Our move over to Realty World Alliance came with many awesome perks, but one of the top neato features has to be the opportunity to hang out with the office shrimp, Fred! Move over office kitties, a new star is taking over the front desk!
Fred's been with Realty World's family for a long time, over 4 years! When Fred arrived, he was given a life expectancy of 6 months, so this is a pretty cool feat to have gone so many years! He's been through a lot, with kids dropping him, shaking him, and more.
Fred did spend one winter cryogenically frozen (well, he got left out one day....) but when the thaw came, he sprang right back into action!
He comes from a neat line of products called ecospheres. They are an all-in-one little ecosystem. Fred doesn't get fed or cleaned. His little sphere condenses and he gets rained on from time to time, just enough algae keeps blooming to feed him, etc. It's really quite a neat little setup.
The office is still being put together, but if you get a chance, pop by and visit with our office shrimp! He'd be happy to see you, as will the rest of us!
If you're interested in your own office shrimp, or a great gift for kids that are into that biology stuff, check out ecospheres here:
Eco-Spheres
Our new office is located in the NorthWest Centre Plaza, at 13th/Tyler just across from NorthWest high school. Our sign is still in the works, but you can't miss the beautiful Realty World PT Cruiser out front!
Looking for something to do with the kids this holiday season?
Need to distract them while you get some super secret shopping done?
You might check out the Towne West Mall, located between West/235 just south of Maple Street!
While you'll find plenty of good shopping and deals, the kids will find a good fun time!
This mall features a real carousel ($1.50 to ride) where kids can zip around and around on their favorite horse, ostrich, or the ever popular rotating teacup!
Nearby is a kid-size train that will soon be setup for the kiddos to have a ride around a neat winter holiday track! The small kids love this! In a shop next door is the Toy Train Club with a setup of their train tracks that older kids will just love watching them zoom around!
Soon, Santa will be enthroned here, just waiting to hear everyone's Christmas lists! That makes a great photo-op!
There's other treats in store here, with a full bank of those lovely quarter-guzzling kiddie rides, a sweet shop with Caramel corn, cotton candy, and more! It's almost like an indoor mini-fair!
So if you're looking for just a fun afternoon, or Dad needs to entertain the kiddos while Mom does the shopping, check it out!
Have a great time!
~Sheree~
And of course, if you know anyone with real estate needs, send 'em my way!
sheree@ksgreathomes.com text/call 316.461.0575 www.kansashomebuzz.com
Cheney has a
strong school system, 4A, that provides a learning experience that
prepares for
the future, yet remains personal for the kids. Cheney's business
district
provides a variety of shopping needs for everyday from the floral shop,
the
hardware, the knick-knacks, groceries, and several opportunities to
dine out.
Cheney Recreation provides activities for the kids through all seasons,
all
ages, for participation and enjoyment.
Cheney's
neighborhoods are quiet, peaceful. The kids are able to ride their
bikes, play
ball, be kids, without having to look over their shoulders all the
time. The
neighbors watch out for the kids, your home, just as you do for them.
Sometimes, you wonder if they pay too much attention, then you realize
that
they really have your best interests at heart.
If I sound biased, I guess I am, then again, I make Cheney my home."
As you can see, it's the small-town atmosphere, the way everyone looks out for each other, that helps make Chad and his family feel at home.
Q. My lender said I qualified for this USDA Rural Development Program. He said it would mean zero down payment and I could get the seller to cover my costs. What's the catch?
A. The catch is that the Rural Development Program is for well... developing rural areas! Therefore, the house must be in an area that qualifies as Rural in order for the program to apply. If you don't mind that, it is an excellent program and will save you that down payment expenditure!
For those in the Wichita metro Area, Wichita zip codes are not covered. Neither is Derby, Bel Aire, Eastborough, Haysville, or portions of Park City.
To check for coverage, you can go to this website:
Once you accept the terms of use, you may then enter in the address you are considering or city area, and the program will tell you if it is eligible for this financing or not.
Some areas to consider, that are eligible: 
Maize
Goddard
Valley Center
Mulvane
Colwich
Andover
Cheney
If you'd like to learn more about USDA Coverage areas or find out if you'd qualify, just give me a hollar!
Between work and 3 kids, I don't get out much. But whether you're young with kids or into more mature pursuits, there's a lot here to see and do!
Facts about Wichita:
Wichita has about 350,000 people and about 153,000 homes.
Wichita was named for the Wichita Indians and was started roughly in 1864.
