Best St. Patrick's Day Bashes in Oklahoma

 
 

Don your green attire, raise a glass and celebrate St. Patrick’s Day in Oklahoma at one of these festive celebrations.

St. Patrick’s Day is a time to celebrate the luck of the Irish with parades, festivals, the clinking of beer glasses and good, old-fashioned frivolity. Whether you’re searching for ways to honor your Irish heritage or merely look good in green, Oklahoma has a St. Patrick’s Day bash for you. Read on to discover Oklahoma’s top Irish pubs, restaurants and even family-friendly options where you can celebrate the legend of St. Patrick in style.

Oklahoma City Metro Area

Sham-ROCK the Gardens - Oklahoma City

Get in the St. Patrick’s Day spirit with family-friendly fun along the green-dyed waters of Myriad Botanical Gardens’ pond at Sham-ROCK the Gardens. Wander throughout the gardens to find kid-centric activities like shamrock face-painting while sipping on a glass of green beer and savoring tasty eats from an array of Irish-themed food trucks. All ages can gather around the Band Shell to hear the Oklahoma Scottish Pipe and Drums, as well as watch professional Irish dancers flaunt traditional performances along to Celtic folk music. You can even learn how to dance your own jig with the help of Irish clubs on-site.

Stockyards City St. Patrick's Parade - Oklahoma City

Celebrate this beloved Irish holiday with the top-notch Stockyards City St Patrick's Day Parade that winds through the heart of historic Stockyards City, bringing with it the thrilling sounds of traditional Irish music, the collective purr of motorcycles in formation and the joyous exclamations of parade participants playing to the crowd. Featuring the famous Chain Ranch Longhorns being herded down Exchange Avenue to kick-off the parade, you'll also see marching bands, bagpipes, antique cars, community groups, equestrian entries and much more. Join the thousands of spectators that line the main streets of Stockyards City each year, bring a lawn chair and spend the morning listening to upbeat Irish songs and cheering on Irish step dancers as they whirl past.

O'Connell's Irish Pub - Norman

Located just minutes south of the Oklahoma City metro area, the college town of Norman knows how to throw a St. Patrick’s Day bash. At O’Connell’s Irish Pub & Grille you’ll find a lively atmosphere where anything goes. Karaoke, limitless brew and live music are the staples of this college crowd hotspot, where pints, pitchers and colossal “rockets” of bold Irish stouts like Guinness or Smithwick’s are served up to crowds of party-goers on St. Patrick’s Day.

Tulsa Metro Area

ShamROCK the Rose - Broken Arrow

Kick off your St. Patrick’s Day shenanigans with a festive block party in downtown Broken Arrow’s Rose District. ShamROCK the Rose shuts down traffic to host a massive craft beer garden, local food trucks, live entertainment and 100 street vendors over the span of three blocks. Grab a sampling mug and make your way around the local brewers’ and distillers’ pop-up booths for up to four hours’ worth of tastings.

ShamROCK the 'Ville - Bartlesville

Find yourself energized in a sea of green when running the annual ShamROCK the ‘Ville 5K. Dress up in your quirkiest St. Patrick’s Day gear and compete for prizes as you race alongside green-clad participants throughout historic downtown Bartlesville.

Blue Dome's Irish Pub Crawl - Tulsa

Tulsa’s energetic Blue Dome Entertainment District turns a vibrant shade of green every year when the streets are filled with thousands of spectators sporting the traditional color. Home of longtime Irish favorites Arnie’s Bar, Woody’s Corner Bar and James E. McNellie’s Public House (check out their OKC outpost as well) within a few blocks of one another, festival-goers will be treated to enough Irish beer and fare to feed a small army.

Hosted throughout the entire St. Patrick’s Day weekend from morning until night, visitors can pub crawl, browse fun local retailers or enjoy live music all weekend long into the early morning hours. Wander through the five-block radius in the Blue Dome District that will be blocked from traffic and watch as the party spills out onto the streets with tent staging areas and bar stands with rooftop seating. Keep an eye out for McNellie’s semi-truck featuring 30 taps and over 100 kegs of beer.

Arnie's Bar - Tulsa

No Tulsa celebration of St. Patrick’s would be complete without a visit to Arnie’s Bar, T-Town’s most famous Irish-themed pub. With no cover charge all weekend, live music scheduled each evening and everything from Guinness and Harp, to Smithwick’s and Killian’s Irish Red on tap, Arnie’s is the place to be. While celebrating at this cozy hangout, don’t forget to try your hand at a game of shuffleboard, throw a round of darts with friends or make your way to the outdoor patio. As an added bonus, all St. Patrick’s Day beer is served in a 22 oz. souvenir cup.

Kilkenny's Irish Pub - Tulsa

Head over to Tulsa’s trendy Cherry Street area for one of the city’s biggest St. Patrick’s Day blowouts at Kilkenny’s Irish Pub. Dine on Irish fare such as beer-battered fish and chips, corned beef and cabbage or potato soup, before heading outside to join the festivities under Kilkenny’s party tent. Live music, food specials and vendors get the celebration started, while pints of Guinness, glasses of single malt scotch and shots of Irish whiskey keep it going until 2am.

