Johnson County Real Estate

Overland Park applying for stimulus money for Bike/Hike trail

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Pierce) — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 22:37:00 +0000

Monday night, the Overland Park City Council approved a resolution requesting federal money for the above mentioned trail.

According to the Overland Park Website:

Money would be used to build a 10-foot Turkey Creek Bicycle and Pedestrian Trail, which would go from Metcalf west to Antioch, along Turkey Creek near I-35. It would be a little over a mile in length. Estimated cost is about $1.8 million.

For more information:

http://www.opkansas.org/_Res/News/city_source.cfm

It's official...$8000 for first time home buyers in 2009

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Pierce) — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 04:34:00 +0000

The original $15000 for all home buyers in 2009 didn't make it past the negotiations between the House & Senate but the stimulus bill that President Obama signed into law on Tuesday does include a $8000 tax credit for first time home buyers in 2009. There are some restrictions (such as a $75,000 income limit, $150,000 for couples) but this tax credit should benefit most first time home buyers in 2009. Great News.

Senate and House each want to give homebuyers money in 2009, but how much?

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Pierce) — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 17:14:00 +0000

The quick and dirty on this without boring everyone with the details is this. It looks like the Senate is looking to give anyone who buys a home in 2009 a $15000 Tax Credit, while the House is looking at a $7500 tax credit. I will keep you posted on what the compromise ends up being (ultimately what amount and what terms). Either way, it looks like home buyers in 09 will be treated well.

Winter 2008 Overland Park Overview Newsletter

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Pierce) — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 16:45:00 +0000

The city of Overland Park puts out a quarterly newsletter for residents called "Overview". There is a lot of great information about different city services and Overland Park current events. Here is a link to the most recent copy of this newsletter in case you did not receive one.

Winter 2008 Overland Park Overview Newsletter

Overland Park named to Business week's list of "The Best Places to Raise Your Kids 2009"

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Pierce) — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 16:39:00 +0000

Overland Park is starting the year off right with another prestigious recognition. Overland Park was named to Business week's list of "The Best Places to Raise Your Kids 2009".

Click Here to view the Business Week article

Southern Oaks Subdivision Market Statistics Overland Park Kansas

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Pierce) — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 16:55:00 +0000

Southern Oaks is a subdivision located North East of the intersection at 143rd Street & Antioch in Overland Park Kansas. The Subdivision is currently made up of approximately 112 homes within 2 Plats recorded between 1996 & 1997. The subdivision is mostly made up of 2 story homes of various sizes.

The schools for most of the homes in Southern Oaks are Blue Valley Northwest High School, Harmony Middle School, & Harmony Elementary School.

Below is a map of the subdivision as well as the past 1 year of market statistics (as of 12/15/2008). If your interested in selling your Southern Oaks home or for more information about the subdivision or the homes currently for sale in the subdivision, contact:

Michael Pierce, Realtor - Prudential Kansas City Realty (913) 661-2367

Click Here to view a 2 Story Home with Finished Walkout Basement currently listed in Southern Oaks.

Homes Sold in the past year: 8

Average Sale Price: $221625

High Sale Price: $254000

Low Sale Price: $178700

View homes currently for sale in Southern Oaks

Information Sources: Heartland MLS, Johnson County AIMS, & Johnson County Tax Records.

All information deemed reliable but not guaranteed.

Hampton Place Subdivision Information - Overland Park Kansas

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Pierce) — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 20:18:00 +0000

Hampton Place Subdivision - Overland Park Kansas

Hampton Place is a subdivision located just North-East of the intersection of 159th Street & Nall Avenue in Overland Park Kansas. The Subdivision is currently made up of 9 Plats recorded between 1990 - 2000. The subdivision is made of of 2 story and 1.5 story homes of various sizes. The schools for most of the homes in Hampton Place are Blue Valley High School, Prairie Star Middle School, & Sunrise Elementary School. The majority of the homes for sale in the subdivision are resale home however, there are still new homes available for sale in the subdivision.

