Sun, Nov 08 2009
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Published August 08, 2008 12:38 am - Even in a sluggish real-estate market, houses change hands, sales are made, contracts are signed and moving trucks line up for the big move. But about once a month, a local Realtor makes a one-in-a-million sale. Luxury still sells By Melissa Dunson
mdunson@joplinglobe.com Even in a sluggish real-estate market, houses change hands, sales are made, contracts are signed and moving trucks line up for the big move. But about once a month, a local Realtor makes a one-in-a-million sale. “I think if someone actually knew how many million-dollar houses there are in the Joplin area, they would be blown away,” said Donny Allen, president of the Ozark Gateway Association of Realtors. With one of the lowest costs of living in the country, the Joplin area still has 38 homes for sale currently listed at $500,000 or more — the real-estate definition of a “luxury home” — according to the Multiple List Service. It’s a posh subclass that remains mostly unseen by the rest of Joplin’s residents, but it can mean big opportunity and big stress for the area real-estate agents and builders who operate in that niche market. Allen is trying to sell a house in the Grand Falls subdivision near Redings Mill for just less than $1 million. That price tag is unusual, considering that Ozark Gateway reports $109,906 was the average price for the 188 houses that sold in the area in June. Even nationally, a $1 million house is the exception. The National Association of Realtors reported that the average sale price for an existing home in June was $256,600. ‘They have the cash’ Doris Carlin, a Keller Williams Realtor specializing in luxury homes, said no homes listed at $1 million or more have sold in the past 30 days, but the average rate is about one a month for the Joplin area. The economy seems to have little to do with it, Allen said. “These houses exist here, and there’s a market for them,” he said. “You hear the national media talking about how bad the housing market is, but it doesn’t matter to them as much because they have a motor home that costs as much as the house. They have the cash.” Allen said most of the clients who buy million-dollar homes aren’t concerned about the mortgage scandal or interest rates, because they’re paying in cash. If a buyer decided to take out a mortgage on a $1 million house and put 20 percent down, Allen said, the payments would be about $7,500 a month, and the buyer would have to make at least $300,000 a year to qualify. “At that point, it’s about the amenities and the quality of life,” he said. “I don’t think the sluggish economy is going to make that much of a difference to them.” All of the million-dollar homes in the Joplin area were custom-built for particular clients in the beginning, said Charlie Kuehn, owner of Four State Homes in Joplin, the builder of three million-dollar homes in Joplin just in the past year. “Nobody in this area is building million-dollar spec houses,” Kuehn said. “But there are some in Springfield and Kansas City.” With clients requesting such custom amenities as exercise pools in the basement and 11 bathrooms, Kuehn said nothing surprises him anymore. He said there are homes in Joplin that cost $15 million to build, have 18,000 square feet and took five years to complete. 
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