The new CNN/Money 100 Best Places To Live is out and Olathe has come in at #11.
You already knew Olathe was a great place to live. Now others know, too. Tell your friends that want to move to Olathe, KS that you know a great real estate agent and then contact me. 
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Daily Real Estate News | July 8, 2008Top 10 Best Counties to Raise a Family
Low cost of living, reasonably priced homes and short commute times added to excellent schools is what landed 10 communities at the top of Forbes magazine’s best places to raise a family.
To be considered, the communities had to have populations greater than 65,000 and most of the school funding had to come from property taxes. Average SAT and ACT scores must top 1,050 or 22, respectively. These factors reduced the number of counties under consideration to 51.
After that, the magazine considered cost of living, graduation rate, home prices, property tax rates as a percentage of median home prices, percentage of homes occupied by owners, per-capita income, air quality, crime rate and commute times.
Here are the results:
Hamilton County, Ind. (near Indianapolis)
Ozaukee County, Wis. (near Milwaukee)
Johnson County, Kan. (near Kansas City)
Geauga County, Ohio (near Cleveland)
Delaware County, Ohio (near Columbus)
Morris County, N.J. (northern N.J.)
Hunterdon County, N.J. (central N.J.)
Waukesha County, Wis. (near Milwaukee)
Montgomery County, Pa. (near Philadelphia)
Chester County, Pa. (near Wilmington, DE)
Source: Forbes, Zack O’Malley Greenburg (06/30/200 
Posted in Chris, Olathe Fun Facts | 1 Comment »
I had the opportunity today to go out with some out-of-town home-buyers to look at homes for sale in Olathe. They wanted a home priced between $180,000 and $190,000 with at least 3 bedrooms, 2.1 bathrooms and they wanted the house to be a two-story.
We sat down together at the computer to search our Kansas City MLS. We found about 11 properties in zip codes 66061 & 66062 that looked like they might meet their needs. Of the 5 we went and saw I have to say I was really impressed with two of them.
You read me here every so often talk about how important the condition of your home for sale is. A clean home with a landscaped yard and a fresh coat of paint really stands out from the crowd.
And guess what? The buyers chose one of those two homes. In fact, they are in writing an offer with Brent Sharp right this very minute.
That leaves one other that I really liked. Pictured to the right it’s a real nice home that meets the criteria above. Contact Me if you have any questions about it.
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Olathe, Kansas has been mentioned by me time and time again as a real estate market that I am enamored with. Sure, I live here. But there is much more to it. For real estate investors and Joe & Mary Homebuyer alike Olathe offers the opportunity for solid appreciation even in these tougher times. If it’s alright with you I’m going to take a minute and show you (and link you) to what I’m talking about.
Top 15 City in America
As recently as 2006 when CNNMoney ranked the Top 100 Cities in America, Olathe finished #13. Neighboring Overland Park finished #6. Olathe currently has a population hovering around 114,500 (up 2,400 since 2006) and a Median Family Income right around $79,100.
Olathe Housing Stats
The Kansas City Star’s zip code appreciation map shows the two predominant Olathe zip codes with appreciation over the last year. 66061 came in at 4.3% while 66062 came in at 7.6%. 
And as you can see by clicking on the image for Olathe Housing Stats for the last six months that we are still selling homes at a pretty good pace. I showed here on our Olathe Real Estate blog that inventory for single family homes is at about a four months. Technically, still a Seller’s Market even though people got spoiled by the markets of past years where you would sell a house in 45 days or less, sometimes.
Olathe Job Growth
Olathe is really doing well in the Job Growth category, as well. I’ve written here before how Ft. Dodge Animal Health has moved in. Along with Farmer’s Insurance. A multitude of call centers are relocating to Olathe, too. US Bank has a large tech center here in Olathe now. And we haven’t even mentioned that the world headquarters of Garmin is located right here in Olathe.