Ghost Town Road Trip - Shamrock

Although there is no official St. Paddy's party in the almost abandoned town of Shamrock, this unique town deserves a celebration on St. Patrick's Day. Take a road trip to this eerie ghost town, which boomed around 1913 when the Cushing Oil Field was discovered. Oilfield workers created a rowdy town full of saloons, gambling halls, hotels and brothels before they began to move along to new boomtowns in the mid-1920s. Shamrock made headlines again in 1932 when famous outlaw Pretty Boy Floyd robbed the local bank. Visit the sleepy town to see the old-fashioned businesses and Irish customs left behind almost a century ago.

No matter which St. Patrick’s Day celebration you choose to attend, if you decide to toast your inner Irishman with an alcoholic beverage, please remember to celebrate responsibly. Sláinte!

Read more at TravelOK.com

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First-Time Home Buyer Checklist: Have You Done Everything?

 
 

A first-time homebuyer checklist can take a major weight off of your shoulders when you’re ready to buy your first home.

It’s a big step—and one where it’s wise to know for sure you’ve got all your ducks in a row first.

First-time homebuyer checklist

To help you figure that out, here’s an all-in-one first-time homebuyer checklist with everything you should make sure you have covered before you set off on your hunt—or, if not, consider this a prime opportunity to get started.

Step No. 1: Find a real estate agent

Most rookie home buyers begin their house search online by browsing listings, which may be a mistake for a couple of reasons.

First, you might be looking at homes that are outside your price range—and you don’t want to fall in love with a home that you can’t afford. More important: You’re embarking on this quest on your own when you should be letting a seasoned professional guide you through every step of the homebuying process. Bonus: It’s no cost to you as a buyer to use an agent, so you’re getting free advice by using a real estate agent—no strings attached.

Here’s more on how to find a real estate agent in your area. Make sure to scrutinize agent reviews—paying close attention to years of experience, number of homes sold, and what neighborhoods the agent specializes in.

Step No. 2: Talk to a mortgage lender

Although some experts recommend buyers do this before finding a real estate agent, there’s a significant benefit to talking to an agent first: “You need to shop for a lender locally, and real estate agents know which local lenders are trustworthy and which aren’t,” Realtor.com says.

Therefore, ask your agent for two to three lender recommendations. Talking to multiple lenders will enable you to fully assess your financing options with no obligation to pick until you’ve found one that’s right.

The goal is to get pre-approved for a home loan. To do that, you’ll need to provide the lender with a significant amount of paperwork, including bank statements, pay stubs, W-2 forms, 1099 forms, and tax returns. If the lender decides to offer you pre-approval, you’ll receive an estimate of what size loan you would qualify for and approximately what interest rate you’d get.

Pre-approval is typically good for 90 to 120 days; however, “it’s easy to renew it if the borrower’s financial picture doesn’t change,” says Richard Redmond, broker associate at ACM Investor Services, a private lender in Larkspur, CA, and author of “Mortgages: The Insider’s Guide.”

A good mortgage lender will also be able to help you determine which type of loan is right for you.

Step No. 3: Improve your credit, if needed

When you meet with a mortgage lender, the lender will pull your credit score. Although a perfect credit score is 850, all scores 760 and above are considered to be in the best credit score range—meaning you would qualify for the most competitive interest rates. (For comparison, a good credit score is from 700 to 759, a fair score is from 650 to 699, and a score of 300 to 649 is considered poor.) Your credit score is calculated based on a number of factors, including your debt payment history, debt-to-credit utilization, and length of credit history.

If you find that your credit score is subpar, you may be able to take steps to boost your score. Just keep in mind that you won’t improve a credit score overnight. Indeed, you may need to postpone your house search for a few months in order to mend your credit.

Step No. 4: Determine where you want to live

To focus your house hunt, you’ll need to decide where you want to settle down. If you don’t have your heart set on a particular neighborhood, think about what areas are best suited for your commuting needs, school requirements, proximity to family and friends, and overall lifestyle.

Need help digging up information? At realtor.com/local, you can enter a town, neighborhood, or ZIP code to find out more about the area, like the median home price and quality of public schools.

Step No. 5: Don’t damage your credit

When you’re in the process of buying a home, you need to walk the straight and narrow with your finances. Why? Because your loan doesn’t get fully approved until it goes through underwriting—which could take place just a few days before closing. To keep your credit score stable, you’ll want to avoid taking on new debt (e.g., getting an auto loan), opening new credit cards, neglecting student loan payments, or falling behind on credit card payments.

Read more at Realtor.com

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Weekly mortgage demand jumps again as interest rates fall just below 7%

 
 

Mortgage rates swung slightly lower last week, fueling a significant jump in mortgage demand for the second straight week.

Total application volume rose 7.1%, compared with the previous week, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s seasonally adjusted index.

The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances ($766,550 or less) decreased to 6.84% from 7.02%, with points falling to 0.65 from 0.67 (including the origination fee) for loans with a 20% down payment.

