Have You Visited Our New Home Search Website?

Our website has some great new features that we would like to share. You can search for homes by dozens of different criteria, including their specific location on a map.

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Fall is gorgeous down here at the lake with the weather cooling down and the leaves starting to change colors. We wanted to take this time to talk to you a little bit about our new website and some of the cool new features on it.

Our website, searchlakeozarkshomes.com, is pretty simple to use, but we wanted to give you an overview of some of the features that it has. For starters, the entire active MLS is on our website and is updated in real time.

The many different menus on our site have pages for buyers, sellers, and featured listings. In addition to those, we also have a few different home search functions. The first is the “search for homes” page that allows you to do an advanced search of our MLS. There are a lot of different filters you can add to your search to give you the homes you want to see. In addition to searching by the number of bedrooms or bathrooms, you can also search by keywords like “deck” or “waterfront.” You can even search by mile marker or the year it was built. You can make your search as broad or as specific as you want.

You can make your search as broad or as narrow as you want.

The other home search function is a map search that allows you to draw a map and only view homes in that specific area. Once you have set the right criteria, you can save all of your searches, which will be saved on the site after you create an account. You can also save your favorite homes to view later and choose when you want to be notified when prices change or new homes that match your criteria are listed on the market. All of your searches and favorites are saved in the “my notebook” section on our page. You can send your favorites to friends or family members via email or social media. You can also make notes on properties or compare them in your notebook.

We are very excited for you to start using our website. We added all of these features for your benefit, and we hope that you will have an enjoyable experience using it. If you have any questions for us, don’t hesitate to reach out to us. We would love to hear from you. In the meantime, enjoy the website!

Getting Lake Properties Approved for Financing

Getting a VA loan on a lake property is hard because the process you must go through to get the project approved is quite intensive. There is, however, an upside to this.

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Why is it so hard to get a VA loan on some lake properties, especially condos?

According to Tom Spradling, our local mortgage officer, there is a process you must go through to get the project approved, and it’s quite intensive. What normally happens is that either the management company of the Homeowners Association or the Homeowners Association itself will have to fill out and complete an entire questionnaire that will be reviewed. Once that’s approved, the project will be approved for VA financing.

The process you must go through is quite intensive.

One of the good things about VA approval on a project is that the project’s approval does not expire. So, condo projects can be approved and loans can be made using VA financing on condos here at the Lake of the Ozarks, but it’s hard sometimes because the process is stringent.

If you have any questions, please keep them coming. Give me a call or send me an email and I’d be happy to help you in any way I can!

What the 3rd Quarter Stats Say About Our Market

The Lake Ozark third quarter statistics are in, and the numbers show that the market is doing quite well across the board. Buyers are out and willing to pay, but inventory is low.
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Curiosity about what's going on in the market is high, so today I wanted to talk about the third quarter market statistics.

Lakefront homes are actually doing very well right now. The average sale price is up $10,000 from $311,000 last year to $321,000 this year. If you're looking to sell, it's a great time to hit the market. Similarly, the average list-to-sale price last year was 94.4%, and this year it's up to 95.5%.

The average days on market dropped from 155 last year down to 142 this year. The biggest problem we have in the Lake Ozark market, though, is a lack of good inventory. Last year we sold 509 homes, and we have sold 469 this year.

The only reason for this is that we just don't have the homes to sell. Buyers are out there and they're willing to pay more. Days on market are good, too. If you price your home properly when selling, you're going to get people looking to buy it.

Buyers are out there and they're willing to pay more.

Non-lakefront homes are becoming more important here as more people decide it's a great place to live. In our market last year, 548 homes were sold. This year, 607 homes were sold.

The average price on these non-lakefront homes rose slightly from $130,000 to $131,000, and list-to-sale ratio also rose slightly from 94.9% to 95.3%. Days on market for off-water homes went from 85 to 60. It's a great time to sell these homes as well.

Condos sales are up slightly this year, too; 461 units sold this year compared to 446 last year. Condos have a 95.8% list-to-sale price ratio, so it's a great market. All in all, it's a great market across the board. The only thing I see down are lots, because we're seeing some hesitation in builders. That's mostly because you can buy a lakefront home cheaper than you can build one in today's market.

If you'd like a copy of any of the market statistics or you have questions about the Lake Ozark market, feel free to give us a call or send us an email. We'd be happy to hear from you.

