Articles in and around South Texas including San Antonio real estate trends. Focus on San Antonio and South Texas area events, festivals, places, food, cooking, happenings, even some Texas history and folklore. Collaborative thoughts and observation

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Headlines, latest news and Press Releases, notices and announcements from San Antonio Real Estate - Mission Realty. 210-744-4514

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Fredericksburg Adventures in Auctions by Celia Hayes We havent found anything good in a while, there are few spectacular big sales on the calendar, and our favorite thrift stores have been milked dry ... so last weekend we explored a new venue: an estate auction. We had seen auctions on history channel shows, and had the the impression that they were cut-throat and expensive propositions, wherein one could get easily carried away, or accidentally bid on an item by scratching your ear at... - [Read more]

Museum of the Pacific – Re-enactor Daze by Celia Hayes Among the attractions of Fredericksburg, the queen of the Hill Country is the Museum of the Pacific War. Ever since I started visiting the Hill Country (shortly after coming to settle in a tiny suburban San Antonio home) in 1995, the Museum has been expanding by leaps and bounds. On my very first visit it seemed that everything was pretty much contained within the old Nimitz hotel, the steam-boat shaped edifice at the corner... - [Read more]

Gov. Rick Perry released a statement regarding the Obama Administrations immigration announcement: Friday, June 15, 2012  •  Austin, Texas  •  Press Release "The Obama Administrations election-year tactic to bypass Congress and arbitrarily grant amnesty to potentially millions of illegal immigrants is another example of its blatant disregard for our Constitution, our rule of law and our democratic process. The laws of this nation are not open to selective, convenient or... - [Read more]

Battleship Texas Closing for Repairs News Release Media Contact: Mike Cox, 512-389-8046, mike.cox@tpwd.state.tx.us June 15, 2012 HOUSTON — The Battleship Texas, which has been stabilized since the historic vessel sprang a significant leak a week ago, will be closed to the public starting Monday until repairs can be completed. "The closure will be for the duration of the salvage company and dive team repairs, a process we hope will take no more than a week," said Andy Smith,... - [Read more]

10 Home Staging Tips for a Quicker Sale by Joe Eitel When it comes to selling your home fast, staging it correctly is probably the most effective strategy. In fact, studies conducted by the staging experts at StagedHomes.com showed that 94-percent of staged homes sold in 29 days or less compared to 145 days for homes that werent staged. So, what exactly is staging? In short, staging is preparing your home to be sold by cleaning, arranging and optimizing the space. According to... - [Read more]

Todays Mortgage Rates 6/21/12 (Supplied by Bill Rapp) Conforming Conventional:             Today’s Conventional 5/1 ARM: 2.625; 2.740% APRToday’s Conventional Fixed 30 Year: 3.500; 3.670% APR Today’s Conventional Fixed 15 Year: 2.875; 3.062% APRNon-Conforming Conventional (JUMBO)Today’s Jumbo Conventional 7/1 ARM:  3.625%; 3.718% APRToday’s Jumbo Conventional Fixed 30 Year: 4.375; 4.472% APRToday’s Jumbo Conventional 15 Year Fixed:  4.250%; 4.420%... - [Read more]

Sizzling Summer Vegetarian Supper with Tomatos from Our San Antonio Garden by Celia Hayes The first of the tomatoes from the garden are coming along slowly – but this week we had a good double-handful of small cherry tomatoes, in all colors; the usual red, but some lemon-yellow ones, and some of them so-called ‘black’ which were actually a kind of pale purple. Having a couple of ears of fresh corn in the refrigerator, I decided to make a summer corn and tomato relish out of them.... - [Read more]

5 Benefits of Using a Gun to Protect Your Home  By Ryan Avila The same as you always carry a spare tire, or keep a fire extinguisher in your kitchen, a self-defense firearm should be part of your home standard equipment. If you know how, and when, to use the gun then you will have substantial benefits when it is needed. As part of your preparation it is vitally important that you know and understand the Texas laws pertaining to self-defense and the home. As of 2007, Texas passed a... - [Read more]

Happy Birthday America Happy Fourth of July by Randy Watson "The Star-Spangled Banner" is the national anthem of the United States of America. This year is the 200th aniversary of the War on 1812, the inspiration to Francis Scott Key to write the lyrics of the Star Spangled Banner. Francis Scott Key witnessed the bombardment of Ft. McHenry by the British Navy ships in Chesapeake Bay during the Battle of Ft McHenry in the War of 1812.  Madison Rising, a conservative rock band, has... - [Read more]

