Copper is a hot item in our area... - 10/31/07 10:20 PM
I had an REO out in the country with quite a bit of privacy. When I found it the condition wasn't too bad but it had to be trashed out and the yard mowed. I had the utilities turned on and sent the cleanup crew to clean it.
I sent the yard man to mow. They each used the electricity and water. When I went up on the next afternoon, I couldn't get the electricity to come on. After checking the meter pole I found what you see in the photos above. The copper wiring had been cut, jerked out of … (19 comments)
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Halloween good wishes to everyone. - 10/30/07 08:51 PM
Time for Halloween, folks. All the little kids will come by tomorrow night knocking on doors and asking for candy. At my house we buy the kind of candy that WE like so that if any is left over we enjoy it ourselves.
It was fun dressing up as a fool shown in picture and attending a costume party. Put all that white stuff on your face once and you'll appreciate clowns more.....and makeup artists.....and the ones who wear heavy costumes for movies and the theater!
Have a great Halloween!
… (2 comments)
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Deferred maintenance supreme example. - 10/30/07 03:34 PM
Believe it or not, I had this house listed about 20 years ago. The tree was crowding the storage room even then. Inside the storage room is also the laundry closet that opens from the inside of the house and backs out into this room.
It has recently been foreclosed and it was interesting to see what the tree had done to the patio and the extension of the house. It takes a long time for a tree to reach this size so the maintenance was deferred for all those years. Believe it or not, also, the same people lived here for … (7 comments)
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Beauty can be found in REOs... - 10/28/07 12:12 PM
Driving by and doing a broker's professional opinion on houses about to be foreclosed can be sad. Lots of times the people who lived there have tried to make the home lovely and livable. This particular bpo looked pretty desolate from the front. I'd been in it, however, and knew that it had been improved with a new bedroom and bath, granite counter tops and new floor coverings.
It was a classic example of "You can't make an old house into a new house....no matter how much money you spend." It was sold to someone who then lost it and it became … (2 comments)
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Great haunted house story in Quitman Arkansas - 10/28/07 11:56 AM
We all love a good scary story at Halloween.....or any time!! In the Arkansas Democrat Gazette, the state newspaper, they had a very good story about a tiny city near Searcy AR called Quitman. It has a picture of the old Victorian style house in downtown Quitman. Quitman is much older than I realized since it dates back to the Civil War. This house dates back to 1890.
The story is called "The Legend of Dog Boy" and tells about how this child named Gerald Floyd Bettis was a bad egg from birth and grew up to mistreat all the animals he collected … (3 comments)
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Bullet hole close up.....in cook stove.... - 10/26/07 08:59 PM
REO's are always somewhat scary to go into. You never know what you'll find. I walked into this one, however, and thought I was lucky. It looked clean for a change. There was a a little broken tile and shattered glass but not bad.
Upon closer inspection, however, I discovered what looked like a gaping hole in the stove and another in the dishwasher. Going outside, I could see where the holes had begun. My locksmith and I agreed that someone had SHOT through the house. Whether it was for spite and hatred or whether it was from a crazy neighbor … (15 comments)
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Choose Beebe AR for a progressive small town... - 10/26/07 07:39 PM
SOLD SOLD SOLD SOLD
This house is convenient to Little Rock Air Force Base, Cab
ot, Jacksonville, Little Rock, Conway, Searcy or where ever you may wish to commute. Beebe is a growing city. I can remember when it was ruled by a few old city fathers and they cared nothing about being progressive.
Things have changed. Beebe is now thriving with lots of new construction and citizens who like the slower pace of life in a small town.
This house is an unusual one. Someone bought it new and lived in it just a few nights and then had a change of plans. It … (0 comments)
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Expensive property but worth it..... - 10/25/07 04:37 PM
SOLD SOLD SOLD SOLD SOLD SOLD SOLD!
All cities have best-selling areas. In our city of Searcy AR folks usually have preferences. Some prefer manicured lawns, privacy fences and easy-access to everything. They usually choose River Oaks, a lovely subdivision on the East side of town. Others say, "I don't want a neighbor too close to me." They want a large yard and don't mind driving 10 minutes to get home. These buyers choose the West side of Searcy.
