My Latest Listing...

is this adorable 3BR/1BA home with lots of character! It was built in 1955 and has been well taken care of. It sits just a couple of blocks from Harding University and is ready for someone to call it home! It features a new roof and landscaping and in 2005, new heat and air was added along with a stove and hot water heater. The rooms are all good sized, especially the laundry room which has a washer and dryer that comes with the house! The kitchen/dining combo has the vintage metal cabinets and the fridge also will convey to the new owners. The owner has added new mini blinds for privacy and there is a detached 2-car garage! This is just a very pleasant bungalow style home for you to enjoy and is priced at $79,500. MLS#10194472.

Your Own Portfolio

Everyone knows HGTV is a fabulous television channel providing decorating, house hunting and gardening shows, but did you know about the Designer's Portfolio? You can browse more than 1,500 gorgeous indoor and outdoor rooms designed by HGTV's top designers, and get exclusive decorating tips for every part of your house. Find your favorites by searching room type, design style or interior designer. You can then save it to your own portfolio for future reference! Whether you are remodeling, building or just doing one room, there are fabulous photos and how-to's for you to keep in one place. You can even shop around and purchase items you see right there from one place. Check it out....but don't do it unless you have plenty of time to kill...http://www.hgtv.com/!

My Coldwell Banker Complete Realty Family

I just wanted to take a minute to let you know about our team of fantastic and professional Realtors that I consider my CB family! Our beautiful office is very inviting and we love having clients pop in at anytime and know their needs will be taken care of! When I say team, I mean just that. Most offices have individual agents who take care of themselves and are for the most part, very professional. They don't, however, have the available help of numerous other agents to help them with their business because they are afraid they will lose customers, therefore, money in their pocket. We don't operate that way. Each of our clients and customers are not "ours" - they are Coldwell Banker Complete clients and customers. We work together to make sure ALL of our transactions are handled in a professional, but friendly manner, and that you will come back to us to fulfill any needs you may have in the real estate field. We are all close and spend time really talking about each individual party that we are representing - that enables us to either market the property in a more timely manner or find the perfect property for a particular individual or family. Our Principal Broker/Owner is Sherry Conley, our full-time agents are myself, an Executive Broker, Stephanie Dalrymple, Amy Kerr, Janice Wright, Robin Joseph, Rebecca Stone, David Hamilton, David Dale, Doug Carpenter, Gina Richey, Letty Fuller, Kristi Feagin, Ken Russell and Brandon Jones. We also have some great part-time agents that are in the office as much as possible, John Talkington, Tom Worley, Roxanne Miles, Denise Flores, Michelle Moore, Jim Gowen, Joy Sterling and Darian Weaver. We have our own Marketing Director, Wendi McAfee, that takes care of all advertising, marketing materials and is invaluable in aiding us with our needs in selling your property! We also couldn't do without our Office Manager, Janet Fisher! If you walk through that door, rest assured, she will take good care of you as she does all of us on a daily basis and is extremely helpful and friendly. Come see us - you won't be disappointed. That's why our franchise, Coldwell Banker Real Estate Corporation has been around over 100 years and has millions of satisfied, repeat customers! Become one of them today. We really appreciate you and your business. Thanks to my CB family for making me happy to go work each day!

Spring Cleaning

Well spring has been here awhile in Searcy for sure, but the weather has been putting a damper on doing outside maintenance and spring cleaning as of late! Last night, once again, we had a downpour and tornado warnings.....not to scare you if you are considering a move here, we have very good warning sirens and news coverage. The local stations were on from about 6:00 to 10:00 pm covering the storms. We thankfully had no injuries or damages here and Mother's Day is supposed to be a beautiful one.....back to spring cleaning - some homeowners tend to ignore outside maintenance on their homes, but to keep your property in great condition whether you are getting ready to sell it or not, here are just 3 of the items you need to address and keep in mind:

1) Curb Appeal - if a buyer doesn't like the outside of the home, they tend to not even want to look inside. You may have the most fantastic interior and spent loads of money on it, but it won't matter if the exterior has been ignored. Clean off porches, outside lighting fixtures, wash down siding, keep the lawn mowed, the flower beds and weeded and add fresh mulch. Get rid of any spider webs and bees nests! Make sure there are not alot of items outside and that the property is clutter free. Make sure your doors have a nice coat of paint on them and if you have any rotting trim or peeling paint, get it fixed! This is a requirement when buyers are obtaining an FHA loan. It will save you time and trouble later when you are getting ready to close. Clean your windows as well and have them opened up to let as much light in as possible!