How to Practice Good Dock Safety

Karen McFarland, one of our great agents, is here today to talk about dock safety, an important issue here at the lake. Thousands of people come here each year, and we want to keep our lakes safe, happy, and wonderful by spreading the word on dock safety.

If you are coming to the lake, you will likely be on a dock at some point. As a responsible dock owner, there are a few things you should keep in mind to keep you, your friends, and your family safe.

First off, you should have a visual inspection of your dock done each year. Especially in places with rough water, there can be hazardous situations when docks move around too much. It’s also a good idea to get a GFCI tester to make sure your GFCI works.

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If you feel a shock, swim away from the dock.

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You should also keep an eye on your neighbors’ docks and make sure that they are being inspected on a regular basis. You should know how to shut off the electricity on their dock if there is any.

If you have young people swimming around your dock, have them keep this in mind: “If you feel a shock, swim away from the dock” and “If in doubt, shut it down.” Practicing good dock safety means making sure everyone is as safe as possible. You don’t want anything bad to happen.

If you have any questions for us about your dock, don’t hesitate to reach out. We would love to hear from you via phone or email. Hope to hear from you soon!

Tools for Simplifying the Lake Ozark Market

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I'm happy to be joined today by a fellow agent, Nicol O'Sullivan.

She's a graduate of the University of Missouri with a degree in marketing, and while she's relatively new to real estate, her family has been in the construction and home building business for years and years, so she's well-versed in the field. I'm proud to say her team is number 15 right now in the whole Lake of the Ozarks in total sales.

As an agent, one of the biggest issues Nicol has with new buyers is that they're not familiar with the lake, and it can be very confusing. There are some really useful tools available to you to help navigate the lake, so to speak. On our website, we have a map search that allows you to narrow in on certain areas and see all the listings in that area. It'll also tell you nearby things like popular restaurants.

Say you're out boating and you see a house you like. You can use our mobile app and find out any information about the house. If it's something you like, you can mark the listing as a favorite on the app, and it will alert the agent. They can then send you more info on the property.

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Our mobile app lets you see info on any house at any time.

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When looking at the lake, you need to think about what you're looking for in a house. If you like quiet water, fishing, and peacefulness, or maybe you want to be in the hustle and bustle, the busy parts of the lake are probably the six-mile marker to about the 26-mile marker. To the west side, you have areas that aren't quite as developed just yet, but are coming along. There is a brand new grocery store and pharmacy nearby, for example. Then you have the Osage beach area, which is more developed with shopping, stores, and go-karting, to name just a few things.

It's important to know exactly what you're looking for so we can find you the best possible spot for your wants and needs!

If you have further questions about the lake and what each area has to offer, give us a call. We'd love to share our expertise with you. You can reach Nicol at 816-985-5888, or email her at nicolosullivan10@gmail.com.

Our 5 Favorite Home Staging Tips

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Looking to sell in Lake Ozark? Get a free Home Price Evaluation

We get questions from sellers quite frequently regarding home staging. They want to know what to do, how to do it, and how it will help their home sell. Here are our top five tips for staging your home to sell:

1. De-clutter the home. You don’t have to depersonalize your home as much as you need to remove all the clutter. A few photos here and there are fine, but only leave a few pieces of key furniture in each room.

2. Remove heavy items. When we refer to “heavy” here, we’re talking more about things like dark and heavy drapes or wall colors. Lighten them up, and open those windows for showings. It’s all about the view here out at the lake, so you want that to capture the buyer’s attention.

3. Freshen up your bedding. Throw in a couple of nice throw pillows or blankets. They photograph really well and help set the stage.

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We would love to help you get your home ready to sell.

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4. Throw in a few pops of color. Whether it’s with a placemat or some flowers, adding a pop of color is a nice touch in certain areas of the home.

5. Neutralize loud colors. On the other hand, you want the walls and carpets in the home to be a more neutral tone. Think beige or gray. You may love that blue or pink room, but the next person might not.

If you have any questions for us, don’t hesitate to reach out. We have partnerships with some local furniture and staging companies, and we would love to help you get your home ready to sell in its best light. We look forward to hearing from you!

Why Can't You Trust Zillow When Home Shopping in Lake Ozark?

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Looking to sell in Lake Ozark? Get a free Home Price Evaluation

Zillow is immensely popular right now, as buyers and sellers alike typically start the real estate process by going to the website for information. But should you really trust everything you find on Zillow?

