School for Hearing Impaired Children Raises $3000

Dr. Brandy Vowell, Audiologist "Swing Into Action"
Last week, Dr. Vowell had a live remote, at her new office, and she gave Happy Hands the opportunity to share in this pre-PGA event. Jan did an awesome job talking live on 97.1 and we heard that she made the evening news as well. Dr. Vowell had a silent auction and raffled off some sports memorabilia that she collected.  She raised $3,000 for Happy Hands and it was an exciting event to participate in!

Happy Hands is an early learning center for hearing impaired children.

Tulsa Cracks Down on Signs

The City of Tulsa is taking a hard look at yard signs and enforcement of the current policies. Recently, the budget was increased to allow for more sign inspectors and enforcement. The reason might have a lot to do with out of control real estate agents placing multiple signs for one listing. In some instances five signs were counted (directional arrows) for one single home. Multiple signs is a common practice for homes in rural areas but this is happening in town where one sign is sufficient. The only reason is to make the public think an agent or company has more listings than it really does, therefore attracting more home sellers and buyers. With approximately 6500 homes for sale in Tulsa and surrounding communities, you can see how this abuse could get out of control. It is important to note that most Realtors are not practicing this overkill on signs but it only takes a few to make a problem.

As a resident of Tulsa you can help the problem by complaining or making your opinion heard when talking to real estate agents who post too many signs in your neighborhood or when you see abuse while you are looking at homes. Public pressure helps our city stay clean.

Mitt Romeny Visits Tulsa

On the campaign trail, Mitt Romney visited Tulsa, OK in June to express his views on various governmet matters including the war, economic circumstances, etc. The more interesting aspect of his visit was the history of his accomplishments as Republican governor in a majority Democrat state - an impressive demonstration of his ability to motivate individuals to cooperate for a common good

The election is a distance away but it becomes more interesting to watch when you become involved with cadidates to better understand the issues at hand. On a personal level, I encourage everyone to listen, ask questions and apply logic to the arguments presented. Casting an educated vote is an important part of the future of our great country.

Darry Baskin, pictured to the left of Romney, is a real estate broker for McGraw Realtors in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Everyone has heard the cliché one mans trash is another mans treasure. How about one city’s trash incinerator is another man’s treasured home. For one celebrated artist this could not be more true.

Built in 1939 just on the out skirts of what was then the city limits was the city’s trash incinerator. For about $50,000 the building was constructed with 6" and 17” brick walls and if examined it would unveil bricks stamps from factories all over North America and Mexico. As the city grew to new size, the city limits were reestablished. Ordinances prohibiting trash disposal within the city limits was cause for the incinerator to be relocated. The abandoned structure remained filled with ashes for years.

While scouting for a separate project, renowned wood turner, Ron Fleming discovered the building. Much in the same way Pablo Picasso famously transformed bike handles into horns for his work The Bull, the native Oklahoman’s vision of a smoke stacked spiraled into a four-story lookout tower. Literally digging into this passion, shovel by shovel, Ron and his family reinvented a city’s forgotten incinerator into a conceptual piece of art.

Designed for a private home and studio workshop http://www.heartstonestudios.com/ for him and wife Carolyn the house is as unique and personal as their artwork. Just behind the two, 8’ hand carved arched walnut doors that stand salute at entrance is a two-story atrium, which is the focal point of the house. Meandering walls showcasing works of art lead you through the distinctive floor plan and open to an east sunroom and observation deck. Gardens abundant with wildlife make good use of a sixty-foot city easement adjacent to the property. This house isn’t void of many modern conveniences.

Today, Tulsans can be proud of the contribution made by the visionary artist and be appreciative that one mans creativity and inspiration for a home, fashioned a treasure for our entire city.

For more information about this property or other unique tulsa luxury homes visit www.darrylbaskin.com

Taking It To The Streets

The City of Tulsa hosted a public forum at the OSU Tulsa auditorium May 3, 2007 to discuss the development of our community . Pat Treadway, City of Tulsa Planning Department Manager, shared an exhilarating process used to optimize the revitalization of Tulsa's once forgotten areas and neighborhoods. The city's vision is simple... take the three P's, planning programs and projects to the streets and empower residents, property owners, business merchants, area institutions, neighborhood associations, among other groups to make advancements. Collaborating to understanding community defined issues results in physical, economic and social changes to Tulsa's urban core. These changes are community preferred solutions. "Often the revitalization of such areas create Micro Markets for home buyers and sellers once the area finds popularity", says Amy Maples of the Baskin Real Estate Specialists. For information on neighborhood revitalization click here www.tulsacountyneighborhoods.com or call The Baskin Real Estate Specialist of Mcgraw Realtors 918-258-2600

Tulsa on the Right Track?

Have the years of Tulsa's reputation as a difficult and unfriendly city for builders and developers come to an end? Perhaps a change is in the air. Don Himelfarb, Tulsa's first Director of Economic and Real Estate Development, speaks frankly about the changes needed for the City of Tulsa to progress in the areas of economy and development. On May 3rd, The City presented "Developing Tulsa," a program geared towards building better relationships with the building and development community. Presentations included the state of Tulsa's development, Tulsa's first revision to the Strategic Plan in over 25 years, Historic Preservation zoning and The National Registry of Historic Places, infill building, and perhaps the most important of all, a new permitting process touted to make permitting a streamlined and friendly procedure for builders and developers. Talk is cheap but if the organization and intentions of the City of Tulsa are as genuine as what was presented in today's meeting, Tulsa's reputation will be changing soon and the citizens of Tulsa will enjoy the results of a prosperous and organized city.

Tulsa’s Luxury Presented to Worldwide Audience

Key Biscayne, Florida

Tulsa will be represented at the Spring Conference for Who’s Who in Luxury Real Estate in Key Biscayne Florida. Tulsa’s representative for the organization, Darryl Baskin of McGraw Realtors says the event will draw two hundred of the world’s most esteemed real estate brokers for business development and networking. Luxuryrealestate.com is the world’s leading web site for luxury properties and is the web portal for the Who’s Who group.
“Representing Tulsa in a distinguished group like this is a real honor” Baskin says. “Not only do we have a cultured city worthy of attention, our prices for comparable luxury make people look twice at what we have to offer.” Baskin notes his last conference in Chicago was an opportunity to discuss the merits Tulsa has for business opportunities and investment. “Most luxury home buyers have a strong business interest. This means appealing to the luxury buyer as a viable location for a home can have ancillary benefits such as business relocation. It is common to have the opportunity to present a scenario to prospects that operating a business in Tulsa at a lower operating costs and owning a luxury home in Tulsa still affords the opportunity to own other luxury properties for second homes and vacations in other parts of the world because our housing costs are so reasonable.”
This is no new idea. Baskin notes that while selling the Skelly Mansion some years ago and studying the history of the home, he was impressed by the persistence of Mr. Skelly to show Tulsa’s attractiveness to the world. Mr. Skelly traveled the world as a delegate for the city often not in any official capacity. He even added onto his home in order to bring large groups to town and entertain them. He understood the importance of his guests leaving to say good things about Tulsa.