A Kansas City Real Estate Blog by Realtor, Sarah Snodgrass

If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!

The shops in Brookside are offering treats for kids from 4-6pm today, October 31, 2007, better known as Halloween. I guess this is why nobody comes to our house to trick-or-treat. It’s hard to beat the organized and safe event these days. And if Brookside isn’t your ‘hood, there are a few other sponsored and safe events.

Wow, I read the article recently in the Kansas City Star laying out Whole Foods’ plans for the Kansas City area with regards to the opening/closing of the local Wild Oats and Whole Foods grocery stores, but I didn’t realize that they were going to be acting so fast! I stopped by the Wild Oats on Johnson Drive yesterday to pick up some Spelt Flakes and everything looked normal from the outside, but as I was walking in this lady says “I had to come back one last time” and I’m thinking to myself, “What the heck does she mean - one last time before dinner? One last time before Halloween?” But no, she meant before the store closed. It was open, but there were only a few jars of weird vitamins left. Even though it was nearly empty, it was packed with people looking for a good deal and saying their goodbyes. Anyway, I feel like this has happened very quietly and suddenly, so i just wanted to spread the news. Plan accordingly.  I hope they choose their new location and get it up and running soon. That tiny one on Main Street in Kansas City just doesn’t have the inventory selection, and the other stores are way out in the burbs. I hope they fill the void soon!

Do’s

• Do find the right house. Do your homework. Work with a realtor and have them provide information about the area prices so that you can be sure you are making a wise financial decision.
• Do have a home inspection before you purchase. Know what you are getting yourself into.
• Do consult a realtor or a designer to make sure you are following the trends.
• Do fix up the exterior as well as the interior. Consider the landscaping and the curb appeal. You gotta get them in the door.

Don’ts

• Don’t buy a house with a problem you can’t solve. You can’t change the location of a property. You want to find a house that isn’t selling because of condition, not because of location. If the location stinks, it will still stink after you’ve sunk your dollars and sense into the project.
• Don’t use cheap materials
• Don’t just paint and tile and change out the light fixtures and expect a big return. Those days are loooooong gone.

Do’s

• Do find the right house. Do your homework. Work with a realtor and have them provide information about the area prices so that you can be sure you are making a wise financial decision.
• Do have a home inspection before you purchase. Know what you are getting yourself into.
• Do consult a realtor or a designer to make sure you are following the trends.
• Do fix up the exterior as well as the interior. Consider the landscaping and the curb appeal. You gotta get them in the door.

Don’ts

• Don’t buy a house with a problem you can’t solve. You can’t change the location of a property. You want to find a house that isn’t selling because of condition, not because of location. If the location stinks, it will still stink after you’ve sunk your dollars and sense into the project.
• Don’t use cheap materials
• Don’t just paint and tile and change out the light fixtures and expect a big return. Those days are loooooong gone.

I know, two pumpkin posts in a row. I think I’m going overboard. I promise, next post will not be about pumpkins. I just wanted to share a success story/excellent cookie recipe. I picked up this month’s issue of Tastebud Magazine the other day, and it had a recipe for Pumpkin Cookies, and, well, I’ve been craving something made with pumpkins, so I baked ‘em up! They are soooo yummy. I almost didn’t bake them because I try to bake cookies all the time and they always turn out terrible, but I took a chance. I’m serious about that, my last batch of oatmeal cookies went straight to the trash. Anyway, these pumpkin cookies are my best effort to date. So, pick up the issue if only for that recipe. Oh, and for those of you who aren’t familiar with the magazine. It’s a free, monthly Kansas City food magazine. I generally pick mine up at the Price Chopper in Brookside, but I’m sure they are all over. They also have a website, but there’s not much there to see because they haven’t updated it since February.

If you are looking for a scent to fill your home that is autumnal and seasonal, I have the candle for you: The Gingered Pumpkin candle from 5b & Co Candle Company in Brookside, Kansas City, Missouri. It is so perfect for the Fall, Thanksgiving and Halloween season. I love to take them to my open houses and to my listings before they have a showing. I think it gives the home a nice warm feeling, and there is nothing that kills a sale faster than a stinky house…

Another way to get your home smelling ready for company is to boil a concoction of your own - I always use some combination of orange peels, cinnamon, apples, any other spices such as clove or vanilla, and water on your stove. A lovely aroma like spiced apple pie will fill your home. This is a nice way to use your on-hand resources when you don’t have time to get out and buy something.

