Bates County Real Estate

Well; for the rest of our neighbors in Butler, MO and all of Bates County this was no way to ring in the New Year! Because I live in Kansas City I look forward to my weekends and holidays in the country, away from all the killing, violence and mayhem.

But this holiday season, violence erupted in our tranquil town of Butler, MO.

It seems these days, there is just no getting away from it, as our culture becomes more crass, violent and vulgar; we drift further and further from our Christian roots and our love for one another.

On New Years Day, a under a Blue Moon; 25 year-old Carl Thomas lay dead on a Butler, Missouri street and his sister, 29-year-old Latonya Cooper  was shot inside a house. She was later pronounced dead at Bates County Memorial Medical Center. Another 7 year-old was injured in the fracas also.

This is not the norm for our part of the country and the talk at the local diner Saturday was a mix of sorrow and anger. Sorrow for the family and anger for the fact that our pleasant community should have these trials and worries.

A town where barefoot children ride bicycles to Sam's Hi-Way Hamburger to get an ice cream in the Summer, a town where people still often leave the doors unlocked, a town where helping your neighbor is as common as going to church on Sunday!

Allegedly; Decarlos Newsom was the shooter who later took his own life while parked in his truck. A quick search of Casenet, shows that Mr. Newsom had run afoul of the law before but mostly traffic incidents; that is until August 13, 2008 when he was convicted of a misdemeanor firearm offense and sentenced to 180 days in jail. The sentence was suspended and he was assigned 2 years unsupervised probation and 40 hours community service.

No one knows what could lead someone to do something like this, we can only pray for the families, our community and for our country, that we do not continue this descent into corruption and depravity that seems to be so commonplace in America today.

Merry Christmas to our friends, neighbors, clients and loved ones. May all your family and loved ones be well; and may you rest in the love and knowledge that Jesus Christ was born, lived and died for you and brought you forgiveness for your sins!

Happy Hanukkah to our Jewish friends may you be blessed and healthy as well.

So here are a few Cheery Seasonal pictures for you to enjoy. After looking at some of these I thought for sure some of them had to come from Hume, MO! hehehe!

I looked all over but I could not find any pictures for a redneck Hanukkah.
If you have some please let me know.
Surely there are some loud and proud Jewish rednecks out there.

News reports are all over the place about the latest marketing ploy by yours truly!

Here's what I've found, The Kansas City Real Estate Examiner is reporting that yours truly is offering a free gun to anyone who buys or sells real estate in Kansas through his company.
Here is the article:
Buy a house get a free gun!

The article links back to Bates County Real Estate and mentions Max Motors of Butler, MO.

Go check it out, the article is actually really good!

States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, Matt J Whitworth announced that the former president of the Hume Bank; Jeffrey W. Thompson, was indicted by a federal grand jury for bank fraud.

The Hume Bank was closed by the Missouri Division of Finance and the FDIC on March 7, 2008, and later assumed by the Security Bank of Rich Hill, MO.

Mr. Thompson aged 39 of Hume, MO became the president of the Hume Bank in 2001, he is accused of defrauding the bank and making false statements concealing problem loans. He is also accused of abusing the bank's credit card, using it for personal expenditures. (according to reports).

Some of the allegations involve loans to Brad Laning, a relative of Mr. Thompson's wife.

I have been helping the FDIC evaluate some of the property currently in foreclosure in Hume, MO; and from the properties I've seen the damage has just begun.

I did a BPO for the FDIC a few weeks ago that showed the actual property value to be drastically less than what was loaned against the home.

This is just another example of lenders and appraisers over-valuing homes and buyers walking away with a huge debt that cannot be recovered by liquidating the assets.

Thanks for visiting Bates County Real Estate.

Now you may not think of Bates County or Rich Hill, MO as a capital of culinary arts, but if you have ever eaten at Swopes drive Inn, Cruisers Pizza or The SouthSide Cafe you will soon find out there is one thing we do well here and that's eat!

I stumbled across a blog today about a Mennonite style chicken casserole... Did I mention the Mennonite Bakery (Koehn Bakery) in Butler, MO? Wow, you gotta check that out and pick up a pie or two.

Oops! I stumbled off the path here; seems this here Purple Pony Art person, liked this caserole enough to blog about it. Now having eaten my share of Mennonite cooking I can just imagine the goodness contained in this Chicken Casserole from Mrs. Ben Barker of Rich Hill, MO.

Here's the link to the Recipe! Chicken casserole, Mennonite style!

Y'all come back now; and thanks for visiting Bates County Real Estate.

I do a lot of blogging as time allows, sometimes time is not on my side. I manage a number of blogs, many of them real estate related. Some are just places to rant and rave about whatever.

I usually use this space  for good stories and real estate related posts, but I have a bone to pick.

If you are a regular reader of this site, you may remember my Fishing on the Marais des Cygne story with my grandson and my granddaughter. That was a beautiful Saturday, we spent paddling our little 'ol aluminum John boat down from the farm near the haymaker bridge to the water pumping station near Nyhart, MO.

