Sellers Market?

It appears that at least for certain price ranges and neighborhoods in Kansas City there are the signs of a sellers market emerging. Homes going under contract for full or above full price in less than a week is becoming more frequent in the last couple of weeks. This could be because of the tax credit expiring April 30th, or possibly pent up buyer demand, or a combination of both. The real question is how long will it last?

I'm no recognized industry expert by any means, but I do work successfully in this industry. I feel that while the expiring tax credit plays a role I really feel that pent up buyer demand is a bigger issue at play. Home sales have been down for almost 18 months. The home buyers out there who have been putting decisions off for a while are finally getting back in the market.

The biggest factor that drives home prices is demand. If multiple buyers are interested in a property and multiple offers come in a bidding war ensues. This bidding war will inevitably push the price over asking price because no one knows what others are bidding. This is encouraging to see and I've seen it first hand working with buyers and sellers.

In my opinion the buyer demand will keep the market strong for at least through the summer. There have been experts advising buyers to wait until after the tax credit when prices tumble. Of course this philosophy will only work if no one listens to the advice. If droves of buyers are waiting patiently for May 1st to come around then the prices will remain high and the market will remain strong.

I started in this business in April of 2008. I've never seen a crazy market where homes sell before the agent even gets them posted on MLS. I can tell you however, that I've had much success getting homes sold quickly. This market we find ourselves in currently is great, and I think it is pretty close to a normal market. A normal market is better considered a flat market. It is important to note that flat markets don't last long in any industry. Normal economic rules will dictate that we will be swinging to a sellers market slowly but surely.

When you are choosing an agent to represent you buying or selling, make sure they've had success in this current market. You want to be sure they are there to fight for your best price when you're selling, and ensure your offer gets considered when you're buying. If you have someone representing you that thinks the market is still a buyers market and suggest you submit offers 10 or 20% below market value you will be loosing many opportunities to buy.

I hope this was helpful, anyone thinking of buying or selling a home needs to know this a great time. Low prices and low rates won't last forever.

Kansas City Condo's

There are many condo's available in the Kansas City Metro, most are downtown & in the Plaza. The Kansas City condo market is tough, in total there are 845 condo's available in Jackson County. In the last three months 60 have sold. For the last six months 175 have sold. This shows a declining demand, however the winter weather could have also played a role in skewing those numbers.

Looking at the numbers we have about 30 months worth of inventory in the condo market here in Kansas City. The worst part about the whole condo situation is that many of the available condo's (218) are new, or never lived in. The average days on the market for those 218 is 556. So to say the least the condo market is not thriving.

The worst part of the country for FHA loan default is in Florida, due mostly to the condo market. There is a great article here from CNN Money that goes into great detail about how the market came to crash in Florida. The point to this post is to inform anyone thinking of buying a condo that the market is volatile all over the country and here in Kansas City there isn't much different.

Need a Contractor?

I've run across many homes in my Real Estate career that need little fixes, or major fixes to ensure they sell quickly and for top dollar. The biggest problem when this need arises is finding a contractor. There are literally hundreds of contractors or companies you can call in Kansas City. Meeting with contractors all day to get quotes on your needed repairs can be a pain.

I found an excellent new site that helps connect homeowners and contractors without all the downfalls that some of the services bring with them. The site is Fixr.com and allows you to post the needed job and get quotes from several contractors (depending on the service you need). There are almost 200 contractors in Kansas City registered on the site and posting your needed service is free.

Most Real Estate agents have contacts to reliable contractors, but most homeowners want several opinions and price quotes. This service will help tremendously in those circumstances and also can be a good resource for those who are selling their home For Sale By Owner.

I haven't used this site personally yet, but I've seen great reviews and talked to a couple of agents who have great luck getting several bids for their clients, so I thought I'd pass it along. If anyone has any personal experience I would love to hear from you.

Fewer Sellers Dropping their price

The housing market is pretty hot right now. I have a client that came in from out of town to look at homes. They picked 10 homes to see two weeks ago. Today, the day we were supposed to look at homes, all 10 are under contract.

I've put together four deals this week and I can attest that homes are jumping off the market much quicker than usual. I think the reasons are two fold. One, sellers have finally realized that their homes aren't worth as much as they think and two, the pent up buyer demand seems to be present in fears they will miss out on the tax credit.

This short article shows that Trulia.com is noticing fewer price reductions across the country. Things are heating up and while I don't expect home prices to rise, I think the back log of inventory will be cleared and we should find our selves in a very stable market.

This is great news for home sellers and I'm not sure if the industry experts who expect a drop in prices after the tax credit ends are delaying some buyers from acting now and in turn ensuring the market will stay balanced come May 1st. We will all see together...

