When most of us hear about an “open house,” we think about a Sunday afternoon or those great Tuesday lunch tours, but a new trend is emerging. This new trend, especially among upper bracket properties, is to have an evening open house, complete with drinks and hors d’oeuvres. This week, agents at three upscale properties combined forces for an enchanting tour of their elegant listings. Jim Gamble of Reece & Nichols (above) greeted guests at the front entry of 8919 Catalina in Prairie Village’s Somerset Acres. This new home at $2.1 million features two master suites and has an Old World feel from the heavy, wrought-iron chandelier in the entryway to the stone pillars in the living room.
Prudential agents Andrea Hunter and Pam Gyllenborg offered sangria and antipasto to guests who stopped in Tuesday evening to view their $1.9 million listing at 10417 Howe Lane in Leawood. This Vermont-inspired Dutch Colonial designed by Nearing Staats was a “first pick” lakefront lot in the Mission Farms area, complete with a screened porch and patio with outdoor fireplace.
You won’t find a sign in front of this private estate and local landmark listed by Prudential’s Cynthia Sifers & Robbie Smart (above) at 4800 W. 83rd Terrace in Prairie Village. A former Mission Valley Hunt Club, this English-style mansion boasts wide plank wood floors, an outdoor pool, four fireplaces and more than an acre of privacy and gardens. Listed at $3.8 million, it’s one-of-a-kind.
Good Stats: Bang for the buck in newer suburban areas (Pt. 1 of 2)
Despite the resurgence in downtown living this decade, home-buyer preference surveys still show that most people still prefer a home in the suburbs, the newer the better. So where can a buyer get the most bang for their buck in an existing home in newer areas of suburbia? This week and next, Metrowire presents ZIP codes with the lowest average home resale price in growing sections of Kansas City-area suburbs. This week: southern and western Johnson County. ZIP codes can be large areas, so average prices won’t reflect all neighborhoods, but they give an indication of general values. Also, resale prices only include existing homes. Data is from the Kansas City Regional Association of Realtors.
| Lowest average resale prices in Johnson County immediately outside I-435: | ||
| ZIP Code | General area | 2009 average resale price |
| 66061 | western Olathe | $180,236 |
| 66210 | College Boulevard corridor | $193,203 |
| 66062 | eastern Olathe | $206,063 |
| 66219 | central Lenexa | $222,039 |
| 66218 | Mill Creek corridor | $230,574 |
Off-Plaza townhomes put you in the middle of the action
Westwood Place near 47th and Jarboe, just west of the Plaza, boasts a row of town homes that not only have loads of curb appeal, but they give you the best of both worlds: you get the feel and comfort of a single family home, and at the same time you have the wonderful Plaza lifestyle, said RE/MAX First agent Lynn Kingsley-Jones, who currently is listing a two-bedroom unit at 1109 W. 47th St. for $375,000.
Kingsley-Jones in the kitchen of her listing at Westwood Place with Lindsay Sproul, sales and marketing manager with Continental Title Company. “You open your door to the great outdoors, you have multiple, private outdoor living areas, you can even plant a flower garden in your front courtyard,” she said. “You also have a 2-car individual attached garage, plus two additional spots for guests–that is unheard of in the area. And lawn care, snow removal, exterior maintenance are all done for you.” Below, the Irving Fulgenzi team at Chartwell dropped by to check out the town home and the competition (they have several projects underway in the west plaza area): Eric Nielsen, Joseph Fulgenzi, John Scott and Robert McCain.
