This is a time of year when yards across the nation give rise to ghosts, goblins, witches, demons and and other assorted ghouls. It's also a popular time of year to set out fall mums and make colorful displays of pumpkins, squash, hay bales and cornstalks and you can find all the above in the Green Historic Neighborhood this year. The display on the right can be enjoyed on the corner of Lincoln Place Dr. and St. John's Rd. The pumpkins and hay bale are just past 37th and St. John's.   The Greenwood Historic Neighborhood is located in central Des Moines and is bordered by Grand Ave on the north, 31st St. on the east, 37th on the west and Lincoln Place Drive to the south. The area is not home to any businesses per se, but it does include Des Moines University, Greenwood Elementary, PEO an... 10/20/2010

Good Morning to all today is the first day of October and it seems hard to believe but soon the year will be over and the big question for me will be how was my year for me it doesnt matter so much how many homes where closed but more importantly the people I have helped whether  it be a traditional sale/purchase or a short sale. Nothing is better than seeing someone make that step happen or if it is a short sale to see the relief that is on their face once they have closed and move on with there life.  This blog may have seem to come out of no where but what really got me thinking was last night when by chance I decided to look at face book and as Im scolling down I see this post not exspecting it meant alot coming from a client.   If you are in need of buying a home or help with keepi... 10/01/2010

It's that time of year again. The leaves are falling, the swimming pools are empty, the air is getting crisp and volunteers are signing up to read with elementary school children in Des Moines through the Everybody Wins! program. Everybody Wins! is a mentoring and literacy program that teams up with staff at local public schools to read with children who need additional reading practice over the noon hour. "Everybody Wins! Iowa matches elementary school students with volunteers from local businesses, corporations and community organizations to read aloud one-to-one for one hour, once a week to children. The volunteer reading mentor promotes the joy of reading and serves as a caring adult role model. Children build academic confidence and enhance their overall positive self-esteem. The v... 09/09/2010

As I enter the world of android on my new HTC EVO, I find myself searching for the best applications. During my search I came across more than a few real estate applications. I knew they were out there, but I started thinking about consumers and how they might really use these apps. Hmm....this has got me spinning! So...my question today is:  Would you search for a new home on your phone? Better yet...have you already? Des Moines Local Tweeps jumped right in: @kateschneider: absolutely... I search for everything on my phone. :) @mipo777: all the time. Love the location feature on realtor app. Makes it fun to look at lake properties :) @ksteinkamp: definitely would on my phone @ketelson: I would search on my phone @edmoran77: if you can search for a love interest... Why not a home?! LOL... 08/31/2010

08/25/2010

The Des Moines area, like many localities nationwide, has been deluged by rain this August. Recent heavy rains makes the period from Jan 1 to Augustofficially the wettest on record. In the news tonight it was announce that in the city of Colfax, just a few miles to the east, 500 of the city's 700 homes have either standing water in the basement or have received significant damage. In the greater Des Moines area inspectors have declared 90 homes off limits to residents until electrical or safety issues can be repaired and city officials have speculated that perhaps as high as 30% of area basements have had some degree of water damage. But Des Moines has been better off than Ames to the north which went without municipal water supplies for several days after massive flood devastated the c... 08/18/2010

It was a honor to be invited to the 4th annual NAMI or National Alliance on Mental Illnesswalk at the Hilton Garden INN on August 11th. The kick off was also attended by Polk County Supervisor Angela Connolly, mother of 2010 walk coordinator Matt Connolly (who is a real estate agent), Polk County Sheriff Bill Mc Carthy and representatives from the office of Iowa Governor Chet Culver and Iowa Senator Tom Harkin alng with many other walk team captains, volunteers and friends of NAMI Iowa. The walk, held the first Saturday in October is a major fundraising event for NAMI Iowa. Last year's walk raised over $120,000 of much needed funds. At the kick off yesterday Supervisor Connolly presented a $15,000 donation form Polk County. Sheriff McCarthy spoke of the importance of groups like NAMI in... 08/12/2010

I got a call last week from someone who identified themselves as Les with CNN Money. My first thought was, "Oh he's been reading my Active Rain blog and wants to ask me about the Des Moines real estate market!" Alas, it was not to be. Les claimed that he was writing a series on low priced condos around the United States and wanted to feature a condo  listing I have in Des Moines. At that point I figured it was a pitch for yet ANOTHER featured listing service. Wrong again. Les turned out to be staff writer Les Cristie for CNN Money who was really doing a feature piece. Here's the link: http://finance.yahoo.com/career-work/article/110257/condos-for-less-than-a-new-car?mod=realestate-buy The listing is at 5312 Ingersoll Ave #8. It is in the Waterbury district in Des Moines. The median sale... 08/07/2010

Deals are fun, but closings are the beat all end all, bittersweet though they may sometimes be. There's the thrill of the chase, looking for the needle in the hay stack, the diamond in the rough. Then there's the adrenaline pumping tussle of the negotiations, the sweetness of a deal and the logistics of the escrow process all leading up to the crescendo of the close. In between meeting a client and the ownership of a home being transferred, relationships are forged, challenges are overcome and bonds are often cemented. I am thankful for a past client referral of Chad Rankin who today was able to close on a home he very much liked in just the area he wanted to be in. I was also very pleased that I was able to acquaint. him him with the Neighborhood Finance Organization's, or NFC's $10,00... 08/06/2010

Having spent six years living in Asia, it's kind of an understatement to say that I developed a taste for Asian foods. And needless to say, many Asian restaurants are about as close to the real thing as Wonder is to bread.  Finding an authentic Chinese restaurant in Des Moines, Iowa then is in my opionion both a refreshing and rarified event. My first visit to Taste of China was when they were in their original location at the corner of Douglas and Beaver Avenues. It was just a non-descript storefront that belied the delights within. Right away it felt like I was back in Asia the smells and the feel of the place brought back many memories of little mom and pop restaurants in Tokyo and Seoul. There was no, and still aren't any cheesy obligatory heavy red lacquered red dragons, big bellie... 07/24/2010

