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Searcy, AR Real Estate News

By Barbara S. Duncan, GRI, e-PRO, Executive Broker, Searcy AR
(RE/MAX Advantage)
Tour was so delightful and educational.This historic home is for sale right now and the REALTORS were invited to tour it.  I accepted the invitation and was delighted to see all the historic items still in and around the house.The windows in the house are original.  The tile on the roof  had to be special ordered to be the same type as the original when built in 1924 and designed by Charles Thompson, architect. The Edward Lightle family moved into the house in 1926.  Thus, the name Lightle House.  Notice the wonderful brick work that looks as if it could be around another 100 years!It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982.  Go there to read more about the home and to see it.  Howell Realty Pros have the listing and it would be wonderful to have another owner che...
Comments 5
By Barbara S. Duncan, GRI, e-PRO, Executive Broker, Searcy AR
(RE/MAX Advantage)
  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...
Comments 3
By Mary PAUL, ABR, CRS,GRI, e-PRO,
(RE/MAX Advantage Realtors, Searcy, AR)
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...
Comments 14
By Mary PAUL, ABR, CRS,GRI, e-PRO,
(RE/MAX Advantage Realtors, Searcy, AR)
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...
Comments 15
By Mary PAUL, ABR, CRS,GRI, e-PRO,
(RE/MAX Advantage Realtors, Searcy, AR)
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...
Comments 8
By Mary PAUL, ABR, CRS,GRI, e-PRO,
(RE/MAX Advantage Realtors, Searcy, AR)
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.  ...
Comments 16
By Mary PAUL, ABR, CRS,GRI, e-PRO,
(RE/MAX Advantage Realtors, Searcy, AR)
CONTACT YOUR BUILDER BEFORE BUYING YOUR LOT!  My builder husband is working with clients who are building a new home.  They purchased their lot prior to contacting my husband.  When they had the trees removed and the lot cleared, my husband had the grade shot.  It has over a 12' drop!! This will affect the cost of the home by several thousand dollars.  The house will be built on pier and beam.  There will be more blocks, more brick, and the cost of laying them.  Also, when purchasing a lot remember if the lot has a lot of trees, it is expensive to remove them.  Another thing, make sure your house will fit on the lot!  Subdivisions have setback lines and if your house plan is too long or too wide, it won't fit.  House  plans aren't cheap, so before you buy the lot, contact your builder. ...
Comments 10
By Mary PAUL, ABR, CRS,GRI, e-PRO,
(RE/MAX Advantage Realtors, Searcy, AR)
   I have not blogged since May 22, I have not been able to upload my post!  I contacted AR and they said to try using Firefox as my browser.  So here goes!  I hope this works! Has anyone else had this problem?  Everytime I would write my post, I would try to upload it and it would say, "this page cannot be displayed."  I am hoping this Firefox will solve the problem.  This blog will be short as I am just trying to see if it will work!
Comments 17
By Barbara S. Duncan, GRI, e-PRO, Executive Broker, Searcy AR
(RE/MAX Advantage)
Here is still another picture of old town Searcy Arkansas.  This picture shows a group of happy kids who have won prizes for some contest.  Perhaps selling seeds?  I'm sure that my friend Paula Windsor Thompson, who is the tall girl in the picture, will tell me more in a comment.  She appears to have won a camera and took pictures of Searcy with that camera. Family Shoe Store was a fixture in Searcy for so many years!  It closed just a few years ago and everyone was sorry to lose the traditional family shoe store!  If those kids had saved those prized, they'd be treasures on ebay right now!              
Comments 6
By Barbara S. Duncan, GRI, e-PRO, Executive Broker, Searcy AR
(RE/MAX Advantage)
I wrote this blog just a few days ago and now I have the listing on this lovely house located at 105 Christopher in Judsonia.  It is a truly better than new house!  It has 1 1/2 lots with wide side yards large enough to drive to the backyard and store an RV.  Inside it has a split bedroom floor plan and oak cabinetry.  Privacy fenced back yard.  Meticulously maintained.  Only $135,000. Receiving the call to "come and tell me what my house might bring because I'm moving and may want you to sell it" is always a good thing to hear!    WHEN DO YOU WANT ME TO COME, TODAY OR TOMORROW?   That call came this week.  The house was bought new about 3 years ago.  There were several children involved and would live there.  I had not been in the house since the purchase.  We always wonder what we'll ...
