Columbus Ohio real estate

Real Living HomeGard Warranty

Maureen McCabe Columbus Ohio real estate (Real Living HER - HER Realtors) — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 07:00:27 -0800

Real Living HomeGard Warranty

There is a new feature in the Real Living HomeGard Warranty for home buyers called "Claim - No - Claim" if the buyer has not placed a claim in the first nine months of the first year coverage they are entitled to heating or air conditioning maintenance service. Up to $100.00.

Not a bad feature...

"Even if nothing breaks, this warranty pays up to $100 toward an HVAC maintenance service."

Home warranties are relatively common feature of home sales in Central Ohio. Often the seller has one in place on the listing to give the buyer peace of mind about the mechanical systems. You certainly still want to do a home inspection but a home warranty can help.

Real Living HomeGard Warranty history

HomeGard® of Ohio has been around for a long time... since 1974. I sad when we got an email that HomeGard® was changing in 2009. HomeGard is operated by HMS a national home warranty company. HomeGard® of Ohio was unique in that the company affiliated with Real Living HER (formerly HER Realtors®) was locally owned and operated for years.

HomeGard a new era begins

Real Living HomeGard Warranty with "Claim - No - Claim" maintenance - 2010

There are other changes to HomeGard, sump pumps and jetted bathtubs are covered.

Visit the national HMS site for some additional home maintenance tips

***I am NOT HomeGard****

Please contact HomeGard at:

Coverage questions 1-800-521-8264

To File a Claim 1-866-607-9907

*** I am NOT HomeGard***

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This post provided by Maureen McCabe of Real Living HER

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Website: MaureenMcCabe.com

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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.

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Columbus Casting Call

Maureen McCabe Columbus Ohio real estate (Real Living HER - HER Realtors) — Fri, 15 May 2009 17:33:59 -0700

Being a blogger can bring other opportunities... "The Dating Game" called this week and they are looking for a "single" Columbus woman for a TV Show. They are shooting an episode in Columbus.

Actually it is NOT the Dating Game... that's so 1969...

"Holidate" is going to be on in Fall 2009 and a casting director who left me a message said he found me on my blog, ColumbusBestBlog. I looked up what a "Holidate" is online, in the Urban Dictionary. OK.

Michael Yates of ABC SoapNet said they are looking for women "from 27, 28 years old to 42." The Holidate website says woman ages 25 to 40....

either way they are NOT looking for me. ;- )

Could they be looking for you? Someone you know with star quality? No this is about love not stardom. Columbus single women who are "looking for love anywhere but here" here's the Holidate application

Here's what I wrote about it on ColumbusBestBlog.com - Columbus Casting Call

Yates said it won't be "trashy" really.

Here's more info - Holidate Casting site.

The ABC TV show "Biggest Loser" often does casting in Columbus. I'd just blogged about a friend's family member being on that show this week when I got the phone call about Holidate. Coincidence? Joke?

The image is a Real Living eCard and has nothing to do with Holidate. I believe it was an eCard when Real Living HER was casting their TV commercials a few years ago.

I am an agent with Real Living HER Worthington

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Extreme Makeover: Barn Edition - Delaware County Ohio Custom Home Builder

Maureen McCabe Columbus Ohio real estate (Real Living HER - HER Realtors) — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 11:44:44 -0800

Extreme Makeover: Barn Edition - Delaware County Ohio Custom Home Builder - New England Homes office at 5191 Columbus Pike (State Route 23) went through a huge makeover earlier this year.

The "mugshot" of the house that became a barn in 2011 from the Delaware County Auditors site shows a two story stone front home with a front porch. Here goes...

Even in the mugshot, it's an OK looking house.... the house was built by Nelson Homes in 1990 according to Delaware County, Ohio property records but it somehow seemed older, more like a 1980s home. I do not believe Nelson Homes has built homes in Central Ohio in many, many years.

