Columbus Ohio real estate

Graceland Shopping Center today...

Today at Graceland Shopping Center there is a

• Kroger Marketplace
• Target 
• Two fitness centers
• Qdoba
• Applebees
• Sears Appliance & Hardware
• OfficeMax

and way, way more...

A home owner near Graceland Shopping Center said of the shopping area earlier this decade:

"Graceland Shopping Center had an 80% vacancy rate and was in disrepair. There was no Target, or Kroger, or other shopping facilities, but only empty eyesore buildings." 

I believe that the home owner was referring to 2001 or 2002.

In the 70s or 80's HER Realtors (now Real Living HER... brokerage I am affiliated with)  had a Graceland office! In the shopping center?  Or just nearby?  I suppose I could ask, at least one of the agents in my office started out in the HER Realtors, Graceland office .

There was a movie theater at Graceland!

I remember discovering Graceland in the early 1990s.  I worked in Worthington... lived west of the Olentangy River but  I loved the J.C. Penny furniture store that was at Graceland.  There was a large sporting goods store?  Jack's Pets and Aquarium??

In the beginning Graceland Shopping Center 

I love Don O'Brien's pictures from the year before  was built.  George Campbell's site has some great photos of Graceland over the years!

Nearby residential neighborhoods include  Beechwold, Chaseland, Delawanda Park, Old Beechwold, Sharon Heights, Tremont Gardens, Zooland and more... I have friends in Worthington who shop at the Graceland Kroger rather than the Worthington Mall Kroger (the Worthington Mall store is a very nice store, recently remodeled.)

Real Living HER Open House List for Labor Day weekend 2010

There are not a lot of open houses this weekend.   It is a holiday weekend!  Happy Labor Day. There are some open houses in town this weekend...  My coworker and friend Loretta Strang is holding her great Worthington ranch listing open... need your Worthington, Sunday,  open house fix? Or need a one story in Worthignton, Kilbourne Village has a good walk score...   Visit Loretta.  Tell her "Maureen sent me"* 

I held an open house 4th of July weekend this year...  I had traffic.

In Central Ohio Open Houses are not for lazy agents I wrote:

"Central Ohio has something that other parts of the country do not actually have.  A brokerage that has elevated the Open House via their website.  The Real Living HER Open House List is the best there is in Central Ohio... but maybe I am biased. "

The Real Living HER Open House List

You have an opportunity to see what will be open in the future on the Real Living HER (formerly HER Realtors) site.  You can do more than just see a list of homes or an Open House  banner on the homes that are open on the Real Living HER Open House list.  You can see the list by area, only looking in Worthington? Only look at the homes in Worthington..   

You can tour most homes on the Real Living HER Open House list with a number of photos, a home tour,  a community video in some cases, mortgage information, a map. 

Some Real Living HER listings on the open house list  have more information for consumers including:

Floor plans

Videos

Next weekends Real Living HER Open Houses!

Quoting myself again...

"There will NOT be a lot of Real Living HER Open Houses this weekend. Have a great Labor Day weekend. Next weekend is the Real Living's third Second Sunday Open House... there will be lots of Open Houses in Central Ohio open house country.

Is your Central Ohio neighborhood in open house country?"

Columbus home SALE prices are up

The Columbus Board of REALTORS® announces...

What does "Maureen sent me" mean? 

Nothing, nada, zilch....

The image at the top is a Real Living ecard.

Delawanda Park homes for sale Columbus OH 43214

Delawanda Park is a neighborhood in north Columbus, it is south of the Worthington city line and north of Morse Road.  It is nestled in between Old Beechwold and Graceland Shopping Center.

Delawanda Park is also a City of Columbus Park along the Olentangy River... Delawanda Park is also known as Kenney Park.

Zillow and Trulia call the area north of Morse Road and south of the Worthington city limits, Sharon Heights.  In Sharon Heights are smaller neighborhoods like Delawanda Park, Tremont Gardens (in Sharon Township NOT the city of Columbus), the real Sharon Heights...  and more.

A map for Delawanda Park homes for sale in RealBird (Google Base) TODAY shows the one house in the Columbus Board of REALTOR® MLS currently listed with  Delawanda Park as the subdivision... my listing. The search is for homes priced $80,000 to $130,000, homes priced above would not show on the map. There are homes priced above $130,000 in the Sharon Heights area.   The map shows listings in Tremont Gardens, Beechwold...  RealBird is my new toy, I have had the free version for awhile. I just upgraded.

