TODAY IS MY BIRTHDAY!  I have finally reached the age of early  retirement, if a person could retire!  I will probally be 100 before I retire!!!  I will have to continue working to buy gas and food!! lol I have been in real estate since 1994, it is so amazing how time flies!  It seems like yesterday when I took the real estate test.  I was so nervous, afraid I wouldn't pass.  But, I did. Then I took my brokers test, passed that too!  The cost of living has changed so much in the past years.  I can remember gas being eighteen cents a gallon!  Bread was nineteen cents, hamburger meat was five pounds for a dollar!  When my husband and I got married, 1964, we ate on $12.00 a week, and that was good eating!  My, how times have changed! Birthdays don't bother me, the only other alternative is... 07/02/2008

Judsonia Arkansas was a thriving little town in 1952.  This shows a picture of the streets much earlier than 1952 when they were dirt.  I love seeing the old town photos.  Judsonia is just about 5 miles from Searcy, our city of 20,000. The saddest thing about Judsonia is that in 1952 a tornado came through and wiped the town out almost.  About 50+ people were killed.  The reports say that you couldn't tell where streets were because the damage was so bad.  It was a terrible thing. Now if you are selling property in Judsonia you'll find a storm cellar at almost every house.  People who lived through the tornado are ghastly afraid of storms and watch the TV for news.  One of my friends who as a child was blown a distance in the tornado and remembers it still has her cell phone set up to ... 07/01/2008

    Everyone was there!  His friends, his relatives, his associates from the Historical Society where he has served on the Board as Treasurer for so many years.  He is now an honorary Lifetime Member of the White County Historical Society. He stood in the entry of his daughter's house and greeted everyone as they came in, a gentleman dressed in suit and tie and being gracious to us all.  The family and the Historical Society served punch and cookies. And what a great selection for a birthday picture to put on the invitation.  This little boy sitting on the top of an old car with a dirty face!  When it came across as email, I couldn't help but study it.  It needs to be sent out to all my friends on ActiveRain!  06/29/2008

We have this condo under contract now!  This Saturday will be a big day for the sellers because they'll be getting rid of a lot of family treasures.  No family member has room to hold everything so most of the household items, antiques, furniture, etc., will be sold.  If you want to see some of the sale items go to this website and view the items.  Sale is at 9:00 Saturday June 28.   We don't have a lot of condos in Searcy Arkansas, a small 20,000 population city approximately 50 miles from Little Rock  Arkansas.  The first ones built were exciting for our city but the builder made a mistake.  He had an "outsider architect" plan them and though they were beautiful they had a problem. They were expensive and the bedrooms were all upstairs with a very steep staircase to get to them.  Youn... 06/26/2008

Did you watch America's Got Talent  last night?  I did, and the Elvis impersonator was terrific!!!  He was very handsome, just like Elvis!  He  had the crooked smile, the Elvis hair do, and was dressed in black leather.  He was fantastic, like Elvis is back!  He sang "Hound Dog" and sounded just like Elvis.  He also had the Elvis moves, the girls were going wild! I think Joseph Hall, the handsome young man, was from Lincoln, Nebraska.  Anyway, the judges loved him!  So, he is on his way to Las Vegas to compete again.  Elvis is my all time favorite performer!  When I was young I had all the Elvis stuff, dog tag, skirt, bracelet, anything with Elvis on it.  I have always been an Elvis fan!  Elvis could sing anyone's song and make it his.  But no one, absolutely no one could sing an Elvis ... 06/25/2008

    Another picture of the old days in Searcy, White County Arkansas.  I really love this one.  The ladies all have on hats and are dresssed just as alike as the girls dress today.  I can assure you everyone had on some sort of hose.  And they had on sensible shoes, no needle pointed spikes that would ruin their feet before they got old. (Well, maybe some were already old in this picture.) Skirts would have all been the same length.  I can remember my mother wondering what skirt length would be in fashion that year.  The experts dictated and the ladies followed their orders.  No pants were worn by the ladies.  Here's what my friend Don says about the picture.  He let me borrow it for this blog. Searcy Garden Club Breakfast & Hat Show.  This fashionable gathering took place in Spring Par... 06/25/2008

