Housing continues to show very little improvement and there is an increasing recent concern that deflation is looming.  June pending home sales were expected to be up 5% but actually declined 2.6% from May levels and year over year sales are down 20.1%.

On the brighter side, earnings reports have been positive recently and are possibly indicating that the economy may be improving after all.  Although nobody really knows who is buying the products that manufacturers are producing.

When it comes to the housing market a great number of home owners looking to sell have decided to use leasing as a way to maintain ownership in a dismal market.  The reason for this can be attributed to the downfall in the country’s economy, which has lead to a record number of foreclosures and short-sales in the recent years.  The option to lease has given home owners a chance to “hold” and wait for the market to recover.

For some, leasing is really not an option it is a necessity.  With the down turn in the housing market home owners have progressively been losing value in their property. The ones who can afford to wait, do just that.  For the ones who can’t wait, but don’t want to take the loss on their property, leasing has been that light at the end of the tunnel.

There is definitely much to consider when making the decision to lease or buy. During these times loss in equity, poor credit scores, and stricter guidelines on loan approvals have pushed many towards the words “l-e-a-s-e.”

Cory Spielberg and Doug Cohen will shed more light on the recent leasing epidemic on All Things Real Estate this Sunday morning at 10am on KFNS.

The list, which ranks Ladue High School at 282 in the nation and #2 overall in the state of Missouri, ranks public high schools on the number of Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate or Cambridge (AICE) tests given compared to the number of seniors graduating. Newsweek compiles this list every year on how hard a staff works to challenge students. Six percent of the list consists of public high schools.

For St. Louis this list couldn’t have come at a better time.  If your student is interested in performing arts and you are determined to live in the St. Louis Metro area, then Metro Academic and Classical High School should be on your list. Upper End features a few properties here.

Other schools on the list include Parkway West, Rockwood Summit, Eureka, and Lindbergh high schools, just to name a few.

This is a telling list that has home buyers’ attention. It’s also got the attention of community leaders across the country.  Finding the right location is always top on a home buyer’s mind because the purchase of a home is often seen as a long-term investment.

It is no surprise to see that Texas and Florida were the leaders on this list. The lack of sales taxes and the warmer climate are plus, but adding top schools to that list is surely a bonus. But if the Midwest is where you call home or plan to call home, Missouri has to be on the short list.

Looking ahead, many economists believe that U.S. interest rates will remain low for an extended period of time.  Words from Fed Chairman Bernanke last week seemed to reiterate that the economy continues to struggle particularly with jobs and a housing sector that remains in recession.

After a strong week last week in the stock market and selling in the bond market, one focus will be treasury auctions. Strong demand continues for treasury bills with a total of $104B set to be sold Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday this week.  June new home sales are to be announced Monday and are expected to be up 4.25% from May. Other key data announcements this week include early estimates of 2nd quarter GDP and the Chicago Purchase Managers’ Index.

As people continue to consume huge amounts of energy at alarming rates, we add to our ever growing Shaquille O’Neal sized carbon footprint on this planet.  We now have scientific evidence of the negative effects of carbon emission in our water, land and air.  As the realization that our methods of generating energy are destroying our planet sets in, the importance of moving into the future with cleaner and more efficient means of energy production and consumption becomes clear.

We understand that it is important to save the rainforest and clean up the gulf coast but who has the time to fly Costa Rica and chain themselves to a tree?  Realistically, we can all make a difference by making our homes more energy efficient.  You don’t need to pitch a teepee or trade your car for a horse, but switching to efficient appliances and using proper insulation techniques can reduce your footprint.  Hey, you might even save some money too.  Take a look at these ways you can make a positive change!

CKC Communications is a public relations and marketing company that specializes in social and interactive media development, event planning, and media relations. They are heavily involved in building business to business relations as well as connecting businesses with their surrounding communities.

Sean and his team pride themselves on helping businesses navigate through the ever changing times. His unique background and experience has helped several area businesses thrive during these hard economic times.

Upper End Properties is happy to have the experience and contacts that Sean and his team brings to an already successful real estate boutique.

Sean Hadley’s BIO:

Sean Hadley has worked in and around the media for over 10 years. He started his career in Kansas City as an Associate Producer at the NBC Affiliate. There he assisted in coverage of the Pharmacist who was arrested for diluting cancer drugs. He also helped revamp KSHB’s Sunday night sports show, before taking a job at KSDK in St. Louis.

At KSDK Sean served as an Assignment Editor for several years. He was involved in coordinating coverage for several big stories in the St. Louis area including the discovery of Sean Hornbeck and the Praxair Explosion.

After working at KSDK for more than 4 years Sean got a chance to work on National Media scene as a producer NBC News. There he continued to grow and expand his editorial knowledge. He was involved in planning news coverage for some of the Nation’s top stories including the election of the country’s first African-American President Barrack Obama and the death of Pop Icon Michael Jackson.

He returned to the St. Louis area in hopes of serving more of an active role in the community. He formed CKC Communications, a public relations/marketing firm that specializes in helping businesses gain exposure through cost efficient marketing methods, as a way of getting involved in the community.

CKC Communications prides itself on keeping businesses connected with the surrounding community. We accomplish this through various marketing techniques including the use of social and interactive media. Our firm has the experience and the resources to accomplish a variety of needs.

The Internet can be one of the most useful tools in your real estate arsenal, but it can also be one of the most stagnant.  If used correctly the Internet can be the launching pad that starts the home buying process.  More often than not however, the Internet acts as a barrier to entry for those looking to invest in new real estate property.

Let’s start off with some statistics.  According to Real Estate Information Systems, 92% of people found their real estate agent online.  Roughly the same percentage of people found their current home online as well.  While the Internet remains the number one asset in assisting homebuyers, it’s becoming more and more apparent that it often extends the home buying process substantially from something that used to take a matter of months to something that could often take over a year.