The Nelson Homes house was not a bad house, but it did not reflect the custom homes built by New England Homes, a Delaware County Ohio Custom Home Builder.

New England Homes - Ohio

Extreme Makeover: Barn Edition

The house which is the office and sales center for New England Homes became a "New England" style barn with a cupola and sliding barn doors in the Spring of 2011, shortly before the BIA Parade of Homes.

The New England Homes sales office which is staffed on weekends is on the north side of the building with easy access from the parking area. Real Living HER's Builder Developer Services Division is now working with New England Homes.

The "Barn" is open 1:00 to 5:00 on weekends and staffed by Real Living HER Builder Developer Services. Contact Maureen McCabe at 614-388-8249 or Tom Hughes at 614-273-6207 for further information on a custom built home from New England Homes.

The "Extreme Makeover" in the property continues on the interior. The 1990's Nelson Homes kitchen has been torn out. Extreme Makeover: Barn Edition is a much longer process than the TV show....

New England Homes builds throughout Central Ohio

Columbus, Ohio real estate - Ackerly Park in New Albany

Columbus, Ohio real estate - Tartan Ridge in Dublin (Union County)

New England Homes was in the 2006 BIA Parade of Homes in Sheffield Park in Genoa Township, the Galena area. The 2006 New England Homes Parade of Homes entry, the Gloucester was a one story floor plan. New England Homes has built extensively in the Ostrander area.

New England Homes - Delaware County, Ohio Homes

New England Homes - "the barn"

New England Homes "Cleans Up in Awards Ceremony"

People's Choice Award at the BIA Parade of Homes - 2011 and 2006 and 2009, I believe

New England Homes

Parade of Homes 2011 - Olentangy Falls

The television show "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" did a project in Central Ohio last summer and one in 2006. The 2006 project in Franklin County, MI Homes built a home for a hero. The 2011 Christmas episode was shot in Central Ohio, the builder was another Delaware County custom builder.

Extreme Makeover: Home Edition

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Columbus Homes for Sale - April 2012

Maureen McCabe Columbus Ohio real estate (Real Living HER - HER Realtors) — Mon, 14 May 2012 05:13:17 -0700

Columbus homes for sale brought to you by Maureen McCabe

This graph represents single family homes for sale in the Columbus City School District for the past 15 months. This includes homes that are considered "resale" only. This does not include new homes. There was 6.4 months of inventory (homes for sale) available based on closings in April 2012. The number of homes for sale is down. The number of months is down from 8 months a year ago. Six months is a balanced market.

Compare Columbus Homes for sale in April 2012 to:

Franklin County, Ohio Homes For Sale - April 2012 - 5.5 months

Homes For Sale Columbus Board of REALTORS mls - April 2012 - 6.1 months

Columbus homes for sale a market report for April 2012

Homes for sale -1943
Homes sold -305
Months of homes for sale based on closed sales - 6.4

Home sales in the Columbus school district were down slightly from April 2011, 5.9%. Like most of centra Ohio the number of homes for sale is down. The number of homes for sale in the school district are down 25% from last year. Pending sales (under contract but not yet sold are way up, 68.8% higher than a year ago. The number of months of inventory based on closed sales is down 20.3% from April 2011.

Columbus neighborhoods

Columbus is big and the neighborhoods are diverse. Here are zip codes for the northside of Columbus. Some zip codes have neighborhoods in Columbus and other school districts.* Others are strictly Columbus.

Columbus, Ohio 43202 5.7 months down 60.4% - Clintonville neighborhoods
Columbus, Ohio 43214 4.1 months down 29.2% - Clintonville, Beechwold, Sharon Heights neighborhoods
Columbus, Ohio 43220 10 months down 33.3% - northwest
Columbus, Ohio 43224 6.3 months down 32.9% - northeast
Columbus, Ohio 43229 5.3 months down 53.7% - northeast
Columbus, Ohio 43235 2.9 months down 59.2% - West Worthington

*Columbus Ohio 43235, the West Worthington area is a zip code with neighborhoods in the Columbus, Dublin and Worthington school districts. The Columbus, Ohio 43220 and 43221 zip codes have neighborhoods in Columbus schools and Grandview Heights or Upper Arlington schools.

