A Kansas City Real Estate Blog by Realtor, Sarah Snodgrass

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As if it isn’t hard enough to sell a home in a slower market, you have to work extra hard in the colder months to get interest and keep your home presentable and attractive. Here are some tips.

1. Keep the walkways clear. Whether it is fallen leaves, or snow and ice - you must make sure the walkway is safe and clear. You don’t want the buyers to be annoyed with your house before they even enter! Don’t forget about the back deck too.
2. Keep it warm and toasty inside. If you are like me, you keep the temperature just warm enough to be bearable just to keep the gas bill down. But before a showing on your home, turn up that thermostat! It’s all about creating comfort. This is a place where they could live and be comfortable, right? And you don’t want them to even begin to worry about the condition of your insulation or your furnace. You want them to be busy falling in love with your home!
3. Decorate! But not too much. Fall, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanukkah or whatever you may be celebrating generally has some great decorations associated with it. Don’t go overboard, but use the decorations to dress up a room, or to add some good curb appeal.
4. No Tacky Yard Art. No plastic Santa Clauses on the roof please. Also, it probably isn’t the best idea to put out your glowing nativity scene either.
5. Clean up the leaves. The trees are shedding their leaves all over our lawns and houses this time of year. Make sure to clean them up and keep that yard and landscaping looking tidy. Also, be sure to clean the leaves and debris out your gutters.
6. Don’t take your house off the market for days at a time. Many times sellers will have holiday gatherings at their home and host overnight guests. Generally they will instruct their Realtor to decline showings during this time. I never got this. Plan ahead - your house is for sale so you should have the holiday parties somewhere else. Not only could you miss out on potential buyers during this time - you’ll probably also need a couple days afterwards to clean up after everybody so you’ll have even more time without showings. Some people tend to think that no buyers will be looking at homes on the holidays, but this is not true! Many buyers are looking on the holidays because that is when they can get off of work (especially those relocating).
7. No political signs. This is true year-round actually, but especially for presidential elections. Never put out election or political signs, national or local, because they can definitely offend and turn-off buyers. I know it’s crazy, but it is true.

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.

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?

This is bad news for those of us who don’t like our kitchens invaded by varmints, leaving their little “presents” for us to clean up in the bottom of drawers or on the counters. Keep those kitchens clean, and maybe have a trap or two on-hand this fall just in case…

Thanks to NBC Action News for finding a bright side to this news. Guess this lack of fruit and nuts in trees means that birdwatchers with feeders might be in for a good show this fall and winter.

My favorite loan officer, Nathan Steele with Pulaski, sent me an email yesterday to let me know that rates had fallen to a very low 6.250% with NO POINTS- 30yr Fixed Rate Mortgage with 10% or More Down. $417,000 Max Loan Amount. Wow, if you are on the fence about buying - this should help your decision. I just bought something in July and the rate then was about 6.725%. That’s a big drop. So, buy, buy, buy!

The government has developed a program called Energy Star which helps us to learn about and implement ways to use energy more efficiently and cheaper in our homes. It’s a joint program by the EPA and the Department of Energy. The website has lots of useful information, and you can even take a survey to determine how energy efficient your home is, and it provides recommendations for energy-saving improvements you can make in your home. You can also hire a local professional to conduct an energy audit of your home, or you may be able to find out more from your local utility provider like KCPL, which has a section on their website devoted to energy use.

This type of information is useful in many ways; not only does it help to reduce greenhouse emissions, but you’ll also increase comfort in your home and reduce your utility bills. Also, you can claim tax credits for many energy-related home improvements such as new windows or insulation. As a seller or buyer in the real estate market, energy efficiency is something to consider and I think the issue will only gain importance and relevance in the future.

My husband and I just bought an investment property. We bought it to be a rental because it’s a cute house in a great location near shops and universities. We knew we had a little fixing up to do on the exterior, but trees were our last concern because it was just a cosmetic issue mainly. The ones in the back yard were a bit wily and overgrown, so we had a guy come out from a tree care company to give us an estimate on thinning them out and removing some of the dead branches. When the Arborist arrived, he made a beeline for the beautiful tree in  the front yard with all the great, green foliage. He said the trunk has extensive damage from carpenter ants and the support system is compromised and the tree was a big hazard and liability. It needed to come down. Holy Cow, that is not cheap! So, we lost the big, beautiful tree with the great green foliage, but our tenants will be safe and we won’t have to worry about insurance claims and yucky stuff like that.

I guess the moral of the story is that there are always some unexpected surprises when you buy a house. Some good, some not so good. But as a Realtor, with each transaction I do and with each real estate property I purchase, I learn more about what to watch for and how to better guard my clients against the unexpected.

My husband and I just bought an investment property. We bought it to be a rental because it’s a cute house in a great location near shops and universities. We knew we had a little fixing up to do on the exterior, but trees were our last concern because it was just a cosmetic issue mainly. The ones in the back yard were a bit wily and overgrown, so we had a guy come out from a tree care company to give us an estimate on thinning them out and removing some of the dead branches. When the Arborist arrived, he made a beeline for the beautiful tree in  the front yard with all the great, green foliage. He said the trunk has extensive damage from carpenter ants and the support system is compromised and the tree was a big hazard and liability. It needed to come down. Holy Cow, that is not cheap! So, we lost the big, beautiful tree with the great green foliage, but our tenants will be safe and we won’t have to worry about insurance claims and yucky stuff like that.

I guess the moral of the story is that there are always some unexpected surprises when you buy a house. Some good, some not so good. But as a Realtor, with each transaction I do and with each real estate property I purchase, I learn more about what to watch for and how to better guard my clients against the unexpected.

This afternoon, I went on an adventure to Front Street just north of downtown. There are two retail gems tucked away down there- the Sears Appliance Outlet and Habitat ReStore. The Sears Appliance Outlet has mostly scratch and dent items that are discounted, and sometimes you can hardly even find the flaws! They had many items that were high-end - you can find stoves, washer, dryers, lawnmowers, refrigerators, television sets, dishwashers and the like. The Habitat ReStore is part of the Habitat for Humanity organization, and it’s a place to find quality used and surplus building materials. You can find doors, windows, sinks, toilets, paint, tile, electric and plumbing stuff… everything! We were assured that inventory changed on a daily and pretty much hourly basis, so keep checking if you are looking for something special. Proceeds benefit local Habitat for Humanity projects. I think all the items have been donated, and the prices are great.

So you’re buying a home and you need to know what improvements will pad your pockets when you go to sell it. There are so many different things that you can do that you would think would increase the value - so where to begin? Well, there are no guarantees in real estate, but according to a 2005 article published in Realtor Magazine, these are the top improvements for your money in Kansas City:

1. Basement Remodel
2. Siding Replacement
3. Attic Bedroom Addition
4. Bathroom Remodel
5. Deck Addition
6. Kitchen Remodel
7. Family Room Addition
8. Window Replacement
9. Roofing Replacement
10. Home Office Remodel

Usually, you won’t see a 100% return in our market, but hopefully your enjoyment of your new digs will make up the difference. So, happy remodeling, and make sure to take time to enjoy the improvements you make.