Below is a map of the subdivision as well as the past 1 year of market statistics (as of 10/20/2008).

If your interested in selling your Hampton Place home or for more information about the subdivision or the homes currently for sale in the subdivision, contact:

Michael Pierce, Realtor -

Prudential Kansas City Realty (913) 661-2367

View homes currently for sale in Hampton Place

Homes Sold in the past year: 34

Average Sale Price: $322588

High Sale Price: $470000

Low Sale Price: $213000

% Sale Price / List Price: 97%

% Sale Price / Original List Pice: 95%

Information Sources: Heartland MLS, Johnson County AIMS, & Johnson County Tax Records.

All information deemed reliable but not guaranteed.

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BusinessWeek names Overland Park to the 2009 list of Best Places To Raise Your Kids

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Pierce) — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 14:57:00 +0000

Today BusinessWeek came out with their 2009 list of The Best Places to Raise Your Kids. The list was on a State by State basis, choosing one city from each state. Overland Park was their pick for Kansas, naming the runners up as Olathe and Wichita.

Here is a link to the full story: 2009 Best Places to Raise Your Kids - Overland Park.

To Search for Homes for Sale in Overland Park Click Here:

Overland Park Real Estate

If you are thinking about moving to Overland Park and would like a free Relocation Packet, contact:

Michael Pierce, Realtor
Prudential Kansas City Realty
8101 College Blvd. Overland Park KS 66210
913 661 2367

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When determining if a home is a good value, put on your list price blinders

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Pierce) — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 16:16:00 +0000

So many times I find that buyers mistakenly try to determine a homes value by looking at the list price. What I mean by that is, they often will see a home that is listed for 200K and automatically assume the home to be only worth about 190K (or less), no matter what the comparables indicate. Or if the home needs 20K in work and the home is listed at 200K, the home must only be worth 180K. The thing one needs to realize is that the comparable "turn key" homes could be worth 240K, which makes that 200K home that needs 20K in work... a steal.

In order to make an accurate determination of a homes value, don't look at what it is listed at, look at what it is worth. If a home is listed at 200K and the comparables have consistently sold for 210K, your getting a good value regardless of what you get off of the list price. Now of course, your buyers agent should still try to negotiate off of the list price as much as possible but if a home is priced well, it will sell fast so don't risk losing the home all together by low balling the seller. It is very easy to find a undesirable home that you can negotiate a lot off of the price but if you have a home that has the desirable, hard to find features for that specific price range and it is price under what the comparables have sold for, it may be in your best interest to negotiate what you can off of the list price and snatch it up before someone else beats you to it. Trust me, there is nothing that Sellers Agents love more then calling a Buyers Agent who submitted a low ball offer to tell them that another offer is now on the table. When you (as a buyer) finally find that home with the really desirable/hard to find features... that is priced properly, the last thing you want(as the buyer)is a multiple offer scenario.

I have found some of the best valued homes are not ones that are overpriced and that you can negotiate a lot off of the price. The best valued homes are often the ones that have the hard to find features (for that price range) and are slightly under priced to the comparable. You may not be able to negotiate much off of the price, but that has nothing to do with if you "got a good deal".

Michael Pierce, Realtor - Prudential Kansas City Realty

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Buying a Foreclosure - Truths and Myths

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Pierce) — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 22:36:00 +0000

I have been involved in many foreclosure sales in my 7 years in real estate. Over that time I have learned a lot about the process and thought it would be especially helpful to buyers for me to clear up and separate truth from myth. I have been on both sides of the transaction, some transactions representing the bank, some transactions representing a buyer so I can definitely tell you the mind set of each side.