This particular property that I have for sale has 8 acres! Right in the middle of that most-wanted area of Searcy! The house has about … (2 comments)
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Searcy looks good after being away for awhile. - 10/24/07 09:48 PM
Why is it that we always want to go on vacations? Do new things? Travel to foreign parts?
I guess it's our sense of curiosity. It is also good for us to go places, see things, do different things, witness other cultures. One of my fellow Realtors just got back from a tour of Italy. She stayed gone for two weeks and is filled with awe after seeing the Colosseum in Rome and other sites of the ancient world. My broker has gone right now to Mexico to build a house for some deserving family in that country.
Me? I just took … (1 comments)
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Branson MO is a nice place to visit... - 10/23/07 07:50 PM
Everyone needs to take off for a short time and just be with friends and visit another town. I have just returned from Branson Missouri after a two night stay there. Branson appears to be the vacation mecca of the South if you don't want to gamble. It has so many shows to choose from, all wholesome and family oriented.
Each time we visit we come back amazed at the number of hotels, apartments, theaters and shopping areas that have been put up. This time we saw the Titanic sitting there at rest and waiting for visitors. I also don't remember earlier seeing the … (3 comments)
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Tarantulas come along in the fall...a Halloween story. - 10/21/07 07:49 AM
Way back in the 80's when creative financing had to be done I ended up owning a house in order to sell a house! That is not unusual but this particular house was not one that you'd want to own. It was an old farm house type with high ceilings, wood floors, large double-hung windows, ramshackle doors and on the edge of town surrounded by big trees.
Sounds like a dream house....right? Well according to the people who lived there it was not. She was wanting a better house. One of the reasons she wanted a better house was because of the … (3 comments)
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We need name tags on everyone! - 10/19/07 10:41 AM
Along with photos on our cards as Realtors, I have a pet peeve with the bankers, mortgage brokers, Wal-Mart employees, etc., when they have a first-name only name tag. Well how many Jennifers are there? How many Marys? How many Jims? How many Roberts? And there must be several million Lisas. I like seeing both names for memory purposes.
The banks in my area are really bad about running their smiling employees pictures with NO names. I really want to know the names of all of them, first and last. With one bank you have to know which Lisa you want because they … (1 comments)
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Pictures on cards vs. no picture? - 10/19/07 09:54 AM
Some controversy always exists on real estate cards and what you should have on them. My habit has always been to throw away the cards with no photos because there's no way for me to remember that person without a picture. (Having taught Art, I'm strictly a "one picture is worth a thousand words" person.
And, yes, time does fly and the pictures might be a bit dated but it is still a picture. One agent said, "But I look so bad I don't want my picture on a card." One of those dynamic speakers at convention just bellowed, "Well, do you … (10 comments)
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Deciding between ebay and Active Rain...... - 10/18/07 09:17 PM
Posting things on ebay is great fun. Getting up each morning and checking to see if you have a buyer adds spice to life. It doesn't matter if the item is for sale for only $2, it is still a thrill to think someone out there wants that item. Learning the different ways of bidding and putting up things for bidding has taken me a long time but it was worth it.
If the items don't sell, I consider the entry fees a contribution to ebay. I bought some stock several years ago and I can rationalize that I actually gave the … (3 comments)
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The best solution to a problem bathtub - 10/18/07 02:01 PM
I listed a house for an elderly lady who was finally going to live with a daughter or near a daughter. Her husband had needed easy access to a shower before he died.
As most houses were built 15 to 20 years ago, there were two baths with tub showers. It becomes harder and harder to step into showers in a tub. Plus it is sorta dangerous to do so.
One of the children came up with this solution. This picture shows how part of the tub was cut out and then the cut was lined and covered with sheet metal. It … (5 comments)
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Opportunity time? Is that what you call it? - 10/17/07 08:06 PM
In our little town of Searcy AR brokers have told agents that they'd be given "opportunity time" which meant that the agent would be the one on "duty" when a customer either called or walked through the door of the office. That lucky agent had the opportunity to turn the customer into a client....one who bought or sold something through the company.
In earlier days the agent sat up in the front lobby and actually greeted the customer as they came in or called in. In these days of mega offices and agents, the receptionist is the one who greets the person first. … (4 comments)
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A house within walking distance to downtown Searcy. - 10/17/07 01:40 PM
SOLD SOLD SOLD SOLD SOLD SOLD SOLD!
