You will spend a lifetime searching & not find many homes cleaner, in better condition or as move-in ready as this one! Spectacular, updated kitchen w granite counters, slate tile backsplash, beautiful floor, stylish fixtures & more. Expansive formal living-dining w charming bay window. Spacious & comfortable family room w vaulted ceiling, brick fireplace & built-in bookshelves, open to the kitchen-breakfast area. Meticulously cared for exterior.

ADDRESS: 12601 Abbotts Way, Oklahoma City, OK 73142

SQ FT: 1708

BEDS/BATHS/LIVING/DINING: 3/2.0/2/2

PRICE: $124,900

This Sunday we are holding our first Open House to provide the public with a special opportunity to view this great new listing in Northaven.

OPEN HOUSE DETAILS
DATE: Sunday, July 17
TIME: 2:00-4:00PM
PRICE: $129,900
LOCATION: 7720 Maehs Terrace, Oklahoma City, OK 73162
DIRECTIONS: East on NW 102nd from Council Rd. Make first left (n) on Glennora. Then left (w) on Maehs Circle & follow around to property.

Feel free to contact Gary (405.694.8562) for more information on the property. Or, if you are unable to make it to the Open House on Sunday, I would love to give you a personal tour. This is a fantastic value with tons and tons of high quality updates!

This Sunday we are holding an Open House to provide the public with a special opportunity to view our new listing in Heritage Hills.

DATE: Sunday, May 22
TIME: 2:00-4:00PM
PRICE: $334,000
LOCATION: 1019 NW 14th St, Oklahoma City, OK 73106
DIRECTIONS: From NW 15th & Shartel Ave. Turn West on NW 15th to Classen Drive. Turn Left (South) on Classen Drive. Follow Classen Drive around to NW 14th St. Turn Right (West) on NW 14th. Drive to end of the Cul-de-sac. Your New Home is on the Right!

Feel free to contact Gary (405.694.8562) for more information on the property. Or, if you are unable to make it on Sunday, I would love to give you a personal tour. This is a really amazing house on one of the best streets in OKC!

With the Spring buying season just weeks away, I wanted to let you know about a new tech tool that will allow buyers to receive instant information on properties they see while driving around town. It will also be an important marketing tool for home sellers to follow-up with potential interested buyers.

INSTANT INFO: KWKLY is a hot new service just launched in the past week. It is basically a text messaging service that will allow buyers driving by an MLS listed property to send a text message (aka “HOWMUCH”) to a given number. Using GPS location technology, the service will instantly send the individual inquiring a link to information on the 5 nearest properties to the current location. In addition, if you know an address (or part of an address), you can text that info to KWKLY and instantly receive details on the property of interest (including pictures in most cases).

REGISTRATION: To best utilize the service as a  serious buyer, or even just someone who loves driving around looking at homes, I can pre-register you in the system. With your contact info in my database, I will provide you with a text number to which you can can send inquiries on any listed property in the OKC Metro area or request listings nearby your current location. The system will let me know the availability of the property to show, if you have further interest.

UNIQUE TO KWNW: Our office (Keller Williams Northwest) is currently the only brokerage in the state utilizing this new technology, and we believe it is going to set the standard for receiveing property information instantly on your smartphone.

Call Gary at 405.694.8562 or email him at garycaplinger@kw.com today if you would like more infomation on this service.

You can also use the secure form below to enter your contact info so you can take advantage of this cool new service today!

You can’t go anywhere today without hearing buzzwords like GREEN, SUSTAINABILITY, etc.  For many of us (and maybe you, too?) those are much more than buzzwords, they are a way of life.

While many people continue to rant in opposition that these are merely schemes of left-wing extremists who want to get in the way of our personal freedoms, there is a growing movement of people willing to admit that many of the ways of the past and present will not and cannot be perpetuated for future generations.

We must re-evaluate our short-sighted and selfish ways of thinking and acting, looking at what our actions (and inactions) have done to the world around us, to people we know and love, to people we’ve never met, to our children’s children’s children, and to ourselves.  Despite many prevailing messages this is not movement based on fear, but based on hope, wisdom, and compassion.

The International Living Building Institute was founded in 2009 by green building experts, futurists and thought experts, and many others in an effort to take a holistic approach to the way we live, the way the built environment interacts with the natural environment, and the impacts our homes and ways of life have on the planet and on the global community.  This project goes way beyond simply using a low VOC paint or blowing a little extra insulation in your attic (which are very good things by the way).  The started with a very important question:  What if every single act of design and construction made the world a better place?

What I love about the Living Building Challenge is the way they truly look at the big picture of the ways in which we live.  The Challenge focuses on 7 primary areas of performance (they call them ‘petals’) — SITE, WATER, ENERGY, HEALTH, MATERIALS, EQUITY, and BEAUTY.  The link below is to a pdf they put together to explain more about the Challenge.  I’d love to hear your thoughts, if you get the chance to skim through it.  And I’d love to hear how you can see those ideals gaining relevance in the way you live and interact with the world around you.

