There's always something happening in the Quad Cities!  It is a great place to visit, play, and live!  The Quad Cities Convention and Visitors Bureau, keeps a great calendar of events for the area.  Our area includes Davenport, Bettendorf, Eldridge, LeClaire, and Blue Grass on the Iowa side and across the Mississippi River in Illinois there is Rock Island, Moline, East Moline, Silvis, and Milan.  Their offices are located at:Union Station102 S. Harrison Street, Davenport, IA. 52801 The Moline Depot2021 River Drive, Moline, IL. 61265 Mississippi Valley Welcome Center900 Eagle Ridge Road, LeClaire, IA. 52753              Upcoming Events include:June 8 & 9: Gumbo Ya Ya - Mardi Gras in The District  June 14, 15, & 16: Sturgis Mississippi River Motorcycle Rally June 22 & 23: Taste of the Qua... 06/08/2007

This home is just being completed in Northwest Davenport, Iowa by a great group of youth from the Davenport and North Scott Schools.  There was a very nice reception May 23 for these students and their families where $10,000 of scholarships were handed out!This program was started in 1974 and students have built about 20 homes over the years!  The Greater Davenport Board of Realtors(R) continues to be a proud sponsor of this event and welcomes all volunteers to get involved by calling the Program Coordinator at (563) 386-6030.MANY  HANDS  MAKE  LESS  WORK !!! Lucky :) 05/25/2007

 RME/Redstone Room Upcoming Shows BIG SHOW JUST ADDED IN JUNE!! Grace Potter & The Nocturnals Tuesday, June 12!    Buy Tickets Now!   This critically acclaimed band just landed a spot on the main stage at the Austin City Limits musical festival, and you've got a chance to see them for a whopping $10 bucks in your own backyard! It's $12 at the door, so buy your tickets now!   Grace has been compared to the likes of Janis Joplin, Aretha Franklin, and Bonnie Raitt, while her scintillating work behind the B-3 is simply something that must be heard.   This is a shining example of what the RME has been able to for the Quad Cities with your support.  They're bringing TOP-NOTCH music because of your devotion to the mission of the RME.  You'll be sorry if you skip this one, so hopefully we'll se... 05/24/2007

Iowa and Illinois First Time Home Buyer Assistance and Information:                                                                                                  "Call Paul" @ (563) 508-1649, 24 Hours a Day, 365 Days a Year!!Why Buying a Home STILL Makes Sense, Even in Today's Market!! With all of the recent negative press about the failures of several sub-prime home mortgage lenders, and the general perception that there is a "Housing Bubble" (despite evidence to the contrary) that is about to burst, it is easy to understand why many potential first-time home-buyers are reluctant to make the commitment to home ownership for themselves.  However, when looking at all of the FACTS (not perceptions) available to us through market data, it is equally easy to see why Spring 2007 is still ... 05/12/2007

Congratulations younger brother on your milestone of becoming number one in all of Iowa on AR!  Keep up the great work!  Too bad we don't have 48 other brothers in 48 other states.  Also, good thing we don't both live in the same state or we'd be fighting hard to be the best.  On the other hand, maybe that would be better for both of our careers to have that competition.Thanks and "Don't keep me a secret--I'm never too busy for your referrals!"Rob (FREE 2-10 Home Warranty with every home you buy or sell through me!!)Rob Lang, ABR, ePro, GRI Realtor®Rob's Blog at www.ActiveRain.com/blogs/langrobRealty Executives, Hedges Real Estate (four convenient locations)112 E. 10th, Eudora, KS  66025  1037 Vermont, Lawrence, KS  660443300 Clinton Parkway Ct., Lawrence, KS  66044300 Rockfence Place, ... 05/11/2007

The city of Davenport, Iowa has a strong City Administrator/Weak Mayor form of government.  She has eight aldermen and two aldermen-at-large.  The eight aldermen represent each of the eight wards in the city while the at-large positions represent the entire city.  Each aldermen have one vote and the Mayor only votes to break a tie.  Their has been talk recently of possibly changing the structure to one with a Strong Mayor.  The elections this fall, on November 6, may shed some light as to how the citizens would like to see the future directed.  The applications for the elected posts are being taken out at a fast pace.  Stay tuned and I'll keep you posted!Lucky LangQuad Cities Favorite Realtor(R)qcfsbr.com  05/06/2007

                                                                                                  April 2007 Home Sales in Davenport, Iowa Drop 18.3%, Prices Increase 6.8%, From April 2006! REALTOR-assisted "Closed" single-family home sales in the city of Davenport, Iowa declined by 18.3% in the month of April 2007, down from the same period in April 2006.With 94 closed sales transactions in April 2007, the Davenport market showed a decline of 21 units (18.3%) from the April 2006 total of 115 closed sales transactions.On a very bright note for home sellers, however, the average sales price of a home that closed during the same period showed a significant increase of 6.8.%: up from $110,174 in April 2006, to $117,747 in April 2007.The average number of days on the market (from home listi... 05/05/2007

