AMAZING CASA BELLA HOME WITH ALL THE UPGRADES!! VAULTED CEILINGS, FAUX PAINTING, GRANITE COUNTERS, STAINLESS APPLIANCES, CENTRAL VAC, NuVo SOUND SYSTEM, HUGE WALK-IN PANTRY, LARGE KITCHEN AND HEARTHROOM w/BEAUTIFUL HARDWOOD FLOORING, OVERSIZED GARAGE DOORS, EXTENSIVE LANDSCAPING, SCREENED PORCH/PATIO - BEAUTIFUL MASTER WITH LUXURIOUS MASTER BATH.

SEVEN BRIDGES SUBDIVISION IS A MUST SEE WITH CASCADING WATERFALLS, LAKES, WALKING TRAILS,

LARGE PLAY AND POOL AREAS, TENNIS COURTS, AND THE BIGGEST PRIVATE CLUBHOUSE YOU'LL EVER SEEN.

 

If you'd like to view this spectacular 2 year old home in beautiful Seven Bridges in Platte City, MO please call Ron Henderson,

Keller Williams Realty at 816-651-9001.

 

I have a home in Northview Place in Kansas City North that was custom built by my sellers. They used a great builder and took one of his floor plans, then maxed it out with everything - granite, Wolf appliances, custom finishes, tons of trim, landscaping, security systems.  You name it; it's in this home.

Anyway, it’s been a somewhat challenging sale over the course of the last year, but we started at what they had in it around $440,000. At the time there were 2 other homes priced higher than ours in the subdivision.  The seller is a doctor and moved to St. Joseph MO to take a partnership at the hospital there. They’ve been wonderful to work with and I’ve been disappointed that we’ve had to drop the price down to $390,000 to find a buyer.  

We’re under contract at $387,000 and the seller is bringing around $20,000 to the table to get it done, but is willing to do that.  This last week we got the appraisal back and it came in at $370,000 - $17,000 UNDER our sales price!  Honestly, I wanted to be sick, but I’m the type to take 10 minutes to cool off, then dive in there and figure out a plan.

Long story, short – I think we have a worst case scenario plan in place and a best case scenario in place, but more importantly the buyers are not freaking out and still want to buy the home. I'm probably lucky there isn't another agent involved (buyers were unrepresented) because it sure makes it a lot easier to talk to them in person without another agent in there.

When I went over there to speak with the buyers at their home, as soon as we sat down at their kitchen table, the wife said, "Ron, before we get started, can I say something first"?  I thought to myself, "Oh no, they're nervous and want to back out,” but then she surprised me.  She said, "We LOVE this home and we want it bad. We've seen quite a few homes before this one and we simply do not understand how this appraisal came in so low. We don't believe the appraisal can be correct because we're 100% sure this home is a fantastic deal at our agreed price, but the bank is telling us they won't loan us the money and can't change the appraisal.  How can we make this work because we don't want to lose this home?”

Obviously I breathed a huge sigh of relief and then began to explain my plans for a best case and a worst-case scenario. I told them sometimes the lender will allow us to contest the appraisal, but in this particular case it appeared to me that their lender didn’t care to discuss it. I suggested we simply start over with another lender and that’s what they’re doing.

As I asked around my office this week, I heard other horror stories of buyers that backed out completely, sellers that took their homes off the market, and deals that were killed even though we had a buyer willing to pay what they felt was “fair market value”.

Think about how many people are involved in this and how it’s a lose-lose situation. You typically have two agents, a lender, a buyer, and a seller at minimum; that’s five people, but you may also have that many people involved again if the sellers were going to buy another home in that same area.

As I told this story to several people in my office this week, I realized that this is MADNESS and where does it stop? Believe me, I do understand how we got to this point, but it just seems like there’s got to be a better way.  

 

I was attending a party recently and one of the guests at the party just happened to be a local home inspector. As I was standing there, someone asked him how the real estate market is doing. "Not very good," he said to the small group standing there. I was thinking that's probably what they all expected him to say, but I wish people in our industry would stop being so negative about it and find something positive to say. 

Personally, my real estate business has been fantastic in 2009 and I see no reason for it to slow down in 2010, but I've also come to realize that not everyone is doing as well as I am. Occasionally in the company of other Realtors I won't even talk about my success because I know it's been a tough couple of years for most agents, but recently I've started to think that I should be talking about it. Obviously I wouldn't being doing it to brag about my accomplishments, but simply to encourage others that it is possible to be successful in a tough real estate market. 

There have been many times recently when someone would ask me that same question, "How's the market doing" and when I tell them, "It's great!" I can see that surprised look on their face, which is almost always followed by a, "Wow, Really?" I then try to look them straight in the eyes and say, "Yes, really" because this inevitably leads us to the very reason why they've asked me that question in the first place.

