buying a home: What’s an Acre, and Can I Get one in Columbus?
- 07/10/07 08:20 AM
July 10th, 2007 categories: Real Estate News, Columbus News An acre is defined by 43,560 square feet. That’s one of those things you pick up in Realtor school if you didn’t know it. (and why would you, really?) It’s also about 4,840 square yards. This is what it looks like in Football Field terms since so many people understand and speak that language. For bigger parcels, my measuring stick is the deaf school topiary park in downtown Columbus. It’s 10 acres and I have a solid feel for what that means. My house lot, in Olde Towne East, is about 50 … (1 comments)
buying a home: When to make an offer - Pulling the Trigger on the purchase offer
- 07/10/07 08:16 AM
July 6th, 2007 categories: Real Estate News, For Home Buyers When it comes to making an offer on the home you like, it’s just not worth it to wait. You can come up with a thousand different reasons in your mind about why it’s a good idea to: wait and see what else comes on the market (in the meantime, someone else will buy your house) think it over some more (after you’ve already mulled it over for days) make a low-ball offer, just to see what happens (what’ll happen is someone else will make a better offer based on … (1 comments)
buying a home: COTA’s Smart Communte Program Helps Columbus Home Buyers
- 07/10/07 08:12 AM
June 29th, 2007 categories: Real Estate News, For Home Buyers, For Home Sellers, Mortgage/Finance Those looking to purchase Columbus Real Estate within 1/4 mile of a bus stop (and, let’s face it, probably darn near half of Columbus Real Estate within I-270 is within 1/4 mile of COTA Bus stop) can receive: • Down payment assistance• Property tax incentives in specified Columbus neighborhoods• Special financing for specified new homes Oh, and free Bus Passes For A Year! The idea is that you can save on commuting expenses and have more disposable income to pay your housing expenses. Sounds good on paper, … (0 comments)
buying a home: Clintonville Market Update — June so far
- 07/10/07 08:06 AM
June 22nd, 2007 categories: Market Updates, Clintonville There’s been a lot of talk about how dead the market is all over town and, for the most part, things are relatively stagnant on many fronts. Things are a clickin’ in Clintonville though: 64 properties in contract contingent on something averaging about $141.40/sq ft and 1492 sq ft, 82 days on market and $210,000 20 Properties firmly in contract and pending a sale averaging about $128.98/sq ft and 1505 sq ft, 101 days on market and $194,110 31 Properties sold so far this month averaging about $138.72/sq ft and 1401 sq ft, and … (0 comments)
buying a home: “Gourmet Kitchen!” — uhm, really, do you think so??
- 06/26/07 07:40 AM
June 21st, 2007 categories: Real Estate News, For Home Buyers, For Home Sellers The term “Gourmet Kitchen” is dead. I’m making the pronouncement right now, Time of Death: 12:37 PM Thursday June 21, 2007. (Happy Summer!) I remember the days when it used to mean something to have a gourmet kitchen. Now, every Tom, Dick and Harry has a gourmet kitchen to go along with their shag and dark wood paneling. A quick search of the Columbus MLS active listings shows that it’d take us almost two straight months of looking at 8 gourmet kitchens a day to see all of … (6 comments)
buying a home: Clintonville Market Update — June so far
- 06/26/07 07:37 AM
June 22nd, 2007 categories: Market Updates, Clintonville There’s been a lot of talk about how dead the market is all over town and, for the most part, things are relatively stagnant on many fronts. Things are a clickin’ in Clintonville though: 64 properties in contract contingent on something averaging about $141.40/sq ft and 1492 sq ft, 82 days on market and $210,000 20 Properties firmly in contract and pending a sale averaging about $128.98/sq ft and 1505 sq ft, 101 days on market and $194,110 31 Properties sold so far this month averaging about $138.72/sq ft and 1401 sq ft, and … (0 comments)
buying a home: Obsessed with finding that unusual building you could turn into a ________?
- 06/07/07 02:55 AM
June 6th, 2007 categories: Real Estate News, For Home Buyers I relish the opportunity to help buyers find that oddball property. Something not quite a house that can be a home or a work solution or both. How about a commercial building on Spring Street downtown? 5000 square feet, 12 foot ceilings, service elevator, loading dock and 10 parking spaces for only $550ish. It took little time for that to go into contract. Better yet, why not a beautiful old church in a prime location? How about a 2 story, 4000 square foot church just off high street for only $290,000. I know, … (1 comments)
buying a home: Hey Buyers! Let's talk about Showings - How many are too many?
- 05/21/07 07:26 AM
Are 25 showings too many? How about 45? Is it unrealistic to think that buyers should find the right home after seeing a dozen homes? There is no right answer since buyers, like snowflakes, are never the same. While I'm at it, you can't step into the same market twice. What the heck does that mean? Let's talk about the ideal buying situation. Ideally, you have already: Been regularly visiting the web site I set up for you with all the active listings in your range, meeting your criteria and updated constantly from the Columbus MLS. Established your short list of "must haves", probably already … (2 comments)
buying a home: The two main tracks that run through Columbus how active are they?
