Category Archives: Kansas City Real Estate

I’ve said it a million times and I’ll keep saying it.  “Real estate values are almost always tied to the performance of the local school districts.” At least in relationship to like communities around any city.  Kansas and Missouri both did really well.  The Olathe school district did remarkably well compared to the local and national averages.  Read more here.

The Kansas City real estate market, at least regionally, has fared pretty well.  Kansas City has a joke of a school district.  Guess where there real estate values have gone.  On the Kansas side we have the Shawnee Mission, Blue Valley and Olathe School Districts here in Overland Park, Olathe, Lenexa, Prairie Village, etc and guess how those real estate values have held up.  Why?  Because people who care, who have children, who are wage earners tend to want to live where there are quality schools.  They don’t abandon their homes at the first sign of macro economic trouble because there are emotional and practical reasons to stay put.

I haven’t done the research, but I would not be shocked to find out a few of the suburban Missouri school districts have done rather well, too.  And I’m not saying that if you are a parent and live in a different school district that you aren’t caring.  I’m just simply speaking on a trend that tends to show itself over and over again.

Real estate is about location, location & location.  School districts can help define if it’s a good location or a bad one.

Thinking the market for investment homes is going to get better?  You might want to think again.  For about 18 months I’ve been hearing that this fall, the one staring us in the face, would be the worst period of foreclosures this real estate market has seen.  Well, it’s here.  Are you ready?

The White House is busy convincing us the worm has turned in our economy.  Now, the people still losing jobs (or not find them) and the people not spending money on retail anything may disagree.  And I’m somewhere in between.  I don’t believe we’re going to be in a “V” recovery.  I’m think more of an “L” or possibly a slow “J”.  In any case, I think we’ve seen/are seeing the best we’re gonna see.

If you have cash that’s been sitting on the sidelines now is the time to think about jumping in.  Seriously.

What I’m seeing right now…

1. Johnson County, Kansas has a red hot single family home market under the $250,000 price point.
2. The single family home market is very hot in Brookside, Red Bridge and other State Line corridor neighborhoods of Kansas City.
3. Duplex inventories are steady with too much inventory.  What’s worse, of the 47 current duplexes for sale in Johnson County, KS there are only 4 I’d invest my time in seeing based on their rent to price ratio.
4. Investors with steady income can hold out for a price they want.  Single family home owners in financial duress have to move now.
5. Vacancy rates aren’t too bad in areas I generally recommend.  They may get even worse in areas of town I’ve advised people stay away from for years.

Over the weekend I had the opportunity to help two different first time home buyers close on their very first homes.  Both home buyers were married couples.  One bought a new construction home in Gardner, Kansas and the other an older home in an established neighborhood (read: fully grown trees!) over in Lee’s Summit, Missouri.  Both have taken a great step towards financial security later in their lives.

Your first home purchase represents many, many things;

• Your hopes.
• Your dreams.
• Your commitment to one another.  (If married.)
• Financial responsibility.
• A desire to put down solid roots.
• A desire to own something.
• A desire to have a huge nest egg at retirement.

Owning a home is no easy task.  When they were renters (and one was a tenant of mine for the past three years…never late on rent) they could call their landlord and say “Hey, the furnace isn’t blowing cold air.”  But now that they are first time home owners they take on that responsibility.  It was my job as their REALTOR to help them to make good choices and to help them think through future expenses before putting their names on that initial offer.

Home ownership is a step I highly recommend for most people.  Though, quite frankly, there have been a few times in my career that I’ve recommended people to continue renting.

Thinking about the first time home buyer tax credit?  You better hurry.  The first time home buyer credit expires November 30.   Call me at 913.568.1579 (same as pushing the Easy Button) to discuss whether it can work for you, or not.

I’m not an old timer in real estate like BawldGuy.  I’ve only been practicing since May of 2002.  I’ll never forget my first open house in Tulsa.  My broker said hold it open.  So I put out a few signs and put on a tie. Thinking back, that may be the very last time I’ve worn a tie in real estate.  🙂

The real estate boom was on around the country.  It just hadn’t found it’s way to Tulsa.  As late as 2005 Tulsa was still considered an under-valued real estate market by most that watch the national trends.  In the summer of 2004 I packed up and headed home for Kansas City.  How many realtors have moved after establishing a $3,000,000 a year business in a city where my average sale was only about $93,500?  But move I did.

Real estate is real estate.  But how realtors in Tulsa and Kansas City practiced was as different as night and day.  In Tulsa the brokers always met each other.  Original signatures were a must in Tulsa along with a lot of other “old time” traditions from real estate agents.  When I got to Kansas City, Olathe actually, I knew a house was a house was a house.  But I had to learn the different accepted practices.

Most of you know my specialty for most of my real estate career has been working with real estate investors.  Those looking to own, manage and maybe fix up houses for rental purposes.  When I first started I was working with mostly “regular” home buyers and sellers.  From about 2004 to 2007 my business was about 90% income property owners.  In 2008 I had to evolve and adjust to the new mortgage realities regarding real estate investor and their money.  My investors to regular home buyers mix went to about 70% – 30%.  This year, more like 50% – 50%.

With the new changes coming concerning multi-unit investment properties here in Kansas City and around the country I can see that evolving even more to 30% – 70%.

Contracts change.  Monies change.  Client bases must change, too.  You may see more attention paid to “regular” home buying and selling here in Kansas City on these pages now and in the future.  It’s a simple matter of survivability.  I’ve had to adapt my whole life.  It’s the beauty and agony of being self-employed.