Just in from CNBC web site, New Home Sales Surge in June with Inventory at 42 Year Low!!! This is per new government data over the country as a whole just released July 26, 2010. May was a record low after the tax credits for homes expired and no one expected June sales to come roaring back.

On Grand Lake in NE Oklahoma we have not seen the June surge but we can say the quality and choice of inventory available for sale in many price ranges are getting less plentiful. We still have great selection but each time a home is sold it is not being replaced. Very few new spec homes are being built. Now is the time to buy while selection is good, interest rates are at record lows, and today is the first day of the rest of your life so why not enjoy it with a new home on Grand Lake.

Also on the CNBC website is the list of all states for cost of living. Oklahoma is ranked number one in lowest cost of living amoung all fifty states. If you are looking for a great place to retire think Grand Lake with things to do year round, great health care with a new 58 million dollar hospital in Grove, great homes to choose from at low prices, and a moderate four season climate. You can enjoy lake sports and golf while finding new friends who have moved here from locations all across the country. We have waterfront homes, golf course homes, and city subdivision homes with excellent choices in all types of real estate.

For a retirement home or a second home on Grand Lake call The Grand Lake Team at RE/MAX Grand Lake in Grove, OK. For Aaron Hughes call 918 801-5645 or email at aaronhughes@remax.net. For Joe Neill call 918 640-3300 or email at jneill@remax.net. We hope to hear from you soon.

Grand Lake real estate prices are stable. Waterfront homes on the average have held their value very well thru our national real estate free fall. Of course, there are sales that were out of line and just plain too high that would lose money if sold today but waterfront Grand Lake homes bought on the market have held well. Off the water, subdivision homes have dropped in price from a 2006/2007 high on the average about 10%. Homes purchased in 2009 are steady to in instances slightly higher in 2010.

Interest rates are at all time lows which makes for buying a home great now. I do not see how rates can stay this low very much longer.

There are not many foreclosures in the Grand Lake area but we can find some deals once in awhile where someone really needs to sell a home because of financial problems, job transfer, divorce, or death in family.

Stock prices go up and down. Real estate went wild in some areas of the country and has soured some people’s desire to own and invest in real estate. However, if you look at the Midwest and Oklahoma in particular we did not see prices go sky high and have not seen them come down. We should be poised to see moderate price increases over the next several years as the economy improves. We believe the low prices are here now.

If you are thinking retirement, Oklahoma offers some of the lowest cost of living in the nation. Grand Lake offers moderate four season climate. Grove, the largest city on Grand Lake offers big city health care at the new Integris Grove Hospital, a 58 million dollar facility with wonderful health care providers. There are a number of civic clubs and churches to get involved with and enjoy. You can enjoy fishing, boating, hunting, gardening clubs, investment clubs, and many other activities. Patricia Island Estates in Grove offers golf course living with a special accent on the lake lifestyle. What a combination. On South Grand Lake, The Coves and The Points offer gated upscale living. The Coves features planned activities, golf, clubhouse, swimming pool, tennis, and a small fitness center.

Weekenders can enjoy second homes on Grand Lake. Monkey Island is home to many gated communities with ammenties, lawn care, and other things that make owning a second home carefree. You will enjoy homes in the moderate priced Newport Village, Brighton Bay, St Andrews, St. James, and The Estates. Upscale living in The Chateaus offers a golf and lake lifestyle. The new Shangri La Golf Club is coming along very nice and it is big asset to the Monkey Island area.

If you have your own financial house in order, now is a good time to help yourself with a great moneytary investment as well as a wonderful investment in family and friends by spending special time with them on Grand Lake. If you are looking for that retirement home, you need to check out the Grand Lake area.

Aaron Hughes and Joe Neill are the Grand Lake Team at RE/MAX Grand Lake in Grove, OK. We know the Grand Lake MLS and can make your experience thinking and buying Grand Lake less stressful, more inclusive, and fun. Aaron can be reached at 918 801-5645 or aaronhughes@remax.net. Joe can be reached at 918 640-3300 or jneill@remax.net. We would love to hear from you and share Grand Lake with you.

