Columbus Ohio real estate

The question "Where do we disclose the snakes?"  could just as well be where do we disclose the

bedbugs?

skunks?

bats in our belfry?

Where do we disclose the ...?

The question is where do you disclose the presence of a pest or the treatment / removal of the presence of a pest to prospective buyers of your Ohio home?  Answer below... I want to share this video with you first.  Scared of snakes?  I am.

I am sure the snake story that is hot now is the same snake house that was in the news back in 2006...  Here's a link about the Idaho snake house a discussion with other real estate agents mostly in the Mid-west, Great Lakes States back in 2006.

2011 hot video on the Internet along with the story that the house is on the market again 

It's got to be the same house.  There could NOT be more than one snake house could there?  The home is on the market, bank owned and the price has been slashed to $109,900 according to Internet scuttlebutt.  The appraised value without snakes is much higher... the last owners did NOT know about the snakes before they bought?

Where do we disclose the...?

Aren't you glad you live in Ohio?  Aren't you glad your home is not built on a "snake den or hibernaculum" 

As a seller of residential property in Ohio, the Residential Property Disclosure is typically where you disclose snakes, bedbugs, skunks to the buyer of your home.  You would be disclosing roof leaks, roof repairs, water in the basement....  The Residential Property Disclosure form is also where you would want to disclose the presence of pests.

Even if your home's been featured on Youtube... you'd need to disclose to buyers of your home...for your protection in the future.

Central Ohio

Central Ohio bed bugs... recommendations to REALTORS®

bed bug contingency....

Central Ohio WHO inspects for bed bugs

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This post provided by Maureen McCabe of Real Living HER

Contact 614.388.8249

Website: MaureenMcCabe.com

Search Columbus mls online

email: MaureenatMaureenMcCabe.com   @

Information is deemed to be accurate but should be verified to your satisfaction.  Information provided herein is supplied by several sources and is subject to change without notice.  Opinions expressed are solely those of Maureen McCabe.

Non Member comments occasionally closed due to heavy spam! 

 

Furnace Friday - heat loss

I can't believe it is Friday again already, and late on a Friday at that.  I try to Re-Blog something about Furnaces every Friday.  This post is not strictly furnaces in fact Reuben has one photo of a radiator and that radiator is working well. I never see  radiators in Central Ohio. 

This post is about heat loss and insulation though... and that heat is coming from your furnace.  Reuben says of another infrared scan "Uninsulated ductwork in an attic is also a problem; the heat loss is quite obvious with an infrared camera."  

The infrared scans remind me of tie dye.   Who does Infrared Scans in Central Ohio?

David Tamny of Professional Property Inspection 

Rick Harrington of Patch Home Inspections

Happy Furnace Friday... buy a furnace filter this week.  Friday February 4th is "Furnace Filter Friday" as is the first Friday of every month.

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This post provided by Maureen McCabe of Real Living HER

Contact 614.388.8249

Website: MaureenMcCabe.com

Search Columbus mls online

email: MaureenatMaureenMcCabe.com   @

Information is deemed to be accurate but should be verified to your satisfaction.  Information provided herein is supplied by several sources and is subject to change without notice.  Opinions expressed are solely those of Maureen McCabe.

Non Member comments occasionally closed due to heavy spam! 

 

Real Living HER Open House List - Sunday,  January 30, 2011 brought to you by Maureen McCabe

320 Pittsfield Dr. Worthington Ohio 43085

Open 2 to 4 Sunday January 30, 2011

Visit this 3 bedroom, 2 bath ranch in Wilson Hill neighborhood during the open house, wonderful walkable Worthington.

Across the street from the park.

Other open houses January 30, 2011:

 Real Living HER Open House List *

on my website.  Right now for me that link shows 40 Open Houses.. that 40 open houses DOES not include the open house I am holding open Sunday... 

I am trying to get help to get that open house on the list. 

320 Pittsfield Dr. Worthington Ohio 43085 is not my listing.  I can not add the listing as an open house, we could on the "old"  Real Living HER open house list.  We could get help from our office staff in adding open houses...  to the "old" Real Living HER Open House List... the best place to find open houses in Central Ohio. 

The number of Open Houses will grow the closer we get to Sunday Afternoon! 

The open house list grew this morning:

41 of 41 properties displayed

oooh I saved the search as an Real Living in Ohio Open House List... not that I care about open houses in Dayton, Cinci other Ohio markets. 

50 + on the Real Living Ohio Open House List! 

Unfortunately the map that comes up within the next hour  is part of Dublin and it is not open houses.  Nothing I have searched for. 