I receive calls all the time from buyers who say, we really would like to buy a foreclosure. My first question to them is... "what makes you want to buy a foreclosure"? Their response is almost always the number one misconception about foreclosures..."Because we want to get a good deal". If by good deal they one is meaning less then market value then this is extremely inaccurate. I can tell you from working with some of the largest lenders in the United States that my number one purpose to them before I receive the listing is to give them a detailed report (often times 5 or 6 pages) of not only my estimation of the "as is" market value of the home, but pages and pages of verified comparable information. Often times the lender will also hire an appraisal for the same reason, to make sure my estimation is accurate. If I am inaccurate, I most likely will not get the listing. I can't be too high and I can't be too low, I need to be accurate. The reason buyers misconceive that foreclosures are selling for less then market value is because most foreclosures sell for less then the average home in the area. The reason for this is because many foreclosures are in extremely poor condition. My job is to estimate what those repairs may cost and take that into consideration for my "as is" price estimation. A foreclosure home is selling for market value just like any other home, it is just (in general) in a lot rougher condition then most owner occupied homes. I could actually argue that many foreclosures sell for more then market value because the perception is that they are a better deal which causes the home to have more demand from buyers then a owner occupied home (That is a whole other blog entry).

Now for the condition. When I say rough condition, rehab, or handy man special, I do not mean paint and carpet. Most likely the owner of the home did not just stop having money over night and lose the house. Most likely they were over extended for a long period of time before they actually could not afford to pay their mortgage. This leads to years and years of possible deferred maintenance. Roofs, foundations, HVAC systems, plumbing, it can really run the whole gambit. If you are a novice looking for a foreclosure, go right ahead but I assure you if the listing agent puts rehab, they mean rehab. The last foreclosure that I sold was one that closed last month. I had the home sold in 30 days to a buyer with construction background. Within those 30 days we had over 100 showings. The home was priced under the average for the subdivision but needed substantial work and was priced AT MARKET VALUE. I knew it was pried properly for the condition to sell but it was going to take someone who had an expertise in home repair. I put in the listing that the home was a rehab so to warn other agent and their buyers that this home was not for the novice. I respect people's time and did not want them wasting their time looking at a home that needed repairs over their head. Even with putting that in the listing I still received over 100 showings in 30 days. 95% of the feedback I received was "This home needs much more work then what my buyers are looking for". This tells me those buyers could have saved time by not looking at the home and should probably not be looking at foreclosure home(most anyway). I promise you that my number one objective is to sell the home and if I thought a novice could tackle the home I would put only minor repairs needed (your probably not going to find a foreclosure that needs no repair at all). I had a foreclosure one time that was formerly owned by a former Royal's baseball player. The home was 8,000 or 9,000 sq ft and you would think a former major league baseball player would have the money to maintain and take care of their home but even that home needed work.

Now for the process. OK, now you have found the foreclosure that is not in too terrible of condition and you are wanting to purchase it. Here are some things you should know about the process that is different from your average sale. Understand that each bank and asset management company is different and each one has their own terms that your agent needs to go over with you in detail before making an offer. They normally use their contract which means their rules, if they use your agent's contract, they will have riders to that contract that trump any contradictions between the 2 contracts. This is just in general of what you can expect. First of all, it may take a week or more to get a response to your offer. This is absolutely normal in the foreclosure world and there is nothing you can say to make the bank move any faster. Do not try to get in a shoving match with the lender (unless you really don't want the house) the bank has no emotional involvement, unlike a normal seller. No contingencies, if you have to sell your home first, forget it. I have never worked with a bank that will take a contingency on the sale of your current home, the close of your home if it is under contract may be allowed. As is means As is. The lender will normally allow buyers to do inspections but will not do repairs, at all. If they were going to do repairs that they felt were needed to be able to sell the home, they would do those repairs before they list the property on the open market. Make sure to read your contract, some lenders make the earnest money non refundable no matter what and some contracts do not even allow you the option to back out during the inspection period. If you find things wrong and you want out of the contract, it could be tough luck for you. Also a lot of time the home does not have utilities on and some lenders will not turn them on for your inspections. Some contracts say that you are responsible to arrange for utilities to be turned on and you are also responsible for de-winterizing the property and re-winterizing after your inspections so check your contract. Be there when the water is turned on, if their is a plumbing leak, you are most likely going to be responsible for the damage it may cause.