The Grand kids had a ball watching the wildlife and attempting to help me navigate my way around the dead-fall without the aide of a motor.

Well, a few weeks ago some miscreant snuck onto my father in-laws place down there by the old Haymaker Bridge and made off with my boat.

So this summer, I will not be taking my grand kids on anymore memorable trips down the river. The children will be deprived the joy of a day on the water with Pop, because some worthless, tweaker, meth addict stole my boat. I didn't pay a lot of money for it, but it was mine and I hate a damned thief.

So if your son, meth-addicted boy friend or lazy-ass thieving husband has come home with a used V-Bottom aluminum boat, he stole it from me!

You can reach me at 816-807-1841. Or you can just have him return it to where he found it. But if I catch you on my land; I will put a slug in you!

It disappeared during deer season, which means he was probably out hunting in the Rich Hill or Virginia area when he decided to steal my boat.

Mary Redmond South and John Mac South were both killed in a horrible accident on Route Y in Bates County, MO. 

Mary Redmond South was an equestrian performer and trainer, at 49 she was well known in the Hunter-Jumper circles.  Some reports say that her husband John South was not wearing a seat belt when the accident occurred, Doubtful, after seeing the vehicle (below) that it would have done any good.

There beloved dog perished with them in the accident which occurred on Saturday October 17, 2009.

You can sign the guest book in her memory here: Mary Redmond South .

Our hearts go out to our neighbors and fellow horseman and the family of Mr. and Mrs. South.

You can read the report of the accident here at Fox 4

There are currently 119 homes for sale in Bates County, MO on the Heartland MLS.

I have made those listings available to you here, if you are looking for homes, land or commercial real estate in Bates County, please give me a call 816-313-8876.

These links expire after a while, so email me if you want an updated list.

Bates County Homes for Sale

If you are looking for Land for Sale in Bates County, here is that list too!

Bates County Land for Sale

If you are looking for commercial real estate in Bates County here is that link:
Bates County Commercial Real Estate

Thanks for visiting Bates County Real Estate

They called it the Palm to Pine Route and from 1915 to 1926 it was one of the most well traveled and scenic routes in America. It's hard to say exactly where the whole route was, but there is a move on to find it and memorialize it for history.

Wikapedia has an informational article about the Jefferson Highway stating that is was an automobile highway stretching through the central United States from New Orleans, LA to Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Portions of the route remain named Jefferson Highway.

The area that ran through Butler, MO and Rich Hill, MO is in dispute. One suggested route follows Missouri YY from Butler, MO to Rich Hill,  that route is taken from old Bates County maps. The other route comes from Jefferson Highway travel brochures from the 1920's, it flows West out of Butler on 52 and turns South at Monteith Junction and running along SW 1737 Rd. to Rich Hill.

This weekend I spoke with some folks who grew up in the area and they confirmed that the location is as it is mapped below in purple. In fact I have ridden horses over some of the areas the Jefferson Highway went through. My father in-law remembers well that stretch of road and where it ran.

What is clear is that the route did come directly through Butler, MO and right down Main St.  to what is now 52.

Recently the Joplin Independent had an article about  a couple of guys who set out to travel the old route and there stop in Carthage, MO.

Mike Conlin and his friend Gary Augustine decided to validate what they could discover of the road. Beginning in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada and culminating in New Orleans, LA.

They have made quite an event out of charting this course, even having a fan page on Facebook. They passed through Butler, MO and took pictures along the way. You can see them on their facebook page or you can visit their website at http://www.jeffersonhighway.com .

You can see the map they are working on here Jefferson Highway Map.

If you have any information or old Jefferson Highway signs or memorabilia, I'm sure it would be of interest to the folks working on saving this historical information.


Thanks for visiting Bates County Real Estate.

I got a call from some folks with the FDIC last week, they have a property in Hume, MO they wanted a BPO (Brokers Price Opinion) on.

So Saturday my grandson Cody and I hauled on down to Hume, MO to check it out. I had been told to contact Gloria Appleberry with Glory Real Estate to get the keys, but she didn't have them. She told me to call the Hume Bank, which is no longer the Hume Bank but had been taken over by the FDIC and sold to Security Bank of Rich Hill, MO.

Well after a few phone calls, it seems nobody has the keys, so its a good thing I took my lock pick kit with me.  I picked the locks with relative ease and got right in the home.

The house or sort-of house/trailer building located at Rt. 1 Box 175A Hume, MO 64752 was actually a trailer with a house built onto it.

It was a lot larger than I expected it to be, with 4 or maybe even a fifth bedroom. There was a garage behind the house, but no way to get a car to the garage because of the fence.

I took a lot of pics for the lender and here are a few of them.

We drove on  through town and took a few shots of the rest of Hume, MO. I take every chance I get to photograph what I see.  You never know when you may not get to see it again.

So here's a few more pics of the great town of Hume, MO