Overland Park KS Homes for sale & Johnson County Real Estate Blog: February 2008

and what will be the tipping point. Everyday I read another story about the subprime mess, the liquidity crisis, possible recession and yes the woes in the housing market. What I am trying to do is get a feel for how people really feel on the street. I know what the government tells me, I know what the news media tells me but what I really want to know is, how do most honest hard working americans feel about the economy, their job and of course houses.

As I go to the supermarket the first thing I notice is people, lots of people and those people are buyingnlots of stuff. So to bite off my first question about the economy, if we are in such bad shape where is the money coming from? Are we running up credit cards? Are we still using Home Equity lines? I would think if we were that worried we woundn't be spending the same way we always have.

Second part, jobs! How do most of us feel? Layoffs, no layoffs, still employed but no raise? From what I see more than 95% of Americans are still working and help wanted signs are all over the place. Maybe I am isolated and don't see the real picture yet but everytime we go out people are spending money. If we felt like we were going to lose our job anyday now, would we be spending like this?

What are your thoughts? Please respond, I want to know what you think.

2008 The Russell Home Team 913-681-1383 www.MikeRussellHomes.comm

 Roeland Park cutie priced to sell today at $108,000. Perfect for the first time buyer or for an investor. 3 bedroom, 1 bath ranch with huge backyard, hardwood floors, newer kitchen, newly tiled bath with tumbled marble. Huge yard includes mature landscaping, brick patio and koi pond. To view this house today call Michael Russell 913-681-1383 www.mikerussellhomes.com  or email me at michael@russellhometeam.com  

2008- The Russell home Team- 913-681-1383 www.mikerussellhomes.com

Yesterdays KC Star described the 2007 real estate market as ugly. They spewed off a bunch of sales that showed some sellers taking a real beating on the sale of their home. The question I want to ask is this truly what is happening in our market? or is it more isolated? Perhaps there is a side of this story that you are not seeing or haven't thought about.

By reading yesterdays article you would think that 50% of the homes in the area are in foreclosure and the other 50% have lost over 10% of their value. Let the truth be known that homes are selling and selling everyday and not everyone is losing money. The sellers who are losing money have generally bought in the last 2 years. If you don't believe that look at the 4 year percentage change listed in the Stars article 80 of the 96 zip codes saw an increase. While most people focus on the short term, you might want to think about your long term gain.

For homeowners who have been thinking about a larger home, why would you not take advantage now? Are you waiting for the more expensive home's price to go back up? or maybe for the interest rate to go back to up?

The paper said ugly but what I read was opportunity. Let's busts some myths

Myth #1- Now is not a good time to sell.

              Now is a great time, houses are selling and if you listen to an experienced realtor we will get you sold

              quickly and for a fair price.

Myth #2- Now is not a good time to buy.

              There are oppotunities in every market. The biggest one is low interest rates, the second is choice.

              During the boom years all I heard about was how all of the good house get taken before we can even

              look at them. Well, now is your chance.

Myth #3- There is no mortgage money available.

              There is plenty of money. FHA has stepped in to help alleviate the sub prime gap and banks have

              plenty of money to lend. That's what bank do lend money.

The reality is that everyones situation is different from the next. Don't let media, the internet, Mom & Dad or anyone else tell you that now is a bad time. Be smart, get professional advise and make the decision for yourself. Real Estate is still the best long term investment you will ever make and now might be a great time to improve your situation.

2008 The Russell Home Team 913-681-1383 www.MikeRussellHomes.com

The Kansas City Star reported this Sunday that 2007 home sales were ugly. Well they weren't talkin about my girlfriend Miss Johnson County Kansas. While she wasn't beautiful in 2007 she was at least cute. Johnson County KS has 24 zip codes and 16 of those zip codes showed an increase in sales price for the year 2007. That is almost 75% of the zip codes in Johnson County showing a price increase for 2007. Now I said she was cute and that is because those gains were generally modest with most being less that 1 percent but that sure beats declining values.

So what does this mean for all of us. It means stop believing what you read in  the paper and find out for yourself. Statistics don't really mean that much anyway. I believe you can make statistics say anything you want.

You can say that Tom Brady has completed 10 of his last 12 passes and you would think wow! he is on fire but then realize that his previous 20 passes were incomplete and he was really 10 for his last 32 passes, not so good.

Everyones house is different, every neighborhood is different and every persons situation is different. While the whole Johnson County market could be described at cute, your girl might be gorgeous.

2008 The Russell Home Team 913-681-1383 www.mikerussellhomes.com

I know that there are a lot of Homeowners hurting out there. The only thing that makes your situation worse is being preyed on by vultures looking to profit off of your misery. I wanted to make sure that Homeowner in trouble have access to people who can really help them.

The Hope Now program is HUD approved and has the support of most major lenders including Wells Fargo, Citi, Countrywide and BOA.  If you are behind on payments call their hotline at 1-888-995-HOPE or check out their website at www.HopeNow.com Don't wait till it is too late to get help.

2008- The Russell Home Team- Michael Russell-913-681-1383 www.MikeRussellHomes.com

I had to go buy a new car for my wife recently, I was amazed at all of the information that was available to me. From Cars.com, Edmunds and a great site from the EPA that actually compares cars side by side for mileage based on your actual usage. But the 1 site that was indespencable was Kelleys Blue Book. I was able to find out not only dealer cost on the vehicle but the factory incentives and what people actually were paying for the vehicle. I thought to myself that we realtors are kind of like the Blue Book for houses.

