Owner Profile: Bob Schumann

OUR COMMUNITY

by: Dustin Heron Urban bobschumann

If you have been through South Main recently, you may have noticed that some of the first stone walls are going up in style. Beautiful sandstone blocks are making their way up the sides of the building at 912 South Main Street, bringing a new kind of class and character to the neighborhood. Ultimately this building will be home to Bob and Jana Schumann, three of their four children, their grandchild and Bob’s business, Cambridge Financial Advisors, LLC.

Bob Schumann and his family moved to BV from Columbus, Ohio after purchasing a lot in South Main in the summer of 2005. Schumann, who began his fee-only financial advising business in 1999 after retiring from the public ministry, brought his considerable financial expertise to bear on the decision to buy in South Main. “Quality of life has a price,” he told me. He considers amenities like Buena Vista’s good small town schools, friendly neighborhoods, the fact that his children and grandchildren can walk to school and easy access to mountain recreation to have considerable value.

Schumann says that when venture capital or private equity firms make an investment decision, they consider two main factors: the idea or product and the people behind it. After learning about South Main, researching the success of places like Seaside, Florida (the country’s first and probably its most well-known New Urbanist project), reading Suburban Nation (considered by many to be the bible of New Urbanism) cover to cover, studying long term demographic trends and realizing that Buena Vista is a unique and relatively undiscovered mountain town, Bob was sold on the idea.

Then he came to know the people behind the idea, in particular South Main co-founder Jed Selby. “I believed in Jed. I could tell that he was intellectually mature. He already had a vision for how he wanted to make a difference in the world. _MG_1079

There are people who go their whole lives without that kind of vision. For a lot of developers, just making money is the vision.” With confidence in both the idea of South Main and the people behind it, Bob bought into South Main. As someone who uses probability mathematics to evaluate investment opportunities, Schumann told me “I’m 90 percent sure that South Main is going to be a very good investment long term.”

His confidence derives from several factors. First, when he purchased his lot in 2005, Schumann “suspected that commodity prices [like that of oil] would go up as they have.” Given his correct suspicion that transportation costs were on the rise, investing in a walkable neighborhood where he could live and work in the same building made good sense.  Well-planned and executed New Urbanist projects have a history of appreciating in value and he believes that trend will only accelerate.

A second reason Schumann is so confident in his investment is the unusual amount of money that developers Jed Selby and Katie Urban are investing in the public areas and the river park.  He believes every dollar that the developers put into these areas increases the value of his property.

A third reason is Jed and Katie’s vision of South Main and Buena Vista as a “destination place” for the fast-growing recreational river sports.  History shows that recreational destination places develop their own driver of value.

A fourth reason for Schumann’s confidence has to do with basic economics and the law of supply and demand. “Limited supply and growing demand gave me confidence” Schumann said. Unlike capital markets where millions of identical shares of stocks and bonds trade daily and prices reflect new information instantly, real estate, according to Schumann, is a relatively “inefficient” market. No two properties are exactly the same and uniqueness is a primary driver of value.  Compared to America’s glut of unremarkable, cookie-cutter sprawl housing (which is contributing to our current financial crisis) South Main is a truly unique development.  Bob believes that the unusual combination of good schools, low crime, the Arkansas River, 14,000-foot mountains, moderate climate, thousands of acres of National Forest and public lands as a back yard, and the proximity of two major urban centers means there is and always will be a very limited supply of developments like South Main. The neighborhood’s high quality design and architectural standards only increase the unique characteristics of South Main as a real estate investment. Schumann believes there may be no other development like it in the world, which makes him confident that prices within the neighborhood will only appreciate. “Plus,” he says, “The entire development is only 315 units on 200 lots. With every sale, the very limited supply becomes even smaller and prices are almost sure to appreciate as market awareness grows.”

All of these factors and more led Schumann to believe that buying in South Main at such an early stage may amount not just to a good investment but a great one, that will eventually become a very valuable asset 20 years down the road.

In the meantime, Bob can be seen jogging in and around South Main at first light, even on the coldest days. He looks forward to the day when he and his family can move out of their small Buena Vista apartment and into their new home. Bob’s financial planning and investment advisory business is doing well as people leave their brokers, whose income is based on commissions, and move to fee-only, professional advisors like Schumann and his colleagues at Cambridge Financial Advisors. The firm provides comprehensive financial services including tax planning and preparation, financial planning, cash flow management, estate planning, investment counseling and wealth management.

In addition to being able to read and translate 11 different languages, Schumann holds three Master’s degrees and has a slew of finance and business certifications to his name. We are happy to call the Schumanns our neighbors!

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