My friends have given me permission to use this old photo of a young boy and his tractor.  It has to be a very unique one and if any of you guys can identify it let us know.  I just asked my husband what he thought it was and he said he thinks it was an old garden type tractor, small so you could do the garden. My friends Don or Anita may also be able to tell us what kind it was. What I love is the fiendish expression on his face.  Can't you just see him bearing down on any cat, dog, squirrel, or pretty little girl who got in front of him. The boy is now grown up and is a citizen of Searcy Arkansas.  He still has a mischievous nature!   06/24/2008

TIRED OF HIGH GAS PRICES?  Don't sit on your fanny and do nothing!  Contact your state senate and house, let them know you want to drill in USA!  DON'T WAIT!  We have plenty of oil in America, we need to stop being dependant on foreign oil!  Making gas from corn and soy beans will only make our food supply shrink and cost more!  Ethanol is expensive, if we can't afford $4.00 gas, we sure can't afford Ethanol!  We can turn this economy around by starting to drill!  COME ON AMERICA, THIS IS ABOUT SURVIVAL!   You may have plenty of money, and maybe high gas prices are not hurting you.  But, consider the person making mininum wage, they can't afford to drive to work!  We are all in this together, let's do something! I CHALLENGE YOU TO CONTACT  YOUR CONGRESSMEN AND WOMEN, WE CAN MAKE A DIFFE... 06/23/2008

I'm fortunate to have a friend who has supplied me with lots of photos of Searcy Arkansas's history.  This, I believe, is her dad standing beside his Esso truck.  Note the lettering on the side of the truck.  Searcy Arkansas is a progressive city of approximately 20,000 people and serves as the county seat of White County which serves about 60,000 people.  Anita, give us more of this history in your comments and correct me where I'm wrong. 06/21/2008

My ten year old grandson, Adrian, is a great baseball player.  He plays on the White County Title Tigers traveling team and we are ranked #3 in the state.  We are playing in Jonesboro this weekend for the state title, and we play in the world series in July in Louisiana.  I love to watch the boys play, we have a good little team.  Adrian plays  first base, pitches some and is an excellent outfielder.  He can get under the ball and he moves fast! He lives and breathes baseball and he is a smart player.   He has played first base for years, but his coach wants him to try other positions.  He is doing great!  His goal is to play for the St. Louis Cardinals and I hope his dream comes true. When he was around six years old,  he told his pa-paw when he plays for St. Louis he would give him a ... 06/20/2008

Look at these eager children!  This is a photo made in front of Searcy High School, the old one that burned down.  Once again, correct me in comments if I am wrong.  This photo was provided by my friend Anita.  Searcy AR is a progressive city of approximately 20,000 residents.  I don't know any of the children and don't know the year but I love looking at the clothing worn by the kids.  I can almost assure you that none of the jeans were bought with a "worn" look built in.  They were probably worn by brothers or sisters and handed down.  Fascinating look at the past, isn't it? 06/19/2008

YOU ARE SETTING YOURSELF UP FOR A LAWSUIT!  You should NEVER  point out where the property lines are, you don't really know.  All you know is what the seller told you, it may be right and it may be wrong.  My attorney (judge now) son-in-law told me this many years ago.  He won a lawsuit for his client on this very issue, and that made a believer out of me! If a buyers ask where the property lines are, I say, "I don't  really know, but if it is important to you we can get a survey."  I think a survey is our best protection,  that takes that monkey off our back!                                                www.http://maryjpaul.com     06/18/2008

I had a wonderful home listed and an agent from another company brought me an offer.  It was accepted and I started working on the closing process.  I ordered the title work and took the information to the closing company.  A few days later the buyers  agent called and said, "The buyers lender wants to use one of their "preferred clients" for title work and closing.  The lender was located in a town about three hours from Searcy.  I told the buyers  agent that would be fine.  However, I did tell her that it was customary here that $75.00 was all the buyer paid for the mortgage title insurance, and to be sure her buyers didn't pay more. We closed on the home and on the settlement statement the buyer had paid close to $1800.00 for the lenders policy.  I never said a word to the buyers age... 06/17/2008

I have a wonderful home listed, priced right, well maintained and in a great location.  A fellow Realtor showed it and I asked for feed back.  She said the buyers loved the house and so did their parents, but that it had brass fixtures and was outdated.  I replied that any ten year old home would have brass fixtures.  The home has neutral colors and is very tastefully decorated. My thinking is that if you don't like the fixtures, you can change them.  The seller is not going to spend the money to change them.  They work, look great and will be back "in style" in a few years!  If you want to pick your fixtures, you need to build or buy new construction.  If the home is in your price range, you like the location and the home, make an offer.  You can do the changing later. Styles in home, ... 06/17/2008