The new and improved Real Living HER Open House List will be so cool once it works ;- )  or once we know how to work it. 

This is a test.   This is only a test.

Property Search on Maureen McCabe Real Living HER

* If the Real Living HER Open House List does not show you open houses.  Or if the search  shows you houses in California, Kansas, Missouri, Illinois or anyplace but Central Ohio you will need to put in "Open Houses Only" and the date you are looking for Central Ohio Open Houses on the property search!  (see the gold star in the sample search above and to the right here? )

The image at the top is a Real Living Open House ecard.  The other snippets are from my Real Living website.

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This post provided by Maureen McCabe of Real Living HER

Contact 614.388.8249

Website: MaureenMcCabe.com

Search Columbus mls online

email: MaureenatMaureenMcCabe.com   @

Information is deemed to be accurate but should be verified to your satisfaction.  Information provided herein is supplied by several sources and is subject to change without notice.  Opinions expressed are solely those of Maureen McCabe.

Non Member comments occasionally closed due to heavy spam! 

 

How accurate is Columbus real estate online?

You as a buyer or seller or just someone interested in local real estate have access to a lot of information online about homes for sale:

Zillow.com

Trulia.com

Realtor.com

Above are the big three... Realtor.com is the biggest of the three, most traffic, but Realtor.com has a lot more listings than the other two.  There's lots of little places where the information about "Columbus homes for sale" is syndicated.  Some examples are: Oodle, Hot Pads... 

Syndication is a good thing but it would be better if you could rely on the information you find. 

Google Base... is a biggie.  I believe but could be wrong that  RealBird... the little houses on RealBird and the information about them comes from Google Base.  There are things I really, really like about RealBird.  I love the cute little houses.  I hate the fact that the information is so bad.   A price reduction on a home taken January 18, 2011 still shows at the old price on January 26, 2011. RealBird itself has the listing with the correct info but the mapping does not show consumers the correct information about the price reduction.   A listing taken off the market in December 2010 still shows up (top snippet.)  The listing agents have removed the home from the MLS. It does not show up on Columbus  real estate brokerage or agents sites. It is not for sale.  Sold homes show up as active.  It's a mess.

Columbus real estate online - how accurate?

Our local paper, the Columbus Dispatch has a portal for Central Ohio or Columbus real estate.

Columbus real estate brokerages online - how accurate is it?

You can find homes on local real estate company websites from Real Living HER, Coldwell Banker King Thompson, Re/Max, Keller Williams and many, many more brokerages that are members of the Columbus Board of REALTORS MLS.

Much more accurate information about homes for sale!

In many cases the individual real estate agents have a site... or sites. Mine MaureenMcCabe.com and CbusHomeSearch.com  my presence on Real Living HER, a little bit different from one another..  You are welcome to look at the Real Living HER online presentation of homes for sale in Central Ohio.

Search using the CbusHomeSearch.com site and you are offered the opportunity to receive the listings directly from the Columbus Board of REALTORS® MLS.

What's your favorite place on the Internet for Columbus real estate information?

More about Columbus real estate online 

Columbus Board of REALTORS Consumer Information the CBR MLS does not show homes for sale. You can not search on the CBR site,... other than using the Realtor.com search.   The Columbus Board of REALTORS  does not have a site that competes with their members!  Other parts of the country handle this differently. Again use the CBusHomeSearch.com link to search and I can design a search for you, you will have your own page, called a 'Client Gateway' on the Columbus Board of REALTORS® MLS.

... and even more Columbus real estate online

Discover Columbus Ohio - Columbus Ohio real estate on Real Estate Acronyms definitions of MLS, IDX, etc.

No I can't explain why it says that on Zillow or Trulia

Where will buyers see your Columbus Ohio home?

The mystery of the missing Columbus Board of REALTORS®  MLS 2010 Results 

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This post provided by Maureen McCabe of Real Living HER

Contact 614.388.8249

Website: MaureenMcCabe.com

Search Columbus mls online

email: MaureenatMaureenMcCabe.com   @

Information is deemed to be accurate but should be verified to your satisfaction.  Information provided herein is supplied by several sources and is subject to change without notice.  Opinions expressed are solely those of Maureen McCabe.

Non Member comments occasionally closed due to heavy spam! 

 

The Columbus Board of REALTORS® announced... December and 2010 sales results to member and the media last Thursday. 

The Columbus Board of REALTORS announced 2010 sales, prices, how the year ended up...

Columbus Board of REALTORS MLS Home Sales 2010

Monthly I focus on how the months sales compare to the same month the previous year, I felt I needed to focus on that to finish up 2010... December 2010 in comparison to December 2009 to match January, February, March, etc.

