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Tips to Save Energy Today

This is government site is an excellent source of energy saving tips:  QUICK LINK.  You can use this for all kinds of fast, easy, low-cost energy savings for your home.

RADON: Metro Area is a Hot Zone

Jeffrey M. Salem with the Sun Tribune wrote this informative article on area radon.  QUICK LINK

Good Information On Local Kansas City Housing Market

Here are a couple of articles from the Kansas City Star with some factual information on the real estate market.  They answer a lot of questions about the local market her in Kansas City, and it's exactly what I've been presenting to our clients.  Let me know your thoughts when you've read them.

Housing Market, Part 1

Housing Market, Part 2

cotnact me at Anita@IntegrityRealtykc.com

Home Review Newsletter

We think you will like this newsletter.  It's great because it delivers fun, pertinent and useful information without "leaning" on you.  Enjoy.

March Home Review: Download mar_08_home_review.pdf

So, What's Good About the Real Estate Market?

To be honest, plenty!

• Interest Rates are extremely low
• Home values have leveled off, which means savings for first time home buyers
• Home values have leveled off, which means savings for move-up home buyers (take a 1-5 percent hit on selling your $200,000 home and gaina 1-10 percent GAIN on a $400,000)
• Investment opportunities are huge - buy up those foreclosures from the banks, fix them up and either rent or re-sell them at a profit.  Banks DO NOT want to hold on to real estate
• Buy CASH - banks and home owners love it and you can get a discount
• The market is very localized - do your homework prior to purchasing, especially investment properties so you are sure you can sell at a profit

Tip of the Day - Stage Your Home

   When you are selling your home, it is imperative that you stage your home properly in order to have your home be the "Best in it's Class."   The following are some suggestions we recommend to our clients if they are truly intersete din selling their home and not just putting it on the market.

• Have your home staged by a professional - an expert is worth their weight in gold.
• Remove all magnets and pictures from refrigerator.
• Put away all unnecessary items on kitchen countertops, especially dish cloths, food, extra canisters, etc.
• Stow under the kitchen sink your dish cloth, scrubbies, dish and hand soap, etc.
• Remove all throw rugs from the flooring in all rooms.
• Stow away all items on bathroom countertops except a nice soap dispenser, or if you have a nice matching set of accessories.  If you want, place everything in a small bin so you can access it easily and yet be able to hide it away when showing the house.
• Place a nice hand towel in the bathrooms.
• Remove all items in shower/tub—again, you may want to put them in a bin so you can easily hide them away as well as pull them out to use.
• Make all beds—daily!
• Hide away all laundry.
• Put away all shoes.
• Have a “10 Minute Showing Drill” set up so that when you receive a call from Showing Solutions you can quickly prep the house.
• Bake cookies or bread prior to showing.

Winter Tip for Selling Your Home

If you have your home on the market for sale, here are a few tips to help you attract a buyer:

1. Shovel the front porch, sidewalk and driveway when it snows.  Most people use the garage entry to their home and they forget about the front entry.  By keeping the walkway clear, potential buyers will be paying attention to your beautiful facade and won't have to be worried about snow and ice.  If you have already relocated and are far away from the house, hire a neighbor or a friend to keep the walkways clear (and pick up newspapers!).
2. Have an area inside the front door where buyers can remove their shoes, maybe even have a pair sitting there.  This will keep snow and dirt from being tracked in, and, it will show the buyer that you take care of your flooring by removing your shoes.
3. If you have space heaters in the house, remove them from sight.  They will say to the buyer, "This house is drafty and the heating bills are high."
4. If you have a deck or a patio, remove snow and ice from them so the buyer can experience the "nice weather" space.
5. And, it's always a good idea to have a "comfort" smell in the air.  Winter brings memories of warm bread baking, coming home to mom's chocolate chip cookies, and hot chocolate. 

1 + 1 = LOTS OF $$$$

In the stock market, it's time to buy when the market is low and doing poorly, and that time is NOW for the real estate industry.  With the stock market acting unstable, it's time to take that money and park it in real estate.  Looking at past real estate market down turns, it has taken 6 years for the cycle to bounce back, but there's something different about this adjustment we are now experiencing.

The difference is some simple math:   Interest Rates at their lowest point in years + the Median Price of a Home down for the first time in a decade = Time to Create Wealth in Real Estate.  In addition to these two facts is the reality that the sub-prime market has hit it's low, meaning that the inventory of foreclosures is going to be dimishing, which in turn means that all of those great bargains are going to be disappearing soon. 

Because of these facts, the real estate market is adjusting faster than in the past, more like a 4 year cycle than a 6 year cycle.  That's good news.

What do we recommend you buy?  The best buys right now are foreclosures that need cosmetic updating (about $15,000 in repairs/remodeling) that are in good neighborhoods, are 3 bedroom homes that can be made into 4 or 5 bedrooms homes.  Other good buys are move-up/trophy homes, townhomes, duplexes and multi-plexes.  The move-up/trophy homes are being drastically reduced, which means bigger savings, as well as bigger gains when the market pops back up.

Please be sure to come to us with your real estate questions - DO NOT RELY on the mass media - it's their job to scare you and to NOT give you the full story.

5 Simple Ways to Increase a Home's Value

From the Daily Real Estate News, December 31, 2007

Good home maintenance is key to creating and preserving a home’s value. Not to mention, it also impresses potential buyers.

Here are five basic steps that every home owner ought to take — before spending money on dream bathrooms or gourmet kitchens.

1. Safety. Make sure smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors are installed and in good working order. Check fuel-burning appliances to make sure they are properly vented and no gas connections leak. Make sure the electrical system is adequate. Flickering lights and popping breakers are the sign of a problem. Anchor handrails and grab bars adequately.

2. Preventive maintenance. Repair any leaks in the roof, seal gaps in the siding, paint bare wood, replace damaged decking, patch cracks in concrete, and caulk around tubs and showers.

3. Conserve energy. Install a programmable thermostat, weather-strip doors and windows, fix leaking faucets, upgrade insulation, and replace leaky windows.

4. Go green. Consider environmentally friendly materials for windows, doors, siding, decking, fencing, roofing, flooring, and insulation.

5. Improve comfort. Get rid of clutter, open up spaces, update window treatments to allow in more light, and organize closets and storage.

Note from Anita:  2 additional ways to increase your home’s value are:

1. Keep the interior and exterior paint in good condition on in neutral colors.

2. Update the flooring—neutral carpeting in living areas and bedrooms (no blue or red), re-finish wood flooring, neutral color ceramic tile or vinyl in dining areas, entries and baths (no carpet in these areas).

What Are Your Favorite Features in a House?

Here is a quick 10 question quiz that the National Association of Realtors is posting - take a few minutes to enter your thoughts!   Click here for QUIZ