Coming attractions…
Reba Haas on 05 20, 2007
As many readers of this blog know I have been dealing with the after effects of my parents being hit by a drunk driver back at the end of March back in Wichita, KS. Both of my parents were injured and my father was put into a coma for several weeks. He is now out of the coma and recovering but it will be a long journey for him as he relearns everything from eating, walking, talking and more although he is making good progress so far. Out of the drama of the ordeal came a decision on my part to go ahead and buy a property in Wichita that I could use as a landing pad for when I go back to visit, which will now be frequent, while my father (and mom also) recovers. I think I’ve mentioned here before that my parents are real estate agents in Wichita under her company, Myrna Haas Realty.
My future posts on RCG will include blogging about the perspective of a Seattle agent getting in on the real estate market place in Wichita. Yes, you read it right, we’re launching a “Team Reba” in Kansas. To me this is hilarious on many levels because it provides me with the most classic of comparisons – The Land of Oz and the Emerald City as compared to “there’s no place like home” good ole Kansas. I’ve been razzed for the 19 years I’ve lived here in Seattle about the Wizard of Oz movie references and most people know they drive me crazy. I guess I’m about to embrace my inner Dorothy. Yes, I grew up in Kansas (kindergarten to age 20) and I’m about to reintroduce myself to the culture.
Prices between the two areas are incredibly disparate, of course, and I’ll be showing a few of those comparisons along the way. See here as I am helping a good friend of mine in prepping her Queen Anne four-square style house for sale in Newton, KS. We’ll be putting her place on the market for around $89,000 and I can tell you if we picked her house up in a tornado and placed it in my neighborhood it would be selling for around $600,000 to $700,000 or so depending on how much more prep we would put into it.
[photopress:IMG_1781.JPG,thumb,alignright] The 4-plex I just purchased seemed a bargain at just under $90,000 but there is some maintenance to be done and controlling of the owner paid expenses (utilities) that I’ll need to put in place to make it more profitable. In this case, I am buying less for the total cash flow but rather to have the majority of my costs paid for in terms of housing while I am in town.
Eventually I won’t need to be there as frequently and I’ll turn it back into a full blown rental. In the meantime we’ll be using this as a launching pad for the investment side of our business to go more formally outside the circle of Puget Sound real estate. We’ve experienced that most prices around here have risen too fast for rents to keep pace so many of our clients that are looking for cash flow properties have been unable to realize their investment goals here. Wichita may just offer them the market they need to get the returns they want. They do things differently down in Kansas, for sure, but sometimes that is good and sometimes it is frustrating. We’re likely about 5 years ahead of anyone within my office in terms of technology so we’ll be ahead of folks there but it also means there is a whole demographic of people that may not see the benefit of our tools if they themselves don’t use them. We’ll be learning some new tricks too in that sense.
Commercial buildings will be an area of interest for investment sales besides just the multi-family aspect. I’ve found one project already that I’d like to see put into play to renovate a 3 story commercial building into awesome loft spaces and/or mixed use offices with lofts. Some cool exterior shots of the building are shown here. Keep up with RCG to read about how the transition to a 2nd real estate market progresses. Or, as they say back in the mid-west…. Ya’ll come back now, ya hear?
[photopress:exterior_side_2.jpg,thumb,alignright][photopress:exterior_window_detail.jpg,thumb,alignright] [photopress:exterior_side.jpg,thumb,alignright]
About the Author: Rebecca Haas
- Author's website: http://www.TeamReba.com
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8 Responses to “Coming attractions…”
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Good to hear your voice Reba. Both my folks met at Kansas State where my dad played football with the late Harold Robinson–from what I understand was the first black in the Big Eight at the time. Talk about two different people. My mother was from Oklahoma and he was from South Amboy, New Jersey. How they wound up in Seattle is odd. Guess it was the Dept. of Architecture at the University of Washington that pulled him here.
Been keeping your folks in our thoughts. Recovery from accidents can be arduous. Brother was in a major wreck during college in Montana. Changed him physically and psychologically–he lost two very special people with him in his vehicle.
