About Callaway County, MO

Our little village of the Kingdom of Callaway is one of about 80 in the state of Missouri who still have no planning and no zoning requirements outside city limits. "Ahhhh sweet freedom" you say? Hmmm.... actually such a subject brings folks out of the woodwork from two different uhhh 'mills'.

Today, with no planning and no zoning the property buyers who want to buy unrestricted land are happy clams.

Today, with no planning and no zoning the local, independent farmers, while enjoying the wind in their faces, are getting bugs in their teeth from a smile they just can't wipe off.

Both entities want no zoning. Both entities want no restrictions placed on the land. Both entities are on opposite ends of the tug-a-war rope!

It seems that the very things the incoming 'happy-no-zoning' buyers are wanting to do with this precious land are precisely what our deep-rooted farmers want to avoid!

Our community is in the midst of a growth explosion. (www.fultonmo.com - look it up!) We are situated in a prime geographic, econimic position. Poised.......Sorry.... almost morphed into REALTOR mode.... ok, back on track.... the city of Fulton had a meeting last evening to discuss an opportunity we have to review and possibly revise a statute of value. Age old statutes are still in place that allow plans to be made for us, not with us. Change is inevitable. Growth potential is gi-normous. WE GOTTA set a plan in place to control how we, where we, when we will to grow!

The charm of Fulton is the people of course, but it is also the land. The topography. The trees. The waterways. The pastures. The forests. The conservation areas, the naturally occuring wildlife. You see, the people of our communityARE who we are because of what surroundings we are nestled into.

We don't want to lose that. If we DON'T get involved in the planning and preparing we just might.

There is a crispness in the air.

Crisp.

Crispness.

Sounds a might better than "cold and blustery" as the weatherman's vocab permits. We REALLY need to work on his marketing skills!

Fulton, Missouri is crisp tonight. Subdivisions are aglow with Christmas lights, retailers are bustling with shoppers, snow is crunching under boot. The downtown district has cobblestone streets and shiney bright Christmas lights aligning the rooftops. There are Christmas displays in the windows and music filling the air from a place of audio mystery. The majestic historical buildings of downtown Fulton hold a plethora of stories, yes, if only the bricks could talk. (Thank God for small personified miracles!)

There are emotions present. Poised. Piercable.

In our office this very day the emotions swept the gamut. At 8 0'clock it was exhilaration from anticipation of a new, unprecedented low interest rate, at 9 o'clock there was angst leftover from a dysfunctional alarm clock, at 11 o'clock there was melodious song wafting from the closet sized office bathroom, at 2 o'clock there were tears of recollection and remorse from Christmases past, at 4 o'clock there was laughter and choking on chocolate, at 5 o'clock there was trepidation of gifts unobtainable this year.... emotions present and poised, pierced.

Quite likely life does not seem different here from other places. At least from a bird's eye view. But in the nitty gritty of it, in the daily 'grind', in the ins and outs, in the hurly-burly, in the dribs and drabs .... ok... you get the idea.... overall.. it is very different here than there.

Here there is growth. Here there is hope. There are local people continuously injecting time and treasure into our community to help it thrive. We are gaining ground, we are keeping a steady economic heartbeat. Our property values are strong. Our developers and contractors have values and ethics (an occassional cat-call from a jobsite never hurt anybody - yes, I know who you are...), our neighborhoods are safe, our downtown has variety, we have jobs. We have B & B's, we have hotels, restaurants, bowling, cinemas. Ameren UE provides us with bountiful tax dollars which helps us keep the quality in our schools. We have two liberal arts colleges. We have a Wal-Mart! We have homes in subdivisions where we don't have to share ownership of miniblinds between our houses and a sneeze gets a "God Bless You" when it occurs in the same house in which you are present!

This is Fulton, Missouri. This is the Kingdom of Callaway. This is the county seat of Callaway County. This is the namesake for Kings Row. This is the podium of Sir Winston Churchill and the Former British Prime Ministers Margaret Thatcher and Edward Heath. For goodness sake Fulton has been graced by the former Premier of the Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbachev.

We. Are. Blessed. Fulton is an endearing place to be from. It is an enchanting place to visit. It is an entrancing place to relocate to.

Segway.....

Call me! Mikki Starmer, RE/MAX Fulton 573-220-3093

In case you're curious about the Residential Housing Market in Fulton I have put together some numbers that may suprise most of you. (I used 01/01/2008-10/29/2008 as my timeline.)

• Currently there are 153 homes listed in Fulton ranging in price from $23,500 to $1,300,000.
• The average list price is around $107,000 to $115,000.
• To date 142 homes have sold this year, which evens out to be about 14.2 homes selling per day!
• The average Sale Price has been around $96,606.
• Making the List Price to Sale Price ratio in the 84% to 90% range. Not the most appealing cushion, but Sellers are learning to take what they can get, as this is a true buyers market.
• The average Days on Market is 140, which is about 4.6 months.
• Interestingly enough there have been no sales over $391,000 in Fulton yet this year.

I have faith that this market will turn around, just you wait and see! But if you're casually out looking at properties, don't wait to buy! This is the time to buy investments or even save big on your first home! Buyers-come off the fence!!! I repeat, come off the fence! Oh yeah & if you need a GREAT Buyer's Agent, give me a call!