Click on the attached link for an update on this topic.

http://www.cnbc.com/id/33520633

 

Another meticulously maintained and updated home in Olathe's prestigious Briarwood subdivision. Home boasts custom oak cabinetry, new carpet, lighting, counters, sinks, faucets, and fresh paint inside and out in warm Tuscan colors. Large living room, dining room, and hearth room. Second master bedroom is perfect for a Mother-in-law suite with elevator  and handicap access for wheelchair. VERY CLEAN!!

If you would like to know more about this property and view the photos please click here to view the MLS listing. 

This meticulously maintained, updated, and smoke-free home is a super value in Johnson County. Home has four bedrooms, fabulous front deck, large fenced yard, and mature trees. Fresh paint inside and out in current colors. New carpet, lighting, tile, counters, mirrors, etc! Large living room and dining room. Two bedrooms are large enough to be master bedrooms! Quiet, established neighborhood. SUPER CLEAN!!!

If you would like to know more about this property and view the beautiful pictures please click here to view the MLS listing.

Congratulations Bob on selling another home in less then 2 weeks. The beautiful home was only on the market 12 days - slightly more then Webster Teams' average of 10.5 days - and sold just slightly below list price.

Another great reason to have Webster Team on your side when selling your home. 

Congratulations again to Bob and team for another super quick home sale! The Olathe three bedroom, 2 bathroom raised ranch home was put on the market Thursday evening and an offer accepted Saturday by noon.

Just another great example of how the Webster Team, on average, gets your home sold in less then a week!

If you have a house that you would like sold so you can move on to better and better things give us a call. We'll be happy to do our best to do the same for you!

Congrats Bob; another quick sale! A great house in Olathe sold in just over a week for almost 2% over asking price!!

You didn't even give me enough time to put the specifics up on the website!

Congratulations Bob on your 'Five Star: Best in Client Satisfaction' award! This is the THIRD year that Bob has received this award; it is really special to those people within the industry as it is based off of the clients we serve. Only the top 7% of all agents in Kansas City are eligible.

Here is some more information on the award itself.

Here is Bob's award profile.

Just another reason why Webster Team is proud to be Kansas City's Home Repair Realtors!

The new Webster Team page on Facebook will help us to better serve the members of the Facebook community. Of course, we will still have our website but will add our blog and other features to our Facebook page for added convenience. This Facebook page will also give you the opportunity to add your thoughts about Webster Team and invite your friends to become fans.

If you are already a member of Facebook become a fan of ‘Webster Team Real Estate’ to enjoy the benefits of getting updates from us right on Facebook through your mini-feed and inbox. Or, creating a Facebook profile is easy and available to everyone. But, you don’t have to be on Facebook to view our page. Simply click here !

 

I am so proud of our Keller Williams office in Overland Park!  For the last five years I have seen our office grow some of the finest agents around.  Our particular office has trained and developed numerous agent leaders who are now providing expertise in other area Keller Williams' offices.  We have just learned of two more agents spreading their wings!

Mark Willis is moving over to the Lee's Summit Keller Williams office to be a Team Leader.  He has been a great asset to our office and will be a great Team Leader in Lee's Summit!

Shannon Steere is moving over to our Shawnee office to become an Operating Principal.  She has been our team leader for the last two years and has done a tremendous job of teaching and helping the rest of us grow!

I am so excited to see who will come into our office next and be blessed by all the training and support that is shared here at Keller Williams.

I am generally known as the Webster Team guy, but in this case I want to shout at the top of my lungs.... "I am a PROUD MEMBER OF KELLER WILLIAMS REALTY PARTNERS, INC.!!!"

Bob Webster

 

Cool Tool!

For years I have been replacing washers on faucets.  No big deal.  I have always had a love/hate relationship with bathtub faucet handles.  Either they come right off and I am a happy person or they are so corroded that I end up practically pulling he whole faucet out of the wall! (not so happy)

I cannot believe I did not know about this tool that has been around for as long as I have. ( A very long time.)  It is a handle puller.  Very simple, there is a pin that sticks in where the screw comes out of the center of the handle and then two clamps hook on the sides of the handle, twist the knob and the handle pops off!  Who knew simple things could bring so much pleasure!

