Kansas City North Real Estate Blog

Kansas City Buyers Agent, Scott Parman joins Ron Henderson & Associates real estate team

Kansas City, MO-KS (1888PressRelease) November 22, 2012 - Ron Henderson & Associates is proud to announce that Scott Parman has joined their real estate team as their Buyer Specialist. Scott's roots trace back to the Northland, as his parents were teachers at Oak Park and Park Hill when they met. Customer service was learned at a young age; the Parman family operated a general store throughout Scott's youth in a farm town in Northwest Missouri. After high school, Scott attended the US Air Force Academy and served five and a half years as an Air Force officer with over 1,500 flying hours, including Operation Enduring Freedom over Afghanistan.

Scott went into real estate after spending ten years as a sales professional in the medical device industry in the fields of cardiac surgery and breast cancer diagnosis. Scott now brings his attention to detail, professionalism, and a mid-western work ethic to the real estate industry. Coupled with a deep passion for enabling his customers' success, these skills help Scott give his buyers first class service throughout the entire home buying process.

Scott has been married 15 years to his wonderful wife Adrianna. They have two children, Mia - 8 and Quinn - 7. When not helping clients discover their dream homes, you might find Scott cycling, playing basketball, racing motocross, or playing bass in local venues for his brother's country band.

Ron Henderson, leader of Ron Henderson & Associates, says, "Our business has grown to the point where there is too much for one person to handle. I'm very excited about bringing Scott to the team. He brings a sense of enthusiasm and skill that will be a great asset to both our team and to our clients." He goes on to say, "Our goal for 2013 is to sell 100 homes in the Kansas City real estate market."

Ron Henderson & Associates is one of the top real estate teams in the Kansas City Northland. So far in 2012, their team has sold over 65 homes. If you are looking to buy or sell a home in the Kansas City Northland, you can contact Ron and his team at 816-268-4404 or visit them online at http://www.clayandplatte.com or http://www.kansascitynorth-realestate.com 

Looking for a Real Estate Deal in Kansas City

You know everyone is looking for a "Deal" these days, but what most real estate buyers don't understand is that sometimes the "deals" aren't so obvious at first glance. Most buyers today assume that Short Sales and Bank Foreclosures are where the deals are, but I've personally found that Relocation sales and even regular home sales can also be some fantastic deals as well.

For example, I just recently sold a home that was a Relocation sale. The original homeowner had negotiated a "buy-out" option for his home since his employer wanted him to move to California quickly. In April 2011 we got two appraisals for the home with an average suggested value of $435,000 and the company bought his home.  

After buying the home, the employer/company contacted me to sell the home. Because the company didn't want to hold this property for more than a few months, we put the home on the market at $420,000. With an appraisal price of $435,000 I thought this home would sell pretty quickly at a discounted price, but unfortunately when we put this home on the market there was a lot of competition in the area so we ultimately had to lower the price two times. We finally got a buyer several months later and negotiated a final purchase price of $365,000. A $70,000 discount!! Now that's what I call a deal.

Another buyer I was working with was willing to pay full price for a great home priced at $165,000.  This week the appraisal came in at $188,000!!! This was NOT a short sale or a bank repo.  The inspections were very clean and it's a great home.  The seller just needed to sell and had it aggressively priced. 

If you're looking for a deal in Kansas City, give me a call and let's see if we can find YOU a great deal on a home.

 

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

 

 

30% of Home Sales Don't Close On Time

According to a recent survey of Keller Williams agents across North America, the majority of homes close on time, but what can keep a home from closing?

Common Reasons for Delayed Closings

1. Short sale approval took longer than expected

2. Appraisal issues

3. Lender took too long

4. Loan underwriting took longer than expected

5. Additional documentation needed

6. Buyer did not provided documents to lender in a timely fashion

7. Home repairs needed to be conducted

8. Could not close with an active dispute on credit

9. Additional requirements by down payment assistance program

10. FHA loan requirements took additional time to complete

11. HOA application

12. Escrow company did not complete all required activities in a timely manner

13. Title issues

If you'll notice, 8 of these have to do with the lender. That's why it's so important for you as a consumer to go with a lender recommended by your real estate agent.

