Real Estate in Missouri
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Finding or Selling your Home in Missouri with Wingman Real Estate Associates, KW Partners Inc
Looking to buy or sell a home in the Kansas City Metro and Surrounding areas in Missouri ?
If you are considering buying or selling a home call or text me at 816 813 0729 I will be happy to help.
Visits: 30
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The Steps to Buying a Home
The Buying Process.
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Start looking for a Home
Often this begins on line looking through sites like :
Trulia
Zillow
Realtor.com
Or A local Real Estate company website like ours at :
( click on the red wording) Wingman Real Estate Associates KW Partners Inc
Shortly after you start this process your phone is likely to start ringing with offers from agents wanting to act for you.
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It’s now time to Engage a Licensed Realtor to represent your interests.
Currently it is a very wise decision to select your own licensed agent to represent you with your home purchase.
The Selected Agent will want to have a Signed Buyers Agency Agreement with you, this doesn’t usually involve you in any costs at this stage.
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Establish financing method
Your new agent will begin by discussing finances with you. They will help you understand the many and varied options available to you.
Then they will suggest you contact a mortgage specialist who will work with you to select the best option for you.
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Selecting a Property
Your agent will then start looking at the properties that interested you on the various web based sites – it is possible that some of these properties are no longer available.
The agent through his MLS site will be able to check.
They will also be able to complete a thorough search for properties that meet your criteria.
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Visiting Properties
Now comes the fun, visiting and comparing properties, some people know immediately what they are looking for.
Others want to visit a number of properties and yet more have a hard time making up their minds.
Keep looking until you find what you are really looking for.
I’ve found a helpful aid is a check sheet for each property.
I find having a sheet for each property we visit. It has a few items listed:
- Style of Home
- Location, area of city, school district etc
- Aspect – often overlooked – is the home North/South/East/West facing..
- Number of Bedrooms
- Number of Living Rooms
- Condition of Surroundings is the property nicely landscaped
- Bathrooms
- Toilets
- Basement is the basement dry and finished
- Garages for how many cars
- Off street parking
Closeness to
- Schools
- Shops
- Airport
- Transport
- Libraries
- Hospitals
- An area to write notes on each room etc.,
- Number of power outlets
- Is painting required
- Condition of floor or carpets
- Window types and styles etc.,
The idea is to enable you to remember what you saw and compare as you evaluate the most appropriate property for your needs.
It helps with the pictures you may take with your phone.
They will also help with your own gut feeling for value.
The next part can become stressful.
Making an Offer.
This is where your agent really starts to become important.
Remember if you have signed an exclusive buyers agency agreement your agent has a fiduciary duty to represent you.
The seller by virtue of having an agent listing his property has someone representing him.
By now the number of forms has been steadily building.
Once you make an offer you will see a regular deluge of paper – well perhaps not if you use ‘Dotloop’ to process your forms.
It is important though to spend sometime reading each document.
I will go over each in detail with you as well. -do ask for clarification if you are not sure why you are being asked to sign something.
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Accepting an Offer.
- Once an offer has been accepted in writing ( often through dotloop or a similar electronic system) you will have set time limits on a number of important activities.
- Inspections these are important activities to help protect you.
- The first is a Property inspection often added is a Termite inspection
- Next comes optional inspections or surveys for Radon, Septic if needed, Structural,
- There is a strict time limit to completing these, reviewing them with your agent, then requesting repairs from the seller.
- Earnest money deposit – usually required at the sellers title company within a few business days – I like to personally deliver the deposit to the sellers title company.
The Selling Process
Establish Property Value
This is helped by looking at local recently sold, similar properties – Comps – which assist in deciding a listing figure to ask for.
Decide on Selling Method
Start Selling Property
Usually there is a need to declutter a home, make a few minor repairs, tidy the garden. Then perform a deep clean of the whole house.
Finding a Buyer
Today finding a buyer is much easier, although recent interest rate changes have started to slow the process.
List of things to do before you move.
I have a moving list of to do’s that I share with my clients.
Visits: 58
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Homes of Distinction- The Lindley Mansion 1886
A beautiful Victorian Mansion in the heart of Missouri
Just sold…March 2020.
A friend asked me to help them sell their beautiful 133 year old mansion.
It had me thinking about how many other beautiful and often substantially built homes were waiting to be found by new caring owners.
This house has been lovingly maintained and tastefully improved over the past few years.
504 South Adams St, Nevada, Missouri
The Lindley Mansion was built in 1886 by E.P. Lindley.
This is a rare opportunity to purchase a substantial Victorian residence that has been well maintained and lovingly cared for by the present owner.
This beautiful 1886 mansion benefits from many original quality features. – wooden floors, pocket doors, detailed wood trim,
two attractive stairways, eight fireplaces, 12 ft high ceilings on the ground floor,
two substantial porches, with even a full herringbone brick floor basement!
From the impressive entrance
The imposing front door
with its intricate glasswork
To the finer brick detailing
or the woodworking detail of the porches
or upper balcony
504 South Adams is a magnificent home
Reputedly one of the first homes in Nevada built with bathrooms and gas lights ( which were changed once electricity was available).
