A Kansas City Real Estate Blog by Realtor, Sarah Snodgrass

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Hey readers… It has been a busy week for me, and now I’m leaving for the Royals game - but I wanted to quickly feature my brand new awesome listing in Wallstreet Towers. For those of you who don’t know, Wallstreet Towers is my favorite condo development downtown. More to come later, but for now the listing is online, and here are a couple photos. (Most awesome pool in KC by the way - it is on the rooftop of an 11-story parking garage).

A couple photos from the Feist show last Sunday at Starlight Amphitheater… Starlight is a lovely outdoor concert and live theatrical venue in Swope Park, next to the Kansas City Zoo. It is my favorite place to see a concert on a lovely Summer night. Trivia: Swope Park is Kansas City’s largest park, and the nation’s 55th largest city park, boasting a size of 1,769 acres (according to the Trust for Public Land).

Thinking of selling your home and upgrading into something new, but too scared to attempt selling in the current market? I hear this sentiment more and more these days, but listen up scaredy-cats because I have a theory. My theory is that you are going to even out. In most areas it is a buyers market. A buyers market is identified when there are 6 months or more of inventory on the market, or, in other words, a market with more sellers than buyers. As a seller you may have to concede more than you hoped, but you should get a great deal when you purchase a new house. So, you lose a little on the selling side, but gain a little on the buying side. Even-steven and you’ve accomplished your goal to move to that better school district, or downsize from that big, empty house, or to ditch the house in the suburbs with the long commute for a Vespa and a condo downtown.

Where are the deals?
Well, if I had a nickel for every time I heard this… I wish I knew! You just have to get out there and hunt for one. In general, they are not going to be advertised - you have to make and offer and see what happens. Five things to watch for if you want a deal:

• The house has been on the market for a long time - there are ways to doctor this, so make sure you have your realtor (me!) check the property’s history
• If the listing advertisement says “motivated seller” or something to that effect
• If the listing advertisement says “make an offer”
• Selling a home out of an Estate
• If they are selling “as-is”
• Foreclosure Auction - I hear lenders are starting to accept lower offers

There is no guarantee that a seller will come down on price; however, you just might get lucky if the seller is actually getting desperate and in a bad situation. Also, if it looks too good to be true, it probably is. This adage is especially true when it comes to foreclosures and short sales.

Another question I hear is if there are good deals on condos in Kansas City. It is true that there is a huge inventory of condos on the market right now in Kansas City, but I cannot point to one particular development and tell you that is a great deal. In general, I look for the same things I noted above when searching for a “deal”. If I’m looking for the next best thing in condos, you might want to consider the Power and Light District if you are a risk-taker. That area could really explode, but I do have a word of caution: make sure you are in it for the long run. In general, do not expect to own something for two years and make a windfall.

Photo below: Above: Photo of friends & me watching fireworks from Rainbow Boulevard. From there we could see three different displays: The City of Westood, Kansas City Country Club, and an unidentified third display…

Thanks for always coming up with something groovy, bon bon girls. I love the retro kitchens and baths they are always writing about. Saw in an older post that one of the girls has been house shopping recently- sure wish I could have helped her because I love clients that appreciate the old charm of the Dible Tudors. Napoleon Dible was one of the first and only builders to build homes especially with women in mind. His homes had colorful and feminine colors in the bathrooms and kitchen (think lots of pink, mint, yellows), built-in ironing closets, laundry chutes and so forth. It was a different time when kitchen appliances were still a new idea and becoming affordable for all. Some of my clients hate these original features and colors, but some absolutely love them - just depends on your style and how nostalgic you may be. I recently remodeled my bathroom and I stuck with the Dible style though I greatly toned down the colors to bring it into the modern times.

It is comforting to know that in these hard economic times with low housing prices, $4 per gallon of gas, $4 per gallon of milk, low stock market levels and so on, that you can still get motel room in Kansas City for $29. I love this town.

Thanks to everyone who visited my open house today on the hottest day of the year! You never know what to expect on a holiday weekend, but I had about 10 groups come through and most all of you seemed genuinely interested in living in Brookside. I met some great people, and had a nice afternoon. For those of you who tried my homemade lemonade - sorry it wasn’t as lemony as it should be, but I only had one lemon in the fridge and it probably needed two or three… at least it was cold though!

