Serious buyers are buying homes during 4th of July weekend The smell of BBQ is everywhere, kids and teenagers are shooting fireworks, lots of celebration indeed during the 4th of July weekend which has come and gone. While many people were enjoying the long weekend, had some time off with their friends and family; it has not slowed down my clients of looking at houses, making offer and buying a house.  I have 3 sets of pre-approved buyers worked with me this weekend, 2 offers were written, 1 got accepted already.  What a way for them to add some sparks to celebrate 4th of July! They are smart buyers, they know most of the people are celebrating the weekend, they take advantage of their free time and less people are looking at houses; and they got the house they wanted, too.  Another cli... 07/05/2011

I am in real estate just turning my 4th year this year, I have already seen lots of changes in this business.  I got in the business in 2007, when things started to turn upside down, then it went for the worse.  Even the mentality of the public has changed so much in the last few years just amazed me. I remember the clients who I worked with didn't have to look at tons of houses before making a decision to make an offer or just plain looking.  Sellers were more co-operative to let their house to be shown.  I just wonder if they know not so good decisions may cost them a good bargain and a good sales? Buyers: There are many bargains out there right now, it is understandable that you want to see as many houses as possible before making your mind up to choose one house to make an offer.  Y... 06/29/2011

Two Happy First time Home Buyers closed on their first home in Marion Ar today! I was working with client A first, while we were looking for a house, his mom referred a client to me who is also a first time buyer.  The more the merrier.  Guess what, we close both of them today! It is hot!  But my two first time home buyers are so happy about closing their first home today.  It is so exciting to see first time home buyers get in their first home, so rewarding to see them become a happy home owner, and they had no clue how to buy a house at first.  And these 2 buyers are so easy to work with, I can't ask for better buyers like them.  Both of these young buyers already have their credit report and tax documents line up and ready to buy and they follow all the instructions what they need to... 06/27/2011

Another happy buyer is moving to St. John's Landing in Marion Ar I just sold the only finished new construction in St. John's Landing in Marion, Ar. to a happy buyer.  She loves the house on 809 Greenock Way.  She loves the details and quality of her future home built by Dannik-Home-Builders  Right now, there are 3 homes for sale in St. John's Landing in Marion, Ar., one of them is a new construction in progress, 2 are re-sale homes.  And Dannik Home Builder is fixing to start another new construction very soon.  If you like to semi-custom this new construction, you still have time to do so, you can choose color of paint, carpet, and floor at this stage, they have not started putting the frame up yet. If you want to know more about St. John's Landing and Dannik Home Builder, just give m... 06/23/2011

How to buy foreclosures in Marion Ar? If you are trying to look for some bargain in Marion, Ar., this may be a good time for you to get on the wagon to look for some foreclosures.  But, wait, do you know what you need to do first?  How to buy them?  Who do you talk to?  How to get financed?  Is it easy to buy foreclosures? Unlike re-sale homes which can be financed by a mortgage loan, there are different types of foreclosures for different buyers.  They are either foreclosures for investors or foreclosures can be bought as primary residence. Foreclosure that needs lots of repair, will not qualify for a mortgage loan, they are investment property. Investor pays cash or borrows a bank loan to buy them, these properties are usually selling at a very much discounted price. Investors rehab t... 06/21/2011

Buyers, please DON'T open any new credit account or do any major shopping before you close Please pay attention to the information I am sharing with you here, it is for your own good, and it CAN happen to you.  I am NOT a loan officer, I am a real estate agent who works with buyers constantly and know how this can happen to my clients and cost them the house they want to buy. Buyers, you got a mortgage loan pre-approval, you are happy and very excited about your new home which you HAVE NOT CLOSED yet.  It is human nature for you to go out to look for new appliances, furnitures, etc., etc.  Now, you can look as much as you want to, but please don't make any purchase, open any new credit account with any store and charge a big amount of money.  It can affect your loan application, you may... 06/16/2011

