neighborhoods

Is building the answer?

by John Rice

A lot of people think that we need to build our way out of the shortage of houses for sale.

I don’t.

The only places left to build in Fayette County are on the edges of town at a time when there is more and more interest in living closer in.  No builder is going to use the little bit of land we have left for anything less than a $173,950 house, which is the base price of the cheapest model Ball Homes will build in Masterson Station.  A quick search on LBAR shows the cheapest actively listed new construction home is $202,900.

I think the problem is affordability for first time buyers.  I have always said that it is the first time buyer who greases the entire real estate market.  They are usually the only group that doesn’t need to sell a house in order to buy.  It is like the bases are loaded and the first time buyer is the one who hits the home run so everybody standing on all those bases gets to move.

A lot of first time buyers are and will continue to look outside of Fayette County.  They will look in Lexington neighborhoods they would not have considered 10 years ago to make their numbers work.   They might even consider a townhouse or condo.

Like my baseball example, the bases are loaded.  The first time buyer is waiting to hit their home run, only there are no balls being thrown.  If more affordable houses come on the market, it will make sellers in all price ranges less worried about finding their next house.  Sellers know they can sell quickly but are worried about finding a house.  Remove that fear and we’ll have more houses for sale.

I thought this was a seller’s market?

by John Rice

It is, but that doesn’t mean all price ranges are super hot right now.

I was doing a market update for a listing I have.  I try to keep my sellers up to date with what has been listed, pending sales, price reductions and closed sales that will become comps for an appraiser.

 

Check out these stats for single family homes in all of Lexington:

$100-150k has 34 listings.

$150-200k has 52 listings.

$200k-250k has 67 listings.
$250k-300k has 64 listings.
$300-350k has 106 listings.
$350k-400k has 68 listings.
$400k-450k has 38 listings.
$400k-500k has 40 listings.
If you’re a buyer in the $100-150k range you better do whatever it takes to get a house, your market is sizzling.
If you’re a seller in the $300-350k range, I would suggest a price reduction because you are not really in a seller’s market at the moment.
Why is this?  Nobody can say conclusively, but my experience is that most sellers in the $100-200k range move up to the $200-300k range.  Most sellers in the $200-300k range move up to the $400k and up range, so that leaves a vacuum in the $300-350k range.

The perfect day in real estate

by John Rice

I just love warm weather.  I love being outside.  Feeling the sun and seeing the blue sky.  Driving with the top town.  Meeting clients.  Looking at houses.

I had one of those perfect days this week.

It started out by showing a fixer-upper to some friends who want to get into the rental market.  We always have a great time and they always pick interesting houses.  The one I showed them this week had two baths, which is normally a good thing…..only the 2nd bath was where a closet use to be.  I am glad I took a picture because there is no way I could possibly describe it.

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From there, I drove with the top down in the M Roadster to see a house on 10 acres with a pool.  I had to wear a hat to keep my forehead from burning.  I normally would have been a little anxious about having “Hat Head” but the buyer is a repeat client that I really like….he knows I am no fashionista.

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I had a couples hours of down time before heading to Jessamine County to show the next house.  I took all back roads to get there because I’d rather have a pretty view and be moving than stuck in traffic.  This place sits on an acre and was a super cool house.  My clients have two young sons that are always a lot of fun to talk with.

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I wrapped up that showing close to sunset.  I had a nice drive home with the cooler evening temperatures on the same back roads, only this time heading towards home.

Great clients.  Great properties.  Great day!

How I grew up to become The LEXpert

by John Rice

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A little tubular box just like this one is what got me into real estate.  I remember all the times I sat in my grandparent’s family room and the thrill of pulling that plastic top off the cardboard container.  My grandfather would be sitting in his green plaid Lazy-Boy recliner watching golf or some sport on the 19 inch TV with a rabbit ear antenna.  The room was paneled.  Had a giant brick fireplace that took up most of the wall.  I would sit and built houses with these 50-60 pieces.  I played with these so much that the cardboard tube was badly frayed where the lid goes from taking it off and putting it on so many time.

 

Then I stepped up to this:

105 pieces of pure real estate pleasure.  It totally amazes me now to think how far Legos have come.  Most today are about building something and following a plan.  Back then, it was about being creative and making something that only existed in your mind.

I mainly did modern, flat roof houses because with only 105 pieces, you didn’t want to use half of them to make a sloped roof.

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Then I started to draw floor plans.  It was the 80s.  The dawn of the open floor plan for the masses.  There was still enough 70s left over that things like Conversation Pits, like I have in this house, were as cool as firepits and reclaimed wood are today.  My grandfather got me the drafting kit for something like my 10th or 11th birthday.  I still have the note inside that he wrote me.  I wish it had a date on it, but neither of us realized I might need it nearly 40 years later for something called a blog.

Then I got into neighborhoods.  Thinking about how one street compared to another and such.  Asking myself which house was better, which lot was better, what I liked or disliked about each.  We lived in Frankfort at the time.  I remember thinking our cul de sac was one of the better ones in the neighborhood, but I didn’t like that it sat at the bottom of the hill, and that the house behind us sat slightly higher than ours……but it was still far better than the houses closer to the East-West Connector Road with all the traffic noise.

I’d go to Florida in the summers to see my grandparents.  My entertainment was having them drive me around cool neighborhoods and going to model homes to see new houses.

People often ask me how long I have been in real estate.  I tell them I’ve had my license since 2005, but I’ve been in real estate all my life.

 

Real estate lessons from a bird?

by John Rice

Something happened in my yard yesterday that made me think about how important location is and why buyers need somebody with experience to guide them.

A robin built a nest in one of my bushes.  I have like 50 bushes in my backyard.  This poor robin picked the one right by my backdoor.  And she built it about 2 feet off the ground.

I am sure she thought it would be great to be over there by the dryer vent on these cool spring mornings.

She worked hard building a really nice nest.  It was a great place, she thought, to lay her 3 eggs.

If this robin had asked me, I would have told her I have a dog.  I also would have told her about the neighbor’s cat named Stewart that walks down the fence several times a day.  Stewart is the reason my wife can no longer feed the birds.  Our feeder area became an all you can eat buffet for that stupid cat.

Had she asked, I would have suggested one of the taller bushes at the back of my yard, on the far side of where Stewart cuts between my house and my neighbor’s house to get home.

But there are no realtors for bird houses.

You probably see where this is going.  My dog knocked the nest out of the bush and the eggs fell to the ground.  I can’t really blame my dog for being a dog, but we were looking forward to watching this robin’s journey to motherhood.

When you are buying a house, there is a lot of stuff to process.  It is easy to focus on what you like and assume you are seeing the whole picture.  Even more so when you have to make a quick decision in a fast moving market.  I always try to make sure my clients know everything I know about a location or house.

Some things I’ve told clients:

“I know you like that this house is right across the street from the school.  Between 2:05 and 2:50, there will be 500 moms parked in idling SUVs and minvans in front of this house.  Will that bother you?”

“I know you don’t mind that this house is on a busy road.  I know you’ll have 3 teenage drivers in the next few years.  I wanted to make sure you realized that they won’t be able to park on this street and this driveway is only one car wide.”

“I know this is a great house and any house will sell fast in this market.  I think that only having two bedrooms upstairs and the rest in the basement will make this house harder to sell in a soft market.”

I couldn’t do anything to help this robin, but I can help you pick the right place to live.