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When Offering on Homes, Keep the Big Picture in Mind

In keeping with the theme of affordable homes in Branson, Missouri, let’s talk about making offers. Most buyers get very hung up on the sales price of the home, which is understandable but not very practical. For instance, if a home is for sale for $150,000 and there are other offers on it, make your best offer and call it a day. When you take a $150,000 payment on a 30 year amortization schedule, there is very, very little difference from $145,000. In addition, most people never retire their mortgages as they move more often than every 30 years, so the paydown of the principle is modest difference at best.

Now I am not saying that you should be making full priced offers in every situation, or even in the majority of situations, but in this tight market under $150,000 it is a good idea as you may end up with a lesser home if you offer low and don’t get the home. Most buyers don’t want to hear this, but there is high competetion and not much inventory at this price range in the Branson, Mo area, which pushes prices higher. I don’t see prices getting any lower as many homes have been sold at or less than it cost to build them…and there aren’t many builders with starts in this price range as they can’t make enough money when building them to bother.

Moral of the story: Be aggressive with your first offer so you get a quality home. The difference in payment is nominal, and is especially small when amortizing and paying down the home over 30 years. So if you are in the market for a home in this price range, give me a call at (417) 337 – 1627 and I’ll go to work for you.

Affordable Homes in Branson, Missouri In Short Supply

In the past few months I have written a handful of posts about the lack of affordable homes for sale in the Branson, Mo area. Today’s post will be no different, as it is one of the most significant trends in the real estate market today. First time home buyers and buyers relocating to Branson have been scooping up this inventory at a ravenous pace, especially in a few choice subdivisions for this price range: Savannah Place off Bee Creek Road, Highlands of Branson on T Highway, Country Club Heights on East 76, and Emory Creek Ranch Estates on 248 north of the Highroad. All of these subdivisions are in the Branson school district and have an average price that makes the mortgage payments similar to a rent payment. This similar monthly payment combined with USDA loans and other programs that don’t necessarily require large down payments has been a boon for home sellers in this price range.

If you are reading this and are serious about purchasing a home in this price range, pick up the phone and give me a call at (417) 337 – 1627. Heck if you don’t want to call me, call another realtor…just don’t let the best of the homes in Branson in this price range pass you by. A home is too big of a purchase to be pigeonholed into buying a home in a picked-over market. And one last thing, when you do find a home that you like in this price range, make your best of offer as the competition is too great for this price range to dally around with too many offers and counteroffers.

Trading Up Will Be Expensive In The Future

Lately I’ve talked with a few bankers and mortgage brokers here in Branson, Mo and we’ve come to a basic conclusion: buyers should purchase as much house as they can afford now because when interest rates rise from their current all time lows the difference in payments for the same size home will be staggering. Since we’ve basically had falling interest rates for the last 25-30 years, most realtors in Branson and prospective homebuyers have probably not stopped to think of the paradigm shift we are about to witness. If interest rates get to 10% in the next handful of years and the home you are selling was financed at 5%, you will not even be able to get close to the same price home for the same monthly payment, and likely won’t get in the home with as little as is required for down payment in many situations currently. So if you think you will “trade up” in the next few years, you may want to evaluate your current options and decide what fits your particular situation the best.

Now please don’t take this little note as a “sky is falling” warning — it is certainly not intended to be construed that way. I just wanted to give a little example of the foresight and thought I put into my job as a realtor in Branson and what I bring to the table. I won’t just show you a home, I will advise you about all facets of the transaction — so feel free to call me at (417) 337 – 1627 if you have questions about buying or selling real estate in Branson or on Table Rock Lake.

What do you think of loudanner.com?

I’d like to take a minute to ask you, the reader and potential real estate buyer or seller, what you think of my site and the information I provide. Do you find the site helpful and informative, or dull and boring? Is there other information that you’d like to see me write about that I currently haven’t? How is the functionality and look — appealing and useful, ugly and clunky, or somewhere in between? Everything I post on the site is original content and it is time consuming to produce, but I feel like it helps buyers and sellers glean a bit more about the Branson / Ozarks housing market than they could piece together from a bunch of other sites.

If you have any suggestions or comments, praise or scorn for the site, please do me a favor and post them in the comments section below. Thanks for your feedback. (And as always, if you would like assistance in buying or selling real estate in Branson, Missouri feel free to give me a call at 417-337-1627 or drop me an email on the Contact page).

Best Buys on Branson Mo Homes May Be From Banks

Depending on how much national news you listen to about foreclosures, you may or may not have heard the term “shadow inventory”. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the term, shadow inventory is simply the supply of homes that banks keep off the market in order to avoid flooding the local housing inventory (basically they don’t want lower the prices because of unbalanced supply / demand fundamentals). While the shadow inventory of homes in Branson, Missouri is not nearly as high as in other markets like those in Nevada, California, Arizona, and Florida, it certainly does exist.

