Well spring has arrived and so have the ticks

One of the unfortunate things we have to contend with in rural real estate is the unfortunate reappearance each year of ticks. When I was a kid ticks hadn't actually evolved yet. Well ok that's not true but they weren't as dangerous. I can remember reading about Rocky Mountain Spotted tick fever but I never knew anyone who had it. But nowadays particularly with Lyme disease ticks are no laughing matter.

This is particularly hard on turkey hunters as they must sit still in the now warm woods for long stretches. We all know how ticks can cling to you when you are on a hike, so imagine what it's like when you are not a moving target. So does all this mean that you can't enjoy the woods in warm weather? The answer is no.

If you are only a casual and infrequent visitor to timbered areas you can use the same insect repellents that work on mosquitoes. Such brands as OFF, CUTTERS, and others who use Deet as their active ingredient are all pretty effective. I say pretty effective because when I've used them in the past they were much better than using nothing but I almost always found at least one or two ticks when I came in from the timber.

Last year I read about something new, or at least new to me called Permethrin. It's sold under several brand names and can be found at many places including Cabela's, Bass Pro and others. It's a unique product and it's first usage as an insect repellent was to protect troops from insects in tropical areas.

Here is what makes it so unique. You do not, in fact DO NOT EVER spray it on your skin. Instead is meant to be applied to the outer layer of clothing and it lasts up to 6 weeks even through washing. And here's the best part, it is amazing how well it works. I have a set of jeans and socks that I set aside and spray with one of the permethrin based products. My wife marked the bottoms of the socks with a marker so I can tell them from the other socks in my drawer. When I wear those socks and those jeans there are no ticks on me when I come home from the woods. I also wear a white shirt in the woods to more easily see any ticks, but with those jeans and socks none ever make it as high as my shirts.

What I do is to take the socks and jeans out in an open area, spray them on all the outer surfaces so that you can see they have been moistened, let them stay overnight to dry and then make sure those are the ones I wear in the woods. The result, NO TICKS. On thing I do when I know I'll be in the woods a while is to pull my socks up over my jeans. Hey I'm never going to be a high fashion model anyway, so why not? I just find it more effective at keeping ticks on the outside as long as possible so the permethrin can do it's job.

If you Google permethrin you will find as you usually do warnings about what high dosages etc. will do to you. Now the thing is permethrin is also used as a commercial insecticide particularly in the cotton industry. So how they use permethrin there is a lot different than in this application. I like it because well, it works, and you don't have that oily smell you get from using normal insect repellents. As always you are grown ups, so study up carefully before you use anything like this, but as someone who has to go into the woods on a regular basis I'm a big fan and think you should consider it. It sure beats Lyme disease.

So what is the state of the Real Estate Market?

Well first of all I don't want anyone to confuse me with some Wall Street guru. I'm just a simple Mid-west kid noticing some trends. That's also another way of saying that if you take my advice and it doesn't work out well don't think about suing me. If I were a real genius I'd be writing this from my Caribbean home, and well when I look out the window, it doesn't look like the Caribbean to me.

But here's what I've been seeing just by keeping my ear to the ground. Now OK I mixed my metaphors and the odds are that if my ear were to the ground I wouldn't be seeing much now would I?

But I am not seeing rural land prices affected much if at all like we are seeing residential property. I believe that is for 3 reasons first of all grain prices are at an almost historic high so all rural land is holding it's value. Secondly the desire to move from the city to the country hasn't diminished at all. Maybe there are fewer folks who can do it, because their city homes are harder to sell, but the desire is there. The third reason is that we have not just been busy, we've been swamped. We are working 7 days a week and are having trouble keeping up. Admittedly the recent better weather has helped a lot.

So what does all of this mean? Well first let me reiterate, don't sue me if I'm wrong, but I think the effect of the recent real estate problems has had minimal if any affect on rural property. But at the same time the actions by the FED to bolster residential sales means lower interest rates for all of us. In other words I think this is the time to buy. I don't see prices or interest rates going lower, but I can see both going higher.

Give us a call and we can talk further about what this might mean specifically to you. I am still available, I am not in the Caribbean, however I am accepting donations. Give us a call 913-837-4665, (and yes most of you will have to dial the 913.)

Enjoyed Meeting everyone

Well the day was a little gloomy and the allure of staying by the TV and watching KU basketball was pretty attractive, so we didn't get to meet as many of you as we would have liked. But we did enjoy talking with the folks that stopped by. As many of you are first time country property buyers we understand that it can be a little intimidating. The property where we had the open house has a great spot for a pond, so it was nice to talk about what it takes to get a pond built, how you want to treat your downstream neighbors etc.

We hope to have more similar events and look forward to meeting more of you in the future.