The New Shangri La Country Club on Monkey Island at Grand Lake is moving right along. The two new holes for the golf course have the heavy equipment work done and the irrigation lines are laid out and being buried now. It will soon be ready for sod and white sand. The location of the new clubhouse is now having dirt work prep for building done. I am told the clubhouse will be 12000 sq ft. Workers have resodded and put in new white sand on two holes south of the clubhouse location. Demolition of the old Shangri La is done and the hauling away of materials is almost complete.

It is so exciting to see new work at the Shangri La being done. At least six pieces of heavy equipment have been in use at all times. Work is also being done on the Gold Course which has been shut down. Rumor has it that a 9 hole course may be built now in that location. We are waiting for final word on what action is being done on the Gold Course.

Shangri La is the hub of Monkey Island on Grand Lake. It will increase property values for the home additions close by. Again a great golf and lake retreat can be had on Monkey Island. You can still get some good buys in The Estates starting at $175,000 and up, joining the course location and having beautiful lakeviews. The Chateaus on the Gold Course with wonderful lakeviews and larger homes from $500,000 to 3 million are located here. St Andrews Harbor is also just a hop and skip from the golf course and offers lakeview and lakefront homes in a $250,000 to $600,000 price range. You can also find homes from $700,000 to 1.5 million in Pointe Marin and The Villas close by. Shangri La Place has nice homes from $350,000 also next to the country club.

When thinking weekend second home or retirement home think Monkey Island on Grand Lake and be on or near the Shangri La Country Club for a truly great life experience.

For more information on real estate close by or on Monkey Island to enjoy 4 season, 12 month golf and lake lifestyle contact the Grand Lake Team at RE/MAX Grand Lake in Grove. For Aaron Hughes call 918 801-5645 or aaronhughes@remax.net. For Joe Neill call 918 640-3300 or jneill@remax.net We hope to hear from you soon.

I look forward to reading Smart Money magazine and Wallstreet Journal writer, James Stewart’s column each Wednesday when it comes out in the Journal. The June 30, 2010 column had some very good comments on home ownership and buying a home.

Mr. Stewart talked quite abit about people with means to pay walking away from their mortgage just because the value of the house had declined. That is a point of discussion for some other time but in talking about this he says “walking away from a mortgage now is like selling at the bottom of the market”. He went on to say “houses that are underwater now may not be for long once housing starts to appreciate. And despite a recent slump in the number of home sales, home prices are rising in most areas and have been for the past year.” He also says “home ownership is a long term committment and people that are going to move in a year or so should rent instead.” The last thought I liked was “anyone forced to sell at a loss now, may also buy another home in a depressed market at lower prices unless they are moving from Las Vegas to Manhattan.”

Now my thoughts, the Grand Lake real estate market peaked in 2007. We have not seen the huge price drops in home prices that other areas of the country did. We have seen prices lower in 2009 than 2007 and 2010 has been a mixed bag. Lately we have sold two homes for a few thousand dollars more than was paid in 2009 for the homes. One was a waterfront home in the $800,000 plus range and the other was a rural home on a few acres. Grand Lake waterfront homes have held their value very well. We have more inventory of unsold upper end waterfront homes than we have had in several years, prices are flat, you might get a deal, interest rates are low, and now should be a time to buy with what looks like a nation wide bottom in home prices. Grove subdivision homes off the water have lost about ten percent of value on average from the 2007 peak. If you did not buy at the peak you probably still have price appreciation but the ones that did buy at the peak are suffering just like stock market losses but just not as bad. We have some nice selection of off water homes in Grove with great prices. Again, now should be the time to buy at the bottom. We have not seen but a very few new spec homes being built and the inventory is a long ways from the peak. We still have several nice homes to pick from but as one sells, it is one less on the market. If you are thinking of buying a retirement home on Grand Lake and the Grove, OK area, I would not tarry. This is sale time with low borrowing rates. Neither will last long.

You can search the Grand Lake / Grove area MLS at the button above. For personalized service call the Grand Lake Team at RE/MAX Grand Lake in Grove. Call Aaron Hughes at 918 801-5645 or aaronhughes@remax.net or Joe Neill at 918 640-3300 or jneill@remax.net. We hope to hear from you soon.

