Kansas

Being Friendly To Our Environment By Composting

03-10-12

Joel Weihe: Real Estate Agent in Wichita, KS

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Office: (316) 833-2677

Secondary: (316) 688-0077

It's easy to be friendly to our enviroment by composting. Instead of throwing your food waste in the trash or sending grass clippings and fallen leaves to the dump why not turn all that waste into something good. Something good like compost.

All that “trash” can be turned into rich, dark organic material that will be wonderful in your garden. Compost provides nutrients that will make your garden thrive. It saves time and money by reducing water and fertilizer needs.

Making compost is good for the environment by keeping that much trash out of the landfills.

Compost is easy to make. It can be done without spending any money. If one prefers there are products on the market that can speed up the decomposition process and even make it tidy.

Decomposition is how compost happens. Just simply throw all your organic food waste, grass clippings, twigs and overripe fruit into a pile and watch nature break it down to a nutrient rich organic soil.

Here at our home in Wichita Kansas we prefer to put it neatly into big bins. We fashion the bins out of wire fencing then line them black cloth weed barrier. If you throw some of the black weed barrier on top as a cover it will help to speed up the process.

Once your pile starts to grow turn it every once in awhile. You’ll find the material gets hot. That’s all part of the decomposition process.

Some waste isn’t fit for your compost. You shouldn’t add animal parts, meat, dog or cat droppings or diseased plants to compost. Some say don’t add ashes from the fireplace. I do.

You too can be friendly to our enviroment by composting.

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Kudos to the Prairie Village Public Works Department!

03-07-12

Mary Hutchison, SRES, ABR Brookside, Waldo, Prairie Village

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Office: (913) 981-2800

Mobile: (816) 510-1262

Yesterday as I was driving around looking at Prairie Village homes for sale, I noticed there was an accident at the intersection of 71sth St and State Line Road. A stoplight had been knocked over; police were at the scene and a four way stop had been set up for traffic control . It was about 12:30pm when I drove by.

I drive through this intersection at least twice a day…usually three or four times. Although this is a fairly busy intersection, it is surrounded by residential housing and is a two lane road. It’s one of those odd places where on the west side of the road, you are in Kansas; on the right side you are in Missouri (hence the name State Line Road).

A few hours later, around 5pm, I was surprised to see the stoplight back in it’s place and working as usual! This was a very tall stoplight and it had been knocked over completely. But the Prairie Village public works department was on top of it, getting the repair done within a few hours.

This quick response is indicative of how well run Prairie Village runs its small city government. They took care of this problem fast, so traffic could get back to normal. Thanks to the public works department for a job well done!

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Kansas City Real Estate Market Report Overland Park KS 2012 February

03-05-12

Maria Morton, Kansas City Real Estate

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Office: (816) 410-5499

Mobile: (816) 560-3758

Overland Park, KS is a suburb of Kansas City, MO. Quite a large suburb, actually, with a population of 173,372 covering more than 75 square miles.

Active Listings: There are currently 517 single family homes for sale in Overland Park. Prices range from $65,000 (REO) - $2,000,000.

There are 224 Pending Contracts; 119 Accepting Back Up Offers; and 1 Contingent.

During the month of February, 117 homes sold at an average price of $275,000. The lowest price paid for a house in Overland Park was $61,500. The highest price paid was $975,000.

Overland Park (OP) has a lot to offer residents. My favorite place is the Overland Park Arboretum & Botanical Gardens. There's also the OP Convention Center, the Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art, many wonderful restaurants, and loads of great shopping!

Overland Park Convention Center

Overland Park, in Johnson County, has been ranked as one of the best cities in which to live multiple times in Money Magazine. William Strang, who founded Overland Park with the purchase of 600 acres in 1905, envisioned a city with many parks, good schools, easy access to shopping, and pleasant neighborhoods. He would be proud to see what his vision has become.