Delawanda Park homes for sale Columbus Ohio 43214

More about Delawanda Park, the neighborhood

Delawanda Park the neighbors....

Clintonville conspiracy theory... Realtors changing borders

Clintonville area ... Zillow calls it Sharon Heights

Indian Springs Elementary School earns "Excellent with Distinction"  - Indian Springs School is the elementary school for the streets in the Delawanda Park subdivision.  It is not the elementary school for all homes on the map.

Change your furnace filter... it is the first Friday of the month. 

Last month I declared the first Friday of every month Furnace Filter Friday when I Re-Blogged Jay Markanich a Virginia home inspector's post:

Replace Your Air Filter Regularly! OR The Mystery Of the Rotting Door Trim

Furnace Filters

We primarily have gas forced air furnaces in Central Ohio. Very little oil... no coal? I seldom see radiators, hot water heat is uncommon.  It surprises me reading posts about furnaces across the US, how common oil heat is in some areas. 

We do have electric furnaces in a few Central Ohio neighborhoods, rural areas, homes built in the 1970's.  Even in neighborhoods built in the 1970s there are usually homes where the furnace has been replaced with a gas furnace.  Most people find gas heat warmer than electric heat...  I believe.

Winter will be here before we know it...  brrr I hate to think about it.  The high yesterday was 94°...  tomorrow's forecast?

Five posts about furnaces this Furnace Filter Friday:

#1 From Omaha Nebraska, home inspector, Greg Wayman,  shared Home Inspection - Furnace Red Flags  Yea, yea, yea his title was Omaha Home Inspection - Furnace Red Flags... most of it probably applies to  Ohio furnaces.  Written for home buyers?  Home owners might see something there that could help them too.  Red flags...

#2 and #3  From Minnesota where "all the women are strong, all the men are good looking, and all the children are above average" and the winters are darn cold, Reuben Saltzman wrote two posts I want to share with you:

Are High Efficiency Furnaces worth it?

Gravity Furnace? get a new one

I have not seen a gravity furnace in awhile in Central Ohio.  The big octopus in the basement?  I had a listing with one early this decade.  They are there lurking in basements in older neighborhoods in Central Ohio. Perhaps with tax incentives home owners have recently replace them.  

#4 is a furnace post from a real esate agent!?!  Lyn Sims Chicago's Northwest Suburbs shared this with her readers:  Winter and Summer Furnace Settings

#5 And finally,  If the furnace can’t vent----I will from Charles Buell, Seattle, a Washington home inspector.  Those stickers on the furnace showing it's been serviced?

The furnace image is from Reuben Saltzman's post on high efficiency furnaces.  I believe that is Reuben's old furnace.  It looked pretty good if you ask me... but that's why you need a home inspector when buying a home. *'the women are strong, men are good looking' is Lake Wobegon MN not Minneapolis MN... but the winters are still darn cold.

Remember change your furnace filter regularly!

Central Ohio open houses are not for lazy agents.  Real estate agents... open houses are a lot of work if done right. I doubt anyone "lazy" would do an open house, they are a lot of work. 

Parts of Central Ohio are great for open houses, other parts?  Not so much.

ActiveRain a national real estate network has been a hot bed of debate lately about whether open houses are good or bad. Whether open houses work or do not work.   Whether agents who tell their sellers to have an open house as part of their marketing are lying to them.  The lie?  That the agent holding the open house will meet people at the open house and show them other homes, once they've determined the Open House is NOT what the buyer wants.

I think home owners are a lot smarter than that.  At least in Central Ohio.

Are agents that don't hold open houses lazy? No.  Open houses don't work everywhere. Rural areas?  Not all parts of Central Ohio are good for open houses, so I would have to assume that agents in other markets know their market...

What I don't understand is why  Revolting REALTORS®* want all agents to NOT hold open houses because open houses do not work in their market.  Or in their marketing plan.  Or their calendar.

Lowes via Rismedia and RealTown weigh in on the debate  talking directly to consumers from sea to shining sea. The debate rages on...  In Tips for a Successfule Real Estate Open House  author Paige Tepping and Lowes say to home sellers:

"The Sunday real estate open house is a longstanding ritual in the real estate marketplace, and many homes have been sold on a lazy Sunday afternoon. When used properly, open houses can be a great marketing strategy. "

Central Ohio open houses are not for all neighborhoods

Clintonville is usually a great area for open houses.  A coworker said she had 45 people at her open house last Sunday. She had an appointment to write an offer on the house with a couple who'd attended the open house Sunday. 

