Mizzou Tiger football gaining respect.

Those of us who have been faithful MU Tiger football fans through the ups and downs are proudly gloating our win last Saturday over the Jayhawks of KU. Not only did we beat our arch nemesis, but we did so on network television in prime time sacking KU's quarterback on the last play...he took turf. Now on to play for the Big 12 Championship this Saturday in San Antonio. They're not calling it a Cinderella story because Mizzou was supposed to be a good team this year. We have the coaching staff, we have great players; even a Heismann nominee quarterback. Two polls say that we are the number one football team in the country, but the national media has stated hundreds of times in the past few days they don't think we deserve to be ranked number one. In spite of being ranked number one in two polls Las Vegas odds makers still have us losing to Oklahoma on Saturday by 3 points. We get no respect. Was Rodney Dangerfield from Missouri?


They just aren't giving us our due because Columbia, Missouri home of the MU Tigers lies in the middle of a state that has very little national notoriety. Yes, we were the home state of "Give 'em Hell" Harry Truman but that was a while ago. As a Missouri native I've traveled elsewhere in the country and had people ask me if Missouri is the state by Idaho, no kidding. Another person thought it was the most northeasterly state. These are of course Montana and Maine respectively just in case you are one of those folks. Neither of those states have that much notoriety either so therein lies the problem. What can we do to get respect? Win Saturday against Oklahoma for the Big 12 Championship and then win on January 7th against whatever opponent comes our way.

How does this pertain to real estate in Columbia, Missouri? A win this Saturday and a win on January 7th will put our state and our town on the map. The network TV win over Kansas has already increased student inquiries into coming to MU. Who knows what a national football championship might do. Those of us who live here know that Columbia is a great place to live and MU a great place to go to school or work. Maybe now everyone else will and we'll get the respect we deserve.

Graceland

Last month I took a trip to Memphis with my mother and 10 year old daughter. It was really more of a pilgrimage to Graceland. My mother has been an Elvis fan since he first put on those blue suede shoes but she had never visited. I don't know who had the most fun of the three of us. There is just something about Elvis Presley that is mesmerizing and somehow timeless.
Graceland is one of the most famous pieces of real estate in the world. I realized this when I was the only American in the hotel lobby one morning. I heard conversations in about 5 different languages. There are of course the famous gates that are synonymous with Elvis. While quite beautiful, the stone house isn't particularly palatial by today's standards. The land on which it sits is of rolling topography and has big beautiful trees. It's now a beautiful piece of residential property surrounded by commercial property. It is happening everywhere, even to Elvis.
The house hasn't been updated since Elvis passed. This is one of the few instances where not updating a property actually increases its value. Elvis purchased Graceland for $150,000 in 1957, a sizeable chunk of change then. Considering what Elvis paid for Graceland when he purchased it the property it is now "priceless" because Elvis lived and died there. Oh, and it would be considered a stigmitized property in the real estate business.

What better time than the present to start a new endeavor? After some careful research (reading other Real Estate bogs throughout the country) and introspection (convincing myself that what I have to say should be out there in cyberspace) I've decided to begin a Real Estate blog. For those who know me...family, friends and past or present clients you know that I can't pass up the opportunity to be funny so I do hope you'll laugh with me. The purpose of this blog is to impart some of my wisdom and experience about Real Estate and about life to those who are interested. Hopefully we can have a laugh or two together as well. Please read my bio for additional information about me. I'll also include links to various sites that may be of interest.
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