Photos from Judi and Don Barrett Integrity Real Estate Services in SE Oklahoma
Get away from it all to Smithville, yet be near Broken Bow Lake. Many building sites around Smithville similar to this one.Located in: Smithville, OK
Our local paper often runs a whole page from an edition of years ago. This past week they ran a page from 1939.
In that paper, it talked about the Oklahoma attorney general, Mac Q. Williamson making it perfectly legal for the folks in Oklahoma to be thankful on any they wish.
He issued an “unofficial opinion” to the Tulsa chamber of commerce, who seemed to be worried because they were having difficulties try to arrange Thanksgiving programs for civic organizations since President Roosevelt had changed the date of Thanksgiving and Oklahoma Governor Phillips had changed in back in Oklahoma…
Part of that opinion
“So that which we may all conceivably be thankful and grateful as a sort of continuing or recurring emotion; ye at the same time each individual and organization may have to take and assume the responsibility of deciding just which day or upon how many hours in each day one should officially and collectively be thankful.”
Now that sounds like a lawyer’s way of saying, “Do it anyway that you want to.”
I know it's a little early for Thanksgiving, but what can I say??
For an article on how Thanksgiving got changed in 1939, read more from the FDR library……
We've had so much rain during the last 30 days.
It is the wettest September that I remember in some time in McCurtain and Choctaw Counties in Southeast Oklahoma.
In fact it's been a wet July and August too.
Usually during those months our grass suffers but not this year.
The unusually high moisture content has given us...
FOGGY MORNINGS on the farm.
I've been reminded of some of those old London movies.
.
Our average rainfall is approximately 50 inches per year in Idabel (the extreme southeast corner of Oklahoma) Extreme Southeast being about 20 miles from Arkansas and 20 miles from Texas.
So far, the year 2009 is ranked about the 50th wettest year during the period that records have been kept, 1895 - 2009.
The month of July was the 27th wettest July for that same time keeping period.
if you are considering moving to our corner of the world , or if you're just curious about the climate in Southeast Oklahoma, The Oklahoma Climatological Survey maintains a website with all of the data and facts about Oklahoma weather.
Some links to information on their site:
This post is pictureless - There is no way that I could photograph a chigger and could not locate one that was ok to use.
BUT, nevertheless...
You do not want to pick up these tiny, six-legged wingless creatures.
If you are interested in buying land in Southeast Oklahoma, be aware that SOME AREAS HAVE CHIGGERS... SOME AREAS HAVE VERY HEALTHY CHIGGERS.
I have walked in tall grass on property after property and not picked up a chigger, but about 2 weeks ago - I FOUND CHIGGERS.
Or should I say, they found me.
There cannot be any creature on earth that can make a person more miserable, especially for its size, than a chigger.
These little hairy dudes are only about 1/20 of an inch long, and usually bright red.
They can crawl onto your body in lightning speed. When they get to where they are going, they pierce your skin and inject saliva containing an enzyme into the skin, which liquefiies the skin cells. They then ingest those skin cells.
After their feast...
They leave their host (you) and leave behind an itchy red whelp.
The Chigger transforms into a mite, which lays eggs, egg hatch into larva and the cycle begins again.
LET'S STOP THE CYCLE!
If you own land where chiggers are located, please keep it mowed, let the sun get to the short grass, and spray if necessary.
If you are looking at land for sale... as much as I hate insect repellent, you will probably want to put some on.
Ask your agent if they know whether there are chiggers on the property that you are going to be viewing.
You want to move to the country.... you were raised in a rural location,....or you've never had the opportunity and now you can make that choice
Whatever the reason for wanting to reach out past city limits for your new home, make sure that you do your homework.
Does a public water district serve the area? If so, what are the installation and monthly fees? If not, are good water wells serving the neighbors? What is the cost of drilling, how deep are the wells in the area and what assurance if any do you have that you will end up with plenty of good water? What permits are required and what fees? Are there fire district fees associated with the public water district fees? Where is the nearest fire department? Are they a volunteer department or staffed? Where is the nearest fire hydrant? How does the fire department location and type affect your home owners insurance?