Sometimes they are "waiting on the sidelines" but considering putting their home on the market and just want someone to give them a glimmer of hope that it's possible to get their home sold. Sometimes they have a neighbor or family member that has their home on the market but can't seem to get it sold. They want to ask for my business card to give to that person and say, "Here's a guy I met that's doing great and you may want to give him a call". Other times they simply want to know that it's getting better and are just tired of hearing all the doom and gloom on the evening news. No matter what their situation, telling them that I'm successfully selling homes gives me an opening for an in depth conversation and a better opportunity to hand them my business card.

Consider this; when was the last time you handed someone your business card after having a negative conversation about the market? "Well Bob, right now there are hundreds of bank repo's and short sales in your area so it's probably impossible to sell your home right now, but hey, here's my business card". Seriously? You think Bob will EVER call you now?

Here's a much better alternative answer to that question of "How's the Market?". "Well Bob, this can be a very challenging market right now, but I personally am having a GREAT year!  The trick Bob is to make sure you have a great real estate agent selling your home. Why do you ask that question Bob? Are you thinking about selling your home this year?"

See how that works?  Only good in depth conversations can come next and you might be very surprised to find you will get more business by being upbeat and positive. I would even go as far as to say that within a week or so you'll become more positive about the overall market and the possibilities that the coming year holds. 

Let's all commit to being positive about the real estate market in 2010 and give me your suggestions for what you'll say from now on when someone says to you, "So, how's the real estate market?"

 

I started using Facebook about one year ago and at that time it seemed like a pretty good way to keep in touch with people. I'd login and see what others were doing, look at photos of their kids, and every now and then come across someone from High School. Recently though, it seems like EVERYONE is now on Facebook. I'm sure it's probably true too, because I just read a statistic today that said Facebook is the 5th most popular website in the world.

I need some advice and I truly value the opinions of all you other top agents out there on AR so please tell me what you'd do in this situation.

I've been in real estate for 5 years now, I currently have about 30 listings and consider myself more of a "listing agent" at this point in my career.  I tell you this so you'll understand that I've worked with all types of client personalities from the very strong opinionated sellers to the ones that do everything I tell them to do.  I have studied the DISC profile systems and read many books on human personalities.  I feel I can work with just about any personality type and rarely have any issues with my sellers, but I currently have two different clients that are EXACTLY the same and they both frustrate me to no end.

They are both attractive, single women in their 40's. Both own very nice homes with higher income jobs. Both intelligent, very business oriented women. They are both obviously driven to success and I could guess that both are very used to getting their own way most of the time. Honestly, they're both great clients to work with except for this one issue. When they feel like a showing is invading their time, they'll just cancel the showing!

I know we all realize that sometimes things come up, but one of them has canceled 3 showings and the other one has canceled 5 showings. I've spoken with both of them twice about this and they always have some excuse. My family was over last night and the house is a mess.  I forgot to put the dog in the kennel before I left for work today. I don't feel like leaving the house tonight.  Whatever!!

I'm spending a lot of time and effort to market these two homes and it REALLY frustrates me to have a buyers agent call to ask why they can't show the house. Of course they never try to show it another time and they never come back either. I don't blame them. There are way too many other homes on the market so they don't have to.

To this point, I've let it go, but today was the final straw for me when a buyer called me directly, wanted to see one of these homes this evening, and my seller says, "The house is a mess and I don't think today will work for me." Just to put this in perspective, we just lowered the price of her home another $5,000 this week and she's complaining to me that she wants her home sold. Seriously!

Honestly, I'm seriously considering dropping both of them. I'm doing pretty good right now and don't really need the hassle. My wife thinks I should just let it go and maybe she's right?

Any suggestions?

EVERY UPGRADE IMAGINABLE throughout this beautiful 2 story home. Very open floorplan with the ultimate chef's kitchen that includes a $12,000 WOLF range, enormous walk-in pantry, center island and custom quartz counters. Large master bedroom w/cozy fireplace. Finished walkout basement w/fam room+bar+gym. Full sprinkler system and $8,500 in custom landscaping. Front door security camera, custom blinds throughout, basement has 9 foot ceilings, way too many extras to list here!! THIS IS A MUST SEE HOME!!! To see more photos of this home, visit http://www.clayandplatte.com

TO SEE ALL HOMES FOR SALE IN STALEY FARMS, GO TO http://www.clayandplatte.com

 

SHORT SALE,subject to lender approval. Opportunity to gain immediate equity. Sold AS-IS, with no warranties or guarantees. Very nice maintenance free townhome for this price in great neighborhood. ALL EXTERIOR MAINTANCE PROVIDED. Home is priced $10,000 to $15,000 under some of the others, but is in really good condition.

To see more photos of this home, visit http://www.clayandplatte.com

 

 

SHORT SALE, subject to lender approval. Opportunity to gain immediate equity. Sold AS-IS, with no warranties or guarantees. Very nice home for this price in great neighborhood. 

To see more photos of this home, visit http://www.clayandplatte.com