Page 1 - Kiowa County Bank

Mark Schifferdecker is the President, CEO of Girard National Bank. I spoke with
Eric from Kanas Banker Association and Girard National Bank is members of KBA and pay
their dues within 2 weeks of sending it out.

Sean Lening, President of Kiowa County National Bank, has informed KCEDF of their
decision to award $5000 to "Our Homeplate Project". Thank you, KCNB, for stepping up
to the plate! I know we had to schedule our meeting with him first due to the fact
he coaches his son’s team.

"There is No Place like 4-H!" was the theme of the annual Kiowa County 4-H Club
Dinner. The three outstanding 4-Hers by age divisions were: Molly Stolzenberger--
Senior, Emily Nelson--Intermediate and Alexa Nelson--Junior. The youth chose three
people to receive the "Friends of 4-H Award." They are Sean Lening and Marvin and
Gail Koeller. Mr. Lening has been so supportive of 4-H members through his work at
the Bank in Eads and Marvin and Gail have been 4-H leaders for over 14 years and have
been innovative in their leadership with the youth especially at the east end of the
county. Each member was given a certificate and many received numerous awards
presented by the Leader Advisors: Gloria Trosper and Katharina Fehr.

As more than a few people might agree, trying to get a house built in Kiowa County can
make pursuing the “American Dream” feel more like a nightmare. Without a doubt, there
are clear benefits to building in the county, not the least of which are lower land prices and
less restrictive building codes. But once prospective home builders actually begin the
process of trying to get a new home construction loan, they can find themselves facing
obstacles and restrictions that can be difficult, if not impossible, to work around.

“The problem is with appraisals,” states Sean Lening, President of Kiowa County National
Bank. Common sense might suggest that, if it costs $200,000 to build a home, the home
would appraise, or be worth, that amount. However, the appraisal of the value of a home is
determined by the market value, not the cost to build, and the market value is determined
by what price the home would most likely bring in an open, competitive market. Appraisers
estimate that price by looking at every aspect of a house—in the case of new construction,
square footage, bedrooms, bathrooms, everything included on the house plans as well as
type of materials to be used—plus neighborhood, location and view. They then look for
houses that are comparable--that is, with characteristics as similar as possible that are
located nearby and have sold within a certain period of time. Once comparable houses are
found, some appraisers “toss out”—or remove from consideration—the highest and lowest
priced houses. The sale prices of the remaining houses are used to determine the