Armour Hills Homes Assn Board Meeting June 2012

Posted on June 27, 2012 by Mary Hutchison

Hi neighbors!

Here’s a brief recap from the Armour Hills homes association board meeting on June 19, 2012:

*Mark your calendar for July 18, we are hosting a special security meeting for residents at the Country Club Congregational Church at 6pm.

*We will also host the annual Armour Hills Freedom Parade on the Trolley Track Trail July 4. Gather at the south end of the trail near Gregory at 9:30, parade begins at 10am. Prizes and refreshments included!

*Troy Schulte, Kansas City MO City Manager, will be our featured speaker at the Annual Meeting in November.

*Our tree planting project will begin in the Fall.

*We are applying for new PIAC funds to make improvements in Arbor Villa park.

*Melissa Saubers is working on improved communication via social media for our residents. She is working on a Facebook page, the Clarion and our website.

*Remember the annual Ice Cream Social is September 7.

Our next meeting is July 17, 7pm, at the Church. All residents welcome!

Impressions of Celebration, Florida

Posted on April 14, 2012 by Mary Hutchison

The second half of my recent Florida vacation was spent in Celebration, Florida. I’ve always been fascinated by this city, ever since I read about it back in the late 1990s. My Orlando hosts, Mike and Julie Neal, write The Complete Walt Disney World guidebook and live in Celebration. I spent one morning just walking around the various homes and main streets, getting a feel for this master planned community.

Developed by the Walt Disney Company almost 20 years ago, Celebration is a town of about 7500 persons. An example of “New Urbanism”, Celebration was modeled after a small town that has everything residents would want and need: its own schools, golf course, fitness center, hospital, pool, parks and downtown retail/restaurant area. When it was created, 5000 buyers entered a lottery for a chance to buy one of the first 350 homes for sale. A totally planned and managed community from just about every aspect of everyday life, Celebration is like a Disney park—frees of litter everything just so, with coordinated colors and architectural styles, extensively landscaped and perfectly plotted homes pleasing to the eye. Disney hired famous architects to design some of the public buildings: Phillip Johnson, Michael Graves, and Robert M. Stern. It is a very pretty town to tour —with everyone abiding by the very strict HOA rules and regulations. It is reminiscent of another Florida town featured in the movie “The Truman Show” called Seaside.

As I walked through the streets, I saw neighbors chatting, golfers riding on the course, kids tossing a ball in the street island, residents biking along the sidewalks. I kept thinking, ‘this is just like Brookside, isn’t it?’ Well….not quite. The goal is the same: homes and shops in a centralized area, parks and paths nearby, foot traffic encouraged. Celebration is too new and controlled. It’s inviting in a perfect way. This is not a criticism, but a comment. I can see the strong appeal of living in Celebration, especially now as it’s more affordable because of the housing crash. The stores are mostly locally owned, and it’s small enough so you can easily walk or bike everywhere, get to know the merchants, participate in the neighborhood events. There is virtually no violent crime here. Yet I doubt you would ever find anything out of place …there would be an instant citation from the homes association. Keeping the exterior landscape and house coloring to particular types of plants, shrubs, paint shades gives each street a certain amount of pretty blandness. That same strong codes enforcement control keeps the property values high and establishes the atmosphere. It also squashes some individual expressions of homeowners. Is that necessarily a bad thing?

On my walk, I did find one small, subversive expression high up in a second floor window. There was a naked baby doll, lying on its side; eyes wide open, looking out on the street. It made me smile.

Celebration offers the best of Brookside in many ways—the walkability, the close-by shops and amenities, the pretty porches and various home sizes. It is comfortable, beautiful, safe, desirable, and friendly. But can the heart and soul of a community be master-planned? I suppose so, if all the residents agree to what the planners have established. But if you want to color outside the lines, this isn’t the place for you. I think I could live in Celebration…I would have the house with the doll peeking out of the window!

Armour Hills March 2012 Board Meeting Recap

Posted on March 26, 2012 by Mary Hutchison

This post is about a week late! I’ve been busy trying to work ahead as I’ll be out of town on a little vacation soon. So let’s get right to it—here’s a brief recap of the March 20, 2012 Armour Hills Homes Association board meeting:

Once again, we had several local residents attend and speak about the plans to be more aggressive preventing crime in our subdivision. The Board is planning a mailing calling for a vote to increase dues, with the extra monies going for regular security patrol a few hours each day. We are also planning a ‘security fair’ (in June) where residents can stop by and learn about various preventative measures they can take to protect their home and vehicles from burglaries.