Search Columbus homes for sale

Columbus Homes for Sale - April 2012 was published in May 2012 based on data available from the Columbus Board of REALTORS® at the end of April 2012. Trendgraphix reports are based on data supplied by the Columbus Board of Realtors. According to Trendgraphix neither CBR nor the mls (multiple listing service) guarantee or are in anyway responsible for the accuracy of the data. It says: "Information deemed reliable but not guaranteed." Since I am relying on the info from the CBR mls and Trendgraphix, there is no guarantee from me either.

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Open Sunday: New Homes

Maureen McCabe Columbus Ohio real estate (Real Living HER - HER Realtors) — Sun, 13 May 2012 11:10:11 -0700

Looking at open houses today May, 13, 2012. Not a lot of Homes are open today. Using the Real Living HER Open House Search to find homes? Look at the date. There were only 43 homes on the list last time I looked. Many of those 43 open houses are May 20, 2012. Or new home builder's models open during the week. There are very, very few open houses open today, because it is Mother's Day.

The New England Homes Sales Center is open today, May 13, 2012 until 5:00. The New England Homes Sales Center is at 5191 Columbus Pike in Lewis Center, Ohio 43035. New England Homes builds throughout central Ohio.

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Homes for Sale Columbus MLS - April 2012

Maureen McCabe Columbus Ohio real estate (Real Living HER - HER Realtors) — Wed, 09 May 2012 19:15:54 -0700

Homes for sale Columbus mls brought to you by Maureen McCabe of Real Living HER

The homes for sale in the Columbus Board of REALTORS mls (multiple listing service) represented by this graph are single family resale homes. The graph shows the number of months of inventory (homes for sale) for the past 15 months through April 2012. There was 6.1 months of inventory (homes for sale) in the Columbus mls in April 2012. Six months of inventory is considered a balanced market, not a buyers market or a sellers market.

Homes for sale Columbus mls a market report for April 2011

Homes for sale-8946
Homes sold - 1463
Months of inventory based on closed sales - 6.1

The number of homes for sale was down 21.2% from April 2011. The number of homes sold in April was up 6.3% from April 2011. The months of inventory (homes for sale) is down 25.9% from April 2011.

The area served by the Columbus Board of REALTORS mls is big. What is the area of the Columbus mls? "The Columbus Board of REALTORS® Multiple Listing Service (MLS) serves all of Franklin, Delaware, Fayette, Licking, Madison, Morrow, Pickaway and Union Counties and parts of Athens, Champaign, Clark, Clinton, Fairfield, Hocking, Knox, Logan, Marion, Muskingum, Perry and Ross Counties." Personally I focus on northern Franklin County and southern Delaware County.

Home for Sale Columbus mls - April 2012 was published in May 2012 based on data available from the Columbus Board of REALTORS® at the end of April 2012. Trendgraphix reports are based on data supplied by the Columbus Board of Realtors. According to Trendgraphix neither CBR nor the mls (multiple listing service) guarantee or are in anyway responsible for the accuracy of the data. It says: "Information deemed reliable but not guaranteed." Since I am relying on the info from the CBR mls and Trendgraphix, you have no guarantee from me either.

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Franklin County, Ohio Homes for Sale - April 2012

Maureen McCabe Columbus Ohio real estate (Real Living HER - HER Realtors) — Fri, 11 May 2012 05:07:50 -0700

Franklin County, Ohio homes for sale brought to you by Maureen McCabe

The graph shows months of inventory (homes for sale) in Franklin County, Ohio for the past 15 months. The graph is for single family resale listings only.

