Brad's Blog

Christmas Food Drive a Success!

Thank you to everyone who participated in our 2011 Homes Giving Hope Christmas Food Drive. We were able to deliver 749 pounds of food to the Kansas Food Bank. This represents a 42% increase over last year! Below you'll see a photo of the food collected today along with the students from Andover High School who helped in the collection process. Those pictured include, from left to right, Chase Ogden, Ryan Minear, Brooke Hilbert, Ryann Horton, Cale Minear, Maddie Routhier, Dawn Minear, Brad Minear and Hayley Minear.

Thanks again for making this year's Food Drive a BIG SUCCESS!

December 10 - Christmas Food Drive to Benefit Kansas Food Bank

One month from today, December 10, 2011, Homes Giving Hope will be sponsoring its 3rd Annual Christmas Food Drive to benefit the Kansas Food Bank. To participate, please email brad@homesgivinghope.com or call Brad at 393-2001 and your home will be added to the collection route. Homeowners should place non-perishable food items on their front porch by 9:00am on December 10. Student volunteers from Andover High School will be collecting the food that morning and delivering it to the Food Bank in the afternoon. Below you will find a list provided by the Kansas Food Bank of Most Needed Food Items. THANK YOU FOR MAKING A DIFFERENCE THIS CHRISTMAS SEASON!!!

Homes Giving Hope Gift Summary - As of June 30, 2011

As of June 30, 2011, Homes Giving Hope gifts to 11 charitable organizations have totaled $18,725. Thank you for your business and thank you for your support of the Homes Giving Hope initiative.

Kiplinger Says Wichita is a Best-Value City

Kiplinger's has ranked the Wichita metro area as the 8th best value in the United State this year. Rankings are based on metro area economies, costs of living and amenities. The report says, "Wichita has a high livability factor often only found in towns a fraction of its size: People are friendly, commutes are short, and the cost of living is unusually low". To read the rest of the article, go to http://www.kiplinger.com/slideshow/best-value-cities-2011/9.html#top

2010 School Rankings

The Wichita Eagle has compiled the 2010 state standardized test score results for Wichita area schools. Students in several different grade levels are tested in math, science and reading. Data is available for most public schools across the state. Below are links to The Wichita Eagle news articles that attempt to summarize much of this data for the entire state of Kansas. Additional data can be obtained by contacting the individual school districts.

http://www.kansas.com/2011/02/02/1703114/2010-state-assessment-scores.html

http://www.kansas.com/2011/02/02/1703407/2010-school-rankings.html

http://projects.kansas.com/schools/districts/

Homes Giving Hope Gift Summary - As of December 31, 2010

As of December 31, 2010, Homes Giving Hope gifts to 11 charitable organizations have totaled $15,905. Thank you for your business and thank you for your support of the Homes Giving Hope initiative.

HGH Food Drive Is A Success!

Homes Giving Hope sponsored its 2nd Annual Drive on December 4. Proceeds of the food drive benefitted the Kansas Food Bank. With the help of some students from Andover High School, 526 pounds of food were collected and delivered to the Food Bank on Saturday. Attached is a photo of the team that organized and managed the food drive. Thank you to everyone who participated. You helped make a difference in the lives of others this Christmas season!

December 4 Food Drive to Benefit Kansas Food Bank

One month from today, December 4, 2010, Homes Giving Hope will be sponsoring its 2nd Annual Food Drive to benefit the Kansas Food Bank. To participate, interested families should email brad@HomesGivingHope.com or call Brad at 393-2001 and your home will be added to the collection route. Homeowners should place non-perishable food items on their front porch by 9:00am on December 4. Student volunteers from Andover High School will be collecting the food that morning and delivering it to the Food Bank in the afternoon. Below you will find a list provided by the Kansas Food Bank of the Most Needed Food Items. THANK YOU FOR MAKING A DIFFERENCE THIS CHRISTMAS SEASON!!!

New Southeast Quadrant K-8 School

Construction will begin soon on a new K-8 in the southeast quadrant of the Wichita School District. The state-of-the-art K-8 school will feature three classroom wings, a media center/library, 800 seat auditorium and music suites and a gymnasium that will also serve as the safe room storm shelter. The new school will be located 1/4 mile north of Pawnee on 143rd St.. Construction is scheduled to be complete by July 2012.

