SECOND HOME TREND?  Window Shopping for second homes seems to have morphed into a slightly different form. Buyers shop...look at houses...waterfront lots, but the last 3 out-of-state leads I've received from my blog at AR are doing some considerable travel coming from greater distances to check us out. Typically, our area around Shell Knob attracts people from neighboring states trying to find the perfect vacation/retirement lake home within a convenient distance of their current domicile   I knew we were receiving a large number of Californians wanting to achieve a lower cost of living, and that does seem to be what is driving Baby Boomers to check into living in the Midwest. There was a family from Maryland looking to leave the heavy traffic and higher cost of living in the East. The... 07/27/2007

 WATERS STIR IN SHELL KNOBThere has been a change gradually taking place around Shell Knob.  Summer at the lake was synonomous with water skiing.  The avid waterskiiers knew  you had to get up early to take advantage of the morning's  mirror-like surface on Table Rock Lake.  Traditionalists enjoyed the quiet peaceful waters as they perfected their skills.Then along came PWC's - Personal Water Crafts.  They caused quite a stir - literally.  Jet Skis, Sea-Doo's,  Wake Boarding,  etc.  Grandma and Grandpa invested in a few water toys  enjoying the sunshine, while pulling the grandkids behind the boat tubing.   That was then and this is now!  Now with a POW!  Sea-Doo has introduced their latest 'Must Have' water toys to make a big splash with families. Two 23-foot boats have an exciting des... 07/24/2007

 2007 Real Estate Sales Pale Compared to '06As a local agent, I would like to see specifics on the local Shell Knob area real estate market,  but these numbers are not available.  We must deduce our individual statistics from the larger area surrounding us,and share in the total numbers.  The first six months of this year saw only half the number of new listings that the same period of time did January to June 2006, in the Tri- Lakes area.  There were 3,954 listings in that six month period in 2006, compared to 2,072 this year.  This confirms our local problem of a stagnant market and an agent being unable to offer new properties to potential buyers.  We have only half as many homes on the market today.  Prices have also dropped.  The average list price in 2006 for this period was $378,... 07/20/2007

B & J SMOKEHOUSE RESTAURANT, SHELL KNOB, MISSOURI   The following post was written  a week before  a serious fire about demolished  the restaurant.  The fire did not put the  new owner out of business.  Being an inventive  fellow, serious about serving the public, Brian Mitts  has reopened a temporary  barbq  with outdoor service, shortened menu, same great taste.   Shell Knob's popular barbeque changed hands this winter.  B & J Smokehouse's new owner.  Brian Mitts has several years of hospitality and food service experience.  He  moved his family away from the cold and snow of Germantown, Wisconsin, which is near Milwaukee, to become part of small town life in the Ozarks.   He plans on running a year round facility so area residents will have access to B & J's all the time, not just d... 07/18/2007

 REBATE OF $50 OFFERED If you don't pay a sewer bill, then you probably have a septic tank system.  There are  a large number of septic systems in Shell Knob,  the Table Rock Lake and James River area.  Septic tank systems need to be maintained to prevent them from failure and also adding contamination to drinking water, as well as requiring expensive repairs by the home owner.Table Rock Lake Water Quality, Inc., through a grant from the Missouri Department of Conservation/U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, will provide incentives of $50 per residence for septic system pump-outs in sections of the James River and Missouri portions of Table Rock Lake. The James River Basin/Table Rock Lake Septic Tank Pump-Out Project is an extension of the James River Basin's Partnership's Pump-a-million ca... 07/17/2007

4TH MORE THAN FIREWORKS SOLD IN SHELL KNOBJuly 4th, falling mid-week, as it did this year, gave sales of lake property a nudge in Shell Knob.   Sales have been slow this year, as they are in many areas of the country.  The July holiday has traditionally sent families to Table Rock Lake for their summer vacation, and interested potential buyers to investigate becoming  second home or vacation home owners.  The weather cooperated.  It was hot, sunny and Table Rock Lake waters were bathtub warm.  The local merchants enjoyed a brisk business.  Realtors were busy showing property.  It was great!     That was then, and this is now.  The nine day spurt seems to have sputtered out, unfortunately.  The phones are quiet again.  I can't speak for other agents, but the ads in the local paper, The R... 07/17/2007

 AMAZING PROCESS    I received a call Sunday afternoon from Amazon.Com's Anti Theft company.  A pleasant person identified herself and asked if I had used my credit card that day to buy $202.88 worth of groceries, at a store I've never heard of. It was not one in or near Shell Knob, where I live.  The question was a no-brainer.  The card has remained in a drawer, unused for at least a year.  She told me they had been alerted by the scammer giving an  erroneous expiration date.  My card was immediately canceled. It's really great that they are able to be so quick to respond and catch these efforts to steal from both the private citizen and the stores. How on earth does someone get hold of this credit card number with my name on it, when I have NEVER used it in a store? I had had an incid... 07/16/2007