Baseball season has begun at John O'Donnell Stadium in Davenport, Iowa!  A few snow flakes flew as                my quartet sang the National Anthem for the opening game.  From left to right are:                            Dr. Greg Garvin     Lucky Lang     Stan Brown    Amos Glanz                 It's a beautiful setting to enjoy a ball game down on the Mississippi River!             Tickets are now on sale at Swing Baseball or you can call (563) 324-3000.                                                   So Let's Play Ball!!!Lucky Langqcfsbr.com 05/04/2007

Market Statistics All MLSStatistics for: Class=RE AND Type=RES AND Date Range=1/2007-5/2007 AND Area=51, 52, 53, 54; As Of: 5/3/2007 ClassBedroomsCurrent ActiveAvg List PriceAvg DOMAllAll485$169,81670REAll485$169,81670RE0-290$91,48762RE3-4369$171,45473RE5+26$417,71166ClassBedroomsTotal ListedNum SoldPct SoldAvg List Price SoldAvg Sale Price SoldSale Price/List Price RatioAvg DOM SoldAvg List Price UnsoldPct ExpiredAllAll78133743.15%$126,362$122,72997.12%66$155,65532.91%REAll78133743.15%$126,362$122,72997.12%66$155,65532.91%RE0-21568655.13%$80,638$78,37897.20%51$94,44127.56%RE3-458424341.61%$139,244$135,56997.36%71$156,67833.22%RE5+41819.51%$226,612$209,48792.44%85$289,76148.78%Call Lucky for more information on this market report at: Lucky LangRealtor ®Licensed in Iowa & IllinoisMel Fos... 05/04/2007

Location Characteristics: Davenport is a beautiful river town that is rich in heritage, culture, and quality of life! It is located approximately halfway between Chicago and Des Moines on I-80 at the Mississippi River and is part of Quad Cities USA. Terrain varies from flat corn fields to heavily wooded ravines and views from beautiful rolling hills to scenic river bluffs that are one of a kind! Schools are always high in national ranking as we pride ourselves in educating our children. Cost of living is relatively low primarily because of the great values in our real estate! Come visit us and you'll see why Quad Cities USA is ranked at the top of many national polls as a great place to live and raise a family! Our real estate market continues to march on with sales at a pace ahead of l... 05/04/2007

                                                                                                http://grampprealty.com/                                         http://www.gmacrealestate.com/paulhiebing"The Quad-Cities Premier First-Time Home Buyer Specialist""Call Paul" @ (563) 508-1649, 24 Hours a Day, 365 Days a Year!!Licensed in the States of Iowa and Illinois.Serving the Greater Quad-Cities Areas of Davenport, Bettendorf, Eldridge, LeClaire, and Blue Grass, Iowa and Moline, East Moline, Rock Island, Silvis, and Geneseo, Illinois. Representing Home Buyers and Home Sellers in the $150,000 and under market: First-Time Buyers, First-Time Sellers, Retirees, Estates, Pre-Foreclosures, Foreclosures, Investment Property and Multi-Family. First-Time Home-Buyer Information:  Why Rent When Yo... 04/26/2007

The Following is a Market Report for Davenport, Iowa for 2007Market Statistics All MLSStatistics for: Class=RE AND Type=RES AND Date Range=1/2007-4/2007 AND Area=51, 52, 53, 54; As Of: 4/26/2007 ClassBedroomsCurrent ActiveAvg List PriceAvg DOMAllAll476$171,99873REAll476$171,99873RE0-282$93,31864RE3-4366$170,72376RE5+28$419,08960ClassBedroomsTotal ListedNum SoldPct SoldAvg List Price SoldAvg Sale Price SoldSale Price/List Price RatioAvg DOM SoldAvg List Price UnsoldPct ExpiredAllAll72230742.52%$126,639$122,98297.11%66$153,20132.83%REAll72230742.52%$126,639$122,98297.11%66$153,20132.83%RE0-21447954.86%$81,355$79,11297.24%56$92,99729.86%RE3-453822141.08%$139,336$135,65997.36%69$155,80832.90%RE5+40717.50%$236,857$217,84291.97%75$282,21342.50%                                                 ... 04/25/2007

     Baseball season has begun at John O'Donnell Stadium in Davenport, Iowa!  A few snow flakes flew as                my quartet sang the National Anthem for the opening game.  From left to right are:                            Dr. Greg Garvin     Lucky Lang     Stan Brown    Amos Glanz                 It's a beautiful setting to enjoy a ball game down on the Mississippi River!             Tickets are now on sale at Swing Baseball or you can call (563) 324-3000.                                                   So Let's Play Ball!!!Lucky Langqcfsbr.com 04/19/2007