Homes Giving Hope Gift Summary - As of September 30, 2010

Market Activity Report for First 9 Months of 2010

Overall sales activity for the first 9 months of 2010 was slightly lower than during the same period of 2009. According to statistics provided by the South Central Kansas MLS, 6,062 homes were sold during the first 9 months of this year. This represents a 5% decrease from the same period in 2009. Meanwhile, the number of homes For Sale as of the end of September has increased 19% from the same time a year ago. A good inventory of available homes and historically low interest rates make now an excellent time to buy!

Homes Giving Hope Gift Summary - As of July 31, 2010

As of July 31, 2010, Homes Giving Hope has delivered nearly $14,000 in gifts to charitable organizations in Wichita and beyond. Below is a summary of gifts provided to each organization. Thank you to each of my clients who have helped by directing our gifts to their preferred organization.

Kansas Ranks No. 11 in Business Survey

The Wichita Eagle reports that a CNBC survey ranks Kansas No. 11 in Top States for Business. The annual survey looks at a number of measures of competitiveness including cost of doing business, work force, quality of life, business friendliness, technology and innovation. Kansas ranked in the top 10 for transportation, economy and cost of living. The only midwestern state ranked ahead of Kansas was Iowa.

J.P. Weigand & Sons Makes Real Trends Largest Brokers List

J.P. Weigand & Sons, Wichita's largest real estate brokerage, has once again been recognized by Real Trends as one of the largest real estate brokerages in the United States. Weigand was ranked as #122 in closed transactions and #199 in sales volume with $478.6 million in sales. Additionally, Weigand ranked 46th among independent real estate brokerages in the U.S..

Homes Giving Hope Recognized by Pregnancy Crisis Center

Homes Giving Hope (HGH) was recently recognized as NUMBER 1 on the list of creative ideas to help financially support The Pregnancy Crisis Center of Wichita (PCC). PCC is an organization providing free, confidential help for those dealing with an unplanned pregnancy. Services include pregnancy testing, parenting education, adoption counseling and individual, couple and family therapy services. Below is a summary of great ideas helping support PCC.

Homes Giving Hope Reaches Major Milestone!!

Homes Giving Hope (HGH) has achieved a very significant milestone. It's been less than 16 months since the HGH concept was introduced and, as of today, Homes Giving Hope gifts and gift commitments (gifts related to pending sales) now exceed $10,000. These gifts have been delivered to 10 organizations whose mission, values and efforts are consistent with the objectives of HGH. To learn more about those helped by HGH, click on the HGH Details tab on my home page.

Wichita Housing Still Very Affordable

The Wichita area ranks 27th nationally in a survey of nationwide housing affordability. A study performed by the National Association of Home Builders, Wells Fargo and Forbes magazine indicates that 91% of homes in the Wichita area are affordable for families earning the median income of $62,900. Wichita ranks 24 spots ahead of Oklahoma City on the affordability list. Kansas City didn't make the top 60.

Grading Our Schools - Detailed Results 2006 to 2009

Today, the Wichita Eagle published the most recent compilation of Grading Our Schools for public school districts in Sedgwick, Butler and Harvey counties. Some parochial schools and other private schools also participated in the survey. Standardized test score results for Math and Reading have been summarized for years 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009. Below are the detailed test results sorted by school and by year for various grade levels. In a separate blog entry, you will find test results summarized by school district, by year for various grade levels. For additional details, visit http://projects.kansas.com/schools.

Grading Our Schools - Test Data Released

Today, the Wichita Eagle published the most recent compilation of "Grading Our Schools". This is a summary of standardized test score results for students in public school districts in Sedgwick, Butler and Harvey counties as well as some private and parochial schools. Data is presented for Math and Reading results for several grade levels and comparative data is included for 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009. Below is summary of 2009 test results by school district. Further detail is also available at http://projects.kansas.com/schools .

Wichita Eagle Recognizes Homes Giving Hope

The Business Today section of The Wichita Eagle's January 12 edition includes a feature article on Homes Giving Hope and the program's efforts to make a difference in our community. To read the entire article entitled "Sales commissions help others", please visit http://www.kansas.com/business/real-estate/story/1132572.html .