Sunset Realty

Find Boat Slips and Docks For Sale

We have just launched our new boat slip listings page. This new feature allows you to find slips and docks on area lakes for sale by owner. These listings are not MLS listings and won’t be seen on MLS based realty sites around the web. Follow the contact us link found on a slip/dock listing page for more information or to make an offer on one.

List Your Boat Slip

Have a boat slip or dock to sell? We want your listing! Your slip or dock will be exposed to our large, highly qualified, customer base. The setup process is not only simple, its FREE! A brokerage fee is only charged when the slip sells. Contact us today to take advantage of this free marketing opportunity.

Finding Real Estate Bargains

With the recent explosion of foreclosure listings and short sale listings, it has certainly become a buyer’s market. There are many homeowners out there anxious to sell their homes. However, foreclosures and short sales aren’t the only bargains out there. Many homeowners have a large amount of equity in their homes and are willing to price their homes at unheard of prices in order to avoid foreclosure or short sale. Along with bargain new listings, homeowners are reducing their existing listings at alarming rates. In order to help our clients locate these bargains before other potential buyers, we have created two new sections on our site: New Listings and Price Reductions. Both sections are updated daily at 11:00 am CST.

New Listings Page

On our newly listed homes page, you can see properties listed in the last 24 hours, last 7 days, or last 30 days. You can sort by several different attributes by clicking on any blue column shown above the property list.

Price Reductions Page

This powerful new bargain hunting tool allows you see existing home listings that were recently reduced in price. Just like our new listings page, you can see price reductions that occurred in the last 24 hours, last 7 days, or last 30 days. Be sure to bookmark this useful tool to quickly find your dream home before other savvy buyers.

Commercial Real Estate in the Branson / Tri-Lakes Area

As a premier tourist destination, Branson and the surrounding Tri-Lakes area has a large offering of commerical real estate and businesses for sale. On our site, you quickly locate commercial properties and businesses for sale ranging from vacant warehouses and office space to restaurants and motels.

Our commerical listings include extensive information about the business or property including:
• Business type
• Address
• Lease information if available
• List price
• Parking capacity
• Lot specifications
• and much more..

Searching and Sorting Commercial Properties

Our commercial listings are now integrated into our MLS Search. You can search by city, commercial type, age of property, price range, and more. Once you’ve narrowed your results down by using the search, you can sort by price, type, location, and more. If you have any questions about a listing, simply follow the contact us link found on each listing detail page.

Looking for a Home on one of Branson’s Premier Golf Courses?

Branson Missouri has a large offering of beautiful homes for sale located around golf courses. If you’re in the market for such a Branson home, the following golf membership rates should come in handy. There are multiple plans to suit every golfer’s needs and budget. These rates are subject to change but are accurate as of this post.

Holiday Hills Golf Course

* Rates are for Residents only
• Family Rates: $65 per month or $450 per year with Cart.
• Daily Rate: $14 per round of golf.

Stonebridge Resort and Golf Course

* Rates are for Residents only
• Family Rate With Cart: $2660 per year.
• Family Rate Without Cart: $2210 per year.

Pointe Royale Golf Course

* Rates are for Residents only
• Yearly Rate with Cart: $650 per year.
• Yearly Rate without Cart: $600 per year.
• By the Round: $25 per round ($14 extra for cart).

Thousand Hills Golf Course

* Rates are for Residents only
• Yearly Rate Sunday thru Thursday: $1000 per year includes cart.
• Yearly Rate Any Day of Week: $1500 per year includes cart.

Murder Rock Golf Course

* Rates are for Residents only
• Yearly Rate: $2800 per year includes cart.

Branson Creek Golf Course

* Rates are for Residents only
• Yearly Rate: $3000

Contact Us for professional assistance finding the perfect Branson Area Golf Home.

In May, 2011, Dustin and the Sunset Team were selected in 417 Magazine’s “Top 100 Real Estate Agents” list. The Southwest Missouri Realtors on this elite list were selected based on customer service, professional reputation and sales volume. Read the full article at 417 Magazine.

Major updates to Sunset Realty Website

We have just made many new changes to our website. Along with lots of small improvements to the website appearance, we have added several new features to assist our home buyers! The biggest change to the site involves our MLS search and MLS listing pages.

MLS Listing Search Results

Property listing improvements include:

• Layout improvements to property search results.
• Improved pagination for browsing through search results quickly.
• Addition of sorting feature. Sort ascending/descending by property price, beds, baths, location, and more.
• Property detail page now provides extensive information about the property listing.
• Addition of visual icons to quickly recognize foreclosure properties, lake view / lake front properties, featured listings, and more.
• Run a MLS Search to test drive the new features!

