Monthly Archives: April 2008

April 22, 2008 · 12:28 pm

Good Deal Or Did We Leave Money On The Table?

I’m working with a buyer that has a verbal acceptance on a REO duplex in Blue Springs, MO. After repairs I believe the buyer is getting about $25,000-$30,000 worth of instant equity. Sure the duplex starts out empty, but that’s serious cake. And it’s only a 4 year old building with brick exterior and solid, solid rental comps in the neighborhood.

Problem is the REO holder accepted our first bid that was significantly under the asking price. I think the buyer is getting a more than fair price and so do they. But it makes you wonder, doesn’t it? Was there money left on the table? Of course our buyer will close quickly and is more than qualified. So all that weighed in to the selling REO holder, I’m sure. But still I can’t help but wonder.

What are your thoughts?

11 Comments

Filed under Misc. Real Estate, Real Estate Investing

April 18, 2008 · 1:23 pm

Commercial Income Property: What’s Your Take?

Commercial income property keeps popping up on my radar of late. Numbers seem to becoming more and more favorable. Hmmm. Of course commercial property requires almost a mandatory 20% investment, sometimes 25%. But tenant turnover can be far less and if you land a NNN lease, well… But then there are vacancies. Empty in a duplex and you can fill that fairly quickly. 1-2 months. Empty in a commercial property and it can be months or even years depending on the type of property.

I’d love to hear our reader’s thoughts. What have your experiences been?

3 Comments

Filed under Investment Property

April 17, 2008 · 8:08 pm

Awareness Test

I found this over at Shake Gently: advertising technology blog.

3 Comments

Filed under Worth Reading

April 17, 2008 · 9:29 am

Is Your Choice Of REALTOR Important To The Sale Of Your Home?

People think of REALTORS as interchangeable and not one too much better than the next. But are you sure?

Today I attempted to set up showing appointments for 4 Kansas City duplexes. I am giving two days notice so it shouldn’t be too difficult, right?

Call #1– Info said to call agent to set up showings so I did. It took several minutes (I simply cannot make this up) for the agent to recognize what property I was speaking of and then had no answers to any of the annoying questions I asked including “What is the rent?” (that should be on the MLS info) and “Do you know when the leases expire?” The agent has promised to call me back. I await with baited breath.

Call #2 – They use a call center service. Appointment made. No problems. Oh, and the rents were on the MLS sheet.

Call #3 – After about 10 rings the answering machine kicked on and said they were either closed or on the phone. (It’s 9:55 am on a Thursday.) I left a message. This is a very well known agent so I’m hoping there are systems in place to properly listen to my message, make the appointment and call me back. Hey, I can hope, can’t I?

Call #4 – MLS directions said to call a call center service. So I did. Three times. Without an answer or answering machine. Then I called the agent. Voice mail of course. I left my message.

Let me ask you a question. With the amount of inventory currently on the market how hard do you think I’m gonna work to set up these showings? With similar numbers and address out there for rental properties I can set up appointments with agents that make showings a “no hassle” proposition. And if your agent will be dealing with your rental properties don’t you think miscellaneous information like rents and expenses and lease terms would be good information to make available to selling agents. It’s not like it won’t be asked about anyway. If your agent isn’t asking, how much do they actually know?

So the next time you think your sister-in-law’s friend of the family would be a great agent since you already know her you might want to ask her “how hard is it to see your listings?”

There are many, many great real estate agents in practice today in the Kansas City area. And sadly, there are many, many agents that make selling your house more difficult than it needs to be. Choose carefully.

7 Comments

Filed under Kansas City Real Estate, Personal Real Estate Opinions

April 16, 2008 · 11:47 am

Kansas City Real Estate Ranked #5

I received an email from Lisa Kanter over at Re/Max in Leawood with the following;

Daily Real Estate News | April 10, 2008Top 10 Best Cities for Home Sellers

Four factors are widely seen as affecting whether a housing market is a good one for sellers: job growth, amount of new construction, vacancy rates, and credit availability.

