Kansas City North Real Estate Blog

10.5 Home Features Buyers Want In Kansas City North Homes for Sale

Here are some items that I often hear buyers talk about when I show them Kansas City North homes for sale. If you are a seller, some of these are easily accomplished while others are things out of your control. In those cases, just remember that pricing the home right is the key to selling.

1. New Carpet – buyers want to SEE what the home will look like and they can’t imagine new frieze carpet, nor do they want to foot the bill for new carpet.

2. Warm, earth tone colors – Sherwin Williams Taupe Tone (SW7633) and Modern Gray (SW7632) are great suggestions for just about any home.

3. Good schools.

4. Granite counters – almost everyone loves granite and it’s still considered a big upgrade in the mind of a buyer.  If you’re selling a home that’s over $300,000 in the Kansas City area buyers will expect granite counters in the kitchen.  If it’s over $400,000 they will expect it in the master bath too.

5. Lots of custom trim.

6. Larger kitchens.

7. Stainless steel appliances – white appliances are out under any circumstances. If you don’t go with stainless steel, at least go with all black appliances.

8. New or newer (less than 10 years old) furnace, air conditioner, and roof.

9. Updated light and plumbing fixtures.

10. Extensive landscaping to give the home good curb appeal.

10.5 Something different – most buyers do not want to look out their front window and see the exact same home across the street or next door.  They want to feel like their home is special. Adding a unique kitchen island or a bar in the basement rec room, a beautiful framed mirror in the master bath, or an outdoor living space are all great "something different" ideas.

If you are thinking about putting your Kansas City North home for sale, please call me, Ron Henderson, at 816-651-9001. I can tell you what changes you could make that will help you home sell quickly. I also pay for a professional stager to come to your house to help you with the detail and I pay for a professional photographer to make your home stand out from all the other Kansas City North homes for sale!

 

Why the Photographs Are Critical When Selling Your Kansas City Home

When you are looking for a home for sale in Kansas City, you expect to find a lot of photos of the home...both interior and exterior shots. Some agents however, don't seem to think about how buyers make decisions on which homes to look at in person.

For example, I just took a listing that had expired with their previous agent. That previous agent had put up only four photos of the home and to be honest, they weren't that great.

Here's the before and after:

"Before" is on the left and "After" is on the right. Can you see the difference? The home looks much warmer and certainly more spacious.

And the previous agent only had these 4 shots...nothing else! See the listing on my website by clicking Kansas City North Real Estate.

And if your home is currently listed, make sure your agent has at least 20 good photos. If they don't, then call me! Ron Henderson 816-651-9001

When You List With Me, I Pay For Your Staging

 

What's the difference between homes that are "just okay" and homes that "WOW?" STAGING Regardless of market conditions, professional home staging can ensure that your home "WOWs" - which translates into more money in your pocket! Contact me today for a free consultation on the upgrades that are most likely to have the biggest impact on the sale of your home. And if you know anyone looking to buy or sell a home, I can certainly help with that too!

RON HENDERSON http://ronhenderson.kwrealty.com ronhendersonATkwrealty.com 816-268-4404 (Office)

 

Keller Williams Northland Partners 7915 N Oak Trafficway Kansas City, MO 64118

Each Office is Independently Owned and Operated

Gracious Living in Tremont Manor

Here's your opportunity to own a home in a beautiful part of Kansas City known as Tremont Manor. School age children attend the following schools in the Park Hill School District: Park Hill South High School, Plaza Middle School and Lakeview Middle School, and Southeast Elementary School.

Housing prices for real estate in Tremont Manor, like everything else, has taken a slight tumble, so it is possible now to own more home for less money than you could just two years ago. Which means now is the time to buy luxury if you were ever considering doing so. Homes for sale in Tremont Manor range from $350,000 to $850,000.

Here are two homes for sale in the Kansas City Northland Tremont Manor that may be of interest to you!

6151 N Hull St, Kansas City, MO 64151  and  5310 NW 60th St, Kansas City, MO 64151

Clicking the links above will take you to 30 photos of each home plus more information. If you'd like to contact me about buying or selling a home in Kansas City, talk to Ron Henderson at 816-651-9001 or email ronhenderson@kw.com

How Rising Interest Rates Will Impact Your Ability to Buy a Larger Home in Kansas City

In a recent Forbes blog post, multimillionaire hedge fund manager John Paulson declared that today’s record-low interest rates made this the best time to buy homes in fifty years. “If you don’t own a home, buy one,” Paulson said. “If you own one home, buy another one, and if you own two homes, buy a third and lend your relatives the money to buy a home.”  Why should we care what Paulson thinks? Well, he was among the few to accurately predict the subprime collapse and, while no one has a crystal ball, a closer look at the numbers supports his call to action.

Historically low interest rates are the key…and they aren’t likely to hang around for long.

As we wrote in SHIFT, buyers who “choose to wait until prices come down more” are gambling that interest rates will hold steady or drop. The truth is even a 10 percent drop in home prices is nullified by a 1 percent increase in interest rates. The figure below illustrates how this works for a $250,000 home purchase and the relative likelihood of each scenario.

To figure out which was a smarter bet–counting on home prices to fall further or interest rates to rise–our research department took the last ten years of monthly home price and mortgage interest rate data and ran the numbers to see which was more likely: an increase in mortgage rates or a further drop in home prices. Here’s what we found:

1. A one percent increase in mortgage rates is ten times more likely to happen than a ten percent drop in home prices.
2. A one percent rate increase more than offsets a ten percent reduction in home prices.
3. When interest rates fall by one percent, the total interest paid is almost three times more than the interest savings from a ten percent drop in home prices.
4. The probability of both happening at the same time is ridiculously small, and homeowners would still pay 15 percent more in interest over the life of the loan.

Read the rest of the article here 

When is the home legally mine?

When The Home Is Legally Yours

When is the home legally mine?

When it comes to buying a home, the home itself legally transfers to the owner at the point in time in which the clerk downtown in the County Assessors Office, takes the deed with the new owners name on it. This is called "recording" as they record the deed. They use the Official County stamp and at the moment they stamp that document, ownership has transferred.

When do I get the deed to a new home?

When it comes to buying your home, you don't actually get the deed to your home; you get a copy of the deed. The actual deed is recorded in the county assessor's office, which is a good thing. It's a note of public record, meaning that everyone knows that you are the rightful owner of that property.

How does my deed get recorded when purchasing real estate?

The recording of the deed is a fairly simple process that happens at your local country assessor's office. Once all the obligations and commitments have been met, the clerk is thereby empowered and authorized to go ahead and pull out that official seal and stamp it. At that moment, recording takes place on a “ship now” transfer.

What if I lose the deed to my home?

When it comes to buying a home, if you lose the deed to your home in reality you would have only lost a copy of the deed, not the actual deed. The actual deed is on record at your local county assessor's office and that's where you want it to be, because that shows to everyone in the community that you are the legal and rightful owner of the property. To answer the question, a simple call to a title insurance representative would result in you getting an additional copy of the deed.

When can I move into my new home?

When buying a home, the date you can move into your new house is agreed upon what's called possession. There is the close of escrow, there is also possession. This means, you can close on Monday but the agreement calls for you to take possession and move in on Thursday.

What if I discover defects in my new home that the seller should have disclosed?

OK, so you've moved into the property and you found a couple of material defects that concern you. First thing I would do is call your real estate agent. I certainly would consider that well within my job description. Although I do defer to the guidance and counsel of a real estate attorney on what the next steps might be, I would hope that there would be an amicable path of least resistance solution with the seller. That would be my first hope.

 

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!

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