Comments 6
By Barbara S. Duncan, GRI, e-PRO, Executive Broker, Searcy AR
(RE/MAX Advantage)
  While looking at old photos of our Searcy AR White County town, I was loaned this wonderful photo as well as the ones yesterday of our old Safeway store that was in the middle of downtown.  A friend has given me permission to post it. It shows part of the court house sqare and the memorial that stands on the SW corner.  It also shows the Safeway store but it is an easier-to-recognize location in this picture.  The old Security Bank building shown here is under renovation right now.  I hope it will end up looking like this photo again. Thanks again to Paula Windsor Thompson for the loan of the picture.  Her dad was the Safeway manager.
Comments 12
By Barbara S. Duncan, GRI, e-PRO, Executive Broker, Searcy AR
(RE/MAX Advantage)
      Today we have wonderful photos loaned to me by the daughter of the first manager of Safeway in Searcy AR.  It was on one of the main streets of Searcy, right in the middle of downtown.  It's hard for us to imagine now that people went DOWNTOWN to shop for groceries.  Horrors!  Where'd they park?  How'd they push the carts to their car to load the groceries?  She has also included a picture of the inside of the store!  Not a vast selection of groceries, was there? And the most interesting thing of all could be the street showing in front of the stores.  Brick!  It looks like it would be the old original brick pavers that was later covered with asphalt.  The city thinks they might be able to get the asphalt off but sounds like a terribly hard job to me.  Thank you Paula Windsor Thom...
Comments 18
By Mary PAUL, ABR, CRS,GRI, e-PRO,
(RE/MAX Advantage Realtors, Searcy, AR)
I have watched American Idol all season and I have been totally amazed at the talent!  There were several performers who were voted off that I thought should have stayed.  One, being Michael Johns, who I thought was a terrific singer. The two Davids are very talented, but I was pulling for David Cook!  I thought he had more self assurance and was a better performer.  David Archuletta is a great singer, he can sing anything.  But, he is very shy, and a little too young.  I was thrilled that Simon made a public apology to David Cook!  The final night he was a little hard on David Cook.  An apology from Simon is  priceless! I think this season of American Idol was the best yet!  There were so many talented singers, I think any of the top ten will do well in show business.                  ...
Comments 8
By Barbara S. Duncan, GRI, e-PRO, Executive Broker, Searcy AR
(RE/MAX Advantage)
        Look what I've found this time.  This is a postcard of Morning Sun, Searcy AR.  It is a newspaper copy and not a great picture but who would have thought there'd be one at all? Morning Sun reminds me of one of our real estate friends who said as a young man he worked at the filling station there for some super salesman.  He was trained to go out and say, "Fill er up?"  Then he'd do the service on the car.  They apparently also had a snack bar.  He was to make a milk shake and he'd say, "One egg or two?"  Notice no option for NO eggs.  It was a sales trick and very successful. Morning Sun was actually just a corner and is still just a corner BUT the corner is now surrounded by the gas exploration going on in our area.  Land that used to be considered mosquito infested is now sell...
Comments 5
By Barbara S. Duncan, GRI, e-PRO, Executive Broker, Searcy AR
(RE/MAX Advantage)
      Thanks to a friend of mine for giving me permission to put these football beauties on my blog.  These ladies were football royalty at Searcy High School in 1953.  All were lovely.  The thing that intriques me in these old pictures is how styles change but the young people don't really change. They want to look alike. Note how the girls are all dressed the same just as the kids do today.  Only one girl has on a scarf  while the others have the oh-so-popular strings of pearls around the sweater neck. Scarves were popular too but those pearls were the "cat's pajamas." Someone once said that fads are actually started by the kids who have no money and are forced to look a certain way in their dress.  This could be true when you examine the worn-out-jeans look that is stylish now.  Did ...
Comments 17
By Mary PAUL, ABR, CRS,GRI, e-PRO,
(RE/MAX Advantage Realtors, Searcy, AR)
ARE YOU ON TIME FOR YOUR APPOINTMENT?  Keeping clients waiting is not a good thing!  Being on time shows that you think your clients are important. DO YOU DRESS LIKE A PROFESSIONAL?  Being neat about your appearance says alot  about you!  Don't show property in tank tops and short shorts!  Yes, some do!  If you are going to list a farm, don't wear spike heels, you won't get the listing!  Farmers want someone who can walk the land in comfortable shoes or boots!  I got a listing once, because the previous agent showed up in a dress and heels. IS THE INSIDE OF YOUR CAR CLEAN?  Do your clients have a place to sit?  Is your car full of clutter?  Make your clients comfortable during the showing process, it will pay off! IS YOUR PERFUME STRONG?  Some people are allergic to perfume, is your per...