I wrote a post about  Central Ohio December Home Sales for the whole Columbus Board of REALTORS® MLS  a huge geographic are in early January 2011.  "Columbus Board of REALTORS MLS Home Sales"  was posted here.  Columbus Board of REALTORS MLS Home Sales" disappeared early in the morning on January 9, 2011.  It got a spam comment and when I went online to delete the spam comment from the Columbus Board of REALTORS MLS Home Sales" post,  the post was gone. Totally odd.  At some point I went to see if I had imagined it or if it been written,  published and then disappeared. 

I did not imagine it.

This content here feeds to a page on Facebook,  Discover Columbus Ohio.

I thought about editing it back into my ActiveRain blog and Discover Columbus Ohio - Columbus Ohio real estate site but did not.  There is evidence of the original post on Twitter and Google too.  Not sure what happened to the original post.

Maybe it was better if it was gone.  Did it match what the Columbus Board of REALTORS® announced? 

Not really.  Are the numbers announded by the Columbus Board of REALTORS® reconciled after the end of the month?  I have often felt the Trendgraphix results are pulled and there are numbers added back in... late sales trickle in?

Central Ohio December 2010 home sales

I break the market report down closer to home, for the northern Franklin County and southern Delaware County market I work in day to day.

Dublin schools real estate market

Olentangy schools real estate market

Westerville schools real estate market

Worthington schools real estate market

The north Columus, Clintonville area  Columbus, Ohio 43214 real estate market  and Columbus,  Ohio 43202 real estate market

One difference, the results the Columbus Board of REALTORS ® reported are residential sales.  My reports  (links above) Dublin, Worthington etc. are single family home sales only. 

I do Worthington real etate market condominiums only.

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This post provided by Maureen McCabe of Real Living HER

Contact 614.388.8249

Website: MaureenMcCabe.com

Search Columbus mls online

email: MaureenatMaureenMcCabe.com   @

Information is deemed to be accurate but should be verified to your satisfaction.  Information provided herein is supplied by several sources and is subject to change without notice.  Opinions expressed are solely those of Maureen McCabe.

Non Member comments occasionally closed due to heavy spam! 

 

Columbus Ohio homes you can count on a tub...

After touring a home at an open house Sunday a nice, young woman who told me up front the Worthington area home for sale at $199,999 was out of her price range, came down and told me she was disappointed that she did not like the house, again stating it was out of their price range.

She very earnestly told me she did not like the dark wood work but she was very disappointed that a house with three baths had no bath tub!

In this day and age of stolen plumbing, AC units, etc.  Had someone made off with the bath tub?

It's still there Concern that the bath tub had been stolen.... a photo sent from the open house... open houses can be boring even with a steady stream of traffic. A real estate agent with a smart phone can turn into a smartass.

Columbus homes you can count on a tub

The home has two and a half baths. 4 bedroom, 2 1/2 bath... Pretty standard in most Central Ohio two story homes from the 1970s into the 1990s.

• half bath on the first floor
• hall bath with a tub on the 2nd floor with the bedrooms
• master bath with a shower

There are a handful of plans where there is a tub with a shower in both the upstairs hall and the master bath. Or occasionally a home buyer paid for a bath with the shower in the master bedroom and there was room in the floor plan. Master baths got bigger sometime in the 1990s. Are you going to find the spa with a whirlpool in Worthington under $200,000? Nope but all this lady wanted was a tub for the kids, I am sure.

stolen plumbing, AC units and tubs?

After the disappointed woman left I went to make sure there was a tub. My picture really does NOT do the tub justice but I was trying not to get the potty in the picture.., potties in bathroom pictures can set off the real estate world blogging world. We know there is a toilet in each and every bathroom but our sensibilities are sullied seeing it online.

Thank goodness the tub was there. No reason to think anyone had made off with a bath tub.

The young woman's husband was out in the driveway in the mini van with a sleeping infant.

Perhaps the shower doors on the bath tub convinced this woman that the tub was a shower. You can see the tub below the shower doors the length of the room. Or you could but there is a potty in the room too. I could not risk picturing the potty.

Do shower doors make a tub not a tub?

Shower doors on a tub? I have NEVER been a big fan. I am NOT a good enough house keeper to keep the channel gunk free. Shower doors look "old" to me. Even new shower doors look "old" to me. Grab bars in a bath tub look old to me. They could help soomeone of any age... Grab bars are an improvement but they look like someone needed 'em.

...Columbus can you count on tubs for bathing kids....