Compare Franklin County, Ohio homes for sale in April 2012 to Homes for Sale Columbus mls for April 2012

Franklin County, Ohio homes for sale a market report for April 2012

Homes for sale - 6191
Homes sold - 847
Months of homes for sale based on closed sales - 5.5 %

While closed sales in Franklin County are only up slightly(1.6%), homes for sale (inventory) is down 25.3% so the months of homes for sale is down 26.5% from April 2011.

Looking for a home in Columbus, Dublin, Hilliard, Westerville, Worthington - Search for Franklin County Ohio homes

Franklin County, Ohio Homes for Sale - April 2012 was published in May 2012 based on data available from the Columbus Board of REALTORS® at the end of April 2012. Trendgraphix reports are based on data supplied by the Columbus Board of Realtors. According to Trendgraphix neither CBR nor the mls (multiple listing service) guarantee or are in anyway responsible for the accuracy of the data. It says: "Information deemed reliable but not guaranteed." Since I am relying on the info from the CBR mls and Trendgraphix, there is no guarantee from me either.

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Real Living HER Open House List - May 5 & 6, 2012

Maureen McCabe Columbus Ohio real estate (Real Living HER - HER Realtors) — Sat, 05 May 2012 06:16:56 -0700

The May 5 & 6, 2012 Real Living HER Open House List * This is the last weekend of the Real Living HER Open House Prize Promotion.

What's that about? Real Living HER Open House Prize Promotion*

"Terms & Conditions Individuals can qualify to receive a 42” HDTV Visiting an open house – Win by Chance Drawing: Individuals who attend a Real Living HER open house on 4/21-22,4/28-29, 5/5-6 must fill out a completed registration card and return it to the Real Living HER agent hosting the open house that day in order to qualify for a chance to win a 42” HDTV Registrants must be 18 years or older to win. One winner from each weekend (April 21 & 22, April 28 & 29, and May 5 & 6) is chosen through a random drawing that takes place the Thursday after the open house. You will be contacted either by email or by phone for detailed instructions on how to redeem your prize."

See official rules on HERRealtor.com

About open houses for home buyers in central Ohio

The Real Living HER Open House List ... it's really a search is in the right sidebar of this site...

DiscoverColumbusOH.com - Columbus Ohio real estate

As well as a couple of local sites:

SDelawareCoHomes.com - Delaware County, Ohio Homes

WorthingtonOldandNews.com - Worthington Ohio real estate

or the ActiveRain real estate network.

If you are on a site that's scraping real estate content? Just click on one of the three links above and use the Real Living HER Open House List link, in the right sidebar.

The link takes you to the Real Living HER Open House List (search) on my site. The Real Living HER Open House List is subject to change. There is a mobile version on my Real Living HER site too so you will see the actual list / search in a mobile format if you are on your phone.

The Real Living HER Open House List is actually a search, you can narrow it down to the home you are looking for, beds, baths, school district, etc.

About open houses for home sellers in central Ohio

open houses may not help sell houses

Columbus Ohio open houses are not for lazy agents

Revolting Realtors This is National... we do not have revolting "REALTORS®" (members of the National Association of REALTORS®) locally... and it is really about revolution, not icky real estate agents anywhere. Revolting REALTORS® are those who do not believe open houses work in their market so no one should hold an open house, anywhere, anytime.

The graphic at the top is a Real Living ecard.

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open houses may not help sell homes

Maureen McCabe Columbus Ohio real estate (Real Living HER - HER Realtors) — Sat, 05 May 2012 04:13:29 -0700

Breaking News holding open houses does NOT sell the house?

Say it isn't so?

Tara Steele in News on AGBeat AgentGenius wrote "Report: open houses may not help sell homes." AgentGenius writes to the real estate industry. The Redfin (a real estate brokerage, not in this market) video about the science of open houses is funny.

Columbus Ohio Open Houses

hmmm were the 101 open houses on the Columbus Board of REALTORS mls and the Real Living HER Open House List, last weekend.