 

The other day I was heading across town to meet a client. Do I take 119^th? Do I take old 56 and cut back? How about the wonderful new 127^th street bridge?  No, not me, I decided to risk it and cut through town on Santa Fe.  You probably already know what happened.  I got stuck by the train...   While sitting there admiring the beautiful bridge construction, I wondered when it would be completed.  GOOD NEWS!  The trains should be on the bridge by late February ‘08! It will be completed by the end of 2008!

 

Here is the plan according to Olathe News - Dec. 17 '07

 

Railroad Elevation Project Approaching Milestone
The project to elevate the east railroad tracks at Ridgeview, Santa Fe, Park and Loula streets is approaching a significant milestone.  The first set of railroad tracks on the elevated structure are expected to be functioning and open for trains in mid January, weather permitting.  At that point, trains will be traveling on both the at-grade and elevated tracks.  Vehicles will still need to stop when the arms are down for trains traveling on the old tracks.

The second, and final, set of tracks are expected to be operational in mid to late February, weather permitting.  At that time all train traffic will be routed to the elevated tracks.

After the elevated tracks are functioning, train delays will be eliminated on Santa Fe and Ridgeview, but additional roadwork will continue for several months.  Additional work will also be conducted at Loula and Park Streets to significantly lower the roads, allowing for safe travel under the new bridges.  Those crossings are expected to open in the fall of 2008 with the entire railroad elevation project complete in late 2008

The City of Olathe is growing like crazy and part of that expansion is down College Boulevard West past Ridgeview road. If you had past that way a year ago you might have hit any one of the following:

1. Train
2. Pedestrian
3. Covered Wagon

BUT THE FUTURE IS NOW!!!

As of December 20th a beautiful Four-Lane road has been opened and contains the longest bridge in Olathe (662 feet!). [The 127th Street bridge is 520 feet doubting Thomas]. The bridge crosses over the creek, train tracks, pedestrian walkway, and any overzealous players of the Oregan Trail computer game.

So take a drive, enjoy the view, and celebrate progress... Olathe's on the move... and it's Westardly-ish... if that's actually a word.

 

I was at a gathering this weekend and there was some serious concern about how terrible the housing market is.

I tried to explain it this way...

In my opinion, there seems to be two markets out there.  One is torn up foreclosures and overprice unprepared personal homes for sale.  The other is correctly priced cleaned up ready to move into houses with home owners who understand what it takes to sell a house.

There have been many times that I have shown buyers the houses in the second category and the house is sold before we can make an offer on it.

The mentality of start high then drop your price just does not work.  These days, start high and you don't get showings.  Most buyers use a Realtor because we can analyze the area around a house to determine a fair price.  If it is not priced right, the buyers just go down the street to the next house.  Please understand I am not saying you need to price a house unrealistically low, I am saying price at the right price for the area and people will look.

The next issue is how the house looks.  If you have looked at houses to purchase before, you probably ran across one with the funky paint or smell.  We usually spend at least a month or more ahead of listing a property advising our sellers on what needs to be done to their house before it goes on the market.  Often it involves painting, cleaning and a storage unit somewhere.  The good news is the people willing to work with us usually don't have to put up with showing for long because their house sells.

Okay, off my soapbox....  The point is... do not panic about what the media is saying about the market.  If you want to sell your house and are willing to do what it takes, it will sell.  It is really not that bad out there for what I call the "normal" market.

President Bush unveiled his plan to remedy the Mortgage Crisis currently plaguing the country.

It's pretty simple actually:

1. Keep the rates from adjusting for a while
2. Give homeowners time to switch to a Fixed Rate mortgage
   
3. Allow the economy time to recover

SO... If you have an Adjustable Rate Mortgage... Now's probably the time to be calling your banker to get it switched to a 30 Year Fixed.

Not sure if you qualify for the rate freeze? Give us a call...

