Will You List My House For Me?  This question comes to me all the time.  Lawrence Kansas Home sellers call or email me with this question.  Thanks to the internet, home owners find my online references, my contact info, my vast online presence, and my ActiveRain blogs and select me as their listing agent.  In their minds, I have already won the listing without ever talking to them or meeting them.  Sometimes they will state upon our first meeting, "It seems like we have known you for a long time!" because they've seen me everywhere and been reading my references and blogs. When they contact me and ask Will You List My House For Me?, I start with thanking them for the call or email to talk with me about adding their home to the list of homes for sale, but then start right in with real es... 03/09/2013

Where Can I Find Bank Owned Foreclosures in Lawrence Kansas?   Most home buyers are looking for the best buys available and believe foreclosures are where the best bargains can be found.  Such is not always the case but that will be the subject of another blog. So Where Can I Find Bank Owned Foreclosures in Lawrence Kansas?  Clicking on these links will take you directly to the foreclosed houses for sale right now.  The best thing you can do is fine tune your search by setting up email alerts of foreclosed properties or motivated seller properties.  This is so that you get notified the instant a property match comes on the market. 128889,129475,126314,126308,126312,126309,126310,129843,129736,129827,129977,129904,129942,130078,129878,129956,129713 are the 17 MLS numbers for houses right... 03/08/2013

Where Did All the Lawrence Kansas Homes For Sale Go?  Buyers were spoiled with the tremendous buyer's market starting in June 2007 when there were 1,620 Lawrence KS houses for sale.  Today there are only 382 Lawrence KS houses for sale and for the past few months, it has been a sellers' market in several price ranges. Buyers used to be able to take their pick of 20 to 25 properties in their price range and needed features.  Now, in some cases, buyers are given one property to choose from and the choice is grab it now or someone else will beat you to it. One of my listings was the only property left on the market with 3 BR, 2 BA, 2 car garage with no basement, in the $140,000 price range the buyer had.  There were only two comps SOLD in the previous year, both of which had smaller sqft, ... 03/07/2013

How Long Has This Lawrence Kansas House Been on the Market?  Lawrence Kansas Home Buyers ask this question all the time.  I provide the DOM (Days on Market) as a standard piece of information to my buyer clients, most of the time, even before they ask me. However, I do wonder why the interest is there. Do buyers think they can get a better deal on the homes for sale if they know it has a long DOM (Days on Market)?  I can assure buyers right now that DOM (Days on Market) has absolutely nothing to do with whether they will get a good deal on the real estate or not.  For example, a house had been on the market for about 6 months at a price that was about $50,000 too high.  The home sellers lowered the price $50,000 so it was the first day at that new low price and my home buyers in that lo... 03/06/2013

When Did the Seller Buy the House?  This is a question that buyers ask me.  It makes me wonder why they are asking? Do the buyers want to know if the sellers are the original owners?  Instead of asking When Did the Seller Buy the House?, why not just ask "Are the sellers the original owners?" or ""Do you know how many owners there have been of this house?" Do the buyers think they will have some leverage over the sellers if they have this information?  Instead of asking When Did the Seller Buy the House?, why not just ask "What advice can you give me to arrive at a fair offer price so we don't "leave any money on the table"?". Can knowing "When Did the Seller Buy the House?" help the buyer in negotiating a better price?  That is a possibility but not a guarantee.  For example, if the se... 03/04/2013

How Much Did the Seller Pay For the House?  This question comes up all the time from homes for sale buyers in the Lawrence Kansas real estate area market. To a certain extent, it doesn't really matter.  Take, for instance, the seller who bought the 1350 sqft house with an unfinished basement for $59,000 in 1972 and has lived in the house as the only owner and who has added on 1200 additional sqft and borrowed additional money to do so.  The house has appreciated to around $160,000.  No one for a second is going to think that they can buy the house for $59,000 or anywhere near that amount. However, what does matter in this instance is that one can see that the house has appreciated very nicely; even without the additional basement finished sqft. But buyers still want to know How Much Did... 03/04/2013

I See a Home For Sale Online But Why Do REALTORS Say It's Not For Sale?  Buyers ask me this all the time that they found a house online and they want me to show it to them.  I subscribe and have access to three MLS's (Lawrence, Topeka, and Kansas CIty) and every MLS home for sale in the Lawrence Kansas area will be on one of these three MLS's.  Within a minute or two, I have searched all three MLS's of the homes for sale and if the property is not found as an Active listing, I have to explain that the online websites are outdated for the most part and that the property is either already under contract or it is SOLD. They ask how can it be online of it is under contract or SOLD?  I explain that many online real estate websites are collectors of house information and even though the house... 03/03/2013

