Joe Pryor.com Realtor Oklahoma Investment Properties

In a place you would never suspect a great wine shope to be, The Cork and Bottle sits next to a 7-11 Store in West Edmond Oklahoma. The young owner, Jill Ogden have made it their Holy Grail to find the best wine buys under $15, and they have succeeded. Located at 16502 N. Western, Edmond, Oklahoma 73013, Jill and here equally young employees have done their best to help this much older wine buyer, me, with great selctions, and also a constant update on new musci selections.

I like going into places that have a sense of community. You are not their just to buy, you are their as a friend. The unforced greeting as you walk in is real, and when you say what's new, you get not only an answer, but a personal experience with the wine they have profiled for you taste. Two days ago I came in and told them about Active Rain members blogging about their favorite small businesses and I wanted them to be the first. I also told them I wanted to compile 6 or 7 of my favorite buys that average under $12.00 a bottle and they did just that.

First, the Condesa De Leganze Crianza is fun to say. But it is also a great example of great low cost Spanish wine. The Tempranillo grape is a ruby red smooth taste with just a hint of spice on the finish. Yummy. The Gascon malbec is a great example of a Brasilian wine that is a Malbec grape famous for blending in France, but 100% goodness in South America. Chile also does excellent Malbec. Not to be left out California's Lost Angel Mischief is an example of how America does great blends. Silky smooth to the palate. The Pares Balta Mas Petit is a tasty organic wine. This is a growing category, and Green can be politically correct and tasting good. merlot has gotten a bad rap becasue of the movie Sideways but Velvet Devil hits the spot. Verderol Spring in a bottle is a cross between a Savignon Blanc and a Pinot Grigio. I am not much for whites, but in a hot summer when you don't want a beer this hits the spot. For a bit more money also try an unoaked chardonnay. It will change your attitude about that grape.

I drink these because these young folks care. They look at wine not to get sauced on, but as an extension of food, or as an aperitif. I saw that estimated sales for this tiny shop was $2.5 million last year. They must be doing something right, and since I moved out of the area and I am 15 mile away, I still make the trek to the little wine store that could, and does. Follow them on Twitter @Cork_And_Bottle.

In this series of post about subdivisions in the Oklahoma City area, I have focused on homes for sale. Today, as the last in this series I want to share with you my neighborhood where I live, Lakehurst Addition to Oklahoma City. Homes started to be built here in 1961, and they finsihed the neighborhood in about 1967. Most of the homes are ranch style single story starting at about 2200SF,and going up over 3000SF. The lots are typically around 100 to 130 feat wide, and 130 to 150 feet in depth. This was an era where ranch style was in it's heyday, and many homes were 4 bedrooms, reflecting the need for school age children. Our home is around 2800SF, has three bedrooms, 2.5 baths, two living areas, and a formal dining. Charlene and I have separate home offices at each end of the house, her in a bedroom, and me in a large formal dining. Being so far apart we text each other instead of yelling.

The area has wonderful amenities. We are within 1 mile of Lake Hefner, a recreational lake that because of its size, the flat topography, and wind is a great lake for sailing and kite boarding. We bike around the lake on the extensive trails for bikers and joggers have there own track. To go around the lake is a 14 mile ride. Three restaurants front the lake, and all are considered excellent dining establishments. We can bike up, each on a outside patio, and then ride home. A 36 hole course course completes the area.

The Penn Square mall area is the best shopping area of Oklahoma City. Locate 3 miles away, it is the center point of three major shopping areas, and many restuarants. My favorite store there is the Apple store. Whenever i get a little down, I go there for it;s light colors, the gear which are designs of beauty, and the energy that a full store seems to bring. We are also 15 minbutes form the airport, and 5 minutes from a major freeway that can connect to interstates to leave town. Home prices are typically between $200,000 and $500,000. Since some houses need updating, good buys for the fixer uppers exist. Ranch style homes typically have the outside walls as structural, so interior walls can be moved, and ceiling heights increased.

