Barbara S. Duncan ABR, CRS, GRI, e-PRO Searcy AR

A few months ago I asked what we should look for if we select an heir apparent. My blog was sorta high-jacked by two friends named Nutsy and Raven but I had some feedback. My requirements were.....

• Honesty......this certainly would be a must.
• Energy......if I get tired, they shouldn't!
• Intelligence......street smarts wouldn't hurt.
• Education.....must know proper communication in writing and in person.
• Computer literate......know their way around for emailing, scanning and actually be better at this than I am!
• Personable.....get along well with people.
• Ambitious.....aims for success but not by stepping on people.

After careful thought, I called up this gentleman who'd done lots of work for me as a contractor or handyman while he was working to become a Nutritionist. He already had a degree in Engineering but was not practicing.

I stunned him by saying, "Mark, I think you should become a real estate agent. I've got lots of foreclosure properties and you've helped me with a lot of them by making repairs for me. You could probably serve in two capacities." He even bought one of the foreclosures, fixed it up and flipped it.

Then I gave him the sales talk.

• I know that you are honest and anyone who works with me or for me has to be honest.
• You have energy that is never-ending and my HA (heir apparent) has to have more energy than I have.
• Intelligence is a requirement and you have a university degree plus that nutritionist award.
• Computer literacy is a requirement and you understand the computer. (Later on I learned he has a son who is an expert!)
• I know you're personable because every time I recommended you for a job, they called you back to do more and more so you have repeat business.
• You're wife has a great job that supplies you with the all-important health insurance needed to survive.

He was absolutely surprised. He'd never thought of real estate as a career. He talked it over with his wife and they decided I'd made good points. He then started with all the training that was required. Within weeks he WAS a real estate agent.

I fought to get him an office right across the hall from mine. He bought his computer equipment, traded vehicles, and started working immediately. It has now been about 4 or 5 months since he began and he works diligently and learns so fast! He promptly masters whatever I put out for him.

He has also closed several transactions already. His eagerness and ambition are apparent. For a while he made my work load harder because of working and training at the same time. But I feel confident that he is competent as my backup if I want to go on vacation.

So, drum-roll please!!

HERE HE IS!! Mark Lercher, new RE/MAX Advantage agent from Searcy Arkansas.

P. S. He does have one bad flaw. He does not read my blogs so he may not even know he's here.

It gets to be shocking. Drive by and notice the building is either gone or half way down. That's the way it was with me on Main Street. The old International Shoe Factory building is a goner. I did another double-take because it was already half gone. I snapped pictures. The International Shoe Factory was one of the first factories in Searcy Arkansas.

After World War II Searcy leaders got the Searcians to agree to raise $100,000 to erect a building to house the factory. The International Shoe Company would least the building for five years with a 30 year renewal option. Approximately 450 people were to be employed in the factory. Dr. Raymond Muncy's history of Searcy Arkansas, written in 1976 gives the background of the factory, which I'll let you read at your will. I got this bit of information from the book.

Being a real estate agent makes you question things and the second picture above may illustrate something that we agents hear all the time. I call a brick house a brick house. An appraiser will call it "brick veneer." I think the wall above illustrates what a real brick house might have walls like. It is a solid wall of brick with several layers. Our brick veneer houses have a single thin layer of brick. Interesting?

How does a newspaper cover an earthquake that no one feels? That does pose a challenge. Our state newspaper, the Arkansas Democrat Gazette on October 17, 2009 ran the following editorial. I read it this morning while drinking coffe and loved it. I loved the large letters that got smaller and smaller. The humor was there and the earthquake got plenty of coverage. I hope they don't mind that I scanned it and am letting you read it.

This historic house is barely on the East side of Searcy on a corner lot with huge trees. So many trees, in fact, that pictures are difficult. I believe it is called the Margaret Pope house. Correct me, Searcy readers, if I'm wrong.

I drive by it daily and wonder why it didn't sell a few years back when listed for close to $80,000. It has been through a lot, however, in the years since it exited the Pope estate.

The Pope estate had a big sale. My friends attended even though I was working and couldn't. They bought the mirror that is behind my desk in my office. Lots of people have sat in front of me and looked at themselves in the mirror behind me.

However, I digress.

I marvel at the four chimneys on the house! Here are two of them. The other side of the house has two more.

Having shivered beside a fireplace for heat as a child, I can imagine having four chimneys in a relatively small house was a sign of wealth.

The house is also stucco, I believe. Stucco is not common in our area.

Finally, the house has a neat old building behind it. One of my friends will surely tell about the old car that was in it and never driven and a tree grew up so high that they couldn't get the car out.

I learned a lot about roof coverings from this building. You see tar-paper, I believe, underneath, and then tin on the top of the tar-paper.

Haven't we come all the way back around now with so many houses having metal roofs again.

I hope the wrecking ball doesn't come for this old house for a long time. However, the lot is perfect for apartments.

Each time I drive by this house and it is almost every day, I drive a little faster thinking that if one of those limbs comes down on me, I'm a goner!

Well, not really. But I always think that the tree is as historic as the house. This house is known, I believe, as the Deener house. I once had it listed and was fascinated by the features that dated back so far. Reportedly it was built in 1912.

The house is on Center Street in Searcy Arkansas, White County. In fact, here's the way it looked before it ever had a tree in the side yard. And before Searcy had paved streets. It's on the Register of Historic Homes and was placed there in 1982. It is so covered in trees now that you can hardly see the details but you can sure see this tree!

Just a quick glimpse of the front? Here you go.

The original fireplace looked like this.