Grand Lake real estate sales have had a nice spring, not robost, but several nice sales. Our Grand Lake Team had 7 properties ready for closing at one time a short time ago. We have closed these seven out including an $800,000 plus Buffalo Shores South waterfront home yesterday. We now have two new homes awaiting closing, one in the gated Monkey Island community of Newport Village and the other in a small subdivision just outside Grove, Rainbow Bend. Properties priced right, not at give away prices but on the market, in good shape with odds and end repairs done, and home decluttered so people can look at the home and not the owner’s stuff will sell in good time. On the other hand properties priced too high, not show ready, or full of stuff seem to just set and never sell. This should tell seller/owner’s something.

Sometimes we see deals on homes priced too high to begin with and they will see huge price reductions of maybe $100,000 on a $600,000 home but in reality the home was overpriced by a $100,000 to begin with. Moral of this story is do your homework and let your realtor give you comp sales in an area you are interested in so that you can buy a home at market value and not a home with a $75,000 price reduction and still $25,000 too high.

Now is a good time to buy. Interest rates at all time lows, a good selection of properties in most price ranges, and you might find a deal if someone has to sell right now. You can see all the Grand Lake MLS listings at our MLS button above. Our featured listings are at a button above also.

For assistance in buying or selling Grand Lake waterfront homes, Grove subdivision homes, retirement homes at the lake, commercial property on Grand Lake, or any other real estate need call the Grand Lake Team at RE/MAX Grand Lake in Grove, OK. Aaron Hughes can be reached at 918 801-5645 or aaronhughes@remax.net or Joe Neill can be reached at 918 640-3300 or jneill@remax.net. We hope to hear from you soon.

Memorial Day weekend 2010 will go down in the books as one of the best if not the best 3 days of weather you could ask for. Many people came to enjoy the lake and fun they had. Eating establishments were packed and C-Stores did thriving business. Marinas were selling gasoline for boats and lodging was full around the lake. You could not tell the economy was soft being here over the holiday.

Saturday, I had lunch at the new Aqua Grill on Monkey Island. This new marina with grill on the marina deck was booming with business. My Angus Burger and fries were excellent, just like a gourmet burger should be. Watching the boats on the lake and coming in/out of the marina was fun and the cool breeze off the lake made it a very enjoyable lunch.

Last Thursday I had lunch at the new resturant at Honey Creek Landing in Grove, The Lazy Parrot. My fish sandwich and fries were very good. We ate inside but enjoyed the lake view at the Honey Creek Marina in Grove.

Soon Grove will have another new eating establishment at the North end of town, just South of Sailboat Bridge. Broklee’s Grill will soon open. The owner is a former manager at the local Rib Crib. I would be that Brok will do well in his new venture as well.

Millie’s Gifts and an RX Shop will be opening soon on Grove’s Main Street. Millie has been a fixture for years in Grove and we are all anxious to see what she will be offering in her latest venue.

Come enjoy your part of your summer with us on Grand Lake. You will not be disappointed. You may even catch the real estate bug. If so, we have the cure! Call the Grand Lake Team at RE/MAX Grand Lake. Aaron Hughes and Joe Neill, for Aaron call 918 801-5645 or aaronhughes@remax.net. For Joe call 918 640-3300 or jneill@remax.net. We have mighty nice waterfront homes on Grand Lake to offer as well as lakeview homes, or golf course homes. You can dream alittle by going to our Grand Lake MLS button above. We hope to see you soon.

Memorial Day Weekend 2010 is almost here. The weather forecast looks good, the lake is in great shape, the scenry around lake is green and pretty, all that is lacking is you, your family, and friends. Plan now to enjoy Grand Lake and all the fun water activities this weekend. It is the official start of the summer season.

I must warn you, however, that the lake can be addicting. If you don’t now own a lake home you will want one after spending time here. Grand Lake is one of the few lakes you can enjoy without terrible restrictions right down to the water. We offer wonderful gated communities on the lake for a hassle free lake ownership experience or a golf course home with waterfront nearby for a golf and lake lifestyle. There are many fine subdivisions to pick from. South Grand Lake offers The Coves and The Points, both gated communities that offer so much. Monkey Island has several gated communities including Brighton Bay, St. Andrews, The Chateaus, The Estates, Newport Village, Beacon Hill, White Chappel, and St James Place. All of these communities are gated and offer many family activities to enjoy. The Grove area has Meghan Coves, a value priced lake community with many ammenties. The Preserve is the newest gated community in Grove with every lot having the opportunity to purchase a community boat slip. They offer both lakeview and waterfront lots. Patricia Island Estates is not gated but is an elegant golf course community. You can purchase lots with boat slips at Patricia Island also.

