About Laclede County, MO

Ezard Elementary School in Conway Missouri - The 6th grade class has been learning about "going green."

They've talked about the environment, recycling and using items in unusual ways.

Their latest assignment? Trash Art.

• Use at least four items/things from around the home that otherwise would be thrown away.
• Think "outside the box"
• Try to avoid paint.

This morning, boxes, tin foil, tooth picks, soup cans and straws invaded the upper hall. The creativity of the class was impressive!

How can you re-use items that would other wise end up in the trash bin?

My daughter, Ashley, used a variety of items in her "Old McDonald's Farm" including: toothpicks, a cracker box, straws, a paper bag, wrapping paper, a potato chip container, a cup and, to hold the fence up - her used bubble gum!

Chelsey used a Sunny D bottle to make her Christmas Tree!

Karissa used bottle lids, a toilet paper roll and a make up case in her master piece.

Josie used pencils, soup cans and a cereal box.

More Trash to Treasure!

Candy Man by Mackenzie

Leaning Tower of Sweets by Christoper

My words of wisdom have fell on deaf ears for years...

     Buy land, I would say.

          Buy land, I still say today.

Over time, I have received a lot of strange looks and eye rolling. But today,
United Country Real Estate released some interesting statistics:

Rural land (non-Urban) values have increased by more than 27 percent, since 2006.

Based on United Country's closed land sales data, the national price per acre average increased from $1,691 in 2006 to $2,142 in 2008.

When compared to a roughly 35% decrease on Wall Street since 2006, land investment has become an attractive option.

What does this mean, exactly?

If Investor A put $100,000 into the stock market back in 2006, he would have roughly $64,000 today - perhaps even less based on the closing bell this week.

If Investor B put $1000,000 into land on that same day back in 2006, his investment would be worth approximately $127,000 today - 
perhaps even more based on which part of the country he invested in .

Dan Duffy, the CEO of United Country sums it up nicely:

This report pertains to residential homes on less than 10 acres sold from Nov 7th to Nov 13th as reported by the Lebanon Board of Realtors MLS.

Over the last week there were 3 homes sold for a total of 276 thousand. The average price of these homes was 92 thousand with the median price at 80; these homes had an average time on the market of 148 days. There are currently 9 homes listed as under contract in the Lebanon MLS and those homes have an average price of 94,000.

Year to date there have been 229 homes sold, that's down from last years 293 during the same time frame, the average price is 113,000 thousand dollars, which is just under 115,500 for 2007.the YTD volume of 25.8 million is under last years 33.8 million. Our average time on the market this year has been 136 days, that's below last years 144 day average.

As of this morning there were 373 homes with less than 10 acres, listed with the Lebanon MLS compared to 374 last year in the same week. The average asking price is 146k with median asking price of just about 121; these homes have an average time on the market of 147 days.

Well with thanksgiving coming up I want to take this opportunity to thank the many people we have had chance to work with this year, for their trust in us and their faith that we could help them accomplish their real estate goals. We have experienced a great year assisting buyers and sellers. We have also had many of our past client refer our services to friends, family and colleges and that more than anything is a compliment we are thankful to receive. We also want to thank all of the members of the Lebanon Board of Realtors, without your willingness to work with us we could never fulfill our goals as we have. Throughout the last year we have had many people express gratitude to us for doing our part to provide quality and accurate real estate information to the residents of Laclede County and we especially want to thank those who have gone out of their way to remind us of why we do this. We do this because we want to be a resource for buyers and sellers so they can accomplish their real estate goals. From all of us at Realty Executives we wish you the best thanksgiving ever, and we hope you take the time to cherish your family and appreciate all that we have in our great country.

Today, Teresa Bell, a Nutrition Program Associate with the University of Missouri Extension, brought FOOD POWER to Ezard Elementary in Conway Missouri.

FOOD POWER is a elementary grade level program designed to teach students the importance of healthy eating and physical activity.

Using an interactive exhibit, the students used Pizza to learn how food comes from a Missouri farm, into their body, to ultimately give them the energy to grow and play.


Farmer Tammy started the groups on their 45 minute journey talking about the "parts" of a pizza.

What is the base? Dough - and what is that made of? Flour, which comes from Missouri wheat. What's next? Sauce, made from Missouri grown tomatoes. What must go on our pizza next? Of course, cheese, made from the milk of Missouri dairy cows. Toppings? Ground meat from Missouri beef; sausage from Missouri pigs.













The groups continued on to talk about how milk and cheese start with the cow and end up in our tummy's.







Next, on to hand washing (my favorite station!) The kids talked about invisible germs and used a blue light to see "their germs."

On through the mouth, stomach and small intestine.


Before finishing their journey, the students talked about the importance of exercise and healthy bones.

The day was deemed a success, with over 400 students learning and experiencing FOOD POWER. We decided the only thing that could have made it better: samples of  yummy Missouri pizza!

** Food Power is a program offered by University of Missouri Extension in cooperation with the Department of Nutritional Sciences, College of Human Environmental Sciences. It adds unique activity-based experiences to the University of Missouri Family Nutrition Education Programs funded in part by USDA's SNAP.

This report pertains to residential homes on less than 10 acres sold from Oct 31st to Nov 6th as reported by the Lebanon Board of Realtors MLS.

Over the last week there were 2 homes sold for a total of 119 thousand. The average price of these homes was almost 59 thousand with the median price the same; these homes had an average time on the market of 84 days. There are currently 10 homes listed as under contract in the Lebanon MLS and those homes have an average price of 101,000.

Year to date there have been 225 homes sold, that's down from last years 283 during the same time frame, the average price is 113,700 thousand dollars, which is just under 114,700 for 2007.the YTD volume of 25.5 million is under last years 32.4 million. Our average time on the market this year has been 137 days, that's almost the same as last years 143 day average.

As of this morning there were 368 homes with less than 10 acres, listed with the Lebanon MLS compared to 371 last year in the same week. The average asking price is 148k with median asking price of just about 124; these homes have an average time on the market of 147 days.

Well with the elections over it seems as though some buyers are back in the hunt, activity has definitely increased and lots of people were out looking at homes this week. There seem to be a lot of strong opinions about the recent election results and that only goes to prove that as Americans we are people of freedom and we will continue to have that spirit regardless of the political climate. One of the greatest freedoms Americans have is the freedom to own land, to have property that is yours to do as you please. The freedom to buy low and sell high, or to keep what s yours and build the home of your dreams. Most of the wealth that Americans enjoy comes from land and home ownership. Owning land or just your own home allows you the possibility of creating equity which translates to wealth and leverage, allowing you to capitalize on growth opportunities if you know where to look. There are many ways to make real estate ownership profitable but in all those ways 3 key factors required for success; The first is financial, know where you stand, do you have cash? Will you leverage another property, do you have the capacity to borrow? The second key is to have clearly defined goals. The third and most important is advise, find a trusted advisor who can help you define a goal and find financial solutions to meet that goals. There is no get rich quick sceam in real estate, it takes hard work and perseverance, but in the end, "under all is the land"