It's Searcy AR history time again.  This old post card shows a group of slender men at the Pavilion in Spring Park.  (Wonder what a current group of our guys would look like?) The Pavilion, to the best of my knowledge, had a spring with sulphur water which was believed to be great for one's health.  Folks came to Searcy to enjoy the Springs.  The elegant Mayfair Hotel was just a block away, within walking distance to this park.  The Pavilion is still there but the springs have all been boarded up.  The Mayfair Hotel is also still there but does not operate as a hotel anymore. Any of you Searcy people who might read this blog....please feel free to comment or correct me if I'm wrong. 06/17/2008

  Here's another treasure from the old picture stack of Searcy Arkansas White County photos.  It's an old filling station with two young boy scouts and two adults.  The boys are holding a tire and an inner tube that may require repairs.  Do you remember tires with inner tubes that had to be taken out and repaired?  I remember people talking about tubeless tires as if they were some miracle.  I guess they were.  My friend, who supplied the photo, has this to say about it. Here is everything you want to know about the picture but were afraid to ask: It is taken at the Friendly Esso station: Spring and Pleasure St.  Phone # 911.  (the other Esso station in Searcy was 99 Esso, across the street from the Rendezvous Cafe, phone #99. The older man is my uncle Jack Harrison, owner of the statio... 06/16/2008

Fathers Day is a great day to celebrate our "dads".  My dad has been gone for nearly 27 years, he had a heart attack at 61.  Daddy was a kind and gentle man.  He seldom got mad, but if he told you to do something, you had better do it.  He only told you once!  He cared about other people and was always there to help someone in need.  He raised a huge garden and gave most of it away.  He was a very funny man, always cracking jokes, laughing and kidding people.  Everyone loved him.  I miss him very much. My husband is a good father and grandfather.  He spoiled our daughter.  Once I told him to take her to the shoe store and get her a pair of shoes.  He came back with four pair, she couldn't make up her mind what she wanted, so he bought them all.  She had him wrapped around her finger, an... 06/15/2008

DON'T BELIEVE THE MEDIA REPORTS, THEY ARE NOT THE GOSPEL TRUTH!  Searcy, Arkansas is a stable market.  Agents are busy, contractors are building, we are getting new business and we are NOT selling homes for half their market value!  I am sure there are other areas in the country that are stable also. There are many issues that have an affect on the housing market.  We have a lot of gas exploration here and that has helped our market.  We are getting new fast food places, such as Zaxby's and McAllister's, new strip malls and we are doing business as usual.  Searcy is a small town, a little over 22,000 people, and it is a great place to live.  "Where Thousands Live AS Millions Wish They Could", is our motto.  White County is a fishing and hunting mecca!  We are friendly laid back folks, w... 06/13/2008

When you are showing new construction and you look at two similiar homes and one is higher, there may be a reason for the price increase!  Below is a list of why this could be. 1.  FOUNDATION!  If the house is on pier and beam and one house has closed piers and the other open piers, this is a major difference!  Open piers means that the blocks were laid at intervals, and a footing is only poured where the blocks are laid.  Closed piers means that a footing was poured around the perimeter of the home and the blocks were laid solid.  Closed piers are more expensive and yes, better! 2.  Check the size of the garage!  If one is 20x22 and the other is 22x24, there is your difference!  Is the garage door insulated?  That is an added cost. 3.  How wide is the driveway, patio, sidewalks or porc... 06/11/2008

A buyers agent brought me a contract on a home I have listed.  I presented it to my seller and we countered the offer on price and several other items.  One of the things we countered on was "possession". The buyers agent had marked " possession to be upon closing".  We countered for 2 days after closing.  The buyers agent called me and asked me why we countered on possession.  I replied that my seller did not want to move before the home closed.  What if it didn't close?  What if the buyers decided they would file for divorce?  What if one of the buyers passed away unexpectantly?  What if the seller hired a moving company, (very expensive) and it didn't close?  Guess who the sellers will be mad at?  You guessed it, the Realtor! I told the other agent, that possession was a gray area.  ... 06/11/2008