Blackthorne Estates in Southern Overland Park is a fantastic family frieldly subdivision. You can choose from several new home designs from Duggan homes or look for a great resale home. Blackthorne Estate is part of the prized Blue Valley Schools system and is close to everything you could want including restaurants, churches and some of the best cycling Johnson County has to offer. Below is an overview of the last 6 months of home sale in Blackthorne Estates.

Homes Listed                        4

Home sold                             3

Average Sales Price              $357,166

Average Days to sell             31

Highest Sales price               $382,000

Lowest Sales Price                $320,000

Click Here to see all Blackthorne Estates homes for sale

This report is brought to you by the Russell Home Team, your Overland park Home experts. www.SearchjocoHomes.com

You have seen the TV shows? Buy a house, put in minimal work and sell it for a huge profit. It seems so easy and the profits are more than most of us make in a year. With the downturn in the real estate market & the disasterous results in the stock market investors are wondering where to put their money?

Throughout the sellers market fix & flip investing was everywhere and it seemed that everyone was doing or at least wanted to do it. Now that the profit margins have dried up, only the serious investors are attempting Flips. However there is a new type of flipping that is starting to become very popular, it is Called Fix & Hold.

With all of the foreclosure properties and short sale properties hitting the market there is a huge opprtunity to buy these homes substancially under market value, at this point you make enough necessary repairs to make the home a viable rental property and keep it as such for several years. Once the market returns you can consider doing a more extensive rehab of the property and then Flip it.

With all of the foreclosures, market trepidation among buyers and harder to come by mortgages we are seeing a lot more renters and a need for more rental properties. Why not take advantage of this and buy the under market homes? When the market does improve you will already have several undervalued assets that you can fix up and flip and in the short term you will have a rental property that is hopefully making monthly profits and providing much needed tax relief.

The prolonged sellers market brought a get rich quick mentality and many investors gave up on long term real estate investing. Now is the time to start looking into long term investments. The significant saving that you can find today will reap huge rewards during the next sellers market.

If you have been considering a long term approach to real estate investing give us a call. The Russell Home Team has over 10 years experience helping investors reach their long term in versting goals.

You can start your Home Search right now by clicking on the link below.

Copyright 2008 The Russell Home Team, your Johnson County Kansas Home experts. 913-681-1383 www.SearchjocoHomes.com

HUD (Department of Housing & Urban Developement) announced some very disturbing numbers this week. Applications for FHA Secure and Hope For Homeowner programs to help troubled borrowers are extremely low. As of October 1st only 4,000 homeowners have applied for FHA Secure and an even more disturbing 111 Applications for Hope for Homeowners.

So do homeowner not know about the program? Or do they just not care? I saw a statistic last week that said that 43% of foreclosures happen without 1 single contact to the lender. I know a lot people have been criticizing our government for not offering enough help for distressed homeowners. But when you see numbers like this who have to ask, When does the governments responsibility stop and the homeowners start?

So just in case it is that they just don't know, here is the contact number

1-800-Hope-Now

Don't let your home be foreclosed without a fight.

Copyright 2008 The Russell Home Team, your johnson County Kansas Home experts! www.SearchjocoHomes.com

Well it's that time of year again. Johnson County Kansas mailed out your annual property tax statement. For most of you it came as a surprise because the average bill went up 4.3% this year. So how does my property tax bill go up when home prices have been falling for over a year?

There are generally 2 reasons that your taxes are higher this year. The first is the Mill Levy, that is the rate used to compile all of the collected taxes including taxes for schools, road projects and other bonds issued by the county. The other is when the sale of comparable homes in your neighborhood go up. If your property tax assessment was $250,000 last year and 2 of your neighbors homes that are comparable sold for $260,000 you can expect that your assessment will go up to match those recent sales. But what if the sales prices are declining and your assessment still went up? That"s where you can protest to the county and ask for them to lower your taxes.

So if you think that your taxes are wrong and you want to protest, here is where you get started www.treasurer.jocogov.org

Here is how the process works:

• If you have not had a meeting with the County Appraiser on the valuation of your property for the same tax year, you can file a protest. Protest forms are available from the County Treasurer or you can print the associated form.
• Contact your County Treasurer's office to request the protest forms (or print them from the associated documents). Please read and follow the instructions carefully for a successful appeal. NOTE: If the protest form is received in the Treasurer's office unsigned the protest will be considered invalid and will be returned to you. The delay may jeopardize your chances for a hearing.
• Complete the tax protest form and file a copy with the County Treasurer's Office on or before December 20th with your payment. (If at least one-half (1/2) of the taxes are paid by an escrow agent, a protest of the taxes must be filed no later than the following January 31.) If taxes are paid after these deadlines, any protest of the taxes must be filed at the time the taxes are paid.
• The protest form can be submitted through fax to 913-791-5360, as long as it is sent in by the first half and second half deadlines given in step 3 above. After those deadlines, please fill out the form online and print a copy to mail with your payment.
• You must keep a copy of the protest form. You will need to use this form to file the protest with the Board of Tax Appeals if you are not satisfied with the County's decision.
• The County Appraiser will contact you to schedule an informal meeting after the County Treasurer forwards your protest form to the Appraiser. If you are filing a protest on the basis of an illegal tax levy, an Appendix must be completed and attached to the protest form. Those protest forms will be mailed by the Treasurer to the State Board of Tax Appeals. No informal hearing will be held with the Appraiser in the case of illegal tax levy protests.
• If you are successful in your appeal and your paid taxes are reduced, a refund will be issued upon the Treasurer receiving a correction from the County Appraiser's office. If there is still a second half balance due, that amount will be reduced and no refund will be made.

