WICHITA IS MOVING TO SHELL KNOBIt seems like the majority of people living in or moving to Shell Knob, MO are from Wichita, Kansas.  Shell Knob has justifiably gotten the name "Little Wichita".  Probably due to Shell knob and Table Rock Lake being an easy drive from the Sunflower State.   Locals   know where someone is from by watching how they drive our Ozark hills and  curves.    Kansas is noted for being flatland.  Sure they have a few hills, but our roads can make strangers very nervous - and it may take a while for newbies to become comfortable, especially with night driving.  First off, there is a lack of shoulder space on the roads... meaning there are NO shoulders.     I saw a car yesterday, come to a complete stop on a  2 lane State Highway, because a large truck was coming fro... 07/13/2010

June Market Report For Shell Knob June sales were a big improvement this year over 2009, for the Shell Knob, Mo area, in fact they were doubled. The average sale price for the 10 homes sold was $258,425. This was $100,000 more than the previous June. There are 13 more sales pending, but not closed yet. Year to date, we have 33 closed sales on the books, which is a 57% improvement on last year's figures. Average days on the market remained close with 82 days listed.   Vacant Land did not fare as well with only one sale closed for $92,900.00. There have been a total of 9 land sales so far in 2010.   Call JOAN for all your real estate needs on Table Rock  417-846-7128 Tri-Lakes Realtors:  417-858-3344                                                                               07/03/2010

Many properties are languishing on the market today.   Trying to explain the reasons why a home isn't selling can be excerise in futility.               No response to advertising on the internet or traditional newspaper/magazine ads.  Price adjustments open houses, etc etc etc.  The home owner's frustration can be felt even as we touch base and give feed-back from appointments and showings.  They love their homes, and not finding some one else to love it is almost a personal insult. I wonder if a response I received when unsuccessfully Googling the White Pages this week would work.  It read:    N0 RESULTS.... WE TRIED  -  WE REALLY,  REALLY DID     Call Joan - I Will Try and Try And Try     417-846-7128 Tri-Lakes Realtors   417-858-3344                                                  ... 06/22/2010

SIGNS OF THE TIMES Looking through our MLS for Table Rock Lake/Branson/Shell Knob, I have to smile. Was it Shakespeare who is oft quoted -" a rose by any other name is still a rose"? So it would seem is a price reduction. Some of the recent headers are showing the agents' frustration with lack of buyers. They include: PRICE DROP REDUCED AGAIN PRICE REDUCED PRICE ADJUSTMENT REDUCTION & MORE PRICE SLASHED LARGE REDUCTION SELLER WANTS OFFER A price reduction by any other name is still a PRICE REDUCTION! Call Joan for all your Real Estate questions.   417-846-7128 Tri-Lakes Realtors        417-846-7128                                                                       06/05/2010

There was an average sale price in Shell Knob, MO of $203,500 for the 4 sales closed in May, 2010. This brings Year To Date sales up to 23 - a big improvement over 2009 sales in the same period last year. The average days on the market this year are close to the days in 2009 - 128 days to sell and close - approximately 4 months. Tri-Lakes Realtors remains the top company in the Tri-Lakes Multiple Listing Board, with 15% of the Board's listed sales.       Call Joan for Buying or Selling Lake Property  417-846-7128 Tri-Lakes Realtors     417-858-3344                                                                                          06/02/2010

　 In these days of lagging home sales, not just here in Shell Knob, MO, but around the country, does it assist or hinder getting buyer and seller together, to encourage your client to make numerous Counter Offers? It seems that very few buyers looking at lake homes in Shell Knob, make their first offer their best one. "Let's see how much they REALLY want to sell", is a not uncommon comment from some buyers. "You know they don't expect to get their asking price", is another argument. So we follow their request, which results in the Seller's non-acceptance and Counter #2.   It is at this point that we sometimes do a disservice to our Buyers or Sellers, by not cautioning them that each Counter Offer breaks the previous one and they could lose out on getting a property they want. The time t... 06/02/2010

Received an email from a past buyer  that illustrates perfectly the trials and frustrations of home buying today.  Purchasing a home was an exciting endevour in times past - a rite of passage significant of improving our way of life. The times they are a-changin.......  here is the latest email on home purchase  pain...... "We found a house we loved and we hoped the seller would take a contingent offer.......we only had a short window to SELL our house or we would LOSE the new house.We listed our house and lived through people's concerns over the highway, the wallpaper, the apartments behind us, the small basement.........We found a buyer who LOVED our house but hadn't sold THEIR home...........Two days later OUR buyer sold THEIR house and we waited to see if THEIR buyers had the financ... 05/22/2010