07/21/2010

Des Moines has a vibrant condo market in its historic central downtown. We have lofts, we have high rises, we have re-purposed space, we have row houses, we have penthouses, we have brownstones, we have everything but enough buyers for all of the inventory. Developers, spurred by tax credits awarded by the State, went on a building frenzy downtown staring in the late 1990's. Available units went from under a thousand to nearly six thousand in about seven years. Then 2007 came. At the height of the building frenzy there was over a five year supply of units available. Developers finally got the message and "re-purposed" many projects into affordable rentals or just shut down the projects altogether. The estimated 75,000 people who flock downtown to work everyday just weren't sold on the i... 07/06/2010

It's official. The tax credit is totally off the table. The senate decided in a vote last week not to even extend it for those who had homes under contract and can't get them closed by the 30th of this month, the final deadline. That to me officially says the tax credit is not coming back. End of story. However.....if you're an owner occupant buying a home in certain parts of Des Moines, you may be eligible for up to a $10,000 grant, plus a $2,500 closing cost allowance from the Neighborhood Finance Corporation, or the NFC, as it is popularly known. The NFC is a non-profit organization that is funded by the state and only operates in the Des Moinesarea. NFC acts as the lender and holds the loans, so applicants apply directly to, and work directly with the NFC. That's up to $12,500 free ... 06/28/2010

I received a big surprise this morning reading our morning paper, The Des Moines Register. It seems Register photographers had caught our science camper son Esden on camera during one of this weeks activities at the TreeHuggers week long camp at the Des Moines Science Center. HOLLY MCQUEEN/THE REGISTEREsden Grohe, 6, of Des Moines' west side, right, watches as camp counselor Casey Borcyk, 20, of Omaha, turns on a blender full of warm water and one-inch pieces of paper they were blending to create a pulpy mixture called slurry during a paper-making project during the Treehuggers Camp at the Science Center of Iowa June 16. Grohe stepped back because of the loud noise of the blender.       Of course my wife was in the know but didn't let on so I could receive a seredipitous delight during ... 06/18/2010

Thank the feds! Citizens can work out for free in Des Moines high schools all this summer and possibly into the fall. The reason is that upgrades to high school workout rooms were completed with federal grant dollars and one of the stipulations for receiving them was that the public have access to the facilities. The grant of $480,000 dollars was spread equally across all schools for equipment such as new wieght and cardio machines. Some of the machines cost as much as $3,500 a piece, a sum that would have been unheard of without the grant. Public access actually began this winter, but the fact has not been well publicized. The public use times for the summer are as follows: Roosevelt High School 4419 Center St. 6-11am weekdays and 7 to 8:30pm M-Th. North High School 501 Holcomb Ave. 9-... 06/17/2010

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WKHzSJFiv0o 04/27/2010

Des Moines, Iowa Realtor Leads - (800) 900-2807 Even through this Real Estate downward spin, we are still seeing an increased number of families relocating to cities such as: Denver, Houston, Des Moines, etc… Still the #1 drive is jobs, and that cannot be disputed. Although another big reason for relocation that started in 2008, was due to great foreclosure prices. Cities such as Scottsdale, and Des Moines have both seem dramatic drops in real estate prices, which is driving the people to purchase real etate in those cities. If you are not working with families whom want to purchase foreclosed homes, you are leaving a huge chunk of money on the table. One of the top discussions right now on RealTown and ActiveRain is in regards to boosting your business with foreclosures. Call us at (8... 04/01/2010

La Hacienda Mexican restaurant, a Des Moines institution for many yearson Army Post Rd on the south side has migrated north and sprouted a new location at 3121 Ingersoll Ave in the old Baker's Square location. Well, it isn't exactly new, it opened last year in June. But Tuesday was the first day I could connive someone into springing for my lunch. Dave Tapp of Iowa News Brokerage was the willing participant who so generously extended the offer to meet me for lunch at a place of my choosing. Thanks Dave! I chose La Hacienda because it's close to my house and I drive by it everyday. Also I was eager to see what the owner Gustavo Perez had done with the Baker's Square space. Inside was the predictable southwest decor, although somewhat subdued. The outside seems to have gotten more of a ma... 03/25/2010

Officials from the city will hold an informative meeting tonight to explain a program offered through the Des Moines' Neighborhood Stabilization Program whose goal it is to rehabilitate foreclosed properties in the city. The meeting will take place at the Neighborhood Finance Corporation at 1912 6th Ave. tonight at 4:30pm. Local developers and contractors are the target audience. City staff will be on hand to explain how the city will determine which properties will be eligible and how the city will finance the program. Money is being to help developers "to acquire and rehabilitate properties. Upon sale, all proceeds, minus a developer fee, will be returned to the city to reinvest in the program." There will be two phases of the program. The first will likely include nine to 14 houses a... 01/12/2010

Des Moines Investor Buyer's List http://www.InvestmentPropertyDesMoines.com   We BUY Short Sale Properties - Call us if you NEED one bought! 515-240-8582  We can make an offer within 24 hours.  You may have heard a lot recently about Des Moines short sales and be asking yourself what is a short sale? Certainly with the increase in mortgage delinquencies and foreclosures, there have been many more short sale opportunities. A short sale is sometimes called a pre-foreclosure sale, and that describes one aspect of it. It is a house sale that takes place before foreclosure is completed, and thus it avoids the property going into full foreclosure. The reason it is called a short sale is because the money paid for the house is short of the amount that is owed on the mortgage. You may be wonder... 11/15/2009