I am sure for most home owners who put shower doors on a tub, the home improvement is because of the kids who did NOT keep the shower curtain in place. The parents had to make repairs. Kids of a certain age... The nice young woman had a baby in the car with her husband... an infant. Shower doors make it more difficult to bath kids when they are little.... mom or dad has to hang through the shower door over the tub. Looking for reasons that the house would not work even if they could afford it... in her mind she went with the house not having a tub.

You can count on a tub in most Central Ohio homes... Bath or Shower or how we count bathrooms in Central Ohio. We have full baths and half baths.. a master bath with only a shower is a full bath in Central Ohio. Some parts of the world that would be a 3/4 bath.

Closing on a home double check the plumbing, the AC unit are still there, it is possible a seller improved a home by taking out a tub but not very likely... pretty much you can count on a tub in Columbus.

Home search for 4 bedroom, 2 bath minimum homes in the Columbus Ohio, 43235 zip code, the West Worthington area priced between $180,000 and $220,000. If this is not what you are looking for? Change the search. The home in this story is shown here in the search but it shows the "old price." RealBird and Google Base are really not up to date when it comes to real estate news. You can not really count on the latest info with either. I see a house there that went off the market before Christmas. Cute map though...

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This post provided by Maureen McCabe of Real Living HER

Contact 614.388.8249

Website: MaureenMcCabe.com

Search Columbus mls online

email: MaureenatMaureenMcCabe.com   @

Information is deemed to be accurate but should be verified to your satisfaction.  Information provided herein is supplied by several sources and is subject to change without notice.  Opinions expressed are solely those of Maureen McCabe.

Non Member comments occasionally closed due to heavy spam! 

 

Try this link:

Real Living HER Open House List Sunday January 23, 2011

I see 49 Open Houses now... that could change before this afternoon, go up or down.

Earlier this week I had a link that worked, then it was not working.  Yesterday I tried again....it is working but just in case.

Directions if the link does not show you the open house list I created on my website

Real Living HER Open House List for Sunday January 23, 2011

There is a field to search for open houses by date.  It is shown here to the right with a star. 

Home search on my new website Maureen McCabe

You can search by school district, neighborhood, zip code. 

You can search just those homes which are open today.

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This post provided by Maureen McCabe of Real Living HER

Contact 614.388.8249

Website: MaureenMcCabe.com

Search Columbus mls online

email: MaureenatMaureenMcCabe.com   @

Information is deemed to be accurate but should be verified to your satisfaction.  Information provided herein is supplied by several sources and is subject to change without notice.  Opinions expressed are solely those of Maureen McCabe.

Non Member comments occasionally closed due to heavy spam! 

 

Why can't we find this Westerville home?

The  Worthington Highlands neighborhood is in the Columbus Corporation Limit (in the City of Columbus) and it is in the Worthington City School District and it has a Westerville Ohio 43081 mailing address.

If you can not find a "Far North Columbus"  property in Westerville, look for Worthington. Or Columbus? Or perhaps it is in the Olentangy Local School District.

If you are looking for the Westerville City School District and Zillow, Trulia or another site has dangled this "Westerville Home" in front of you (not that there is anything wrong with Worthington schools... or Columbus schools or Olentangy schools.. ) but let's say you are in Westerville schools now and trying to stay in Westerville schools. Or you've determined that the Westerville City School District is the best match for your child.... and you can not find it.... It may be because it has a Westerville address but is not in the Westerville City School District.

Whether homes are in the City of Columbus (in the Columbus Corporation) or in unincorporated areas, it can be confusing since there is no way to know what zip code you are in or what school district you are in....

Westerville Ohio 43081 Address in Worthington schools

Cambridge Place

Carriage Oaks Condominiums

Oxford Place

Seven Oaks

Schoolside Village

Worthington Highlands

There are other neighborhoods too... in the City of Columbus (or in a township) in the Worthington City School District with a Westerville mailing address.

Columbus and Suburban Schools Win Win Westerville is included in the Win Win agreement but this is not the area affected.   Homes in the Westerville schools and within the City of Columbus are included.  School districts were in place long before most of northern Franklin County and southern Delaware county were developed.

Worthington schools are not included  the Worthington City school district is not part of the Win - Win agreement.  Worthington schools had a prior agreement.

Why can't we find this Westerville home?

Depending on where a home with a Westerville mailing address shows up online, Zillow, Trulia, Realtor.com, a local real estate website, it can be confusing to get more information.  Central Ohio can be a little confusing in areas.  The "Far North" area can be confusing.  

The Northeast Columbus areas in the Westerville City School District with a Columbus or Gahanna address can be confusing too but that's another story...  Gahumbusville.

Or the northeast area with Westerville addresses in the Columbus City School District.