I was very encouraged by the conversations I had today. I can’t help but be worried about the economy and the housing market, but there are still buyers out there (those buyers have alot to choose from and are going to get a great deal too!) I was also encouraged by the stories I heard. People want to live in Brookside because of the lifestyle and location. Several were first time buyers, but a couple visitors were moving up here from the suburbs - I didn’t ask, but I can only guess that the price of gas might have something to do with their choice.

Whether you attended my open house today or not, feel free to contact me at any time about real estate in Kansas City. I work all over, but I specialize in Brookside, Plaza, Midtown, and Waldo areas because I love older homes and the charm of the neighborhoods and architecture. Also, I’ll be doing another open house in Brookside again next weekend, so check back on Friday to see where I will be!

Yesterday I spent the afternoon looking at houses in the historic old northeast neighborhood up by the Kansas City Museum on Gladstone Boulevard. There are three neighborhoods in Kansas City where you can find the largest, most beautiful and ornate turn of the century historic homes in Kansas City: old Northeast (Scarritt-Renaissance National Register Historic District), Roanoke, and central Hyde Park. If you haven’t taken a spin through the old northeast, you should do so; these homes will blow you away. Below are a few photos I took of some gorgeous mini-mansions - notice the brick and stone, large porches, and the architectural details such as decorative columns and Victorian towers (first photo is a church).

Ugh, I don’t even have the energy to write this. Less contracts, less sales, less homes in the market, lower prices…

• May 2007: $145,140
• May 2008: $129,064

Overall, the average sales price in May for the entire Heartland area was down 7% from last May. Below is a chart of the above info, along with a couple more areas that get a little bit deeper into the situation. You will see that Brookside prices are declining along with Jackson County, however; Prairie Village prices are slightly up while Johnson County’s prices are down. It really isn’t that bad - I would hate to see us compared to other areas of the country, but our market is still correcting…

This photo is taken at the corner of 27th and Holmes. I’m not exactly sure what to call the area - Dutch Hill, Longfellow, Hospital Hill, near the dental school, near Crown Center, Just off Gillham - take your pick. I have a fourplex fixer upper for sale on that corner, so I am there often. From the porch of my listing, I have a great view of the neighborhood which illustrates is diversity. I can see commercial buildings, gorgeous and well-maintained brick victorian’s, shirtwaist homes, other fourplex or apartment buildings, etc… The area feels very bohemian, with beautiful architecture and prices still within reach. In the photo above you see brick victorians and a brick building on the corner. There is a sign on the residential/commercial building on the corner - it looks to be for sale with Colliers Land Advisory Group, Charles Mussorici. I have long admired that property - it looks very cool and I’m sure it has great interior spaces. Because my husband works from home full time and I also do half of the time, I am always looking for interesting space for someone with a home-based business.

Well, I finally made it to Stroud’s last night. We had a delicious meal - just like I remember. The chicken was hot and fresh out of the kitchen, the rolls were warm, and the sides were top notch. I arrived just before 6pm, and there was already a 30 minute wait, but it was well worth it and there were comfortable places to wait both outside and inside at the roomy bar. Everything about this place is bigger, more tables, bigger bar, more employees - but they run it just as efficiently. It is quite an operation.

What does all this have to do with real estate? Well, nothing - so I guess I’ll give you some real estate statistics on Fairway, the city in which the new Stroud’s resides. The boundaries of Fairway are roughly Shawnee Mission Parkway on the north, 63rd Street on the south, Belinder on the east, and Roe on the west, but these aren’t the exact boundaries - the border jogs around a bit.

• Current # of Homes For Sale: 36
• Average List Price: $374,152

• Number of Homes Sold so far this Year: 39
• Average Sales Price: $290,982

What this tells me is that some of the lower priced homes are selling better than the really expensive ones. Also, that we have about a 5-6 month supply of homes on the market right now (absorption rate), and that it is still slightly a buyer’s market.

Thanks BonBon Blog for calling my attention to the Ink photos of the annual West Eighteenth Street Fashion Show. I had to miss it for the first time this year because I had a previous engagement, but at least I can see the Ink photos and there will be a DVD that I can watch, and, I believe, will probably be for sale probably at Birdies Panties & Swim.

This is one of our best, most beautiful and creative events that goes down in KC, so if you haven’t heard of it or if you have always put off going, then please get down there next year and check it out. It’s one of my favorite things and you will absolutely not regret it. Be sure to buy a seat too - they are totally worth it because they have more and more designers every year and who wants to stand the whole time? Not me.