To get access to this inventory of houses in Branson or on Table Rock Lake, you need to use an agent that knows where to look and who to ask, and be ready to act quickly should a house be in shadow inventory that fits your criteria. Now I’m not saying that steals come around every day, but it does happen, especially if banks need to get a house off their books quickly. You won’t find these homes on the MLS, but a good agent will give you the best shot at finding them as shadow inventory or as soon as a bank decides to list them.

This time between the bank listing their shadow inventory and the listing actually hitting the MLS is another way good deals have been made, and if you don’t have an agent seeking out this window of opportunity you will likely not access to the deal you are trying to get. Once again, you have to be ready and able to act quickly should a home that fits your criteria emerge.

To sum it up, there are good deals out there on homes in Branson and throughout the Ozarks and using the services of a knowledgeable agent is likely the best way to find them. If you would like assistance in finding a good deal, give me a call at 417-337-1627 or drop me an email on my contact page. It may not happen overnight, but with me in your corner you I will do my bes

Siena at Branson Hills Is Shaping Up Nicely

While I was out and about on Sunday, I toured Siena at Branson Hills for the second time.  A lot of progress has been made and the development is really coming together.  The roads are in and a handful of models are nearing completion.  List prices start in the mid $300s, which seems reasonable for an active adult community that sits right in the middle of the newest master planned community in the area, Branson Hills.

The thing I like best about Branson Hills is the fact that it is  nearly all completed.  I know this might sound strange to out-of-area buyers, but so many developers promise the moon and the sky and simply don’t deliver.  With the Villas already complete, the RecPlex already open,  Eagle Bunker Condos finished, and the $30 million Payne Stewart Golf Club ready for play it is obvious that the developers of Branson Hills know how to plan, design, and complete large scale communities.

So if you are in the market for a low maintenance home in the newest area of Branson, with common sense protective covenants and a great architectural look, Siena at Branson Hills might just be the place for you!  Follow the link ( Branson Mo Homes for Sale — Siena at Branson Hills ) to one of home listings in Siena.

Four Homes on Table Rock Lake For $499,000? Unbelievable deal!

I was just talking to an agent friend of mine about some good deals on the market right now.  It appears there are some good ones, but we both agreed that MLS#332606 stands out (you know it’s a good deal when a realtor is blogging about a property that isn’t even their listing!).  This property features four lakefront 3-bedroom cottages (2,000 sf apiece) with a 12 slip dock on 6.48 acres.  Could be an excellent family compound or use one of the cottages and rent the rest for the summer season as they would make excellent rentals.  Follow this link (click on the red text to the right) to the Table Rock Lake homes for sale  that I’m talking about.  If you like the property, give me a call and we can view it immediately.  It will surely sell fast, especially since it was just reduced all the way down from $1,495,000 to $499,000.  This is the types of deal that people dream of and the economic fallout has produced; take advantage of the market while interest rates are still at all time lows.

 

The MLS is Great, But for Killer Deals Look Elsewhere

It’s not often that a real estate agent will publish a post about NOT looking for homes on the MLS, especially in Branson, Mo.  However, if you are looking for that “deal of a lifetime”, there may be a better source for finding it — it’s called a knowledgeable Realtor.  I don’t mean to sound trite, but it’s true.  Many of the best deals are bank repos that are sold before they ever hit the MLS, and the easiest way to gain access to these type of properties is to contact a Realtor that is in the know.  While I don’t spend a lot of time taking bank listings, I always try to be in the know about them so that when one comes up I can advise my clients move quickly to purchase it.  If you are looking for that good deal and are struggling to find it on the MLS, pick up the phone and give me a shout at (417) 337-1627.  I’ll be glad to see if I can track down what you’re looking for.  If you don’t ask, you will never know.  Let me help you find the home of your dreams!

How do 95% of agents market homes in Branson, Mo?

To be honest, they market homes like a BUNCH OF CLOWNS!  Most real estate agents in Branson, Missouri practice a listing method that’s as old as the real estate profession itself.  It’s called “Set it and forget it”, and it doesn’t exactly have a stellar track record.  In fact, just throwing a listing on the MLS and forgetting about it is why many would-be sellers get so frustrated with their agents.  They decide to entrust the marketing of their most valuable asset (their home) to their uncle’s cousin’s brother and then have the gall to get mad when it doesn’t sell.  If they would have enlisted a full time, professional real estate agent that markets aggressively, their experience would be drastically different.  I don’t mean to be disparaging to other agents, but it’s the truth.  Many are lazy, self-serving, and outright deceptive about the level of service a client should expect.  I try my hardest every single day to be the antithesis of this type of agent.  If you would like more information about how I market homes in Branson, Missouri, feel free to give me a call at 417-337-1627.

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