There are a ton of mortgage companies out there which give you a lot of options as far as who you'd like to work with. The fact is though, that in the end, you are only going to work with one lender. Your agent on the other hand, has had the opportunity to work with lots of lenders, because sometimes clients come to their agent with the lender already chosen. Thus the agent is forced to complete the deal with a lender they don't know. The agent quickly learns who is a good lender and who is not.

So when you're buying a home in Kansas City and your agent gives you some lenders to call, be sure to do exactly that. Your transaction is much more likely to close on time if your agent already has a relationship with your lender.

The lender wants to keep the agent happy so that the agent continues to send them business. Additionally, the agent gets absolutely no financial gain from recommending a lender to you. Lenders are prohibited by law from paying agents for referrals. The only advantage an agent gets when you choose a lender they recommend is peace of mind! And that means YOUR transaction is more likely to be a piece of cake rather than a delayed mess!

-Elizabeth Gilbert, Licensed Executive Assistant

Why you need a Buyer's Agent for your next Kansas City Home Purchase

While the painful real estate swoon appears likely to extend well into 2009—at least—the number of Americans using the Internet to find the home of their dreams is poised to keep on climbing. According to the 2008 National Association of Realtors Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers, 87 percent of home buyers used the Internet to search for homes in the past year. That's up steadily from 84 percent in 2007, 80 percent in 2006. But despite its mounting popularity, the Internet home-buying process can present a host of pitfalls. To help make your online real estate searching more effective, here's a look at the top five Internet home-buying blunders and what you can do to avoid them.

1) Assuming you can do it all yourself. The Internet allows users to handle for themselves many of the tasks that could once only be performed by real estate agents. The NAR profile, for example, found that the number of home buyers who first learned of their homes on the Internet has been rising in recent years—to 32 percent in 2008, up from a tiny 2 percent in 1997. Accordingly, the number of home buyers who first learned of their homes through agents has been declining—it was at 34 percent in 2008, down from 50 percent in 1997.

But although the Internet can provide heaps of helpful tips and research, it would be a mistake to assume that the Web is all you need to buy a house. The process of purchasing real estate can be extremely complicated from a legal standpoint, and it's easy to make a mistake if you don't have an expert advising you. And when it comes to something as expensive as real estate, those mistakes could cost you thousands of dollars. 

2) Looking too narrowly. The sheer amount of information about the real estate market online can be overwhelming. As a result, buyers can be tempted to stick to just one or two popular real estate search engines, like Realtor.com, for their research. The problem with doing that, however, is that you're missing out on the biggest advantages that the Internet offers.

First, you're closing yourself off to a smaller cross section of the homes that are out there. "A lot of the sites aren't comprehensive and don't have all of the new listings. Don't assume that because a house is on one real estate website that it is on them all.

Second, you miss all the breaking, up-to-the-minute information on the housing market that can make you a smarter consumer. Blogs have become a popular resource for real estate agents and others to post information as it happens. If consumers are interested in a local area, they should find local real estate bloggers who know this breaking information.

3. Falling for fake listings. Remember, the Internet is a giant playground for scammers, and unfortunately they have penetrated the world of online home buying as well. Combine big dollars for online advertising and a lot of people searching for homes, and the result is a proliferation of fake home listings. Unfortunately, some real estate agents will also market their previously SOLD listings to entice buyers to call them, then simply attempt to switch the buyer to another property.  Working with a Buyers Agent that knows the entire Kansas City market and has access to all the very best homes will prevent you from these unscrupulous scams.

4. Putting too much stock in home valuation websites. Sites like Zillow.com and Cyberhomes.com have changed the way people buy homes by putting pricing information at buyers' fingertips. But they're not infallible. Don't assume to know what the value of a home should be based on what these sites tell you about the neighborhood. There are many elements of a home's value that home valuation sites cannot incorporate. Take their values with a grain of salt.