Comments 15
By Barbara S. Duncan, GRI, e-PRO, Executive Broker, Searcy AR
(RE/MAX Advantage)
  I have a permanent search on ebay for certain collectibles or memorabilia and one of the searches I have is for Searcy AR, my home town.  The fun thing is ebay will email you any new items for that search.  No looking every night or wondering if you've missed something.  This card is one that I found.  It shows Arch Street before it was paved.  The front says Arch Street.  Searcy Ark. Made in Germany.  W. L. Baugh, Druggist, Wholesale & Retail Searcy Ark. The back has a hand written note to Mrs. Mattie Hurt Eureka Springs Ark.  It was from George and has a postmark of August 25 1912 and a one cent stamp.  It's a true look at the past. My next-office neighbor is Jim Baugh and the store owner was one of his relatives.  He is a wealth of knowledge about this city.
Comments 7
By Mary PAUL, ABR, CRS,GRI, e-PRO,
(RE/MAX Advantage Realtors, Searcy, AR)
I don't know about the rest of America, but Arkansas has had some major flooding and storms!  There are several counties, including White, that still have flood water from the March and April rains!  Saturday night we had tornadoes throughout the state!  The wind blew so hard,  and our electricity was out for several hours.  Today, it is looking like rain again!  I have a party barge that I keep docked at Eden Isle  in Heber Springs!  The water is so high that I can't get to my barge.  A friend told me that the corps of engineers said it would probally be the middle of August before the water was down!  I won't be going to the lake this summer!  This has really been a tough year on Arkansans!  We not only have had to deal with rising fuel and food prices, but the weather has been hard o...
Comments 7
By Mary PAUL, ABR, CRS,GRI, e-PRO,
(RE/MAX Advantage Realtors, Searcy, AR)
Aging has it's drawbacks!  It seems when you reach 40 your eyesight starts failing!  I have always been farsighted, I could see far away, but not up close!  My eyesight continued to get worse, and,  being a Realtor, that is not a good thing!  To read a contract I wore contact lens, glasses and used a magnifying glass!  It was getting harder and harder to see!  I decided I had to do something! I searched the internet and got the name of a wonderful doctor in Little Rock, Dr. Hampton Roy.  He evaluated my eyes and we discussed intraocular lens, I had never heard of them.  We set a date for the surgery and he inserted the permanent lens in my eyes.  After the surgery I had to wear dark glasses for one day. The next day, I could see perfectly!  It was amazing, I could read small print!  I w...
Comments 6
By Barbara S. Duncan, GRI, e-PRO, Executive Broker, Searcy AR
(RE/MAX Advantage)
    I have a permanent search on ebay for certain collectibles or memorabilia and one of the searches I have is for Searcy AR, my home town.  The fun thing is ebay will email you any new items for that search.  No looking every night or wondering if you've missed something.  This card is another one that I found.  It shows Spring Street looking North. The front says Spring Street, Looking North,  Searcy Ark. Notice the Coke sign on one of the buildings that was evidently a barber shop and a place for baths!  Spring Park is just a block away and had therapeutic waters for baths.  People visited Searcy for the waters, similar to Hot Springs today. I personally like the old vehicles in this one.  It must have been a Saturday when everyone went shopping downtown!  Isn't it a neat look at th...
Comments 6
By Barbara S. Duncan, GRI, e-PRO, Executive Broker, Searcy AR
(RE/MAX Advantage)
  I have a permanent search on ebay for certain collectibles or memorabilia and one of the searches I have is for Searcy AR, my home town.  The fun thing is ebay will email you any new items for that search.  No looking every night or wondering if you've missed something.  This card is one that I found.  It shows Galloway College, Searcy ARK.  This building must have been new because there are almost no trees in the front yard.  It was a huge building.  I love the dog and the gentlement in the front yard.  Galloway College was a women's college.  This, I believe, was the dorm.  It later burned. There's a name, J. A. Kimbrough on the front of the card.  Perhaps he was the photographer.  On the back is is postmarked August 19 1908 and was addredded to Miss Emma Painter, Philadelphia Penn....
Comments 15
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