Useless?

Waste of time?

Don't sell houses?

Don't even help sell houses?

Central Ohio Open Houses

Was a home in your neighborhood held open house this past weekend for the Nationwide Open House Weekend? Is the agent who held the open house regretting the lost two hours?

Columbus Ohio open houses are not for lazy agents

Tom held an open house. Tom's open house sign:

Tom (my manager) is kind of an Overachiever when it comes to Open Houses - on Columbus Life on Posterous:

"This was Nationwide Open House Weekend and my open house today was near my manager's open house. I usually put up lots of signs but TODAY I only used four signs but my open house was on the route to his. I use generic signs. Tom uses personalized signs!

We are an open house market. Or parts of our market are good open house territory.

In addition to the Nationwide Open House Weekend, Real Living HER has a special three week open house promotion going on in central Ohio."

The point of the Redfin video? San Francisco – 83 percent of listings hold an open house. There is a high correlatation between the homes that have an open house and those that sell within 90 days. I wish we were San Francisco and you could count on the open house selling the house.

The light green bars are homes for sale. The dark green bars are homes sold for the past 15 months.

The light green bar shows why we are in my opinion a good open house market. Or some parts of the Columbus Board of REALTORS mls is a good open house market. This graph is Franklin County single family homes.

There is inventory.... There are homes that need selling. There are houses for buyers to look at.

I could also show you another graph with a short light green bar and plead that the Columbus Board of REALTORS mls (or parts of it) are a good open house market... of course the listing agent on a great listing in Clintonville wants an open house the first Sunday it is on the market.

Is your neighborhood a good open house neighborhood? Not all neighborhoods are equal when it comes to open houses. Perhaps Clintonville is the San Francisco of Columbus.

Real Living HER Spring Open House Prize Promotion - 42" HDTV

Real Living HER is holding our final week of the Open House Promotion next weekend, May 5 and 6, 2012... Looking for open houses? The link in the right sidebar that says "Real Living HER Open House List" will get you there.

Real Living HER Open House Prize Promotion* Terms & Conditions Individuals can qualify to receive a 42” HDTV Visiting an open house – Win by Chance Drawing: Individuals who attend a Real Living HER open house on 4/21-22,4/28-29, 5/5-6 must fill out a completed registration card and return it to the Real Living HER agent hosting the open house that day in order to qualify for a chance to win a 42” HDTV Registrants must be 18 years or older to win. One winner from each weekend (April 21 & 22, April 28 & 29, and May 5 & 6) is chosen through a random drawing that takes place the Thursday after the open house. You will be contacted either by email or by phone for detailed instructions on how to redeem your prize. See official rules on HERRealtor.com

The funny Redfin (real estate company that is not in our market) video about Open Houses ends with the line:

"Everywhere else, it most likely doesn’t really matter whether or not you hold an open house, but if you’ve got a good agent, he or she will probably hold one anyway.”

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This post provided by Maureen McCabe of Real Living HER

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Exotic animals leaving Columbus Zoo today

Maureen McCabe Columbus Ohio real estate (Real Living HER - HER Realtors) — Fri, 04 May 2012 05:10:26 -0700

The surviving exotic animals housed at the Columbus Zoo since last fall are leaving Columbus today. Today?

Where were you last October when the lions, tigers and bears were let loose in Ohio? I was two counties west of Muskingum County, Ohio watching it on TV.

The next day the surviving animals moved to Columbus, to the Columbus Zoo. Columbus Zoo rescuse animals from Zanesville

The animals have been living in southern Delaware County at the Columbus Zoo. The Columbus Zoo has a Powell, Ohio address.

Mrs. Thompson, the owner of the surviving animals is taking them home to the Zanesville area. Today?

The photo of the entrance to the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium is tlarrow's. A link to the photo on Flickr:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/10141806@N04/2772254703/ tlarrow licensed the photo with a Creative Commons license which I believe allows me to use the photo here.

