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Century 21 Smith & Associates

Century 21 Real Estate, which is owned by Cendant Corporation, originally began in Orange County, California. The home office is currently in New Jersey. Troy Smith, of Century 21 Smith and Associates in Trenton, has been in the real estate business for 10 years. Most of the Century 21 offices are owned as franchises, such as the ones that Smith owns in both Trenton and Lawson.

Smith currently has a total of 32 agents, including those located in the Lawson office. In addition to Smith, sales associates in the Trenton office are: Wayne King, Jerry Hudson, Barbara Crow, Chuck Veatch, Greg Freeman, Jerry Stephens, Kayla Wire, Matt Covey, Jim Binney, Joe Bethards, Kent Johnson, Nathan King, and Jeremy King.

The Lawson location was selected due to its close proximity to Kansas City, but Smith really likes the small town and rural environment of the Trenton area. The real estate business gives Smith an opportunity to meet lots of different people from various areas.

There have been many changes in the real estate industry during the past 10 years. In the mid 90s, most real estate transactions involved a local bank, while today, many transactions involved mortgage companies.

In addition to changes in the industry overall, there have been many changes in the clients and their process of shopping for real estate. Many prospective buyers, approximately 80%, are shopping on the internet before they come to Trenton. In addition there are many relocations and upgrades taking place. Leads come in from all over the United States. Multiple Listing Service (MLS) makes shopping easy. With this web based service, one can conduct a search with their specific criteria such as price, style, number of bedrooms, etc. By simply filling in a few choices, all of the homes listed meeting that criteria appear on the screen. Many of them include virtual tours in which one can literally “walk” through the house noting the color of kitchen walls, bedroom size, carpet coloring, and general condition. Exterior photos are available as well.

Currently, there is much demand for homes in the $90,000 to $135,000 range. Century 21 currently has a wide variety of listings comprised of roughly 60% houses, 10% commercial, and 30% farms.

Smith is also licensed in the state of Kansas. This dual licensing makes selling on both sides of the line in KC metropolitan possible.

Agricultural clients have also changed a bit throughout the years. The most common ag shopper is one who is doing a 1031 exchange. In addition, many Amish families are shopping for land in the area.

Farm land is selling well in the area. Smith estimates that rolling ground is selling in the $1200-$1400 range, while good bottom ground fetches $2500. Most listings for prime farm land are around $3000/acre.

Century 21 in Lawson and Trenton handle many repossession transactions. They offer property management in which they clean the property up, list it, and then find a buyer.

Interested real estate shoppers can check out the firm on the internet by going to www.missourifarms.com

Pictured Above:
L to R Front Row: Greg Freeman, Kayla Wire
Back Row: Chuck Veatch, Barbara Crow, Wayne King, Troy Smith, and Jerry Hudson