Our Midsummer San Antonio Garden Reveal by Celia Hayes At this point, we have about filled the back yard of my San Antonio home and the narrow strip running along the side of the house with just about everything it can hold; plants in the ground and plants in pots, or hanging from baskets from the edge of the back porch. Now my daughter has begun looking speculatively at the front of the house ... which admittedly has begun to look a little neglected. Well, those parts not covered with... - [Read more]

The Town That Was – And the Hardware Store That Is by Celia HayesLately, weve taken to getting to New Braunfels by following Nacogdoches road all the way up to where it intersects with FM 482. Just around that intersection we have been intrigued by a range of old buildings – two of them side by side, weathered gray boards, with a false front and a veranda across the front, looking like something on the set of a Western movie. Around the bend in Old Nacogdoches Road, there is an... - [Read more]

Civil War Anniversary in Comfort August 10-11, 2012  by Celia Hayes Ive written before about the Comfort Civil War monument – a stone obelisk under the oak trees at what would have been the edge of town in 1866. It is a monument to those Union Loyalists from Comfort and the surrounding communities, who were killed in a vicious firefight with Confederate partisans, or executed as captives afterwards, near a branch of the Nueces River a hundred and fifty years ago this year. There... - [Read more]

In Case You Missed It: Business Facilities Magazine Names Texas Best Business Climate in the Nation; U.S. Chamber of Commerce Names Texas a Leader in Job Creation Monday, July 23, 2012  •  Austin, Texas  •  Press Release Office of the Governor Rick Perry Texas strong jobs climate and economic pillars continue to receive national recognition, most recently from Business Facilities magazine, which has ranked Texass business climate best in the nation, and the U.S.... - [Read more]

Fine Figs Grow Well in San Antonio by Celia Hayes For the last month we have been having a harvest season. Not of our own garden bounty, although the tomato plants produce generously enough that we can have fresh tomatoes in a salad every other night or so; rather, we have been harvesting figs. They are ripe just now in our San Antonio neighborhood, where two of our neighbors have bearing fig trees and have given us permission to pick. The trouble with bearing fruit trees is that... - [Read more]

Paint Your Own Clay Pottery by Celia Hayes In our never-ending search for interesting things to write about in, and around San Antonio, serendipity took a hand last week. We were actually heading for WingStop in Embassy Oaks for our monthly Red Hat gathering, but we were early. With some time to kill, we wandered into the nearby Clay Casa, a paint-it-yourself pottery studio – just to see what was on hand. I understand that the popularity of this as a hobby has never really gone out of... - [Read more]

Guten Tag, Y’All - This is Texas! by Celia Hayes When I first came to Texas, at the express request of the US Air Force some (mumble) seventeen (mumble) years ago I thought I knew all there was to know about the place: the Alamo of course, and the Riverwalk, too. I knew that Houston had a Grand Opera, that Lubbock was a flat as a pancake griddle with some Monopoly houses set on it, I had read Edna Ferbers Giant, and I knew about cattle drives and the King Ranch, and that Texas was... - [Read more]

Winterizing Our San Antonio Backyard Garden For all your San Antonio Real Estate needs, contact Team Randy Watson of Mission Realty at 210-319-4960 by Celia HayesSo, now that it is cooling off a bit, and maybe the seasonal trees are about to start thinking about the possibility of perhaps changing color sometime soon, its time to sort out the garden for winter. A few of the hanging tomato plants still had a few slowly-ripening tomatoes on them, but the rest were pretty well done for... - [Read more]

Road Trip: Fredericksburg by Bulverde, Sisterdale and Luckenbach by Celia Hayes Some time ago, my daughter and I discovered the back road route from our North-East San Antonio home, to Boerne; basically, going up 281 to Route 46 and then west to Boerne. This last weekend, we went a step farther, by going north up Bulverde Road and bypassing the horrendous 1604-281 nexus entirely. Really, as they get closer and closer to completing the interchange, traffic just gets worse and worse.... - [Read more]

Hurricane Sandy Hurricane Sandy has been downgraded to a severe storm that still is impacting parts of the Northeast U.S. with wind, rain, and flooding. Our thoughts and best wishes are with all of you that experienced Hurricane Sandys brutal force and are still experiencing the after effects of the hurricane. We hope for swift relief, speedy recovery and rebuilding efforts for all who have been impacted. Our thoughts and prayers are with all of those affected. - [Read more]

Nondelinquent Borrowers Soon to Be Eligible for Short Sales Daily Real Estate News | Wednesday, October 24, 2012 Mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have issued new rules, which will take effect Nov. 1, that will allow short sales for underwater borrowers who have never missed a mortgage payment. Previously, Fannie and Freddie allowed only home owners who had missed payments to qualify for a short sale. Read More - [Read more]