About Shawnee's Grey Oaks

As this time of year typically dictates, Grey Oaks in Shawnee, KS was pretty quite in terms of real estate activity over the holidays. If you're looking to be a part of this great neighborhood, there's a few resales to choose from, in addition to the new lots that are available in the next phase. Grey Oaks currently has 17 active homes listed for sale ranging in price from $265,000 to $485,000, four to five bedroom floorplans, with average cumulative days on market at 219 so far. In the past 60 days, only 1 home has sold and 1 home pending.

Grey Oaks is located in Western Shawnee, just off K-7 Highway and Johnson Drive. It features a neighborhood park, community pool, walking trails, part of the Award Winning De Soto School District, great highway access, and close to restaurants and shopping.

To see any of the available homes in this neighborhood or any of the nearby communities in Shawnee, such as Crimson Ridge, Brittany Heights, Brittany Valley, Lakepointe, Woodland Park, Woodsonia, Monticello Farms, Greens of Chapel Creek, Greenview Ridge, or Estates of Green View Ridge, email, text, or give us a call. As a resident of Grey Oaks, Pickett Property Group is your Western Shawnee expert.

When putting your house on the market, everyone wants their home to sell quickly...for top dollar and in the least amount of time possible.  Yes, pricing and staging are obvious factors and key elements to do just that.  But there is one more tip to help your home get noticed and sold fast.  Check out the video below to learn more....

Everyone is wanting to know what is going to happen in real estate in the new year. Unfortunately, there is no way to predict one way or another, but there are signs out there indicating that the market is improving. Take a look at these recent statistics:

According to the National Association of Realtor, pending home sales rose 3.5% in November. Based on trends from the 5 months prior, this is indicating a gradual recovery into 2011. Affordable housing and the improvements in the economy are bringing buyers into the market.

The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage is forecast to rise gradually to 5.3% around the end of 2011; at the same time, unemployment should drop to 9.2%.

Existing-home sales are projected to rise about 8% to 5.2 million in 2011 from 4.8 million in 2010, with an additional gain of 4% in 2012. The median existing-home price could rise 0.6% to $173,700 in 2011 from $172,700 in 2010, which was essentially unchanged from 2009.

New-home sales are estimated to rise 24% to 392,000 in 2011, but would remain well below historic averages, while housing starts are forecast to rise 21% to 716,000.

While I can't guarantee any of these expectations, I can guarantee that if you are a motivated seller or buyer, WE are your motivated Realtors. Pickett Property Group is in this business to move houses...whether you are buying or selling. We will help you achieve your goals. Contact us today!

You're not the only one making resolutions this year...so is the state of Kansas. Only, their's will stick! Starting today, January 1st, anyone caught texting, emailing, or IM-ing behind the wheel will be given a ticket...and in the city of Shawnee, it's going to cost you $110. Kansas is one of 30 states to enact the no texting-while-driving law.

To illustrate why this law is so important, check out these interesting facts below:

• Texting while driving increases the risk of accident 23.2 times over unimpaired driving.

• Texting while driving results in longer response times than even drunken driving. While an unimpaired driver can respond quickly to changes in traffic and begin braking within half a second, a legally drunk driver needs four additional feet to begin braking and a driver who's texting needs 70 feet.

• In the moments before a crash or near crash, drivers typically spend nearly five seconds looking at their mobile devices-enough time at typical highway speeds to cover more area than the length of a football field. (124 yards at 55 MPH)

• Though 95 percent of drivers surveyed said texting behind the wheel was unacceptable and unsafe, at least 21 percent admit to doing it anyway.

• Especially amongst teens, texting results in erratic driving behavior, like lane weaving and speeding up and down, increasing the likelihood of hurting pedestrians and running into other vehicles.

• Texting behind the wheel is generational: 37 percent of drivers 18 to 27 admit to texting while driving, compared to 14 percent of 28 to 44 year olds, and 2 percent of 45 to 60 year olds.

• An accident can happen in two to three seconds while texting.

Let's make this a year of responsible cell phone use.

Buyers who have been waiting for that perfect deal on a home are now finding themselves in a more costly predicament. Record low interest rates over the past few months have made it the best time to buy a home in the fifty years...unfortunately, it doesn't look like they are going to hang around much longer.

Those who "choose to wait until prices come down more" are gambling that interest rates will hold steady or drop. However, the truth is even a 10 percent drop in home prices is nullified by a 1 percent increase in interest rates. The figure below illustrates how this works for a $250,000 home purchase and the relative likelihood of each scenario.

When thinking about which is more likely: an increase in mortgage rates or a further drop in home prices...consider the findings below based on the last ten years of monthly home price and mortgage interest rate data:

1. A one percent increase in mortgage rates is ten times more likely to happen than a ten percent drop in home prices.

2. A one percent rate increase more than offsets a ten percent reduction in home prices.

3. When interest rates fall by one percent, the total interest paid is almost three times more than the interest savings from a ten percent drop in home prices.

4. The probability of both happening at the same time is ridiculously small, and homeowners would still pay 15 percent more in interest over the life of the loan.

Interest rates have dominated the news in recent months as we've shattered record low after record low. Potential home buyers need to understand the positive financial impact low interest rates have on the cost of home ownership and the thousands of dollars that can be saved over the life of a typical mortgage loan.

When you're ready to list your home or if you're looking to buy, feel free to give us a call. We've helped hundreds of families and we'd love to help you! Email, text, or give us a call anytime...913.787.1870 or PickettPropertyGroup.com.