Is there a public sewer service available to the property? If not, what are your options? Depending upon the soil profile, waste treatment could get expensive and could be a "high maintenance" system. Ask questions about installation costs, maintenance costs, hassle, etc.
What about electrical service? In our rural areas, power probably comes via overhead lines. Is this a co-op that serves your area? If so, find out who your representative is on the board, when they have their board meetings and when do they have their annual meeting? You may not ever need this information but when and if you do have a problem, you want this information already filed away somewhere. Ask the neighbors if service is disrupted very often. If so, or if this is an area that has been plagued by snow storms or other types of storms that have knocked out power in the past, you may want to invest in a practical size generator just for insurance, which means keeping some fuel on hand for the generator. If it's a gasoline generator, gasoline is not always easily siphoned out of your automobile to put in the generator. Find out what the utility charges for installation. This may make a difference in whether they run the electricity near your house or at the property line and you have an electrician do the job of getting the line closer to your new home, possibly getting it underground even if the utility company only runs overhead.
Surveys: Get one. Period. Whether the seller furnishes it, you have to do it, or you split the cost...get one. If the seller has one that they can pass on to you, good. It needs to sketches of structures, fences, and other improvements. There needs to be stakes in the ground so that you can easily find the corners and easements on the property. Which brings me to the next one:
Easements. Check to see if the property has any, what types they are and what the consequences of them are and could be in the future. It never hurts to be aware and it might make a difference in your decision.
Mineral Rights. Are there any with the surface rights that you are thinking of purchasing?
Soil Type of the property that you are thinking of buying. Call your local conservation district and ask. If solid maps are available, get one. Talk to them also about the location and ask for advice, especially if you are thinking of installing a pond on the property. They can give advice about soil erosion, suitability of the soil to different improvements and plants. They will help you with conservation planning.
In Oklahoma, ask about the abstract. Are you getting a complete abstract or is it a supplemental. This can be a negotiating point on the price of the property. If you are only getting a supplemental, who owns the base. You might save yourself some money also if you know the last time that it was looked at by an attorney, or if it has title insurance on the property. If there has been an attorney's opinion, sometimes going back to the same attorney will allow you to get the opinion extended to cover the additional documents that have been added to the abstract since the last opinion.
Is there a live creek on the property and if so, where is the flood zone?
If you have children, what school district is the property in...is the property served by the school bus route?
Find out how property taxes are calculated and how property is assessed. It will probably change when you purchase and especially when you build on it, so don't count on it staying the same as the previous owners.
Are there any zoning ordinances that cover the location and are building permits required? If the property is not covered by protective covenants, you still will want to know if there are any deed restrictions.
If the road to the property is not paved...ask about maintenance on the road and what it's like after a rain.
There may be other issues and concerns so ask your lender if there is anything else that you should be concerned about.
Then after you're satisfied that all is right, enjoy knowing that you did your homework.
|
 |
|
|
Let us help you find a quiet peaceful home on Lake Raymond Gary or a Country Home with some acreage in SE Oklahoma. We live on a farm and also at the lake. We know the area. Call me or email me. today
Judi and Don Barrett own Integrity Real Estate Services. They have an office in Idabel, Oklahoma but they stay on the road between Haworth and Hugo. The name of their company says it all! It's about integrity and providing service to their clients and customers. They provide real estate services that their clients can trust.
Judi and Don ahve 3 grown children and 7 grandchildren. They are of the Christian faith and believe in living it every day. They want those that they work with and for, to know that they live by the Golden Rule and they can expect fair and honest treatment from the Integrity Real Estate office. Judi tries to remember to ask the Lord to "order" their day every day. That means that they have to be thankful for each and everyone that He sends and try to find what it is that they am supposed to do for that person. Sometimes it's just to include their name in prayers for that day.
