July 3, 2008

Here we are on the Eve of July 4th!  Happy Independence Day!  As we celebrate our freedoms we should all keep in mind how important our freedoms are and to stay involved in order that those freedoms we enjoy are not silently taken away from us!

We closed out the 97 Acre tract NW of Pavo and it turned out to be a good one.  What thrilled me the most was that I was working for the purchasers and the tract was priced under all comparable properties I could find, and graded out higher than the more expensive tracts!  The ponds on this tract were incredible and being the thorough  land broker that I am took it upon myself, with permission of course, to inspect these ponds with my fly rod! Confirming my suspicions.....the ponds proved to be in excellent shape!  Since the closing, the owners have had the woods cleaned up with one of those mulcher/choppers and it truly looks like a different tract!

Staying on the topic of Mulchers, Choppers and the like, we have been doing quite a bit of work on other tracts trying to clean them up to help better market them for sale.  If you have never seen the before and after shots of some of the properties that have utilized this type of equipment you really need to give me a call and let me show you what we have done on several of our listings!  We have used the mulcher machines, both large and small, and have used the Bobcat Machines with the AX head wheel.  We have opened up areas that I dare to say have never seen the color of the sun!  One thing about summer time and showing properties for sale is that if you can't get to it fairly easy......folks are not going to consider it.  We have opened areas to tracts I have worked on for some time and did not even realize what was there.  The timing could not be better as this type of work will benefit the wildlife as well as the type of trees and grasses we are trying to get started in these woods.

We are also doing a small thinning on one tract that we have in conjunction with a bobcat mower....together we are making a big impact on the tract which should really benefit the wildlife and existing pine trees.  Where as before the areas that we are working on were impenetrable, now you can walk for hours unobstructed and really get a feel for the layout of the land.  Just this morning we saw 3 mammoth gobblers on this tract as well as one hen with six young ones.  We have really tried to stage this tract correctly; saving the better trees and creating paths and patches that enhance the property and show off the natural features and some of the more visual elements of the property.

We are starting to get a few more calls but you can still tell the Real Estate Market is off somewhat.  We are continuing to look at different ways to get our property out on the market and make folks aware of what we have.  Now is a great time to be looking at property.  Many folks are hesitant to lower their prices but numbers and closed transactions show that while the sellers are not reducing their list prices, they are working on the price when they start negotiating a sale.  There is always value there.  I heard something today on the radio about Thomas Jefferson when drafting the Declaration of Independence.  I believe it had to do with the phrase".....Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."  I believe the host of the show was talking about the phrase was borrowed from somewhere else but had originally said "....Life Liberty and the pursuit of Property."  Interesting.  It all goes back to the land.  I attended a meeting in Florida a couple of months back where I heard a quote from a fellow named John Locke..........I need to  Google his name because I don't recall that name, apparently he is important as he was being quoted......but his words were.....".....Property enables humans to store the value of their Labor."  Pretty powerful I thought.  No matter how you look at it.....an investment in real estate is a good investment when done with careful consideration and a clear thought process.

On Fishing........still catching a few Bass and Bream when just fooling around when I happen to be driving around the county.  I do not really call this going fishing, merely taking advantage of time, location and opportunity......usually for about 30 minutes whereupon I find myself running late for some other appointment.  I did make it down to Lanark around Alligator Point where I met up with one of my longtime fishing buddies.  As usual we did our annual battle with the Silver Kings  and managed to catch several on the Fly.  As usual Murphy climbed upon our vessel and KOd me with the 1-2 punch, leaving my 12wt in two pieces and my fly reel grinding metal!  I will not go into the make and manufacturer of my equipment other than to say they are reputable and have a good warranty!  Very helpless feeling having a 70+# tarpon, that you have been fighting for 15 minutes, when you only have 4' of rod and a reel the  will not work!  Memorable trip anyway.  A picture of the fish is at the bottom of the pictures page.

On Wildlife.......I have been seeing a lot of deer, turtles, and turkeys.  I actually jumped 2 fawns on a lot in Holly Springs in Thomasville a couple of weeks ago.  The Turkey have been all over the place.  During the middle of doing this update I was called away to show property, (July 3rd), on the Hansell Road tract where we saw about 14 Turkey, young and old, and about 4 deer, all on one of those 25 acre tracts and I caught one bream on my fly-rod just to show how agreeable the fish were!  What a great showing.  I have heard several reports on Snakes lately......we killed a small moccasin in my parents yard on July 4th. Keep your eyes open!

 Now is a good time to start getting those game cameras out to see what is going on with your deer and checking out antler growth. We are finally settling into that summer pattern of afternoon rains so preparing your feed plots for the upcoming hunting season is something that comes to mind.

I met Kayce and the kids to go pick blueberries the other evening and we had a blast!  It was a comfortable evening and there were blue berries for days.  Kayce made some type of desert that involved the blue berries, strawberries, angel food cake and whip cream!  Needless to say it did not last long!  Matter of fact...it was so good the girls helped her make another!  The kids are having a great summer with main focus being on swimming at the Grandparents and an occasional trip down to Panacea.  Not traveling as much this summer.

Jason Copps, one of our sales associates,  is running for County Commissioner in Brooks County.  Jason is from the Grooverville Area.  I really think Jason has a good shot at being elected and I must say if he works as diligently as a County Commissioner as he does in real estate, Brooks County should see some positive results.

Travis Shepherd recently placed his Real Estate License with us and we are all excited at the prospect of having a forester join our group.  Travis will be continuing his forestry activities and well as handling real estate sales in land, commercial and residential.  I previewed a tract with Travis a couple of weeks ago and really found myself picking his brain and was very impressed with his practical knowledge of land.  Travis was telling me things about the soil and trees that I have yet to ever see printed in a book.  Good common sense knowledge that you just can't get off a shelf!

Please continue to pray for our country our leadership and our troops.

Dan