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Columbus home stager - Modern Touch Home Interiors

Maureen McCabe Columbus Ohio real estate (Real Living HER - HER Realtors) — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 11:47:12 -0700

Jamie Sweet is a Columbus home stager, her site is Modern Touch Home Interiors

The whole wide world...

Jamie is a member of ActiveRain the largest online real estate network in the US. Actually ActiveRain is international, we hob knob with lots of Canadians, there's a home stager from New Zealand, a real estate agent from Australia... I met Jamie through ActiveRain. You are reading this on an ActiveRain site... unless of course this post has been syndicated or hijacked!

Jamie's ActiveRain profile: Jamie Sweet - Modern Touch Home Interiors

There's no place like home... Columbus Ohio

Real estate is local. Home staging is local. You can look at a lot of pretty photos online but to get your home staged it is good old fashioned face to face, isn't it?

Jamie wrote:

"Top Seven Reasons You Should Professionally Stage Your Home

(1) Your House Will Sell Faster Which = More Money and Less Headache and Stress*

(2)   You Will Make More Money

(3)   The Cost of Staging Dosen't Cost a Dime

(4)   Only 10% of Home Buyers Can Visualize the Potential of a Home

(5)   Most Home Sellers Cannot View their House Objectively

(6)   Your Online Photos Will Stand Out Amongst the Competition

(7)   Leaving Your House in "AS IS" Condition Will Only Help Sell The Competition"

Jamie quotes an NAR (the trade organization most Central Ohio real estate agents belong to, the National Association of REALTORS®) study about how important home staging is for home sellers.

* A National Association of Realtors survey found that the longer a home stays on the market, the further below list price it drops. Homes that sold in the first 4 weeks averaged 1% more than the list price; 4 to 12 weeks averaged 5% less; 13 to 24 weeks averaged 6.4% less than list price; and 24 weeks averaged more than 10% less than list price."

Quoting liberally with Jamie's permission.

All Jamie's Columbus home stager - Modern Touch Home Interiors contact info is on her profile. Link above.

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Columbus Urban? Suburban? Xurban? Rural...

Maureen McCabe Columbus Ohio real estate (Real Living HER - HER Realtors) — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 12:33:18 -0700

Columbus Urban? Suburban? Rural? - by Maureen McCabe*

That Xurban thing confuses me...

The Xurbs are outside the suburbs?

I noticed this quote on Missy Caulk's (Ann Arbor MI ) blog post... Don't tell me it can't be done.

"When we get piled upon one another in large cities, as in Europe, we shall become as corrupt as Europe." Thomas Jefferson

Bear with me Columbus while I digress

Jefferson's quote was among a bunch of other Jefferson quotes on Missy's blog.... Missy's post has a political message... you know it's kinda that whole arming bears thing.

Political Science? History?

Maybe Missy's post is more complex than arming bears. If you live in a rural area armed bears would certainly be disconcerting... we don't have bears in Ohio do we? Or if we did they would certainly be way out further than the cornfields surrounding Columbus wouldn't they? Bears live in woods? Or at least that is where bears take care of business *(Urban Dictionary link... is there a rural dictionary?) .... and we don't have woods near Columbus really...

Anyway Missy's post is political which is not my cup of tea .... so it sent me scurrying away but not before I stole the one Thomas Jefferson quote from it.

Columbus Urban? Suburban? Rural?

Columbus is the 15th largest US city? Or is Columbus the 16th largest city in the US, losing ground to Austin Texas because Columbus is not growing as fast as Austin? A lot of Columbus size is growth in the outlying areas, urban sprawl if you will.... so most of our Columbus neighborhoods are hardly "piled upon one another."

Is Jefferson's quote applicable today?

Are New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Minneapolis, Philadelphia, Dallas, Seattle or even today's European cities more corrupt than Columbus because they are larger cities?