Property Comments by The Sunset Team

As local Branson Real Estate Agents, we are very familiar with the local housing market and felt we would share our “inside” opinion on select properties! This information is invaluable to buyers looking for that special Branson home. If the Sunset team comments on a property, it will appear at the bottom of the detail listing page. If you’d like to see all properties we have commented on, visit our new Sunset Top Picks page.

Short Sales and Foreclosure Listings

To assist investors and bargain hunters, we have added 2 new pages which serve as a collection of both Foreclosure homes and Short Sale homes.

Live Chat

Sunset has always put customer service first. In order to quickly answer home buyers questions, we have added a new live chat feature. During normal business hours, a Sunset agent will respond to your questions within seconds. The live chat button appears at the top of every page except the blog pages.

Other Changes

Returning visitors will notice lots of other “bells and whistles” scattered about. All these little niceties are there to improve our website visitor’s overall real estate experience! Check back frequently for more updates and valueable information we are planning.

As of January 26^th, 2010, there were 92 foreclosures and 35 short sales active on the market in Taney and Stone counties.  45 of these are residential foreclosures in Taney counties ranging from a 1 bedroom, 2 bath home in Branson listed for $49,900 to a 4 bedroom, 4 bath home in Branson’s Pointe Royale subdivision listed for $549,900.  Stone County has 27 residential home foreclosures on the market ranging from a 1 bedroom, 1 bath bungalow located down DD Highway outside of Branson West listed for $22,500 to a 4 bedroom, 3 bath home in Kimberling City’s Overlook subdivision for $439,000.  In regard to the condo foreclosure market, there are currently 16 condos in Taney County listed for sale ranging from a 3 bedroom, 2 bath condo at Academy Commons outside of Branson listed for $44,500 to a 2 bedroom 2 bath Branson Landing condo listed for $219,900.  Stone County currently has 4 condo foreclosures on the market ranging from a 2 bedroom 2 bath condo located at Notch Estates for $49,900 to a 2 bedroom, 2 bath Stonebridge Village lodge listed for $124,900. 

Currently, there are 35 short sales listed for sale on the Tri-Lakes MLS.  There are 20 residential short sales in Taney County ranging from a 3 bedroom, 2 bath duplex in Forsyth listed for $69,900 to a 5 bedroom, 4 bath home outside of Branson listed for $369,900.  There are 3 residential short sales in Stone County ranging from a 5 bedroom 2 bath home located down DD Highway outside of Branson West listed for $119,900 to a 4 bedroom, 2 bath home in Branson West listed for $237,900.  4 condo short sales are currently on the market in Taney County ranging from a 1 bedroom, 1 bath condo at Pointe Royale listed for $44,000 to a 2 bedroom 2 bath Branson Landing condo listed for $399,900.  In Stone County, there are 8 condo short sales listed right now ranging from a 1 bedroom, 2 bath lodge at Stonebridge Village outside of Branson West listed at $79,500 to a 3 bedroom, 3 bath lodge also located at Stonebridge priced at $211,750.

Residential foreclosures in Taney and Stone counties represent 26 pending sales in the Tri Lakes Multi List System and foreclosure condos represent 6 pending sales.  From January 1st  to January 26th, 2010, there were 6 residential foreclosure homes that sold in Taney and Stone counties ranging from a 3 bedroom, 1 bath home in Kirbyville that sold for $40,000 to a 3 bedroom, 3 bath home in Branson that sold for $113,500.  1 2 bedroom, 2 bath foreclosure condo at Stonebridge has closed for $82,500.

For more information on foreclosures in Branson and the surrounding area, please e-mail salesteam@sunsetrealtyservices.com.  If you would like to receive new foreclosure listings as they come on the market, complete the form on our home page. 

Did you know that over 8 million people visit the Branson area annually? In today’s economy, this is quite an accomplishment. One reason so many people still head to Branson is our prime location. Nestled in the heart of the Ozark Mountains, Branson is just one day’s drive from 25% of the United State’s population. The newly opened Branson Regional Airport, the first privately owned and operated commercial airport in the U.S., makes it even easier for tourists to reach our family-friendly vacation destination.

While an easy to reach location is great, that isn’t all that draws visitors to Branson and the surrounding area. We’ve got three spectacular lakes, each unique from the others. First and probably best known in the area is Table Rock Lake. With over 700 miles of shoreline and over 43,000 surface acres, this pristine lake is a paradise for boaters, water skiers, scuba divers and swimmers. For the fishermen in the bunch, Lake Taneycomo’s cold, clear waters offer some of the best trout fishing in the world and flows through Historic Downtown Branson. Bull Shoals Lake is renowned for its largemouth bass and offers visitors who are looking for a little less traffic an opportunity to boat, swim and ski.

