columbus ohio: 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)
columbus ohio: 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)
columbus ohio: “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)
columbus ohio: SKYBUS takes off - What'll it mean for Columbus Home Markets?
- 05/22/07 07:29 AM
Skybus Airline's first passenger flight took off from Port Columbus today. The fleet of 8 jets (with 65 on order) will service 9 cities. Today's first flight was en route to Burbank California. Therein lies the catch. It's not exactly direct to Los Angeles, but hey, it's close. It's close to Boston and Seattle too. With cheap seats available on each and every flight -- ordered only through their website--Skybus is looking to out-Southwest Southwest Airlines in the fast casual of the friendly skies. Who cares if preferred boarding costs $10 extra or sodas set you back a few dollars? $10 airline … (0 comments)
columbus ohio: 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)
columbus ohio: 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)
columbus ohio: Absorption Rate OR How long will my house be on the market?
- 05/14/07 03:18 AM
NOTE--this post appeared a year ago on my other blog and I'm just putting it here for sellers to understand the market better. I will revisit absorption rate and update theses numbers this week. It'll be an interesting comparison. I know Midtown Columbus, for example, has considerably more homes on the market now than last year at this time. Although many sellers expect Realtors to carry around a crystal ball and peek into it when setting prices and setting expectations for the sales process, the truth is we can only rely on what the market tells us, experience and knowledge.One tool sellers … (0 comments)
columbus ohio: Ride a Bike to Your Favorite Downtown Columbus Summer Festival
- 04/23/07 07:33 AM
Mayor Mike is up to his old green ways again while he promotes his GREEN campaign by promoting the bicycle-friendliness of Columbus' major festivals. Did you know that Columbus has 58 miles of fitness and bike trails (though for the life of me, I can't find an online map detailing them). The bike corral idea seemed to work well at Goodale Park for Earth Day over the weekend and we're also talking about the Columbus Arts Festival on June 7-10 on the downtown riverfront; the Rose Festival on June 9 and 10 at the Whetstone Park of Roses; Festival Latino on June 15 and … (2 comments)
columbus ohio: 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)
columbus ohio: 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)
columbus ohio: 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)
columbus ohio: 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)
columbus ohio: Franklinton Condo Project to finally happen?
- 04/16/07 09:09 AM
It seems a long, long time ago that we first heard about it, but City officials announced a $23 million plan last Friday to turn two former industrial sites and a vacant lot in Franklinton into condominiums, apartments and artists' studios. Mayor Coleman said the privately funded development will transform the long-troubled area west of Downtown into "the comeback neighborhood" of Columbus. Isn't that nice? Just like that, Franklinton becomes the "comeback neighborhood" of Columbus. I thought the Mayor's office was comitted to Bronzeville becoming the comeback neighborhood. Wait, maybe that was the southside via Parsons avenue. No, no, Weinland Park is … (0 comments)
columbus ohio: Monday Moring Rant -- Gators Go Home
- 04/02/07 05:37 AM
Columbus Ohio is all about The Ohio State University. This city eats and sleeps all things Buckeye Nation. It's really an unbelievable accomplishment to make it to both the NCAA Division I football AND basketball championship games in the same year. And then, to play the same team in two different sports? Incredible. Go Bucks! Let's hope tonight's outcome is far different than the BCS championship and far different than the last time these two basketball teams met in December--one of only three losses incurred by the Buckeye's mens team. … (0 comments)
columbus ohio: Monday Morning Rant - The Kitchen Trash Can
- 03/27/07 03:44 AM
I don't know about your house, but my family generates a lot of trash - most of it in the kitchen. Sure, we recycle with the best of them-cans, glass, paper. It doesn't matter, the trash keeps coming and coming. We live in the city and we have a decent sized kitchen but it's not huge and we don't have a big cabinet to hide our trash can in. So it sits out in a strategically located yet accessible location. It has to look good, so it has to be stainless. The only thing you can find at the stores are … (5 comments)
columbus ohio: 2007 February Columbus area Home Sales - Rosy outlook or mixed bag?
- 03/21/07 05:44 AM
Columbus and Central Ohio Home Sales were up last month, compared to 2006. Depending on how you look at it, that's good news. Central Ohio home sales were up almost eight percent in February from a year ago. The 1,549 sales were 7.9 percent higher than the 1,436 homes sold in February of 2006 according to the Columbus Board of REALTORS®. “Despite many doom and gloom housing forecasts for 2007, our first two months have been even better than last year,” says Brad Bennett, President of the Columbus Board of REALTORS®. “Year to date, home sales are 13.2 percent higher than last year. … (0 comments)
columbus ohio: Help buyers get a more concrete idea of the neighborhood with Microsoft Virtual Earth
- 03/20/07 07:28 AM
Everyone seems to be familiar with Google Earth. It is very cool to zoom in on your house from space, after all. Have you ever tried mapping with Microsoft Virtual Earth? It is very neat. I've had buyers tell me it really helps give them an idea of where the new house is -- especially out of town buyers. Go there, type in your address and see your home from about 750 or so feet up, just like Google Maps. But then you can change the view. Look at the same home looking toward the East, South, North or West. This makes … (1 comments)
columbus ohio: Always be Prepared (for something to go wrong) (at the last minute)
- 03/15/07 07:04 AM
Ahhh, the Ides of March. An old, blind soothsayer once told me to beware the Ides of March and today I was figuratively stabbed in the back. We were to close today on a lovely Columbus home I have listed. The seller had her car all packed, her niece was here from Denver to help her, and they were to set off on a cross country drive right after the closing. All the arrangements were made. The buyers had their final walk through a couple days ago and even sat down with the seller and discussed the history of the home … (0 comments)
July 10th, 2007 categories: Real Estate News, Columbus News
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