 Just couldn't resist taking a picture of this bit of Ozark humor near Shell Knob.Webster's Dictionary defines Yield as: to give up, to give place, relinquish, .....or....to bear as a natural product, the amount or quantity produced.   So it's all in the eye of the beholder.  Perhaps this gardener was hoping to encourage the sweet corn to YIELD a large quantity of this delicious vegetable?   I didn't stop to ask how this large YIELD OF yield signs was acquired. 07/16/2007

TABLE ROCK WATER UP    The unusual continued rains have Table Rock Lake levels up around 917 (normal pool is 915).  The July temperatures have the water quite warm in the mid-80's.The main body of the lake is clear.  The ends of creeks and rivers have good color, which results from the rain run-off.   Resident expert and  Shell Knob author, Tom Koob, reports bass fishing in summer patterns.  The most consistent pattern will be finesse fishing with drop-shot rigs or grubs on main lake gravel flats in 20-40 feet of water.Good electronics are needed to graph fish on these areas and stay with them.  Any isolated cover on flats will often be a hot spot.  Topwater and night fishing are also worth a try.  ROARING RIVERWater at Roaring River is still in great shape.  It has come up about a foot... 07/13/2007

NO CULLING ON TABLE ROCKTable Rock Lake is an excellent bass lake, and therefore a popular Bass Tournament location, where "culling" is often used."Culling" is the practice of releasing a fish that was caught, so a larger one can be kept.  This can mean the difference during a tournament of winning or losing. July and August are the months when the no culling rule applies.  During these months, as the water heats up, oxygen for the fish gets scarce and mortality rates rise. Tournament bass anglers may cull live bass from September through June.  Missouri's limit on black bass is six per day. Once you place a sixth bass in your live well, you may not replace any of the bass with another.  If a bass dies in the live well, it cannot be replaced with a live one.  You may continue fishing, b... 07/13/2007

 REALITY OR ROBOT?People are  interesting.  No two are the same, but you had best have a liking for them if you go into sales, particularly Real Estate sales.  I enjoyed people as a REALTOR in Indianapolis, and still find I'm a People Person  now that I'm in Shell Knob, MO One of the first qualities needed as an agent, is to be a good People Reader.   Very little carries more emotions tied to it than buying  a home.  As most people are aware, it is likely to be our biggest purchase, and as such, we carefully guard the dollars invested there .  They are both our future and our past.  In these trying times in real estate, it seems that my clients are more on edge, nervous, and a little fearful.  In years past, I remember going into sales meetings and listening to the latest Super Guru exp... 07/11/2007

 CELEBRATION IN SHELL KNOB The 4th falling mid-week on Wednesday this year, has thrown everybody off anything resembling a schedule.  I went around all week trying to remember what day it was.   However, it is now Sunday afternoon July 8th, and I can see  that the holiday week is ending.  It was a busy week in Shell Knob with resorts and stores reaping the benefits of vacationers.  Rain the first part of the week postponed fireworks one night, but were just as beautiful the following night.  When you live on a lake, you use the sounds of boats to tell you not only what day of the week it may be, but also what time of day it is.  Right now, I can only hear one boat in the distance.  The vacationeers are packing, packed or already on the road home.  The only ripples on the water are from ... 07/08/2007

HOW TO  BE SPECIAL First impressions can be crucial.  We all know that, and try to imprint it on our children when they ask about tats and nose rings.  What is the first thing people see when they  come up to your house?  What will their first impression be?Will they be impressed with perhaps the steps leading up to the front porch, or will it be the door itself?  What is there about the front of your house that draws a prospective buyer to want more?As a REALTOR in Shell Knob, I've had clients who did not want to make an appointment to look at a house, until they had first previewed it by driving by and looking at the outside.  As a seller, you need to ask yourself what you can do to make the exterior of your home more inviting to someone driving by.  How can you jazz up the landscapin... 07/07/2007

TROPHY FISH       It was a good week for fishing in the Ozarks.  Shell Knob's weekly paper, The Rattler, had pictures in it this week of two happy gentlemen.  Both had big smiles as they proudly showed off their catch of the day. The first angler was a Dr. Tullis and he had caught a 17-1/2 inch smallmouth bass, which weighed in at about three pounds.  He caught it on a pumpkin color, Lucky Strike tube bait.  It was a real beauty and bass fishing draws many to check out Table Rock Lake. The second prize this week was caught at the Roaring River State Park and Hatchery.  Jason Danel of Oklahoma was pictured with his eight pound, 24" brown trout.  He caught it on a ginger woolybugger out of the catch and release area.  The Catch and Release area at Roaring River is helping to produce troph... 07/06/2007