Call The Grand Lake Team at RE/MAX Grand Lake in Grove to learn more about Grand Lake real estate opportunities. Call Aaron Hughes at 918 801-5645 or email at aaronhughes@remax.net. For Joe Neill call 918 640-3300 or jneill@remax.net. Go to our featured buttton above to see our listings or the MLS button to view all the Grand Lake real estate listings. Look, dream, plan, and call Aaron or Joe for help in making those dreams come true. We know the lake and the Grand Lake MLS listings and can make the buying or selling experience less stressful and fun. We hope to hear from you soon.

The Grand Lake real estate/home market has picked up. Last Friday we closed two homes and showed $700,000-850,000 homes until 6 p.m in Grove’s Buffalo Shores South, Buffalo Shores III, Pointe West, Needle Pointe, and drove them thru Patricia Island Estates. On Saturday we had people looking at gated community condos in the $300,000-350,000 range and bounced back to the big home people and showed them two more homes. Sunday after Church we showed the gated community people another home on Monkey Island. We showed these people homes in The Coves on South Grand Lake and on Monkey Island homes in Hi-Point Estates, Shangri La Estates, Hertiage Point, and Newport Village. We also had two showings by another realtor on our mini ranch listings to the same people. There were ten homes pending on todays Grand Lake MLS hotsheet.

I also had a second call this morning on $600,000-1,000,000 waterfront homes from a gentleman who seems extremely interested in Grand Lake waterfront homes. Everyone in our office has picked up showings and sales in past two weeks.

The market is not red hot but it is a welcome site to see people out looking and buying. The higher priced home market has more people looking than we have seen in quite sometime. We have one under contact, a waterfront home just outside of Grove listed at $774,000. We also have under contract two moderate priced waterfront homes, a Patricia Island Estates golf course home, and a Buffalo Shores North residential home with a swimming pool.

We would love to help you buy or sell a waterfront home, lakeview home, or golf course home on Grand Lake. Search our favorite listing button above and our Grand Lake MLS button above for available properties. Then call The Grand Lake Team at RE/MAX Grand Lake in Grove, OK. Call Aaron Hughes at 918 801-5645 or aaronhughes@remax.net or Joe Neill at 918 640-3300 or jneill@remax.net. Now is still a good time to buy. We have several nice listings to choose from, interest rates are low, and you can still get great prices on homes for sale. We hope to hear from you soon.

The spring real estate market in NE OK is starting to come alive. The Grand Lake MLS sales numbers are not out yet but today the Tulsa World newspaper reported the home sales numbers for March in the greater Tulsa, OK area. They report 934 homes sold in March, up 58% from February and up 4% from March 2009. The average sales price for March was $151,917 compared to $151,666 in March 2009. The federal home buyer tax credits appear to be driving some activity but we also think that people in general feel better about their economic status and are ready to get on with their life whether that means a new retirement waterfront home on Grand Lake or a nice golf and lake home at Grand Lake. We also are seeing families and individuals looking for that perfect residential home. The tax credit is great but to put in true nature of it, it is just a small per cent of the price of a home and does not really determine whether you can buy this home or that home. It just is a good incentive to get out and get in the market. It is also good to note that the average sales price is slightly higher and certainly not going down.

What does all this mean? We think that if you are looking for a good deal on a home in the Grand Lake area that it is not time to tarry. Spec builders are not back yet, the inventory is getting picked over slowly buy surely. There are still some deals to be had but we expect them to become fewer and fewer as current inventory is sold off without new spec homes being built. Another good reason to buy now is to get in on the great interest rates currently available. We all know that rates have only one way to go and that is up.

To sum it all up, if you want a new waterfront home on Grand Lake, a golf course home at Grand Lake, or a nice residential home in Grove, OK now is the time to act. Search the Grand Lake MLS at our MLS search button above, see our featured listings at that button above, then call the Grand Lake Team to help you find just the right place. For Aaron Hughes call 918 801-5645 or aaronhughes@remax.net or Joe Neill at 918 640-3300 or jneill@remax.net We are the Grand Lake Team at RE/MAX Grand Lake in Grove, OK and hope to hear from you soon.