Judi first passed her real estate exam in 2000 but did not place it with a broker. She passed the exam again in 2002 and has been licensed since August of 2002. She and Don have lived in the Southeastern part of Oklahoma most of their adult lives. Judi has a background as a loan officer for a Savings and Loan, a math and science teacher, and a child support caseworker. She is currently working on certification also as Christian counselor through The National Christian Counselors Association. She has a B.S. in Education from Southeastern Oklahoma State University in Durant, OK.
Don is a licensed home inspector and takes care of the farm when he is not busy with the office business. Don has a degree in Chemistry from Southeastern Oklahoma State University in Durant, OK.
With such varied backgrounds of working with people, They have found that they bring much to the real estate business from these backgrounds.
Don and Judi's farm was a National Environmental Award Winner Tyson Foods Farm in 2000. Only 5 farms are selected out of 7500 farms. The following year, Don and Judi were asked to help the Tyson team select the 2001 award winners. The family farm that they live on has been in the family since 1944. They understand being a part of something much bigger than they are. They understand having roots in an area. They love the rural farm life.
Judi and Don Barrett are passionate about Lake Raymond Gary. They have been going to that little lake for 30 years. It has been wonderful to own a part of the shoreline there and they enjoy helping their clients find their own place on Lake Raymond Gary at Fort Towson, Oklahoma in Choctaw County.
The areas that the Barretts work in are McCurtain County and east Choctaw County. Their office has had great success because they work hard and treat people right.
Some of the recreational areas that Integrity Real Estate Services has developed specialized marketing in: Raymond Gary Lake, Pine Creek Lake, and Hugo Lake. Their office enjoys selling Southeast Oklahoma because it's so beautiful and has such varied topographies. Some of the towns and cities that they work in are Idabel, Lukfata, Holly Creek, Haworth, Redland, Goodwater, Valliant, Garvin, Millerton, Fort Towson, Swink, Sawyer, and Hugo. If you are wanting to buy or sell in these areas, call or email Judi for fast, fair, and friendly service. Of if you're an agent, Judi does referrals both ways and do our best to take care of our clients.
They specialize in farm/rural properties, country homes on acreage and waterfront properties at Lake Raymond Gary. The Barretts live on a farm and they own waterfront property at Lake Raymond Gary so they are very familiar with these two types of properties and know how to market them. They also market residential properties, commercial locations, businesses of varied natures, vacant land, and other recreational property. If you're looking for any of these in our area, especially waterfront at Lake Raymond Gary, give Judi , broker at Integrity Real Estate Services a call.
Feel confident that when you send your referrals to their office that they will be taken care of. Integrity Real Estate Services answers to a higher authority. Rest assured that Judi will also update you on a regular basis, after accepting a referral from you.
Check out our websites at http://integrity-realestate.net
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Life in Southeast Oklahoma is GREAT! If you're looking for a home or land in my part of the country, give me a call: Judi Barrett, broker, Integrity Real Estate Services, 580-212-5946
Or visit one of our websites:
Broken Bow Lake
Lake Raymond Gary
Raymond Gary Lake
===================================
Judi Barrett
Broker - Integrity Real Estate Services
Our Name Says It All.
Real Estate Services You Can Trust.
580-212-5946
Email me at judi@integrity-realestate.net
call me at 580-212-5946.
Let's get acquainted over a good real estate deal and if the deal doesn't work out, let's still be friends.
And may God bless your life as He has mine!
Judi would like to visit with you about property in Southeast Oklahoma, whether you are wanting to sell or to buy. Integrity Real Estate Services owns 32 different domains. Some of them have been created and are working to serve our clients. Soem of them are under construction and some of them are on the shelf waiting for time to work on them.
From the time that Integrity Real Estate Services takes a listing until the day the transaction closes (and past then), Don and Judi Barrett are right there with you working to make everything to smoothly.
For details on selling visit the 8 part series of posts that starts here on selling your home
Read Judi's blog posts on various birds found in Oklahoma. Scan through the posts and you will find several about the local birds.