Seller, your house is on the market for sale, you are hoping it will be sold in a reasonable amount of time.  Better yet, you got a very nice offer in the first week after it is on the market.  Yippee! I know it will be ideal to reach the goal of netting certain amount that you hope for.  But, it is very hard to have a pre-approved buyer in today's market, if the offer is good and may cost you a little short from what you want to net, yet you are still ahead, think thoroughly before countering back for more money.  Bear in mind that there are many houses out there competing with you, buyers really don't have to buy your house if the seller is not easy to negotiate.  They have choices.  Don't let a small amount of money to blind you and risking to lose a good buyer.  Believe me, buyers a... 06/07/2011

It is HOT out there, and so is the National Open House Weekend in Marion Ar! Wow, it was close to 110 degrees heat index this weekend, but it didn't stop the home buyers coming out to visit the National Open House Weekend.  The activities were great and I met at least 4 sets of buyers who want to buy now, and I have one buyer who decided to work with me already.   Online leads are great, but meeting new leads face to face at open house events helps to answer their questions right on the spot, nothing beats the real interaction between an agent and a prospect.  Follow up emails were immediately sent out after the open house, I look forward to helping these buyers to buy their new homes. If you don't have an agent working with you, and want to meet agents without calling all over town; go... 06/05/2011

Homes over 2,500 square feet for sale in Marion Ar If you are looking for bigger homes to buy in Marion, Ar., there are currently 24 homes on the market and it occupies 17% of our listings in Marion, Ar.  That is a pretty good number of houses to choose from.  These are the subdivisions with homes over 2,500 square feet: River Trace : 7 homes Marion Lake Estate : 5 homes River West : 4 homes Delta Acres : 4 homes Misc : 4 homes These bigger homes are selling from low $200,000 to mid $300,000 and these subdivisions are located close to each other also.  They are favorite choices for relocation buyers, local upgrades, and there are still lots for sale to build your custom home.    If you have any question about buying bigger homes or custom building new home, please feel free to give me a... 06/02/2011

Questions about custom building home in Marion Ar. Buyers always wonder how "hard" to custom build their new home, what do they need to do?  Who should they talk to, how to get financed?  Here are some frequent questions a buyer wants to know: Q.  What type of loan should I use if I want to custom build my home?      A.   It depends on your income and price of your home.  You can use Rural Development, VA, FHA or Conventional.  You also need to get pre-approved before talking to your real estate agent about helping you to find a builder to build your new home.   Q.  How much money do I need to build my custom home?       A.  You can put as much down payment as you want to, unless you are using Rural Development or VA loan which does not require down payment.  BUT, you will still need a ... 05/27/2011

Every seller would love their house sold in no time, at least it attracts lots of showings after putting their house on the market.  But sometimes lots of showings is not what a seller really wants though. I can almost assure you any 'buyer' who calls on a house and if you ask them if they want to take a look of the house (without knowing if they can buy or not).  The answer is yes.  You see there are different types of 'buyers', those who can actually buy, and those who think they can buy but can't buy in reality, they are professional house lookers.  What type of buyers do you want to get inside your house? I think the answer is clear, of course someone who can actually buy, already pre-approved, knowing how much they can buy before looking at houses.  The hard truth is qualified buye... 05/19/2011

You are planning to buy a house, you go to apply for a loan.  Your lender ran your credit report, it looked fine, you were pre-qualified for X amount of dollars.   Now all you need to do is to bring the lender all your documents like your 2 years tax return, pay stubs, check statements, etc. to finish up your application. You were so happy to find out you could borrow that X amount of dollars.  BUT WAIT......the lender called one day and this is what she told you: "Mr. So and So, based on what it shows on your tax return, you have a side business and you filed a loss on that business.  You did not make as much money as you thought, because those loss is going to be deducted from what you made.  Instead of making $$$, you only made $$, that is going to affect the amount you can borrow.  ... 05/14/2011

Are you looking for a quality built brand new home at an affordable price in Marion Ar?  You will want to come and visit this open house at 809 Greenock Way in St. John's Landing this Saturday from 2-4 p.m. This quality home is built by Dannik, their house are highly sought by many home buyers in the state of TN, MS, and AR.  Their signature is real nailed down hardwood floor, bull nose corner, French country style design, washed gravel driveway.  When you come in this beautiful Dannik home, you will find 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, an unfinished bonus room, open floor plan with a corner gas fireplace.  Eat-in kitchen right by the door to the patio, so convenient to bring those BBQ in for dinner, lots of natural light coming through the windows.   One more, it is facing the view of a fountain,... 05/13/2011

