March 12, 2007 · 12:30 pm

Termites in Kansas City: They Got Me!

Termites. As a professional real estate agent they cause me trouble. Buyers don’t like them because they believe all termite damage is bad. Very bad. Seller’s don’t like them because they have to pay, sometimes big money, to get rid of them and possibly repair damage. Me, I don’t like them because I am usually the bearer of bad news when it comes to working with either the buyer or seller.

And now they (the termites) have found out where I live! Obviously, for years I have been an advocate of killing any and all termites that I come across. I urged sellers and exterminators to “kill’em, kill’em all!” Every last one of them. The mothers, fathers and yes, even the little children termites. They must not have liked this very much. They formed a plan and went to work.

You see, late last fall I was cleaning out the gutters of my home and son-of-a-gun I recognized the tell tale sign of mud-tubes coming down from one of the gutters. Crap. I immediately called my termite guy, Ken Nelson of Extreme Pest Elimination. He came all the way over to my house to confirm that, yes, I was not an idiot and yes, those were indeed mud tubes. He recommended waiting through the winter for treatment. I still have to replace a few shrubs around my house and do some minor landscaping up against the house before treatment. Why? Because if I treat first it will probably disturb the barrier we would be setting up with treatment.

Anyway, do your homework on termites. Rental property owners should remember to have their houses inspected at least every other year. Just because you don’t live there and just because you don’t spend a lot of time there doesn’t mean the termites are not lurking. They are crafty little devils. And should you want to read more about them from an independent source, check out the link to the Kansas State University Research and Extension center. They are always a good resource.

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Filed under Kansas City Real Estate, Preferred Vendors

March 9, 2007 · 9:35 am

Another Freaky Friday

The Kansas City Star has a list of the wealthiest people in Kansas and Missouri in today’s edition.

Ambucs is a charity based on providing people with mobility and independence by providing AmTrykes, providing services for people with disabilities and providing scholarships for physical therapists. They made a big difference in my daughter’s life. I urge you to check them out and, if so led, to give of your time or money.

My Kansas Jayhawks are set to storm through the Big XII starting today. Best of luck to Bill Self and the boys. I’ll be pulling for you!

ShakeGently, a technologist’s view of the world of advertising, is a blog from a local guy here in Kansas City that is a good relaxing read. Give it a try.

If you have 22 minutes to kill and you are wondering just how lacking the American Education System has become, click here.

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Filed under Cool Sites, Kansas City Sports

March 8, 2007 · 9:32 am

Always Attend A Home Inspection

As a home inspector, I am asked by friends all the time: “What kind of stuff do you see? Do you see lots of crazy things?” Of course the answer is always “Yes”.

Home inspectors see the same things that most well versed home buyers can see. Wood rot is often readily visible. We see the same water stains in ceilings. The same cracked garage slab floors. The same leaking toilets that won’t properly shut off.

But more importantly, we see the same crazy stuff that most home buyers WON’T see. Aluminum wiring. Un-insulated attics. Unsafe electrical panels. Water stains in finished-basement ceilings as a result of improper flashing on roofs. Improper clearance between furnace combustion vents and flammable materials. Unprofessional repairs to structural framing.

I recently inspected an average Kansas City home for a retired couple that has owned many homes in their lifetime. Most home inspections for this 1500 square foot house take between 2 and 3 hours. This one lasted 5 hours. They asked lots of questions. And their questions led to more questions. By the time I was finished, the gentleman said to me, “I think I’ve learned more about homes than I’ve learned in the rest of my life until now”.

After this inspection, the home buyers and I were talking about homes, in general, and they asked me – “Do you see lots of crazy things?” Again, the answer was “Yes – I see home owners with Zinsco Electrical panels in their house all the time.” They nodded, and knew exactly what I meant, because they had just attended the inspection and asked lots of questions. And they took full advantage of the time and experience they were buying from a certified home inspector.

Many buyers don’t attend a home inspection, and it’s too bad. After all, what are you buying from the home inspector? A report? Many home inspectors take pride in delivering a thorough, informative report. But you’re really buying their time and expertise. The question you should ask yourself – did I learn anything from the experience, and did I take full advantage of having a professional on-site?