To find the nearest airports to Southeast Oklahoma, read this post.
Various posts about DV Fennell and his rodeo career can be found in Judi's blog and at DV's blog.
Every Saturday, Judi does a post entitled, Tell Me Something Good That Happened To You This Week. Reading it and the comments will sure lift you up and create some positve aura around you.
The next sections talk about what wer're good at and what our clients have to say about us.
There is no better advertisement than word of mouth. We appreciate you coming by the Life in Southeast Oklahoma Blog. We hope you will stay and awhile and look things over.
Please call Judi at 580-212-5946 if she can help supply ifnormation about our area including motel information or restuarants, medical facilities that are in our area, school informaiton, or any informatin that you may need as you look at Southeast Oklahoma as a possible relocation area.
I have a B.S. in Education from Southeastern Oklahoma State University in Durant, OKlahoma. That along with working toward certification as a Christian Counselor through the National Christian Counselors Association has allowed me to develop good people skills. We like people ad we like helping them get what they want in the way of real estate. It is very satisfying to help someone sell the house that they need to sell or help someone else find just the right home for their family. Sometimes it's someone needing or wanting a commercial property to make a living with. Whatever it is, we enjoy the working with people aspect of it. I also enjoy the technological tool side of it. I do my own websites and own and operate several real estate related domains. I do everything that I can think of to get my clients' properties in front of prospective buyers.
We enjoy working with recreational land homes in Southeast Oklahoma, especially homes and land around Lake Raymond Gary in Choctaw County, and properties around Hugo Lake (Hugo, Ok) and Pine Creek Lake (Valliant, Ok). I work really hard to be "THE BROKER" in this area. Lake Raymond Gary is the small lake in Southeast Oklahoma where you can actually own the shoreline and have a boat dock with your boat parked just off your yard. Our Corp of Engineer lakes do not allow this. We have sold many properties around Lake Raymond Gary.
We work hard at and enjoy working with residential, vacant land, and commercial properties in McCurtain County and Eastern Choctaw County. Our work ethic brings good things to our clients. My husband and I work together from our home and this has really been a great benefit to both us and our clients. We live on a farm and we enjoy helping others find their rural home. Our farm is only about 2 miles outside the city limits of Idabel so we know the town and the area well, we enjoy selling homes in Idabel and helping people find a home in Idabel. I guess when you sum it all up, we enjoy each and every area that we work because it's about the people and some of the finest people in the world are right here in Southeast Oklahoma.
As one of my clients put it: "Judi is a professional but personable. I trust her with my real estate needs whether I'm buying or selling."
Areas that we serve:
Idabel
Haworth
Redland
Valliant
Fort Towson
Hugo
Messer
Hugo Lake
Pine Creek Lake
Raymond Gary Lake
Rural Homes on acreages between 2 and 10.
Farms and Ranches (we live on one).
Not only can we sell you the land but can help you with information on where to buy the things to get your farm or ranch up and running. Call or email us for help with your real estate needs.
We specialize in Internet Marketing. It is our desire to dominate in online marketing for our listings. With various domains (32) that we own, along with websites that specialize in certain kinds of property that we pay to be on, plus using websites such as Zillo, Home Gain, Yahoo Real Estate, Lands of America, Landwatch, and other specialized places, we have your property "all over" the internet. We have sold world-wide to people in various locations around the globe.
Some clients have been able to puchase waterfront here while being stationed in Baghdad, Korea, etc. Some have bought sight unseen and still have not viewed their property after threee years, They had friends meet me at the property and view. That along with videos and lots of pictures,,, did I say lots of pictures???
We'd love to have you move to our area. Come for a visit, you may decide to stay.
Judi,You have been "awesome" and your husband too. We really appreciate the way you "went the extra mile" for us and stayed until after dark to help get this going. We love our lots ...Thank you again for your help--and kindness. We are so looking forward to getting back and building the house. Clients in California
"Thank you so much for all your help. You have been a jewel and both Larry & I appreciate you very much." Clients in Texas.