Worthington is usually a great area for open houses...  the older the better if you get my drift.  OK I am saying an open house in Old Worthington is usually good. City of Worthington open houses are better than open house in homes in Worthington schools, in the City of Columbus  or an unincorporated area.

Lewis Center... not so much... well I am writing this post about Franklin County so let's just ignore that county to the north for now.  Not as good an area for an open house in my  humble opinion. Given my druthers I will stay in Franklin County most Sunday afternoons.   There are areas in Franklin County that are not as good for open houses than others. I would have said Minerva Park would not be a good area for open houses before 2006. I would have been wrong.

Sometimes the open houses in Clintonville or Old Worthington can be too busy.  How can you talk to everyone?  There are people who just want to look at decorating.

Central Ohio has something that other parts of the country do not actually have.  A brokerage that has elevated the Open House via their website.  The Real Living HER Open House List is the best there is in Central Ohio... but maybe I am biased. 

The Real Living HER Open House List  (the link is to the open house list on my site, MaureenMcCabe.com)  

There will NOT be a lot of Real Living HER Open Houses this weekend. Have a great Labor Day weekend. Next weekend is the Real Living's third Second Sunday Open House... there will be lots of Open Houses in Central Ohio open house country.

Is your Central Ohio neighborhood in open house country?

The image at the top is a Real Living ecard.

Columbus home SALE prices are up

The Columbus Board of REALTORS® announces...

Central Ohio home sellers do the bed bugs convey?

"Convey" means stay with the real estate.  Fixtures are part of the property.  Personal property sometimes conveys with the sale of real estate.

Bed Bugs are an issue in Central Ohio. Did you know there is a Central Ohio Bed Bug Task Force?   Made up of people from the bug industry.

This is the last of a four part series about bed bugs (or is it bedbugs?)

Central Ohio bed bugs... recommendations to REALTORS®

bed bug contingency....

Central Ohio WHO inspects for bed bugs

Bed Bugs are not a sign of poor housekeeping or being poor...look at the ZIP code map on the Central Ohio Bed Bug Task Force site.  Bed Bugs have been treated in some of Central Oho's finest ZIP codes. 

Central Ohio home sellers do the bed bugs stay?

In writing a contract to purchase a home, the buyer tells the seller what stays and what goes. Or what they want.  The fridge?  The range?  Window coverings?  The bed bugs?  Not so much.... Seller and buyer agree about what stays with the property, "conveys."

Would the sellers bed bugs remain with the real estate or would the seller take his bed bugs with him? I am certainly not talking a particular seller... this is "make believe seller"... with "make believe bed bugs" for illustration purpose only.

Central Ohio home sellers do the bed bugs convey? 

The seller in most cases would be removing personal property from the home when it is sold.  The book cases, TV's, couches, chairs, mattresses, headboards, etc.  are moving with the seller to their new home.  Anything living in the couches, chairs mattresses etc. would move with the sellers... in most cases what is living in the couches, chairs, mattresses would be dust mites.   As unatttractive as those dust mites might be... dust mites are pretty routine... I believe.  I am not an entymologist and don't play one on TV or on this blog.... not playing attorney here either... just an  itchy blogger... from my understanding dust mites are an organism... much smaller than a cat or a dog... smaller even than a bed bug or a flea... but there is not yet Central Ohio Dust Mite Task Force... the seller is taking his dust mites with anyway...  they are in the furniture.

The sellers bed bugs? You might assume any  seller would be packing up any bed bugs onto the moving truck too.  The bed bugs do NOT convey with the real estate.  The buyer does not want the bed bugs to stay.

The bed in bed bugs?

"Though bedbugs are frequently found in mattress seams, they’ll also hide behind draperies, headboards, hanging pictures and dressers as well as in living-room chairs and cracks and crevices in any room, Jones said. “It’s really a misnomer to call them bedbugs.” the quote is from a Columbus Dispatch article by Kathy Lynn Gray titled:

Could some bed bugs stay?  Yes.

Central Ohio home sellers disclosure?

It is important that couches, chairs and mattresses be removed from a property when it is sold.  Not that the couches, chairs and mattresses have bed bugs... but the purchase contract does have a clause that the sellers personal property has been removed.