WHERE HAS THE MOTIVATION GONE? I just closed my first sale from my Activerain Blog yesterday.  It is a very good feeling.  Thank you AR for being here and giving me this opportunity.  Now, if I can only turn the other 10 or 15 leads you have sent my way into active buyers...... and that's the real topic here.  In my resort, vacation, retirement market of Shell Knob, MO there are very few REALLY motivated buyers. What are  the typical  motivations to buy or sell a house? Family getting bigger. Family growing smaller - empty nest. Lost job, Health concerns. Income growing - need 2nd home tax shelter.I realize I'm dating myself here, but a few (ok more than a few) years ago, companies were transferring their young turks and would even buy their house from them, if it didn't sell in a given... 07/05/2007

 SHELL KNOB CATCHI guess everyone's got their favorite fishing hole,and my eyes lit up when I saw a picture in our local weekly newspaper of a young man holding two twenty pound flatheads!  Then a second picture  - it took two hands for this one - with a 26 pound catfish. They said he caught them near the Hickory Hollow Resort in Shell Knob and he used goldfish and perch as his bait. I fondly remember the night I took one of my grown sons out to my favorite cat fishing spot to introduce him to some night fishing.  We had no sooner tied up in this cove, than he had his line in the water and was hollering at me to get the fish net.  I presumed he was  joking and ignored him.His voice got louder and more insistent so I went over to him, grabbed the net and saw his pole about bent in two wi... 07/04/2007

SALES DOWN - PRICES UP Shell Knob continues to have a stagnant market.  Only two new single family homes were listed  in June, plus 13 new listings for lots and land. Shell Knob is part of the Tri Lakes Real Estate Board.  At the present time, it is not possible to get the numbers precisely for Shell Knob without including areas such as Branson, Kimberling City, and Reeds Spring.  They are all included in the totals.  Difficulty in getting statistics for Shell Knob is  compounded by it having residents in two counties - Barry and Stone.  In June 2007, the Tri Lakes Real Estate Board had 1,659 single family home listings, with an average price of $277,402.  There were 144 properties closed, and 377 new single family homes listed.The list to sell variance was $6,482.   Average days on ma... 07/03/2007

TABLE ROCK SCORES BIG Table Rock Lake has a lot to be proud of, and I'm always telling newcomers how clean and clear our water around Shell Knob is, but now we have proof!  I do NOT speak with forked tongue. There were 34 lakes tested in 2006 by the Lakes of Missouri Volunteer Program. Table Rock was the one with the clearest water. It is also the lake with the lowest amount of chlorophyll and the lowest amount of phosphorus.The report indicates good water quality throughout the lake, with good improvements in nutrient levels, particularly in the James and lower lake.The reductions in phosphorus levels have been achieved and resulted in improvements in water quality. Bull Shoals lake came in first on nitrogen with Table Rock coming in with number two.The test verifies what I brag about.... 07/03/2007

END OF JUNETemperatures have been rising and most areas of the lake are over 80 degrees.  Lake level has dropped to 917.5, but that could be going back up after some substantial rains.  June has proven to be a record year for rainfall in the Ozarks.  The water remains quite clear on Table Rock.  Catfishing is very good on trot lines baited with small bluegill or cut shad.  According to Tom Koob, Shell Knob's author and fishing expert, use liver , worms or cut shad for rod and reel.  A two hook rig is helpful with keeping these baits on the hook.  Bass are just fair, despite good looking shoreline cover.  The fish are scattered.  There can be a fair top-water bite early and late around isolated cover.  07/01/2007

 FISHING PERMITS FOR BI-STATES There is a watery border separating Missouri and Arkansas in the White River System, but there is not a visable line that boaters or fishermen can see. Fishing Table Rock, Norfork or Bull Shoals reservoirs used to be confusing for anglers.  All three lakes touch both Missouri and Arkansas territory.  So what's a person to do?  Many bought two licenses - one for state residents and one for out-of-state.Fishing these areas with only one license could get the fisherman in trouble if a boat drifted into the next State's jurisdiction, and be cause for an expensive citation, if stopped by the Water Patrol.  On Table Rock this is only  affecting Shell Knob fishing around the Kings River area.  Long Creek, south of the 86 Hwy bridge is the second location.  All th... 07/01/2007