Searcy AR has a lot of nice homes. Searcy has a very active downtown and this house is within two blocks of downtown. You could walk to the Rialto, our historic old movie theater. There's an active Theater-on-the-Square that has dinner shows and children's productions. There's a great little cafe that has famous breakfasts. Several professional offices are on the square and several places to shop. If you know of someone wanting to scale down and sit on a nice little porch and watch a tiny garden grow, this is it.
… (0 comments)
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Not pet friendly? Don't let that be known... - 10/16/07 07:07 PM
I grew up with outside animals. They were wonderful. Dog named Spot, cat named Kitty, and the animals were happy outside. They never got sick, never needed a vet. I guess you raise your kids the way you were raised. My kids were always mad at me because I didn't allow the animals in the house. They admit now that when I was gone they invited them in from time to time. Once they even brought in the horse!! (I always wondered why we had to spray for fleas once a season.)
Now as a real estate agent it seems everyone and … (6 comments)
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Be careful what you say when showing a house. - 10/16/07 12:32 PM
We all have different tastes in houses and how we would decorate them. Through the years I've learned not to express MY opinion too strongly about a house and how it appears. I remember having this house that was in a pretty good area with a pretty good lot but a widower lived there.
Seems his wife had been dead for some time and he'd never cleaned or dusted the place. Dust had settled all over everything. Nothing had been picked up; it was awful! I had a tendency to apologize for its condition when I showed it.
To my surprise, an … (6 comments)
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From Treo to Treo to Treo..... - 10/15/07 09:31 PM
These smart phones are really smart and the folks who made them are possibly the smartest. They make them start having problems just as the warranty runs out. My first one was a Treo 600. I loved that thing. I loved having people admire it as we used it to get into houses through the lockbox.
But I didn't love it when people started saying, "What's that awful buzzing sound? I can hardly hear you." Well, a search on Google indicated it was a common problem. I fixed it once....did my own appendectomy from Google's directions....and it worked a little while … (3 comments)
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I just love Google Earth and you will too.. - 10/15/07 04:38 PM
It has always been difficult to figure out where property begins and ends if it is a parcel in the country. I used to order aerial view photos from the Arkansas Highway Department. I'd pay about $40 for an enlargement of the area. They were great in helping sell acreage.
Now we have Google Earth, the greatest thing to hit the internet for awhile. Type in an address and watch the earth come closer and closer until you are there. I called my husband in and said, "Watch as we go visit the children." I typed in the addresses of the three … (5 comments)
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I finally got noticed..... - 10/15/07 01:20 PM
As I wrestled with problems in my office, a fellow agent came by and said that he'd found and enjoyed my blog!! WHAT!! Someone from my office found it? Read it? Enjoyed it? Well, not exactly. He'd found it and commented on it but he'd not read all of it.
Not reading it is understandable. He said he'd put in a search for Searcy AR homes and my blog had pulled up in addition to my website on Homes.com. That "pulling up" is what we're after, isn't it.....being found on the web and being found by people who want to list and … (3 comments)
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This is a beginning... - 10/14/07 06:09 PM
I was reading someone's blog and they were distressed over some agent's low offer. I am afraid that I feel the same way from time to time. But I start remembering one of the smoothest agents that I've ever met and her starting line to a seller. She'd coo, "This is a beginning....". Then she'd present the offer, get a counter, go out and probably work it out.
My favorite thing to say to a seller, if they are handy and at my desk, is, "Don't be mad about this low offer. Just be mad at those people who didn't have the … (9 comments)
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The market becomes slow from here until Christmas. - 10/14/07 05:19 PM
I don't know about your cities but in my area, one can feel a slowing of real estate at this time of the year. And once Thanksgiving gets here, it seems that everyone starts taking off for Christmas. Showing houses at Christmas is not ideal because you can't see the house for the decorations!
I do remember once, however, a very prominent person buying a big house on Christmas eve. He'd seen it but didn't really make up his mind until the day before Christmas. He called his agent and she'd gone to visit relatives in another state.