"Thank you, everything about our transaction with Integrity Real Estate Services was smooth and handled well. You are an "easy" to do business with company." Clients in NE Oklahoma
Thank you for everything that you have doneto make our purchase a positive experience! Clients in Nebraska.
Thanks for being such a wonderful real estate agent. Very honest folks are not as plentiful as you'd like and we stumbled across such a person! Clients in Maryland.
"We are grateful for the services that you gave us in purchasing our lakefront property. This has been our dream and you made it come true for us. Thanks for being so knowledgeable, kind and honest. It is great to meet someone of your integrity in the Real Estate business." Thanks Again, Clients in Oklahoma
Thank you for selling our house. It has been a pleasure doing business with you. If I ever sell again, I will call you to sell my property... Clients in SE Oklahoma.
You did us right when we bought our house. I would recommend you to anyone! Clients in Choctaw County Oklahoma.
I like the way that you do business. Thank you. Client in McCurtain County Oklahoma.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
My wife & I had never been to Oklahoma before, but our first impression was a good one. We called Integrity Real Estate Services about a piece of property on Lake Raymond Gary and spoke with Integrity's owner, Judi Barrett, who was very friendly and helpful, and extremely knowledgeable. She helped us find a piece of property we liked, then guided us through the real estate buying process, answering our questions, helping us through negotiations, and the transaction process, most of which was done by long distance since we had to leave the area. We felt that we could trust Judi from the first time we met her. WE WERE RIGHT! Through her honesty, hard work, and expertise, we are now proud owners of a Raymond Gary lakehouse. We thank Judi and recommend her to anyone buying or selling! Clients from Idaho, now living in Choctaw County Oklahoma.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Judi is professional and personable. I trust her with my real estate needs whether I'm buying or selling.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Judi is trustworthy. She does not take advantage of anyone and that's the reason that I can do business with her.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Judi Barrett at Integrity Real Estate Services did a great job for us when we needed to sell our house.
"Just want you to know we appreciate your friendliness, your true heart and your integrity."
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Dear Judi,
I just wanted to send my wishes to you for a wonderful holiday season. And, to thank you for the great job you did for me on the sale of the Broken Bow property.
Never once, did I have a concern abut any detail. You handled it all very professionally. I hope to meet you sometime. It was a pleasure doing business with you.
Happy Holidays"
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"We aprpeciate you spending your day with us and helpign us to buy our dream home!"
"Don and Judi Barrett are a wife and husband team that work to make it happen for their clients!"
"No better team anywhere. We found Judi on Active Rain, read her blog for awhile.. felt like we had gotten to know her and then called her about property in the area. By that time, we felt that we knew her well enough to know that we wanted her for our broker."
"Judi was able to handle all the parts of our purchase and direct it through to closing without us ever having to be there." She is truly someone you can trust to tend to the details.
I found Judi online even though I live in Virginia and sent a link to her profile to my daughter in Idabel who needed to find a real estate agent to help her sell her house. My daughter eneded up using her to sell her house. She was very pleased with ther and I am too because my daughter got to move close to me.
I referred a client to Mrs. Barrett who needed to buy a house in the Idabel area. Judi found them just the right house and they were thrilled with ther work ethic and ability, besides her helpfulness. She treated my clients right. I would refer clients to her again in a heart beat.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Judi,
Thanks so much for all your help and hard work during the sale of our property. We had our fair share of challenges but you were right there every step of the way guiding us through it.
You were a pleasure to work with and I would recommend your agency without hesitation. I wish you all the best.
Sharon L
ActiveRain Corp. is not responsible for the accuracy of the site's content (which is written by members of the ActiveRain Real Estate Network) and does not endorse the views of the real estate agents, mortgage brokers, and others listed here.
Powered by the ActiveRain Real Estate Network
© 2009 ActiveRain Corp. All Rights Reserved