Welcome back, Reba. It’s always amazing how “life happens” just as we think we’re coasting along. I’m glad your parents are doing better and your new adventure sounds very interesting! I have a passion for Wizard of Oz…not because of the Emerald City…my Grandfather was a stage hand and “actor”. For Wizard of Oz, he did many things on the film such as touching up the horses colors as they changed in Oz (they were painted with jello).
I’m so glad to hear that your parents are doing better… My wife and I were talking about you recently and I’m so glad to hear that things are getting better.
It is quite interesting that you are taking Team Reba to Kansas and it should add quite a different perspective to your Seattle business… Very interesting. I look forward to more stories.
Reba,
I’m sure your parents appreciate your spreading your time between Kansas and Seattle. I’m looking forward to reading the stories that come from you new efforts far away. Are there any houses there that are similar to houses here, like split entry homes, so we can compare apples to apples?
My comparison of my friend’s house is a definite “apple to apple” comparison in my neighborhood. However, there are plenty of different types of properties there that can be compared although I will say that there is a plethora of single story brick homes from the 50’s through the 60’s. Old style homes there aren’t really valued the way they are here and everyone seems to want a new house if they can afford it. New houses start around $100k there and easily can go to $600k in the more “tony” neighborhoods. More on those later.
Thanks for all the kind comments and welcoming home. It’s good to be here. I’ll be sharing more as we go along including some of our plans for attacking the Wichita market and providing updates on how we do with our plan.
My next trip out will coincide with my best friend’s birthday and also Father’s Day – which I think is apropo.
Reba,
I’m glad to hear your parents are making progress and feeling better. You must have felt like you were living nightmare after that happened; I hope you are doing OK yourself after such a traumatic event. I really empathize with you, my Mom was nearly killed this past January after an ignorant driver (no tests were ever done to see if he was on drugs etc.) slammed into my Mom’s car and pushed her into oncoming rush hour traffic. Luckily, she escaped with only minor injuries, but memories of that day will take years to fade. If she had been killed, I definitely would not be moving to Seattle, that’s for sure.
I look forward to following “Team Reba”, and reading about your perspective on the Wichita, KS market. My brother and sister-in-law live in KS and he has often tried to convince me to move there to no avail
. Kansas and Washington are definitely analogous when you think of the states in terms of the Wizard of Oz, that is too funny!
Reba ~
I am going through somewhat similar circumstances with my elderly parents in Indiana, both of whom have gone into the same nursing home in the past two years.
I drove 3,630 miles RT from Boise to Indiana in April to empty out their house, list it, and consign household items to auction.
Hauled their 65 years worth of treasures back to Boise in the back of my Yukon XL and cried most of the way back across country on I-80 with 40 mph crosswinds and blowing snow.
It was a trip I will never forget, but will always treasure.
Sad to realize that all of their valuables (Mom’s hand-stitched quilts, Dad’s woodworking, photo albums, etc.) fit into my SUV.
But, they had each other for all those years and that was their true treasure.
They are my role models.
They made it possible for me to grow up in the rare nuclear family.
The comps, when I listed their home, were that only 5 homes had sold YTD in their price range since the 1st of the year, but their home sold at a good price, all cash, in 9 days, and closes this Thursday.
Memo to all who have aging parents: Know what they have, talk with them, and prepare for the inevitable.
Also, SS and Medicare will not talk with you unless you have a guardianship ~ they do not honor powers of attorney.
TALK ~ before it is too late!
I too grew up in Kansas and left at 21. I lived in DC for 15 years and heard each and every day some sort of Wizard of Oz joke. I hate that movie and any reference to it. I’ve since returned to the Kansas City suburbs on the Kansas side and my view of any reference to the Wizard of Oz…we I still HATE it.
Anyway, I hope you enjoy your time back. And you are so right about cash flow. Just moments ago I got yet another call from another west coast investor asking themselves why they wouldn’t invest in Kansas for any other reason than they just haven’t been here.
You get great returns here. No question. And I don’t have to hear daily about that stupid movie!