Top Real Estate Agents in Kansas City Reveal the Secret to Selling Homes There

Invest in must-have upgrades like granite counters and fresh paint to attract buyers.

Edie Waters at Keller Williams Northland Prt
Edie has over 25 years experience and is a SFH expert, selling 74% more SFH homes than the average Kansas City agent.

“Our economy in Kansas City has changed. It used to be that you could sell your home easily even if it needed fresh paint, new carpet, or modern upgrades. . That’s not the case anymore.

“If a house doesn’t have some of those higher-quality things, the buyer won’t buy because they can go and rent an apartment that has the granite and brand new paint. And they will stay there because they don’t want to take the time to do those things. They don’t have the time, and they don’t always have the money.

“That’s an expectation we set with our sellers—that you’re going to get top dollar if you do these things, but if you don’t do these things, your home has a high probability of not even selling. Not taking a lower price, just not even selling.

“So we’re offering a program where if you need some of those updates, we have contractors that will actually accept the money at closing. We’ll help fund the updates for you, and then take the money back from the proceeds made at closing.”

Set a realistic impression online to get motivated buyers in the door.

Trice Massey at Greater Kansas City Realty
Trice is a Short Sales and Foreclosure specialist who sells 82% more properties than the average Kansas City agent and has 992 transactions under her belt.

“When it comes to photos of the house itself I, personally, take the good, the bad, and the ugly. Not everybody agrees with that, but online marketing is what sells the houses. I don’t want 1,000 people through my property, I want the one or two or three that give me the offer.

So, if there is a bad foundation, we’re going to put that in there because we’re not hiding it. I don’t want a bunch of people in the house—I want it sold.”

Use an appraisal clause to ensure a smooth closing.

Tim Ray at HomeSmart Legacy
Tim has over 909 transactions under his belt and sell homes 65% faster than his peers.

“Kansas City is an emotional market and sometimes homes are selling for more than they will appraise for, exactly 18% in my experience with my inventory.

“And if that happens, we try to catch that upfront at the offer time. So when a buyer comes in and they shoot us way over or they offer a number we think may not appraise, we’re actually putting a clause into the purchase contract that says, “’If the property doesn’t appraise, you’re agreeing right now on the purchase contract that you’ll pay the difference in cash above an appraised value of X amount of dollars.”

Tailor your home preparations to the season.

Allison Rank at Reecenichols Cc Plaza
Allison is a 2018 Best of HomeLight Award winner for being in the top 1% of agents in her area and sells homes 43% faster than her peers.

“The most important curb appeal items are a clean-looking yard, nice landscaping, fresh mulch, and a nicely painted door. That’s what I tell all my clients during the warmer months of the year.

“In winter, It’s cold and snowy and depressing. People still buy houses, though, and so we focus more on the inside than the outside during the winter. For listing photos, I usually use winter photos for winter listings because, otherwise, buyers may think it’s been on the market since summer.“

Make your home memorable by fulfilling buyer wish lists.

Al Urban at Platinum Realty Kansas City LLC
Al has over 16 years of experience and is a 2018 Best of HomeLight Award winner for being in the top 5% of agents in his area.

“One thing that buyers often tell me they do not like is the honey-oak cabinetry in the kitchen. It has an ’80s and ’90s look and is kind of a golden wood color.

“That is probably the most common thing buyers say they do not like. And so, if you have cabinets that color, you might consider painting them.

“Buyers also still really like the sliding barn doors. They’re most common in master bedrooms or entries to offices. I don’t know that you would necessarily get more money from installing a barn door, but your home may be perceived as more memorable, which would make it more likely to sell faster.

“It might give you value in the sense that people will remember the house and be more interested in making an offer. Just something that helps the house stay in people’s minds. Similar to staging a home, it really helps because you can help people imagine living in that home and that it would be cozy and fun to live there. That just helps the process to sell the house.”

Every selling season in Kansas City has its perks—sell when you’re ready to sell.

Chris Carter at Keller Williams Platinum Partners
Chris has over 24 years of experience and sells 78% more properties than the average Lee’s Summit agent.

“The time to put the house on the market is when the seller is ready to sell it. You can’t time the market. Look at the market conditions that are given to you at the time, when you’re ready to put the house on the market, and determine if those numbers and the timeframe makes sense for you at that given moment.

“My professional opinion is that the best time of the year to sell a house is in the winter. If you’re selling your house in the spring, when everybody says to, and 30 houses come on the market in March in or near your price range, do you want to be on the market with 30 houses or do you want to be on the market in November when there’s only five houses on the market.

“And if somebody’s out in the winter, at least here in Kansas City, if it’s snowing, sleeting, or raining, and somebody wants to come see a house, they’re doing it because they need a house. They’re not doing it because it’s fun. You tend to get a higher quality seller and a higher quality buyer in winter.

“That’s not to say don’t sell your house in the spring or summer, but move when you’re ready to move because there’s always a market.”

Be diligent in disclosing basement issues, especially if you make cosmetic updates.

David Van Noy at ReeceNichols Realtors, Inc.
David has 513 transactions under his belt and is a SFH expert, selling 75% more single family homes than the average Kansas City agent.

“We’re very much a basement market. That’s where most problems are so almost every house that’s at least 30 years old has some type of problem with moisture, settlement, or something to do with the basement. Sellers should disclose anything that’s ever happened in the basement to make sure they don’t catch a lawsuit years down the road.

“You may find a basement that’s kind of damp, dank, and dark—there are things you can do to make the basement drier, make it appear lighter, and make it appear cleaner because that will generally help it sell better.

“For example, I think painting everything in the basement white could be a good idea, as long as it’s not covering up a conditional item that needs to be replaced and as long as it makes the space more comfortable and not less. But, if you do clean it up or improve the basement to try to make it look better, it’s important that you’re not hiding anything and that if you do improve the quality of it you disclose the previous condition.”

Make your home move-in ready to stand a chance of a quick sale.

Ron Henderson at Keller Williams Realty
Ron earned the 2018 Best of HomeLight Award for being in the top 1% of agents in his area. He has over 14 years of experience and 688 transactions under his belt.

“Sellers think, ‘I don’t need to replace that carpet, I don’t need to make those repairs to the deck. I’m just going to throw it on the market and see what happens,’ because we have an exuberant, strong market and somebody’s going to buy it. And that’s not the case.

“That’s the no. 1 mistake that sellers make. If you go looking at enough houses there will be one or 2 out of 10 standouts, and the rest will just need too much work.

“Buyers are willing to pay a premium for an updated move-in ready house. And they will compete against others to get it and pay more for it.”

Take advantage of your agent’s network of local vendors.

Zack Morris of the Huff Group at Keller Williams Realty Partners Inc.
The Huff Group has over 1,096 transactions under their belt and earned the 2018 Best of HomeLight Award for being in the top 1% of agents in their area.

“Our number one focus and goal is to make this process as easy and as comfortable as possible for our sellers. One way we do this is by connecting clients with our list of preferred vendors that we’ve worked with for years.

“The folks on our preferred vendors list, they typically offer a discount of 15%, simply because we’ve referred them out to them.

“In addition, if sellers are having a hard time with having the capital upfront to get moving or to get storage, we always lend a hand. If repairs need to be done to the house prior to a sale, or if they need to move their belongings to storage, those are all things we can bill at closing.”