2254 Sherwood Dr., Cape Girardeau, MO Three bedroom, three bath brick ranch in Schrader District has main level laundry, full basement, and attached garage. Gas fireplace, covered patio and open patio, as well as covered front porch. Mostly finished basement has ceramic tile, large family area, bath, office and ample storage space. Home is extremely well maintained and has nice landscaping and fenced back yard. Within the last six years, new roof, new HVAC, sump pumps, waterproofing by Helitech, hot water heater, garage door openers, and survey. Enjoy the sound of the creek and watching nature from your patio, rain or shine. Owner has invested $40,000 in upgrades and maintenance on this home in the last six years, including additional insulation to make the house more energy efficient, ... 01/25/2015

Whether you are a history buff, an artist, a dreamer or an engineer, the riverfront and its protective floodwall are a "must see" attraction in Cape Girardeau. More than a mere floodwall, Cape Girardeau's concrete levy is home to a 550 foot mural dubbed the Missouri Wall of Fame. Informational plaques along the way give historical facts and add to the illustrations on the wall. In addition to several scenes that depict life and times along the river throughout history, the wall features portraits of famous Missourians, who were either born in the state or reached fame while living in the state. The list includes personalities from the famous to the infamous (you decide), but one notable missing person is Walt Disney--left off due to problems obtaining licensing permission from the Disne... 01/21/2015

Chilled to the bone five times today, I closed out the day by bringing home some House Special Soup from Chan's Restaurant. After she took my take-out order, Kiki brought me hot tea to drink while I waited. My family and I love Chan's, and it is our Saturday lunch destination every weekend, so Kiki and Niki (wife and husband proprietors) were somewhat taken aback when I showed up on Friday evening. Not to worry, though, I will be back tomorrow with the family. Tonight, I needed the soup and hot tea when I finally wrapped up the day's business after 8:30 pm. I sometimes refer to it as "Chan's Magical Soup," while invoking its magic to ward off illness or to chase away illness. Tonight is going to be the coldest night of the season, and today was windy with falling temperatures. My daught... 07/29/2014

"May I talk to your supervisor, please?" has an ominous sound to it, doesn't it? This weekend, my son made that request of the support specialist at my web hosting service. When the supervisor came on line, my son first asked if she knew to whom she was speaking. "Uh, yes, sir." "Will you be able to write down or record our conversation?" he asked. "And I want to be sure you know that everyone in my family subscribes to your service, with several domains and web pages hosted there?" "Uh, OK," she said, growing more uncomfortable. "What can I do for you, sir?" "The lady who was just helping me did an excellent job. I know you don't hear from many satisfied customers, so I want to be sure you know how pleased I am. I assume that you know who was working with me. Do you have a special form... 03/24/2013

Congratulations, April Creech, on passing the Missouri Real Estate Salesperson License test! April will be joining Riverbend Realty as soon as we get all of her paperwork completed and back from the state. April was licensed several years ago. She let her license expire when she took a position as real estate marketing and advertising coordinator for the affiliated Century 21 offices in Cape Girardeau, Jackson, and Marble Hill. Since her time in real estate, she has worked fulltime at NARS and then at ATT. She has extensive experience in customer service and sales. We are happy to welcome her back to real estate. April's extensive marketing experience, coupled with her real estate experience, customer service and sales skills make her a perfect fit for your real estate needs. Riverbend ... 03/23/2013

Bass notes reverberating from open car windows, children laughing as they try to conquer hoola hoops, birds singing in still barren trees, and the ice cream truck preemptively summonsing eager buyers...the sounds of warm weather were all around me last week as the temperatures rose into the 70's for two days. The highs today are in the mid-30's with a cold rain and heavy sky, so last week was a mere fore-shadowing of days to come. My office space is in a mixed-use neighborhood near our small downtown with apartment buildings right behind and on either side and a liquor store two doors down the street. None of the apartment buildings have a real lawn, so children often play on the parking lots. The proximity of downtown businesses and the liquor store means that there is foot traffic mos... 03/17/2013

The internet is a great place to get an overview of what's available in the local housing market, but it should not be your only source of information. Much of what prospective homebuyers find on the internet is old information or sketchy. Finding what you believe might be your perfect home, only then to learn that it is already sold or no longer on market, is an exercise in frustration. The www does not replace the help of a local expert.   You also should be aware that some houses are sold before being posted online, and some are never online (due to seller preference and other reasons).    In fact, the best way to start your search is to consult a tech-savvy REALTOR who can set you up for automatic emails, based on your search parameters. You will get the information much faster than... 03/15/2013

