This 2.37 acre heavily treed lot has a lovely gazebo ready for relaxing and enjoying the birds and wildlife. There is a second mobile home on the property that is currently used as a storage building and does have electricity but no plumbing.

The home has 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms with each bedroom having a walk-in closet. The mobile home was manufactured in 1999 and has 1344 square feet. Take a tour of the home and if you are interested in seeing the property, give me a call and we will set up an appointment.

Carolyn Shipp, Realtor

United Country Cason Real Estate http://www.carolynshippsellsrealestate.com

Life occasionally gets rather hectic and there are times when we all just want to take a moment and escape.  We want fresh air, playgrounds, pools, golfing and more.  We want to wake up relaxed and feel energized for the day!  Take a chance and find it when you move to Runaway Bay.

 This property is Lot 6 on Port O'Call Drive in Runaway Bay, Texas.  The lot is approximately 1.8+ acres and has an abundance of trees.  Located in a resort/recreational community, you have access to an 18 hole PGA golfcourse and are in walking distance to a public pool and playground.

Priced below the assessed tax value at $21,500.00, the land is located in Wise County, just minutes from the city of Bridgeport and about 45 minutes northwest of Ft. Worth, Texas. 

Runaway Bay offers its' residents many activities to choose from:  fishing, boating and golfing to name a few.  If you own a boat, there are 8 marinas with 148 slips and if you own an RV, there is a facility to store your "mobile" home.  

With an 18 hole PGA golfcourse, walking trails, playgrounds and more, this property is your chance to acquire a great lot to build and begin your life of fun and leisure.   

To see this property, have your agent contact me or our office to set up an appointment.

**City sewer and water are available

Listing Agent:  Carolyn D. Shipp, Realtor
United Country Cason Real Estate
Price:  $21,500.00
(940) 445-0006
http://www.carolynshippsellsrealestate.com

There was a fair amount of activity last week in Palo Pinto County real estate.  We had a few sales, put some properties into pending status and have many that are active.

Currently we have 834 active listings in our county.  These listings include land, commercial, residential and multi-family properties.  Prices range from $5,000 all the way up and through the $1,000,000.00 price point.

3 properties sold during the past week (11/9/09 - 11/15/09). 

(1)   2 bedroom, 1 bath brick home that sold for $65,000.00.  (Mineral Wells)
(1)   21 1/2 acre tract of land that sold for $75,900.00  (Graford)
(1)   3 bedroom, 1 bath home that sold for $159,000.00 (Possum Kingdom Lake)

5 properties were pending through 11/15/09.

(1)   3 bedroom, 1 bath bank owned home listed for $19,900.00,  (Gordon)
(1)   3/4 acre lot listed for $54,000.00.  (Possum Kingdom Lake)
(1)   2 bedroom, 2 bath home listed for $59,500.00.  (Mineral Wells)
(1)   3 bedroom, 1 bath home listed for $65,000.00.  (Mineral Wells)
(1)   1 10 acre tract of land listed for $100,000.00.  (Mineral Wells)

Unfortunately, 18 properties expired.  These people may renew with their agents, go with another agent or opt to keep their properties off the market for a period of time.

Normally, November through February are fairly slow for the real estate market in Palo Pinto County.  We will be keeping an eye on things to find out if the home-buyers credit will make a difference here.

**All information was obtained through our local multiple listing service.** 

Below is a market update for Mineral Wells, Texas through 10/30/2009.  The numbers provided were obtained using the North Texas Real Estate Information System.  This update is for the Mineral Wells area only, no other cities in Palo Pinto County are included.

Every once in a while you run across people who are truly kind.  I have been lucky enough to be a listing agent for a couple who fit this description. 

This weekend an agent in my office explained that she had some clients that were in need of a home, but she hadn't been able to find them anything that would be acceptable except for one of my listings, but it was priced much higher than her clients could afford.   They had been pre-approved for a home of $65,000 and would my seller accept an offer on the home for that amount. 

I wasn't sure they would go for it, but I talked with my sellers.  At first they didn't know if they could accept it because the mortgage is higher than the offer amount.  I explained that the buyers had been looking for some time and that the wife was having to buy the house herself and $65,000 was all she could qualify for.  I also told him that the husband is a disabled veteran getting ready to be discharged from the VA hospital.  That information made all of the difference.  It went from let us think about it to let's see if we can make it happen.  