If you've followed the News lately or the Real Estate News Feed on the right side of this page you've probably seen:

1. The explosion of foreclosures

2. The seeming demise of the mortgage industry

3. And now... Several plans being presented to resolve the situation...

But what does this all mean to you? 

First, there are many opportunities in the market today!  You just have to know where to find them!  

In the past people have had any number of reasons to sell a home, now they have another BIG one.  

Second, there's going to be a lot more to think about when preparing to buy or sell a home than there used to be.  Banks are very interested in making sure they continue to stay profitable as some of their mortgages go into foreclosure.  If you buy a home be prepared for some additional hoops, having an expert - like me :-) - can help with this.  It you are selling remember to get your bank involved early so there are no surprises at closing.  Again, having a professional always helps and that's why I'm here.

Please, give me a call, and let's talk about your situation and how to make the most of current market conditions

WOW! That is the best way to describe the feeling I had after leaving the Special Olympics Fall Classic Games. Webster Team Real Estate volunteered assistance with the bowling competition held at AMF College Lanes in Overland Park, Kansas.

The Olympic bowling athletes worked very hard to get to this point. After competing in many rounds of games throughout the year, they earned theirplacein the final phase of the Olympics. Each athlete deserved to be treated with respect and honor.

What a blast we all had! I have never seen so many people in one large area having so much fun and supporting each other. It did not matter which team or person was bowling, all of the contestants cheered and gave high fives to that bowler as they came off the lane.

In these games the athletes are all winners! After spending the day with them, I felt like a winner, too! What an amazing organization and wonderful group of volunteers!!

I would like to thank Crystal Webster for getting Webster Team Real Estate involved in this special event!

Contact Me if you would like the full quality images!

My niece is a student teacher in Lawrence and was staying with us since we live so close on the west side of Olathe.

She had just bought a new car. A beautiful pearl white car. Within a few weeks of owning it, the car was plastered with bird poop. These birds must have been eating a whole lot of red berries (if you get my drift).  She took it to the car dealer and they said they had never seen paint stain so deeply and had the front of the car repainted.

Not three days after getting the car back she was once again hit by the (very full) birds.  (I need to mention she was not parked under any trees) She was very upset and called me to help out. I found out online that Meguiar's Scratch X is supposed to remove bird poop stains. We ran out and picked some up and to our surprise it worked! It took a lot of hand rubbing, but the stains came out! I thought I would pass this along as I was amazed that it worked! I also had no idea that bird poop could stain paint so deeply.

 

The weekend's here and it's time to have fun... but where? Check out our Local Events Guide . We've spent a lot of time gathering a collection of local event calendars so you can find just what you're looking for.

Have something we should add to the list? Please Contact Us or add a comment to this Blog Posting.

You've seen the commercials... you remember your freinds talking about it last year... now's your chance to get in on the action, the 2007 Kansas City Parade of Homes.

Grab your husband, wife, sister, brother, mailman or milkman and head out on September 16th - 30th to browse through some of Kansas City's most amazing homes.

Here's why we go:

1. You'll see how professional Interior Designers are decorating homes for Kansas City. Forget TLC, this is our style.

2. Looking for intersting landscaping ideas? You've got it.

3. Did someone say free snacks? Where are my keys...

I was on the Plaza for lunch the other day when I heard honking. It was so unusual that everyone was looking around. Turns out someone was honking to let a pedestrian know they could cross the street (odd form I know... hand signals usually work... but to eachtheirown).

This got me thinking... what a great town we live in where typically rude behavior like horn honking is such a rare occurence. Just another reason I love to live here.

Until next time... best wishes...

(Photo provided courtesy of commons.wikimedia.org)

Hi Everyone!  If you were at the recent Mid America Nazarene University Football game and were listening to KMNU you might have heard us on the radio.  In each segment Bob goes through a different home repair tip from "How to Repair a Leaking Outdoor Faucet" to "Is that smell really my Furnace?"  We have a lot of fun with it!

It's a neat arrangement with the University Radio Station where we're able to help provide funding for their student program and also get some air time.  Can't beat that!

We'd love to hear any ideas you have for future segments.  Any home repair quandries you have that you'd like Bob to answer?  Please call us or send us an email!