The Board is concerned that KCMO is planning to delete funding for residential fall and spring leaf pick-up due to budget cuts. We are drafting a letter to our city council representatives stating we are against this budget cut.

Regarding our PIAC request submitted last year, now that we are now in the 6^th district rather than the 4^th district, we did not get as much funding as requested. However, thanks to our City Liaison board member Gunnar Hand, we are getting $90,000 for tree maintenance! Every street tree in Armour Hills will be trimmed and we will have money to plant new trees where needed. Gunnar is working with the city forester on details to implement this project. The funds we requested for tennis court maintenence and lights addition will not be available.

Reminder: the annual Armour Hills garage sale is Saturday May 19, and the Ice Cream Social is September 7.

Brookside Events this Week

Posted on March 19, 2012 by Mary Hutchison

It can be a challenge to keep up with all the Brookside events I want to attend! This week there are two especially important meetings, so I’m blogging about the details below:

Tuesday (March 20) is the monthly board meeting of the Armour Hills Homes Association. We’ve been discussing raising the annual dues to pay for private security a few hours a day as a response to the increase in crime. This topic will again be discussed in more detail. All residents of Armour Hills are welcome. The meeting is at 7pm at the Country Club Congregational Church, 205 W 65th St.

Also Tuesday night is the first of two meetings regarding proposals related to ‘repurposing’ nearby closed Kansas City MO schools. Prospective buyers for the Bryant School (319 Westover), will present their ideas at 6pm at the Country Club United Methodist Church, 400 W 57th St. Proposals for the Bingham School (7618 Wyandotte) will be presented at 9am Saturday March 24 at the Broadway United Methodist Church, 406 W 74th.

I’ll report back via blogs later in the week with a summary of both meetings…wish I could clone myself for the night so I could be both places at once!

Armour Hills Home Sales Statistics – 2011

Posted on January 22, 2012 by Mary Hutchison

As an Armour Hills resident, I don’t like to see home values decreasing…unfortunately, that’s what these statistics show. However, a new listing across the street from me that needs a total rehab, received a contract in just over a week. Armour Hills is still a desirable neighborhood and I hope to see home values on the rise as we go through 2012.

Below are home sales stats for Armour Hills in 2011, and stats for 2010 for comparison:

In 2011, 58 homes sold in Armour Hills. The average list price was $220,044; average sales price was $211,611. Average days on market: 119. Lowest sales price was $98,000; highest was $350,000.

In 2010, 57 homes sold in Armour Hills. The average list price was $218,418; average sales price was $213,517. Average days on market: 88. Lowest sales price was $90,000; highest was $350,000.

(All figures taken from Heartland MLS; deemed reliable but not guaranteed.)

Commentary: short sales and foreclosures bring average sales prices down; also homes that have a sales price too high for the current market–they take too long to sell and bring up the average days on market. Many Armour Hills homes have quirky floor plans, they aren’t updated or well maintained–these are the homes that just sit on the market as buyers are very choosy these days. Also keep in mind that in 2010, there was an $8000 tax incentive for buyers–that incentive not available in 2011.

As we head into the busy Spring buying and selling season, we may see sales prices on the rise. Hopefully as the economy gets better, more buyers will enter the market. In our office, we’ve seen a big jump in sales since the first of the year–positive news!

Armour Hills Board Meeting–Jan 2012

Posted on January 19, 2012 by Mary Hutchison

Hi neighbors, here’s a brief recap of our first meeting of 2012 of the Armour Hills Homes Association. It was held January 17 at the Country Club Congregational Church:

*All board members were re-elected to their postions.

*President David Pucci reported that many goals we set for 2011 were accomplished; one of the major goals was bidding out the upkeep and landscaping work for the park and islands, one of our largest expenses. With the new contracts in place, we are saving money over previous years.

*One important goal for 2012 is requesting proposals for upgraded communication with homeowners. This included management of the Clarion newsletter, Facebook page and website.

