RETURN TO HOMERealtor Thursday
A Conversation with J.D. Calvin, of Prudential Vision Properties, Columbia, Missouri
Columbia was settled in Pre-Columbian times by the mound-building Mississippian culture of Native Americans. The Lewis and Clark Expedition passed by the area on the Missouri River in 1803. In 1818, a group of settlers incorporated under the Smithton Land Company purchased over 2,000 acres and established the village of Smithton near present-day downtown Columbia. In 1821, the settlers moved and re-named the settlement Columbia—a poetic name for the United States.
The University of Missouri was founded in 1839 in Columbia, as the first public university west of the Mississippi River and the first state university in Thomas Jefferson’s Louisiana Purchase territory. MU provides all the benefits of two universities in one — it’s a major land-grant institution and Missouri’s largest public research university. The founding of the University of Missouri in 1839 established the city as a center of education and research. Two other institutions of higher education, Stephens College in 1833 and Columbia College in 1851, were also established within the city.
Columbia is now a vibrant college town with a little over 108,000 residents giving it a small town feel with the benefits of a larger city. It is nestled perfectly between St. Louis and Kansas City, with greater St. Louis 70 miles to the East, and the Kansas City metropolitan area 100 miles to the West.
Ratings
Columbia has been ranked as high as the second “Best” place to live in the United States by Money Magazine’s annual list and is regularly in the top 100. Columbia has a diverse economy, and is often ranked high for its business atmosphere, educational facilities, health care, technological savvy, economic growth, cultural opportunities and cost of living.
The Council for Community and Economic Research rates cities by comparing items such as groceries, housing, utilities, transportation, health care and miscellaneous expenses. A composite index of 100 is the national average and Columbia’s is consistently below 100, landing it at the top of “best places to live” lists year after year.
Our Town
After living 6 years on the West Coast, Columbia continues to surprise me with its hip, progressive vibe and attitude. Columbia’s downtown, better known as “The District,” is a must-see cultural epicenter. Surrounded by three college campuses, the District is a hot spot for live shows, cool shops and a huge array of diverse cuisine. The area also serves as Columbia’s financial and business district and is the topic of a large initiative to draw tourism, which includes plans to capitalize on the area’s historic architecture and bohemian characteristics.
Columbia boasts a number of popular events and festivals that help create the many cultural layers that make the city so attractive, including Artrageous Fridays, Art in the Park, Show Me State Games, Summerfest, Rock the Riverboat Summer Music Series, Summer Breeze Wine Trail, True/False Film Festival and Roots ‘N Blues N’ BBQ Festival, which attracted 100,000+ guests in 2010.
Columbia is also a great place to work and has a thriving business community. Recently, IBM selected our city for a new technology service delivery center that will employ as many as 800 technical professionals. Also a home to the corporate headquarters of Shelter Insurance Companies, the regional offices of State Farm Insurance Companies, MBS Textbooks, MFA Oil and several Fortune 500 company branches including Dana Corporation, 3M and Quaker Oats, Columbia has a number multitude of business and professional opportunities.
Schools
With 19 elementary schools, three middle schools, three junior high schools and two high schools, and another in the works, Columbia Public Schools continue to receive regional and national accolades year after year and to offer our children a quality and diverse education. 
The three institutions of higher learning (MU, Stephens College and Columbia College) help create an academic epicenter at the heart of the city and add to the sophisticated and progressive attitude of many residents. Specifically, the nationally-renowned and top-rated Missouri School of Journalism continues to set the bar for industry standards and to lead the way in research and technology, which draws students and academic professionals alike from all over the world.
The National Business Incubation Association has awarded the NBIA Soft Landings International Incubator designation to the University of Missouri Life Science Business Incubator at Monsanto Place, a business incubator operated and sponsored by the Missouri Innovation Center. One of only 10 in the United States.
Going Green
The city of Columbia and its residents are actively building a greener community. Energy Star rated homes are popping up more frequently in and around Columbia, and the city’s Water and Light Department is encouraging the purchase of these homes with a $1000 incentive. One Columbia home builder recently explained why every new construction home should be built to Energy Star standards, as the extra cost to certify a home is quickly offset through local, state, and federal incentives and through annual utility savings.
