Real Estate
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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
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Being a Real Estate Agent in Missouri & Kansas
Real Estate
It took me around 6 months to pass the various real estate exams to become a real estate agent in Missouri and Kansas – a necessity as Kansas City is on the line between the two states.
My first impression was – Wow this is different to what I remember back in England all those years ago.
I started in Real Estate working life in 1971 with Messrs Nicholas a medium sized Land & Estate agents in Reading, with around five branches in the locale.
The License
This time I had been lucky to pass all the exams on the first attempt.
A big thank you to Lynn at Real Estate Prep School in Gladstone.
There is a definite benefit to sitting in a class of contemporaries who know the lingo and are brighter than you !
Selecting a broker to work for was an interesting exercise in balancing, diving in with both feet or being just a number in a large brokerage with little one on one contact.
Being somewhat of a social animal.
I chose a small friendly broker, where I felt learning would be much easier and definitely one to one.
After a couple of years it was time to move to a little larger brokerage.
Having spent the best part of 45 years promoting my design and build business working with companies & homeowners in England & America it wasn’t difficult to talk to people.
Having a ‘Boss’ is a little different!
Initial real estate advice was you will need to call 50, 60, maybe 70 people a week to obtain clients.
It’s probably true.
Whilst I realize that indeed to move ahead it will be necessary to obtain leads and contact lots of people.
I have also noticed that being stuck behind a phone is not the whole story.
In fact, my first three clients came from just walking down a street and talking to people.
it’s at this point I confess that my English accent has its benefits.
Today, five years after obtaining my licenses.
Completing many hours of continuing education, code of ethics, learning the multiple listing service, paying all manner of fees, being fingerprinted twice, having two FBI back ground checks and signing up for dotloop, css, forms are us, renting some lock boxes, a crm or two, attending some heavy-duty boot camps.
It’s time to go sailing a little more.!
So I figured why not take the potential clients with me?
Trying out the new sails No, no, I was just dreaming about the European way of working !
Actually, I was serious and during the summer months please do come sailing its fun.
My short-term goals are to list two homes a month and sell two homes a month, not necessarily the same ones.
Between the buyer, seller, listing and selling agent, lender, broker, and title company.
Many of the forms have time restraint penalties and completion penalties. – another word for fines!
Having completed a reasonable number of sales and purchases.
I am aware that being on the edge of old has some advantages in this business: –
- Namely staying calm when all around you are losing their minds is a benefit.
- Maintaining a sense of humor, while keeping focused on the goal.
- Listening to the clients needs and wishes.
- Being patient.
- Being willing to go out of your way to smooth the process.
- Keep to the plan – in this case the time program.
- Remember who your customer is.
- Most important have fun.
- Make sure everyone has fun.
- Just to repeat make it a fun time.
There is without a doubt something magical about helping someone find their new home.
Providing a personal service to each client is very important to me !
Call, Text or email me…
Chris
Email : Chris Dyson-Coope
Tel : 816 813 0729
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Those Opps! moments, never Assume !
Today you can chuckle at my expense !!!
Designing & Building award winning landscapes has been a very rewarding, satisfying, fun filled occupation, of course there have been days one prefers to have skipped or passed by, yet more where looking back it was quite amusing now – I’m sure you too have a few you could share with the growing readers too.
So Ann and Chris are making you an offer you cannot refuse? – well perhaps you can !
Here is the challenge. If you have an amusing enough incident and you share it here by way of a comment,
Ann & I will call you ( we will have to keep this to an English conversation for now) , we will give you at least 5 minutes to describe in your own words the Opps! moment, you may also give your business a gentle plug!
Hows that ?
So let’s get the ball rolling with some of those Opps ! or “Out take” moments that have happened to me.
“Hook – Up”
The first that I remember wasn’t actually related to horticulture it was whilst working during a summer recess from college, working as a summer assistant lock keeper,on the River Thames at Mapledurham, which I think is in Oxfordshire, as I recall a quite well known movie was being filmed at the time called “The Eagle has Landed”, just across the reach from the lock.
On this particular day, there was lots of action and noise from the film set, lots of tourist and regular cruisers plying up and down the Thames. The lock is quite large – from memory nearly 200 ft long and about 16ft wide with a 5 ft rise and fall. Because we were busy we were packing in the boats. Anyway, having filled the lock with boats I opened the sluice gates to let the water out and let the lock water level fall around 5 ft, as this happened I was distracted by the filming. the next minute I turned to see all the boats hooked up with no water beneath! … not a good position to be in !