A new Forbes magazine report ranks Davenport, Iowa 25th in the nation for its low cost of doing business. The report - "Best Places For Business and Careers - also ranks Davenport 90th overall among 200 large metro areas. Forbes bases those rankings on economic research firm Economy.com, owned by Moody's. Its business cost index factors in labor, tax, energy and office space costs. For living costs, Economy.com weighs housing, transportation, food and other household expenditures. It also supplied five-year historical figures on job and income growth, as well as migration trends.Other data used in the rankings came courtesy of Portland, Ore., researcher Bertrand Sperling. He looked at the education of each metro's work force as well as the presence of four-year colleges in each area. Sp... 04/17/2007

 A nice little reminder of Iowa Winters!  Last week the weather was in the 70's and people were doing yard-work!Today, we wake up to snow.  It's not a lot of snow.  In fact it isn't even a nuisance snow (that's when you just shoveled yesterday and you get just even snow the next day that you have to shovel again or it will pack down and become ice on your drive.....and you don't want ICE).It's actually quite beautiful against the landscaping.  The contrast makes a great picture.But it's April, you say?  It's after Easter!  It's not suppose to snow this late?Well, in 1995, on this very same day, April 12th, we got snow.  8 inches of it!!!How would I remember 12 years ago to the day?  It's my daughter's birthday!   HAPPY  BIRTHDAY  AMY !!!       (Sorry about the quality, this picture is i... 04/12/2007

                                                                                                "Call Paul" @ (563) 508-1649, 24 Hours a Day, 365 Days a Year!!Now that the first week of April is behind us, I decided to run a few "real world" statistical searches of the local Realtor Board's (QCARA) MLS and see whether or not we truly are in a real estate "down-turn' and on the verge of having the real estate "Bubble" burst.The findings of my research indicate the following numbers:In single-family homes priced from $50,000 to $100,000 the statistics show that in the First Quarter of 2006 (1/1/2006-03/31/2006) there were 132 closed transactions in the Iowa Quad-City Market. In the First Quarter of 2007 there were 115 closed transactions.  In other words, a reduction of 17 transactions or... 04/07/2007

                                                                                                "Call Paul" @ (563) 508-1649, 24 Hours a Day, 365 Days a Year!!One of the things that I was taught early on in my Real Estate career was the importance of keeping current, up-to-date, exterior property photos on the MLS (and thus cooperating brokers with upload capacity) websites, on listings that take over 60 days to sell, and especially during the two seasonal changes in which the most dramatic changes in photo appearance occur: Summer into Fall, and Winter into Spring.Nothing screams out "desperate seller" more than an MLS Photo of a home with snow in the yard when the potential purchaser does an Internet search in the month of July... I just changed out the exterior photos on all of my li... 04/05/2007

It's all about the egg at Eggstravaganza!                                                     WHO: Children of all ages will love this family-friendly event! WHAT: EggstravaganzaWHEN: 1-4pm, Friday, April 6, 2007WHERE: Putnam Museum and IMAX® Theatre in Davenport, Iowa COST: $5/per child, with free Exhibit Halls admission. Adults get into the event for free with Exhibit Halls admission.DAVENPORT -- Can you make an egg bounce? Find out how at Eggstravaganza at the Putnam! It's an afternoon all about the incredible egg on Friday, April 6 from 1-4pm, when the Museum's Palmer Lecture Hall doubles as an "Egg Laboratory!" For $5, (adults get in free with Exhibit Halls admission), children can be junior scientists! Find out how to make an egg float! Test the effects of pollution on eggs! Disco... 04/04/2007

                                                                                                "Call Paul" @ (563) 508-1649, 24 Hours a Day, 365 Days a Year!!I, for one, am becoming more and more concerned with the perception among REALTORS, and increasingly, consumers as well, that we (The United States, as a whole) are in the middle of some horrible real estate "Bust", and that we are all headed for a depression the likes of which we haven't seen since Pre-World War II times.In looking at the nightly news-casts from both the main-stream, old-guard, network media (NBC, CBS, ABC, etc) as well as many of the cable news purveyors (CNBC, MSNBC, and even to some degree, Fox News Channel), we all will soon be living in card-board boxes, looking for scraps to eat out of dumpsters, and that, ... 04/02/2007

This fantastic facility just opened up this year and it already averages about 1,000 check-outs per day!There is FREE check-out of all material formats including: books, electronic books, audio books, magazines, CD's, videos, DVD's, and computer software!The reference department will provide answers to almost any question and is available at this link.The architecture alone in this magnificent masterpiece is worth the visit!Go see what you've been missing at the new Davenport Public Library West Branch!Who knows, you might just find time to relax by the fireplace and get lost in a good book! Lucky :) 04/02/2007