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This post provided by Maureen McCabe of Real Living HER

Contact 614.388.8249

Website: MaureenMcCabe.com

Search Columbus mls online

email: MaureenatMaureenMcCabe.com   @

Information is deemed to be accurate but should be verified to your satisfaction.  Information provided herein is supplied by several sources and is subject to change without notice.  Opinions expressed are solely those of Maureen McCabe.

Non Member comments occasionally closed due to heavy spam! 

 

Friday again...  Every Friday I try to find something to share here about furnaces.

In the post originally titled "Is The Thermostat In The Basement Why It's So Cold Upstairs?" Jay says:

"THE BIGGEST KEY TO EFFECTIVE HEATING AND AIR CONDITIONING IS THE RETURN AIR DUCTS AND THEIR LOCATIONS."

This is a story about Furnaces and more to keep your family warm

the memory of an old oil system

a heat pump...

a thermostat

ducts

registers

returns

dampers

and the question of "What's up in the attic?"  Or "What's not up in the attic?

that make this Northern Virginia house flipping story suitable for a Furnace Friday Post in  Columbus.  Thanks once again to home inspector Jay Markanich for allowing his content to be Re-Blogged.

Keep warm Columbus Ohio...

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This post provided by Maureen McCabe of Real Living HER

Contact 614.388.8249

Website: MaureenMcCabe.com

Search Columbus mls online

email: MaureenatMaureenMcCabe.com   @

Information is deemed to be accurate but should be verified to your satisfaction.  Information provided herein is supplied by several sources and is subject to change without notice.  Opinions expressed are solely those of Maureen McCabe.

Non Member comments occasionally closed due to heavy spam! 

 

The Real Living HER Open House List on my website has undergone a LOT of changes since the last time I posted about Columbus Ohio real estate, the BEST open house list. 

Yesterday there were 43 Central Ohio Open Houses on the list for Sunday January 23, 2010 ... today there are 200? Or 13,546???   Nope.  The link I have saved and resaved and resaved again was JUST the Real Living HER Open House List for Sunday, January 23, 2011.  The link for  Open Houses Only will not hold.

There was a second link on my site on the Open House page, a link which should have been the Real Living HER Open House List for Sunday January 23, 2011 which said there were 43 properties displayed today says "200 of 13,546 properties displayed."  That's a lot of open houses...  but those are NOT open houses.

Map is linked to the Property Search on my site.

The Real Living HER Open House list on Maureen McCabe.com will work soon I am sure. The Property Search on my site (mock up below) works to find the Real Living HER open houses. 

It works.  It won't save.

The new & improved Real Living HER Open House List...

The new and improved Real Living HER Open House List is not ready for prime time yet...  but it is what we have.

For now you have to use the Open Houses Only and put in the date to find the BEST Sunday Open House list in Central Ohio.

I am sure Real Living / Real Living HER (formerly HER REALTORS) will get that fixed.

The Real Living HER website and each agents website have gone through major changes...

I have an Open House Sunday in the Worthingview neighborhood, 1344 Snowmass Rd. Columbus, Ohio 43235

It is on the Open House list if you use the "Open House Only"  on the Property Search Criteria on my site, MaureenMcCabe.com

To find other open houses  this Sunday fill in the date where I have the star here on the mock up (s.) Check the box for "Open Houses Only" 

Fill in the date. 

A cute little calendar pops up...

You do not have to rack your memory for Sunday's date. 

You do not need to type in numbers...

You can choose the market you want.

Clintonville?

Dublin?

Lewis Center?

Powell?

Westerville?

Worthington?

Etc.

Looking for Open Houses on Saturday?  Not as common in Central Ohio as Sunday Open Houses but there may be some.  Often New Construction will be open on Saturdays and weekdays. 

Search the Real Living HER Open House List for Saturday Open Houses ... any day or span of days.

The Search Column (mock up with the star showing where the "Open Houses Only" is, is linked to the Property Search on my site.

Central Ohio Open Houses are not for lazy agents

While you were busy with the holidays you may have missed my late November nolstalgia for the way we were... HER Realtors, the way we were the evolution of the websites of Columbus Ohio's leading real estate company, now known as Real Living HER.

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This post provided by Maureen McCabe of Real Living HER

Contact 614.388.8249

Website: MaureenMcCabe.com

Search Columbus mls online

email: MaureenatMaureenMcCabe.com   @

Information is deemed to be accurate but should be verified to your satisfaction.  Information provided herein is supplied by several sources and is subject to change without notice.  Opinions expressed are solely those of Maureen McCabe.

Non Member comments occasionally closed due to heavy spam!