Sheree Wilkerson

Bi, Tri, and Quads are more than just modes of transportation (Okay, that was a stretch - bicycle, tricycle, um... quadroped?)

They happen to be distinct styles of Split-Level Homes! All are available in the Wichita, KS and surrounding areas marketplace and each brings its unique features! Many people when buying their first home have been confused as to the difference and unsure about whether they would like or not like the various styles. So I thought it'd be a neat exercise to go over the 3 splits and how they lay-out and how to recognize them from the exterior!

The most common is a Bi-Level home. This means that there are two distinct living areas and both are accessed by stairways. When you walk in the front door, you typically have the option of going up, or down. The front door area generally has a small landing area, and sometimes a coat closet or garage access as well. Typically the main living areas are upstairs - the kitchen, dining, living room, and main bedrooms. The lower level generally includes, if finished, a family room, maybe another bedroom, bath, etc.

• Pros: Privacy for the lower level - great for the teen who wants to come home and head straight downstairs and not see the rest of the family, for roomies, or to keep guests into entertainment areas without them having to pass thru the main living areas (then you can leave dishes in the sink and noone will know!)
• The lower level generally has view-out or daylight windows as it is raised up higher than a finished basement on a traditional ranch. So it is more of a bright living space similar to being totally above-ground.
• Bi-levels often have a lower number of basement issues as there is less of a below ground aspect compared to a traditional basement. Only 4-5 feet of the room is under ground level, so there's less ground pressure and generally more stability.
• The stair-running keeps you in shape, right?!

• Cons: Get home with a full load of groceries and you gotta go up with them all. Same thing after a long day of work, up you go!
• The view into the home front the front door = stairwell (except in some sideways bi's).
• Generally more stress cracking as the back half of the house is twice as heavy as the front home, so you'll tend to see signs of drywall cracks around the stair areas.
• In the event of a physical handicap or injury, the stairs could possibly leave you sleeping in the garage. For this reason, bi's are sometimes hard to sell as it limits the buyers to those who are more physically capable and don't mind their own personal stairmaster.

How to tell a bi-level home from the outside:
If you look at the home and the front door appears to be in between the two levels - that's a clue! Here's a typical Bi-level style home. Note that due to the position of the windows, the front door appears to be set in between two levels of the home.

Here's a rough idea of the different levels, seen from a side view:

For a list of Bi-Level Homes currently for sale, look below, or Email me with the specific area you'd like to find a Bi!

Wanna Buy a Bi-level?? Click Here!

And to learn about Tri-levels, continue the series by clicking here!

More Split Level Info can be found here - The Split-Level Home Network

Sheree Wilkerson

Allegiant GMAC Realty

316.461.0575

sheree@ksgreathomes.com

It's that time again!

The City of Wichita has announced that there's been an unexpected breakdown in the water treatment plant, leaving the city with only about half of its normal water flow!

The water we do have is just fine, safe to drink, but there's just not as much of it!

The city is asking residents on city water to please discontinue exterior uses of water for about a week! This would be things such as watering the lawn, washing the car, hosing down the house, etc. And if you can be conservative in your water usage inside, that'd help too!

If we are not conservative, there is a chance water could run dry for important features such as fire hydrants, and eventually even to our faucets!

If you use well water for any of these purposes, you are just fine to continue doing so!

But for the rest of us - Hold the Sprinklers!

"For the protection of our customers, we will no longer be dealing directly with real estate agents"

Try it - call Loan Resolutions - 1-877-596-8580 and listen to the message.

I found this out as Ocwen sent me the following information:

"only considers short sales on loans that are ninety (90) days or greater past due and as the (myclientsname) loan is current; unfortunately Ocwen is not able to process a short sale. "

This after a month of giving me the run around and sending me paperwork to fill out and requesting I do an exhaustive CMA, now they tell me that they won't even think about it until the folks are 3 months late? They didn't make this June payment, so there's one.

I want to help my clients. I really do. They can't keep the house. Their mother was paying it and she has died, losing all her income. They are mortgaged up to their eyeballs and in debt for the rest of their lives. They loaned against their retirement accounts in order to keep things going and pay for their parents funerals. They have nothing. They are not bad people.

But apparently, Ocwen would rather see their credit go to crap, the house fall apart, and pay for a foreclosure than to bother help people who are responsible enough to try to avoid that.

Not only did they tell me that they will not consider a short until it's 90 days past due, but also that at 90 days past due they begin foreclosure proceedings and will not put those on hold while they consider a short, like other loan companies will do.

So they wait till their credit is absolutely shot, while the house continues to absolutely deteriorate (they couldn't afford to keep utilities on or maintain it, it sits vacant and has been broken into once already), then they will consider a short at the same time as they race to foreclose on it. At which point it wil be worth half its current value, which is already worth half of what is owed on it.

My clients have been advised that they will have to call Loan Resolutions themselves and try to work it out on their own.

That makes the 2nd short sale I've lost this week, but the first on my listing side of it. These are good people and I have to let them out on their own and watch them get foreclosed on because of this policy.

Why?

To end this on a good note, versus the other short sale rants, my short sale listing with Citimortgage is absolutely stunning! They respond, have some common sense, and I've spoken to a live person several times.

It's June! Kids are out of school and buyers are in a frenzy to find a home before school starts back! Is this the right time to sell? Here's the current Goddard stats!

Active - These homes are currently for sale in Goddard and would be your competition:

41 Homes - Priced from $89,000 to $550,000. The Average days on market is 178 days (nearly 6 months). Part of this is due to the large number of new construction homes in the marketplace.

Pending - 16 homes are under contract, waiting to close! These took an average of 138 days to get a contract. They were priced from $69,900 to $199,000.

Sold - These homes sold in the last 3 months.

43 homes - from $87,000 to $365,000 with an average of 35 days on the market. 21 of these were new homes build just for the buyer. When these are removed from the stats, the days on market go up to 60 (2 months).

What can you take away from this?

Look at the price ranges on each - the higher end homes are sitting on the market. Nothing is under contract over 199k, and nothing lately has sold over 365k. If you're above that range, you may have a long wait.

The largest factor to consider when selling in Goddard is the proximity and abundance of brand new homes available to buyers. That's the competition that is harder to compete with. But you can do it! After all, you've got a yard, and they don't, and you likely have lower or no specials!

The 2nd biggest factor is simply gas prices. Commuting rates are going down and bedroom communities are losing their attractiveness.

With the right plan in place though, you can get SOLD this summer!

To discuss your selling strategies, contact me!

Beautiful Cheney! Have you been yet?





Cheney is about 25 minutes West of Wichita, on K-54/Kellogg. It's a great small community where everyone knows everyone and watches out for folks! There's a grocery store locally owned and operated, convenience stores/gas stations, bowling (which has some AWESOME Pizza!), banking, and yes, even Chinese take-out!

If you haven't considered Cheney as a place to live, give it a chance! Visit the golf course, stroll main street, soak it in!

To learn more about Cheney, KS Visit: http://bestcheneyhome.com

To receive a list of homes available for sale in Cheney, KS, simply call, text, or email your request!
Sheree Wilkerson - 316-461-0575 - sheree@ksgreathomes.com