Jobs seem to be coming to Olathe every month. To keep up with the growth of jobs in and around Olathe I would encourage you to visit the Olathe Chamber of Commerce’s Breaking Newspage. I think you’ll find the website by the Olathe Chamber to be very easy to navigate and one of the most informative Chamber sites I’ve ever visited.
Olathe’s Quality of Life
Want to know the reason I live in Olathe? The Olathe School District. Period. As a father of four (two with special needs) I needed a school district that could work with my children. We interviewed the three predominant school districts in Johnson County, Kansas and felt strongly Olathe was where we could be best served. Because in addition to the two special needs kids we have one that is on an Advanced Placement path. And as we enter his high school years he is going to get to take advantage of the Olathe School District’s 21st Century Program. He’ll be taking part in Olathe Northwest High School’s e-Communications Program. We can hardly wait.
In addition, Olathe is easy to navigate. Has quite a few parks for your enjoyment including Heritage Park, the Indian Creek Trailway and Frontier Park where the City hosts a series of free concerts every year. I’m usually in attendance.
Olathe’s Potential For Real Estate Investment
Olathe is not a “cash flow” city. At least in my mind. It will usually take you about 20% down to break-even on a duplex here or about 25%-30% to break-even on a single family house. But having said that, there are few areas around Kansas City…or the Midwest for that matter…that you are going to get better long term, steady growth.
So for my investors I will usually recommend they have only part of their portfolio parked in Olathe. If you own five investment properties I might recommend two be in Olathe and the other three be in cities where you will be able to leverage your money more in the 90% LTV range. Because just like it’s nice to diversify your investment holdings it’s nice to diversify your real estate investments.
A for instance would be of a “pocket listing” I have. It’s a duplex with 2 bedrooms and 2 baths per side. Rents are a steady $750 with vacancies nearly non-existent. So you have a Gross Scheduled Income of $18,000. Asking price is $191,000. Your Gross Rent Multiplier is 10.61. Not too shabby.
Closing Thoughts on Olathe
I hope you have enjoyed our little tour of Olathe. If you are thinking of moving to Olathe take some real time to follow the links and explore our city. Give myself or our team a call or contact us if you need help selecting housing that is suitable for you and your family.
If you are a real estate investor be sure to ask for specific examples if you are looking to add a rental property or two to your investment portfolio.
Posted in Chris, Olathe Fun Facts, Olathe Links, Olathe Schools | No Comments »
Olathe, Kansas currently has 808 single family homes for sale with another 339 in back-up or pending status. That’s not too shabby when you consider that in the last twelve months another 2,085 homes sold. Remember, we are only talking about single family homes in the city limits of Olathe.
So if it takes a year to get roughly 2,400 homes under contract and closed and you have 800 or so homes for sale in Olathe then you have about a four month inventory of homes. Pretty simple, right?
Well, it’s not exactly true. I can tell you with certainty that homes in primo condition and priced correctly will go under 45 days. I know it to be true time and time again. Heck, we’ve had a couple of agents list and sell houses under 3 days in the last month alone.
And yet if you are looking to push price or ignore condition you will do so at your own risk and time. The four months of inventory for you may very well turn out to be a six to eight month sales period. Likely with a few price adjustments along the way.
Work with a real estate professional here in Olathe to help you make the right decisions. You’ll be glad you did.
Posted in Home Sales Reports | 1 Comment »
Olathe, Kansas’ home selling market is still very strong. Comparatively speaking. Kansas as a whole was one of only seven states to have positive appreciation with year on year growth of 2.7%. And with Olathe’s solid job growth, great school district and reasonably affordable homes it has fared very well this Spring.
Yet, an associate of mine held an Open House this weekend and the only people that stopped by were my wife and I. There were times in 2002-2004 where ten or twelve couples might stop by at an Open House. But no longer.
Listen, if you are a home seller in the Olathe or Overland Park areas right now you need to understand that home sales are still stong, historically speaking. But no fooling around. You are going to need to do three things;
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