Lawrence, KS Real Estate, Homes For Sale, School & Area Information

The people are what makes Lawrence great. Passionate people that look out for each other and care for their fellow man. No where is that better exemplified than the annual Leadership Lawrence class where 30+ individuals stand up with intention to carry the torch and keep Lawrence great. These individuals commit to nine classes over nine months with a history going back 37 years. I graduated in 1999 when I owned a business in downtown Lawrence.

Grinter Farm's Sunflower Field, located between Lawrence and Tonganoxie, Kansas has become a main "late-summer" attraction for thousands of site-seekers.

The Grinter family plants 40 acres of sunflower seeds each year to be sold as bird seed. Around Labor Day weekend these big, beautiful faces of sunshine, (the sunflowers) blossom to share their happiness with everyone. It's estimated over 30,000 visitors will travel a hundred miles radius to celebrate in their slender each year. Family and Senior pictures taken are a must! Especially if you are from Kansas.

When the sun is shining and the work day is done, I am usually grabbing my boat and heading to Clinton Lake. We can be there in about 10 minutes. Be sure and get your annual park pass to access the marina since it's a Corps of Engineer lake. During the week, it feels like our own private lake. A great place to hang out with friends in Lawrence!!!

Allen Fieldhouse is one reason that people move back or buy second homes just so that they can stay connected to the local athletics.

One of the most popular areas for country living is southwest of Lawrence around Clinton Lake. The Corps of Engineers controls much of the land east of the lake and south of the city so you have to go about 1/2 mile beyond to see rural residential and rural subdivisions. The Lawrence School District extends most of the way around the lake to the west of 59 highway and the Baldwin School District comes up quite a bit further on the east side of 59 highway. I sell a lot of homes in the country because there is a growing demand. It's peaceful with access to country fun so if you want to go shopping Lawrence is north and Kansas City is an easy drive east.

The fall season is a beautiful time of year in Lawrence. Right now the leaves are changing and the weather is still warm. Lately it has been great to spend time outside and enjoy the beautiful weather and views. Before we know it the Christmas lights will be up downtown!

Some key events that are popular in Lawrence this time of year are the Zombie Walk, which raises money for the Lawrence Humane Society, the Fall Arts and Crafts Festival, the Holiday Bazaar, Oktoberfest, and of course, Final Fridays.

Foreclosure properties are reported to be rising at the end of 2015. Reports indicate that bank repossessions of foreclosures rose 66% in this year's third quarter, over last year. As the economy has recovered, bank foreclosures have been in decline for some time, and the number of REO properties on the market has reflected this recent decline as well. If you're looking to purchase foreclosed properties as an investment, or as a buyer seeking to save a little money to spend on a fixer-upper project, keep an eye out as new properties begin to come on at the end of the year, and into 2016.

If you want new construction in Lawrence, you'll want to keep an eye out on the west side. Currently, the subdivisions with the most new construction properties for sale are Foxchase South, Greentree, Langston Heights, Monterey Bluffs, and Oregon Trail. Many of these homes have open floor plans and beautiful views.

Lawrence Restaurant Week is an annual event that takes place in September and includes local restaurants like Free State Brewery, Genovese, Merchants Pub & Plate, The Roost, and many others. Benefiting local charities, each restaurant serves up specials and courses throughout the week for lunch and dinner, including inspired dishes and various wine and beer pairings. This year the beneficiary is Sunrise Project (for more info on Sunrise Project, visit sunriseprojectks.org), a food and environmental program that emphasizes social justice.

My wife and I usually try to hit a different restaurant each year. Last year we went to 715 and this year we went to Free State Brewery where I was also able to sample their new home-brew collaboration "Leftside ProAm Porter". It's not like anyone ever needs an excuse to go to Downtown Lawrence, but this is a really great reason to try something new!

Dad Perry Park is located on the west side of town, off Monterrey and Bob Billings. It has nature trails that wind throughout the park. Features of the west side of the park include a volleyball court, basketball court, playground equipment, and tennis court. Features of the north side of the park include a soccer field, playground equipment, and open area for various recreational activity.There are also two shelters available in the park. With all these amenities, Dad Perry Park is a great place to host events.

The Rotary Arboretum in Lawrence is a beautiful spot in Lawrence. Walking along the grassy paths, you will find beautiful flowers, native plants and trees. It's a great place to go if you need some peace and quiet to clear your mind and go on a walk. In addition to the garden and grassy walking paths, there is a gazebo, barbecue grills, a pergola, a small stream with cascading waterfalls, and a pond. There is also an area designated for a butterfly habitat.

When work day is over and sun is still shining we grab our boat and head to the lake. Ten minutes and we are on the water! Make sure you buy the annual pass to get to the marina. Clinton Lake is a great place for outdoor summer activities. It's the perfect place to go boating, fishing, camping, and hiking. This 1,500 acre park has 383 campground sites, six reservable shelters, biking and hiking trails, playgrounds, and more!

The rain seems to not want to let up on the Midwest lately. Here in Lawrence, when it rains like this, the Kansas River ends up rushing over the Bowersock Dam. Here is a video I shot on a rainy day recently.

Want to see the real Lawrence? Check out my tour of our wonderful town! You're going to like what you see!

I have been selling foreclosures for over 15 years, representing multiple banks. National asset managers have properties throughout northeast Kansas (Douglas, Johnson, Shawnee, Jefferson, Leavenworth, and Franklin counties) and choose which agents to work with months before they retake ownership of the property from the borrower. Foreclosures are all about great deals. It's not uncommon for buyers to purchase at 20% below market value. If you are interested in a move-in ready home, a fixer upper or an investment opportunity you need to find a real estate agent that knows the market and what is and isn't listed. This market is often a fast pace race from start to finish.