Some of the larger employers in Overland Park include Black & Veatch, Waddell & Reed, Examinetics, Farrellgas, Ash Grove Cement, Compass Minerals, Johnson County Community College, Overland Park Regional Medical Center, Shawnee Mission & Blue Valley School Districts, CenturyLink, Ericcson, YRC Worldwide, and Sprint. Sprint has decreased their presence in Overland Park over the last few years. YRC is increasing the number of employees in Overland Park.

If you're looking to buy or sell a house in Overland Park, call me - I'm here to help! ♪♫ Market Reports More market reports.

If you like this blog, click here to subscribe.

Maria Morton, Senior Real Estate Specialist,

♫ ♪

Contact Maria Morton Kansas City Realtor

Leading Edge Society 2010 .mobile:816-560-3758www.MariaMorton.com .

Subdivisions in Overland Park include Mills Farm, Deerbrook, Lionsgate – The Links, Lionsgate – Club Villas, Apple Valley Estates, Lionsgate – The Enclave, The Estates of Gleneagles, Summerwood, Wilshire Farms, Nottingham Est, Deer Creek, St. Andrews Highlands, Windsor Ridge, Blackthorne Estates, Kensington At St. Andrews, Stonebridge Court, Forest Glen By The Lake, Hampton Place, Kenilworth, Deer Creek Park, Nottingham By The Green, Lionsgate – By The Lake, The Wilderness, Wellington Park Carriage Hills, Pinehurst Est., Lionsgate – South Lake, Oxford Mills, Sterling Place, Green Meadows, Cambridge Square, Somerset Pointe, Grand Oaks, Beverly Estates, Lancaster Weybury, James Place, Milburn Estates, Shannon Valley, Highland View, Harmony South, Arlington Estates, The Ridge at Pinewood, Oak Park Manor, Valleybrooke Estates, Cherry Hills, Chapel Hill, Rolling Woods, Quail Valley, Buckingham Estates, Kingsridge, Monitor Square, Wellington Park Hunters Glen, Bretton, Windham Park Bridgestone, Kensington Manor, Wakefield Estates, Mission Forest, Nottingham Forest, Morse Village, Wilshire Woods, Chapel Hill, Amber Meadows, Rolling Woods, Timbers Edge, Kingston Lakes, Lexington Park, Amesbury Lake Brookhaven, St. Andrews Place, Rio Lobo, Lancaster Brandon Place, Forest Glen Place, White Fox Estate, Hawthorne Valley, Hamptonshire, Empire Estates, Milburn Estates, Westbrooke South, Woodstock, Cherokee Hills, Morningview, Brittany Highlands, Oak Park, Hunters Pointe, Park Crossing, Willow Bend, Johnson Hills, Beverly Hills, Forest Glen Place, Somerset Pointe, Summercrest, Ranchview, Country Oaks, Pheasant Run, Highland Acres, Prairie View, Milburn West, Milburn Place, Milburn Fields, Santa Fe Vista, Wilshire Park, Glennwood Addition, Chandler Place, Edlunds Resurvey, Goodman Heights, Southmoor Garden, Eleanora Height, Garastanna Acre, Breyfogle, Breyfogle Garden, Cunningham High, McConnell Heights, Kirkbride Place, Elmhurst, Prairie Manor, Westbrooke, Westbrooke South, Metcalf 3^rd Add, Overland Acres, Prairie Court, Oakdale, Glenwood Heights, Chase Manor, Regency Park, Quivira Falls, Early Place, Brookridge Estates, Galway Domains, Turners Add, Atwood Place, Rayven Plains, Greenwich Hills, Cherokee Hills, Regency Park, Wood Acres, Westridge Estate, Mohawk Highlands, Bel Air Heights, Eastland Meadows, Sylvan Grove, Pinehurst, Wilderness – Cottages at, Westbrooke South, Heritage Farms, Pine Crest, Wellington Sq., Eastland Meadows, Wycliff, Nall Hills, Copley Place, Summerfield, Round Hill, Tomahawk Ridge, Indian Creek Estates, Rancho Santa Fe, Fontainbleau East, Craigmont, Kimberly Downs, Mission Mooreland.

