The February meeting of the Western Kentucky Real Estate Investment Association will be held at Murray State University on February 19, 2009 at 7:30 p.m. at the Barkley Lecture Room on the 3rd floor of the Curris Center. The WKREIA is a group of investors who meet monthly to discuss current topics, network, and educate themselves concerning new techniques in investing. This month the group will be hearing from nationally-known speaker Alan Cowgill via webinar and the topic will be "Private Money Lending." With the current credit markets being the way they are, this topic is vitally important for real estate investors. The meeting is open to the public and all are welcome.         02/13/2009

This photo is the courtesy of Gary Whittington, Benton KY.  All Rights Reserved. Any use of this photo, including reproduction, modification, distribution or republication, without the prior written consent of Gary Whittington, is strictly prohibited. Permission may be sent through me at ronspanton@remax.net. Photo is only of people, places, things or scenes in Western Kentucky. 01/21/2009

Well, here in Western Kentucky, Benton is very proud of it's tradition of celebrating Tater Day. To celebrate Tater Day; we have a Tater Day Parade, Tater Day Flea Market, Tater Day Carnival and even a Tater Day Queen and a Junior Miss Tater! Stop laughing!.....Come on! Your community probably has it's local celebrations as well and we'll find out about yours soon enough! Our tradition started around 1843 when people in the community would get together to sell or trade sweet potatoes and sweet potato slips and continues to this day on the first Monday in April each year and ushers in Spring. The activities are so important to the community that our spring break for students coincides with Tater Day. No one would go to school anyway! Now we all know there are celebrations around the Unit... 01/12/2009

This photo is the courtesy of Gary Whittington, Benton KY.  All Rights Reserved. Any use of this photo, including reproduction, modification, distribution or republication, without the prior written consent of Gary Whittington, is strictly prohibited. Permission may be sent through me at ronspanton@remax.net. Photo is only of people, places, things or scenes in Western Kentucky. 01/07/2009

HAVE YOU HEARD ABOUT THE SNOW IN WESTERN KENTUCKY? NO? THEN LISTEN UP! Photo by Gary Whittington, Benton KY   Where we live in Western Kentucky near Kentucky Lake, we only average about 10 inches of snow per year! We enjoy 4 seasons (it would get boring having the same weather all the time, wouldn't it?) but the winters are mild. In the past I have lived in Northern Illinois, Northern Wisconsin and Minnesota so I really appreciate the weather here. Usually when we get some snow it only lasts a day or two. It's enough for the children to get out of school and get cold and wet playing outside. When I tell local people about the winter activities up north such as ice fishing, skiing and especially driving vehicles on the lakes they can hardly believe me. Yes, those are fond memories that I... 01/06/2009

The Kentucky Lake waterfront real estate market in Marshall County remained strong this year. Year to date listings sold were only 1 less than 2007 while the total and average sold prices are up. The following data is taken from our MLS:   Total sales for 2008 are up 10% over 2004. Although total dollar sales were off in 2006 the following chart shows that the average home sale continued to rise. Average home sales have risen 39% over the same 5 year period. I think it's safe to say that investing in Kentucky Lake waterfront property is still a good investment even with all the negative information coming from the news media. Lenders are lending, interest rates are good and we have a good selection of properties to choose from. This information is for Marshall County only and the data i... 12/29/2008

This photo was taken by my son's fiance near Kentucky Lake this fall 2008. One of God's miracles!   12/26/2008

I just completed my first long distance sight-unseen sale and although I was very nervous it went through just fine. The Buyer was here from out of state and I showed him a few properties. He made an offer on one but the Seller countered. We raised our offer but the Seller went up on his price! But that's a subject for another article. Understandably dissatisfied, my Buyer went home. I sent him new listings by email over the next several weeks which led to previewing a couple for him. I took pictures and emailed them to him but nothing really caught his eye. The third one led to writing an offer which I emailed to him, he printed it, signed it and faxed it back to my fax-to-email account. I then printed it and delivered it to the listing agent "contingent on his approval in person". It ... 12/18/2008

WKREIA AGENDA DECEMBER 2008 The Western Kentucky Real Estate Investment Association (WKREIA) welcomes everyone in attendance! We hope to make this association one of the finest learning alternatives to develop, support and promote regional real estate investment while serving the interests of the Real Estate Investment Community and Industry as a whole through Education, Motivation, Mentoring, Training, Leadership, Investment, and Networking Opportunities on all issues involving the regional real estate community, and promoting professionalism and standards of excellence in the industry. The only way we can make this association a success is to get everyone's involvement to the fullest extent possible. We sincerely hope you see the benefit of having, joining and participating in an orga... 12/17/2008

