I just listed this house in Jacksonville, Arkansas.  When I went outside to take pictures, I saw this helicopter hovering around a couple blocks away.  It was pretty low and thought it was the police looking or chasing a criminal.  I then saw a cable attached to the bottom of the helicopter.  There is a small lake in that direction and thought it might be a fire helicopter getting water for a forest fire or something.  The helicopter never left and the sellers and I were curious but didn't know who it was or what is was doing.

I finished up my listing apointment and was driving out of the neighborhood.  At the edge of this subdivision, there is a power line right of way.  There were several workers near the street so I stopped and decided to take a few pictures.

This helicopter had a long cable hooked to a device that looked like a 20-30 foot hedge trimmer.  The helicopter was going up and down trimming these larger tree branches so they would not get into the power lines.  It was a pretty powerful site.  This machine was working like there were a bunch of people out there with chainsaws.  Below are the pictures, they are pretty impressive.  I have never seen anything like this before.

My name is Larry DeGroat and I am a Realtor at Realty Professionals, Inc. in Searcy, Arkansas 72143 and I sell new homes, existing homes, commercial property, farms and land as well as manage and own rental properties. If you are looking for real estate for an investment or a home, I will be glad to assist you! You can call my personal cell number at 501-278-7659 or e-mail me at Larry@Searcy4Sale.com. Visit my website at http://www.searcy4sale.com if you are looking for Searcy homes for sale or other areas.

New listing in Searcy, Arkansas.  When searching for Searcy homes for sale you don't usually get one with this much land in the middle of town.  This home has been remodeled and looks like new inside.

Take a look at http://www.928Skyline.com or

look at the video on youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tm9EI3Tv10U

My name is Larry DeGroat and I am a Realtor at Realty Professionals, Inc. in Searcy, Arkansas 72143 and I sell new homes, existing homes, commercial property, farms and land as well as manage and own rental properties. If you are looking for real estate for an investment or a home, I will be glad to assist you! You can call my personal cell number at 501-278-7659 or e-mail me at Larry@Searcy4Sale.com. Visit my website at http://www.searcy4sale.com if you are looking for Searcy homes for sale or other areas.

Starting this Saturday, August 1, 2009 it will be against the law to be texting and driving at the same time in the state of Arkansas.  You will need to pull over if you wish to respond to someones text message, and we should.  There have been test done that state texting and driving is as bad as drinking and driving.

There is additional consideration when it comes to cell phones and driving.  If you are under the age of 18, you CAN NOT use a cell phone at all while driving, period.  If you are between the ages of 18-21 you can use a cell phone but it must be by a hands free device only. 

My name is Larry DeGroat and I am a Realtor at Realty Professionals, Inc. in Searcy, Arkansas 72143 and I sell new homes, existing homes, commercial property, farms and land as well as manage and own rental properties. If you are looking for real estate for an investment or a home, I will be glad to assist you! You can call my personal cell number at 501-278-7659 or e-mail me at Larry@Searcy4Sale.com. Visit my website at http://www.searcy4sale.com if you are looking for Searcy homes for sale or other areas.

WOW! Cash For Clunkers Program

Government helping Auto Industry.  Get up to a $4,500 voucher from Uncle Sam to purchase a new vehicle.   There are different amounts you can receive and it will be based on the improvement you get in gas mileage from your existing vehicle and the new vehicle.

For more information and details go to:

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/congress-passes-cash-for-clunkers-bill-offers-4500-stimulus-vouchers-to-car-owners

My name is Larry DeGroat and I am a Realtor at Realty Professionals, Inc. in Searcy, Arkansas 72143 and I sell new homes, existing homes, commercial property, farms and land as well as manage and own rental properties. If you are looking for real estate for an investment or a home, I will be glad to assist you! You can call my personal cell number at 501-278-7659 or e-mail me at Larry@Searcy4Sale.com. Visit my website at http://www.searcy4sale.com if you are looking for Searcy homes for sale or other areas.

Today, I was checking to see some of the AR members that I commented on and wanted to go back and check to see further discussions after my comments.  One of the lines said

Well, this is the first time I received a contact like this and I clicked on it to see what it was about. ( I was hoping it was a lead that I hear many other members get, but it wasn't)  This is what it said

Well, I am flattered that someone is interested in me! lol  If this person actually read my profile, they would have realized that the first line of my profile said I was married and have three children. 

AR Guru's, is there any way of blocking such trash?  WOW! You can't get away from junk mail anymore, even in the virtual world.

My name is Larry DeGroat and I am a Realtor at Realty Professionals, Inc. in Searcy, Arkansas 72143 and I sell new homes, existing homes, commercial property, farms and land as well as manage and own rental properties. If you are looking for real estate for an investment or a home, I will be glad to assist you! You can call my personal cell number at 501-278-7659 or e-mail me at Larry@Searcy4Sale.com. Visit my website at http://www.searcy4sale.com if you are looking for Searcy homes for sale or other areas.

