A Kansas City Real Estate Blog by Realtor, Sarah Snodgrass

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This home is an immaculate, mid-range, mid-priced, picture-perfect Brookside home. It has many nice upgrades including a new kitchen which opens into the dining room, and is move-in ready. The asking price is $259,000, and it has 3 bedrooms, one full and one half bath.

My favorite loan officer, Nathan Steele, locked in a loan for one of my clients at around 5.75% on a 30 year mortgage today. Wow! Even as financial institutions seem to be crumbling around us, those who can qualify for a home loan are going to be getting a heck of a deal. Watch out though, CNN.com warns that rates may rise again.

The stacked rock retaining wall that runs along Wornall Road in front of Kirkwood collapsed earlier this week. I just drove by again today on my way to the office, and it looks the same. I heard it was because of all the rain we have been having recently. Evidently this wall was rebuilt when Kirkwood was under construction - just goes to show how the quality of craftsmanship has deteriorated over the years. They just don’t build them like they used to. I was contacted by the manager of the Kirkwood who informed me that the city of Kansas City originally built this wall, they rebuilt this wall, and the city owns this wall, not Kirkwood.

Here is a photo I took of the rubble:

I saw this very stylish mid-century modern home yesterday in Prairie Village. There are a few tucked-away pockets of modern ranches in Prairie Village and Overland Park, and this home is located in one of them. It is located at 7717 Canterbury Street in Prairie Village, Kansas, and it was built by local mid-century modern building pioneer, Donald Drummond. It has white-painted, wood-plank vaulted ceilings which create a very clean, open and bright atmosphere. Also, the layout is very smart with large living spaces and ample natural light. These mid-century modern homes were designed to bring the outside in, and this home is no exception. This home is for sale for $329,000. Contact me for more information or for a private showing.

The Kansas City Regional Association of Realtors released their February real estate statistics which the Star reported on today, and it isn’t the rosiest picture. Just about everywhere, in both new homes and existing homes, sales prices were down from a year ago (all data compared with Feb. 07). And all the reports you hear about a “slow” market are true too because the total number of sales was also down from a year ago.

Did you know that if you want to buy a house in the greater Kansas City area, you would have 19,094 homes to choose from? Unfortunately, that is still more than we had on the market a year ago, but the increase is seen only in existing home inventory, and not in new home inventory. There are 10% more existing homes on the market, compared with 18% less newly constructed homes on the market than a year ago due to the relative halt of new construction. The new home market is really badly suffering - much more so than existing home market. They are selling at a much slower pace than existing homes, plus there is a 16-month supply of new homes on the market, as compared with 8.5 months for existing homes. Real Estate experts will tell you that anything over a 6 month supply of homes constitutes a “buyer’s market”.

I always like to compare the big picture with a smaller area, so I checked the number of sales in area code 64113, which is Brookside, and there were just about twice as many sales last February as there were this February. Slow… ugh!

Hopefully the numbers will improve over the Spring and Summer months. Stay tuned!

Boy is this a loaded question. I am guided by rules of ethics that govern the conduct of Realtors, and if I answer inappropriately to this question, I could potentially lose my license. Actually, a fellow that called my office yesterday asking about a condo near the Plaza asked me this very question, then he went on to mention a certain street which he heard that he didn’t want to be near. I just simply answered, “I think the condo is very nice and it is walking distance to the Plaza.” Who am I to say what type of neighborhood someone is going to like? And if I lead them toward or away from an area, that can be construed as “steering”, and that is a major no-no.

So, what are people really talking about when they want a “good neighborhood”? They should consider: home values, schools, crime, architecture, sense of community, active home association, nearby churches, etc. If you want to know if an area is safe, call the Sheriff’s office. If you want to know about schools, visit websites that have school rankings, or better yet, go tour the school and meet with someone in the district. Even if I could tell you, would you really want to rely on my assumptions? I am an expert on selling homes, not on schools or crime statistics.

I do like to help people find areas that they want to live, but there are better ways to go about finding their future neighborhood than just taking my word for it. For example, I actually drive around and give them a tour of the area. They can decide for themselves if they like what they see. Also, I suggest that they go back on their own at night - just to see if it gives off the same impression as it does during the day. Grab your dog and go for a walk in the neighborhood after work one day - talk to some neighbors and see what you think.

