Chris's Blog

I was looking at a house for sale in the beautiful Tower Grove Heights neighborhood yesterday and noticed some activity in the old Gustine Market building and noticed the old awning was up again.  The building was undergoing a nice transformation and new coolers and equipment were being added.  F...

This new listing was very impressive for me once I got in and looked around.  Having owned multi family buildings myself, I wasn't used to seeing one that had been cared for and updated so nicely.  Refinished hardwoods, new High Efficiency HVAC systems, updated electric and plumbing.....the whol...

Here in the midwest, people love the changing seasons.  Since such a large number of homes  are listed in the Summer, seeing the difference in curb appeal between spring or summer and fall really forces home the point that home seller's must consider the changing times more than anyone.  Since ho...

One thing that many home buyer's do wrong is enter the buyer's market without learning about the process and what it entails.  Our free home buyer's workshop was developed with the goal of providing new home buyer's with the basic information to build buyer confidence as they enter the market. T...

A great post on supporting local small businesses!   Another shop in my neighborhood is closing! It's the second in a month! Signs of the times all over the city include “Going Out of Business”, “For Lease” and “Tenant Relocating” notices. That’s why I love the idea of the 3/50 project.  It’s a p...

Ten years ago this month, I traveled to Europe, more specifically Italy, for the first time.  It was fascinating!  At the time, cities and planning were of little interest to me.  I was just a typical American tourist, taking in the scenes, the art and the culture as best as I could. In the years...

When I graduated from school and was ready to seek my fortune, I wrote a resume summing up my life to that point.  Despite my lack of experience, I easily filled up two and a half pages of courses, clubs, certifications and such that sounded like "good resume material".  After a little more embe...

Good information for anyone looking to get an FHA loan on a St. Louis Condo.1. The legal documents of the homeowners association do not contain a right of first refusal or restrictive covenant. 2. The unit is part of a condominium regime that provides for common and undivided ownership of common ...

When we began working in the downtown St. Louis residential real estate market over 5 years ago, it was sort of a new thing.  The market existed largely between developers and buyers with very little involvement of realtors.  As a realtor, there were very few examples of how to do things and man...

The field of real estate, like any other, is fraught with pre-concieved notions.  I love watching HGTV, but one thing that television has a tendency to do is distort reality, even in (especially in) reality TV.  Shows where buyer's look at 3 houses and pick one!  Give me a break!  It can take wee...