Columbia Board of REALTORS® Weblog

This ad is in the February 1, 2010 issue of Time Magazine. It is for the Wall Street Journal. Here is the copy:

What do I need to know today?
There are moments in life
when sound bites just won’t do.
Moments when you want to know,
really know.
And for that you need to go
beneath the headlines
and beyond the chatter.
That’s where we live.
Where tireless research reveals not just facts,
but opportunities.
Where you’re exposed to perspectives
that enable you to make the right choices
for your family,
your career,
your life.
To live every day
informed,
prepared,
inspired.

“The Wall Street Journal, live in the know”

Wow. My vision for our association is to be thought of in just that way.

CVG

I attended the Central Missouri Development Council meeting today at lunch and looked around me to see so many friends that have been through so much in the last few years. We heard from several good local candidates and all expressed how important it was to get involved and how critical the upcoming elections are for our city’s future. One friend asked me to rally a bunch of REALTORS to help a candidate because we “weren’t tainted with the Developer label” and were seen as more friendly to the public. While that was flattering (I guess), I wonder if the public really stopped to think about it, would they change their opinions of Developers? Wouldn’t they love to return to the good old days when things were booming, people had jobs and the sales tax revenue was pouring in? Now we all see the effects of NOT building and NOT Developing.  Remember the days when we had to defend development? Now we recognize that everyone is effected by the downturn in our economy.  During that time, one of our members came up with the following:

Who Benefits from Development

The farmer/landowner that is able to retire to Florida on the proceeds of the sale of their land, and their children and grandchildren who will benefit.
The car dealer who will sell that farmer/landowner’s children a new car….and the college that will benefit when that grandchild’s education is paid for…
The banker that provides the financing for the development
The title company that helps convey clear title
The Realtor that handles the transaction
The surveyor who surveys the land, the draftsman who draws up the plat of the new subdivision.
The person who runs the machine that moves the earth in order to install the water, sewer, electric, cable and telephone lines.
The employees of the companies installing the water, sewer, electric, cable and telephone lines.
The employees of the concrete company that delivers the concrete for the streets.
The city employee that issues the building permit
The employees at the city that work in the water & light dept.
The inspectors who monitor the work as the construction progresses.
The attorney that draws up the covenants and restrictions for the subdivision.
The person who does the dirt work to level the slab/basement and does the excavation The person building the forms to pour the concrete
The plumber who installs the plumbing
The electrician wiring the home
The heating and air conditioning companies installing the HVAC systems
The architect that designs the home
The carpenters framing the home
The painters painting the home.
The sheet rock crew
The insulation crew
The roofing crew
The carpet/tile & other flooring professional
The supply company that furnishes the materials for the home and all of their employees The cleaning crew hired by the builder to clean up the construction debris
The landscaping crew
The staging business hired to get the home ready for market
The Realtor who sells the home…sometimes two of them, and all the staff who earn a paycheck in each of their offices..
The local newspapers and homes magazines who derive income as a result of the advertisement of the home
The home inspector who inspects the home
The termite extermination company
The appraiser who appraises the home
The lender who makes the loan to purchase the home
The title company and all their employees

It seems kind of crazy that we had to spell it out.  If you redid the list today and changed the title to “Who is hurting as a result of no new developments and building” everybody in the country would be on it!  Sometime, somewhere, we probably had just the right amount of building and expansion, just the right number of people employed, just the right amount of goods being purchased and everyone felt pretty good about everyone else. Even though hindsight is 20-20, I’m not sure when that moment was. I missed it!

CVG

CVG

Geocaching is a high-tech treasure hunting game played throughout the world by adventure seekers equipped with GPS devices. The basic idea is to locate hidden containers, called geocaches, outdoors and then share your experiences online. Geocaching is enjoyed by people from all age groups, with a strong sense of community and support for the environment. There are currently 977,256 sites around the world and I found one!