Can you now identify the crazy stuff that a home inspector will see in the home when you get ready to sell it?

John Clason
Crown Home Inspections
ASHI Certified Inspector

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March 7, 2007 · 9:59 am

Missouri Finally Gets It

Congratulations Missouri. You are finally getting the message. Today’s Kansas City Star reports that the state of Missouri is forming a special task force to help root out mortgage fraud. Even though Kansas City is somewhere around the 26th largest market in the country we have the 6th highest rate of mortgage fraud. Don’t believe me? Visit Mortgage Fraud Blog and look at the entries for the Kansas City area. Real estate and mortgage fraud is and has been a problem here for quite a while.

Here’s an idea. Require licensing for the mortgage brokers. Kansas does. You require licensing for the real estate agents. It’s really ridiculous that a crook can lose his license in Kansas and move his office 4 miles to the east and re-open with no oversight.

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March 6, 2007 · 2:02 pm

The Penguins are coming…The Penguins are coming…or are they?

The sports web sites are alive with all of the passion you would expect on the topic of the Pittsburgh Penguins moving to Kansas City. Kansas City has offered a sweet deal and apparently the ownership of the Pens is growing tired of the lack of urgency on the part of the City of Pittsburgh and the State of Pennsylvania.

I don’t know whether they will come or not. I hope they do. But I would much rather Kansas City get an expansion team than have to take over another franchise. Pittsburgh has proven to be a great hockey city. They deserve a team. But if they have to leave, I hope they come here.
When I lived in Washington, DC I loved to go the Washington Capitals’ games. Most of you know I am a college basketball nut. But you have to experience a Stanley Cup playoff game to really know how exciting professional sports can be. I still follow the Caps to this day.
Last note: If the Penguins do move to Kansas City they should be required to leave their name, tradition and records in Pittsburgh. Their fans deserve that.

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March 5, 2007 · 10:56 pm

Seller’s Agent in Kansas: Who Does My Agent Represent?

Earlier I posted on what a Buyer’s Agent is, or is supposed to be. Today I want to go after Seller’s Agency. Probably the most abused agency, in my opinion. Again, let’s see what the State of Kansas has to say about what the duties of a Seller’s Agent are.

SELLER’S AGENT

The seller’s agent represents the seller only, so the buyer may be either unrepresented or represented by another agent.

The seller’s agent is responsible for performing the following duties:

· promoting the interests of the seller with the utmost good faith, loyalty, and fidelity
· protecting the seller’s confidences, unless disclosure is required
· presenting all offers in a timely manner
· advising the seller to obtain expert advice
· accounting for all money and property received
· disclosing to the seller all adverse material facts about the buyer that the agent knows
· disclosing to the buyer all adverse material facts actually known by the agent, including the following:
Ø environmental hazards affecting the property that are required to be disclosed
Ø the physical condition of the property
Ø any material defects in the property or in the title to the property
Ø any material limitation on the seller’s ability to complete the contract.

The seller’s agent has no duty to:

· conduct an independent inspection of the property for the benefit of the buyer
· independently verify the accuracy or completeness of any statement by the seller or any qualified third party.

The matter seems pretty self explanatory. Where I see it run in to trouble is on the every day application. You see, many a real estate agent out there gets so excited when they receive a call off of one of their signs or ads that they will readily throw their Seller under the bus in the wink of an eye. Forgetting that they (the agent) signed an Exclusive Right To Sell Agreement with the Seller when the house is listed they immediately will want to buddy up to the caller, answer all of their questions and have a great chance of either obtaining the caller as a new Buyer to work with, or better yet, selling the home they called about and thus earning both sides of the commission.

Now, stop just for a second. It’s okay to to assist a Buyer and a Seller in the sale of a home. It’s called being a Transaction Broker in Kansas. And it will be discussed in the next post. What is not okay is violating agency to do it.

When a sign call turns into a possible Buyer off the house they called about, it is most likely that they are an Unrepresented Buyer. For example, If Buyer A calls me about my listing at 123 Main Street and I disclose that I am a Seller’s agent and they see the home with me and then make an offer with me and then close on the house with me it is almost certain that they were unrepresented throughout the entire process.

