Blog
Just Sold A House In Oakville!
Congrats to my buyers who just bought a beautiful atrium ranch off of Becker in Oakville! The house had a great finished basement and backs up to Bee Tree Park with Mississippi River overlooks. A hiking trail even comes right up to their back yard! This section of Oakville east of Telegraph is really pretty and you can get a gorgeous atrium ranch or 1.5 story for under $300,000. My buyers had been looking for quite a long time and they were sold on the location and the house. Some of the selling points were the great master suite,...
read moreRehabbing In The City
Many people are attracted to the idea of rehabbing a home or rental property in the city. They are either taken with the charm of a certain neighborhood or the historic character of a building. At the same time many people are paralyzed by fear of the unknown and the vast majority never take the first step toward buying a property or home to rehab. The first thing to someone needs to realize who is considering a rehab project is that you will need money. This sounds like a fairly obvious statement but in the past it was much easier to...
read moreNew–Updated South County 1 Bedroom Apartment $475
1 Bedroom Apartment right off of Lemay Ferry near Lindbergh – Rent $475 – 700 Square Ft. – Hardwood Floors – Central Air/Forced Air – Walk-in Closet – Offstreet Parking – Refrigerator and Stove Provided – Washer/Dryer Hookups in Private Basement – Close to Dierbergs, Walgreens, South County Mall, Hwy’s 55 and 270/255 Requirements – Minimum 12 Month Lease – $50 application fee (Check Rental History, Employment/Income, Criminal etc) – Security Deposit Equals 1 Months...
read moreBPG Home Warranty and Broken Air Conditioners
Over the past month 2 of my clients (buyers) have had their air conditioners break within the first 10 days they have owned their new homes! Obviously this is the absolute worst timing for such a problem. Being in the midst of a move and triple digit temps is bad enough. Failing A/C in this situation would make it unbearable. Luckily, both were protected by 1 year Buyer’s Protection Group (BPG) Home Warranties. Because of this, rather than paying more than $1000 for a new unit, they only had to pay the $30 discounted deductible...
read moreInvesting In St. Louis From A Different City
Recently I took on a client that lives in Philadelphia and has family here. He knew that he wanted to buy rental property in St. Louis because the potential for cash-flow here is greater than Philly because of lower prices. He knew very little about the neighborhoods in St. Louis and needed someone to give him some history and background on neighborhoods to potentially invest in, my specialty. We initially met in March and had a brief discussion about neighborhoods, development, history, and rental property during one of his visits....
read moreWash U Employer Assisted Housing Program
On an agent tour yesterday for listings that needed more exposure we were discussing ways to draw more attention to the listings on the tour. Someone suggested that I look into Wash U’s Employer Assisted Housing Program. I had heard about the program before but didn’t know many of the details. After looking into it my listing that we were discussing yesterday didn’t fall into one of the qualifying neighborhoods. Nonetheless it is an interesting program and extremely beneficial to Wash U employees. It turns out that...
read moreA Word Of Advice For Those Closing On A Property
About a week ago I was sitting at the closing table with one of my clients waiting for his lender to arrive and begin going through the loan documents. It turns out this lender was in the conference room next to us finishing up another closing. That’s not too out of the ordinary for a loan officer to have back to back closing so I didn’t think much of it until he came in shaking his head and mimicing the act of wiping sweat from his brow. I asked him what had happened and he told me “Long story short; make sure your...
read moreThe Del Taco Situation
There have been a myriad of recent articles on the Post Dispatch about the possible demolition of the building that currently houses Del Taco on S Grand near SLU’s campus. Since the question has been raised there has been an outpouring of support for the preservation of the building from people all over the St. Louis area. They point to the fact that it is one of the only examples of Mid Century architecture left in the city. It is no doubt a defining landmark in the Midtown streetscape, as well. Here are some bullet points if...
read moreOpens Houses in Holly Hills Tues 5:30-7:30PM
Evening Open Houses in Holly Hills Tuesday 6/21 5:30-7:30 12 Holly Hills Properties Are Open Agents, Clients, and Neighbors Welcome Drinks Snacks and Gift Cards For Attendees Holly Hills will be featured in a group open house this Tuesday June 21st from 5:30-7:30PM. Each house will have different drinks and snacks and some will be giving away prizes and gift cards as well. My listing at 3637 Fillmore will be featured along with 11 other houses. All of these homes are walking distance to Carondelet Park and close to shops and...
read moreSlim Fit New Construction–Building on a Skinny Lot
Recently I’ve become interested in building new construction in historic neighborhoods and I’ve been doing some preliminary research into what has been done in St. Louis and in other cities. Some of the most interesting examples are really modern in design and in some cases greeen buildings as well. The most asthetically pleasing new construction in urban areas really fits into the fabric of the block and the neighborhood. That doesn’t necessarily mean that it has to be a brick building with historic windows and doors...
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