LIVING BUILDING CHALLENGE 2.0 DESCRIPTION (pdf)

In the next post, I will talk about the first approved “Living Building” Projects.

I have been talking to tons of people over the last couple of months who want to know what is going to happen with the housing market and economy.  Obviously, no one really knows the answer to that question.  But one thing is for sure, we are in a Buyer’s Market.  Sellers held out for sometime, not really wiling to drop prices to adjust to the market, but I think that is beginning to change.

I picked up this great resource from Keller Williams that steps through seven reasons why NOW is a great time to buy property.  I think it’s worth a look if you have been thinking about buying or know someone else who has.

7ReasonsWhytoBuyNow

Please give me a call today, if you are considering whether now might be the right time for you to buy (405.694.8562 or garycaplinger@kw.com).

Once a year, Urban Neighbors (the downtown neighborhood association) and several other groups sponsor a really great event, the Downtown Living Tour, to give people from other parts of the Metro OKC area the chance to get a glimpse of downtown living.  This year’s event is this Saturday, May 8, from 11am-4pm.

This is a self-guided tour that will include the homes of current downtown residents, as well as select available properties either for sale or lease. The ticketed portion of the event ($10) will highlight the homes of several downtown residents, ranging from a family with children to a retiree and everything else in between.  The residents will be present to show you around and answer questions about downtown okc living.  Tickets may be purchased at the Downtown OKC, Inc offices, either or the Painted Door locations, or at one of the lifestyle stops the day of the tour.

Many of the for-lease and for-sale residential properties will also be open to get a taste of the housing options available in the downtown area.  I will personally be holding open the Central Avenue Villas (444 Central Avenue – the SE corner of NE 4th & Central Ave across from Block 42) for the duration of the tour.  I would be thrilled for you to stop by and chat, while catching a glimpse of these amazing condos!!

Free parking will be available in lower Bricktown, as well as NW 10th & Robinson.  There will be a free, continuous shuttle circling the tour stops throughout the day.

As you may have noticed from my recent twitter and facebook activity, I am gradually investing more of my energy and focus on the downtown properties.  It has been amazing to meet so many great people who live downtown (or want to live downtown) who truly love this city…what it is now and what it someday will be.  Many of the downtown properties are really leading the charge toward more sustainable living in our widely spread city.  With elements like geothermal heating and cooling, use of sustainable materials, more compact and creative use of space, they are taste and model of what is coming.  While continuing to stay connected to the historic areas where I continue to live, work, and embrace, there is something really special about Urban OKC Living!

Below, you will find a tour map for the event, as well as a couple of pics of the Villas where I will be hanging out on Saturday.  Hope you can make it out to meet some awesome people, see some really cool properties, and celebrate life in Oklahoma City!  Call if you have questions – 405.694.8562.

Tired of throwing money away every month on rent?  There are many great reasons to buy instead of rent.  I am teaming up with my good friend Paul Baird at Financial Concepts Mortgage to talk about what goes into buying a house.  You may think you don’t qualify or don’t have the funds right now or don’t even know where to start the process.  We will be there to provide you with tons of information and answer your questions.  If those reasons aren’t enough, we have asked our buddy Chef Ryan Parrott (Iguana Grill) to put together some appetizers for this event.

WHEN: Tuesday, April 6, at 7pm

WHERE: Convergence (1755 NW 16th in the Plaza District).

WHO: The seminar is open to anyone curious about the homebuying process.

COST: Nothing.  This is a FREE event.

RESERVE MY SPOT: Please RSVP to Gary by April 4 by phone (405.694.8562) or email (garycaplinger@kw.com).

TAX CREDIT EXPIRES SOON: In order to receive the FREE $8,000 credit for buying your first home, you must have a purchase contract in place by APRIL 30 and have closed on the property by JUNE 30.  So, don’t waste time and miss out on this opportunity.  Most experts are not expecting the credit to be extended again!

SELLERS: If you are already a homeowner but have been contemplating SELLING your home, NOW is the time to get it listed.  Homebuyers (first-time and existing) are very motivated to get a contract in place before the end of April.  Call me!

Most homeowners fit in one of the following categories: just finished a project, need to start a project, or started and gave up on the last project. If you are at all like me, I get very antsy when things stay the same for any extended period of time. I need change! Well, I’m sure if I really explored the depths of myself I would find that I don’t really need it & that my need for change is covering up something else. But, I feel like I need constant change, especially in my surroundings. For a good stretch of my young adult life, that meant moving every year, if not more, even within the same cities just for a new experience, new perspective.

Since Kathy & I moved into our current house in Venice Neighborhood, we’ve tried to actually stay in one place for a time and build some more lasting connections with our neighbors. But, for me, the restlessness is still there. And since the house isn’t changing (for now), there is the constant urge to adjust the environment inside. My list of projects I would like to start is endless. Starting in the kitchen. I would love to re-tile the floor, since what we inherited is a mess. But I hate to do that, when I really would like to completely shell the kitchen and start over. But I don’t have money for that, and even if I did, I would want to open up the wall between it and the dining room. And now we’re talking major remodel. I have neither the time nor money nor energy for all of that right now. I guess we are stuck with the floor for a while.