Make no mistake, I still have to treat them honestly, help them fill out the paperwork, disclose any defects in the property I am aware of, etc. But at no time am I trying to help them negotiate, disclosing that the Seller would take less for the property, etc. I cannot mislead them. I just can’t advise them to my Seller’s detriment.

So Sellers, make sure your agent isn’t acting as a Secret Agent. Are they disclosing to their sign calls/ad calls/board calls that they are YOUR agent? Or are they signing a Buyer’s Agency Agreement with them as soon as they get done showing them your house so that they can immediately flip them and you into a Transaction Brokerage Agreement to make their job easier.
You see, they are probably afraid that when they tell the potential Buyer that on this house and this transaction that they would be the Seller’s agent. They are afraid the Buyer will go off and find another agent to represent them. They are afraid they have done all the work and won’t get paid for it. It never occurs to them to treat the Buyer like a grown-up. To explain the facts to them. And hey, if they want their own representation they are entitled to it. The agent doesn’t have to pay their representation, but they are entitled to it.
Is this clear as mud? Great. Be sure to email or call with any questions.

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March 5, 2007 · 10:02 am

Kansas Buyer’s Agent: Real Estate 101

One of the most confusing things for most people to understand is who exactly a real estate agent is working for when they are buying or selling a home. Each state has their own particular rules regarding real estate transactions. For instance, I am licensed in the states of Kansas and Missouri. (For those of you not intimately familiar with the area the city is split in two by a road called State Line. On one side is Kansas. The other Missouri. Kind of like Western & Eastern Avenues in Washington, DC and Maryland.) Both states have their own set of rules and I have to adapt as I move from one state to the other.

Today I want to talk about Kansas. It is my home state! And in Kansas a real estate agent can represent you in one of three ways. You can download the brochure to get your own copy of the three. (You can also be unrepresented, that’s a whole other subject.) There is Seller’s Agency, Buyer’s Agency and Transaction Broker status. Over the course of this week I will discuss all three in detail. Today we will start with what you should be getting from a Buyer’s Agent.

The State of Kansas says:

BUYER’S AGENT

The buyer’s agent represents the buyer only, so the seller may be either unrepresented or represented by another agent.

The buyer’s agent is responsible for performing the following duties:

· promoting the interests of the buyer with the utmost good faith, loyalty and fidelity
· protecting the buyer’s confidences, unless disclosure is required
· presenting all offers in a timely manner
· advising the buyer to obtain expert advice
· accounting for all money and property received
· disclosing to the buyer all adverse material facts that the agency knows
· disclosing to the seller all adverse material facts actually known by the agent, including all material facts concerning the buyer’s financial ability to perform the terms of the transaction.

The buyer’s agent has no duty to:

· conduct an independent investigation of the buyer’s financial condition for the benefit of the seller
· independently verify the accuracy or completeness of statements made by the buyer or any qualified third party.

In short, the Buyer’s Agent is looking out for the Buyer’s best interest. Let me give you an example; REALTOR A has been working with Buyer A under an Exclusive Buyer’s Agency Agreement and Buyer A decides there is a For Sale By Owner they want to check out. (Another term, more correct, for FSBO is Unrepresented Seller.) So REALTOR A gives the Unrepresented Seller a call and identifies himself, his agency and his purpose of the call which is to set up an appointment. The Unrepresented Seller then decides he/she will work with the Buyer’s Agent and they work out a commission agreement before showing the home…in writing. During the course of these conversations the Seller says to the Buyer’s Agent, after having been told the Seller will be unrepresented, that the sales price is $100,000 but that they would take $97,500 for the house.

The house is shown to Buyer A and they love it. They decided to make an offer on the home of $99,000 because they really do not want to lose the house. Should the Buyer’s Agent:

  1. Write the offer for $99,000 because he will get a slightly higher commission?
  2. Keep the Seller’s $97,500 number private since the Seller told him in confidence?
  3. Advise the Buyer that the Seller confided in him that he/she would sell the home for $97,500?

I’ll await your answers… You can contact me by clicking on “comments” below or through the new feature of the IM by Meebo on the right column. The IM is already proving to be very popular.

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Filed under Kansas City Real Estate, Misc. Real Estate