A Kansas City Real Estate Blog by Realtor, Sarah Snodgrass

The following is a guest-post by my husband and in-house marketing nerd, Clayton Snodgrass.

Remember those insane Slim Jim commercials that featured pro-wrestler “Macho-Man” Randy Savage?  Whether or not Slim Jims are your favorite brand of encased meat, you have to admit that those spots were memorable.  After watching just one commercial, you knew exactly where Slim Jims stood in the snack sausage spectrum – they were extreme and crazy!  Slim Jim’s choice of product spokesperson was no accident.  By choosing someone who embodied their brand’s image, they helped audiences associate their product with “extreme snacking” (which, apparently, there is a market for).

How does the concept of product spokesperson relate to real estate and the choice of a realtor?  For one, most every “For Sale” flyer I have ever seen contains the contact info and a photo of the home’s listing agent. The listing agent may be the first person an interested buyer may speak with about your home.  What kind of image does your realtor project?  Will your target market identify with your agent? Does your realtor’s image mesh well with your home’s image? Does your agent’s persona accurately represent your home and your neighborhood? When choosing an agent, I think it’s an important thing to keep in mind.

The before and after pictures below are from a home I recently sold in Leawood. It was a newer home, but my clients wanted a sleek, more modern look so they had the cabinetry stained. I think it turned out fantastic. This is such an easy and cheap way of completely changing the look of your kitchen, baths, staircase… Anywhere that has an outdated stain color or with paint that needs updating. This work was completed by State of the Art painting, Beverly Tovar, (913) 238-9170.

BEFORE

AFTER

AFTER

Check out this old tax assessor’s photo of my home in Brookside from 1940:

It was very easy to obtain – Mister Snodgrass just emailed his request to an assistant in the Landmark’s Commission and she promptly emailed this photo to him at a minimal cost of $5.00.We were sent a much larger size than I have featured here. Should you desire more information, such as the builder, architect, the way it originally looked, or even the name of the first owner, we have a wealth of resources at our disposal from both the Kansas City Public Library’s resource page on researching the history of your house and the city of Kansas City’s web page on historic research.

2009 is the year of the tax credit. The government just loves to make us buy things when we don’t really need them. Cash for Clunkers, 2009 Federal Housing Tax Credit, and the 2009-2010 Federal Tax Credits for Energy Efficiency. I’m just learning about the latter credit as the Snodgrass household has an HVAC system out of the Mesozoic Era. Yes, it is perhaps time for an upgrade, and why not buy a high-efficient system? If we stick with a traditional gas furnace and central air conditioning system, we must purchase a A/C system with 16 SEER rating, and a furnace with an AFUE of 95 or greater (i think this means 95% efficiency) to qualify. This could be on the pricey side, but with the credit we basically get 30% off (in the form of a tax credit), which is a pretty hefty discount. So if the system costs $5,000, we get the full $1,500 credit. In addition, you may be able to find local dealers running specials on system upgrades so be sure to shop around.

In the last year or so, there have been two separate instances where I have had a heating and cooling company tell a client that they have a cracked heat exchanger. If you are not familiar with this problem, allow me to explain. The heat exchanger is an important component of your furnace, and if it is cracked – it can be a very dangerous situation because it can leak unhealthy flue gases into your house. Really the only fix for this is, you guessed it, a new (expensive) furnace! At this unsettling news we decided to get a second opinion, and surprise, surprise, no crack! Now, I’m not one to judge so I don’t know if these guys are just having a bad day or what, but either way – get a second opinion especially if you feel uneasy about the situation.

Of course this isn’t the only industry where this sort of thing happens – chimney companies have been known to loftily diagnose some pretty pricy issues too, so be diligent and beware when the company that inspects also services you. That is one reason why we hire independent home inspectors for real estate sales. They do not work on homes, they don’t recommend contractors – they are completely unbiased and have no interest beyond the inspection.

This weekend is the 12th annual Remodeled Homes Tour in Kansas City. With tickets, you will be allowed into 22 remodeled homes and condos stretching from downtown to Lenexa (view map). There is a list of the homes on tour with a description, the remodeling company who performed the work, and photos on the event website. Mostly these are upper-end kitchen and bath remodels, so for me this is not real research for my house – it is just fun to see and it helps me in my field. Hopefully when I grow up, I can have a fancy kitchen with my St. Charles cabinets and white tin ceiling – but for now I am happy with my little retro kitchen with its hexagonal tiles and chrome fixtures.

Photo is from #14 on the Remodeled Homes Tour - thanks NARI.

Last weekend, I threw a block party with the neighbors on my street and our friends. We obtained a block party permit from the city so that we had permission to block off the street. It was super easy and free. What a great way to get to know your neighbors and build community spirit. We had a band, keg, food, games… It was a total blast.

Do you belong to a homes association? If so, you should get involved. Mine has great events throughout the year such as a neighborhood garage sale, dumpster day where you can get rid of all the nasty trash in your house such as old paint, a neighborhood summer social at a nearby park, movie night under the stars, plus we have begun a crime prevention team. I really feel like I live in a great neighborhood where people care and look out for each other.

Kansas City’s city goverment website has a list of all the neighborhood groups and homes associations. You can see if yours is represented.

