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FCBOR 2009 Christmas Gala
Immediate Past President Randy Herrold receives recognition from Kelli Small for his year of service on the Faulkner County Board of Realtors. Small was recenlty installed as the FCBOR president for the 2010-2011 term.
Singing with Santa
Santa Claus (Mark Davis) takes a break from his busy schedule to join fellow members of the LR Downtown Rotary Club in singing the finale of the group's Holiday Program on December 15.
Thirtysomething
Well kids, this is my last column. Last week I mentioned we’d sold our house. With that comes a move, and we’ve decided to move to northwest Arkansas. Razorback country. I’m not a die-hard fan who watches the games on TV, but I’m sure I’ll tailgate some.
Kay's Cooking Corner
Well, it just wouldn’t be proper of me to not have a few game day recipes for all of you Liberty Bowl tailgaters, seeing that the Hogs are going to this showdown, and Don being an ex-hog and all. It is only fitting that I recognize this mighty event with a few good tailgating recipes!
The Green Corner Store offers an eco friendly alternative to the city
“We want to be a neighborhood store, harkening back to the olden days of a friendly general store where the proprietor knew your name, what you were looking for and you could find all of the basics for your home,” says Shelley Green, owner of The Green Corner Store on Main St., when asked about her new venture. But after stepping inside her store, you quickly realize this isn’t your grandfather’s general store.
The Critic's Corner
Disney means different things to different people. To me, the name stirs up memories of seeing “Bedknobs and Broomsticks” on a Saturday afternoon and watching “The Wonderful World of Disney” on television on Sunday nights.
To my children, the Disney name is tied to the remarkable run the company had in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s, when it produced moves like “The Little Mermaid” and “The Lion King.”
Capital City Chatter
I’ve started working on my New Year’s resolutions and I’m sure I’m not alone. Every year I make a silent pledge to be a better human being, exercise more and stop smoking out the oven. When I Googled “New Year’s resolution,” about three billion sites came up. I clicked on one towards the top and it took me to usa.gov. Surely the government has trillions of resolutions for 2010.
Financial Focus
Start planning now to cope with estate taxes
Throughout your life, you strive to provide financial security to your family. And your efforts can extend beyond your lifetime — if you work to control estate taxes.
It’s always challenging to create financial strategies that are somewhat dependent on tax laws, because these laws are always changing.
It must be true
An outburst at a town hall meeting on healthcare reform is the top remark of the year in the “Yale Book of Quotations.” Editor Fred Shapiro says “keep your government hands off my Medicare” topped this year’s quotations.
This year’s updated edition puts US Airways pilot Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger in the number two position based on his response to air traffic controllers when he was getting ready to land his plane in New York City’s Hudson River in January.
What challenges face housing markets in 2010?
While housing markets remained volatile through 2009, a first-time home buyer tax credit, low mortgage rates and downward pressure on list prices combined to help convince some buyers that the time had come to purchase a home.
Kathy Deck, an economist and director of the University of Arkansas Center for Business and Economic Research, said she believes housing markets will “approach stability” in 2010.
Protecting equity in your home
Homeowners throughout the nation have been concerned about declining values.
Here in Arkansas, the average sales price of a home through October was $144,476, down 4.1 percent from $150,650 through the first 10 months of 2008. Eric Hutchinson, president of Equity Protection, said the concern over home values – whether real or perceived – prompted the formation of his company in the first quarter of 2009.
House to House
FHA loans on the rise, but agency considering tightening requirements
According to a November survey from the National Association of Realtors, 39 percent of Americans purchasing homes this year took out mortgages backed by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA).
The FHA, of course, insures certain mortgages written by conventional lenders. Those mortgages traditionally existed to make it easier for people having difficulty coming up with a down payment or dealing with checkered credit histories to purchase homes.
Natural State Snapshots
Hikers prepare to take the Cedar Falls Trail, which begins at Mather Lodge in Petit Jean State Park. It's a bit more than a mile, one way downhill, to the foot of Cedar Falls, the park's most famous feature. If you ask a park employee, "what's the one trail I should hike?" this is the one they will recommend, so don't expect to find solitude.
Getting into real estate at just the right time
Some might argue that 2007 wasn’t the ideal time to start a real estate career, but Cabot Realtor Jamey Lafever would disagree.
Lafever earned his bachelor’s degree in business administration from Arkansas State University in Jonesboro and set out to establish his career. He applied for a job with the Blackwood Team as an office manager, but Steven Blackwood encouraged him to try his hand at real estate.
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