Lawrence Kansas Real Estate Tracking Reports For Home Sellers are asked for often because they track how many buyers are looking at their home for sale referred to as 1) "Views" (seeing a summary sentence on properties for sale) or 2) "Clicks" (clicking the link for more details). For example, in 16 days, 909 Eagle Ridge Dr, Baldwin City KS have had 113 clicks!!  2713 Coneflower Ct, Lawrence KS had 115 clicks in about a month and it went under contract in about two weeks!! How many Lawrence homes went under contract in the past 30 days? 60 days? 90 days? type questions are asked by sellers to have an idea of how long it might take to sell their home. I try to help both buyers and sellers understand the correlation between views, clicks, agent hits, and client hits and how the stats show... 03/01/2013

What Did the Buyers Say About My House?  This question is asked all too often by sellers.  When I provide the buyer feedback to them there are different responses from the sellers. 1) Feedback on house #1:  We didn't like the paint colors chosen by the sellers.  Sellers response:  Sellers repainted the house inside and out to neutral colors.  Next buyer's feedback after the new paint job:  We liked the paint colors that we saw in some photos found online and don't like the new paint colors.  Sellers response:  Sellers repainted the house again back to the color scheme used previously!  What the sellers should have done following the original feedback?  The sellers should have told me to offer to re-paint to the buyer's color schemes prior to closing with a non-refundable deposit which w... 03/01/2013

Basic Lawn Care and Snow Removal Services Lawrence Kansas has added snow removal services to keep busy in off season.  Pat, owner of Basic Lawn Care and Snow Removal Services, answers the phone, and made this business decision to help home and business owners with both lawn care and with snow removal services. Pat lives in Lawrence and answers his phone (785-727-3570) and is ready to book your appointment.  Give him a call.  To give you an idea of the cost, he did my driveway, the sidewalk on the north side of the house (there is no sidewalk on the west side of the house), and the front steps of 300 Rockfence Pl Lawrence KS for $25 to $40 depending on the amount of snow needing removal. 02/22/2013

Snow Day 2-21-13 Lawrence Kansas produced about 10 inches of snow.  Schools and businesses and University of Kansas were closed.  I did not receive a single request for a home showing today!  No one called and asked about listing their home.  Very few emails compared to the 200 plus emails I receive every day. Apparently it was time to relax, time to rest, time to play, and no time for work today. I made some homemade hummus even soaking the garbanzo beans.  We had picked up some pappadum while out in San Francisco at a Farmer's Market in Sausalito so I fried up a few of those to eat the hummus on. Boy, if I am talking about this as a highlight for the day, it really was slow.  Enjoy the slides from the street cams of Lawrence Kansas. 02/21/2013

What Is SoLoMo and Do I Have To Pay For the Mardi Gras Parade Show?  SoLoMo stands for Social Local Mobile.  Imagine yourself sitting down to watch a tv show or sit down to have a meal at a restaurant.  The primary "screen" would be your tv set when watching a tv show and the primary "screen" for the meal at a restaurant would be the restaurant ambiance, the food, and your dining guest(s). Whether watching tv or dining with a guest(s), we often find ourselves moving from the primary "screen" to the secondary screen of our mobile phone. My wife and I were recently dining at Genovese in downtown Lawrence Kansas and both of us had our iPhones and iPads out to keep up with what was going on with our 4 kids, their spouses, and our ten grandkids, what was going on with our businesses via text... 02/20/2013

Ok.... I should have edited my title to say.......FOR LADIES ONLY!!!So sorry ladies, hopefully all the guys are taking a power nap right now and won’t pay attention to this post.  I recently stumbled across an article that was posted on the world wide web.....for all to see!  NO JOKE“How a Man Cave Can Improve A Home's Value"(full article visit: www.mainstreet.com)  Can you imagine if ALL the men out there read this article what kind of craziness it would stir up in all the good happy homes across the world?? What were they thinking when they posted this?  I thought the man caves was the garage..... now they are saying we have to give them a room in the house too?  WHAT CRAZINESS!!****Just kidding guys.... Smile, it is OK..... I posted this for fun you can have a man cave if you would l... 02/18/2013

Quail Run Elementary School Houses/Homes For Sale Lawrence Kansas are requested by several buyers.  To search by a school district, click on the map below to find houses using the map search, features search, subdivision search, price range search, etc.  Shopping close to Quail Run School District includes Hy-Vee at 6th and Monterey Way and further to the west is the Dillons and Wal-Mart stores at 6th & Wakarusa.By clicking on this homes for sale maplink above, you will see links on the left edge that allow you to do a variety of home searches.Favorite restaurants in this area of town are Henry T's, Applebee's, Chipotle, Salty Iguana, Famous Dave's, Jimmy John's, and more.Quail Run Elementary School information can be found on their website by clicking on the photo below.Fall in love wi... 02/16/2013

