Pages

Thursday, October 14, 2010

Mancillious VI

All the buzz around our house for the past month has been about the Mancillious International V I golf tournament. You’ve never heard of it you say? Well, it doesn’t exactly rank up there with the US Open or the Ryder Cup but it creates quite a bit of excitement in the Snyder household.

Every year all of the adult males in the Snyder clan including Wayne, eight sons and two sons-in law gather to participate in a two day golf tournament dubbed The Mancillious International. Two sons come from as far away as New York to participate in this yearly ritual of male bonding. The “trash talk” starts early in an effort to “out psych” the other family members……….all done in good fun, of course. This year the tournament will be in mid-October so we are all hoping the beautiful fall weather holds out for a few more days.

You may wonder how the event got its unusual name. It all started the first year when son Nick and his wife Angie decided to design a jacket for the tournament winner to wear proudly. The winners name is embroidered on the jacket each year. They found a lovely jacket at the thrift store…………checkered with a paisley lining which became the official tournament’s coveted prize. The label inside the coat read “Mancillious International”. Thus the tournament found its name.

To date, son Jim has been the winner at each tournament so last year the men subtitled the event “The Race for Second Place” and had t-shirts emblazoned with that slogan. A trophy for the most improved player has been added to the awards ceremony.

In addition to the men who gather for the golf there will be 13 of our 15 grandchildren, 4 daughters, and five daughters-in law joining us for the weekend. We plan to do our share of bonding as well. We have been much blessed and welcome every opportunity to celebrate life with our family.

On the real estate front, interest rates continue to drop and are at levels never seen in our lifetime. We greatly appreciate all of your referrals.
Please pray for our men and women serving in our armed forces.

In the State of Chaos

I am not one that has ever been labeled a compulsive “neat nick”. Raising twelve children has made me tolerant of a certain level of chaos. However, when the household is in order and the cleaning is complete it gives me a sense of peace and serenity.

With that being said, you may understand the state of turmoil I find myself in at the present time.

As you may know, we are in the process of preparing our home to put on the market. For years we have been counseling sellers as to the importance of having their home ready to capture the “buyers eye”- windows must sparkle, paint must be fresh, clutter packed away and counters cleared off. Along with those items, we understand the value of updating and upgrading a home that has been on deferred status as we raised a large family. We now find ourselves recipients of our own advice and have been in the throes of remodeling and repairing and de-cluttering for weeks.

We try our best to maintain a certain level of normalcy, but the necessity of clearing out rooms and displacing personal items can be unsettling. Keeping in mind the final result and the enjoyment it will bring I resolve to embrace the change and the temporary chaos.

When things get overwhelming I resort to the age old axiom that has sufficed in the stressful life circumstances- “This too shall pass.”


Update on our grandson Michael-
This pass week Michael completed his last round of chemotherapy. We wait for the final results, in hope that the cancer is gone! Thank you for your continuing prayers.


Our best wishes to everyone sending children off to a new school year, whether it be kindergarten or college!

Thursday, August 26, 2010

What a first half of the year! Thanks for your many referrals! Because of you, Barbara enjoyed top Agent status in results at our 40+ agent office through May. During that time REMAX held top market share for Platte Co. and Clay Co.

Update on Michael, our oldest grandson; Michael continues to undergo chemo treatments. Progress is expected and good with the road predictably bumpy. Your prayers are appreciated.

The Market: Activity is brisk. The buyers are still out buying (See blog – May –www.barbandwayne.com) Normal to good conditions for Real Estate.