Or is it not size but density that corrupts cities? at least in Thomas Jefferson's perspective in the 18th century? Is it that "piled upon one another in large cities" that breeds corruption?

Is life out in the 'burbs less corrupted than urban living in Central Ohio?

*My Real Living profile says I work urban, suburban and rural areas... I don't believe Xurban is even a choice.

My profile also says:

"Locations Served:

Clintonville, Columbus, Dublin, Grandview, Hilliard, Lewis Center, Powell, Upper Arlington, Westerville, Worthington"

I think at least two of those Central Ohio communities may be in the Xurbs.... parts of others may be Xurban.

Columbus Dispatch can Ohio's cities be saved?

Does Columbus have bedroom communities?

Central Ohio neighborhoods who lives there?

photo credits:

The bears? The three bears are Sun Bears (helarctosmalayanus smallest members of the 'Ursidae' family ) which are native to South East Asia. These bears are living in Columbus? Powell? Shawnee Hills? The photographer used Shawnee Hills as a tag. The Columbus Zoo is where? The Sun Bear photos are from the Flickr stream of poplinre. Sun Bears

http://www.flickr.com/photos/poplinre/ / CC BY-SA 2.0

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The Year of the Rabbit 4709

Maureen McCabe Columbus Ohio real estate (Real Living HER - HER Realtors) — Thu, 03 Feb 2011 10:01:08 -0800

The Year of the Rabbit 4709 I believe the year in the Chinese lunar calendar is 4709 anyway*

Happy New Year, our February 3, 2011 to January 22, 2012 is the year of the Rabbit in the Chinese calendar I believe it is the year 4709.

It is the year of the cat in some Asian countries but in China it is the year of the rabbit.

Columbus Ohio has no "China Town"

I hear "Gung Hei Fat Choy" means "Happy New Year!" In a Chinese language?

The photo is a plain old Ohio rabbit. This guy (?) was at the Ohio State Fair in 2009. I have a lot of rabbit photos from the Ohio State Fair that year because I have a site that says "Rabbit, Rabbit, Rabbit the first of each month for good luck. Silly superstition...it is always the Year of the Rabbit on ColumbusBestBlog.com

Columbus Ohio has neighborhoods named German Village, Italian Village and even Hungarian Village (based on what groups settled there) but sadly there is no China Town in Columbus Ohio.

Chinese Astrology - The Year of the "Metal" Rabbit

Personally I don't really get the whole metal, water, earth etc. thing... way too complicated for me. Elements. This is the year of the Metal Rabbit... I have a hard time with Rabbits, Rats, Tigers, Dogs, Sheep, Pigs, etc. I don't know Western astrology either. I hear the stars shiftd and it is off? I am a Gemini who always thought I was a Cancer? I almost introduced Celtic astrology ... Druids, trees on ColumbusBestBlog.com a month or so ago but thought that might really get confusing or make me look nutty.

The Year of the Metal Rabbit makes me think of heavy metal music...

Cheryl Johnson in Los Angeles share with me on Facebook:

Cheryl wrote:

"Maureen:
If the year ends in 0 it is Yang Metal.
If the year ends in 1 it is Yin Metal.
If the year ends in 2 it is Yang Water.
If the year ends in 3 it is Yin Water.
If the year ends in 4 it is Yang Wood.
If the year ends in 5 it is Yin Wood.
If the year ends in 6 it is Yang Fire.
If the year ends in 7 it is Yin Fire.
If the year ends in 8 it is Yang Earth.
If the year ends in 9 it is Yin Earth."

Columbus Celebrates The Year of the Rabbit 4709

Is your favorite Central Ohio Chinese (or other Asian) restaurant doing anything special for the Chinese New Year? Are they celebrating the 'Year of the Rabbit' or the 'Year of the Cat'? I do not eat Asian food out often (other than Indian... do Indians use a lunar calendar?) so I am not keeping up as I should on what is going on at Chinese restaurants in Columbus... or other Asian restaurants either.

