This house on one of my favorite blocks. You can only access it from Sidney in Tower Grove East. It is a beautiful tree-lined street which dead ends so it is extremely private. Just east of Compton, it is in a convenient location and is in walking distance of Shugg’s Coffee Shop, Van Gogh’s, Tanner B’s and Pestalozzi Place. Tower Grove park and Reservoir park aren’t far either.

Not long ago the home had some major updates including roof, electric, some plumbing. The kitchen has newer cabinets, a large pantry and dishwasher. All the appliances stay with the home.

The layout flows realy well on the first floor. The livingroom and diningroom are in the front of the house, the kitchen and bath are in the center and the private spaces are tucked away in the back. On the first floor there are two vedrooms plus a nursery or a den (however you would prefer to use it), the third bedroom is on the second floor and the basement is finished and is currently being used as game room and family room.

The yard isn’t large but it is level and fenced. Shaded at times but gets plenty of sunlight if you would like a garden. In addition there is a one-car garage that was re-roofed this summer.

Click here for the full slide show.

Just heard about this website. Interesting idea but I don’t think people complaining anonymously about their neighbors is really much of a solution. Check out this post from a neighborhood in Clifton Heights. Great of them to let others know what’s happening on the block, but how is that going to help?

Just read this article in the NY Times: What’s My House Worth? The author confesses to being an information junkie and discusses how the online sites devoted to home values feed her obsession. But she runs into  a great deal of contradiction and doesn’t know if her home has gained 32K in equity or lost close to 90K. She talks to an associate professor of marketing a Stanford who tells her that this kind of information can actually have a negative effect on her life: “The Internet makes it easy to get too much information, from too many conflicting sources, and all it’s going to do is to give you ecstasy on some days and pain on others.”

And she speaks to an appraiser to see how online results compare to an actual appraisal: “Those online sites rely on local sale prices, and in neighborhoods where all the housing is uniform, can be accurate,” Mr. Raful said. “But in a community like Mill Valley, where you can have a house worth four times as much as the one next door without affecting either house’s value, online sites aren’t as likely to pick the right comps.”

Living in Mill Valley must be a lot like living in St. Louis. It is block by block here and as rehabbers move into to new neighborhoods, it’s house by house. This house on Pennsylvania sold for 256.5K in 2006 and it was just a few doors down from this house on Pennsylvania which sold for 40K just a few months later. Granted there is quite a size difference here, but the major factor is that one was completely renovated and the other needed a complete overhaul.

I think if you are really interested in finding out what your home is worth you need to consult a professional. A living, breathing person who can actually visit your home, see its condition and evaluate it against the appropriate comps.

I’ve always loved this small patch of St. Louis City. For those that are not familiar, it’s the neighborhood on the southeast corner of Forest Park, just south of the Barnes Jewish Medical Campus. It’s a perfect central location with a collection of beautiful homes that are still relatively affordable… and it’s the location of my first and last post-college rental apartment. I also can’t forget to mention it is home to one of St. Louis’ best bakeries, La Dolce Via.

Here are just a few homes currently available in the area: 4521 Gibson, 4517 Gibson, 4571 Arco.

The Neighborhood is still undergoing a major transformation as new developments enter the neighborhood.

Click here to read the Business Journal article about the speculated future of Forest Park Southeast (I still have a hard time calling it ‘The Grove’). Here’s a highlight:

“The Gills hope to use low lease rates to attract retailers such as small grocers or gift shops. Rents will range between $7 and $10 per square foot for commercial space. For its residential projects, rents will be below $1 per square foot, or between $650 and $850 per month. The first round will focus on one-bedroom apartment units to attract young professionals. By year five of the development, Amrit Gill said, the plan is to attract families with children and empty nesters. “

An interesting page detailing Restoration St. Louis involvement in the area:
http://www.restorationstlouis.com/?pg=neig&id=thegrove

Another good article on the neighborhood planning:
http://record.wustl.edu/news/page/normal/9410.html

Below is an excerpt from an email sent by one of the Wachovia lenders that I work with. Click here or here to read more about lending issues.

As most of you are aware, the lending industry is going through a major transformation. Many of our partners are closing their sub prime departments (for example Wells Fargo closed their Alt A / Subprime department just last week; they closed their retail store fronts here in St. Louis this year).

Every day it seems that we get notification that loan programs are no longer available—mainly 100 percent loans for borrowers stating their income and/or with FICO scores 640 or below. Chase also removed their Stated Income 80/20 loan.

Washington Mutual’s Long Beach sent notification July 20, 2007 that they were eliminating all of their Stated Income and Limited Doc programs, along with their 2/28 and 3/27 hybrid loans. Their max CLTV is 90 percent now.

Some of our competitors are closing their doors—others are tightening up on their underwriting guidelines.

Wachovia is here to stay. We still have 100 percent loan programs and competitive rates, but please be aware what is happening in the lending industry. As you know, it is important as real estate professionals to know the challenges your buyers may face in the upcoming months.

This place really makes a great first impression.You enter into a formal foyer with a great view of the staircase. Click to see the slide show.

Then you’ll walk through the first pair of functioning pocket doors into the living room. The new wood floors are gleaming and they complement the original decorative fireplace.

Pass through the next set of functioning pocket doors into the large separate dining room. You’ll have to visit the home to see the new chandelier, windows and second decorative fireplace.

Enter the new kitchen. The granite is beautiful, the appliances stainless and the cabinets are 42 inch maple with a cherry stain.

Upstairs you’ll find three true bedrooms and 2 full baths. The master bath has French doors and dual antique-style sink.

Wanna see the fenced back yard? The over sized two car garage? The gorgeous grand staircase? You’ll have to make an appointment!

I searched the MLS this morning (10:30 AM, August 1, 2007) to figure out how many homes in St. Louis City and County are currently listed as ACTIVE. Let me back up and explain something. Each listing in the MLS is given a STATUS.

• ACTIVE: Available to be viewed and purchased
• CONTINGENT: Has a contract but needs to go thru inspections.
• PENDING: Has a contract without contingencies and is waiting to close.
• SOLD: Sold, no longer active, not available.

(There are a few more, but I will keep this simple.)

In St. Louis City and County there are currently (as of 10:30AM) 13,158 homes available for sale. 29 of those were just listed this morning August 1. Between July 1 and August 1, 1635 were sold and 1599 were listed as contingent or pending.

So how does this affect the market? Let’s look at the Absorption Rate.

Absorption Rate: The rate at which properties in a given area able to be sold.

I am not going to count the contingent/pending properties in this calculation. Even though they are spoken for, it doesn’t necessarily mean they will make it to closing. If not one more house was listed and we were working with static numbers, given the stats above it would take approximately 8 months for this market to absorb all the available housing.

If your house is currently listed and you want to sell in 4 months, you need to price your house in the lower 50% of the range for similar properties. If you want to sell in 2 months, you need to be in the lower 25% of the range.

If you are buying, you are in a good position. You will have a lot to choose from. Be careful not become over confident. There are other people out there searching (evidently about 1600 a month) for a great place in a great spot. If the house is priced well and you want to live there be careful about throwing out a lot of low ball offers and playing games. There are other people who know a good opportunity when they see it.

This home sold May 2006 for 501K. The bank is currently listing it for 379K. I like all the trees and the deck.

MLS#743201