So, without the budget to do these kinds of projects, I have resorted to reconfiguring rooms and furniture. It has become one of my favorite and not-so-favorite past times. I think friends and family are so used to showing up at our house only to find the rooms and furniture completely re-arranged that they don’t even comment any more. Someone did comment the other day, “you moved things again?” We hadn’t, but I guess their minds were still a few revisions back.

Many of my projects of late have been longstanding, small maintenance jobs that you kind of learn to ignore after a time, so you don’t have to deal with it. But, for me, after a certain period of annoyance, I feel like I have to resolve the issue. And, having done some commercial building maintenance for a while, I have learned that when you go to repair something, you are more often than not going to find or create a bigger mess than what you thought. That happened with my most recent job.

Our dishwasher has been a piece of you-know-what since we moved into the house almost 5 years ago. It didn’t clean the dishes well, which is really not that uncommon I guess. But it also had several faulty parts. The small door that closes up your detergent hadn’t functioned well in years. So, you knew there were certain spots in the dishwasher not to put your dishes or silverware, because more often than not, it would come out with a random glob of detergent baked on.

For those of you we’re not around everyday, we are on an extremely tight budget right now. So, we quit using the washer weeks ago, and resorted to hand washing. Then, one afternoon my generous and resourceful mother-in-law, Jeanie, calls to tell us there was one on the way. She had somehow tracked down a free one–old, but free. So, I immediately starting tearing into the old one, disconnecting plumbing, taking cabinet facing off, etc.  I get the thing out & what do I find??  Four things in particular:  1. tons of dirt, 2. even more mouse droppings, 3. the skeleton of mouse, and 4. a huge hole in the drywall behind.  Most people would probably sweep the junk up and throw the new one in. But no, I had to thoroughly clean and patch the 2×2′ hole in the wall first.

Needless to say, over the course of the entire afternoon, evening, and following morning I patched the wall and installed the new (old) dishwasher.  Miraculously, it works, and fortunately it’s not green.  I did have to do some homemade insulation work to bring the sound level down, but it works & all it cost us was the $20 worth of supplies to repair the wall and about 12 hours of Caleb’s and my time (for those of you who are parents, you understand that a 3yr-old assistant while trusty and hilarious will typically turn a 4 hour job into 12).

On that subject, repairs, remodels, and reconfigures will be the topic for next week or so on Urban Living OKC.  In the next post, I want share some valuable resources I’ve found for green remodels.  If you are planning a project in the near or distant future, check back in a day or so for some helpful info.

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This weekend, my brother, Kevin, treated my 3 year old son Caleb and I to our first OKC Thunder game.  The Thunder experience has become a vital part of urban okc life.  Leading up to the game, we had been talking to Caleb about what to expect.  When we talked about going to watch a basketball game, Caleb’s only point of reference was his 7 year old cousin, Matthew’s, YMCA game from the week before.  He kept saying, “I’m going to yell, ‘Go Matthew!!!’”  Kathy and I just kind of laughed and assured him this was going to be a little different.

We arrived at our seats and started looking around the arena.  He seemed pretty unfazed by it all.  When the time came for the teams to be announced, he just wanted to know where “that thunder guy” (aka Rumble the mascot) was.  Throughout the entire game, he constantly asked where was that Rumble guy.  We would tell him, he must be taking a break.  He was totally fascinated by Rumble.

Everyone was really gracious to Caleb.  When the plastic b-balls were shot and thrown into the crowd, a middle aged man came over and gave him a ball.  When we went to get some snacks, they gave him a blue wig & made him a balloon dog.  He used some of his snack money from his grandparents to buy what any 3 yr old boy would…blue cotton candy.  In a matter of minutes, his entire face and hands were bright thunder blue.  We talked to him about some of the players & he loved yelling, “Go Kevin Durant!”

Later, we got a monster order of nachos.  At one point, he leaned over and said, “more defense!”  I knew he had been yelling go defense off and on throughout the game with us.  But I asked him, “what are talking about?”  He pointed directly into the tray of nachos and said, “MORE DEFENSE!”  Every time he wanted another nacho, he yelled, “more defense!”  Kevin and I were rolling.  Thanks largely in part to Crazy Caleb, our section in Loud City won the Craziest Section contest and free crazy bread from Little Caesars.  I even shamelessly shoved him in front of the camera when they were introducing the “Loud City” crew directly in front of us.

The Thunder won the game going away, and Caleb had an night of non-stop action.  Of course the one thing about a cheapo father who parks at Bass Pro and a 3 yr old out way past his bedtime is that dad must carry said 3 yr old the half mile from the area to the car.

I think my favorite part of the experience was actually the next day.  I had been at a meeting early that morning.  As I pulled up to the house, I looked up to our front patio only to see Caleb in full blue wig, swinging his loud city towel, and laughing hysterically.  Thank you, Oklahoma City Thunder, for making Caleb’s first experience one to remember!!