　 In the 'Just too Funny' category falls an incident I experienced today.   Showing a new lake home to a couple, the wife called me over to the window to look at a home one tier below. "What do you do to get rid of the buzzards?" she asked. Puzzled by her question, I looked and spotted two buzzards sitting on the home's roof , wings spread, drying their feathers! Can't you just see the ad for our lake/retirement buyers -  COME SEE OUR HOMES BY THE WATER - THE BUZZARDS ARE WAITING FOR YOU!   CALL JOAN FOR ALL YOUR REAL ESTATE NEEDS IN SHELL KNOB    417-846-7128 TRI-LAKES REALTORS   417-858-3344                                                                                      05/15/2010

Spring Sales Report We are still waiting for the spring rush - normal flurry of activity for buyers wanting lake property, but 5 homes were closed in Shell Knob in April.  This is one more than the 4 sold in the same month in 2009. Year to date, there have been 19 houses sold in the zip 65747.  Maybe we are in an upswing, if we consider that there were only 9 sales at this time in 2009.   Properties are on the market for a much longer time than we were used to.     The average sale took 239 days from the time it was listed, to the time it was closed.  Compare this to the 150 days average last year at this time. Lot and land sales remain stagnant - even waterfront lots.  One lot sold in April in Shell Knob, giving us a total of 5 for 2010.   Call Joan for buying or selling Table Rock Lak... 05/01/2010

P Perhaps it was the seemingly never ending winter, but something set the stage for glorious spring blooms.  The Redbud trees appear to have almost double blossoms this year, with my apple tree exploding with blooms as well. 04/10/2010

Springtime in the Ozarks and I received an email from a blog post I made in May 2007, the info is still true so I will repost it for new residents trying to garden in Shell Knob's rocky conditions.   Hay Bale Gardening Transplants to Shell Knob quickly learn that the extended gardening season here has it's challenges.  It is difficult to grow much in rocky soil.  The rocks that filter Table Rock Lake's water and keep it  clear and clean, do not lend to providing great growing mediums. For many people, the solution is making raised beds, and filling those beds with topsoil, mulch and compost.  And this is a fine solution, but not everything can be put into containers or raised beds.  Some things need more room. There is another way  I learned, after watching a neighbor  landscape their n... 04/02/2010

MUCH MORE IMPORTANT   I saw a sign somewhere that read "Living On The Water Isn't A Matter of Life and Death..... IT'S MUCH MORE IMPORTANT THAN THAT!   And after living on the water - more specifically - waterfront- for more than 20 years, I enthusiastically agree. However, I have found that lake living changes as we go through our own seasons of life. Here in Shell Knob, on Table Rock Lake, we attract families that are either looking for that lake cottage for week ends and vacations, or it is the couple looking ahead to retirement and their dreams of leisure living on the water.   Summer home or retirement plans - it doesn't matter which, we seem to thrive when we are on or can view the water. Water's lure is undeniable and almost mystical. Ever see the reflection of a full moon off t... 03/19/2010

I've seen it happen before.... couldn't explain it then  -  can't explain it now.I have a Spec house for sale in a new development.  I listed it in February 2009.  I have showed it and showed it and showed it. Showed it when the spring rains left it so muddy I lost a shoe and almost single handedly kept the local carwash in business getting rid of all the mud on my car.  Had 3 offers over the past year - no accepted contract.2010 listing  renewed.  Showings start to pick up and go from zero to 3 and 4 a week.  Had an inquiry from a Trulia ad with a family coming from Nebraska down to the Ozarks to see just this house.  While we are there, another agent comes with potential buyers, and after we conclude our discussion, my buyers return for a drive-by and see more people looking!Is there ... 03/04/2010

Shell Knob, MO saw a slight increase in sales in February 2010, and any increase is a big plus considering the dismal numbers of the last two years.     There were 9 sold listings last month.  The average residential sale was $233,500.  This is an 18% drop in local market values from 2009, which had $275,000 for a single family home's average. Lots and land averaged $34,375. March would normally be the start of spring sales around Table Rock Lake Hopes are high for the spring Bass Tournaments to attract buyers to the Quiet Side of Table Rock Lake and Shell Knob.   CALL JOAN  FOR ALL YOUR REAL ESTATE NEEDS ON TABLE ROCK LAKE OR IN SHELL KNOB 417-846-7128  Cell       Tri-Lakes REALTORS  417-858-3344                                                              03/02/2010