. Johnson County Market Report Feb 2010 ♫ Historic Homes of Kansas City ♪ ...*Information obtained from Heartland MLS is deemed reliable but not guaranteed. **This is an eclectic blog combining a little business with pleasure; please consult a licensed professional before making life altering decisions. ♪♫ .

Maria Morton, Realtor©, SRES is a Kansas City Real Estate Agent licensed in MO & KS and affiliated with Prudential Kansas City Realty 816.410.5499.o Maria Morton Copyright © 2012 *Kansas City Real Estate Market Report Overland Park KS 2012 February*

4 Comments

Prairie Village KS Home For Sale Updated Throughout JUST LISTED-2101 W. 73rd Terrace

03-05-12

Suzanne Hinton, Broker-Associate Overland Park KS│Prairie Village KS Home

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Office: (913) 652-0400

Mobile: (816) 520-0917
Secondary: (816) 520-0917

Opportunity to own this Prairie Village KS home for sale JUST LISTED~

2101 W. 73rd Terrace, Prairie Village. Located in the subdivision of Granthurst.

Connect with being notified of foreclosures for sale in Prairie Village KS.

About the Author: The information provided by Suzanne Hinton, recognized local real estate expert for Northeast Johnson County Kansas, including homes for sale and real estate for North Overland Park, Mission, Prairie Village, Fairway and Roeland Park Kansas home market. Suzanne can be reached at 913-529-1453 or email at shinton@remax.net.

5 Comments

Can You Show Us Some Homes Tomorrow?

03-05-12

Mary Hutchison, SRES, ABR Brookside, Waldo, Prairie Village

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Office: (913) 981-2800

Mobile: (816) 510-1262

During the busy spring buying season, I usually get a call like this a few times a month. It’s inevitable that someone will call and ask to see several houses...’tomorrow’. I don’t think many buyers realize that most agents juggle several clients at once, and try to have a personal life as well! So if you are a buyer during this busy spring buying season, keep these points in mind when you want to tour homes on the weekends:

1.Give your agent as much notice as you can. If you want to see homes on Saturday afternoon, call your agent on Monday or Tuesday with a list of what you would like to see. Reserve your tour time early in the week so your agent has time to prepare.
2. Do your homework. If you are not familiar with the area, drive by the homes you are interested in before you go out with the agent. If you don’t like the location of the house, the other homes nearby, the traffic noise--don’t ask to see it.
3. Showing several homes at one time requires quite a bit of pre-planning. Your agent will map out the best route to see the homes in an efficient. time effective manner.
4. How much time in each home? Your agent has to guess as to how much time you will want to spend in each house to keep you ‘on schedule’ with all of the set appointments.
5. Appointments are required. Your agent will call the centralized showing service and make confirmed appointments for each listing. Vacant homes are easy to show--occupied homes usually require a specific time window to visit the property.
6. Paperwork. For my buyers, I print out every home we will visit, staple them in order of the showings, and also make notes on any significant information I think the buyer should know regarding the seller’s disclosure (age of roof, HVAC, home improvements, etc).
7. Coordinating travel time. If the homes are within a few miles of each other, you can usually visit 5 or 6 homes in a couple of hours. If they are several miles apart--your agent also has to figure in travel time.
8. Don’t try to see too many homes at one time (unless you are an out of town buyer). They can all start to blur together after you’ve been in six or eight homes.
9. Give the sellers time to prepare for your visit. I try to set up all of my showings at least 24 hours in advance as a courtesy to the sellers. Especially if children are present in the home, it can take a couple of hours to get a home ‘show ready’. Like buyers, sellers have events planned on the weekends: sports games, dinner parties, visits from relatives, celebrations, yardwork, etc. It’s much easier to schedule a showing a day or two before the visit than the same day as the home tour.

Most agents will try to accommodate last minute requests to see a hot new listing that pops on the market, if they have a buyer ready to write up an offer. But if you are just starting your search, give your agent plenty of notice to set up showings on homes you are interested in. It makes for a much more organized and productive home tour!