Kentucky Lake and Lake Barkley in Western Kentucky are manmade lakes from the Tennessee and Cumberland Rivers respectively. They are also called reservoirs because of the damns on these rivers that created them. The Tennessee Valley Authority in conjunction with the Federal Government created them for generating electrical power, flood control and navigation.  The TVA along with the Corps of Engineers controls the lakes and their levels. You can find flow rates and lake levels at this TVA website.  The flow of water through the two dams' power plants creates electricity. I understand some of the lowest electric bills in the country are experienced by the southeastern part of the United States because of the inexpensive and "green" generation of electricity from the power plants.  For fl... 12/16/2008

BUILDING A BUYER’S LIST   To make money in real estate, we all need buyers for our houses.  We need wholesale buyers, rent to own or creative financing buyers.   In order to move the homes we buy at great deals quickly, we need people in place to immediately purchase these homes via cash or creative financing.  We need a quality list of potential buyers for each property we purchase.   Let’s talk about creating a list of wholesale buyers Wholesale buyers are other investors whom you can quickly turn a property to in order to make a small profit.  For instance, I have a duplex in Paris, TN right now that needs some work.  I’m trying to sell it to any rehabbers out there for around $17,000.  That will let me make a small profit and let those who like to fix and rent keep the cash flow.  A... 09/18/2008

The Western Kentucky Real Estate Investment Association (WKREIA) welcomes everyone in attendance! We hope to make this association one of the finest learning alternatives to develop, support and promote regional real estate investment while serving the interests of the Real Estate Investment Community and Industry as a whole through Education, Motivation, Mentoring, Training, Leadership, Investment, and Networking Opportunities on all issues involving the regional real estate community, and promoting professionalism and standards of excellence in the industry. The only way we can make this association a success is to get everyone's involvement to the fullest extent possible. We sincerely hope you see the benefit of having, joining and participating in an organization like this and hope ... 09/18/2008

Hello everyone!   I wanted to keep everyone informed about our upcoming meeting of the Western Kentucky REIA. We will be meeting this Thursday, September 18 at 7:30 p.m. in the Barkley Lecture Room of the Curris Center on campus at Murray State University. Come out and meet other real estate investors and learn more about what's working in today's market. We will be discussing how to build a buyer's database so that you can move your properties more quickly. Last month's meeting in Paducah was a great success and we look forward to seeing any of you that can make it at the meeting. Thanks and have a wonderful day, Greg Taylor President, WKREIA 09/15/2008

Benton, KY- Benton is a city in Marshall County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 4,197 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Marshall County[1]. Shape-note singers gather annually at Benton on the fourth Sunday in May to sing from a tunebook called The Southern Harmony. This event, organized in 1884 and called The Big Singing or Big Singing Day, is considered by many to be the oldest indigenous musical tradition in the United States. Benton is also known for an annual festival called "Tater Day" at which Marshall Countians gather on the court square to eat, listen to music and political speeches. Geography- Benton is located at (36.855231, -88.354047). According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 3.9 square miles (10.2 km²), all of it lan... 06/24/2008

Each year, thousands of boaters, fishermen, and other outdoor enthusiasts descend on Kentucky Lake to enjoy all that it has to offer.  The traditional beginning of boating/swimming season is Memorial Day, when the water is starting to warm and the 3-day weekend beckons.  Here is a list of some of the other upcoming activities at Kentucky Lake:    Paris Catfish Derby Set    Where:  Paris When:  May 1 - 30, 2008 Paris Catfish Derby – May 1 – 30, 2008 – weekly contest prior to the upcoming Bass Pro Shops “Big Cat Quest” Catfish Tournament (May 31, 2008). The Catfish Derby is to pre-fish to win cash and free tournament entries prior to the Tournament on May 31st. Weigh-in locations to be determined.   Spring Fashion Show Luncheon    Where:  Grand Rivers When:  May 8, 2008 A Day at the Lake ... 05/01/2008

1.   TREAT THIS LIKE A BUSINESS - Because it is a business.   Startingout, you won’t have 50 people a day calling you on your first little newspaper ad. You’ll need to be farming your area and marketing your business and as yourbusiness grows, you will have more people calling.  You need to have a specificplan of attack and follow that plan each day, and revise the plan every few monthsas the RE landscape changes.2.  MANAGE YOUR TIME - Manage your time wisely by only dealingwith motivated sellers, clearly defining your target market, and minimizing yourdistractions during the day.    Use a simple phone interview script to weed out unmotivated sellers andmake sure that every time you spend time to go see a home, you have the potentialto make the deal happen.  Don’t waste your time and ... 04/23/2008