Real Estate Consultant · Kansas City, MO · Member since 2013 · 388 posts · 200 votes
12y
More sellers than buyers is a typical market case. Its called inventory. In most markets, there is what is considered to be a healthy level of inventory. In Kansas City, less than 4 months of inventory is considered a sellers market. More than is a buyers market. This absorption rate is from total actives divided by current sales data. 10000 listings and 2500 sales last month represents a 4 month cycle. Parts of CA and NYC have very short inventory cycles, but this is not typical. KC, for 2014, has a very healthy inventory by economic standards.
Real Estate Broker · Leawood, KS · Member since 2013 · 150 posts · 23 votes
12y
@Rachelle Rayner good to see a fellow New Yorker! KC is a Great market, there are plenty of opportunities on both sides of the state line. Depends what your goals are.
I use MLS for comps, which is the most accurate. If your not working with a realtor, I would suggest collecting data from all the major sites, Trulia, Zillow, Realtor.com etc... These sites could give you a range to start with.
Residential Realtor · Leawood, KS · Member since 2014 · 47 posts · 13 votes
12y
@Rachelle Rayner Zillow is not accurate at all in our area. MLS is the best way to look up comparable sales but again you'll need an agent for that. Appraisers in the area also have access to even more sales than is included in the MLS. Most realtors would probably send you comparable sales for free though in hopes of gaining you as a client.
Rental Property Investor · Kansas City, KS · Member since 2014 · 604 posts · 222 votes
12y
@Daniel Bennison is right. If you look at the details on their page for how they do the Zestimates, the KC market is only rated at a 5% chance of being within 50% of the real value. I'm in KCK/Wyandotte County and the appraiser's website has a comps page that lists 4-5 properties with sales price and does the whole rundown like a regular appraisal...only thing is sometimes the sales data is a couple years old (2012-2013). If you learn the market well enough and look at what's on the market currently for what prices I think can get you in the right ballpark.
Rental Property Investor · Kansas City, KS · Member since 2014 · 604 posts · 222 votes
12y
...sorry...just fact-checked myself and I wasn't remembering right on the Zillow stuff. They don't guarantee any accuracy in the KC market. They don't even have a figure for what percentage of the homes are within 5%, 10% or 20% of true market value. Part of that is due to the fact that in Kansas, at least, sale prices don't have to be disclosed in public records.
Real Estate Consultant · Kansas City, MO · Member since 2013 · 388 posts · 200 votes
12y
More sellers than buyers is a typical market case. Its called inventory. In most markets, there is what is considered to be a healthy level of inventory. In Kansas City, less than 4 months of inventory is considered a sellers market. More than is a buyers market. This absorption rate is from total actives divided by current sales data. 10000 listings and 2500 sales last month represents a 4 month cycle. Parts of CA and NYC have very short inventory cycles, but this is not typical. KC, for 2014, has a very healthy inventory by economic standards.
Real Estate Broker / General Contractor / Property Manager · Kansas City, MO · Member since 2010 · 395 posts · 425 votes
12y
Get yourself a real estate agent who specializes in real estate investing. Make sure they are familiar with RPR. RPR is the best tool out there for comps as it combines the MLS data with county records for a truly complete view of all sold real estate.
Investor · La Crescenta, CA · Member since 2013 · 174 posts · 50 votes
12y
@Rachelle Rayner, I'm also starting to invest in the Kansas City area, and am hoping to connect with other local/remote investors. There seem to be quite a few of us. We should be able to set up some kind of support network.