Of course, Branson is has been in the live music entertainment business for 50 years and boasts over 50 theaters and nearly 100 shows. Don’t think that we just have country music either – there’s something for every taste, ranging from The Liverpool Legends (hand-picked by Louise Harrison, George Harrison’s sister) performing as The Beatles to The Chinese Acrobats to The Legends in Concert featuring some of the world’s greatest impersonators portraying such artists as The Blues Brothers, Neil Diamond, Buddy Holly, Elvis and many others. For country music fans, Branson still has plenty of shows to choose from including Jim Stafford and The Oak Ridge Boys.

In addition to all the shows and the natural Ozark beauty, there’s a host of other things to do in Branson including Silver Dollar City, an 1880’s themed amusement park, White Water, Branson’s outdoor water park, the Titanic Museum, Ripley’s Believe It or Not Museum and The Butterfly Palace. Located downtown on Lake Taneycomo, The Branson Landing, our newest $300 million addition, offers over 100 shopping choices, 10 restaurants and live entertainment. With so much to do, it’s easy to see why over 8 million visitors flock to Branson yearly.

All of these tourists need a place to stay and many of these visitors want more than a motel room for their vacation. They want the conveniences of home. To achieve this comfort, an increasing number of visitors are renting vacation homes and condos. The advantages are numerous. They can stay under the same roof where everyone has their own room where they can hang out, read or watch TV without being on top of each other. Fully-stocked kitchens eliminate the expense of eating every meal in a restaurant. Leftovers can be brought back to the home further reducing food costs. Pet friendly vacation condos and homes allow those that want to travel with their four-legged companions a place to stay. Additionally, many properties offer great amenities for guests to use such as swimming pools, hot tubs, tennis and golf. These are just a few reasons why many tourists coming to the Branson area opt to stay in a vacation rental home or condo over a hotel.

Now more than ever, Branson is a great place to vacation AND invest. Sunset Realty and Sunset Nightly Rentals specialize in vacation property sales and vacation rental management around the Branson and Tri-Lakes area. We are committed to finding the right property and achieving the best possible return for your investment. Unlike other real estate companies, Sunset has first hand knowledge and experience in the vacation rental industry. It’s a great way to enjoy a vacation property and rent it when not in use, helping offset your mortgage. If you would like more information on vacation rental investments,call us at 866-804-8361. To view our vacation rental properties and schedule your next trip to Branson, call us at 877-784-4614.

free “family friendly” things to do in Branson

The rolling Ozark Mountains and our three incredible lakes, Table Rock Lake, Bull Shoals Lake and Lake Taneycomo, make Branson, Missouri a beautiful, scenic outdoor wonderland that provides great opportunities for exciting and leisurely vacations. There are plenty of things to see and do. Even better, there are plenty of FREE things to do that are fun and interesting for everyone. Branson’s great variety of outdoor fun, unique attractions and interesting history make it the perfect place to live or discover a great vacation!

