Arch City Homes Blog
Find real estate advice for both buyers and sellers, as well as market trends, homeowner tips, pet friendly real estate, St. Louis information, and general real estate advice.
How Does the Cost of Living in St. Louis Compare to Other Cities?
I've been working with buyers relocating to the St. Louis area for years, and I find that many people are really surprised to discover that St. Louis home prices are higher than where they currently live. I guess people assume because St. Louis is in the Midwest that...
Using Home Equity to Finance your Life can be Dangerous
The news media continues to focus on foreclosures, but part of our current problem really has to do with poor choices by some homeowners. Many sellers feel like they have lost money, but it is money that they never had. Just like the stock market, the real estate...
When you are Ready to Sell your Home, Should you Hire the Top Agent in your Subdivision?
I closed on a listing yesterday for a home in a Chesterfield subdivision, River Bend Estates, that has one agent that carries 'almost all' of the homes listings in the subdivision...at least that's what my clients told me when they hired me to be their listing agent....
Find the Most Wealthy (and Poverty Stricken) Parts of Town in ANY City
The internet offers a ton of fun tools to find all types of information. As a regular reader of many other blogs, I ran across a post on GeekEstateBlog that was about a new rental information website, Zilpy. As I delved into this post, I followed a link to Hotpads,...
Choosing an Agent to Sell your Home: Does the Brokerage Really Matter?
Every week I send all of my clients with home listings a weekly market report to keep them informed on what is happening with their direct competition. As I was putting together the reports this week, it struck me that these reports contradict an incorrect assumption...
A Bad Resume Can Prevent Your Home Listing from Selling
When you are ready to sell your home, you need to treat your MLS listing like it is your home's resume. (In case you didn't know, MLS stands for Multiple Listing Service. It is the cooperative system in which real estate brokers agree to cooperate with other...
Which are the Best Schools in St. Louis and St. Charles?
As a lifetime resident of St. Louis, I am the first to admit that we are a bit too hung up on high schools. We all laugh at the ongoing joke that the first thing that you'll hear when you meet someone new is the question 'Where did you go to high school?'. It's hard...
Avoid the Top 10 Mistakes in MLS Listings
When you are ready to sell your house, remember that the MLS listing is your home's resume. If you wouldn't send a resume to a prospective employer without your name, then you shouldn't allow your MLS listing to be posted without a picture! As I have searched through...
Would Your Roof Pass a Roofing Inspection?
A few days ago, I had about 5 inches of snow sitting on my roof. I recently had my roof inspected, so I wasn't concerned that the melting snow would cause any leaks. Do you think this roof leaked during our recent snow??? I drive by this home every day...it's a few...
Sometimes a Buyer Should Walk Away (Part 2)
A couple of days ago I told you about a recent experience that I just had with a first-time home buyer who made the smart decision to walk away from the first contract that she wrote after getting the building inspections. To see the complete article, see: Sometimes a...
