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COLUMBIA PUBLIC SCHOOL CALENDAR
COLUMBIA AREA EVENTS CALENDAR • University Concert Series presents Young Frankenstein
Jesse Hall • 573-882-3781 January 18th, 2012 University of Missouri campus
• Univeristy Concert Series: STOMP Jesse Hall • 573-882-3781 January 24th and 25th, 2012 University of Missouri Campus
• University Concert Series presents Phantom of the Opera
Jesse Hall • 573-882-3781 February 11th, 2012 University of Missouri campus
• University Concert Series presents Cirque Dreams: Pop Goes Rock
Jesse Hall • 573-882-3781 March 17th and 18th, 2012 University of Missouri Concert Series
The Housing Market at Home The housing market is hurting nationally, but it appears to be marching toward recovery in a handful of mostly rural states. Rural or Midwestern states like Missouri, have economies dependent on more Susan Horak Realtor, CRS, stable economic factors like energy, GRI, ABR industrial production or agriculture. Missouri’s home prices, in general, didn’t rise as much as other states in the boom years, so they’ve fared better in the wake of the crash. So it’s no secret that Columbia and Boone County have weathered the recession better than other parts of the country. Stable employment bases in education, health care, and insurance anchor Columbia. Missouri, and the Midwest in general, has been spared the worst of a downturn that saw unemployment shoot up and growth slow to a crawl. Despite high unemployment rates nationally, consumers appear to be in better financial positions to settle their debt. This leads to far lower default rates than we saw during the recession. “While still above their 2004-2006 rates, mortgage default rates are well below their crisis highs, a good sign for the housing market,” says Maureen Maitland, Vice President of S&P Indices. The FDIC’s measure of employment at the end of the first quarter of 2011 showed that Boone County retained its place as the Missouri Continued on page 5
county with the lowest unemployment rate. With its unemployment of 6.4% at the end of March, the lowest among the state’s 114 counties, Columbia’s housing market is better able recover than most. “Housing is a mess all over the place, but it’s less of a mess in some places,” says Jim Diffley, regional housing economist for HIS Global Insight Despite the nation’s economic downturn, owning a home is still an American dream. According to the 2011 National Housing Pulse Survey by the National Association of Realtors (NAR), 72% of renters surveyed said that owning a home was a top priority for their future, as compared to only 63% in 2010.
Tips for selling your home in today’s market
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PR ICE AG GRESSIVELY You need to ask for at least 1% less than competing homes. - USA TODAY
STAGE LIKE A PRO Little things like painting, depersonalizing the house so buyers can envision themselves living there, getting rid of clutter and rearranging rooms to highlight the best features are essential.
GO ALL-OUT ONLINE
90% of buyers are starting their search online, according to the National Association of Realtors.
BE FLEXIBLE WITH BUYERS
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“The single biggest change in the real estate market since the Great Recession is tighter financing, according to John Vogel Jr., real estate professor at Dartmouth’s Tuck School of Business.” A sellers understanding and willingness to compromise to make the sale work can make all the diffrence. -USA TODAY
Curb Apeal
Just like staging the inside, planting flowers, power washing the siding and parking the car in the garage instead of the driveway can make a the right first impression.