Monthly Archives: September 2009

“Thunder on the Creek” at Alum Creek

Posted on 09/14/2009 | Leave a comment

Would you like something exciting to do this weekend? ThisWeekNews is reporting that on Saturday, the 19th, ”Thunder on the Creek” will occur at the north beach area of Alum Creek.

It will be a hydroplane power boat exhibition and is sanctioned by the American Power Boat Association. The races will feature both current and vintage hydroplanes. The entire event runs from 8:00 AM to 6:00 PM. The boat illustrated here is not a hydroplane. The hydroplanes are the ones we sometimes see doing somersaults in the air.

I enjoyed going to the car races through downtown Columbus many years ago, so this should be exciting as well. I love speed. As Tom said in Top Gun … “I have the NEED for SPEED!”

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Posted in Central Ohio, Delaware County, Water fun

Tagged Alum Creek Reservoir, hydroplane boats

Updated – Current Real Estate Property Tax Rates

Posted on 09/10/2009 | 2 Comments

I just updated a real estate property tax rate graph for Franklin County and Delaware County. As might be expected, many taxing areas showed increases versus last year’s update. The graph shows the dollar rate per $1000 assessed value of the home.

Click to enlarge chart

In central Ohio, we pay property taxes in arrears. The taxes we paid last June were for the period Jul-Dec 2008. The taxes that we will pay the end of this coming Dec, will be for the period Jan-Jun 2009. When a home seller sells their home, they must pay all the taxes that are due up to the closing date. Sometimes, this can equal up to 11 months of taxes. This can be a shocker for sellers if they’ve not considered it or didn’t use a Realtor® who gave them a Net Equity Estimate at the time they listed the home.

Our property taxes help fund our local school districts, which can be a contentious subject. Wealthier areas may be more likely to pass school levies, which can seem to give their district an edge over less wealthy districts. Some people would like to see that discrepancy removed such that all districts are treated more equally, regardless of the property values, and ability of home owners to fund levy increases. No solution has been given yet.

Since the tax rates are used to fund the schools, it’s convenient to also consider the Ohio Dept of Education’s annual Report Card for the districts. The Dept of Education issues one of six grades for each district, as well as for each school. The six grades are:

Excellent With Distinction (Arlington, Dublin, Hilliard, New Albany-Plain Local, Olentangy, Worthington)
Excellent (Big Walnut, Westerville)
Effective (Buckeye Valley, Delaware)
Continuous Improvement
Academic Watch
Academic Emergency

So how is YOUR district doing? Are you getting your money’s worth?

Copyright © 2009. Elaine Reese, Real Living HER. Reproduction of any portion of this blog post or the images is prohibited by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. If this post is being viewed on any site other than www.ReesesPiecesOfRealEstate.com then the material has been stolen without permission. Violators will be reported.

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Posted in Central Ohio, Delaware County, Franklin County, Homes, Housing stats, Schools

Tagged Big Walnut school district, Buckeye Valley school district, central ohio real estate market, Delaware school district, Dublin school district, Hilliard school district, Olentangy school district, Plain Local school district, real estate property tax rates, Westerville school district, Worthington school district

Number of Homes Sold in 2009 vs 2008

Posted on 09/07/2009 | Leave a comment

For most of the year, we’ve had the benefit of the $8,000 1st Time Home Buyer’s Tax Credit. Has it helped or has it stimulated the local central Ohio real estate market?

I prepared two charts – one for Delaware County and one for Franklin County – that shows the number of homes and condos sold in ’09 vs ’08 by pricing segment. I admit that I thought there would be stronger evidence for the effectiveness of the stimulus money especially in the under $200,000 range. I’ll let you draw your own conclusions.

Delaware County Homes Sold by Price Range:

The average price of homes/condos sold in 2009 was $258,498. That’s down 8% versus the $281,586 in 2008.

Click to enlarge chart

Franklin County Homes Sold by Price Range:

The average price of homes/condos sold in 2009 was $148,777. That’s down 4% versus the $155,542 in 2008.

