Kansas City plans on hiring a “capital czar” as soon as possible.   This persons primary job will be to over see the spending of the highly anticipated economic stimulus package President-elect Barack Obama has  proposed. Kansas City will hire a “capital czar” to help push ahead construction work and pull together a list of projects for federal funding, Councilman Russ Johnson told his colleagues today. You Can Read The Whole Article Here. I think the reason this caught my attention is because up until late last year the only other time I’d ever heard the title Czar used was in relation to Russia. It seems that the title Czar has been popping up all over the place.  I’m starting to wonder if it will become more common in the work place as well.  Perhaps in addition to having CEO’s whole... 01/06/2009

Part of my job here at Vizion is to build up some local buzz around the company.  I generally find that the best way to do this is just to get people to start asking questions.  My personal favorite question is what do you guys do?  The reason I like this question so much is because it allows me to get my foot in the door and start talking to that particular person about investing with Vizion.  It’s my hope that this 30 second commercial will get people asking that exact question.  What do you think? Granted this is only phase 1 of the commercial I’m sure it will need some tweaking but do you think I’m headed in the right direction? Kansas City Homes For Sale You Can Also Follow Me On Twitter.   01/04/2009

I don’t think 2009 will be a year of recovery.  In fact I’m almost certain it will be worse than 2008. How can I be so sure?   Because nothing has changed. A few quick predictions.  (I’ve always wanted to do this.) 1.  Job loss is going to get crazy.  I think the government numbers are a joke.  Just check out Shadow Stats.com If you don’t believe me. 2.  Home prices will fall sharper than they did in 2008. 3.  Foreclosures will increase big time.  The second wave starts in March and carries on till 2011.  Subprime foreclosures were just the tip of the iceberg.  Check out Mr. Mortgage for details. Take note this video was recorded in April of 2008.  Alt-A will be the CNN & Fox News real estate  buzz word of 2009.  Just like subprime was their buzz word for 2008. 4.  Multitudes of retail ... 01/03/2009

Over the holiday a conversation about taxi cab companies arose amongst our group at Charlie Hoopers. Four out of six of us had positive stories to share regarding the same local cab company. I'd like to share one of the stories with you. After a somewhat hectic day, Erin arrived home to discover her purse was not with her. She telephoned all of the places she had stopped that day but no one had seen her purse. This was not just any purse, this was a day timer organizer with all of her contacts, calendar, credit cards, ID, basically everything she needed to live and do business. Replacing all of the contents would be impossible. The next day she received a call from her bank. Not an 800 number, or corporate headquarters either; the branch that she did business with. They called to say th... 01/02/2009

In more surprising news that I didn’t see coming Smartertraveler. com recently included Kansas City on its list of 5 destinations to watch in 2009. Never considered Kansas City as a vacation destination before? Over the past few years, the city has been working hard to make itself a destination worth the trip. And the effort is paying off big time during 2009 when more than $9 billion in major improvements will be reinvigorating its downtown area and lending major credibility to its arts and dining scenes. You Can Read The Whole Article Here. But wait it gets better.  Kansas  City is one of only two locations on the list that’s in the United States.  In fact the other destinations sound rather exotic in comparison.  So who else made the list?  Riviera Nayarit, Vancouver, Peru, and Vilni... 01/01/2009

To the untrained eye it may look like we’ve been working on this projet for two weeks and have accomplished nothing.  Trust me progress is being made by the day.  Keep in mind Vizion hasn’t taken on a project this large since James A Reed. We’ve expanded this doorway giving a more open feel between the dining room and the kitchen.  This was the first thing our new interior designer recommended.  Our interior designer also did the staging on our house at 425 W 70th. Most of the electric and drywall work has already been completed.   This is going to be another big beautiful kitchen.  I can’t wait to show you guys the granite color our interior designer chose for this renovation. This is a picture of the master bathroom in process.  All of this has been added to the master bedroom.  When ... 12/30/2008