I just got back from a Cub Scouts trip to the Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Center in Hutchinson. It was the first time in my life that I visited and was amazed that we have such an fascinating place so close to Lawrence. The Apollo 13 Command Module made famous in Ron Howard's movie is there. So is a lunar spacecraft from the Odyssey series and the Liberty Bell 7 Mercury which was recovered 38 years later from the Atlantic Ocean. We blew up liquid oxygen, ate liquid nitrogen ice cream, learned how rockets work and my son trained as an astronaut. The museum has more space artifacts than anywhere except the Johnson and Kennedy Space Centers.

The most obvious cultural distinction of Lawrence, Kansas is the international presence here with residents from all over the world. Lawrence has three formal sister cities through Sister Cities International and has done many cultural exchanges with all of them.

Eutin, Germany - 1989
Hiratsuka, Japan - 1990
Iniades, Greece - 2009

These are all countries that have geographic and cultural similarity with Lawrence. Eutin is north of Hamburg and Lubeck, Hiratsuka is outside Tokyo, and Iniades is west between Athens and Meteora. I have visited all of the sister city larger neighboring cities, but have not had the opportunities to visit our sister cities and have a goal to do so one day.

El Papaturro, El Salvador is an unofficial sister city. As with Lawrence, they are all beautiful parts of the world.

Lawrence averages 39.9" of precipitation annually. As I look out my window on a cancelled school day, it is snowing 11" in February in one day. Average temperatures are 28 degrees in January and 78 degrees in July. The saying in Kansas is "if you don't like the weather, wait five minutes". Lawrence attracts residents from all over the world including over 100 countries represented at the University of Kansas. It is always fun to meet a new resident that has never seen snow because we have all four distinct seasons and if you want to be prepared for the weather, you had better watch the nightly news forecast. Below is the Wikipedia link with a climate graph of data.

On July 17th, 1854 29 men set out from Massachusetts and on October 6th they created Lawrence, KS, naming the central downtown street to honor the origins of their pioneer party. From that amazing beginning to our role in the start of the Civil War to being the sixth largest city in Kansas with a 2010 census population of 87,643 (add another half of the 27,000 students that we always argue as permanent residents) and a million other reasons are the reasons why I traveled 35 countries and 150 international cities and never found a better city to raise my family.

Wikipedia has exploded the internet with information written by individuals and submitted on every topic imaginable (kind of like our little website here). The link below details great information on Lawrence, its history, census data, climate and much, much more. This is a great read on our wonderful city.

In Lawrence, we have a number of neighborhoods that are organized into associations and a number of them that are not. Under the umbrella of City Hall at 6 E 6th St. is the Lawrence Neighborhood Resource office to the east in the basement of Riverfront Road (the old Riverfront Mall) that assists with neighborhood planning and development including construction and planning through to zoning and code enforcement. Below is the city website with some incredible resources for understanding the geography of a neighborhood on the map, the individuals to contact for each neighborhood, newsletters, detailed neighborhood performance reports and lots of FAQs.

I grew up playing at Broken Arrow Park as a toddler, eating at church functions in the shelter, playing baseball on the field every week, climbing up the rocket ship (that has since been dismantled) and I even did my Eagle Scout Project in the park. In the spring of 2013, I chose this location to take off for my first hot air balloon ride in our company balloon where we floated over the University of Kansas and landed behind the USD 497 main office. The broken arrow is a symbol of peace and became the name of this 20 acres that was donated in 1961 through the Department of the Interior adjacent to Haskell University. Located at 31st and Louisiana, this park is regularly used for school mud volleyball, the Lawrence Horseshoe Club using 16 lighted courts, picnic areas to eat and fly kites, three ball fields, numerous swing sets and the annual 48 contestant Sertoma BBQ in May that qualifies the winner for the state American Royal (see link below). To the north are South Middle School and Broken Arrow Elementary, to the east is Haskell, to the south across 31st is the Baker Wetlands and soon to be the K10 bypass completion and to the west is the Indian Hills subdivision where I grew up. On the SE corner is the Wakarusa Township Fire Dept at 300 W. 31st. There are other city parks that are larger in acreage, but this one rivals all with its openness and the other open space around it.

Many things make Lawrence an amazing place to call home, but none more so than downtown. Massachusetts Street is the heart & soul of downtown and is a hot spot for shopping, dining and nightlife. Downtown is also home to many residents, and the vast variety of housing options include historic single family homes, lofts, apartments and townhomes. Any visit to Lawrence should include a stroll down Massachusetts Street.

If you like to be up early on Saturday mornings this is place for you. Last 10 years from April until late September I spent my Saturday mornings enjoying Lawrence Farmers Market. Talking to different international vendors and local farmers makes for great experience.

In the morning you come for coffee and breakfast. Then you can spend a couple hours walking around talking to local vendors, buying fresh vegetables, fruits, flowers and after all the walking it's time for
lunch !!!!! Where better to get lunch than from a street vendor at Downtown Farmers Market.

Before starting to work for RE/MAX Excel , I spent 16 years working for Amarr Garage Doors located in East Hills Business Park. Amarr was established in 1951 by the Brenner family in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Amarr has grown to more than 1,000 team members, operating two manufacturing plants in the United States, and 77 door distribution centers in the United States, Mexico, and Canada.

Amarr is a great place to work for in Lawrence area.