*Several homeowners from E 69th St were present to discuss what can be done about increasing crime in Armour Hills. They plan to form a separate group to study the issue and offer suggestions to residents. They would like to have homeowner dues raised to pay for regular securityy patrol of the neighborhood.

*We need an activites chairperson for 2012–no volunteers have stepped up so we divided up the major social events and board members will organize accordingly.

*Our PIAC funds request are still under consideration, a decision is expected this Spring.

This is not all of the topics that were discussed, but the highlights. Armour Hills residents are welcome to come to any board meeting. The next one is at 7pm on Feb 21, same location.

Armour Hills 2011 Annual Homes Association Meeting-Recap

Posted on November 18, 2011 by Mary Hutchison

Last night was the annual Armour Hills Homes Association meeting. Approximately fifty people attended. Special thanks to The Roasterie and McClain’s Bakery for providing us refreshments! Here is a brief recap of what was presented and discussed:

Since the current board took over in January, we have improved the finances of the homes assocation, put a snow removal plan in place, reduced costs with our annual maintenence contracts and now have advertising in the Clarion newsletter. We have applied for four PIAC grants and should know early next year if we will be awarded any money.

Two board members were re-elected to their current positions: Gunnar Hand as City Liason and myself as Codes Enforcement officer.

Councilpersons Jan Marcuson, John Glover and John Sharp attended the meeting, and they all spoke about the new redistricting plan. Marcuson and Glover seem fine with the plan–which is that our homes association will no longer be in their district (the fourth district) but will move to the 6th district (represented by John Sharp). Mr Sharp is totally against the proposed map outlinging the new districts. Many Armour Hills homeowners (and other homes associations south of 59th St) are against this new plan as well. We feel it would cut Brookside in half as a cohesive neighborhood. There could be financial implications as well, because of redistributed tax dollars and PIAC money. There will be a public hearing on the redistricting plan November 30, 6pm at City Hall. The general feeling is there is quite a bit of back door political manuvering going on with this proposed plan.

Our plans for 2012 include establishing an active Block Watch on each street with an active Block Captain. We also hope to improve communication with our residents next year through an updated website, adding a Facebook page and updated email blast lists.

Thanks to all AH residents and City Council persons who attended last night.

Armour Hills Home Sales Statistics Aug 2011

Posted on September 13, 2011 by Mary Hutchison

Interesting home sales statistics from the Armour Hills subdivision in Brookside last month..I think these stats show
some trends worth noting…my comments below!

In August 2010, six homes sold in Armour Hills. Average days on market: 59.
Average list price: $176,650. Average sales price: $174,475.

In August 2011, nine homes sold in Armour Hills. Average days on market:
101. Average list price: $223,811. Average sales price: $215,372.

The average sales price for August 2010 was very low for Armour Hills. More
of the lower priced homes sold, including some foreclosures, which drag down
sales prices. Note the average days on market was 59–fairly fast for a
‘depressed’ housing market, and indicates buyers will snatch up bargains in
this subdivision.

The average sales price for August 2011 was more along the usual average for
the subdivision. More units were sold this year, which is encouraging, although
the days on market — 101 — was nearly twice as long as the same period for
last year. The higher average sales price and more units sold perhaps reflects
a bit more confidence in the market as well as sellers ‘waiting out’ the down
year of 2010 to try and sell this year instead.

If you would like home sales statistics for your area–email me with your address and I will send them over. Thanks for reading my blog!

My Favorite New Listings in Brookside

Posted on August 24, 2011 by Mary Hutchison

On Realtor tour today…two new listings caught my eye…read on for details and a few pictures!

In one of my favorite subdivisions, Rockhill Gardens, this new Tudor home is move in ready! Three bedrooms, two and a half baths, two car attached garage, finished basement with bonus room…a breezy side porch and sunny breakfast room. New windows! Large bedrooms! $243,000.

A few blocks north and east, in Armour Hills Gardens, there is a new listing on Cherry. This one is also updated and ready for new owners: Three bedrooms, one is on the first floor; two full baths, one car garage, a formal living room with a custom framed fireplace, and a nice sized office on the first floor. Large patio in the backyard (no real yard) and a one car garage private drive. $209,950.

Note that these two homes are not my listings, but I can send you more information if you or someone you know is interested. With interest rates at historic lows, this is the time to get a deal on a Brookside home you’ll treasure for years! Contact me at mary.hutchison@prukc.com

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