Someone posed the question to me recently, “Should you mix business with friendship?” My answer was a resounding, “Yes!” Working with friends is really a great thing to do in real estate. When it comes to buying and selling homes, the two most important things between agent and client are good communication and trust, two things which most people already have established with their friends. Think about it – who will work harder, care more about you and what happens to you, and will try to give you the best deal possible that a friend? Another benefit to working with a friend is that you will be spending alot of time with your realtor, so it is always more fun if you are friends too! Many times people do not use their realtor/friend because they are worried about hurting their friendship – well, they actually may hurt the friendship more by not using that realtor/friend. It can be very hurtful to find out that a friend used a stranger instead of you without even discussing their concerns.

When NOT to use a friend in Real Estate (or to just think twice about it):

• When that friend isn’t well trained
• When that friend lacks brain power (translation: dumb or ditzy)
• If that friend has a full time job doing something else and just “dabbles” in real estate
• When that friend doesn’t have a strong company and network behind them

When you should use your friend in real estate:

• When you trust this person
• If you think this person is smart and well-trained
• If you think this person is a hard worker and shows initiative
• If you enjoy being around this person
• If you think they will easily understand your style and what type of home you will want

If you are still worried, call their broker (boss) and ask questions about your friend’s training and client history. Ask for testimonials and references. Ask if they have worked with friends in the past and call them to talk about how it went. Personally, I care about all of my clients and I make it my policy to treat all of my clients the same, whether they are friend or stranger. I follow the golden rule by treating people just as I would want to be treated.

p.s. The photo above is of me and two friends who were also clients last year when they purchased their first home using me as their agent. We all lived happily ever after – especially when we celebrated the Jayhawk Men’s NCAA Basketball championship this Spring in Lawrence together as shown in the photo.

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.

Chipmunks are those small adorable versions of little squirrels. I want to love them and dwell with them in harmony – but I recently found out that they can be a home owner’s worst nightmare. I hear that they can tunnel beneath your concrete and create havoc with your patios, walkways and foundation as well as dig holes, and eat your plants. And for those of you out there who think “big deal”, well be advised that concrete work ain’t cheap. They tunnel beneath it, and the result is a big crack or caving-in of your patio. And patching up concrete generally doesn’t last very long – it deteriorates much more rapidly than normal. And that isn’t all. Last year, some pesky critter was stealing all of my tomatoes just before they were ripe to pick. I was so mad! At first I thought it was an opossum, but when I bought a garden net to ward off univited guests – the next day I found a chipmunk tangled in the net. Unfortunately for the chippie, it was actually my boxer dog, Chester, who found him first… but that’s another story.

Anyway, now I have been seeing more and more chipmunks in my yard and I need to address this before my veggies get any bigger – I refuse to share my tomatoes another year! A colleague offered me a trap and she said she uses Cheerios as bait (she claims this is their favorite snack), but I always feel guilty trapping wild animals so I don’t know what I’ll do, but I did find a very entertaining forum about dealing with chipmunks if you need some advice.

I am currently in the midst of a bathroom renovation. It has been an ongoing project for about 6 months now, but we are finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel and I can actually start to imagine a day when I don’t have to shower in the basement. Ahhh! Anyway, the last step we took was to have the bathtub refinished. Our bathroom is small enough that there was nothing we could really do with regards to layout, so since the tub was going to stay in the same place and remain about the same size, I decided to look into the prospect of refinishing. Basically, the argument for refinishing is to save money, keep a perfectly good old tub out of a landfill, as well as prevent yourself from having to tear out a tub and haul it out of your house. Tubs are big and heavy so it could not only be a big job, but if you have to hire someone – it certainly isn’t going to be free.

I made some calls and did some research, and it seems like the going rate in KC is about $350 for tub refinishing. They basically just spray on a new coating that is guaranteed for 5 years, but can last up to 15+ years. Perhaps you are thinking of a big old clawfoot cast iron tub, but they can refinish any other kind of tub or sink too. The photo at left is of my bathtub newly refinished, and it is just an old ceramic tub (i think). According to Nulook Custom Finishes, they can perform the refinishing process on just about any surface, even countertops.

I’ll let you know how I like it once I actually start showering in my bathroom, or if we ever run into any problems, but I’m pretty sure it going to be great. Also, for those sellers out there with a dingy old tub or sink, I would urge you to look into this process – it can really make things look like new and we all know that is what the buyers want!

Recently a couple of my clients have tried to buy or sell a home with termites. Almost every buyer out there conducts termite inspections, and if you don’t – you should! Per our standard contracts, if active termites or past untreated infestation is found, then the seller is contractually obligated to have a pest control company treat. I don’t know what kind of chemicals they use, but I guess that works very well to eradicate them.

You can pretty much see in advance if a home is at risk for having termites – and most of the time they can be prevented. For example, if you go to the garden store and buy a truckload of mulch and pile it up next to your house, you are just inviting the termites. They love wood, and they love mulch. Also, if the mulch is touching your siding – they are just going to start eating your siding too. Also, don’t lean anything up against your house – they will just use it as a ladder to get from the ground to your delicious house.

Treatments range in price from the “value” treatment which makes me nervous for about $400 up to $1000, but I’m pretty sure you can get a good treatment for about $700-800, with a reputable company that you will feel comfortable with.

Don’t be freaked out if they find termites – it is a part of nature. Half the houses I see have been treated for termites at some point – even mine. However, if they are found, you do need to evaluate the extent of the damage. Did the just eat on the outside siding, or have they gotten into your house? The walls? The framing? I have never seen anything that bad, but I hear horror stories now and then.