Recently I was in Bonaire scuba diving wth the International Fellowship of Rotarian Scuba Divers. During one afternoon when we were a little worried about our ears and too much diving, we decided to try our hand and find our treasure. What fun! We found the cache, added a little something to it, and saw some amazing caves with ancient Indian drawings. It certainly was not a typical tourist experience.

To find out more and try your own super sleuth powers, go to www.geocaching.com.

CVG

I was recently asked what I thought employees wanted in their CEO. Hmmmmm… some of my former CEO’s flashed in front of my eyes…the good, the bad and the ugly. Some were the best and some were the worst. I did a quick mental inventory of my former CEO’s and replied:

“To be fair, to listen to me and be good for my career”.

I would want a CEO to be fair – in their judgement of distributing the workload, of assigning new and interesting projects to me, in their evaluation of me and my contribution to the organization, to deal equitably with all employees and not favor one over another, to establish reasonable expectations and to give me the tools to meet my goals.

I would want a CEO to listen to me, to value my input and contribution, to be approachable, to not make snap decisions without weighing pertinent facts, to consider alternatives, to not be a micromanager, to let me seek creative solutions to problems, to respect me.

I would want a CEO to be good for my career – to provide leadership and inspiration, to effectively manage my organization so that we are known for excellence, to provide opportunities for professional growth and development, to teach me and help me develop new skills and provide opportunities to showcase my talents, to encourage me with my endeavors. 

You know, sometimes it’s not just about the money. It’s about making my workplace a great place to work, where I want to be and where I can thrive.

Walking on water would be a plus.

CVG

This is my favorite turkey photo ever. It reminds me of visiting our home in Florida in the years before we moved there.  We always went for Thanksgiving.  I was a sun-worshiper and would baste myself for a while, then baste the turkey, and so forth.  However, once we moved there, I avoided the sun as much as possible because of the skin cancer risk. That’s how you can tell a native from a tourist – The natives don’t have tans!

This Thanksgiving I am happy to be at home, sleeping in my own bed and not traveling! I’m thankful for my family – they are happy and on the right track. I’m thankful for my work – I find it stimulating and fulfilling after 6 1/2 years as the CEO in Columbia. I’m thankful for my staff who are loyal, creative, dedicated and very smart. I’m thankful for my association – their enlightened leaders and supportive membership. We know that we are all in it together. I’m thankful for my community with all of its quirks and personalities and for having the opportunity to contribute and make a difference. I’m thankful for my professional community – for all of my fellow Association Executives and our staff at NAR – for challenging, sharing and commiserating. I’m thankful for experiencing joy each day, for sharing laughter, for our freedom, for our soldiers. I could go on and on but I’m starting to sound sappy- but I truly am thankful for lots of things.

CVG

‘Tis Installation Season and this last weekend I attended the St. Charles County Association and the St. Louis Association of REALTORS Installation. Congratulations to Joe Sahrmann and Letty DeMay for being installed as President of their respective organizations. I know you both will do a fabulous job this coming year. Also the staff of both organizations need pats on the back for coordinating such beautiful events.

On Saturday, we walked around Historic St. Charles and I did my best to improve their economy. However, I was surprised to find a building advertising Roy Cox Real Estate and Plumbing. Hmmmm…somehow the combination of the two professions just doesn’t seem to fit. I wonder what their slogan is?

“We sell your house before you go down the drain!”

“Don’t get underwater with your home. Call us!”

“We have Buyers in the Pipeline!”

I bet you could think of more!

CVG

Just got through attending the annual NAR meeting. The news will be dominated by RPR – the long-awaited, ever name changing national database of property and the new consumer website – www.houselogic.com.  (The best name I heard it called was “reaper”)  I haven’t explored these and don’t know enough to intelligently comment but it is very cool that NAR is thinking outside the box and propelling us forward. However, I saw a few other things that I thought were also noteworthy.

On Thursday, I attended the Legal Seminar. I heard a lot about lawsuits (There are fewer filed this year) and insurance (expanded Board coverage at no cost to us). One of the things Laurie Janik said was if an MLS has a lockbox system in place, they can require keyholders to have a Board-endorsed lockbox on each listed property. We’ve been having problems with the combo boxes in town so I am sure we will be discussing this.