Originally the family entertained on the third floor where guests danced the night away.
Later when the staircase was blocked off to accommodate an extra bathroom with closet a secret room was created which still exists to this day.
Come and visit see if you can find it!
Construction Details
The Property is constructed of Brick with Stone lintels and foundations. Approximately floor area totaling 4938 sq ft, the house sits on over half an acre of land.
Today the property is Move-in ready, with many additional modern features added by the present owner:-
Two-year-old roof.
Solar power.
The roof panels are cleverly hidden on the roof at the back of the house. Access to them has been created at the top of the back staircase, allowing views of the night sky.
with solar the electric utility bills are significantly reduced.
Air Conditioning
One unit has been placed on the roof and the other at ground level.
Forced air heating
Eight fireplaces
Four of the fireplaces have been changed to natural gas, the other four are original and have not been used for a number of years.
Upgraded modernized large kitchen.
Five large bedrooms
Two and half bathrooms, plus a dressing room
Huge dining room
The formal dining room, has been tastefully redecorated, will comfortably seat 12 people.
The current dining table ten chairs is available to purchase. The huge mirror above the gas fireplace will stay.
Large living room
Library & Pool Room
The Pool table will stay with the property. There is a half bathroom adjoining this room.
Family sitting room
Large foyer
Front and Back Staircases
Delightful porches –
The first with a wrap around front porch.
The second Side Porch – fronting Maple street
The third porch at the rear of the house, is now filled in and a convenient boot room.
Raised Deck
A newer raised wooden deck with covered Pergola, has been created, ideal for entertaining on a hot summers evening.
The substantial brick double garage with driveway from the road, was built by an earlier owner
Features of this beautiful historical home ……….
A huge cellar with herringbone brick floor – once used as a ‘speakeasy in the roaring twenties by the owner’s daughters.’
Ground floor has almost 12 ft high ceilings.
There are beautiful wooden pocket doors to most of the ground floor main rooms.
Eight fireplaces – The house was originally heated by the fireplaces, requiring a full-time maid to tend to them.
Wooden floors throughout the house.
Large usable main attic room
There is even a secret room waiting to be found !
External Construction Details.
The substantial construction can be seen in these pictures
A truly beautiful home to enjoy.
Visits: 387
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Looking to own your first home?
Buying your first home is one of those life changing moments.
.. Just want to know what properties are currently available ?
Call or text me at 816 813 0729 I’m here to help you.
My own experience of buying our first home was probably no different to many.
I left school, at the age of 18, worked for an Estate Agency in Reading. It was quite a large firm with six locations and five partners (owners). There was no way I could afford to buy anything on my starting salary, which was 1 guinea a week !
It wasn’t until after I went to college for four years, obtained my second job that I could afford to buy. My girlfriend (later my first wife) and I rented a two bedroom apartment in Croydon, Surrey. Our rent was a whopping $200 a month in 1975.
About six months after renting we happened to walk past an Wates estate agents in Crystal Palace. In the window was a superb luxury one bedroom flat in a block of twelve, complete with parking, a garage and an outside storage room, inside each apartment there was a drying cupboard, and even a bidet in the bathroom. It was for sale at $18000.
We went in and spoke to the agent, who explained these luxury flats were few and far between. We soon discovered we could purchase it with our joint incomes, and a 10% deposit. In fact our monthly expenses went down by $30, and we collected tax relief on the payments another $30 saving. We also were able to purchase a with profits life insurance policy that would pay out at the end of our mortgage ( it did very well ). Today such policies have not been so good.
The other thing we were able to do was to create a fully transferable mortgage, which meant that as we moved so the mortgage moved with us and all we needed to do was take out an additional top up one to cover any price difference. This saved quite a lot of money.
We decided to purchase the apartment, it was on a 125 year lease, with a $50 ground rent and a very low maintenance upkeep fee.
We moved after two years, the very first person to view bought, and we made $24000 profit. So after agents fees, solicitor fees, moving expenses our two-year stay resulted in a substantial profit. Our next house had a mortgage that was much lower percentage wise than this our first purchase.
We learned a very valuable lesson, thanks to the agent the first rule of buying is :-
Location, Location, Location.
He did add that we should develop a wish list. It’s something I have always recommended the thousands of clients I have worked for over the years.
- if you would like a wish list template just send me an email chris@chriscoope.com seems there is no right way to create a list, although I might suggest that each couple produce their own ‘first list’.
Another helpful aid is to develop a box to store newspaper clippings, magazines pictures, computer print outs of all the things you would like to include in your home. It’s surprising how many things will be saved, some may be color schemes, others more practical like bedroom sizes. Of course your final list will usually be a compromise gleaned from both of your final lists.
- if you would like me to see what’s currently available in Missouri or Kansas and you haven’t signed a contract with another licensed agent give me a call on 816 813 0729
- I work in the Wingman Real Estate team at
- KW Partners Inc 6850 College Blvd, Overland Park, Ks 913 906 5400
Visits: 209