Nobody Wants To Hear I Told You So!!  Sometimes REALTORS have to tell buyers of homes for sale in Lawrence Kansas that they 1) Better not sleep on it, 2) Better not wait and see what else comes along, and 3) Better not request a second showing in today's market. All too often though, buyers fail to listen to the warning and end up not getting the house they really wanted because they chose one or more of the options mentioned above. I know "Nobody Wants To Hear I Told You So!!" so I don't say it even though it really needs to be said. Lawrence Kansas Real Estate inventory keeps declining and buyers' selections are limited. Also, buyers have started noticing that the once low rates of 3%, 3 1/8%, and even 3 1/4% are gone and we are now starting to see 3.625%.  While 3.625% is still a fan... 01/28/2013

How many Lawrence homes went under contract in the past 30/60/90 days?   Who wants to know this type of information? 1) Buyers want to know "How long will these houses stay on the market?" 2) Sellers want to know "How long will it take to sell my house?". 84 Active listings went under contract in the past 30 days and 5 more properties SOLD (closed) that had a contract in the past 30 days. 27 Active listings went under contract in the past 30 to 60 days and 45 more properties SOLD (closed) that had a contract in the past 30 to 60 days. 9 Active listings went under contract in the past 60 to 90 days and 70 more properties SOLD (closed) that had a contract in the past 60 to 90 days. The shocker is what has happened in the last 30 days.  These stats show houses are flying off the market.  W... 01/26/2013

Lawrence Kansas Real Estate, move in ready, kitchen island 2713 Coneflower Ct, Lawrence, KS 66047 View Map Lawrence Kansas Real Estate, one of the move in ready condition homes for sale, kitchen island, eat in kitchen, hardwood and ceramic floors, fireplace, green space out back is horse property, tiled wet areas, jetted master tub, cook top range, 5th bedroom could be office, covered front porch, easy K-10 bypass access, very close to schools, bike path, nature preserve, Hy-Vee, seller narrated video can be found by searching for 2713 Coneflower Ct video, measurements approx.   Details Asking Price: 283000 MLS: 129826 Sq. Feet: 3000 Lot Size: .32 acres Bedrooms: 5 Bathrooms: 4 # of Floors: 2 Garage Size: 2 Subdivision: WAKARUSA VIEW ESTATES Year Built: 2004             Contact Info Ro... 01/25/2013

Sellers-- See Your House Listed Here and On Over 10,000 Websites   Click on Any of These Photos For a Slide Show of Houses For Sale in the Lawrence Kansas Area (including Eudora, Baldwin City, Mission, Ottawa, Topeka, and Holton)   Click on Any of These Photos For a Slide Show of Houses For Sale in the Lawrence Kansas Area (including Eudora, Baldwin City, Mission, Ottawa, Topeka, and Holton)     Click on Any of These Photos For a Slide Show of Houses For Sale in the Lawrence Kansas Area (including Eudora, Baldwin City, Mission, Ottawa, Topeka, and Holton)     Click on Any of These Photos For a Slide Show of Houses For Sale in the Lawrence Kansas Area (including Eudora, Baldwin City, Mission, Ottawa, Topeka, and Holton)       Address: Lot Kathy's Ct 1438 Westbrooke 603 W 19th 1306 E Pebb... 01/17/2013

Continuing with the subject of buying a home, today we finally get to the part that you have all been waiting for: The Home Search! Now that we have gotten through most of the business end of things it is finally time to go out and look at houses.    When it comes to searching for homes I would advise that if your agent has a good website, register on it if you haven’t already. A good agent site with a good home search page will be the most accurate source of listings that you can find. Our page, www.SearchKansasHomes.com for instance has a feed from more than one multiple listing service. This is the same database that your agent will search for homes. When you find a home that yo are interested in, then email it to your agent so they are aware of it. Your agent will start to see what ... 01/11/2013

  The Buyer Agency Agreement   The next step in the home buying process is the buyer’s agency agreement. When it comes to buying a home in Lawrence, KS or anywhere for that matter, a buyer agency agreement is critical. Think about it this way, the seller of the home you are looking at is being represented by a professional. The seller has someone advising them through each phase of the process. They had advice on the price, the staging, condition, decor and many other factors. If they are represented by an agent, everything they speak with the agent about is held in confidence unless it pertains to material facts about the property. You as a buyer will not know, unless, the seller allows their agent to tell you, their motivation for selling, their lowest price, or anything else unless ... 01/03/2013