Those are just some of the basic things I think will help the average buyer or agent who has never worked a foreclosure. Make sure you and your agent read all terms of the contract and addendum's and know what you are getting into a head of time. Your contract could be completely different then what I have explained, this is just a general overview of the foreclosure process but each transaction is different so make sure you are working with an agent who is thorough and familiar with foreclosure transactions.

Michael Pierce, Realtor - Prudential Kansas City Realty

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noreply@blogger.com (Michael Pierce) — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 17:47:00 +0000

The city of Overland Park has a great feature on their site that allows the public to view live video feeds of over 57 of its traffic cameras. This is a great way to plan your route based on the traffic congestion in certain areas. Here is a link to the list of traffic cameras on Streaming video to choose from.

Overland Park Traffic Cameras

Overland Park Real Estate

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Prudential Kansas City Realty's 8101 College Blvd office receives Prudential Pinnacle Award

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Pierce) — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 15:32:00 +0000

Prudential Kansas City Realty's 8101 College Blvd office was awarded the Prudential Pinnacle Award at last week's Prudential Real Estate Affiliates Sales Convention. The Pinnacle award is presented to the Top 10 performing Prudential Real Estate offices in North America for 2007. This is the 17th consecutive year that Prudential Kansas City Realty's 8101 College Blvd office has received this award.

Michael Pierce, Realtor - Prudential Kansas City Realty

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Overland Park Interactive Crime Map

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Pierce) — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 17:56:00 +0000

The City of Overland Park offers an interactive crime map where you are able to view crime activity for any area of the city. It is a great tool for people looking to move to a particular area of Overland Park but are unsure of the crime activity.

Overland Park Interactive Crime Map

Michael Pierce, Realtor - Prudential Kansas City Realty

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Johnson County estimated to become the largest county in Kansas City

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Pierce) — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 17:17:00 +0000

There was an interesting article in the Kansas City Business Journal about how the County Economic Research institute estimates that Johnson County Kansas is set to become the largest populated county in the Kansas City Metro by 2023 (based on projections from the Mid American Regional Council).
If that growth holds true, that is good news for long term housing appreciation in Johnson County. While the growth would obviously be hinged on employment growth... The real key for Johnson County is not losing site of services such as schools, roads, and crime while be able to keep property taxes at reasonable levels. If the county were to lose site of those key elements, all the employment in the world would only make Johnson County a place for great jobs while the surrounding counties would thrive as commuter counties.

Michael Pierce, Realtor - Prudential Kansas City Realty

Overland Park Real Estate

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Kansas City International Airport ranks 3rd least miserable airport in th U.S.

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Pierce) — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 17:20:00 +0000

The US News and world report compiled a list of "America's Most Miserable Airports" and this is one list where it is better to be at the bottom. Fortunately Kansas City International was pretty close to the bottom. It was the 3rd least miserable on the list of 47 major US airports. For all you frequent traveler's, that's another good reason to call Johnson County & Kansas City home.

Michael Pierce, Realtor - Prudential Kansas City Realty

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Today I get a letter from Warren Buffett

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Pierce) — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 20:02:00 +0000

Today is one of my favorite days of the year. The day Warren Buffett writes me a letter.

OK, OK, the letter may not be written just to me but when I read it I wouldn't know the difference. Millions of people around the world are anxiously waiting (like me). This letter will be read tonight by some of the smartest and richest business people in the world, will you be one of them? It is one of the most insightful writings I will read all year and every year I cant wait.