After a couple of days of phone calls and re-arranging some financing, my sellers called me and said that everything was in place and they would sell the house for the $65,000.00.  This was amazing to me.   They are going to have to bring quite a bit of cash to closing.  I've never had a seller who was willing to take a loss to help someone (a complete stranger no less) out.  The contract has been signed and we are scheduled to close in a couple of weeks. 

The buyers are very, very happy and feel so lucky.  The house they are getting has been remodeled and could have sold for a much higher sales price, but my sellers felt that it would be best to help a fellow veteran get into a home.  It's not very often that I run into people who are so generous and giving and I believe that they will be rewarded greatly in the future for what they are doing now for these buyers.

I had seen her running down my street Monday and tried to coax her over to me.  When I called out to her, she stopped a moment, looked at me and then took off running again.  That moment when she stopped I could see that she had a collar on, but she left and I really didn't think anything more for the rest of the day. 

Tuesday I looked for her when I was out and about working and running errands, but I didn't see her.  I hoped she was all right.

Today, I was on my way home and saw her run across the street.  This time I was bound and determined that I was going to get her to come to me so that I could at least check her collar and see if there was a phone number or name of contact. 

I pulled the car off the side of the road and got out.  I leaned against the side of the car and just started talking to her.  She stopped running and looked at me.  It looked like she was trying to decide whether or not to trust me.  While I talked to her and she decided if I was trustworthy, she ran in circles around me.  I continued to talk to her and eventually she came over and sniffed my hand.  Then she ran again...I called out to her again and she came back. 

I moved away from the car and knelt down on the grass and kept talking.  She came over close enough for me to see her rabies tag.  I was at least able to get the vet's name...it was my vet, so I called and explained that I was trying to find this pretty little dog's home.  Luckily they had her information and called the owner's to let them know I had found their dog.  As it turned out, they had given this dog to another person, but realized that this new person was not taking care of the dog.  (While waiting for a phone call from the owner, I had called a friend to bring me a leash, and she had let me put the leash on her.)  When the previous owner contacted me, she told me that when she called the new owner, he did not even know the dog was missing and did not seem to care.  Anyway, she said she would come out and get the dog because she did not want her picked up and taken to the pound.  She said that she was going to just keep the dog and not let the new owner have her back.

It was good to know that this woman was going to keep the dog.  I found out that the dog's name was Kimber and so we walked to my house to wait for her old owner to come pick her up.  While we were walking down the street, I kept talking to her.  She was scared and looked thirsty and hungry and I thought that while we waited for her ride, I could give her some water and maybe a little to eat.  But, when we got to my house, she was still to scared and nervous.  She sniffed at everything, but really wasn't interested.  Kimber was quiet and very sweet and I thought to myself, how sad that the new owner didn't seem to want her anymore. 

Kimber's new (old) owner came and got her.  I could tell that Kimber was very excited to see her previous owner.  Her whole demeanor changed.  Her tail started to wag and she looked happy (or as  happy as a dog can look.)  I helped get Kimber into the car and as I walked onto my porch I watched a happy owner and her dog celebrate.  The owner hugged Kimber and pet her for several minutes before they left.  It was a relief knowing that Kimber would be safe and sound tonight with food and water and a loving home. 

I walked back to my car and headed for the office.  I was happy and hoped that Kimber would be happy forever back at her old home.

Here is the market update for Strawn, Texas for the week ending 10/10/2009.  This information was collected using the Greater Metro West Association of Realtors MLS. 

Here is the market update for week ending 10/10/2009 for the city of Mineral Wells.  The information provided does not include commercial data or any other cities within Palo Pinto County.  All data was collected via the Greater Metro West Association of Realtors MLS.

After having some busy weeks of listing properties, I've had a bit of a slow down and have started back to the book.  Chapter 8 deals with getting a deal finalized and making some money.  He basically wants to give his readers a recipe for making deals and making money.  Unfortunately, this is not always the case and because of the market and everything that is happening with the government and the economy a lot of what is discussed in this book can't be done by an "average" person.  And I have not read one success story that supports the proposition of buying a home with no money down. 

Ok, on with the information from the chapter.  Basically, what he is stating here is once you have found a great deal, it is now time to decide on whether you are going to purchase and keep the home as an investment property or assign the contract over to someone to buy.  Which means that you would need to have a buyer who can qualify for a loan or has enough cash to purchase outright.  He believes he can teach you how to find buyers and have them knocking your door down to have you find them the best deals in town.  Then you can assign the contract over to the buyer for the equity in the home. 