1. Table Rock Lake: The waters of this outdoor wonderland have become a haven for visitors nationwide. Take advantage of water activities such as boating, fishing, water-skiing, swimming, scuba diving, hiking and camping. Table Rock Dam is a massive engineering structure that was completed in 1958 and created Table Rock Lake. Crowds gather to watch the powerful structure hold back the waters of the White River.
2. Shepherd of the Hills Fish Hatchery: One of Branson’s most popular tourist sites, the fish hatchery is located below Table Rock Dam. The center has several beautiful aquariums showcasing Missouri’s native fish including both Rainbow and Brown Trout for not only Lake Taneycomo but other state trout fishing facilities. Self-guided and conducted tours are available. The hatchery is operated by the Missouri Department of Conservation.
3. Moonshine Beach: Moonshine Beach is a great place to relax with the family. The sandy beach located on Table Rock Lake next to the dam allows families to swim, sun and enjoy beautiful views. ($4.00 per vehicle)
4. Bull Shoals Lake: Bull Shoals is a water sports paradise. Almost 1,000 miles of pristine shoreline is open to visitors from all over the nation who come to fish, scuba dive, houseboat, water ski, wake board, camp, and relax. Bull Shoals Lake water is very clean and clear. Swimming is enjoyable from mid May until late September. Fishing on Bull Shoals Lake is excellent all year with peak action in March, April, and May.
5. Lake Taneycomo: Lake Taneycomo’s clear cold waters provide some of the finest trout fishing available anywhere in the world. The Rainbow Trout and Brown Trout that ply the waters of Lake Taneycomo provide an exciting, year-round fishing experience. Full-service marinas and outfitters in the area offer canoeing, kayaking, fishing boats, motors, guides, tackle, and pontoons for relaxing and fun-filled lake activities. Other activities in and around this lake include hiking, scuba diving, and picnicking.
6. Shopping in Branson: Branson is a great place to shop and it doesn’t cost a thing to look! Explore the many outlet malls and the new addition to the Branson scene, Branson Landing.
7. Historic Downtown Branson: A small-town, charming glimpse into historic Branson. This popular area is filled with shops, restaurants and quaint stores filled with treasures.
8. Historic Downtown Branson’s Discovery Trolley: The green trolleys run a 15 minute loop through Historic Downtown Branson and the length and breadth of Branson Landing.
9. Branson Landing: The Landing has a beautiful level 1 ½ mile family friendly boardwalk. Visitors can stroll while enjoying scenic views, Lake Taneycomo, 100+ shops, 20+ restaurants and free entertainment.
10. Branson Landing Fountain Show: Fountains are located at the heart of Branson Landing at the foot of the “Town Square” on the Lake Taneycomo lakefront. The fountains are a part of the spectacular $7.5 million water, fire, and light and music show that shows every hour…most spectacular at night! Free concerts on some weekends.
11. Henning State Forest: This 1,534 acre-park, located on W. Highway 76 just one mile west of Branson, offers spectacular views, nature trails and nature studies. There is a naturalist on hand to answer questions and a beautiful scenic lookout area that provides an incredible view of the countryside.
12. Stockstill Park: This park offers Branson visitors 62 acres of outdoor enjoyment that includes calm streams, athletic opportunities and rolling, grassy meadows and is located just a few minutes from Lake Taneycomo. This very popular park is a hub of activities for adults and children alike. The park, which sets along Roark Creek, hosts softball and tennis leagues for all ages on its two softball fields and six tennis courts. Throughout the park are two large children’s playgrounds and four separate covered pavilions that are a popular for family picnics. A ½ mile paved walking trail surrounds the park. Public restrooms are available. A lighted soccer field and the newest feature, a skate park can also be found at the park. You may take either W Hwy 76, north on Walnut St., then west on Stockstill Lane into the park; or take Hwy 248 west, south on Epps Road, then east on Melody Penner Lane.
13. Stone Hill Winery: Experience a sparkling tour of wine making on this free tour, which ends with some fine wine tasting. Kids receive grape juice.
14. College of the Ozarks: This picturesque campus is complete with gorgeous landscaping, fountains and walking paths. Visitors will also want to experience the Keeter Center Restaurant and the free tours at Edwards Mill which is an actual working grist mill and is powered by a twelve foot water wheel driven by water flowing from Lake Honor in the center of the campus. Also check out the Ralph Foster Museum, which houses the area’s best collection of Ozark’s history. (Slight fee for museum admission.)
15. Free Sunday Shows in Branson: Several Branson theaters open their doors Sunday morning for gospel singing and praising.

Since time is running out to take advantage of the first time home buyer tax credit, we thought we would tell you a little about the credit and the unique opportunity that Missouri is providing to assist with down payment and closing costs.  Even if you already own your home, your family and friends may be eligible for the credit so feel free to pass this information along. 

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The Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 established this credit for first time home buyers.  Originally, the credit was only up to $7,500 and was similar to a no-interest loan in the fact that it had to be repaid over a 15 year period.  The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 expanded this credit to $8000 and eliminated the repayment clause as long as the purchaser owns the home as the primary residence for at least three years after the purchase.

Here are some of the requirements in order to claim this credit on your 2009 tax return:

• Applies to purchases that close before December 1^st, 2009.
• The home must be the taxpayer’s principal residence.
• Taxpayers may claim 10% of the purchase price up to $8,000 for married couples filing jointly and $4,000 for married individuals filing separately.
• A taxpayer is considered a first-time homebuyer if you (or your spouse if you are married) did not own any other main home during the three year period prior to the date of purchase.
• The credit begins to phase out for taxpayers whose adjusted gross income is more than $75,000 or $150,000 for married couples filing jointly.

Recently, Missouri was the first state to launch a Tax Credit Advance Loan program allowing buyers to use the credit toward their down payment and/or closing costs.  Rolled out on January 14^th by the Missouri Housing Development Commission, this program makes a second mortgage to the home buyer at closing worth up to 6% of the purchase price up to $6,750 to assist with the down payment and closing costs.  The home buyer files for the federal tax credit on their 2009 tax return and uses the credit refund to pay back the advance.  As long as the buyer pays back the advance no later than the deadline of June, 2010, there is no interest due.  In order to take advantage of this assistance, homebuyers must qualify for their home mortgage loan through a MHDC certified lender for an FHA, VA or USDA Rural Development loan. 

For more information on the tax credit or for a list of MHDC certified lenders, please contact us at www.SunsetSalesTeam.com.

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We look forward to continue to work with you on your real estate needs. Call us toll free at 1-866-804-8361 and don’t forget our websites at www.SunsetRealtyServices.com and www.SunsetNightlyRentals.com. You can also text or call me at 417-699-1070.

Dustin Hall

Broker/Owner

Dustin@SunsetRealtyServices.com