He was very "put … (4 comments)
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Walk with alacrity to be noticed... - 10/12/07 08:30 PM
Sitting in my office today I saw an agent walk by. She walked with her head held high, her back straight and she was moving on. The term just came to my head. She walked with alacrity. I had to look it up to know what it meant bacause I've always read books and just pass on over words I don't know. The dictionary said, "a cheerful readiness or prompitude - briskness."
So the description fit. She is also our top-producing agent for this town. She's been in the business less than 5 years but has risen to the top by hard … (6 comments)
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Things have become easier in some ways... - 10/11/07 08:50 PM
While calling on two clients today and talking to them about listing, I thought thankfully about how easy it is to go to my computer and pull up the court house information sheet that is available. We pool our funds to pay for the service and it's the best $5 per month that I spend.
The info sheets give square footage, taxes, age, history and many other goodies. While leaving one house, I met up with Sue, someone I'd sold a house to about 18 years ago. She said she'd recommended me to her neighbor and than laughed about how I used … (5 comments)
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I'm afraid I've been bribed by a seller... - 10/10/07 12:11 PM
Today is Wednesday, our day to go and tour the new listings. My husband the car dealer once said, "You real estate agents and insurance agents have it made because you don't own the inventory and have to pay interest on the inventory." Over the years I've realized how profound that statement is because we are lucky to have huge amounts of inventory of houses and land that we can sell and never pay a penny of interest!
So the least we can do is try to be familiar with the inventory. So many agents sit in the office and never … (11 comments)
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Tax time and that unadvertised tax benefit..... - 10/08/07 09:54 AM
Having been in real estate for many years and thinking I was pretty smart, I was absolutely bowled over when we had a member of the tax assessor's office come and speak to us a few years ago. She mentioned "freezing your taxes" as a benefit to people over 65 or handicapped! WHAT! How come I'd never heard of such a thing. The cat was out of the bag, so to speak......I don't believe a real estate agent in that room had ever heard of such a thing.
Since then we have added it to our state forms but it is … (7 comments)
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What is a slow day in real estate? - 10/06/07 08:45 PM
A slow day in real estate happens when most of the state meets for a football game and you stay home. Most of the spammers must be watching football because even the email is almost devoid of viagra spam. The cell phone does not ring. Your home phone does not ring. Your husband and his buddies are listening to the football game in the deep woods while supposedly squirrel-hunting.
So on the slow day, get busy and clean off the back porch, spider bomb the garage, give away some of the hubbie's junk before he gets back, and have a very relaxing day. … (12 comments)
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Does a faster cable connection really make a difference? - 10/05/07 09:10 PM
Having cable internet connection turned out to be better than my experience with satellite internet. The thing that bugged me the worst was going to see a streaming video and having it stop and start and stop and start so I asked the cable company if it would REALLY make a difference if I paid more money ($20 per month) for a faster connection or was it all the same.
They said it REALLY makes a difference so I am trying it. It really is better! I have just watched youtube for an hour and the videos were all steady and continuing. … (8 comments)
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Who can really represent a buyer well? - 10/04/07 09:16 PM
It is my belief that in order to represent a buyer, you need to know the area well enough to do a good job. I have had experience where a person from a city 50 miles away comes in to a city they don't know in order to show houses that the buyer has found on the internet.
The agent has to depend on each listing agent to open the house because they don't have key access, give them stat sheets and direct them to the house. I don't understand why they don't refer the buyer to an agent in the city … (3 comments)
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Just what in a house is a room???? - 10/03/07 09:51 PM
I've been struggling with doing another bpo and keeping in mind that I am not a fee appraiser and am expected to do a good job for this REO listing. And each time I get to the part that asks how many rooms the house has and I despair again.
What, pray tell, is a room? Is a room a large walk-in closet that is as big as some bedrooms? Is a room a big laundry room? Is a room a small space for an office? Is a room the part of a kitchen where you sit down and eat? It must be … (9 comments)
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Those updated bpo's are a real pain, aren't they.... - 10/01/07 09:16 PM
I just finished doing an updated bpo for a foreclosure that didn't sell in 90 days or 80 days or whatever. I usually say what I think they will bring on the first one but the appraiser tells them $10,000 or $20,000 higher and they listen to him. I hate having to redo them and come up with the same or lower price. Does anyone out there have a quicker way of getting them done?
I'm grateful for the bpo work because eventually they will sell but we deserve every dollar we make on them.
… (3 comments)
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