NAR strengthened the rules about referral companies. If an agent in a referral company acts in a licensed capacity, the DR might be required to pay back dues. We’ll have to take  look at the final wording and get the message out.

The exhibit floor seemed to be much smaller. I looked for the Homes & Land magazine booth and they weren’t there this year. I always enjoy looking at the Palm Beach County Florida magazine because I recognize many of the properties so I missed them. There were three or four companies doing video syndication. This is a deal like ListHub that sends your listings to the various internet real estate sites only it sends video to YouTube and other places. I even saw a cookbook publishing firm and think it might be an idea worth exploring.

The absolute coolest thing I saw was Sentrilock. They are a Supra competitor (Also heard that GE just sold their security division – including Supra – but haven’t confirmed it.) Anyway, the new Sentrilock wireless box is very cool. You can buy a wireless gizmo that will turn on the lights and email you and your Seller’s when the box is opened.

More later.

CVG

We had a visitor at the Board offices today. Lee and Chris saved the day. It looked pretty darn close to this picture.

I ran.

CVG

It has come to my attention that there is a proposed Urban Hen Ordinance in Columbia that would allow city residents to keep chickens. The current rules call for one chicken per half-acre. The new ordinance being discussed would allow anywhere from four to fifteen or twenty chickens per city lot.  What will they think of next??? Unfortunately, it’s no laughing matter and should be taken seriously.  Currently the council is evenly divided regarding passage. The ordinance from Madison Wisconsin, which ours will be modeled after, is below. Although the one in Madison calls for up to four chickens, there is a large, vocal, passionate group in Columbia calling for 15-25 chickens. If you wish to read more about it, I googled “Columbia Missouri Urban Hen Ordinance”.

We sent a survey to both our members and the public Yahoo group. Although the results showed a few positive comments, most people overwhelmingly were opposed to keeping chickens and felt allowing them would devalue adjacent properties. More chickens means more decrease in property value.

I particularly liked one comment: “When people ride their bicycles down Broadway with a couple of chickens in baskets behind the seat, our fine city will look just like Saigon on the 1960’s.”

Charming thought.

CVG

City of Madison Municipal Code Regarding the Keeping of Chickens:

ž 28.03(2)8. An accessory building or use includes, but is not limited to, the following:

8. Keeping of chickens, as permitted and regulated in each district incorporated in this ordinance.

ž 28.08(2)(b)8.j. (R1 Single-Family Residence District) Keeping of up to four (4) chickens on a lot

with up to four dwelling units, provided that:

i. No person shall keep any rooster.

ii. No person shall slaughter any chickens.

iii. The chickens shall be provided with a covered enclosure and must be kept in the covered

enclosure or a fenced enclosure at all times.

iv. No enclosure shall be located closer than twenty-five (25) feet to any residential structure on

an adjacent lot.

v. The owner, operator, or tenant obtains a license under Sec. 9.52, MGO [see attached glossary].

vi. The applicant for a license notifies all residents within two hundred (200) feet of the lot.

vii. Not more than fifty percent (50%) of the residents notified in vi. above object within fourteen

(14) days of notification.

(Cr. by Ord. 13,605, 5-21-04; Am. by ORD-08-00108, 10-7-08)

ž 9.52 KEEPING OF CHICKENS.

Any person who keeps chickens in the City of Madison shall obtain an annual license prior to

January 1of each year, or within 30 days of acquiring the chickens. The license year commences

on January 1 and ends on the following December 31.

Application shall be made to the City Treasurer and the fee for the license shall be ten

dollars ($10.00).

The Treasurer or other authorized individual shall collect the fee and shall assess and

collect a late fee of five dollars ($5.00) from every owner of chickens, if the owner fails to obtain

a license prior to April 1 of each year, or fails to obtain a license within 30 days of acquiring the

chickens. All late fees received or collected shall be paid into the local Treasury.

(Cr. by Ord. 13,605, 5-21-04; ORD-06-00154, 11-23-06)