Wayne's Real Estate Blog

Is Branding Really Important? The battle currently being waged in the real estate world is whether branding is important in today's social media world.  Many pundits say that the internet has marginalized the "big players" in any given field and leveled the playing field for the small fry. As som...

September, 2010 Real Estate Report Wichita, KS metro area August sales were down about a third from 2009 but up slightly from July, 2010. August 2009 sales were 851 units and this August sales were 572 units.  YTD sales were 5,447 units.  This was 97% of 2009 sales, 76% of 2008 sales and 66% of 2...

August, 2010 economic update for the Wichita, KS metro area..... Real estate activity in the 1st ½ of August seems to have picked up from July.  The continued low rates for loans will not last forever and some buyers want to make sure they take advantage before they end.  Showings in the higher p...

Wichita, Kansas Economic Update July, 2010   The Brookings Institution just completed a study on American cities and how fast their exports were growing.  Wichita, KS was Number one with the fastest growth of exports over the last five years.  Only four Metropolitan areas doubled exports over the...

"Short Sales" are increasing. Nationwide, Short sales made up 18% of Buy-side transactions in June, 2010.  Over all, Short Sales are up 50% from a year ago.  "Short sales are much more complex and time-consuming transactions and agents handling them should be educated on how to assist homeowners ...

2010, 1st Six Months, Economic & Real estate activity for the Wichita, KS metro area   The South Central Kansas MLS has released their June, 2010 figures for Wichita-area homes sales. Existing home sales decreased by almost 10% between May and June, 2010. However, YTD sales increased by 10% due ...

For the last two days I have been in Kansas City, MO at a Social Meeting seminar for RE/MAX agents.  Yesterday we covered Linked-in and Facebook and today we covered Twitter, You Tube and blogging. (yes we are talking about Active Rain).  My question to everyone is where do we find the time to do...

2010 may be looked back on as the the best time ever to buy a home based on the lowest interest rates in 50 years and thegreat prices available to buyers.  A 150,000 loan at the current FHA/VA 30 year rate of 4.375% would have Principle and interest payments of $748.93.  Compare this to 1981 when...

May, 2010 MLS Sales Statistics for the South Central Kansas area including The Wichita, KS metro area Home sales in May increased 5.7% over April 2010 closings, nationally they decreased 2.2%. Closings in May 2010 were still up 23% compared to May 2009.  Average values of existing homes sold were...

2010, Real estate update Real estate closings were up 42% in the April-may time period, primarily due to the federal tax Credit that expired April 30, 2010.  Closings for May and June should be much higher than a year ago since June 30, 2010 is the cut off for closings if you want to qualify for ...