It is Warrren Buffett's annual letter to the shareholders of Berkshire Hathaway. It is chalked full of insight, opinions, and Buffett-isms. It is the one time a year you will be able to get into the mind of one of the smartest investors of all time. There is no telling what he will cover but I would be surprised if the housing market, muni bonds, interest rates, government, globalization, and the dollar are not on the list.

Anyone who would like to take a look will be able to find it on the Berkshire Hathaway website later today. They say you can learn a lot from a dummy, well you can learn even more from a Genius. Good luck.

Michael Pierce, Realtor - Prudential Kansas City Realty

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Overland Park gets county approval of 8.5 sq mile land annexation

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Pierce) — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 19:41:00 +0000

Johnson County Commissioners voted 5-1 in favor of an approximate 8.5 mile land annexation by Overland Park. Overland Park was originally wanting the southern annexation to extend to around 203rd street but received approval for an annexation that extends to around 191st and as far south as around 199th st in parts. The Kansas City Star reports that the annexation granted works out to be about 60% of what Overland Park had originally anticipated.

Michael Pierce, Realtor - Prudential Kansas City Realty

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Mission Forest Subdivision Information and Market Activity - Leawood Real Estate

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Pierce) — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 16:52:00 +0000

Mission Forest is a subdivision located south east of 103rd street and Mission Road in Leawood Kansas. The Plat for the Mission Forest subdivision (BLKS 1-4) is made up of 45 homes. The subdivision is comprised mostly of 1.5 and 2 Story homes built in the late 1970's. Mission Forest is located in the Shawnee Mission School District with the schools for most of the homes being Shawnee Mission East High School, Mission Valley Middle School, and Brookwood Elementary School.

Mission Forest is conveniently located within easy access to 435 Highway as well as Kansas City Missouri and Overland Park Kansas. It also is located just north of the new Mission Farms mixed use development being built at 107th and Mission Road.

Here is the past 12 months of market sales statistics for the Mission Forest subdivision as of 02/25/2008. There are currently no homes actively listed in Mission Forrest but if you would like to be set up to be notified by email when a new listing comes out in Mission Forrest, you may sign up for that free service through my website by clicking here.

Michael Pierce Real Estate

Total Homes Listed (in the past 365 days):4

Total Homes Currently Active:0

Sold Units:3

Min Sold Price:$425,000

Average Sold Price:$478,500

Median Sold Price:$532,500

Max Sold Price:$532,500

Michael Pierce, Realtor - Prudential Kansas City Realty
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All information deemed reliable but not guaranteed.

New Listing Video for Johnson County Sellers

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Pierce) — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 17:17:00 +0000

I have recently completed an updated version of my listing video for people thinking about selling their Johson County Home. This Video is only about 2 minutes long and is a brief overview of some of the services I offer for my clients. A lot of agents not only do not offer this level of exposure for your home, most agents dont even know these technologies exist.

Michael Pierce, Realtor - Prudential Kansas City Realty

Kenilworth Subdivision Market Activity Praire Village / Overland Park Real Estate

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Pierce) — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 16:56:00 +0000

Kenilworth is a subdivision located just East of Roe, off of 95th street. The subdivision is unique in that some of the subdivision is located in Overland Park and some is located in Prairie Village. The subdivision is located in the Shawnee Mission School District and feeds into a few different schools depending on where you live. Some of the Subdivision goes to Shawnee Mission East High School and some goes to the Shawnee Mission South High school. Most of the homes in the Subdivision were built in the early to mid 1960's and there is a diverse range of sizes and floor plans in Kenilworth including Ranches, 2 Stories, and Split level homes.

Here is the past 12 months of market statistics for the Kenilworth subdivision as of 02/18/2008. If you are thinking about buying or selling in Kenilworth, give me a call or visit me at my website below.

Total Listed:16
Sold Units:15

Min Sold Price:$221,000

Average Sold Price:$297,853

Median Sold Price:$335,000

Max Sold Price:$375,000

Michael Pierce, Realtor - Prudential Kansas City Realty

Data Source: Heartland MLS. All information deemed reliable but not guaranteed.

