Is the Wichita economy slowing? (Andover, Goddard: real estate market, houses, job)

[billyellieot]

I am looking to move to Wichita, My wife and myself have a lot of experience in the real estate and banking industry. We have not gotten a lot of response to our job hunt. Is the job market slowing in Wichita? I have a Realtor we are working with and she said things are very slow, and that it is a buyers market.
How slow is the real estate market getting?

[quesera]

My niece sold her house after only 2 days on the market. Whatever slow down there may be, it didn't affect her. She was right between Maize and Goddard.

[drjones96]

I'm in the buying mode at the moment and it doesn't seem as though anything has been slanted in my favor. I lost the bid on 4 houses because they were under contract before I could get to them. One house was on the market for less than 24 hrs. I went to look at it and straight away wanted to bid on it. My realtor called them and it was gone. We finally got fed up trying to find an existing home and just decided to build.

A realtor in this area saying things are slow is not the same as a realtor in say...Fort Worth for example... saying things are slow. Where I came from houses were sitting on the market on average for 6 months...and longer. Here if they are on the market more than 40 days something is terribly wrong. We were told that 40 days is the typical barrier here. If you were going to sell here (given you've priced it fairly) it should be gone well within that time.

I think the economy here has slowed down a bit but it's largely because of what is going on nation wide. There certainly hasn't been a real estate disaster here like what we've seen in CA and FL...and other areas where they are seeing record forclosures.

[RegkinsOrDie]

I agree with Dr. Jones. I am a buyer and have lost out on 2 houses because they were under contract within 24 hours. We just offered 10k over asking price on a house that was listed at 5 pm and we saw at 9 am the following day. There is already a secondary offer on it- we will see what happens. =) I am convinced your realtor does not know what she is talking about.... lol..

[crazyma]

Well IMO considering realtors are advising clients to do drastic markdowns, it is no wonder some properties are selling fast. Regkins, what specific area did you go over asking??

OP I don't think this city is your best bet as far as the banking and real estate business goes. IMO if you aren't from these parts, you will have a hard time 'breaking' in. They tend to look out for their own here...unless you have or know something they don't or need. My 2 cents.


Oh yeah...it is going to get real interesting in Wichita if Hawker decides it can make do without the union

[drjones96]

Originally Posted by crazyma

...Oh yeah...it is going to get real interesting in Wichita if Hawker decides it can make do without the union

Just curious. What's the word on the street right now? Are people really thinking HBC can make it w/o the union boys? I know a lot of them have crossed the picket lines so far.

[billyellieot]

I talked to 2 Agents, and was told that if a home is priced right [under value] that it moves fast, there seems to be a lot of people in the market for bargains. I was also told if it is priced just a bit over value it will sit on the market for months.
I saw this on a home in Andover, It was a 4 bed 2 bath, 3 car garage with nice fenced yard. Any other homes like this one were priced in the 150k range, this one was 132k and did not last but a week.
They also said that it is getting hard to qualify buyers with banks. And not many have the cash on hand to buy. So it may get a bit better for those who can wait a bit.

[crazyma]

some people we know with HBC think the union's days are numbered there

[billyellieot]

There seems to be many more job opportunity's in Wichita then in the north right now. I am even considering bringing in some people from up north who are out of work and building a home. the homes that sell there for 125k I can build for 60k. And do a better job. Standard is vinyl and carpet floors. And I can do hard wood and tile. Now if I can sell my home and get started.