So if you wouldn't go buy a car without the Blue Book, why would you even think to buy a house without it either? As realtors we have information that nobody else has. This is not just what is listed in the MLS but it is the information that we gain everyday by being active in our market. Not only do we know what the house next door sold for but why it sold for that price.

The internet has changed everything as I was able to find which dealer had the exact car I was looking for with leaving my couch, you can do the same with houses. For the most part you can eliminate most houses with the click of your finger but what you can't do is find out how much that house is really worth.  While the Blue Book will tell you how much to add for A/C,How much does granite counters add? or hardwood floors? That's where we come in, as a experienced buyers agent it is my job to advise you and help you decifer the home blue book.

As a buyer you might want to think about the following things before you start looking at houses

1. The listing agent works for the seller, not you.

2. Our services are FREE to you, FREE, FREE

3. A good buyers agent is worth their weight in Gold (215lbs x 800 per ounce)$172,000

4. We even give you a gift at the closing

So if you are thinking about buying a house, be smart. Get representation. There are a lot of pages in the Blue Book for house and unlike cars their rarely are 2 alike.

2008- The Russell Home Team- 913-681-1383 www.MikeRussellHomes.com

The 2007 foreclosure rates were announced yesterday by the tracking firm Realtytrac. While some areas of the country have been hit really hard, Kansas City is just slightly above the National average. There was some cause for concern though as the rate of foreclosure did rise almost 85%. from 2006. There were several areas of the country that were hit extemely hard including Detroit, parts of California and Las Vegas.

National Average        1.03%

Detroit                           4.92%

Stockton, CA               4.87%

Las Vegas                    4.23%

Kansas City                 1.18%

 So just a little bit above 1 out of every 100 households. The thing to remember is that not all of these homes get foreclosed, many homeowners are able to bring their mortgage up to date, refinance or sell the home before the forclosure is complete. If you are facing foreclosure, here are some things you should know.

1. Don't ignore the bank, they will work with you. They don't want to foreclose your home.

2.Don't get scammed, call a realtor and make sure they are experienced with foreclosures and short sales.

3.Do not under any circumstance sign your house over to someone, no matter how much they tell you.

4.If all else fails, try to sell the home.

5.What if I owe more than it is worth? You can sell and ask your bank to accept less money(Short Sale)

There is a lot of legitimate help out there, just seek it. Don't call the 1-800-number on a little white sign in your neighborhood. 

Any questions give me a call, Michael Russell 913-681-1383 www.MikeRussellHomes.com

With all of the slowdown in the market, a possible recession and all of the other problems like rising energy costs, Health care and who knows what else. It is easy to forget that people love houses.

While many buyers seem content to sit on the sidelines, I truly believe that they are really chomping at the bit to buy. They are just to scared to make the jump right now. So what is missing? Confidence is what is missing.

I can tell by the traffic at my website that people are looking at house, they are looking at them everyday. I have had guests on my site look at over 1000 houses. Why? because everyone wants to improve their situation. A bigger house, a better neighborhood, different schools. Those desires will not go away, they will just intensify.

That confidence will come, it will build slowly but the fact of the matter is that ultimately people love houses and they will buy.

2008-The Russell Home Team- 913-681-1383- www.MikeRussellHomes.com

Have you been considering investing in the Kansas City Metro area? Right now is a great opportunity to start looking for investment property. One of the easiest ways to get into investment property is HUD homes, these homes were purchased using Federal Housing Authority (FHA) loans insured by the federal government. Once an FHA loan is foreclosed upon the property is turned over to the Department of Housing and Urban Developement (HUD) Right now there are 26 HUD properties available in Johnson, Miami & Wyandotte counties with price that start at $6000 and go up to $175,000. No I did not leave off a zero, that really is $6000. What a great way to get started into investment real estate.

In the late 80's Denver had a huge real estate bust and tons of HUD homes flooded the market, well the people who bought those homes and added them to an investment portfolio reaped big rewards in the 90's when the market recovered. Now is the time for you to position yourself for the next upswing.

The Russell Home Team is conducting a series of Home Tours  to view recently foreclosed homes. If you want to be part of this tour or any of our other foreclosure home tours please contact Michael Russell at 913-681-1383 or email me at michael@russellhometeam.com

Please feel free to take advantage of our FREE MLS Home Search

Copyright 2008 The Russell Home Team www.MikeRussellHomes.com

On Saturday February 23rd The Russell Home Team in conjunction with Mortgage Lnders of America will be touring 5 recently foreclosed homesin the johnson County Kansas area including Overland Park, Olathe & Lenexa. These homes will have been foreclosed by HUD, VA, Fannnie Mae or local banks.

Prices and conditions of homes ary widely. Some homes are move-in condition and some are total train wrecks. If you are interested in joining the tour please call or email Michael Russell at 913-681-1383 michael@russellhometeam.com

We are in the process of setting up future tours to include foreclosed properties in Wyandotte, Jackson and Platte counties. We will be looking at not just Single Family Residential but investment property also.

In the mean time try our Comprehensive MLS property Search

2008 The Russell Home Team Your Johnson County Home Experts www.WeSelljoco.com