Since deciding to sell our family home and acreage we have been asked to share what we are doing to prepare our 7 bedroom, 5 ½ bath home for sale. So here goes: New windows, 2 new furnaces, new flooring (Carpet, vinyl, tile) professionally clean all non-replaced carpet, new paint outside, deck, Painted most inside walls and ceilings (Including unfinished basement), new door hardware and some new doors, all bathrooms get a makeover and the landscaping has been changed. Since the kitchen, dining and great room were recently redecorated, we will only paint trim and spruce up caulking. We are replacing all exterior lights and many interior lights to get more brightness. It has a newer roof so we are just re-caulking around all vent pipes and touching up the guttering. Finally, mountains of “de-clutter” after 25 years of gathering. Thanks to our son, Jim for hiring on to lead this project for 60 days and thanks to Barbara for her patience as she tries to maintain a home and business climate.

We look forward to a vigorous Real Estate environment for the future. Less time maintaining the “Kid Farm” will give us more time with you and our family.


God Bless our Men and Women serving in our Armed Forces.

Thursday, July 15, 2010

Why would demand for your home be strong!

The interesting thing about this buyer’s market is that there are a lot of buyers out. With a wonderful selection, low interest rates and new confidence about Real Estate it is a good time to buy.

First you have many sellers who have come to grips with the “new market price” for their home – not the 19% drop from 2006 but equal to the “good” market of 2001-2. With opportunity to move up or move on many are deciding to sell. Not a sacrifice or crisis move but a smart decision for their situation. …. And the opportunities on the “other side” are positive. So smart selling is back – well prepared, staged and market priced.

Second, the normal buyers are back. Not the buyer looking to steal a house or find a crisis deal but the buyer who has stood on the sideline for good reason: “the concern that any purchases made would decline in value 10% in 6 months”. With confidence of stability a pent up number of buyers are looking to make a Real Estate transaction that meet their home needs and desires but protect their investment equity.

So from the above sellers moving on and the pent up backlog of smart buyers looking for stability added to the normal new buyers and normal need driven buyers we have a market condition reflecting the answer to the title question: Yes! The demand for your home can be strong. Convince yourself you your house will sell to the first prospect – act this out in your preparation and pricing and it will happen!

Think it won’t happen to you? We listed five homes since March that sold in the first two weeks. Thanks for your referrals and relocation referrals.

Your comments, prayers and support for our oldest Grandson, Michael, are deeply appreciated.

We announce with great pride our youngest grandchild, Stella Kathryn Snyder born May 21st, to our son Matt and wonderful wife Tricia Blanchard. A New York City blessing. We are traveling to the baptism late this month.

God Bless our Men and Women serving in our Armed Forces.
One of the joys of having adult children is that some of the have married and brought new personalities into our family. With eight of our children married we have added two sons-in-law and six daughters-in-law. What a blessing! Each brings their own unique background, interests, culture and personality. Each enriches us and causes us to grow.

Among them are avid sports fans. Matt bleeds NE red and has a passion for soccer. Todd is a true blue Royals fan. Every parent hopes for their daughters to marry good men who are loving, generous husbands and strong fathers. In both cases Matt and Todd fulfill those hopes. Both are great husbands and terrific fathers.

Daughter-in-law, Samantha, now living in upstate NY, grew up in Riverside close to our home and met our son Bob when they both worked at Red X. Sam has a delightful personality and keeps us in stitches. She is a devoted mother to her two sons.

Daughter-in-law, Kristen, is a KU grad (and fan) so she supports Sarah (our only KU grad) during the basketball season! They attempt to fly the KU flag but our MU fans usually prevail! Kristen is a first year teacher and has done wonders reclaiming John’s “bachelor pad!”

Daughter-in-law, Angie, has the artistic genes that seem to have skipped over most of us. She is incredibly talented and willing to lend a hand whenever we have a project that requires her talents. She and husband, Nick, create the Nerdbots we have written about in our previous blog. Go to www.nerdbots.net for more information.

Daughter-in-law, Amber, is a nurse and a wonderful mother to their 3 children. She loves to come to KC and hit the garage sales on Saturday mornings. She and husband Andy have tackled some major repairs in their grand turn-of-the-century home in Monroe City.