I am so happy when I watch this video this morning, and I just have to share it with all the animal lovers here.  We have some serious floodings in our surroundings lately, like Tunica, Mississippi is one of them.  Tunica is almost like our little Las Vegas here, and all the casinos are closed right now.  It is reported that some of the casino lobbies are 6 to 10 feet under water!!  Water is everywhere and it is just devastating. Animals are very vulnerable in situation like this, watch the video till the end and share the joy and surprise news the officials found out later. http://www.wmctv.com/category/195967/video-landing-page?autoStart=true&topVideoCatNo=default&clipId=5822205 05/11/2011

Selling your house AS-IS means nothing to a buyer at all in Marion Ar Are you trying to sell your house?  Do you try to sell it the way it is, without doing any repairs, updating, and the unfinished painting?  Unless you are really selling it real cheap, giving it away, AS-IS otherwise means nothing to the home buyer at all.  Many time, the seller wants to sell their house AS-IS because they simply don't want to do the work that needed to be done and put more money in the house.  Even a bank owned foreclosure sometimes can't sell the property AS-IS. You see, it is not what you say and think, it is what the appraiser says.  Shortly after your house is under contract, an appraiser will go to your house to do an appraisal for the lending institute which the buyer uses.  There are guideline... 05/09/2011

Did you have experience feeling like you are at the rock bottom sometimes, it's like nothing goes right, everything goes wrong under the sun?   It's like one step up and two steps back, like we can never reach the shore. I know a few people who are going through some really rough time right now, if anything can go wrong, it went very wrong. More worse is it is out of anyone control, no matter how hard they try.  Then, you start to question yourself, what did I do wrong?  Is it me or is it only a bad dream?  Will everything be okay when I wake up?  Who can give you the answers?   It is real hard to stay focus when things go haywire, it distracted you so bad that you may even feel somewhat depressed. What I learned in the process and what worked for me was to let it go.  Let the stress an... 05/09/2011

Mother nature has been unkind to many areas in my surroundings, some homes are flooded, roads are closed, some are still closed.  Even Walmart in West Memphis was closed because of flooding.  No doubt it has caused a lot of damages, and inconvenience for many of us, but I am so thankful it is not more serious than it already is.  I am so thankful the town of West Memphis and Marion is not under water to say the least. I am also thankful to the city of Marion and the Marion fire department took quick action to help getting the water out of the way for so many of us. We can't control mother nature, but I am very thankful that we are safe and so are my friends in town. Look at today, we see sunshine and it is surely a bright sunny day!  Hellloo, Sunshine!!         05/04/2011

If someone told you have to buy from them but no one else, you'd better run! I am a listing agent and also a buyer agent, I represent my seller or buyer, and I know how and what it takes to carry a transaction all the way to closing on either side. We are licensed real estate professionals, also independent contractors; which means we get paid when we close a transaction, not just showing a house to a buyer or help a seller to put their house for sale alone.  I wish it worked that way, but we are not.  We are strictly commission based.  In another words, the more we close, the more we make.  It makes sense, doesn't it? In a typical transaction, there are usually 2 agents involved, the listing agent represents the seller and the buyer's agent represents the buyer.  It is easy to understa... 05/03/2011

Esperanza Bonanza starts from May 4-7 2011 in Marion Ar. One of the most exciting annual events in Marion, Ar. is the Esperanza Bonanza.  This year it is beginning from May 4 to May 7 at the Marion Athletic Complex which is closed to the Marion High School.  Buses shuttle is available as always at the Marion High School parking lot, it makes so much easier to park your vehicle at the high school parking lot and ride on the bus to the location, it saves you a lot of headache to find a parking spot on site, which usually is not that easy to do so. Wristband night is always the popular night for families and kids of all ages, it starts on May 4 at 4 p.m.  As usual, there are life entertainments, games, BBQ ribs, sauce, hot wings, salsa, chili, Bloody Mary contest, rodeo, etc.  Many fun thi... 05/02/2011

Crittenden County Assessment and Collector Office has moved to Block Street Marion Ar.         There is a new home for Crittenden County Assessment and Collector Office, they have moved to their new location on Block Street where it is across from the old N Zone and not far from Tops BBQ.                      04/29/2011