Springtime is a seven letter word in Shell Knob.  It is spelled  FISHING!!  It can be Fly Fishing at Roaring River State Park, or Bass Fishing on Table Rock Lake with the FLW Tour.  I've noticed boat traffic on Table Rock  this week, which is nice after a long cold winter.   Evidentally some of the FLW tournament participants are checking out the lake to find the most likely spots to catch  lunkers during the 4 day tournament set for March 3-6.     BUT..... my big question of what do the initials "FLW " stand for, remains unanswered.  Google didn't know and ASK.Com didn't know.  The best I found was FLW standing for " Four Letter Word", so maybe that is what an angler says when a lunker escapes ?  FLW?? The FLW was scheduled for the Red River in Louisiana, but weather and bad conditions... 02/28/2010

NO EXCUSES Searching the Multiple Listing in Shell Knob, MO this week, I was again amazed at the just plain awful pictures that are posted!  Why would any seller not object to their home being marketed as a  dark pit?  When more than 85% of today's buyers check the internet before contacting an agent, why wouldn't you expose the best features of your listing? Why would the listing agent not try to give his listing the edge in this tough market?  Digital cameras are such a great improvement over the old poloroids.  You can see immediately if you need to retake the kitchen view, or try for a brighter family room photo. Here are some samples of what I saw on the MLS, and you can be sure I did not send any of these listings to my clients. The first photo is probably an above ground pool, bu... 02/25/2010

What is your home in Shell Knob worth ?  Looking back to when you bought  your home ....has it increased in value from what you paid for  it?  Have you remodeled or added on?  Maybe you've updated the bath or the kitchen appliances?  How has this added to the total worth of your property?   Homeowners have taken a big hit in many areas of the country.  We've all heard the horror stories of a house being worth half of what the residents owe on it.  That has not happened in Shell Knob.  2009 saw homes in the 65747 zip code come down 9%. Many high end homes did not sell. Prices HAVE dropped in Shell Knob.   This area has a large retiree population, along with summer lake homes, which gives us a more stable foundation than many metro areas. There was a 26% drop in the number of homes sold i... 01/20/2010

BRUTALLY FRANKIn this challenging market in Shell Knob or elsewhere, with Short Sales, Repo's, and high-end properties languishing on the market, how outspoken should you be when listing the less than perfect home?I recently went on two listing appointments in the Shell Knob area.  Both houses needed some work , which in my estimation, needed doing BEFORE going on the market.  One home was empty - covering the faux painted walls in the bedrooms, would not be difficult, broken window, carpet on two steps , etc.The second home would be more challenging.  Both spouses were collectors - dolls, clowns, model airplanes, etc. etc,  Not a vacant spot on the walls or tables.  Where there had been a bare surface, it was now filled with the collectibles.  The husband brought the topic up first, an... 01/18/2010

SHOULD ANXIOUS  SELLERS OFFER A BONUS? Are bonus's bribes? Are you seeing more listings offering a Selling Bonus?  It is showing up on a  frequent basis in the Shell Knob/Tri-Lakes MLS.  There are not only more sellers offering a bonus, but the amount of the bonus appears to be increasing. In times past a $1,000 - $5,000 bonus in Shell Knob would be normal, but in today's tight market, $10,000 - $15,000 can be found.  Does a bonus really sell a home faster?  Will an agent steer a buyer to that property, versus showing a house of equal benefits only offering a normal commission?  Sure, it looks interesting on a listing, but you either have a buyer for a given style, or you don't.    Under what circumstances would a Big Bonus get a house under contract sooner, how big would that bonus hav... 01/09/2010

WHY ? There are thousands of houses that sit unsold, and probably thousands more that have been withdrawn from the market during this recession.   Checking listings that have expired or been withdrawn in the past two years in my part of the Ozarks, Shell Knob, made me wonder how they had been marketed.  Was it Location, Location, Location - or quite possibly Price - Price - Price?Possibly a bit of both, but many of them were vacant, so foreclosed?  Maybe.  It also seems to me, that brokers need to  offer new agents  instruction obtaining the best listing photos possible.  With 85% of buyers checking the internet before they call on a property, it would behoove us to give our sellers great pictures of their biggest investment.  These pictures are from the MLS - Withdrawn & expired listin... 01/07/2010