A Kansas City Real Estate Blog by Realtor, Sarah Snodgrass

Dear Cosentino’s Market in Brookside: I love you, but why are your bananas so green? These bananas in the photo below have now been sitting on my counter ripening for three days, and it will still be two more days before they don’t taste like medicine. How far in advance should I have to plan to eat a banana? Can’t you at least have some older ones there too?

Did you know there were aviation neighborhoods? I didn’t, and I about fell out of my chair when I discovered the existence of Jumbolair Aviation Estates. This fly-in neighborhood is located in Florida, and it has private landing strips and taxiways for the homeowners. I found it through reading about John Travolta’s son’s death… Guess he has an “estate” there. Check it out… Totally weird. I’ll let you know if I hear of any aviation estates in Kansas City, but I’m guessing we don’t have any quite yet.

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.

1. Columbine in bloom – thrives on east side of house, 2. Doggie with the Catnip – this low-maintenance perennial loves it here, 3. Tomato Plant – getting bigger every day, 4. Roses in full bloom

I do believe in downtown Kansas City and buying condos, but I think you have to be careful when buying and don’t expect a windfall if you decide to sell in a year or two. Remember, real estate is a long-term investment. This is an interesting time for Kansas City, not only is it a slower market, but we have a downtown revitalization going on with many new condo developments both new and old, and many still on the way. A staggering number of condos have been added to the KC market since January 1, 2008: 358 condos have been listed. During this same period of time, just 74 condos have gone under contract or sold. Bumping up the number of those just listed is The Reserve condo development which is the converted Federal Reserve Bank building downtown at 9th and Grand.

For this reason, I urge you to use a (good, knowledgeable) Realtor when you buy. We have very valuable resources to help you evaluate your situation and the market.

(This is info derived from the Heartland Regional MLS system, for the area of Kansas City, Missouri from Downtown to about 75th Street.)

Some clients of mine who are architects & builders with Framework Design, will be breaking ground after the winter thaw on a project in the Westside neigbhorhood at 17th and Jefferson. The image at left is the most recent rendering of the project. There will be two Row Homes correction: one living space and one apartment, and also retail space with parking. One interesting note, the architects of the project are using some reclaimed and salvaged materials for some of the exterior construction. For example, they found an old wood barn near Bonner Springs and purchased the wood which they intend to use on the 2nd floor exterior. It should look incredible and really fit into the neighborhood nicely. One of the Row Homes will be available for sale, and the retail space will be available for rent. Please feel free to contact me to learn more about this project or renting the retail space.

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.

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.

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”.

Saturday night should be awesome in downtown Kansas City. There will be people, energy, commerce and music! The Sprint Center will host its first big event – the sold-out Elton John concert. Also, nearby at Crossroads KC (the great new outdoor live music venue at 18th and Locust), the quite popular band Wilco will be playing. This should be one of the first times in a long time, that we actually have thousands of people downtown and not just because of a WalMart Convention… (hee, hee)

By the way – I’m not on board with this parking argument about the Sprint Center. I’m taking the bus downtown and so can you. It’s called “park and ride” ya’ll. If you want to park and walk two steps to your destination, then stay in the burbs and go to the movies. We’ll be having fun downtown!

Tony sure calls it like he sees it. I enjoyed reading this post from one of our most prolific KC bloggers.

I’m not too sad about this. I don’t live in the neighborhood, so it didn’t matter to me how high it was or anything like that. It’s just that there are so many condos for sale right now from the river market to brookside, that it was just one more project in a flooded market. I think they are wise to hold off until things level off a bit.