Forbes magazine used a variety of resources to determine how the country’s 40 largest metro areas fared according to these measures. The result is this list of top 10 cities for sellers:

San Jose, Calif. Because of a tough regulatory environment, new home construction dropped 63 percent last year.
San Francisco. When the conforming loan limit recently jumped from $417,000 to the maximum $729,750, that made credit much easier to get for many of the city’s home buyers.
Salt Lake City. The 3 percent annual job growth rate, paired with a declining inventory of existing homes and one of the nation’s sharpest declines in construction made this market a good one for sellers.
Austin, Texas. Texas is very affordable, plus the city has the nation’s fastest job growth at 4.1 percent.
Kansas City, Mo. The number of unsold, vacant houses dropped by 40 percent last year.
San Antonio, Texas. Jobs are growing by 3 percent and construction starts have dropped by 42 percent.
Denver. The 49 percent drop in construction starts paired with the 2 percent rise in new jobs are good news for sellers.
Providence, R.I. Vacancy rates at 1.6 percent combined with a 42 percent cut in inventory help sellers.
Charlotte, N.C. Moderate prices and strong job growth bode well for sellers.
Seattle, Wash. Strong job growth and a 42 percent decrease in new home construction are good news for sellers.

Source: Forbes, Matt Woolsey (04/07/08)

3 Comments

Filed under Kansas City Real Estate

April 16, 2008 · 11:40 am

Wood Rot

Wood rot is a major pain in the butt here in the Kansas City area. And left unattended wood rot will expand with each passing year and keep your real estate from appreciating to it’s fullest capacity.

The most common areas I see wood rot here in the KC market is around the window sills, on the trim pieces that cover seams in the siding and on railing or support posts for the stairs and/or front porch. At first wood rot is barely noticeable. But soon, within a couple years, it is an eyesore that grades badly on the presentation of your home or rental property and will have a bearing on it’s net worth.

What can you do to keep wood rot from hampering you from getting top dollar for your property?

Inspect window sills at least once a year. That’s the first place I usually notice wood rot.
Keep all seams properly caulked.
Keep wood properly painted. I know painting can be expensive. But wait until you have wood rot and you’ll get the repair bills and the painting bill!
As you have to replace pieces of wood that have rotted through consider Hardy style cement siding/trim and or the wood that has a greenish tint because it’s been treated. Both are more expensive but will make the repairs last a lot longer.
Buy an all brick house! 🙂

Consider this just another service of my ongoing need to remind people that unless your house is in top condition you really don’t have a right to ask top dollar. Well, you can ask but only a fool will pay it. For you rental property owners trying to squeeze out every cash flow dollar imaginable remember that you might have a few hundred more dollars of cash flow per year but you’ll cost yourself thousands (I said thousands) on sales price at the end.

Kansas City, Kansas Duplex For Sale

1542-44 N 63rd Terrace
Kansas City, KS

This duplex for sale has cash flow!

Located in Kansas City, Kansas this duplex for sale features 3 bedrooms, 1 full bath, 1 half bath and 1 car garage for each side. Priced at $119,999 with rents bringing between $665 & $685 per side. One side is currently occupied with tenant and the other side has someone moving out very soon that we will be renting. Vacancy in the area is low as I saw only one “For Rent” sign on the entire street filled with duplexes.

This property has been managed professionally and if interested I can put you in touch with the property manager. The Wyandotte County, Kansas tax appraisal says this income property is worth $130,700 but the out-of-state seller says SELL! So we’ve priced it to sell. Inspections are welcome but this home will be sold “as is” due to the favorable pricing.

Do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions about this duplex for sale with good cash flow in Kansas City.

Offered for sale by Chris Lengquist of Keller Williams Realty in Olathe, Kansas. For all real estate investing needs please feel free to call Chris at 913.322.7515.