Zillow is very user-friendly and has some great information; the problem is it also has a lot of misinformation. For instance, they often have listings on their website that have expired or are under contract or sold. If you are serious about finding a home, you're wasting your time by looking through the listings on Zillow.

We have a fully updated and accurate Multiple Listing Service that is free for buyers to use. While Zillow has a lot of great features that makes it fun to look at homes, they aren't very accurate and they don’t take into account the unique features of your home. Zillow won’t know if you have a 50-foot dock or if you have a beautiful view of the lake.

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It's best to take the information on Zillow with a grain of salt.

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For sellers, it's crucial to take the home evaluations, or Zestimates, with a grain of salt. Zestimates are typically off on the sales price by 5-15%. If you're trying to price your home or check out what is going on in your neighborhood, I highly recommend either getting an appraisal (which will cost you a couple hundred dollars) or use a real estate professional (which is free!).

If you have any questions about this, or if you would like real estate assistance of any kind, please give us a call or shoot us an email. We're here to make your real estate experience as stress-free as possible!

We’re Making the Lake Ozark Home Search Easier

Looking to buy in Lake Ozark? Get a full Home Search 
Looking to sell in Lake Ozark? Get a free Home Price Evaluation

We currently have 262 different condo projects around Lake Ozark. This gives buyers plenty of options when they’re looking for something. With that many options though, there’s likely to be at least a few that you won’t want to waste your time with. That’s where our home search comes in.

On searchlakeozarkhomes.com, you can modify your home or condo search easily to suit what your needs are. Whether you want a 2- or 3-bedroom, a home with a fireplace, or to live in a specific location, this site can narrow it down for you. 

If you have a 30-foot boat, you’ll need a 30-foot boat slip. You don’t want to be looking at homes that only have a 20-foot boat slip. It’s just a waste of your time.

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We’ll only show you homes you want to see.

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By using our home search website and working with our agents, you’ll get updated daily with properties that fit your specific criteria. Put all your information in for your dream home here, get in touch with one of our agents, and you’ll be able to find the best property quickly.

If you have any questions for us, don’t hesitate to reach out by giving us a call or sending us an email. We look forward to hearing from you!

Professional Photography Is Essential to Selling for Top Dollar

Looking to buy in Lake Ozark? Get a full Home Search 
Looking to sell in Lake Ozark? Get a free Home Price Evaluation

Being in a resort area, the number one thing we need to keep in mind when selling properties is that they have good photography. It’s something we’ve invested a lot of time and money into, and it’s something we do better than all of the other companies out there. 

Recently, the Wall Street Journal stated that homes photographed with professional equipment and photographers sell quicker and for more money than ones photographed by cell phones or other digital cameras.

Here at the lake, at least 90% of our buyers start their home search online. We want the first thing they see to be high-quality photos that properly represent a property. It’s the first chance you have to show your property off and if it doesn’t show well, buyers will just move on. 

We have two different high-end cameras, one for photographing the inside of your home and one for the outside. We have an in-house professional take the pictures and make sure they are optimized for the web.

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We have an in-house professional take the pictures.

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Another great piece of equipment that we have recently invested in is the Matterport 3D Camera. This allows us to give buyers a full 3D virtual home tour, where they can browse every corner o the house as if they were actually there. We are the only ones out here using this kind of technology, and it was well worth the $6,000 investment to better represent our sellers and their homes.

If you have any questions for us or any topics you’d like to learn about on our next video, give us a call or send us an email. We always appreciate your feedback!

Join Us for a Luxury Open House Tour May 27th

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I’m sure most of you will be down here for Memorial Day weekend - that’s the official kickoff here at Lake of the Ozarks for all the fun and festivities - so we decided to add an event to that weekend.

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See some of the finest homes for sale at Lake of the Ozarks

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On Friday, May 27th we’re going to have a luxury open house tour where we’ll tour between six and 12 luxury homes that we currently have listed. The tour will kickoff at 10 a.m. on Friday here at the office. You can also meet us out at the properties.

We’ll have agents at each of the properties, and we’ll go until 2 p.m. that day.

We’d be happy to send you a list of the properties that will be on the tour or a map, or anything you need ahead of time. We’ve also arranged for a bus to take you from property to property, so in a couple hours, you could see at least a half dozen of some of the finest homes here at Lake of the Ozarks.