Take time from the busyness of the season and relax at the River Campus showing of Fall for Dance, from Nov. 29 through Dec 1. Buy tickets HERE. Next up on the River Campus schedule is On the Verge. Tickets are available HERE. Performances are Dec. 5-9.   Southeast Missouri State University's River Campus is located just west of the Mississippi River bridge. The Donald C. Bedell Performance Hall overlooks the river. If you haven't visited the River Campus, now is the time! River Campus: Where the Arts LIVE! Directions from I 55: Exit on Hwy 34/72 (Shawnee Parkway), stay on Shawnee until just before the bridge. Turn left on S. Fountain and then turn right into the parking lot. 11/27/2012

Forget Black Thursday (and the shopping madness now moving into Thanksgiving), Christmas season does not officially start in Cape Girardeau, MO, until the annual Parade of Lights graces Broadway and Main Street. This year's Christmas parade will be held Sunday, Nov. 25.   All of Old Town Cape will be on board for seasonal festivities next week on Friday, Dec. 7, as the Old Town Cape open house welcomes visitors.   More information on upcoming events, courtesy of Old Town Cape newsletter follows:   Parade of Lights The 21st Annual Parade of Lights will be held this Sunday! This year's theme is "All I Want for Christmas." The parade will begin at approximately 5 p.m. or as soon as dusk arrives. The parade route starts at Capaha Park and proceeds down Broadway, turns right on Main Street ... 11/21/2012

Casper the albino deer My headlights swept across the darkness as I pulled into the parking lot, illuminating the grassy yard beyond it. Seeing deer in our church yard was not unusual, but this time one of the deer at the edge of the light beam looked grey, not brown. "Is that the albino deer?" I asked my husband. "Yes, I think it is," he said as I slowly repositioned the car to point the headlights toward the deer, and then we were sure. He stood there silently, studying us as we studied him. I quickly put the car into park and started searching the back seat for my camera. Knowing that I probably could not get a decent image in the darkness and that my camera's batteries had drained completely while I was taking photos just a few hours earlier, I decided to try anyway. Camera in hand... 09/16/2012

The buyer has NO RIGHTS in a transaction until the seller grants them. In other words, the seller has 100% of the rights in the transaction from the start. The seller has ABSOLUTE control over the disposition of the property, so the seller does have the legal right to establish parameters of the sale IN ALL REGARDS. The only exception to that are anti-discrimination statutes.At what point do sellers cede some legal rights to their property ownership? When they sign a contract, the sellers grant specific rights to another party. The first contract is the listing contract. That contract, however, does not actually grant rights to potential buyers. It grants specific rights to the real estate agency and/or the cooperative/s in which that company participates (MLS is an example of that). A ... 07/05/2012

Nobody likes traffic detours or delays due to construction, but Cape Girardeau's city government does seem to be getting it right. Only one or two blocks can be closed at a time as Broadway gets its facelife, a project city leaders have dubbed "Building a Better Broadway." Contractors are about to finish, and OPEN, the first segment of the project a few days ahead of schedule. That means that the next segment will be underway, and closed, a few days early. Detailed descriptions of the route affected are updated regularly and can be found by clicking the link below: http://cgtransportation.wordpress.com/ An overview of the project is available at the following: https://www.cityofcapegirardeau.org/broadway/bigmap.pdf 05/09/2012

Dear Agent: Don't email me every time you get a price reduction, a new listing, or your seller decides to offer a selling agent bonus (unless--maybe--if it's enough to finance a family vacation). I  pay MLS dues. That means I get updated information through MLS. Your email notices to me are spam, and they clog up my email. The MLS HotSheet works just fine for me. During this very busy end of the year, holiday time, I received the following email announcements today from local agents: Hello fellow Realtors,   We have a new price on our listing ...... Great home, great location on nearly 1.5 acres..lots of updates and space. If you have a buyer looking for style and land this home could be it. NOW $273,900 They are ready to move. Happy New Year Of course, that email inspired another agent... 12/30/2011