2) Decorating the exterior - If you have a porch, patio or deck, make sure it is clutter free as well, and that it looks inviting and comfortable. There are hundreds of reasonably priced patio sets to choose from and add a few pots of annuals for a spark of color! Potential buyers will see this as an ideal place to entertain family and friends. If you already have these items, make sure they are clean and ready to be used. They may not convey with the property, but homes that are maintained well attract buyers because they know that the home they are thinking of purchasing has been well taken care of.

3) Your Garage or Carport - now you may think this is not a big deal, but I've shown property where you couldn't even walk through the garage and I can tell you this - the men want to look in the attic, so make sure you can pull your access ladder down where they can get up there. Same goes for any storage areas in the garage. If people can't see what they may be purchasing, it's going to be a problem for you. So have a garage sale, donate your unused items or get a storage unit. The neater, the better, the quicker the sale, the more you make!

After posting on this subject, I must now go take care of the items above myself - I am not planning a move by no means, but the more you take care of and maintain your home, the more you'll get back from it in the future and the longer it will last for others to love as much as you do.....

FHA Secure Program

Our Searcy Board of Realtors held a meeting yesterday and included area loan officers, title companies, appraisers, inspectors and others in the local real estate industry. Our goal was to discuss what is going on at this time with our local market and to come together to help our customers achieve their goals. I found the new FHA Secure program to be a very valuable tool for those considering refinancing their homes at this time. The following is excerpts from the fact sheet provided by HUD and I have included the link directly to their site if you would like more information.

The Federal Housing Administration has helped millions of Americans secure their dream of homeownership since 1934. Now we want to keep those dreams alive.
If you have an adjustable rate mortgage coming due or your interest rate is already too high, you owe it to yourself to look at the safe and affordable financing options provided by government-insured mortgages through the Federal Housing Administration (FHA). We provide mortgage insurance on loans made by FHA-approved lenders throughout the United States and its territories. FHA insures mortgages on single family, multifamily, manufactured homes and healthcare facilities. It is the largest government backed mortgage insurer.

WHAT IS FHASecure?
FHASecure is a refinancing option that gives homeowners with non-FHA adjustable rate mortgages (ARMs), current or delinquent and regardless of reset status, the ability to refinance into a FHA-insured mortgage. With FHASecure, the lender will not automatically disqualify you because you are delinquent on your loan, and the lender may offer you a second mortgage to make up the difference between the value of your property and what you owe.

WHO IS ELIGIBLE?
So long as you are current on your mortgage and have sufficient income to make the mortgage payment, you are eligible for an FHASecure refinance. If you are delinquent, the default must have been due to the payment shock of an interest rate reset or, in the case of an Option ARM, the "recasting" of the mortgage to fully amortizing. By refinancing into a FHA-insured mortgage, you can expect to pay lower monthly mortgage payments. FHASecure can improve the quality of life for many communities by helping to reduce the number of mortgage defaults and bringing greater stability to local housing markets.

Get the facts at http://www.hud.gov/!

Learning The Benefits About Owning A Home

I am sure most of you have seen the National Association of Realtors ad campaign on tv and if you haven't, here is a great place for you to find answers about the benefits of owning a home, your investment, financing options, how to prepare to buy or sell, and get valuable insight into many different areas in the world of real estate. Remember, as the ad says, every market is different - every market is local - you can listen to the media all you want to but the best thing to do is to get the facts on the market in your area yourself and through your licensed Realtor. I am proud to be a Realtor and am pleased that NAR has taken on passing along much needed information for you to use in making the best decisions regarding a such an important purchase. We as an industry are proud to have NAR on our side and yours as homebuyers and sellers, backing us up all the way by confirming what we talk to clients about on a daily basis. Check it out at http://housingmarketfacts.com/.