Buying a home without perfect credit

I've heard from a lot of clients that getting a mortgage is about impossible right now. I've been able to steer them to lenders that can get their loan done. Typically without much work on the borrowers end. The media would have you believe that mortgages are hard to come by, but working in this industry I know that isn't exactly true.

Below is a VERY informative and in depth article speaking about this topic and all the loan programs that are out there. If you are looking to buy a home and have hard time getting an approval, contact me & I'll put you in touch with excellent lenders out there who can help.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/bw/20100317/bs_bw/mar2010bw20100316552243

Treating Your Deck...

For homeowners with a deck one of the more tedious chores involved with maintaining the deck is treating it. There are a myriad of options out there from stains, paints and polymers that can be applied to ensure your deck stays rot and warp free.

I recommend a product that works by bonding with the wood on a molecular level. I treated my deck with One Time Wood almost two years ago and I'm simply thrilled with the results. This product is expensive, and one will think twice before spending the money. However I'd like to share my experience and perhaps you will trust me that this is the product for your deck.

I used to rent a duplex with a deck. I stayed there almost 4 years and my landlord had treated the deck twice in that time frame. He used a simple stain and the results were nothing short of poor. I noticed after living at the duplex just one year that the deck had started to warp badly. The railings were twisting, the main support posts were also twisting and bowing. The floor of the deck was coming up on the edges and the wood was cracking everywhere.

When I purchased my home I new from the last experience with a deck, that thankfully wasn't my responsibility, that the treatment of that deck was very important. So I did a ton of research on treatment products. The best reviews I could find for longevity and effectiveness were relating to One Time Wood. So I sucked it up and purchased two gallons. They were $75 per and cost almost three times the average deck stain.

Applying the One Time Wood was simple. I used a paint brush and was shocked that two gallons did my entire 12 X 12 deck. All of it, and I still had about a quart left over. 2 years later my deck has zero warping, bowing and cracking. A very important thing to know about my deck, I have two dogs that scratch the finish off the deck floor with their claws while walking. One Time Wood penetrated the wood so deep that even though the color has been removed from the deck thanks to my lovely four legged critters, the wood stays in perfect shape.

One Time Wood claims to have a 7 year life span. After two years I can't imagine this is false. I think it is important for all home owners to know about this product when deck treatment times around again. I used this product on virgin wood, so I'm not familiar with how difficult it is to remove past treatments. However looking at their website and reading other information it appears that removal isn't too difficult.

The next time you are getting ready to treat your deck, you might want to consider One Time Wood. I've been very happy and recommend this to all my clients, friends & family.

Features to Brag about!

"Green" homes are all the rage right now. There are two main reasons for this. First, some people are real big into saving mother earth and want to make sure everything they can control has an "eco-friendly" edge to it. Secondly, most all green features mean saving money on energy costs.

Pointing out all of your green features, or updating with energy saving materials and appliances can help you win favor with most buyers. This is especially true on older homes that have been updated. If you updated your older home with a tank-less water heater, low water usage toilets, cellulose insulation, and a high efficiency HVAC then you are in a much better position than the home down the street with new paint & carpet.

It's important to remember when updating, remodeling or building a home that you take into consideration what you can do to reduce energy costs. This is a great selling feature, but also something that will allow you to enjoy your remodeled home with less expense over time. Any energy saving update that has been done to your home, even if was a built in feature when you bought the home new 3 years ago, needs to be exploited when you are selling it.

See a great article below from Realty Times that explains in more detail some of the updates and reasons to ensure everyone looking at your home knows it is a better choice than your competition.

http://realtytimes.com/rtpages/20100312_ecofriendly.htm

Prepping your home for sale

When you are getting ready to put your home on the market there are many things you want to check and make sure operate & appear as they should. Working with buyers & sellers I've seen the kind of things people notice, and they are not what you'd expect. There are people that can live with a neon green & pink bedroom, but will run from a leaking faucet. Or see prior water damage no matter how small and freak out.

One of the biggest faux pas I see in homes for sale is a lack of cleanliness. Typically it is the things people don't clean on a weekly basis. Such as baseboards, top of the refrigerator, kitchen cabinets, bathroom grout, garages, basements, laundry areas and other places that are normally cleaned at spring cleaning time.

This lack of cleanliness will kill your first impression with potential buyers. I've had some sellers that spent a week doing a thorough cleaning and being so impressed with their home again that they had second thoughts about selling them. And these weren't dirty people mind you. The deep cleaning just makes your house look so much better than it's competition because most people who sell don't take the time or put forth the effort to clean their house fully.

There are many other areas to address. This article on MSN has a very good list with excellent information for each area of interest. See the article below and please let me know if I can ever answer your real estate questions.

http://realestate.msn.com/article.aspx?cp-documentid=13108483