What he is saying here is that you find a home that you would like to purchase.  Then you approach the seller and work out a deal to purchase it, giving the seller a 30 day or longer contract.  This would allow you time to market and sell the home via assignment of contract.  So, in essence you are acting like a real estate agent without a license.  You are going to be marketing the home to find someone who wants to buy it from you essentially.  What you are trying to do is sell the equity in the home.  You offer to purchase the home for x amount of dollars.  You find a buyer willing to pay that and when the home closes the buyer pays you the equity out of the deal.  How is this good for the buyer?  Not sure about that yet.  What good is it for him/her if he is paying for the home but not getting any equity out of it?

Again you are using an automated system to drive buyers and sellers to you.  He gives you lists of the paperwork that is going to be needed in order to get the contract to closing.  He also gives you information about purchase agreements, seller's disclosures and more.  He tells you step by step what you will need to do to get this deal to closing.  My advice on all of this...see an attorney and find out if all of this would be legal where you live.  I will say in this chapter it appears that both success stories were able to purchase homes with no money down.  Both women found buyers or a seller willing to owner finance with nothing down.  It is quite rare to find a seller who is willing to finance with nothing down though.  Every seller I deal with would like a minimum of 10% or more to finance and they want to check credit.  Again, some of these stories seem a little incredulous.

The next chapter deals with driving buyers to you in order to make your deal work.  I've got to get to writing a description for one of my listings, so I'll read that chapter later and be back to let you know what it is about.

Have you ever had someone say this to you in the course of the day, week, etc.?  It amazes me when people say that to me because they say this without even being around me during the day.  Because I don't have a "normal" 9 to 5 job, I don't "work."  I can schedule my own day, so I should be able to get any and everything done in the course of the hours I am awake.  No, I'm not a top producing agent, but I am on schedule for my goal of having one new listing per month for the year and my broker sees that my efforts are paying off.  Several of my goals have been met this year and although they aren't tangible, they've been obtained.

Granted, I may not be the busiest person in the world making millions of dollars, but I care about the people who are around me and I do my very best to make sure that family, friends and clients are well taken care of. 

Take the last couple of days.  I've been really working hard on trying to get some marketing materials together for a home I listed and would like to sell quickly for my sellers.  I've put together flyers, a book and door bags to pass out for my 10-5-5 advertising of the home.  I've also worked on sending out information to people who have expired listings as I mainly work with sellers and a majority of my listings come from the contact I have from expireds.  I also send a newsletter out about things that are happening around Mineral Wells and our market.  I walked around the neighborhood of one of my listings today passing out information about the home in case anyone wished to pass along the information or knew of anyone who might be interested in purchasing the home.

But, I also have gone and had lunch with my kids at school.  They are in 4th and 6th grades and I really believe it is important that they feel my presence and know that I am interested in what is going on in their lives.  I want them to know how much I care and want good things for them.  It's great to see the smiles on their faces when they are walking down the hall to lunch and they see me waiting to go in and eat with them (I always try and do this as a surprise!)  I think it is wonderful when their teachers call me and say how pleased they are that the kids are in their class.  When I was eating lunch with my daughter today, her teacher saw me and came over to let me know how much she enjoyed having her in class.  This made both of us feel good, but I could tell it really made my daughter feel pleased that her teacher liked her so much.

I also try to volunteer a couple of times a month for deliveries for Meals on Wheels and try and get to events that the Chamber of Commerce has for businesses around town.  Tonight we had one for a mortgage company that we recommend to many of our clients.  It was fun and although I couldn't stay for the whole event, I was able to visit and let them know that I value them as people I work with. 

Once I get home, I'm there working on my real estate still as my cell phone keeps me in touch with my sellers and my office.  But, I'm also helping with homework and as I've been gone for the day it is time to work on the house.  Laundry, getting things picked up, cleaning, paying bills, taking care of the kids and animals.  Sometimes I don't get things done.  There are times when I am very tired and decide that I need to take a moment and rest.  But, many times I know I need to just keep going.  Oh, and did I mention that I'm a single mom doing this on my own?

So, although it may appear to others that "you don't do anything all day" just remember that there are those of us out there that know you are very busy and are doing things that are important to you as a person, mother, wife and friend.