers. You can work with a real estate agent who sells foreclosed homes for lenders, or have a buyer’s agent find foreclosure properties for you. To locate a foreclosure sales specialist, call local brokers and ask if they are the listing agent for any banks. 

Either way, ask the real estate professional which lenders’ homes they’ve sold, how many buyers they’ve represented in a foreclosed property purchase, how many of those sales they closed last year, and who they legally represent.

If the agent represents the lender, don’t reveal anything to her that you don’t want the lender to know, like whether you’re willing to spend more than you offer for a house.

2. Be ready for complications. In some states, the former owner of a foreclosed home can challenge the foreclosure in court, even after you’ve closed the sale. Ask your agent to recommend a real estate attorney who has negotiated with lenders selling foreclosed homes and has defended legal challenges to foreclosures.

Have your attorney explain your state’s foreclosure process and your risks in purchasing a foreclosed home. Set aside as much as $5,000 to cover potential legal fees.

3. Work with your agent to set a price. Ask your real estate agent to show you closed sales of comparable homes, which you can use to set your price. Start with an amount well under market value because the lender may be in a hurry to get rid of the home.

4. Get your financing in order. Many mortgage market players, such as Fannie Mae, require buyers to submit financing preapproval letters with a purchase offer. They’ll also reject all contingencies. Since most foreclosed homes are vacant, closings can be quick. Make sure you have the cash you’ll need to close your purchase.

5. Expect an as-is sale. Most homeowners stopped maintaining their home long before they could no longer make mortgage payments. Be sure to have enough money left after the sale to make at least minor, and sometimes substantive, repairs.

Although lenders may do minor cosmetic repairs to make foreclosed homes more marketable, they won’t give you credits for repair costs (or make additional repairs) because they’ve already factored the property’s condition into their asking price.

Lenders will also require that you purchase the home “as is,” which means in its current condition. Protect yourself by ordering a home inspection to uncover the true condition of the property, getting a pest inspection, and purchasing a home warranty.

Be sure you also do all the environmental testing that’s common to your region to find hazards such as radon, mold, or lead-based paint.

My team personally represents several local banks and has negotiated many fantastic deals for our buyers as well. If you'd like to know more about bank owned properties or might be interested in actually purchasing one, we would invite you to give us a call.  Please call Ron Henderson at 816-651-9001.

Understanding Real Estate Representation in Missouri and Kansas

Whether you’re buying or selling, it’s important to choose real estate representation that meets your needs in the transaction.

When it comes to representation in a real estate transaction, there are several options available. 

You have choices when selecting representation in a real estate transaction. Here are five tips for understanding which type of legal relationship with a real estate professional, called an agency relationship, will best protect you when you buy or sell a home.

1. Buyer’s agency

When you’re buying a home, you can hire an agent who represents only you, called an exclusive buyer’s representative or agent. A buyer’s agent works in your best interest and owes you a fiduciary duty. You can pay your buyer’s agent yourself, or ask the seller, or the seller’s agent, to pay your agent a share of their sales commission.

If you’re selling your home and hiring an agent to list it exclusively, you’ve hired a selling representative—an agent who owes fiduciary duties to you. Typically, you pay a selling agent a commission at closing. Selling agents usually offer or agree to pay a portion of their sales commission to the buyer’s agent. If your seller’s agent brings in a buyer, your agent keeps the entire commission.

2. Subagency

When you purchase a home, the agent you can opt to work with may not be your agent at all, but instead may be a subagent of the seller. In general, a subagent represents and acts in the best interest of the sellers and sellers’ agent.

If your agent is acting as a subagent, you can expect to be treated honestly, but the subagent owes loyalty to the sellers and their agent and can’t put your interests above those of the sellers. In a few states, agents aren’t permitted to act as subagents.

Never tell a subagent anything you don’t want the sellers to know. Maybe you offered $150,000 for a home but are willing to go up to $160,000. That’s the type of information subagents would be required to pass on to their clients, the sellers.

