Blog by Mary Kay Hopkins

If the mascot (is this the offical mascot?) for The Night Owls at Active Rain needs a break, this Margaret Place Owl might make a suitable backup, despite the fact that it scared the daylights out of me as I was walking from the house to my office.  I'm used to the squirrels leaping from limb-to-...

I'm so impressed with this marvelous post by Lyn Sims, that I'm going to reblog for the benefit of our local market.  With school starting soon, this is the time when buyers, especially relocating buyers, sometimes have to move fast.All the more reason to heed Lyn's advice.  Buying a Home on a Fa...

One of the powers of the Active Rain blogging platform is that it allow REALTORS to help one another.  In the case of the following reblog, an agent in Northern Virginia has a problem because she shares the same name as a woman who has a daughter that was involved in a promiscuous way with  New Y...

As indicated on the Calcasieu Preservation Society's website dedicated to the 2009 11 most endangered things, places and structures in the Parish, the building that was home to Gold Band records is "not much to look at, but this is the place where musical history was made." The Preservation site ...

Looking for market statistics regarding Southwest Louisiana real estate?  The Southwest Louisiana Association of REALTORS makes local statistics pertinent to Southwest Louisiana available to the consumer at the association's website, SWLAR.com. Below is a screen shot of the page from the associat...

Having been quite involved in the development and upgrade of our local Southwest Louisiana Association of REALTORS  website, I'm pleased to introduce it here on Active Rain. The "official" announcement was in yesterday's Lake Charles American Press via the board's monthly full page newspaper ad....

  From Leesa L. Finley, this important message as to the importance of using an agent who KNOWS the local market.....has been INSIDE the comps. Please visit Leesa's blog for comments.     I Am A Local Real Estate Expert - Zillow is Not Whether you are thinking of buying a home or possibly selling...

Many years ago, when I was just starting my life as a real estate agent, I took a part time job  at the Frame House on Ryan Street. The owners at the time were friends, and they were probably quite happy when my real estate career took off, as I was not the best "framer"! Today, The Frame House ...

As much as I'm looking forward to ordering my own Reuben Sandwich at Booda's Bistro, I resolved to check out Chez Le Chien Chaud first. After all, gotta support these positive "happenings" in Downtown Lake Charles! Considered the first "legal" umbrella restaurant in Southwest Louisiana, Chez Le ...

The latest in the "Raising Your House from a Slab" series, "bringing the house down", was posted earlier today.The video that follows is not included as part of the series. But, for those curious as to how the DeVillier crew removed the cribbing and steel beams, a compilation video of that portio...