As I write this letter, daughter-in-law Tricia is in New York City in labor with her and husband Matthew’s first child. We are anxiously awaiting word. Tricia grew up in Louisiana and brings us many culinary variations from our Midwest fare. As an LSU graduates she roots for the Tigers…the LSU Tigers that is!

Daughter-in-law, Vusala, brings a whole unique perspective to our family. She grew up in Azerbaijan and came to the US as an exchange student. She speaks 5 languages and recently graduated from Park College. While in college she has also added 3 grandchildren to our family. We have enjoyed expanding our culinary tastes to included dishes from her native county.

In each case, our young adults have chosen life partners who have made them better more complete people. Their influences on our family and on their individual partners cannot be overstated. We are grateful for each and every one!

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

This last week we saw the start of Royal’s baseball and celebrated the rite of spring with hope unwarranted yet present again.

The news on the Real Estate side is also hopeful. Sales of resale homes are up, interest rates are holding on and new home sales are showing isolated better demand.

Our family focus continues to be on the treatment of Hodgkin’s Lymphoma by our oldest grandson. A regimen of chemo, familiar to some of you, has begun. The prognosis is good. Michael is 15 years old, lives in Papillion Nebraska. Our daughter Kathryn, son-in-law Matt, and two siblings, Emily, 17, and Oliver 8 months, have made the adjustment along with Michael to the state of uncertainty, concern and regimens appropriate.

In so many ways, the family and their community have reached out to them to offer financial and emotional support. A K State walk for life has dedicated a luminary; a corporate challenge at State Street Financial has recognized Michael.

Kathy said a soccer team who competed against Michael’s team over the years made a significant financial and card acknowledgement to them. She was not even aware they knew Michael much less of his personal challenge. She wondered if the tables were reversed would she and Michael’s team have responded in kind or realized how meaningful that gesture was to her, Michael and the rest of the family.

We know this; our strengths and our weaknesses are deeply moved by how we reach out to each other. Barb and I wish to thank those in the Kansas City area who initiated a prayer effort and the gift of a prayer shawl made and presented to Michael visibly reflecting the time given in prayer on his behalf.

So in turn we say to those of you who have family members or experience with this, we extend our prayer in your behalf in the belief that the process of prayer gives comfort and healing grace in time of need.

So hope is appropriate this spring. BLESSINGS are in great abundance throughout; the best to all of you and your families.

God bless our service men and women.

Thursday, April 1, 2010

Spring is in full bloom!

Spring is in full bloom!

Laura, Todd and new son, Noah, on Jan. 28, 2010 make 14 grandchildren. All’s well and beautiful.

We hear from many of you that the job market still remains tough but our respect goes out to those who have taken on alternative and multiple jobs or those who have teamed up as a couple working long hours. Likewise, it’s impressive how many have saved to take advantage of the wonderful housing market right now. We all know it’s a buyer’s market and there are lots of showings.

What many are also discovering is it’s a good time to sell. Consider this; Interest rates are at a low point, buyers are plentiful, selling their homes, and looking for another – IN LARGE NO’S!

What happens to the equivalent cost of your home if interest rates go up 1% or 11/2%? You will still have good interest rates: but won’t you wish you had made the decision to sell before the rates went up?

Four of the 9 homes we sold in the last 6 weeks averaged days on the market of less than 15 days! 300, 200, 180 & $125,000. They were priced right, staged, painted, updated and spotless. These are the key fundamentals in this competitive market. If you are able and desire to make a change, we can help you succeed and achieve your dreams.

We laugh at the saying at our house “We have a quota of 2 moves per kid per lifetime” Well they keep it up. Andy and Amber moved to Monroe City, Mo, Sarah moved to her new home last week, Rachel and Tony moved in with us this winter and Rachel back out to Sarah’s. John is preparing to sell and buy and Sarah’s first home is listed. Help.

Thanks to all of you for the many referrals. Remember we can refer all your family, friends, and work associates to the top RE/MAX agents throughout the city, state and country.

God bless our service men and women.