We are currently working on updates on ours, since we preferred to buy one that needed work. Soon, it will be exactly the way we want it to be. Until something new comes along, but that is the beauty of these homes. They can be changed. Fir more information on this area or any other in greater Oklahoma City, please email us at joe@joepryor.com

North Rose Lake is located on the NW side of Edmond, Oklahoma and is in Oklahoma's Number One rate school sysytem Deer Creek. Deer Creek Schools is a small personalized public school system run more like a private school. The parent, teacher, and student interaction is second to none and their college preparatory emphasis is the best. The home we have for sale at $168,900 is 17600 Pond Walk Ct, Edmond, Oklahoma 73012. It is a 3 bed, 2 bath, 2 car garage home built in 2007. The home has granite tops, a fully fenced yard, and a sprinkler system front and back. A new elementary school one mile away will open in the Fall.

The neigborhood is small with under 150 lots, and it borders much higher end subdivisions. Rose Lake to the South is a golf course community that averages $600,000 in price, Rosewood on the East whihc averages $240,000, and to the North is a new 640 acre planned community called The Grove and the average should be $350,000 when finished. This makes North Rose Lake Villas highly desirable becasue of the lower entry level. Very few homes in this school district can offer this kind of home at this price. I have a 10 page market analysis that you can download here, and a one page summary is just beneath you. If you are interested in this home or any home to live in or to invest in, email me at joe@joepryor.com and our team will get to work for you.

I love to go to Active Rain the first thing every morning. I sit with my coffee, my drug of choice, and my granola in soy milk, and lately the blueberries have been great. However, I have change the routine just a little bit. The amount of post that tell people to shut up, or call something socialist, or attacking Realtors because they are not up to our standards has got to be too much. So a bit of change of pace would be nice and I would like to contribute a bit of peace on Sunday morning, kind of like Charles Osgood does on CBS. Charlene and I are going to book a townhome on Jupiter Beach in the West Palm area of Florida, take the dogs, and do business for the month of January. It get ugly weather wise that month in Oklahoma.

How can we do this? Experience was the teacher. First we have a team that is expanding to 5 people including us. Second, Charlene and I spent 3.5 months in Houston last year while I underwent cancer treatment, and so far I am doing well. But you realize how finite, unpredictable, and precious life is. You also realize that this internet, social networking, Skype video connecting, mobile world we live in. In 3.5 months with two people on the ground in Oklahoma, we did a terrific amount of business, and I became a regular blogger and internet marketer. Real Estate has changed. No longer is there floor time, no longer do we have to even ever meet our clients. Since 2005 I have closed over 500 rental properties in Oklahoma that maybe 100 of them have seen.

Ninja Selling starts with a mantra, "The biggest problem we have as Realtors is, we think like Realtors". We are masters of telling ourselves it can't be done that way. We spend a lot of our time criticizing our industry, as if it should be perfect or ever will be perfect. A rant is okay now and then, but i would rather focus on what can work for my team, and if i can help anyone to gain more knowledge and I have it, it is theirs.

What does it take to break away from routine? Imagination. We have to dream it, then want it, and then go for it. Could this experiment fail? of course,, but nothing is ever a complete failure, and without judgement rendered, we modify the experience and try to do it better next time. I can't wait to blog to you about how we do. And if business ever gets to tense, Charlene and I with the poodles Hope and Henri, will take a walk on the beach. Like the line that Morgan Freeman delivered as Red in Shawshank, "Get busy livin, or get busy dyin". "Damn right".

Less than a block from Oklahoma City University is a $560K 14 unit brick building that has had all the capital improvements upgraded. Apartments close to Universities are probably the most recession proof real estate investments that you can make. The beauty of these units is that the West side of OCU is gradually being rehabbed as the University grows. The location is also around 10 minutes to Downtown, 10 minutes from the State Capitol complex, and 10 minutes from 4 major hospitals. The location is Google accessed at 2015 NW 25th St., Oklahoma City, OK . It is in walking distance to class, over 30 food locations, 2 supermarkets, and other amenities like hardware stores, cellular phone stores, and pharmacies. The building has a property manager that understands the area, and we are in a prime time for rentals, as all the units are close to completed. This is a perfect time to buy as new rentals are being built in the area, and since all the major improvements like roof, central hear and air, appliances, windows, flooring, cabinets and fixtures are new, maintenance should be low in the next few years, making your bottom line better. OCU in conjuction with the City of Oklahoma City and The Oklahoma County governments are buying up property to increase the dramatic expansion of the school. On this block alon OCU has razed two properties and built fraternity houses for students. Please contact me at joe@joepryor.com for more information. You can download a financial analysis PDF to see the cash flow.