First of all, I am located in Searcy, Arkansas and we have been experiencing a great deal of interest in the Fayetteville Shale, drilling for natural gas.  Our county is one of the primary areas of exploration and that has created a great deal of interest in the owners that are selling their property to retain (keep) their mineral rights when they sell their surface rights.  In Arkansas, mineral rights are superior to surface rights.  Meaning, the surface owners can NOT restrict the mineral owners from gathering any and all minerals from the property.  There are state laws that mineral owners do have to adhere to though. 

With all that being said.  I have a listing under contract and the seller is retaining the mineral rights.  I get a call from the selling agent this morning that states that the lender the buyer is using will not allow the minerals to be retained on a FHA loan.  I told her that I have experienced another lender in town that wanted to put restrictions on the seller in the Warranty Deed that could not be kept by the seller.  I noticed that the Warranty Deed was pretty long and read it before the Sellers signed it at closing (this is another reason why you as an agent needs to attend the closings with your clients).  As you guessed, I did not allow the Seller to sign it unless they consulted with an attorney.  The Warranty Deed had restriction on it not allowing a pipeline, drilling activity or even access to the subject property.  The subject property already had a Mineral Lease on it and there were royalties being paid to the seller as well.  There is/was NO WAY the seller could agree to the terms the lender injected into the Warranty Deed.  I had a long discussion with the lender and they removed it.  Later it came to my attention, it was the local bank putting that restrictions on the Warranty Deed, not the secondary lender that was buying the loan.

Lenders need to understand that there are many properties that are sold today and many years ago that DOES NOT have any mineral ownership.  That if the seller does own the minerals, they may have already entered into a lease with a gas company and they cannot restrict their activity.  Then you also have to take into account that you as the land owner may not have wanted drilling activity in your section and the State Gas And Oil Commission Integrates your Section and you are forced into a mineral lease.  Lenders, if you do not want to lose business, please understand these things.  As I told that selling agent this morning, there are many, many properties that have FHA loans on them that there is NO mineral ownership.  Please stop trying to re-negotiate the deal.  The buyer is willing to accept the property without the mineral rights and if the appraiser doesn't acknowledge that the property is effected by it, then let it be.  As a matter of fact on this particular transaction, 1/2 of the minerals were retained about 60 years ago so they are not even on the table.

I know this is different to the normal transactions.  But, when you are dealing with something different, learn about it so you can make an educated decision.  I, as an agent, wasn't dealing with these things until about 3-4 years ago either.  I have had to seek education and many many meetings on this.  I know when I started in the real estate business we had this come up in title work where the minerals were retained by a previous owner and I told them that mineral rights are superior to the surface rights and what my understanding was on it.  Most of the time, that wasn't an issue but I did have a 40 acre sale fall through because the buyer understood the risk and didn't want any part of it.  Anyway, I have figured out there is no boring day in real estate and you have to always be learning.

My name is Larry DeGroat and I am a Realtor at Realty Professionals, Inc. in Searcy, Arkansas 72143 and I sell new homes, existing homes, commercial property, farms and land as well as manage and own rental properties. If you are looking for real estate for an investment or a home, I will be glad to assist you! You can call my personal cell number at 501-278-7659 or e-mail me at Larry@Searcy4Sale.com. Visit my website at http://www.searcy4sale.com if you are looking for Searcy homes for sale or other areas.  

While on Twitter this morning, I ran across a Tweet about the Senate submitting another request to almost double the tax credit and make it available to ALL home buyers.  Here is an article from Bloomberg.com http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aI3l8W6tflrg

Do you think this will make a difference in your area?

 My name is Larry DeGroat and I am a Realtor at Realty Professionals, Inc. in Searcy, Arkansas 72143 and I sell new homes, existing homes, commercial property, farms and land as well as manage and own rental properties. If you are looking for real estate for an investment or a home, I will be glad to assist you! You can call my personal cell number at 501-278-7659 or e-mail me at Larry@Searcy4Sale.com. Visit my website at http://www.searcy4sale.com if you are looking for Searcy homes for sale or other areas.

I am kind of wondering what needs to be done in this market.  I have read many blogs and understand that you need to keep doing it all, newspaper, real estate guides/booklets, radio, billboards and yes, cannot forget the internet. 

I basically use the internet for the majority of my marketing.  I feel you need good search engine placement and I think I am doing pretty good in that area and I do get leads from it.  I have my own main website (http://www.Searcy4Sale.com) and several others that I link back to each other. 

I am also doing individual property websites like http://www.8KingCircle.com and all of these link back to my main website.  I like doing these individual property sites because I can showcase many photos and get a lot more information out there.  Also, it is easier to do an ad in the paper and give a brief description and then add the web address.  This will save on word count.  I even had a customer that uses the house as a rental and he sent rental prospects to the site to look at before he spent his time showing it.  That seller loves it and so do my other clients.