News of a Columbus Ohio Chinese New Year event... from Circle of Harmony, a Columbus Ohio martial arts school explains what we call the Chinese New Year is the Spring Festival:

"Ming Lu School of Tai Chi Chuan host a Spring Festival celebration and we are invited to join them. You will see demonstrations of Tai Chi, fan boxing, and sword as well as an Aikido demonstration by the Circle of Harmony. This year, the celebration will be held on Saturday February 5, 2011 from 2:00pm to 4:00pm at the Elizabeth Blackwell Center, 3635 Olentangy River Rd, Columbus Ohio. "

Circle of Harmony is a Japanese martial arts school in Columbus. Circle of Harmony on the north side (the Devonshire neighborhood, is in the 43229 zip code) teaches Japanese martial arts according to their site. The Circle of Harmony Google page (and their site) says "We offer training in the traditional Japanese martial arts of Aikido, Aiki Ju Jutsu and Ju Jitsu (Aiki Budo)" Circle of Hamony got good reviews on their Google page.

What's your sign? Chinese astrology based on a lunar calendar that goes back a lot of years*:

Last year 4708.. Year of the Tiger, Feng Shui Tips for the New Year

I was not in the mood in 4707? I can not find a Chinese New Year post!

The Year of the Rat - 2008

Happy New Year 4705 (2007)

Gung Hei Fat Choy Columbus and a properous Year of the Rabbit 4709

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Graceland Shopping Center - 2010

Maureen McCabe Columbus Ohio real estate (Real Living HER - HER Realtors) — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 07:35:46 -0700

Graceland Shopping Center

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.)

Edit September 2011 to add the tag "Graceland" so I can find this post!

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My new startup Timu officially launches

Maureen McCabe Columbus Ohio real estate (Real Living HER - HER Realtors) — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 15:03:37 -0700

Hey Ohio sports fans... baseball, soccer, skateboarding, unicycling?

Not My new startup Matt Heaton's new startup

.... Central Ohio sports fans here's a network for athletes, sports teams and fans. Read what Matt has to say, I don't see any Ohio teams on the list. Little league team, soccer team....

Via Matt Heaton (Timu Corp - CEO, ActiveRain - Co-founder):

Yesterday was a big day for me, after 8 months of planning and product development work finally launched my new startup, Timu. Timu gave me a chance to apply many of the lessons learned with designing and building ActiveRain to another market, amateur sports.

It's a social networking platform specifically built to solve the communications problems encountered by athletes, sports teams and their fans. Online social networking is a natural way to solve many of these problems. Yet, existing social networks provide disjointed solutions that do not handle sports specific features, such as player rosters, game results and statistics. At the same time existing sports web site offerings provide little interactivity and user engagement.

Individual athletes can setup an profile on Timu in minutes. Profiles can be customized with information about the sports they participate in, teams they play on, and their competitive highlights. Photos, videos can be uploaded, and various “widgets” can be added or modified. These profiles serve as one center of communication within Timu.

Coaches, players, or parents can create a team center for your team on Timu. Team centers provide many features like team news, schedules, player rosters, photos, game results, statistics, statistics and a wide range of commmunication tools. All of the people associated with the team can be invited to become members of the team center, which can then function as a hub for team communications.

A few examples of team centers: http://bellevueblaze.timu.com http://dreadsox.timu.com http://baseball.timu.com

Currently Timu supports about 30 different sports ranging from baseball and soccer to unicycling. Each of these sports has it’s own section or hub on Timu including photos, videos, game results and discussions. Timu members can participate in the conversation at these hubs about their sport. As Timu grows we will be providing the ability to view these hubs by region, subsection of a sport, or even by sporting venue.

Create a Sports Profile

Setup your Team on Timu

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This post provided by Maureen McCabe of Real Living HER

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