“Mortgage rates dropped below 7% last week for most loan types because of incoming economic data showing a weaker service sector and a less robust job market, with an increase in the unemployment rate and downward revisions to job growth in prior months,” said Mike Fratantoni, senior vice president and chief economist at the MBA.

As a result, applications to refinance a home loan, which are most sensitive to weekly rate moves, rose 12% for the week and were 5% higher than the same week one year ago.

“While these percentage increases are large, the level of refinance activity remains quite low, and we expect that most of this activity reflects borrowers who took out a loan at or near the peak of rates in the past two years,” added Fratantoni.

Applications for a mortgage to purchase a home rose 5% for the week but were still 11% lower than a year ago. Homebuyers are up against more than just high interest rates. They are looking at sky-high home prices and a still lean supply of houses for sale. While more inventory is coming onto the market with the spring season, it is not enough to meet the demand, especially for smaller, starter homes.

Mortgage rates rose slightly at the start of this week, after a government report on consumer prices came in higher than expected Tuesday. However, the increase was smaller than previous reactions to similar economic data.

“It suggests the market is starting to see more convincing signs that inflation and the economy stand a better chance deliver rate-friendly news in the near future as opposed to news that would cause a big resurgence,” said Matthew Graham, chief operating officer at Mortgage News Daily.

Read more at CNBC.com

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Finding Your Perfect Home in a Fixer Upper

 
 

If you’re trying to buy a home and are having a hard time finding one you can afford, it may be time to consider a fixer-upper.

That’s a house that needs a little elbow grease or some updates, but has good bones. Fixer-uppers can be a really great option if you’re looking to break into the housing market or want to stretch your budget further. According to NerdWallet:

“Buying a fixer-upper can provide a path to homeownership for first-time home buyers or a way for repeat buyers to afford a larger home or a better neighborhood. With the relatively low inventory of homes for sale these days, a move-in ready home can be hard to find, especially if you’re on a budget.”

Basically, since the number of homes for sale is still so low, if you’re only willing to tour homes that have all your dream features, you may be cutting down your options too much and making it harder on yourself than necessary. It may be time to cast a wider net.

Sometimes the perfect home is the one you perfect after buying it.

Here’s some information that can help you pinpoint what you truly need so you can be strategic in your home search. First, make a list of all the features you want in a home. From there, work to break those features into categories like this:

  • Must-Haves – If a house doesn’t have these features, it won’t work for you and your lifestyle.

  • Nice-To-Haves – These are features you’d love to have but can live without. Nice-to-haves aren’t dealbreakers, but if you find a home that hits all the must-haves and some of these, it’s a contender.

  • Dream State – This is where you can really think big. Again, these aren’t features you’ll need, but if you find a home in your budget that has all the must-haves, most of the nice-to-haves, and any of these, it’s a clear winner.

Once you’ve sorted your list in a way that works for you, share it with your real estate agent. They’ll help you find homes that deliver on your top needs right now and have the potential to be your dream home with a little bit of sweat equity. Lean on their expertise as you think through what’s possible, what features are easy to change or add, and how to make it happen. According to Progressive:

“Many real estate agents specialize in finding fixer-uppers and have a network of inspectors, contractors, electricians, and the like.”

Your agent can also offer advice on which upgrades and renovations will set you up to get the greatest return on your investment if you ever decide to sell down the line.

Bottom Line

If you haven’t found a home you love that’s in your budget, it may be worth thinking through all your options, including fixer-uppers. Sometimes the perfect home for you is the one you perfect after buying it. To see what’s available in your area, connect with a local real estate agent.

Read more at KeepingCurrentMatters.com

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As Featured in West + Main Home Magazine: Snapshots of Home

 

Christie + Jeff Meyers

West + Main clients Christie and Jeff Meyers recently updated their home, having purchased it with the help of agent Melanie Erdmann. 

West + Main Home Magazine: Thank you so much for letting us feature your beautiful home! Tell us, what inspired your project? 

It was just time. We wanted to open up our space and give it a more modern feel!
— Christie

W+M: Do you mind sharing with our readers, how much you ended up investing in the project?

Christie: The remodel was quite large - 5 different rooms on our main level were touched. I believe we were around $75K for our project - that includes cabinets, floors, paint, counters, fireplace, lighting, furniture, and demo/install, as well as many smaller elements and details.

W+M: What are some of your favorite vendors or shops? 

Christie: We didn't really have a favorite place - we did a lot of online shopping/browsing to find what was best for us. We are bargain shoppers and looked to see what made sense to find lower prices but of good quality. We were more about function than a price tag!

W+M: Did your remodel turn out the way you hoped and planned?

Christie: We love our new space. There is nothing I would change. We get asked all the time, what would you do differently and we still haven't found that one thing we would change!

W+M: Thank you so much for sharing. One last question…what do you love the most

Christie: The reconfiguration and open feel to our kitchen being connected to other rooms and our long center island countertop are a huge plus for us. We also love that we have wonderful drawer cabinets and pantry pullouts. Overall, the new space gives an open and inviting feel and allows for us to pack more people in for dinner parties!

 

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