John Garrett of RE/MAX Lake of the Ozarks has worked with many banks, governement agencies, trusts, and other entities that are looking for professional representation in Camden County Missouri.  John’s central location in Mid-Missouri allows him to adequately serve Camden as well as other counties, such as Miller, Morgan, Pulsaki, Laclede, Cole, Hickory, and Dallas County.   

John Garrett has been trained and has listed and sold many REO properties and can give you professional and ethical representation every step of the way.   Call 573-302-2320.

Luxury Waterfront Home

I just previewed the finest Lake home I’ve seen to date, it is listed with RE/MAX Lake of the Ozarks and is located in the Villages on Shawnee Bend.  Wow, 6 bedrooms, 8 bathrooms, 3 full laundry rooms, and two full and two half kitchens. The finest travertine marble, granite, stone, slate, exotic ebony hardwood, knotty alder, are featured through this expansive home. State of the art sound, security, and technology is featured in every room offering all of your senses a treat.  Waterfront pool, plenty of room for a boat dock, elevator, all build by the Lake’s premier home builder. 

Trust me when I say this writeup or a few pictures cannot do this home justice.   If you want the best, this one is it.  Priced at $3,750,000

John Garrett is the managing Broker of the largest real estate firm in Central Missouri, and also a company that is recognized as one of the Top 500 real estate companies in the United States. 

John is a very aggressive agent with a full time support staff that will make sure that client needs are taken care of promptly, professionally, and ethically.  I will never forget the bank is my client, and will strive to make the process as trouble free as possible.  My standing with other agents in the area is excellent, I have been full time in real estate for over 15 years without a single violation or arbitration, and have served as the President of my Local Board of Realtors.  I have also been awarded Broker Manager of the year for the State of Missouri by RE/MAX. 

If I can be of assistance to your company, please do not hesitate to call at 573-302-2320.

This was put on by RE/MAX and featured Nancy Freeman as the speaker.  It was a very informative talk, and like it or not, this is a big part of the  business of real estate and will be so for the next few years.   Topics included understanding the foreclosure process, helping the seller facing foreclosure, understanding REOs, REO process, BPOs, and many other informative topics. 

If you are facing foreclosure at the Lake of the Ozarks, you need an agent that can help you immediately and that has the training and knowledge that could save your credit and save you thousands of dollars.   Call John Garrett at 573-302-2320, don’t take a chance, choose experience and knowledge!

Gaslight GMAC HH Office

Well, the tough economic times have claimed another long time real estate company, this time Gaslight GMAC in Lake Ozark and Sunrise Beach will close their doors.  This was the home to 80 to 90 agents, so it is a significant event.   It’s not everyday you see a company with 54 million or so in sales closing shop, but consider in just 2006 the same company sales were about 112 million, so a better than 50% decrease in sales in the span of two years is rather dramatic

RE/MAX Lake of the ozarks has been taking market share for the last ten years, and now stands poised to really addto its already sizable advantage in Lake of the Ozarks real estate market share! 

Luxury Waterfront Home Market Lake of the Ozarks.   

Forget trying to time this market, now is the time to step up and buy that deal of a lifetime at the Lake of the Ozarks.   Don’t be that guy that goes around telling everyone “Well I could have bought that for $$$$”.  Don’t you always want to say to that guy “then why didn’t you, are you crazy?  Oh, you don’t like making money!” 

An interesting look at the numbers show 26 sales over a million dollars in all of 2007, and through Novemeber 15th 2008 there have been 21 closings with a few pendings that could still close this year. 

That is not a whole lot of difference considering the turmoil that 2008 has seen in all markets.  If we drill down into the numbers a bit more, we see that the averge price per square foot paid decreased from $325 psf to $288 psf in the last year.  This market usually sees a healthy increase in price per square foot, so this decrease would mean a buyer today is not only paying 11% less, they are also saving the usual 12 to 15% appreciation we are used to.  A buyer today is looking at an average savings of something in the 23% range or better!   A fourth off the price you were looking at in 2006! 

 You make money when you buy, and right now really is the best time to buy.  Call John Garrett with any questions or comments. 