- 05/17/07 08:44 AM
If you know, tell me because oddly enough, I have two different buyers involved with homes whose property lines end at rail road easements with an active track. Both are nice homes, both share the same track, the one that rides North and South on the West side of town (as opposed to the East track that runs close to Indainola). The buyer not yet in contract is trying to find out how many trains go by each day. The vastly different responses she has received is a testament to how people in similar homes quickly lose track and don't notice the … (0 comments)
buying a home: Throw Away Your Furniture
- 04/23/07 03:57 AM
Or at least pretend you threw it away while you're looking for your next home. Your current furniture simply can't be a deciding factor in the search for your new home. Your family room furniture is modern so you can't look at a traditional home? If you keep this mindset, you miss out on much of the active market and, quite possibly, a home you'd really like.Disregard the size of your bedroom furniture or at least think about it in a different way-maybe you won't miss the 2nd night stand or you can put the armoire in the family room now that … (6 comments)
buying a home: Is your purchase offer information confidential?
- 04/19/07 08:00 AM
On my "Real" blog, I'm switching formats and going to a WordPress platform and getting away from my more website-like blog. It's a slow process but while I'm switching I thought I'd post some of my archived postings from months and years past that may be helpful or at least information. This is one of those posts . . . . Is your purchase offer information confidential? Well, yes and no.If you are a buyer who, through your Realtor representing you and only you exclusively, makes an offer on a property, do you have the expectation of confidentiality regarding that offer's contents? --From your … (0 comments)
buying a home: You can stick a first floor half bath almost anywhere
- 04/19/07 07:56 AM
On my "Real" blog, I'm switching formats and going to a WordPress platform and getting away from my more website-like blog. It's a slow process but while I'm switching I thought I'd post some of my archived postings from months and years past that may be helpful or at least information. This is one of those posts . . . . I find myself telling buyer clients, usually without their asking me, that maybe they could put a 1/2 bath here or there when we are looking at a home they really like that only has one bathroom. In the Older Columbus Neighborhoods … (3 comments)
buying a home: Knob and Tube wiring can be an insurance problem
- 04/19/07 07:46 AM
On my "Real" blog, I'm switching formats and going to a WordPress platform and getting away from my more website-like blog. It's a slow process but while I'm switching I thought I'd post some of my archived postings from months and years past that may be helpful or at least information. This is one of those posts . . . . You see it everywhere in the older parts of Columbus. I'm not just talking about Olde Towne East or German Village, but Bexley, Grandview, Old Arlington and Clintonville areas too. Not so much in the suburbs like Westerville or Gahanna since the … (3 comments)
buying a home: The ever elusive three bedroom condo
- 04/19/07 07:41 AM
On my "Real" blog, I'm switching formats and going to a WordPress platform and getting away from my more website-like blog. It's a slow process but while I'm switching I thought I'd post some of my archived postings from months and years past that may be helpful or at least information. This is one of those posts . . . . Looking for a three bedroom condo in Columbus, Ohio? It's not an easy task.For mostly apparent reasons, the three bedroom condo is about as elusive as the end of the rainbow. For all the hoopla surrounding the downtown condo market, it's all … (0 comments)
buying a home: No Kitchen Sink? No Mortgage for you!
- 04/19/07 07:38 AM
On my "Real" blog, I'm switching formats and going to a WordPress platform and getting away from my more website-like blog. It's a slow process but while I'm switching I thought I'd post some of my archived postings from months and years past that may be helpful or at least information. This is one of those posts . . . . In case you've been eyeing that fixer upper that is only half rehabbed and you're considering going in after you buy it and finishing the job, you should know that most lenders will not loan on a house without a kitchen. Even … (4 comments)
buying a home: The truth about Open Houses
- 04/19/07 07:32 AM
On my "Real" blog, I'm switching formats and going to a WordPress platform and getting away from my more website-like blog. It's a slow process but while I'm switching I thought I'd post some of my archived postings from months and years past that may be helpful or at least information. This is one of those posts . . . . I think the Greater Columbus Real Estate Market is ripe to take off. Today I had an Open House though and not one person stopped by. It's a dirty secret, but this happens quite a bit.It was advertised all over the place but … (0 comments)
buying a home: Buyer Hesitation - Don't do it -- No matter the market!
- 04/19/07 07:29 AM
On my "Real" blog, I'm switching formats and going to a WordPress platform and getting away from my more website-like blog. It's a slow process but while I'm switching I thought I'd post some of my archived postings from months and years past that may be helpful or at least information. This is one of those posts . . . . I've been busy with buyers over the last month and all of the sudden things are starting to pop for Realtors all over Columbus.I wanted to say a few words about buyer hesitation. Don't do it.This is an especially tough concept to … (0 comments)
buying a home: Buying a Home in a new Subdivision
- 04/19/07 07:21 AM
Lots of buyers in the Columbus Area like new homes. God knows there are enough builders out there all chasing new home buyers.The caveat though, is that buyers don't always like new home subdivisions.If I had a dollar for every time I heard someone say something like, "We want a newer home but we don't want a neighborhood where the houses all look the same and there are no trees to speak of." And then there is always the question of quality. Buyers want a quality home and, as with everything else, I usually tell them you get what you pay … (0 comments)
buying a home: What's up with HUD Homes?
- 04/19/07 07:17 AM
On my "Real" blog, I'm switching formats and going to a WordPress platform and getting away from my more website-like blog. It's a slow process but while I'm switching I thought I'd post some of my archived postings from months and years past that may be helpful or at least information. This is one of those posts . . . . I'm helping a young guy buy his first house. More than neighborhood, more than schools, more than house style, he wants value. I can't blame him. A low/affordable mortgage payment and the security of knowing you've got instant equity are two of … (0 comments)
July 10th, 2007 categories: Real Estate News, Columbus News
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