Forbes.com recently included Kansas City as one of its 10 Comeback Capitals.   I found this somewhat surprising.  Especially since I’ve never even heard of a Comeback Capital. Kansas City has reversed the relentless declines by expanding its border in the ’60s and ’70s from 80.6 square miles to 313.5 square miles during the same period. “While there has been a lot of activity in older parts of the city, a large part of the growth has been from construction in more suburban parts of the city,” says Steven Lebofsky, an urban development specialist who works in Kansas City’s Urban Planning Department. You Can Read The Whole Article Here. So what exactly is a Comback Capital?   A city that has made a major comeback in popluation after losing a large portion of its popluation. Kansas City l... 12/29/2008

Earlier today while on Twitter I noticed  a tweet from @RhondaDuffy praising the site Twellow. Having never heard of the site I was skeptical but my perception quickly changed once I jumped on the site and gave it a try. From what I can tell Twellow is like a Yellow Pages for Twitter which is something I’ve always felt that Twitter needed. The site works similar to search.twitter.com but also allows users to search for Twitter users by state or city in addition to by phrases. Thanks to Twellow I’ve been able to find all the major Twitter users in my area.  I was surprised that there were so many I had never heard about. If you’re a Twitter user I would recommend giving a Twellow a shot.  No registration or sign up required. Special Thanks to @RhondaDuffy For the Heads Up On This Site! K... 12/27/2008

After watching 3 hours of Flip This House earlier today I’ve become convinced that my company Vizion KC should be on this show. Before you cast me off as another one of those Flip This House fans consider this.  1.  Vizion KC has been in business for five years. 2.  During that time we have increased the number of homes we’ve renovated each year. 3.  Our goal for 2009 is to renovate 100 homes. 4.  Our average home renovation takes 4 weeks. During those 3 hours I spent today watching Flip This House I found myself wondering how the investors made any money at all.  Almost every episode I watched they went over budget or had problems with a contractor and had to call in a different crew. I’m not saying that my company is perfect but I honestly feel that we make much fewer mistakes than th... 12/27/2008

Well I did it!  I hired a home stager / interior designer.  After reading all the comments I received on my post about home staging and interviewing a few local stagers I took the plunge.   I just figured it would be best to see what a stager could do first hand and I must say I’m impressed. This is the living room before the staging This is after This is the dining room before This is after This is the master bedroom before This is after Personally I think the staging made a huge difference in the house.  It was almost like the house was naked before it was staged. I would like to thank everybody who expressed their opinion on my previous post about home staging.  If it was not for some of those comments I would’ve never taken the plunge.   Kansas City Homes For Sale You Can Also Foll... 12/24/2008

Project 66 Location: 405 E 66th St (Brookside) 3 Bedrooms / 2.5 Baths / Granite Counters / Hardwood Floors /Fireplace Estimated Time of Arrival: March Estimated List Price: $235,000 After running by the new rental property in Praire Village earlier today I stopped by and took a look at Vizion’s newest acquisition 405 E. 66th.   This home like several of Vizion’s projects is located in the Brookside area of Kansas City a few blocks north of the Vizion propery 425 W. 70th. The first thing I noticed about this property were the hardwood floors.  It’s rare that we get a house with hardwood floors in this good of condition.  Each of the rooms was larger than I had anticipated and once we add the master bath this house will have 2.5 baths in a neighborhood with mostly just 1 bath.   Right off... 12/22/2008

Recently a local investors approached us with an incredible opportunity...if we could make it happen.  This particular investor due to recent hardships was facing foreclosure on all 30 of his properties 38 units total if you count the duplexes. According to the banks appraisal these properties were worth between $2M-$2.25M. Since none of the members of Vizion are NBA players with million dollar salaries and since the banks due to the “credit crunch” were unwilling to lend us few millions dollars.  We did what we do best.  Find and investor whose looking for a deal. Finding an investor for this particular deal wasn’t difficult.  Especially once we negotiated with the sellers bank to let us have all 30 properties for $1.3M. Add in the fact that that these properites are already 75% occupi... 12/17/2008