We know that Missouri has very low taxes, but did you know it also has the lowest closing costs in the nation? For the second year in a row, New York is the state with the highest mortgage-related fees in Bankrate.com’s annual closing costs comparison survey. Home buyers in Missouri pay the lowest closing costs, according to this year’s study.

The dollar amount of closing costs depends upon the loan amount, interest rate, closing date and type of loan. However, a list of closing costs for purchasing a Condo may include the following:

Origination Fee – Required by the lender

Appraisal Fee – Required by the lender

Credit Report – Required by the lender

Interim Interest - At closing, the borrower will pay interest for the period between closing day and the first day of the next month. If the loan closes on the 20th, the borrower will pay 10 or 11 days of interest. If it closes on the 1st, the borrower would pay no interim interest.

Escrow Reserves – Required by the lender

Termite Inspection – Required by the lender

Structural Inspection/ Mechanical Inspection - Some loans require these inspections. Many buyers choose to have these inspections done, although they may not be required by the lender.

Flood Zone Determination – One of our least favorite topics in the world!

Overnight Parcel Fees - The expense of over-nighting documents for loan payoffs, and many times the buyer will close “By Mail” and will not be present for the closing.

First Year of Home Owner’s Insurance - Not always required.

Recording Fees - Money paid to the county recorder to enter the Deed of Trust into the public record.

Title Fees - A title company provides title insurance to the borrower and the bank. Title insurance provides the lender and the buyer (if you purchase owner’s coverage) with coverage for losses resulting from specific title defects listed in the policy. In cases where land and property have changed hands over time, there is always the possibility an error has occurred. If an error has occurred, it may be that someone else may be in title to or have an interest in the property. In these scenarios, if you do not have title insurance you could lose your investment in your condo. Lenders require “lender’s coverage” to protect their investment and it only protects the lender. Owner’s coverage is optional and provides separate coverage for the borrower.

The Title companies also provide closing services such as document preparation and disbursement of funds to the seller, real estate agents, inspectors, appraisers, etc. I know it sounds pretty scary, but Missouri is a very friendly State for purchasing a condominium. There are no tax stamps, no condo move-in fees, no condo association transfer fees, no credit checks by the associations, and you shouldn’t need an attorney fee for a typical closing.

Every buyer at the Lake of the Ozarks knows after a quick glance at a listing sheet that Missouri has low real estate taxes.  An average sale price for residential is about $235,000, and the taxes on a property such as this range from a low of $590 to around $900 in Camden County.  Camden County is blessed a large retail and lodging tax base to draw on, and offers the best services of any county in the State per capital in my opinion.

Missouri ranks #32 in overall tax burden, the higher the number the better on this ranking, according to the tax foundation.  Missouri is almost always ranked as the best state for lowest closing costs, another very real reason to purchase at the Lake of the Ozarks.   Our gasoline tax is also one of the lowest in the country.

Instresting side note, Missouri takes in more federal funding than it send out in taxes.  Not much if any of that goes to hard working real estate agents!

Want to see what total domination by one company looks like on paper? RE/MAX Lake of the Ozarks continues to gain large chunks of market share and is widening the already huge gap from #1 to the rest.  The last time I calcualted the numbers, you could combine the the number 2 through 5 companies and they still wouldn’t equal half of our market share.   In fact, I added the top top 10 together less Re/MAX Lake of the Ozarks and the numbers were almost even.  The number 2 through 10 ranked companies combined almost sold as much as our company.   Why would you list with anyone else?  

It aint’ braggin’ if you can do it.  Call John Garrett with any questions about this information or Lake of the Ozarks real estate.   573-302-2320

Coffman Bend Lake of the Ozarks

This is a very nice waterfront lot on the Lake of the Ozarks on Coffman Bend, Climax Springs Missouri.  There are 280 feet of usable lakefrontage, no shallow water or back of the cove issues here.  The property has a very desirable east facing exposure and is located near the end of dead end street with almost no car traffic.  You’ll be hard pressed to find a better spot for a dream lake home, or build on half the lot and sell off the rest to help finance your home. 

Don’t wait to buy real estate, buy real estate and wait!  When people are running scared of real estate like they are right now, the smart investors know that is the time to buy.  This seller will sacrifice this lot for $199,990.  Don’t wait….call John Garrett at 573-302-2320 today.