A am still doing the normal newspaper and real estate guide advertising but on a reduced size.  As long as they are out there, I feel you need to have some kind of presence.  I have read and attended conferences that said eliminate half of your print advertising expense and put in the internet marketing.  I have done that but feel you still need to be there, even if it a small part.

I used to do newsletters and was big on post cards.  I stopped that a few years ago and wonder if that was a mistake.  With this type of marketing, it takes consistancy in order for this to pay off.

I would like to know what are you doing in this market to keep new business going.  I am in rural Arkansas about 50 miles North of Little Rock and have about 20,000 population in my town and about 50,000 in the county I operate.  I know there are some things that I would need to do different if I was in a larger area but would like to know what you are doing if you are in a similar market size.  We have over 100 agents after the same business and you have to be different but effective.

Also, are you using social networking and how are you using it.  I joined facebook several months ago and the agents I have seen on there mostly brag about what they are doing and I had to hit "hide" on some of them.  My wall was filling up with that they were telling about and got tired of that.  I started out doing that also and some may have hit "hide " on me also.  Now I have come to the conclusion, everyone does not want to hear that I had a closing today, I had 15 showing with the prospect etc..  Yes, you may say that you want everyone to see that you are working but if they hit the "hide" button, then they won't see you at all unless they actually decide to look at your wall.  I want to use it as a vehicle of giving helpful ideas and suggestions that I have had experiences with.  Let them come to the conclusion that I am a professional instead of me telling them that I am.  That's my thoughts on that, what are yours?

Thank you in advance for your thoughts and ideas!

My name is Larry DeGroat and I am a Realtor at Realty Professionals, Inc. in Searcy, Arkansas 72143 and I sell new homes, existing homes, commercial property, farms and land as well as manage and own rental properties. If you are looking for real estate for an investment or a home, I will be glad to assist you! You can call my personal cell number at 501-278-7659 or e-mail me at Larry@Searcy4Sale.com. Visit my website at http://www.searcy4sale.com if you are looking for Searcy homes for sale or other areas.

Saturday, May 30, 2009 I had to show some property early and then presented an offer and was done by 11 am.  My wife and I decided to drive up to Mountain View, Arkansas for the afternoon.  Mountain View has a lot of interesting things going on.  They have the old court house square and in the yard, entertainers start playing their instruments and people gather around.  It is fun to bring your lawn chair and sit under the shade tree listening and watching.  This picture was taken with my phone camera and is not that good of a quality but the little boy was a ham and stole the show and I wanted to get his picture.  Someone in the crowd came up to put some money in the pot and asked the boy if he took a shower last night (I don't know if it was staged or he just knew the boy) and the boy responded "why, were you missing one"  I just thought that was so funny.  The boy is about 8 years old and thought that was a pretty good and quick response.  If you don't like to listen to bluegrass music, there are little shops around the square.  We ate at a diner there and walked around and ate some ice cream and watched some of the performers.  It was a good day!

My name is Larry DeGroat and I am a Realtor at Realty Professionals, Inc. in Searcy, Arkansas 72143 and I sell new homes, existing homes, commercial property, farms and land as well as manage and own rental properties. If you are looking for real estate for an investment or a home, I will be glad to assist you! You can call my personal cell number at 501-278-7659 or e-mail me at Larry@Searcy4Sale.com. Visit my website at http://www.searcy4sale.com if you are looking for Searcy homes for sale or other areas.

It seems that I will hit my brake when I see a police car even if I am not doing anything wrong, it seems like a normal thing to do.  Well, this morning I was driving to a listing of mine in Heber Springs on Greer Ferry Lake in Heber Springs, Arkansas.  (http://www.8KingCircle.com) I was entering into the city of Heber Springs and I seen the police car parked on the side of the road.  I automatically hit my brake even though I just left from a stop sign, its a habit.  When getting closer to the police car, I could see someone in the drive seat.  Well, I thought he was sitting there to see if anyone was running the stop sign.  Oh was I wrong, there was a dummy/mannequin in the driver seat.  No real person.  I just kind of laughed to myself and thought, it worked and drove on.  So, if you are fortunate to visit the vactioning town of Heber Springs and you see a police car, you better obey the laws because the next time, there could be a real person in there.  Have a great day!

My name is Larry DeGroat and I am a Realtor at Realty Professionals, Inc. in Searcy, Arkansas 72143 and I sell new homes, existing homes, commercial property, farms and land as well as manage and own rental properties. If you are looking for real estate for an investment or a home, I will be glad to assist you! You can call my personal cell number at 501-278-7659 or e-mail me at Larry@Searcy4Sale.com. Visit my website at http://www.searcy4sale.com if you are looking for Searcy homes for sale or other areas.