Wichita has more fast rood restaurants per capita than any other city in the US.
Wichita founded Pizza Hut and White Castle.
Wichita is known as the Air Capital. We have a large aircraft industry here, with Spirit, Boeing, Hawker, Raytheon, Cessna, and McConnell AFB.
Sights to see:
The Keeper of the Plains in honor of the Indians. He was sculpted by Black Bear Bosin. He raises up above the city to keep an eye on it and there's a ring of fire at his base that spouts off every so often after dusk. The Plaza is open from 5am till Midnight, and 2 gorgeous suspension bridges allow pedestrian access.
The Plaza sits at the convergence of the Little and Big Arkansas Rivers, which criss-cross through town and provide fishing pleasures and attract plenty of ducks for feeding at the local parks.
Just south and East of the Plaza is our new Waterwalk Development, where our new WAAR Board just built a brand new building. Gander Sports is also located there, and a new Loft development. There's a wall of water in front of the Hyatt that kids like to play in. It's still in the works, but there are plans for more retail development, and more artsy additions for a nice pleasurable downtown strolling area.
One neat thing to see in Wichita are all the sculptures. Downtown has them all over the place. Douglas street particularly, you can stroll along and find a bronze sculpture of an owl sitting on the light pole, or a sculpture of two kids playing in the water fountain, or like this one, a sculpture of a girl and pet about to play hopscotch on the sidewalk!
Otherwise, Wichita boasts the usual assortment of Museums. The Exploration Place, currently featuring the Body Exhibit with all those plasticated dead people sliced open.
They have an IMAX theatre here and supposedly all sorts of neat exhibits, not to mention a very neat looking building. I've never been inside as my kids are just too little and can't participate or appreciate. But I hear great things about it and if you get a chance to go, please send me some feedback! I think next year, my oldest will be able to enjoy it!
There is an excellent playground here though. Ask me about playgrounds, I've been to them all! Wichita has a lot of parks and playgrounds, more than any city I've ever lived in! Some have been revamped to include water features, such as the Osage Park on 31st Street, between Seneca and Meridian, and the Riverside Park, downtown in, well, Riverside!
And yes, the shopping. Oh the shopping! See, I don't do a lot of that, I have no patience. But Wichita has a ton of little boutique stores everywhere! There's the usual malls, with their usual stuff, but Wichita is really a city of many little plazas full of shopping. You'll find everything from specialty children's boutiques, furniture boutiques, home decor, and more!
Want walk-around fun? Try Old Town - shopping, bars, movie theatre, and historic buildings in the heart of downtown Wichita! This area is also full of Loft developments with a warehouse/contemporary styling to them - New York ala Wichita!
Other sophisticated adventures:
Wichita Theater League and Music Theatre League - I do admit to memberships here, I LOVE me some Musicals!
Dinner Theatre type places- Crown Uptown, Mosley Melodrama, and more!
The Ballet
Wild Stuff:
Wichita has the Sedgwick County Zoo, which is well-funded and recently completed a new Penguin exhibit, after their brand new Ape exhibit of last year. It's actually a very large zoo and has a train and everything. They're in the process of building more fancy restaurants there instead of the outside style they have now. Every year they host a neat Zoobilee event where area restaurants and bars setup shop inside the zoo. It's generally $100 per person, but you can tour the zoo, eat all the fine foods you want, and booze it up.
Just outside the city is the new Tanganyika Wildlife Park. See Giraffes. Haven't been here yet, but I want to. More hands-on experience! You know you want to get up close and personal with a lion, right??
Oh and the events. We have Riverfest, going on it's 30-something'th year. My husband used to run it back in the day. It's a week long festival of concerts, block parties, parades, fireworks, food and so much more! It's a really huge event down here. We've had American Idol folks play it, local bands play, it's basically a week long party. Bathtub boat races, RC boat races, pancake cookouts, and more! There's also Flight Festivals that go on occasionally, concerts, block parties, baseball games, Hockey leagues, and more!
All in all, Wichita's not a bad place. The atmosphere is friendly, the crime rate is low, jobs are stable, cost of living is low. It's a wonderful place to raise a family, which is why I moved here from Alabama. And I've been here 5 years now and haven't seen any of these:
Looking to make Wichita your permanent place to call home? Good choice!
Sheree and Kelly Wilkerson in Wichita, Goddard, Maize Kansas Residential Real Estate! We operate on the Golden Rule principle to make your dreams come true in home-ownership!
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