3. Disclosed dual agency

In many states, agents and companies can represent both parties in a home sale as long as that relationship is fully disclosed. It’s called disclosed dual agency. Because dual agents represent both parties, they can’t be protective of and loyal to only you. Dual agents don’t owe all the traditional fiduciary duties to clients. Instead, they owe limited fiduciary duties to each party.

Why would you agree to dual agency? Suppose you want to buy a house that’s listed for sale by the same real estate brokerage where your buyer’s agent works. In that case, the real estate brokerage would be representing both you and the seller and you’d both have to agree to that.

Because there’s a potential for conflicts of interest with dual agency, all parties must give their informed consent. In many states, that consent must be in writing.

4. Designated agency

A form of disclosed dual agency, “designated agency” allows two different agents within a single firm to represent the buyer and seller in the same transaction. To avoid conflicts that can arise with dual agency, some managing brokers designate or appoint agents in their company to represent only sellers, or only buyers. But that isn't required for designated agency. A designated, or appointed, agent will give you full representation and represent your best interests.

5. Nonagency relationship

In some states, you can choose not to be represented by an agent. That's referred to as nonagency or working with a transaction broker or facilitator. In general, in nonagency representation, the real estate professional you work with owes you fewer duties than a traditional agency relationship. And those duties vary from state to state. Ask the person you're working with to explain what he or she will and won't do for you.

via buyandsell.houselogic.com

Although all of these options are perfectly legal in the state of Missouri, I personally choose to only represent my clients as a Designated Agent.

Ron Henderson - Keller WIlliams Northland Partners - Kansas City MO  816-651-9001

6 Reasons to Reduce Your Kansas City Home Price

While you’d like to get the best price for your home, consider these six reasons to reduce your home price.

If you don't receive any offers for a few weeks, check out other comparable houses on the market and what they're going for. Image: Liz Foreman    Home not selling? That could happen for a number of reasons you can’t control, like a unique home layout or having one of the few homes in the neighborhood without a garage. There is one factor you can control: your home price.

These six signs may be telling you it’s time to lower your price.

1. You’re drawing few lookers

You get the most interest in your home right after you put it on the market because buyers want to catch a great new home before anybody else takes it. If your real estate agent reports there have been fewer buyers calling about and asking to tour your home than there have been for other homes in your area, that may be a sign buyers think it’s overpriced and are waiting for the price to fall before viewing it.

2. You’re drawing lots of lookers but have no offers

If you’ve had 30 sets of potential buyers come through your home and not a single one has made an offer, something is off. What are other agents telling your agent about your home? An overly high price may be discouraging buyers from making an offer.

3. Your home’s been on the market longer than similar homes

Ask your real estate agent about the average number of days it takes to sell a home in your market. If the answer is 30 and you’re pushing 45, your price may be affecting buyer interest. When a home sits on the market, buyers can begin to wonder if there’s something wrong with it, which can delay a sale even further. At least consider lowering your asking price.

4. You have a deadline

If you’ve got to sell soon because of a job transfer or you’ve already purchased another home, it may be necessary to generate buyer interest by dropping your price so your home is a little lower priced than comparable homes in your area. Remember: It’s not how much money you need that determines the sale price of your home, it’s how much money a buyer is willing to spend.

5. You can’t make upgrades

Maybe you’re plum out of cash and don’t have the funds to put fresh paint on the walls, clean the carpets, and add curb appeal. But the feedback your agent is reporting from buyers is that your home isn’t as well-appointed as similarly priced homes. When your home has been on the market longer than comparable homes in better condition, it’s time to accept that buyers expect to pay less for a home that doesn’t show as well as others.

6. The competition has changed

If weeks go by with no offers, continue to check out the competition. What have comparable homes sold for and what’s still on the market? What new listings have been added since you listed your home for sale? If comparable home sales or new listings show your price is too steep, consider a price reduction.

Fielding A Lowball Offer On Your Kansas City Home

Consider before you ignore or outright refuse a very low purchase offer for your home. A counteroffer and negotiation could turn that low purchase offer into a sale.