The Internet offers one thing in real estate: opportunity.  In the past, you would just look in the paper for houses.  You couldn’t sort by price, look at an ariel view, limit options by number of bedrooms, baths, or square footage in the basement.  The Internet gives you virtual tours, videos, documents outlining every aspect of the house, previous home owner information, and everything you could ever want (and don’t need to know) about the property.  While some people look at this as a benefit (and often it is) others don’t realize how much time they waste sitting at home looking for a property on the Internet.

In my personal opinion, it’s great to start on the web, but one thing consumers mustn’t forget is the fact that visiting a house, seeing the land, walking the property, and visualizing the layout of each room stands for so much more in real life than on the computer screen.  You could search for years online and never come to a solid conclusion.  There’s too much out there,  We encourage you to talk to an Upper End Properties agent to help consolidate the list of potential properties to view.  We have some amazing tools to help with your Saint Louis property search.  Our agents offer vast market knowledge as well as they understand many of the nuances of the neighborhoods in the central corridor and beyond.  It’s a much safer bet than spending countless hours searching online.

Now my lessen to you: utilize the web, its effects, and its efficiencies, but whatever you do, don’t let it be a barrier to entry in the home buying process.  Now get up, get an agent, and go find some houses!

Upper End Properties is excited to announce the debut of our weekly radio show “All Things Real Estate” on 590 KFNS starting Sunday, February 28th at 10:00am.

The hour long show will feature Upper End Properties broker Adam Kruse along with Doug Cohen from Douglas Properties and KFNS personality Andy Strickland.  “All Things Real Estate” will discuss all the important topics pertaining to today’s real estate market.  Listeners can call-in and have their real estate questions answered by Adam and Doug who have over 25 years of experience between the two of them.  Each week will focus on a specific topic as well as feature special guests who can also help the listeners understand the best way to take advantage of the current real estate environment.

Please tune-in to 590 KFNS starting on Sunday, February 28th to hear “All Things Real Estate”.

On Thursday January 28, 2010 Upper End Properties welcomed over 250 guests to 5165 Lindell Blvd hosting one of the largest open houses St. Louis has ever seen.

Guests arrived to the 10,000 square foot Mansion in style with valet service provided by Premier Valet. A 25-foot Gobo projecting the Upper End Logo onto the front of the house and a 6-foot rod iron “for sale” sign let all of St. Louis know who was hosting the party. Guests were greeted to a wonderful array of food ranging from shrimp cocktail to gourmet sandwiches and a drink list that would please the finest wine connoisseurs in the city. Floral arrangements provided by Pick Flower Gallery served as centerpieces on each of the tables and delicious desserts were donated by local St. Louis bakery One Sweet Cookie.

Tours of the house were given by multiple Upper End Agents and each room was lined with beautiful artwork from Art Trends Gallery. One room featured a painting used in the motion picture “Up in the Air,” featuring George Clooney, that was shot in St. Louis just last year.

Not only did the event raise awareness for Upper End Properties, but also for it’s sponsored charity, Big Brothers Big Sisters. “We raised a lot of money, but most importantly we raised awareness in regards to Big Brothers Big Sisters. In addition, there were two guests interested in becoming Bigs by the end of the night.”

Upper End Properties is a full-service real estate company located in the heart of Clayton at 7803 Clayton Rd. If you’re looking to buy, sell, lease, or relocate, Upper End Properties has an agent ready to suit your needs. If you want, they’ll even throw a party to help promote your place.  How’s that for marketing!

To view more photos from the event, please visit our Facebook page!

When you think about real estate, what’s the first thing that comes to mind?  For me, the marketing guy here at Upper End, the first thing that comes to my mind is relationships.  While brand awareness is obviously a huge priority for any business, our main priority lies in our agents and their ability to attract, educate, and inform our clients about all things real estate.

We’re at a time right now that many are calling the “digital age”.  While I wouldn’t say traditional media is dead, I would say it’s declining at a rapid pace.  In this era, there’s no longer a large market for television, radio, and print, and in an industry where 98% of sales begin online, why not use the web to our advantage.

Here at Upper End, we’re implementing a strategy that has remained largely unseen in the St. Louis real estate market.   Our strategy focuses on new emerging media; specifically social, interactive, and digital platforms that will allow interaction, engagement, and entertainment between Upper End and our clients.

You might be asking yourself what we’re trying to do with this whole blog thing.  While things will inevitably change over time, here is the best answer I can give you:

We plan to talk about everything.

Obviously we have a few priorities.  We’re going to show listings.  Not to try and push product, but to give you an in-depth look at some of the most beautiful homes in St. Louis.  We’re spoiled here at Upper End, we get to work with some great properties and we want to share them with anyone and everyone who might be interested.  We’re also going to profile agents.  We’re beginning to work with some of the biggest and brightest St. Louis has to offer and we’d like to share their stories with you.  Lastly in terms of real estate, we’re going to give you lots of information.  Not promotional puff pieces about how we’ll sell your house (well, maybe sometimes) but information that you can use next time you’re looking to buy, sell, rent, or lease a property in the area.

What else is there you might be asking?  Well, let me tell you, the options are endless.  We might have a crazy cook in our kitchen that wants to share a recipe.  We might have a funny story to share about a septic tank.  We might want to rant or rave about a local restaurant.  We might want to post pictures from a charity event.  Truth of the matter is:  at Upper End, we’re about a lot more than just a real estate transaction, and our blog will help us  drive that message home.

We’re very excited about getting things rolling here at Upper End Properties.  We look forward to you joining in on the ride.  Feel free to leave comments, share stories, or make friends.  We’re always looking to make new connections!

Sincerely,

Michael Buffa – Marketing Specialist