About Kansas City's South Kansas City

Zip Code 64114 - South Kansas City Real Estate Market Report: 4 Year Comparison 2007-2011

We have a market in south Kansas City that appears to be on an upswing. The good news includes the fact that sales are creeping back up in Kansas City's 64114 zip code. The range over the last 4 years shows a market in flux, and at it's height with the April 2010 First Time Homebuyer Tax Credit. So, the federal tax credit helped homeowners in the 64114 zip code sell their homes. But, now with wonderfully low interest rates, and a somewhat depressed market (in some areas) with foreclosures and short sales impacting prices, buyers are able to get what they consider great deals on homes.

Homebuyers were, and continue to be lucky in 3 ways:

1. They got up to $8,000 if they qualified and purchsed a home back in 2010

2. They also get to take advantage of low home prices

3. They were (and are) able to get low mortgage loan interest rates (around and under 4%).

After a peak in August & September, and while the number of new listings are dropping, closed sales were higher in December 2011 than they've been since July 2011. That's good news for sellers and even homebuyers that the real estate market in the south including Red Bridge, Bridlespur and Waldo in south Kansas City appear to be on the upswing a bit and stabilizing. A stable market is a good market! For more details on homes for sale, selling your home - or just more information on the south Kansas City real estate market, please feel free to contact me.

Kansas City Homeowners: Should You Rent Your Home, or Sell It?

If you live in Brookside, Waldo or Red Bridge in South Kansas City, you may have noticed that the real estate sales market is moving a little slowly. After hearing from their real estate agent, many homeowners find out how much equity they would get from their home sale, and the net proceeds aren’t what they expected. You may determine that now is not the time to sell your home. Perhaps, you want to wait to see if prices increase in the future. So how do you determine if renting your house may be an option for you today?

3 Scenarios That Mean That You May Want to Consider Renting Your Home:

1. If you have your home on the market, and according to your real estate agent and the comparable recent sales, it is priced competitively – and is still not getting showings, or offers.

2. You want to move to a different home either because you need to relocate, or need more or less space – or just want to move to another house that meets your needs.

3. You simply want to take advantage of the great low home prices in this buyer’s market. Plus, with the favorable loan terms, you realize that with the low interest rates (in some cases, under 4%), that now is really a perfect time to buy.

If you decide that you want to rent your home and become a landlord, you have to determine if you will hire a real estate agent to list your home for rent, or try it on your own. If you use an agent, they should have access to resources of professional services to promote your property to the largest number of potential tenants, as well as a renters screening service to screen their credit and rental history.

Then, once you find an acceptable and good renter, you should decide if you want to manage your property yourself, or hire a property manager to take care of it for you. Initially, you will probably pay one month’s rent to the agent for finding the tenant. Then, for a monthly fee, a property manager will field calls from the tenants regarding problems and manage the repairs for you. Be prepared if you decide to take care of any complaint calls yourself. You could end up with a call from a tenant anytime around the clock. Imaging that after you’ve settled in for the evening, and it’s below zero outside and the tenant’s furnace stopped working. You can’t simply say that you’ll figure it out the next day, or ignore the call. You must respond to your tenant quickly. You should have access to at least 2 professionals in each trade. 3 are ideal. If you can’t reach your first furnace person, then one of the other 2 should be available. You need your on-call plumbers, electricians, etc. as well. So, ultimately you have to determine if you have the time, patience and personality to be a property manager or hands on Landlord. If not, you should hire someone who has the time and dedication to properly take care of your property.

So Brookside, Waldo or Red Bridge homeowners in South Kansas City, if you want to see if there is a solid rental market in your specific neighborhood, contact me. Find out what the comparable sales are like in your area, or if there may be a better market for renting your home vs. selling it today.

Center Planning & Development Council - Representing South Kansas City Neighborhoods - September Meeting

The Center Planning and Development Council is a neighborhood organization recognized by the City of Kansas City, Missouri that is comprised of the 25+ homes associations/neighborhoods in the southwest part of the city. The west border is State Line Rd. with Leawood, Kansas on the other side. Blue River Rd. is the east border, with roughly 85th St. on the north, and south to Martin City.

I happen to serve as Vice-President of this volunteer organization and we invite anyone who wants to attend, to join us for our monthly pubic meeting on the last Tuesday of the month (except December and 1-2 summer meetings unless there is a need). Meeting are always announced in our newsletters. We meet at 7:00pm at the Trailside Center/Fire Station on the southeast corner of 99th & Holmes Rd.