When you receive a low offer on your house, the best response is to counter with a price you're willing to accept. Image: Keith Brofsky/Photodisc/Getty Images

You just received a purchase offer from someone who wants to buy your home. You’re excited and relieved, until you realize the purchase offer is much lower than your asking price. How should you respond? Set aside your emotions, focus on the facts, and prepare a counteroffer that keeps the buyers involved in the deal.

Check your emotions

A purchase offer, even a very low one, means someone wants to purchase your home. Unless the offer is laughably low, it deserves a cordial response, whether that’s a counteroffer or an outright rejection. Remain calm and discuss with your real estate agent the many ways you can respond to a lowball purchase offer.

Counter the purchase offer

Unless you’ve received multiple purchase offers, the best response is to counter the low offer with a price and terms you’re willing to accept. Some buyers make a low offer because they think that’s customary, they’re afraid they’ll overpay, or they want to test your limits. 

A counteroffer signals that you’re willing to negotiate. One strategy for your counteroffer is to lower your price, but remove any concessions such as seller assistance with closing costs, or features such as kitchen appliances that you’d like to take with you.

Consider the terms

Price is paramount for most buyers and sellers, but it’s not the only deal point. A low purchase offer might make sense if the contingencies are reasonable, the closing date meets your needs, and the buyer is preapproved for a mortgage. Consider what terms you might change in a counteroffer to make the deal work.

Review your comps

Ask your REALTOR® whether any homes that are comparable to yours (known as “comps”) have been sold or put on the market since your home was listed for sale. If those new comps are at lower prices, you might have to lower your price to match them if you want to sell.

Consider the buyer’s comps

Buyers sometimes attach comps to a low offer to try to convince the seller to accept a lower purchase offer. Take a look at those comps. Are the homes similar to yours? If so, your asking price might be unrealistic. If not, you might want to include in your counteroffer information about those homes and your own comps that justify your asking price.

If the buyers don’t include comps to justify their low purchase offer, have your real estate agent ask the buyers’ agent for those comps.

Get the agents together

If the purchase offer is too low to counter, but you don’t have a better option, ask your real estate agent to call the buyer’s agent and try to narrow the price gap so that a counteroffer would make sense. Also, ask your real estate agent whether the buyer (or buyer’s agent) has a reputation for lowball purchase offers. If that’s the case, you might feel freer to reject the offer.

Don’t signal desperation

Buyers are sensitive to signs that a seller may be receptive to a low purchase offer. If your home is vacant or your home’s listing describes you as a “motivated” seller, you’re signaling you’re open to a low offer. 

If you can remedy the situation, maybe by renting furniture or asking your agent not to mention in your home listing that you’re motivated, the next purchase offer you get might be more to your liking

via buyandsell.houselogic.com

Using Facebook to Sell Real Estate (part 2)

My last article told you one of the ways I can post my listings on Facebook buy using a service that allows me to create a real estate "tab" on my Facebook profile, but there are other strategies I use as well. 

I use a tool created by Postlets.com to create a single property website for all my listings. Once the "postlet" is created, I can then post a link directly to my Facebook wall and let my entire network of friends, family, past clients, and other Realtors know about my new listing. The beauty of doing this is I can get immediate feedback when people "comment" below the FB post. Sometimes no one comments about the home, but I still know they're clicking through to the website to view more photos and information. FYI, I don't suggest doing this more than one listing per month, maybe two at most. You'll run the risk of alienating

Another way to let people know I'm in real estate is to post what I call "little hints of real estate" here and there on my wall or on other people's wall too.  For example, I noticed a friend at Church posted on her wall that she was considering painting their kitchen this weekend and wanted to get some color suggestions. I posted to that link and let her know that I have color swatches in my glove compartment that I give to my clients and I would be more than happy to bring them over to her. She seemed to really appreciate that and after I got over there I could tell she really had no clue what to do.