Well it looks like tenants occupying homes lost to foreclosure may have just caught a huge break.   That is if the homes are owned by Fannie Mae. “In a move that provides relief to thousands of renters who face eviction but draws the federal government even deeper into the housing market, the loan giant Fannie Mae said Sunday that it would sign new leases with renters living in foreclosed properties owned by the company.” -- The New York Times. This is of particular interest to me since just last week I wrote a post on the Dabner family.  For those of you who missed that post here is a short recap. The Dabners were paying tenants who were evicted from their home after their landlord lost the property to foreclosure.  In that post I mentioned that it may actually be smarter for the banks... 12/15/2008

West of Ward Parkway. KCMO Santa's knocking at the door! Santa fell in the bushes. Simple yet elegant. The red bows cheer me up when it's gray outside. Joy to the World. Santa on his day off. Don't these plants look like they've dressed for Christmas? White Tie Casual with flair Two of my favorite bears     12/14/2008

Things are coming along very well at 444 Dartmouth a continuation of Progress Brookside.  Keep in mind that this is one of are larger projects of the year.  From the looks of the things this property won’t be ready till the end of January.  Nonetheless progress is being made. The front has been installed which I’m sure is a good sign to the neighbors.  This beat up old house stands out like a sore thumb is this prestigious neighborhood of upscale homes.  It’s funny how neighbors start to change their attitudes towards us once the realize that we’re here to do go quality work.  I think the fact that they see our crews out here working everyday really helps our image. Inside the house is another story.  Granted it already looks better than we started there's still a lot of work to be done... 12/14/2008

Watching gas prices fall has been one of the most enjoyable experinces of the year for me.  On average I drive about 30,000 miles a year so any time gas prices come down its like I’m getting a raise.  Back on October 29th I wrote a post the day gas fell below $2.00 a gallon. In that post I jokingly speculated that gas would fall below $1.00 a gallon. It hasn’t happened yet but my fingers are officially crossed. I’ve heard several different theories about why gas has fallen in price so sharply. I don’t claim to be any kind of expert but I don’t think its because people are driving less.  I’m sure like many markets gas prices are heavily manipulated but I’m not an economist so I don’t bother trying to understand. All I know is that gas is cheap and apperently its getting cheaper by the da... 12/13/2008

Kansas City has the Christmas spirit! Everywhere I go, there are lights, decorations, and cheery people. Carolers who have been practicing for months are ready to serenade us. Those who enjoy cooking and libations are in seventh heaven with all of the treats and tastes laid out. Shoppers are taking advantage of all of the sales - and we have loads of sales this year, as I'm sure you've noticed.     12/13/2008

During the past week, I have attended two Christmas parties, helped to decorate two Christmas trees, and taken two driving tours of Christmas lights around Kansas City. Whew! I love Christmas but all of these activities on top of my regular real estate work made for some very long days. Here are a few pictures of sights that I found enjoyable. Hope you enjoy the spirit of Christmas too!                         All photos taken in Kansas City on a Fuji Fine Pix E550 by Maria T. Morton           12/12/2008

425 W 70th our first house in the Project Brookside series has been completed.  This has been one of my favorite projects to work on and is one of largest projects we’ve done this year.  I was just thinking that it would be a great idea to have the former owner come by and take a look at what we did to his old home. Fortunately this is only house number one on our list of Project Brookside homes.  Our crews are already working on 444 Dartmouth and next week they start on 424 Dartmouth. The most surprising thing about this remodel was the hardwood floors.  I wonder if the previous owner new he had such gorgeous hardwoods under his carpet. Kansas City Homes For Sale You Can Also Follow Me On Twitter.  Just Click The Cool Logo Above. 12/09/2008

Project Brookside Location: 424 Dartmouth (Brookside) 3 Bedrooms / 1.5 Baths / Slab Granite Counters / Large Backyard Estimated Time of Arrival: Late January Early February Estimated List Price: $265,000   This is the third house this year Vizion has done in the Brookside area of Kansas City.  Like the other two this one is located in the popular subdivision Romanelli Gardens.  I’ve been waiting on Vizion to do a tutor style house like this for over a year…but that’s another story.   With 424 Dartmouth the Brookside Project is continued.  I will make sure to keep everyone posted on the remodel. Other Project Brookside Homes 425 W. 70th 444 Dartmouth Kansas City Homes For Sale You Can Also Follow Me On Twitter.  Just Click The Cool Logo Above. 12/08/2008