We’d like each neighborhood to send a representative to serve on the Center Planning & Development Council Board, and attend our once monthly Board Meeting where we plan our public meeting & determine our agenda. Our goal is to provide information about what is going on in South Kansas City, and advocate for neighborhoods and a great quality of life for us all. At each meeting, we typically hear from:

1. The South Patrol Police with an update including trends and crime statistics.

2. Our 6th District City Council members: Scott Taylor at large, and John Sharp in district to share what's going on at City Hall with the council.

3. Any developers, attorneys, business owners – regarding new businesses that may require a zoning adjustment. The city's Planning Department will ask applicants if they’ve talked to the neighborhood before their projects get heard by the City Plan Commission. Most will end up coming to Center Planning & Development Council as the representatives of the neighborhood to present their case and project for neighborhood input (and approval, or disapproval).

4. Neighborhoods with any special issues. We try to support the efforts and goals of each neighborhood.

5. When necessary, staff from various city departments with information and updates.

6. Occasionally, elected state officials may attend to give legislative updates

Does your neighborhood need help with any issues? Check to see if we can assist you. On many occasions (including just a few weeks ago), our neighborhoods have been successful in getting applications that want to change our zoning from residential to commercial, retail or office. We want to keep our South Kansas City neighborhoods consistent to maintain our property values and quality of everyday life.

If you have any questions about the organization, please contact me. Or, if you’d like to receive our newsletter (latest one below), please check back here, I’ll post them monthly - or share your email or mailing address with me. The Center Planning and Development Council agenda is in the newsletter.

I hope to see you this Tuesday at our meeting where we will learn more about how the city’s redistricting could impact us in the 6^th District!

Real Estate Market Report: Kansas City, Missouri 64145 Zip Code Jan.-May 2011

Here are the real estate market statistics for our overall South Kansas City neighborhood above $175,000 for the first half of 2011.The boundaries are south of 119th St. to 135th St. and State Line Rd. on the west with Holmes Rd. on the east. Here is the summary of our market.

The 64145 zip code Includes these subdivisions (and a few others):

Blue Hills East

Blue Hills South

Blue River Woods

Estates at Timber Trace

Huntington Place

Somerset Hills

Somerset Valley

Timber Trace

Verona Hills

Woodbridge

Current statistics – at a glance from January-May 30, 2011:

Active listings = 33

Sold/Closed listings = 6

Sold/Pending closing listings = 2

Sold/Show for backups = 3

Total properties – 44

Averages/the Typical 64145 Homes:

Of the properties that have Sold & Closed, the average sales price is $184,627. The average price of the 33 Active listings currently on the market is $309,615. Is the market changing? The homes are staying on the market an average of 124 days so far this year. The homes in the area are mostly 3-4 Bedroom/3 bath, 1.5, 2 story, Ranch, Reverse 1.5 Stories and Split-Level homes with an average of over 2,500 square feet. They were built mostly in the 80’s, 90’s and 2000's even with some brand new homes.

If you are interested in selling a home in this area, or thinking of purchasing one, please contact me, the South Kansas City Real Estate Specialist for a free consultation and/or up to date custom real estate report based on your specific circumstances. Visit my www.KansasCitySouth blog to keep up to date about what’s going on in the southland.

Mayor Sly James Makes His 1st Visit to South Kansas City's 6th District with Councilmen Scott Taylor & John Sharp

Come join our council members, John Sharp and Scott Taylor for their regular monthly meetings for 6th District citizens. Check in as they make themselves available to update us on what they are doing at City Hall.

Their special guest is our new Mayor Sly James

Let’s hear his thoughts about what he faces as the city’s new leader and as he hears questions and concerns from us, his south Kansas City constituents.

Friday, June 10, 2011 at 7:30am

Trailside Center/9901 Holmes

Did you know that The Trailside Center is staffed by volunteers in cooperation with KCMO Departments of Parks and Recreation and Neighborhood and Community Services?

Also, a container for non-perishable foods is available at the Trailside Center to help the Community Assistance Council who provides for those in need in Kansas City.

Donations are welcome and appreciated!

See you on Friday, June 10, 2011 at 7:30am

Trailside Center/9901 Holmes

Bring a neighbor with you!