Friday March 19, 2010 Mr. Eddie Gibbs, the new owner of the now named Shangri La Country Club held an informational meeting regarding the club at the Vista Towers on Monkey Island at Grand Lake. About 200 people were in attendance and all were thrilled at the new ownership of the jewel of Monkey Island. The Peninsula Resort and Mr. Pete Boylan is gone and from the crowd’s reaction last night, no one seems to be missing them. In fairness to Mr. Boylan, many of his plans were great but timing was awful. He also needed a PR person as he managed to make all the old members feel unwanted. Mr. Gibbs wants the old members back as well as new ones.

Mr. Gibbs reported the following:

New 8000 square foot 2 story clubhouse will be built just north of the water tower on holes 2/3 of the golf course. The two displaced holes will be moved to the now practice range. This is on the premier Blue Course.

The old pro shop that was formerly home to Shangri La Realty will be torn down.

A grill, bar, and fittness center will be on the second level of the club house with the grill open about 2/3 of the year from 7-3. Club house should be finished by end of 2010 with Mike Long in charge of construction.

Mr. Gibbs does not want to be in hotel business but did not rule out a future lease or sale of the old hotel site or perhaps giving in and doing a 110 room hotel himself.

Future plans would be to have a second 9 holes along highway on west side of road coming in on the old Gold Course.

The old west  or Gold  Course that was shut down last year will be mowed at a 4-5″ height. The area in front of Shangri La Place and The Villas will also be maintained this way. He will honor the no build easement in front of these last two subdivisions.

He will keep the marina permit in place by the Shangri La Marina but has no plans at this time to build a marina but if need is there will work with Shangril La Marina’s owner, Mike to put in more slips. He will not develope the Davis Cove Marina as previously purposed by the Boylan group.

They have about 110 members now and need minimum of 220 to break even. Mr. Gibbs says project will be debt free and he expects to lose money first 3 years but after that if not paying he will dump it. At one time the club had over 300 members and he feels it can again. It will be an open course unless membership gets to 400+. You can get nightly rental lodging at World Mark-Trend West time share lodging at the south end of the course. They can be reached at 800 867-2095.

The new owners expect to have 7.5-8 million invested in property purchase, new club house, practice facility, new golf holes, and course renovations.

Membership can be purchased at no cost for a short window of time. Before club house is finished he will go to a fee of $5-7000 to join and will not announce the cut off date of no fee. Monthly dues will be $299 for Executive Membership, $246 month for Senior Membership over 70 years of age, and $239 per month for Junior Membership.

Jason Sheffield will be the General Manager. Dale Forest of United Golf will be in charge of renovations of golf course. Mark Thomas of Architects Collective will be the designer of the new Club House. A golf pro will not be hired until early next year. The grand opening celebration will be in March 2011.

There will be a social membership announced later. At this time there are no plans for a swimming pool. They do plan to provide a family atmosphere.

They welcome comments and will soon have a new comment email address but for now you can send comments to Stephanie Gragg, customer relations at 918 257-4204 or email her at stephanie.gragg@shangrilaok.com

Not one bad comment was heard from the huge crowd last night. The Monkey Island and Grand Lake home owners and guest to the area are very grateful for Mr. Gibbs investment in the Shangri La Country Club.

Now for my comment, if you have been thinking about a lake home, now offers many positive reasons to buy including

1. Prices are at the lowest in 3 years due to the economy problems we have had. With strength showing in the economy and national real estate we expect the 5-10% loss of home value to be gained back soon.

2. Interest rates will not stay this low very long.

3. The new Shangri La Country Club will enhance real estate values on Monkey Island and in particular the subdivisions closest to golf course including The Chateaus, The Shangri La Estates, Shangri La Place, Point Marin, The Villas, Vista Towers, St Andrews, and again all other communities on Monkey Island.

To search for property on Grand Lake and the entire Grand Lake MLS go to the search button above. In the featured listings you will find many of our favorite listings including MLS number 10-441, a condo in Shangri La Esates which is along the golf course and this waterfront  home has an ocean like view. You can own it now for $335,000,

Call the Grand Lake Team at RE/MAX Grand Lake for information on Grand Lake real estate. Aaron Hughes at 918 801-5645 or aaronhughes@remax.net or Joe Neill at 918 640-3300 or jneill@remax.net We hope to hear from you soon.