Spring Parade of Homes melts into summer, offering tour of houses in LS, Cass, JoCo

Delays related to the pandemic have pushed this year’s Spring Parade of Homes to overlap with the first days of summer. The event, which started June 13, will continue through June 28 across the metro area, and includes homes in Lee’s Summit and Raymore in Missouri, and Olathe and Overland Park in Kansas.

Run by the Home Builders Association of Greater Kansas City, the parade showcases newly constructed homes, most of which are on the market. Because of the delay, some of the homes are now under contract with a buyer, but builders have left them as part of the showcase to illustrate the type of homes they can build.

This year’s event is a little bit different, not only because of the later start date. Many of the builders are making concessions to COVID-19 concerns. The HBA is asking anyone looking at homes to either check its website, kcparadeofhomes.com, or download its app to check hours for the open houses.

Typically, the houses are open 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. each day of the parade, but some of the 120 builders may decide to switch to appointment-only viewings or have shorter hours. The HBA is asking visitors to keep visits to 15 minutes and to stay home if they’re not feeling well.

“We’re leaving it up to them as to how they want to manage,” said Kari English, director of communications for the HBA.

Bill Barnard, of Signature Builders KC, is showing a home in Raymore and said his staff will be cleaning it on a regular basis.

An on-site Realtor at his property will “control that traffic a little bit to make sure everyone’s safe and it doesn’t get overcrowded,” Bernard said. “We all want to observe the social distancing and make sure everyone’s abiding by that.”

Scott Grant, of Grant’s Custom Homes, is showing an already-sold house in Lee’s Summit. He said his sale staff will be sanitizing all high-touch surfaces, and he’ll be providing masks, hand sanitizer, shoe booties and gloves to visitors.

“We want to do what makes the consumer feel comfortable,” Grant said.

Austin Roeser of Roeser Homes is taking a different view. He’ll post an HBA-provided sign on the door about social distancing and will leave internal doors open, but “we’re not really going to change anything,” he said.

He said he’s not especially concerned about COVID-19 transmission in these homes.

“People have a better chance of slipping and falling on my front porch than catching COVID in my house,” said Roeser, who is showing properties in Olathe and Overland Park.

Prices for homes in the parade are all across the board, from $200,000 to $2.5 million.

After having to stay home more than usual the last few months, English said people may have realized they’re not satisfied with their current abodes.

“I think there is a pent-up demand that was there before all this COVID-19 happened, and I think a lot of people are coming out thinking, ‘Wow, I need a home office. I need more space for the kids,’” she said.

Barnard, who’s been building homes in the area since 1991, said he’s just grateful for the opportunity to show the kind of work his company can do.

“It lets us show our craftsmanship and the detail we do in our homes. It’s a great marketing event for the homebuilders in the area,” he said.

This story was originally published June 16, 2020 at 7:00 AM.