Click to enlarge chart

What do you think these charts are telling us? Did the stimulus work? Did it forestall a lower decline? What can we do to spur sales of higher priced homes?

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Posted in Central Ohio, Delaware County, Franklin County, Homes, Housing stats

Tagged central ohio real estate market news

BREAKING NEWS – JUMBO LOAN SPECIAL!

Posted on 09/03/2009 | Leave a comment

JUMBO LOAN STARTING AT 4.75% INTEREST!

A loan officer just emailed me with a limited time opportunity to get a Jumbo Loan starting at 4.75% interest rate. The minimum mortgage amount on a Jumbo Loan is $417,001 and requires 25% down.

This very low interest rate is great news since the government has done nothing to assist the upscale market. But you’ll have to ACT NOW before the limited amount of funds allocated for this program is depleted.

You can use it to purchase this phenomenal home which is already priced way below market at only

$115/sq ft for 5190 sq ft on 3 wooded acres
just east of Hoover Reservoir … $599,000

Give me a call at 614-825-8860. I’ll put you in touch with the lender so you can make sure you get a GREAT DEAL on the mortgage for this awesome home that is already a great deal!

ACT NOW!!

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Posted in Buyers, Central Ohio, Delaware County, Galena Ohio, Home buying process, Homes, Homes for sale

Tagged Hoover Reservoir

Home Buyers … Your Time Is Up!

Posted on 09/01/2009 | Leave a comment

Home buyers planning to take advantage of the $8,000 First Time Buyers Tax Credit, may think they have some time to buy a home since the program is effective until Dec 1, 2009. In reality, you need to be in contract by the end of Sept in order to BE ASSURED of closing by Nov 30. Some agents are saying buyers need to be in-contract by Oct 15 but I think that’s cutting it too close and doesn’t allow for any “WHOOPS!

Working backward from the closing date, here’s my thoughts on timing …

Nov 30 – a Monday: The absolute last day when the home MUST be closed, title transferred, mortgage funded & wire receipts received. Waiting to close on this date means that absolutely NOTHING can go wrong! Now, there will be people who wait till the last minute, so consider how busy the title companies will be. Maybe you’ll get in their schedule and maybe you won’t.
Nov 23-25 (Mon-Wed): Closing on these dates should be a much safer option as some “slop” factor is built-in, however, remember that is Thanksgiving week so title companies may not work on the 27th.
Nov 16 (Mon): The new MDIA rules requires that lenders must submit the final closing costs to the buyer for review 7 days in advance of closing. This means the loan needs final underwriting approval and all HUD-required forms be completed by Nov 13 so they’re ready to give to the buyer on the 16th.
Oct 14 (Wed): Lenders are wanting 30-days once the go-ahead is given to order an appraisal. Underwriting can’t occur until the appraisal is received and hopefully is at or above the purchase price. Since appraisers and underwriters are going to very busy with all the last minute requests, that 30-day may be extended to 45-days, as some lenders are already requesting.
Oct 12 (Mon): The inspection contingency portion of the Purchase Contract should be removed so the buyer can advise their lender to proceed with ordering the appraisal.
Sept 28 (Mon): The buyer should be in-contract on a home, ready to have their home inspections scheduled.

Between now and Sept 28, the buyer will be meeting with their selected lender, obtaining & providing the required paperwork to become pre-approved for a mortgage, so they know what price of home they can shop for. They should also be selecting and meeting with a Realtor® concurrently with selecting a lender. Most likely the lender will be able to give a “first blush” idea of the home price with a pre-qualification. That information can be used with the Realtor® to begin searching the MLS system for homes meeting the buyer’s criteria with the “expected” price range.

Depending on how much free time the buyer has available from their work schedule to view homes, the buyer should be starting this process in the next few days. Give me a call to get started. YOUR TIME IS UP!

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Posted in Buyers, Central Ohio, Home buying process, Homes, Homes for sale

Tagged first-time home buyers, home buyer tax credit