Columbia recently finished their LEED certified city hall addition, adding to the city’s other LEED certified buildings that include a college hall, two fire houses, a schoolhouse, a bus station and a mixed-use historic building with lofts and offices. Several more buildings are in the process of being LEED certified. Other green practices are being promoted by the two major electricity providers in the area, Boone Electric Cooperative and Columbia’s Water and Light Department, by providing up to $1,200 in residential rebates for energy efficiency improvements through the Home Performance with Energy Star program.
A greener community also means a more locally-based community. A push toward locally grown foods has become very popular in recent years with a handful of restaurants in Columbia now serving almost exclusively locally grown foods. The Columbia Farmers Market draws over 4,000 locals every weekend during peak season and with three locations across the city, Columbians are sure to find fresh produce nearby. Community gardens continue popping up in abandoned lots across the city, some with almost 100 individual plots, bringing neighbors together to grow their own produce and share gardening techniques with each other.
Biking around the city has grown tremendously since 2000 when a local coalition of bicyclists, now 7,000 members strong, started PedNet. This program helps promote biking and walking through the planning and development of bike routes for a safer, more efficient means of transportation. Former long-time mayor Darwin Hindman was also instrumental in pushing the biking initiative and led by example, riding his bike almost everywhere he went.
Recycling is also something Columbia prides itself on, with a weekly curbside pickup of paper, glass, and plastics alongside normal trash pickup. The trash that isn’t recycled makes its way to the city’s landfill, where a bioreactor is used to accelerate decomposition and collects methane used to generate electricity for the city’s residents.
Through the many environmentally-friendly projects both large and small, Columbia consistently leads the way for other mid-western towns and cities moving toward a greener future. For more information about Going Green, visit http://www.goenergylink.com
The Future
Our market is much steadier than the national norm. We won’t know for a while if values will increase or remain steady. If they remain steady, it’s advantageous to buyers. If they increase, it’s advantageous to sellers. If local buyers stay local and move up, any decrease in sales price will be more than compensated with the bargain on their new home.
Either way, the city is growing, nearly 12% in the last ten years, but the overall cost-of-living remains 15% below the national average, which makes Columbia an attractive place to call home. Homes are readily available and come in all shapes and sizes, including single-family homes, condominiums, town homes, apartments and manufactured homes. There are older neighborhoods closer into campus and newer subdivisions, particularly on the north and south edges of town.
Preparing to Buy
When buying, start with your lender and interview at least two others. Rates may change during the interview process, so have each one update you on the changes. There are two benefits in having financing established. For one, you’ll be confident in the price range you’re searching. Secondly, when we find the home you choose, financing isn’t an obstacle and the offer you make is much much stronger.
Words of Wisdom for Sellers
In all other products, sex sells. In real estate, CLEAN sells. It’s important that professionals be called in to help sell your greatest investment, i.e, cleaning companies, handymen, stagers and/or an organization coach. An occupied home needs to appear unoccupied. A vacant home needs to appear occupied. A seller needs to mentally surrender their home to the marketplace. It’s no longer just theirs.
Personal Experience
My mother, Jody Calvin who has been selling real estate for over 20 years and has sold well over 100 million dollars in real estate in her career, often tells the story about one of her first clients.
A young nurse was looking to buy her first home. She and my mom often looked after the nurse got off work, which was always after dark. One particular bungalow was very dated. The sellers were deceased and the heirs were selling the home. My mom and the client quickly walked through the main floor and started downstairs. Because it was dark, they couldn’t feel any light switches. They felt the walls as they gingerly inched down the stairs. As my mom is feeling the walls for a light switches, the nurse is swinging her arms in the air to find a pull-chain. Just as Jody finds a switch and flips it, the nurse bumps into some hip-waders (you know, the chest-high boots that fisherman use in creeks) hanging from the ceiling. As the light overcomes the two women, the client sees the hip-waders swinging and screams a blood curdling scream as she jumps on my mom. They could not scramble up the stairs and out the front door fast enough. Needless to say, that home was not an option. To the client, there would have always been a skeleton hanging in the basement.
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This guest post is part of our Realtor Thursday Series. We invite realtors from towns and cities all over the country, big or small, to participate. Our goal is to “travel” to as many towns as we can in every state. Every town is unique and wonderful to our readers. If you would like to showcase your town, your neighbors and your talents as a realtor, please contact us at liz@dalesiegel.com