It took some time to undo the resultant mess….
“Splash”
Sticking to water… one night I was making a visit to a potential client on the way home, it was around dusk, the home owner was a banker, they had a lovely home in Chislehurst, Kent. After a brief talk we took a short stroll around the garden as dusk was fading, it was a long time but it was quite dark by the time we headed back to the house.
For some reason, I was talking to the client side by side one moment and the next I was treading muddy water, tearing though a rather decrepit swimming pool cover having missed the dog leg steps on the poolside.
The water soon reached my waste, and my suit took on a rather unusual color and smell..meanwhile the client rushed indoors exclaiming I had fallen into the pool, which brought the whole family out giggling !.. somewhat soaking I drove the last 15 miles home. We ended up completing the project, one of the requirements was to break out the miscreant swimming pool !
“Mud Slide”
On another occasion we were contracted to dredge a small lake and construct a weir. ( a pond is in my definition an area of water in which you can throw a stone over it to land on the other bank. A lake is where the stone falls into the water). So dredging a lake is a task, requiring a variety of big toys… in this case we arranged with the local waterways folks to block ( legitimately) the upper inflow channel, allowing the water in the lower lake to fall around 8-12 ft which would allow the use of a piece of equipment similar to a dragline.
Unfortunately, whilst we knew the plan, the water folks knew the plan and the parks department knew the plan, nobody had told the security guys – who “unblocked’ the upper lake outfall late in the night, thinking some vandal had blocked up the outfalls !
So after about two days of working we returned in the morning, to find the lake full of water , the equipment marooned 50 ft out in the lake,with their tracks buried and the mud slowly engulfing the cab.. some drastic action was needed, a very heavy lift truck was used to winch out the equipment, and we changed our method of removing the silt,to pumping the now slurry into a temporary lagoon to dry out before carting away.
“An up-lifting experience”
The next was a tad more mundane, well it started that way at least. We had just completed a large ‘cut & fill’ project covering many tens of acres on a setting out ground for a new power station, we were preparing one area of about 30 acres for seeding when suddenly the bomb squad pulled up, I kid you not…
Here is an English sapper exploring on the site !
Apparently they had been told that a lady across the way ( about 1/4mile, you can see the block in the distance) had just recalled a flight of German bombers had dropped their loads of bombs in the 2nd world war ,just where we were working some had failed to explode…
so they dug around for a few days, messing up our seed bed and left, when they failed to find any …..
Some ten years later, whilst preparing for the new Queen Elizabeth II, Dartford bridge, the said 15 or so unexploded bombs were indeed found in the hedge row not 70ft from where the bomb squad had poked around !!!
It was a very useful do not ASSUME moment … you know the meaning don’t Assume as it makes an “ASS out of U and ME”
Enjoy the week !
Ann & Chris
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An amusing moment reviewing a Roof Garden
A good few years ago we were asked to design and build a roof garden on an office roof.
There are a few extra considerations needed when doing this.
All roofs will have a weight restriction – this includes a snow loading and a people loading
Access is severely restricted unless a tower crane is still on site, when it’s the crane lifting ability and movement.
Wind levels play a part with plants survival, and also with ‘lifting’ light weight materials
Irrigation is essential – as to is adequate drainage and roof waterproofing
Finally ongoing site safety – railings, balconies , restricted access to the parapet.
On this occasion the roof had been completed, we had even received an award for the design and construction.
I have always liked this one..
We were commissioned to Design and Build a roof garden, to comply with a local planning condition.
So we utilised artificial rocks made from GRP – we took moulds of actual rock faces and pieced them together to form a sealed planter – First picture
Then we joined these together added compost and plants …. the result an award winning roof garden..
There was a funny moment when a visiting Japanese manager of the company we were working for, came up to me one evening while I was checking the summer planting one year.He bowed formally ( the Japanese are so polite), any way after bowing he tapped on the rock and said ” Ah Rock “
I , with a slight smile, bowed and tapped the rock and and said “No Plastic” !!To which he looked puzzled and then smiled ,then saw the humour in the situation and roared with laughter… we kept the contract for many more years !!
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