I ran across a stunner in Brookside today. It isn’t often that you find a house that is totally clean, totally cute, and in turn-key condition. This house is perfect! It’s just the way it should be before going on the market, clean, free of clutter, decorated well, all the paint is touched up, and it smells nice. Take note, sellers out there! Anyway, this home has three bedrooms and two baths upstairs - all updated, painted beatifully, and sparkling clean. The downstairs has a charming remodeled kitchen, a great laundry room which is very rare for our area where most laundry areas are confined to the dank, dark corner of the basement, it also has nice sized dining and living rooms, half bath, two car garage, and a cute little yard perfect for the kiddies or doggies.

Contact me for more information, or for a private showing.

Thought my loyal readership would enjoy seeing a photo of my Halloween costume. I attended a costume party last weekend, and my husband and I dressed as our favorite band. Can you guess who it is?

Yes, we went as the gorgeous soft-rock duo of Hall & Oates. I’m Oates.

This is data for the month of September from the Heartland Multiple Listing Service (MLS). The information has been edited to include only Jackson County, Missouri, and Johnson County, Kansas. I make no guarantees or warranties on this information. After reviewing, my brief analysis is that we are still in a down market, but there are signs that we are beginning to come out of it. I think we are experiencing the bottom of the wave this year, and I predict a better year in 2008. A word of advice to all the buyer’s out there: do not buy when prices are going down, buy when they are on their way up. I think that time is now and over the next few months!

• Johnson County, Kansas adjusted sales (units) were down 16.43% from 2006 with 604 contracts for 2007 versus 723 in 2006. Year to date, units remain down 8.56% at 7,919 units.
• Johnson County sales prices for the period were off as well. The average price in September 2007 was down 4.05% to $245,822 versus $256,197 last September. Month-over-month, September had the lowest average sales price for 2007. Year to date we are seeing a 1.15% increase over 2006. Dissecting the numbers, we see that the average sales price of new construction was up 10% to $366,688 for the month, while the resale price was down 4.9% to $222,864.
• Johnson County’s new listings decreased 6.0% to 1,175 units. Inventory was up slightly from last year, up 36 units from September 2006. For the first time in 2007, inventory was down from the prior month. Inventory dropped 90 units or 1.8%.
• Jackson County, Missouri sales were off as well, falling 17.38% from 2006. Sold units were at 732 versus 886 last year. Year to date sales are off 510 units from last year, with 8,937 units sold, a 5.40% decrease from 2006. The average sales price was off as well. The average was down 7.91% for the month and 5.29% year to date, with an average price of $141,381 for the year. Like Johnson County, Jackson County new listings were down 53 units to 1,744, down 2.95% from last September’s 1,797 units. Inventory remains higher, up 9.24% over last year. Inventory is running at 8,461 units. September inventory was the first reduction in the month-over-month inventory count, down 160 units from last month.

My neighbors and I are going to have a little Halloween party. We always feel so isolated passing out candy alone in our houses, and wish we could be hanging out together. This year, we have decided to all converge at one house and project a scarey movie onto a wall outside, drink our wine, and pass out candy to the kiddies. We thought about doing a block party, but I think we are a bit too late to get all that organized, but I just looked into it and can’t believe how easy it is! You just download the form on the City of Kansas City’s website and mail it in. NO FEE! Free party! And if you are a member of a homes association, see if they offer any money or incentives for your party. They really like to encourage block parties because they help neighbors get to know each other, which helps fight crime and creates happy neighborhoods. I remember getting a mailer from my homes association once saying that they would give money for our party to buy food and drinks, so it’s worth asking right?

Found this article on a blog I like to read from a Realtor out of St. Paul.  So funny, and yet, so true! I think it might be called “spin”.

Typically I don’t feature Mission Hills homes as my pick of the week, but yesterday I spent most of my tuesday realtor tour held captive with some upper-crust society realtor ladies. I do tour this area regularly when there is something special to see, but many of them are just so big and boring, which is surprising. You’d think people with dough to spend buying a gigantic house would have beautiful and interesting things on the inside, which isn’t always true. Guess money doesn’t always buy style.

Anywho… This house was so pretty, so comfortable and charming. It had a personal touch and great style. Evidently the lady of the house is from Savannah, Georgia and it shows in the lovely porches, outdoor space, colors and textures. It feels so warm and inviting, but also has a classiness and stateliness to it. It would be a very comfortable family house, but still very suitable for entertaining.