Kansas City North Real Estate Blog

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!

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. 

United States Housing Prices

People ask me all the time whether I think the housing market is turning around. I've personally been seeing a slight turn myself and quite honestly 2009 was the best year I've ever had in real estate, but I wanted to share this chart with you for those that don't want to take my word for it.

The above chart estimates the market value of today's median-priced house over a 40-year period.

The thick red line represents real house prices. For those unfamiliar with economic terminology, "real" prices are prices that have been adjusted for inflation. The thick blue line represents nominal house prices. The thin lines represent the pre-bubble (1970-1999) trend lines.

Notice that in the downturn of both the Inflation-adjusted house prices (thick red line) and the Nominal house prices (thick blue line) have dropped to now almost be back in line with the pre-bubble trends. Ok, yes they could go below the pre-bubble lines, but if you look at the history of this chart all the way back to 1970, the home prices do not typically drop very far below that line.

This chart tells me (as it tells most housing economists) that we are quickly moving back to a normal market. Personally, I think we'll see that happen this year.

 

Existing-Home Sales Record Another Big Gain, Inventories Continue to Shrink

Driven by the first-time buyer tax credit, existing-home sales showed another big gain in October with a strong uptrend established over the past seven months, while inventories continue to decline, according to the National Association of Realtors®.

Existing-home sales – including single-family, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops – surged 10.1 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate¹ of 6.10 million units in October from a downwardly revised pace of 5.54 million in September, and are 23.5 percent above the 4.94 million-unit level in October 2008. Sales activity is at the highest pace since February 2007 when it hit 6.55 million.

Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, was surprised at the size of the gain. “Many buyers have been rushing to beat the deadline for the first-time buyer tax credit that was scheduled to expire at the end of this month, and similarly robust sales may be occurring in November,” he said. “With such a sale spike, a measurable decline should be anticipated in December and early next year before another surge in spring and early summer.”

via www.realtor.org

I spoke with a potential seller today that said she, "Wanted to wait until this down market is over before selling her home". I told her it's already over!! I guess we'll need to get more great articles like this one out there into the general public.

This Month in Real Estate News

Shoal Creek Valley- Preserve in Kansas City North

                      

Recently had the opportunity to preview a stunningly beautiful community in the Kansas City North, called Shoal Creek Valley Preserve.                                       

The classically crafted Gate House in the Preserve neighborhood (shown above) features a swimming pool with fountains, a spa, barbeque pavilion, ornate gardens, paths and outdoor entertaining areas on a balcony and main level patio. Inside are well-decorated rooms to accommodate formal and casual gatherings. There's also a full kitchen, a grand fireplace and a media room with a large projection screen.

In addition to the extensive trail system, parks, open space, entertaining and exquisite home options, Shoal Creek Valley offers numerous retail, dining and entertainment options.

If it’s the links you're after, stop by the championship Shoal Creek Golf Course – rated 2nd best public golf course in Missouri and surrounded by homes in the Preserve neighborhood. Or bring your family to the Shoal Creek Living History Museum, in Hodge Park, and experience a village of seventeen authentic 19th century buildings.

If it’s a country club atmosphere you desire, Clayview Country Club has broken ground on their new facility in the Village neighborhood, which will include an eight-lane, 25 meter lap pool, tennis facilities with year-round courts and a fitness center.

In the Preserve neighborhood, custom built luxury homes surround the championship Shoal Creek Golf Course with quality workmanship, attention to detail and exquisite custom furnishings. Homes are priced from $400,000 to well over $1 million.

Several local builders are approved for the Shoal Creek Valley community including Acuff Homes, Aristocrat Homes, Garbett Homes, Giltner & Son, J. D. Nelson Homes, Jim Carlson Construction, Kevin Green Homes, and Suma Designs.

If you're considering buying or building a custom home and would like to know more about this community, please call Ron Henderson at (816) 651-9001 to arrange a tour of this beautiful community in the Kansas City Northland, just outside Liberty MO.

Home Buyers Rank Keller Williams Realty #1 in Customer Satisfaction!!

Keller Williams ranked first among home buyers in the annual J.D Power and Associates 2009 Home Buyer/Seller study.

The study measures customer satisfaction with the largest national real estate companies. The most significant factor is the buyer/seller experience with the practitioner. Other factors include overall experience with the office and satisfaction with special services offered, like referrals to inspectors and lawyers. Home sellers also rate marketing.

The 2009 Home Buyer/Seller Study includes more than 3,100 evaluations from 2,801 respondents who bought or sold a home between April 2007 and June 2008.


Here are the home buyer rankings on a 1,000-point scale. (The home buyer average score was 791.)

• Keller Williams, 806
• Coldwell Banker, 801
• RE/MAX, 798
• Century 21, 795
• Prudential, 781
• ERA, 744
• GMAC, 731

FINALLY!!! Positive News about the Real Estate Market!

Finally the national news media is telling the world what us real estate agents have already known.  The US housing market has hit bottom! 

Read Full Article

With rock bottom mortgage rates continuing to hover around 5% and homes price at 2005 levels, it's simply too irresistible for new home buyers to wait any longer.

Personally I'm setting record sales so far this year and I'm really looking forward to the Spring and Summer rush.

HUD Launches New Educational Website

HUD Launches Web site to Increase Financial Literacy, Healthy Homeownership

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development today launched a new, comprehensive website to assist Americans with improving financial literacy, sustaining healthy homeownership and achieving financial security.  The My Money, My Home, My Future website provides a range of interactive resources to inform users about the importance of financial literacy, including a Self-Assessment Tool, online games and informative classes. Read More.

A Great Year for Real Estate in 2008

I have to tell you that it's been a great year for real estate in 2008. That's what I tell everyone that asks, and almost every single one of them are shocked to hear this, but it's true.

This next week I'll have the last two sales of the year and with these two sales, I'll creep just over the $5 million mark for 2008.  I think that's pretty good considering all the bad press we've been hearing about the real estate market.

The news media just keeps blasting out their garbage to the point that the typical home owner today thinks they couldn't possibly get their home sold in this market.  I'm here to tell you that's simply not true. OK, I'll admit that it's not easy and you may have to take slightly less for your current home than you'd like, but you'll more than make up for that on the next home you're buying, especially if you're buying a more expensive home.  

I've had MANY examples of this in the past 12 months. Sellers that had to take $5,000 to $10,000 less for their home to get it sold, ended up buying their next home at a $15,000 to $25,000 discount. One of my clients that is closing on their new home January 2nd, 2009 purchased a bank repo at easily an $90,000 discount!

Honesty, it's a mystery to me why more people haven't figured this out. It's called a "buyers market" for a good reason.  So in 2009 if you'd like to take advantage of what could be your last good year to take advantage of this buyers market, please call me!!!