So I thought of a hilarious new weekly series for my blog: If you were famous and had to move to Kansas City, where would you live and what house would you buy? Take an easy one for example - like Garth Brooks. He would probably buy a bunch of land out south in Kansas, build a house and have a giant sign made that says GB Ranch - and then he’d probably get some horses so he could feel more like a cowboy.

So, now for the real “where would they live”. In honor of St. Patrick’s Day today, I thought it appropriate to choose an Irish celebrity for our first profile. Wow, there really aren’t many interesting AND famous Irish folk - especially ones that anyone would care where they would live. The closest I could get is a well known Irish-American actor named George Clooney. I decided that he would live near the city because he wouldn’t think it was “cool” enough to live in the suburbs. He’s got an image to protect. Also, he would need a house with lots of space for all his cars, pools, and expensive things. And he would want the area to be fancy and somewhat exclusive and really expensive. With this in mind, I think he would be most suited for Mission Hills, Kansas, in the older part nearest the Kansas City Country Club and the Country Club Plaza. Also, he seems like a more traditional kind of guy - not a modernist, so I think he would like something built with traditional materials like brick, with lots of rich wordwork inside… maybe this brick tudor listed at just over $5 mil.

I’m from a small town in Kentucky, and while I might actually have Irish blood in me, I never really thought about it before moving to Kansas City. The first year I was here, I heard people making plans and gearing up for the holiday, but even so, I didn’t really realize what a huge deal St. Patrick’s Day is for Kansas City until I saw it in action. Then when I did realize how major it is, I was like “this is soooo weird”. This is a big deal to you people. Like, BIG. Anyway, I’ve been here for about 5 years now, and I gotta admit that I’m starting to embrace it. Why not, right? Fun, beer, friends, parties, green, March… I like all those things. Those are all happy, joyous things.

Anyway, this Irish joke from KC Beer Blog really tickled me. Enjoy the joke, and enjoy St. Patty’s Day!

I love helping people work through the homebuying/homeselling process. Some days it is stressful for sure, but most of the time it goes smoothly for my clients. I am knowledgeable on financing, negotiating, and all the intricacies of the process. I make it my job to ensure that my clients make wise decisions. I will not mislead my  clients, and I will always try to make sure they are making wise decisions by analyzing the situation from the outside-in.

I do work for my clients, but I am also a small business owner. I have to operate my business just like any other business out there, and that means having a clear strategy and guidelines that I follow for every transaction.

Buyers have to work with a lender before I will show them houses. I will meet with them and talk to them every day if I need to, but I won’t show houses until they are aware and understand exactly where they stand with their lender, if they can buy, and what they can afford.  That is my policy, and maybe I lose a client or two along the way, but I think (and I know from experience), that I end up saving myself and the buyers alot of trouble, heartache and expense along the way. I just don’t think it is fair to either party to be out looking at homes when they might not be able/ready to buy them. Plus, look at it from the sellers point of view. These sellers have to clean the house, pack up the kids, and leave the house for an hour with their hopes up- is it really fair to ask a seller to leave their home when the buyer isn’t qualified and ready to make an offer? If it were me, I would want the people looking at my house to be ready to buy.

Similarly, if I am working with a seller we will also evaluate their financial situation. In addition, we will make sure that any buyer who submits an offer is pre-qualified with a reputable lender.

Downtown is all a bustle this week with the Big XII Basketball Tournament, and I like to be where the action is, so I decided to tour some downtown condos yesterday. I saw some really great projects like WallStreet Tower, Freight House Lofts, and toured the showrooms for Piper Lofts and The Reserve, but the one that really stood out to me was the Campbell Lofts. The interiors are nice and lofty with the polished concrete flooring, exposed beams and pipes, and large windows, but the location is the best feature of the building. As I was standing on the balcony looking downtown, I could really feel the pulse of the city. Located at 1535 Walnut Street, just across from a great local establishment JP Wine Bar, the building is situated right on the border of the Crossroads and the Power and Light District. Below is a north view from one of the balconies. You can see all of the landmarks of our skyline - and soon you will also be able to see the Performing Arts Center. Prices range from about $180,000-$360,000. Contact me for more info or a private showing.

I have been working downtown this week and was inspired to take some photos because of the beautiful weather and pretty blue sky.

Hmmm, I read through this KC Star article on real estate, and I feel unenlightened. I just don’t really feel like they are really saying anything new or important. Yes, it is a buyer’s market. Yes, finally the inventory is starting to shrink. Hopefully we have already or will hit bottom soon, but nobody knows. Hopefully Part 2 has more meat.