Removing all window coverings could become more common in the future.  Not that they have bed bugs if the house does not but just to be sure...  Window covering are personal property...  the rods and attached hardware stay...

If a seller had bed bugs and knew they had bed bugs I would think they would have to disclose that to a buyer.  Wouldn't you?   There is a residential property disclosure in Ohio. 

Personally I think the single family home is the perfect offense (offense as in football... offensive rather than defensive) move against bed bugs.  I am no bed bug expert but I  believe bedbugs are more common in apartment living...

Columbus home sale prices are up...  

OK I really am only looking at a micro area...  in July 2010 Columbus Ohio 43214 average home sale price was up 16.4% from July 2009.  That graph is for a slice of Columbus north of North Broadway up to the Worthington city line.  The Colmbus Ohio 43214 ZIP code includes neighborhoods like  Beechwold,  Old Beechwold, Sharon Heights, Tremont Gardens, Chaseland, Delawanda Park, parts of Clintonville and more.   Yet a pretty small area when you come right down to it.

Columbus Ohio 43214 home sale prices are up

Real estate is really, really local.

The graph shows list and sale prices for single family homes in the Columbus Ohio 43214 ZIP code for the past 15 months, home prices were up 16.4% from July 2009.

Columbus Ohio home sale prices are...

Macro?  Homes in the City of Columbus School District?  ooooh ick prices down 19.5%.

Macro er...  a bigger area the entire area served by the Columbus Board of REALTORS® MLS sale  prices of single family homes were up .6%

"All counties 0.6%"  remember this is single family homes only, not all residential.

I believe all homes in the Columbus Ohio 43214 ZIP code are in the Columbus City School District.  Best to check for each address what school district the home is in.

Closings in July 2010 were homes sold during the tax credits?  Since the tax credits?  A mixed bag?  August will be interesting. September even more so.

Columbus homes for sale - SEARCH

Columbus home sale prices are up or down....   it kinda depends

By ZIP code change from July 2009:

• Columbus Ohio 43054 average home sales price was down 1.9%
  
• Columbus Ohio 43085 average home sales price was up 4.8% 
• Columbus Ohio 43202 average home sales price was up  1.2%
• Columbus Ohio 43214 average home sales pirce was up 16.4%
• Columbus Ohio 43220 average home sales price was up 1.2%
  
• Columbus Ohio 43221 average home sales price was up 18.5%
• Columbus Ohio 43229 average home sales price was down 2% 
• Columbus Ohio 43230 average home sales price was down 12.3%
  
• Columbus Ohio 43235 average home sales price was up 4.6%

ZIP codes are just mailing routes.

By school district change from July 2009: 

• Columbus schools average home sales price down 19.5%
  
• Dublin schools average home sales price up 11.1%
• Gahanna Jefferson schools average home sales price up .5%
  
• Grandview Heights schools average home sales price up 52.6%
• Hilliard schools up 14.1%
• Plain Local schools up 10.4%
• Upper Arlington schools up 26.5%
• Westerville schools down 10.9% 
• Worthington schools up 4.3%

Above are all single family home prices.

The moral of this story?  If there is a moral to this story... I supppose it is that it's tough to buy a house if you don't know the market.

Back to Columbus Ohio 43214 home sale prices ...in July 2010

• Average active price  $221,000
• Average sale price $220,000
• Median sale price $195,000

This post brought to you by a home in the Delawanda Park neighborhood in the Columbus Ohio 43214 ZIP code priced at $114,987,  301 Girard Rd. Columbus Ohio 43214

Columbus Ohio 43214 homes for sale 

Columbus Ohio 43214 demographics

Published based on data available from the Columbus Board of REALTORS® at the end of July  2010.   Trendgraphix reports presented are based on data supplied by the Columbus Board of Realtors.  According to Trendgraphix neither  CBR nor their MLS (multiple listing service ) guarantee or are in anyway responsible for it's accuracy. "Information deemed reliable but not guaranteed."   Therefor there is no guarantee from me either.

If you use the Columbus Ohio 43214 homes for sale link you will search the online inventory of Central Ohio homes on the Real Living HER site.   You will be offered the opportunity to receive listings directly from the Columbus Board of Realtors MLS (multiple listing service)  in real time. You are able to know the true status of those properties you are interested in.