I also like to recommend some of my vendors (A/C, painters, electricians, etc) on my wall from time to time. This serves several purposes. One, the vendors LOVE it. Two, it gives me the opportunity to be thought of as a "total home resource" to people I know. Many times my friends and past clients on Facebook will see these posts, then call or ask me through Facebook if I have someone on my list that could help them with whatever they need; roofing, landscaping, where to buy new appliances, etc.

These are 3 of the ways I utilize Facebook to sell real estate, but please let me know if you have thoughts of your own or if you have a unique way of using Facebook for your listings and/or buyers.

Using Facebook to Sell Real Estate (part 1)

Ok, I'll admit it, I'm hooked on Facebook. I started using the world's most popular social media site in October of 2008 and quickly became interested in seeing what all my high school friends were doing now, looking at family photos, and posting information about what book I was currently reading. Since that time though, Facebook has gone through many design and content changes and become far more important to my daily routine. 

Facebook expects to announce its 500-millionth user next week. That's a milestone for sure, but more importantly than that, Facebook has now become a serious online force to be reckoned with.  Here's some statistics:

    • 50% of their active users log on to Facebook every single day.
    • Average user has 130 friends.
    • Average user is connected to 60 pages, groups and events
    • Average user creates 70 pieces of content each month.  

When I personally look at these stats, my first thought is that most of the people I know that are on Facebook have hundreds, even thousands of friends; so why wouldn't I want to market to these people? Through a little trial and error over the last couple of years, I've come up with a few unique ways to market to my sphere of influence using Facebook.

The first thing I figured out pretty quickly is not to do daily postings showing my homes for sale or what I was doing every second of the day in my real estate business. Honestly, no one wants to read that stuff and no one cares. That's a good way to get "un-friended".

The second thing I realized is that people want to see "the real you". Social media is meant to be very transparent and open. That's the beauty of it. Your personality, humor and interests are on display for the whole world to see.

What I've since realized is that people just want to know what's going on in your life. They want to see photos, the things that interest you, and what you're doing at that moment in time.  This is why Facebook is such a great marketing tool for a real estate agent like me. Real estate is my life, that's what I'm doing during the day and it's what interests me, so it's what I communicate about on Facebook. Oh sure, I have many interests outside real estate, but why shouldn't I let people know what I'm doing in real estate.

Obviously I'm not the only one that feels this way because this last year I found a company that provides a unique service for Realtors. The company is http://socialrealestatetools.com and they've created a product that enables me to place a REAL ESTATE tab on my Facebook profile.

Using this tool enables me to create a sort of "stealth marketing" position for all my listings. Visitors to my Facebook profile page will obviously be curious about viewing these homes which will serve two purposes: 1) it lets visitors know I'm in real estate and 2) it helps sell my homes and is another way to advertise my sellers properties.   

Don't Pay $29,900 for a Home And Expect to Move In Right Away

I was driving into the office this morning and heard an ad on the radio. Maybe you’ve heard it too, and it just really makes me shake my head in disbelief.

It goes like this: A lady has invited her friend over to see her new home and the friend comments about how nice it is. The lady then says, “Yeah, and can you believe this was a foreclosure? I bought this house for $29,900 and my payment is only $190 per month!”

Then the ad goes on to say you should call them for a list of foreclosures in your area.

OK. Here’s where I have to set the record straight! Sure, you can purchase a foreclosure for $29,900. In fact, there are over 100 homes priced between $29,000 and $30,000 in the Heartland MLS right now. What they don’t tell you on the radio though, is that these homes are super tiny and in just poor condition or they are larger homes in absolutely terrible condition. Take it from me, the majority of these homes smell terrible!

Secondly, no bank is going to loan you less than $50,000 unless it’s an FHA 203k loan in which case you would be borrowing additional funds for the repairs and your monthly payment would no longer be $190. Which, by the way, does not include taxes and insurance.

Bottom line, there is no such thing as a $30,000 move-in ready home for $190 per month. Oh, and to get the list of foreclosures, you likely have to pay a fee. You can easily get the list for free from a Realtor®. Just don’t expect them to show you every home on the list!

-Elizabeth Gilbert, Licensed Administrative Assistant

A typical $29,900 foreclosure looks like this: