"Father of the Bride"

I think there is a reason everybody seems to love this style of home. It's warm, inviting and so comfortable you just want to stay. I had the privilege of helping this family move into this great neighborhood back in 2005. They have only grown more attached to their Webster roots during their time on Planthurst Rd.

Center hall Colonials never seem to go out of style. I remember learning about how desirable they were one day when I called home to say hello to mywife around lunch time. I mentioned the new listing on the market right around the corner from the home we'd only just bought..."that Colonial you like."

She didn't say anything for about 10 seconds. Then she said, "We have to buy it." I thought she was joking, but this March will make 7 years. I guess she wasn't.

Moral of the story: Calling home to say hi around lunch time is ALWAYS a good idea.

Our Move

As many of you know, my team (Colleen, Susan and myself) recently moved to a new office. Our new company is RE/MAX Results, the fourth largest real estate brokerage in St. Louis. Fourth may not seem all that flashy, but this place is a pocket dynamo. Our 100 agents outsell companies way more than twice its size. In the first week I've been here, it's been a great fit and I am very happy to be here.

Thanks to Susan and Colleen, the actual move wasn't so bad for me. I spent the previous day tending to some "baby stuff" and came to the new office on Friday to find things pretty well under control. In fact, by the time I got to the office at 1pm, my computer was up and running and our "down time" was exactly zero minutes. We had two contracts come in on Saturday and have sold three houses in the five days we've been here.

It's been interesting to notice some things that come with moving, though. I now pull out the driveway and head north instead of south. New adjustments for drive time to the dry cleaners and pharmacy will need a little more time to complete. We have to find some new favorite lunch spots, one of the things I'll miss most about being right in downtown Kirkwood. And the boxes!!! Just like all of you, we're pulling things out of boxes everyday as we need them. And it's surprising to see how much stuff in those boxes we don't need.

Thank you all for your continued support of our company, which is stronger and more efficient than ever before. Everything we do is geared towards improving our process and making the "work of moving" smoother for our clients. It's a new year and a new beginning for this team and we are more excited than ever to help you get moving, too!

The Cobbler's Shoes

I woke up this morning with the strangest thought. Well, my first thought was that the Cardinals better dust off their golf clubs for an early off season. My second thought was the ironic one.

Nearly everyday, someone calls me and says, "Would you please come over and tell me what to do to get my house ready to sell?". I am always happy to do this. Sometimes, they are thinking long-term and want to know that the projects they are planning will have a decent return. Other times, the focus is on getting the rooms arranged properly, a fresh coat of paint on the walls and new mulch in the plant beds in order to sell it right away. Either way, after seeing thousands of houses for sale over the last 12 years, I admit that I know what will appeal to buyers when I see it. It's a fun (for me), although occasionally painful process of renewal that homeowners undertake when getting their house ready for market.

So the irony that hit me this morning came as I walked through my dining room and noticed that my dear wife had taken matters into her own hands and finally repaired the broken cabinet door that's been off the hinges for about a week. Our "chubby" three year old managed to split the door by hanging on it. Katie had glued the door back together and "clamped" it with the belt from one of the kids' terry cloth robe. I guess it gets the job done, right?

Then I reached under the kitchen sink to replace the trash bag and found a little puddle- apparently we have developed a slow leak from the hot water supply. I looked around the family room and saw that there was a broken door latch, scuffs and/or finger paint on the walls around our art table, and stains on the carpet from who-knows-what. I went outside and noticed paint chipping around the windows, a broken storm window from a misguided baseball, a stone retaining wall that's 70 years old and showing its age. My favorite was the white sump pump pvc pipe that my three sons have removed from it's proper location. They have converted it into a "fireman's pole" and tied to the tree they like to climb. All this and about 12 other things, which I routinely spend my days telling others to "take care of", were right there under my nose.

At first, I felt like a hypocrite for all of this. How could I, in good conscience, tell everybody else how to present their homes, when my own is so "lived in" by the Jackson 8? But then I realized, mine is not for sale. Additionally, how others perceive the imperfections of my home has no bearing on me...financially, anyway.

If we suddenly decided to sell our house, we would have to follow my own advice.

• Clean, clean, clean. That goes for inside and out.
• Get rid of extra stuff - like, all of it!
• Fresh paint and clean (better yet, new) carpet go a very long way
• The more "finished" the house looks, the better - especially in this market, where buyers have become very, very picky.

I moan when it's time to get the house ready for a party or company coming over. I shutter at the reality that, when on the market, it should be like that for every single showing.

Guess that's why the Jackson 8 aren't going anywhere anytime soon!

Three Best Buys in Glendale, Right This Minute

Glendale has 33 homes for sale right now, with a real "hodgepodge" of over-priced lemons, corner lots on busy streets and major fixer-uppers. Prices range from $149,900 (each) for a pair of uninhabitable tear-downs to $799,900 for 5 bedrooms on a half acre.

There are, however, a few bright spots. Here's a short list of the best buys in the bunch:

1303 Monier Pl., $199,900

798 Venneman Ave., $205,000

935 Glenway Dr. $249,900


Even for these, price adjustments may be in order, but it's slim pickins for Glendale buyers at the moment. I'll be watching closely to see how they go.

The market could easily handle several more quality listings all the way up the line.

Ask John

Q. "Why does a sound house in a sound neighborhood NOT sell?"

A. This is a great question and a huge point of frustration for sellers and listing agents. The fact is that their IS a buyer for every property in our market. In my experience, there are two reasons that listings "expire", or fail to sell.

The first reason is that sellers can't/won't do what it takes to sell the property, financially speaking. In many cases, market values have dropped and the mortgage balance hasn't. Reducing the price just isn't an option, despite the knowledge that the market price should be much lower. Another common scenario, in Webster, Kirkwood and Glendale in particular, occurs when sellers have limited cash reserves on hand to make improvements to a property that just doesn't look very good. In short, the MARKET is saying the price is too high and the seller just can't/won't respond.

The second reason homes fail to sell falls on us Realtors. Too many agents can't/won't/don't know how to express to a seller the aforementioned "what it takes to sell". We leave sellers blind to the realities of their property and the market of which it's a part. Does it look terrible? Do the buyers hate the kitchen? Is anything else selling around it? We, the experts, have to lead the way down the path of success.

Sometimes the truth hurts, but 200+ days on the market hurts every time.