Property Tax protest form

If you want to know what your neighbors tax value is? Visit the link below.

Johnson County Kansas Aprraiser site

If you need help, feel free to contact me at 913-681-1383 or info@russellhometeam.com

For all of the latest information on the Johnson County Kansas Real Estate market Feel free to visit our website at www.SearchjocoHomes.com

 Regency by the Lake in Overland Park is located next to LionsGate but is a fraction of the cost. A well established subdivision just off of 151st & Metcalf Regency by the lake is part of the Blue Valley School system and is close to everything including Price Chopper, LLwellens Pub & Hwy 69.

 Last 6 months Home Sales for Regency by the Lake

Month	Year	Units Listed	Listed Volume	Listed Average	Units Sold	Sold Volume	Sold Average	Average DOM
May	2008	4	988,350	247,087	1	260,000	260,000	23
Jun	2008	1	249,950	249,950	2	524,000	262,000	21
Aug	2008	1	248,000	248,000	0	0	0	0
Sep	2008	2	459,950	229,975	2	497,950	248,975	40
Oct	2008	1	265,000	265,000	2	451,500	225,750	25
Totals:		9	2,211,250	245,694	7	1,733,450	247,635	27

Click Here to View Regency by the Lake Homes for Sale

This report courtesy of The Russell Home Team, your Overland Park Home Experts. For more information visit our website www.SearchjocoHomes.com

 Camden Woods in Leawood is a fantastic family friendly community Camden Woods in an upper level subdivision located along 143rd & State Line. It is close to everything, including the Blue Valley schools, shopping, churches and more. Beloww is the sales statistics for the past 6 months.

 Last 6 Months Sales Report for Camden Woods

Month	Year	Units Listed	Listed Volume	Listed Average	Units Sold	Sold Volume	Sold Average	Average DOM
May	2008	5	2,373,800	474,760	0	0	0	0
Jun	2008	4	1,687,900	421,975	1	540,590	540,590	27
Jul	2008	5	2,113,200	422,640	3	1,234,000	411,333	34
Aug	2008	3	1,333,480	444,493	3	1,345,000	448,333	39
Sep	2008	4	2,003,850	500,962	3	1,225,200	408,400	33
Oct	2008	1	409,000	409,000	1	321,000	321,000	27
Nov	2008	0	0	0	1	532,000	532,000	34
Totals:		22	9,921,230	450,965	12	5,197,790	433,149	32

To view Camden Woods Homes For Sale Click Here

This report is provided by the Russell Home Team, your Leawood & Johnson County Home Experts. For more information visit our website www.SearchjocoHomes.com

 Southern Overland Park has many fantastic subdivisions. Sylvan Lake is one of those subdivision, located near the intersection of 159th & Nall Sylvan Lake is part of the Blue Valley School system and feeds directly into Blue Valley High School. Some of the local highlights includes a Super Walmart, LLwellens Pub, easy access to hwy 69 & more.

Last 6 months home sales Statistics for Sylvan Lake 

Month	Year	Units Listed	Listed Volume	Listed Average	Units Sold	Sold Volume	Sold Average	Average DOM
Jun	2008	1	219,950	219,950	1	223,000	223,000	21
Jul	2008	2	415,900	207,950	0	0	0	0
Aug	2008	4	961,400	240,350	0	0	0	0
Sep	2008	1	228,500	228,500	0	0	0	0
Oct	2008	1	224,950	224,950	2	470,000	235,000	46
Totals:		9	2,050,700	227,856	3	693,000	231,000	34

To Search for Sylvan Lake & Overland Park Homes for sale click Here

This report is brought to you by the Russell Home Team, your Overland park & Johnson County Home experts. For more information visit our website www.searchjocohomes.com

15845 Briar Street Overland Park, KS 66224

This fantastic home just got better. Not only did the seller lower the listing price to $359,900 but they also repainted the exterior to reflect current color trends. Take a look for yourself, I think you will have a hard time finding a nicer home for the price in Hampton Place.

This home is proudly listed by The Russell Home Team, your Hampton Place & Overland Park Home experts. for your own private showing contact us at 913-681-1383 or email me at michael@russellhometeam.com. or you can see all the great homes for sale in Overland Park by clicking on the MLS search link below.