For more info, just give us a call or reply to this email and we’ll be happy to send it to you.

Where Is the Lake of the Ozarks Real Estate Market Heading?

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Looking to sell in Lake Ozark? Get a free Home Price Evaluation

Right now is a pretty unprecedented time in Lake Ozark real estate. We have nearly the same number of agents as we do properties to sell!

Right now, we have 629 active agents in the board, and only 692 condos in the Lake of the Ozarks -- 87 of which are under contract. There are 789 active listings for waterfront homes, with a total of 97 of them under contract. As you can see, inventory is quite low right now!

What does all of this mean for you? Well, low inventory is always great news for sellers, as it means you have more leverage when pricing your home. On the flip side, interest rates are only 3.5-4% right now here in the Ozarks, so it’s also a great time to buy!

Regardless of what your plans are, it’s important to work with a good real estate agent. Most agents are only doing one or two deals a year, so they’re not as up to date on the latest market trends and conditions. This is why it’s important to choose an active, knowledgeable agent who will represent you well, whether you’re buying or selling.

Last year at the time, we had closed $5.7 million. In the same time period this year, we closed $8.6 million, so clearly we’re doing something right! If you want the help of experts to save you time and money, with the least amount of hassle possible, give us a call or shoot us an email at any time. We would love to hear from you!

Why Hire a Buyer’s Agent in Lake Ozark?

Looking to buy in Lake Ozark? Get a full Home Search 
Looking to sell in Lake Ozark? Get a free Home Price Evaluation

Today, we’ll talk about the importance of buyer representation in local real estate.

At Berkshire Hathaway Home Services in Lake Ozark, we have highly-trained Realtors. We study the market, tour homes, counsel buyers and sellers alike, sell properties, and negotiate contracts. Particularly, our clients approach us about buyer agent and why it’s necessary.

A buyer's agent has a fiduciary responsibility to act in your best interest You need someone fighting for you in a transaction and this party provides it. This includes confidentiality, accountability, loyalty, disclosure, and competency.

If you don’t seek representation as a buyer, you become a customer and not a client. In other words, no one is there to help you with your office. Of course, you can continue to view homes and pursue opportunities, but unfortunately, sellers then can take advantage of your lack of representation. As a customer, we can’t tell you what you should offer on a home. You didn’t hire us and we can’t provide that service.

As a client, that’s different. When you hire us, we’ll educate you about the market and show you comparable homes, in addition to mediating future offers. Our goal is to help our clients find their dream home and spend the least amount of money possible!

Additionally, with a buyer’s agent, you’ll likely pay less money. Because we work with you to negotiate offers, we frequently bring down the seller’s initial asking price. Without agency, you might not have the opportunity to strongly negotiate, and overpay as a result. Don’t let that happen to you!

Why Should You Hire a Local Lender in Lake Ozark?

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Today, our guest Michael Lasson from First State Bank Mortgage will tell you about the advantages of having a local lender. He will also go over common challenges you may face today when getting a loan. 

First of all, the Lake Ozark area has a particularly unique market right now. Local lenders understand the market. They have contacts in place to help make your transaction smooth. 

Another reason a local lender is important is an out-of-town lender will not have a full understanding of condominium financing. Michael handles this every day. The condo market is different from condos in bigger cities because this is a resort area. There aren’t many full-time condominium owners here; they’re mostly part-time, so the rules are a little different.

Not only that, local lenders like Michael have experience working with local businesses to expedite the process. They know insurance people who can make your transaction go smoothly, as well as appraisers who make sure we’re following the regulations set by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac. 

Boat docks also come into play during the transaction, and these can be tricky. In a standard home loan transaction, Michael is able to include the boat dock into the transaction so a value doesn’t have to be assigned to the boat dock. If you’re getting a condo, lenders are not allowed to give value to the boat slip because it’s usually owned by the association. There is a value with the boat slip as you make the purchase. An out-of-town lender won’t know how to navigate this kind of transaction. 

If you would like to get a pre-approval, you can start one with Michael by going to www.yourlakeloan.com. Michael can close a loan in an average of 32 to 35 days. If you have any other questions for him, give him a call at (573) 746-7211 or email him at MLasson@FSBFinancial.com.

As always, if you have any real estate questions, give us a call or send us an email. We would be happy to help you!