  You miss 100% of the shots you don't take. ~Wayne Gretzky I first heard that slice of wisdom from my daughter's church league basketball coach nearly 20 years ago. He put it on hand-written signs for every girl to post in her room. I thought then that it was a basketball quote, but also I know it's a life philosophy. Today, while trying to find the author's name, I discovered that hockey great Wayne Gretzky is responsible for those wise words. Turns out, Gretzky quotes apply to real estate decisions and even to a real estate career. I skate to where the puck is going to be, not where it has been. ~Wayne Gretzky Don't you know lots of buyers and investors who wish they had known in 2007 where the puck was going to be just one year later? A whole new crop of investors is now trying to d... 12/28/2011

The caller wanted to see one of the company's listings, but she wanted an appointment that day, 30 minutes after our office closed. The floor agent did not want to work that late and offered the phone call to me. I now have a very nice listing, another deal under contract, and the prospect of yet more business--all from that showing. The listing the caller wanted to see was not mine, but I knew that the owners needed to sell. The caller was impatient and even demanding, having already left unanswered messages for the listing agent, who was out of town that day. More than anything, I did not want the sellers or the listing agent to lose a potential sale, and the floor agent was about to put the caller off again. I showed that first house to the caller sort of as a personal challenge. Cou... 12/27/2011

I knew that students might scoff at "the speech," but I gave it anyway--just in case it would reach someone. I told them that they were important to me and wished them a Merry Christmas, and then I cautioned them to be safe over New Years--pretty much the same speech I also delivered right before prom and graduation. As a teacher, I always felt that I had less influence over my students during the holidays--either to reassure them when they might be having a holiday depression or to caution them right before New Year's Eve. I had to do my part to prevent one of "my kids" being in a horrible accident or making a careless decision that could not be taken back. In the 21 years I was in the classroom, I never had to teach class where there was an empty chair due to the death of one of "my" ... 11/19/2011

When a seller chooses to counter-offer rather than accept an offer, he/she kills the original offer. The offer is DEAD, and it was killed by the side who countered it rather than accepting it. That's a powerful message, because sellers and buyers often assume that they are "keeping the deal alive" when they counter.  Donna and Mike Scott make that point clearly in their article, Are You Presenting Offers as Well as You Should Be? The Scotts provide several strong arguments for why agents should have a serious discussion with sellers before they counter any offer. In fact, though, both sides need to hear that message very clearly.  I am on the listing side of most of my real estate deals, and I often find myself presenting a counter-offer to other agents, rather than an acceptance. In fa... 09/16/2011

The BPO has a distinct place in the valuation process. The perspective of a real estate agent is different than that of an appraiser. Appraisers, after all, never actually walk into a house with a prospective client, something agents do all the time (or at least, presumably, do).The agent, like the appraiser, uses facts to arrive at an opinion of value. Neither evaluator has a crystal ball or employs wizardry. An appraisal's emphasis relies heavily on recently sold properties and physical value. When an agent prepares either a CMA or a BPO, comparables are pulled from both currently listed and recently sold properties. An agent is more likely to be influenced by the aesthetics of the property and its marketability, while the appraiser's value is more likely to be influenced by measurabl... 07/05/2011

AVOID FORECLOSURE! I see the billboards. I see it on the internet. I see the ads for agents who claim to be foreclosure prevention experts. And while those claims are technically correct, I believe many of the advertisements are misleading and purposefully so. The billboards appeal to homeowners who are in danger of losing their homes to foreclosure. Hoping against hope, these borrowers pick up the phone and call the number. They then learn that the person smiling back from them on the billboard is a short sale agent who wants to list their home for sale, not a person who will somehow work magic that will keep them in the home. Where the homeowner probably expects to connect with an expert who can help them explore several options, they instead find an "expert" who has one card in their... 07/01/2011

Words of wisdom from Yoda in "Star Wars": "NO! Try NOT! Do or do not. There is no try." Yoda seemed to be telling Luke not to try. If his attitude was that of trying, Yoda's advice was simply, "NO! Try not." I just love the sequence of the quote, because Joda first stopped Luke then went on to explain. In the years (oh my, I should say decades, I suppose) since I first saw the movie, I had morphed Yoda's advice into, "There is no try. Only do or do not." Yoda's actual sequence, however, is far better; and I'm going to try to remember it. "NO! Try NOT!" is an important way to set up the advice Yoda gives. First, stop what you are doing, including negative self-talk and doubt. Then, focus on your own resolve. Kind of like Rhett Butler's parting words in "Gone With the Wind," the punctuat... 06/25/2011