The Federal Reserve's Golden Parachute has some holes in it

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Pierce) — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 16:52:00 +0000

After this mornings higher then expected CPI data, it looks like the Federal Reserve may have their hands tied on lowering interest rates again when they meet March 18th.

The lowering of the Fed Funds rate has been Ben Bernanke's Golden Parachute when it comes to trying to spur economic growth and ward off recession (if we are not already in one). Now with more inflation concerns, it is a lot less likely they will be able to continue to lower the Fed Funds rate. The inflation concerns may also start to weigh on the long term rates causing them to rise.

One silver lining to this mornings data was that the Commerce Department reported a .8% increase in housing starts last month. This was below many analysts expectations but to me it sure looks a lot better then Decembers 14%+ decline.

It will be interesting to see how the Fed will react to this recent economic data. Will Uncle Ben be able to come to the rescue?

Michael Pierce, Realtor - Prudential Kansas City Realty

Sprint Nextel moving its Corporate Headquarters back to Overland Park

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Pierce) — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 04:23:00 +0000

It looks like Sprint has decided to relocate their corporate headquarters back to Sprint Campus in Overland Park Kansas. Overland Park was the corporate headquarters for Sprint prior to the 2005 merger. Once Sprint and Nextel merged, they moved their corporate headquarters to Reston, VA and made Overland Park their operational headquarters. While this is good news for Overland Park, it sounds like this will only affect a small number of senior management and will not bring any more significant number of jobs to Overland Park. I guess Overland Park will at least get the name recognition again for being the home of Sprint's headquarters as well as an opportunity for future growth.

Oh yeah, one more thing....Are you or your clients moving from Reston to Overland Park? If so, I know of a great Realtor in Overland Park:

Michael Pierce, Realtor - Prudential Kansas City Realty

http://www.bizjournals.com/kansascity/stories/2008/02/11/daily27.html

Bel Air Heights Overland Park Kansas Info

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Pierce) — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 17:31:00 +0000

Here are the past 12 months of market statistics for the Bel Air Heights subdivision in Overland Park Kansas (as of 02/09/2008). Bel Air Heights is right about on the border of Overland Park and Prairie Village at about 95th and Nall. It is located within the Shawnee Mission School District. The schools for this subdivision are Shawnee Mission South High School, Indian Woods Middle School, and Trailwood Elementary School. If you are thinking about buying or selling in Cherry Hills, give me a call or visit me at my website below.

Michael Pierce Real Estate

Total Listed:24

Sold Units:13

Min Sold Price:$150,000

Average Sold Price:$204,384

Median Sold Price:$219,000

Max Sold Price:$259,000

All information deemed reliable but not guaranteed

Pinehurst Estates Overland Park Kansas

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Pierce) — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 17:29:00 +0000

Here are the past 12 months of market statistics for the Pinehurst Estates subdivision in Overland Park Kansas as of 02/09/2008. If you are thinking about buying or selling in Pinehurst Estates, give me a call or visit me at my website below.

www.MichaelPierceRealEstate.com
Total Listed:14
Sold Units:9

Min Sold Price:$199,000
Average Sold Price:$358,638
Median Sold Price:$375,000
Max Sold Price:$560,000

All information deemed reliable but not guaranteed

Cherry Hills Subdivison Overland Park Real Estate Info

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Pierce) — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 17:24:00 +0000

Here are the past 12 months of market statistics for the Cherry Hills subdivision in Overland Park Kansas (as of 02/09/2008). If you are thinking about buying or selling in Cherry Hills, give me a call or visit me at my website below.

Michael Pierce Real Estate

Total Listed:12
Sold Units:9

Min Sold Price:$170,000
Average Sold Price:$237,655
Median Sold Price:$244,000
Max Sold Price:$357,000

All information deemed reliable but not guaranteed