Monthly Archives: October 2009

Luxury Homes Sales in Delaware County, Ohio

Posted on 10/18/2009 | Leave a comment

The luxury home market has had a tough year in 2009. With the economic stimulus favoring the lower end market, upscale homes have encountered slower than normal sales. This seems to be a nationwide problem as reported by other Realtors®.

The following graph reflects monthly sales by price range for just southern Delaware County. Also provided are the number of active listings currently for sale. The important take on this data is the absorption rate, which is how long it will take to sell the current listings based on the sales for the past nine months. For instance, there are 40 active listings priced in the $700,000 range. Between Jan-Sep, 15 such homes were sold. Based on that sales rate, it will take 2 years to sell the current inventory of 40 homes.

Normally, Realtors® will advise sellers to lower their price to the next lower bracket to attract a buyer. However, this chart would seem to indicate that for these upscale homes, that will not have the effect that it can have in lower priced homes. There are simply too few buyers in these upper ranges. Therefore, sellers need to make sure their home is priced at or slightly below the market to have it have maximum appeal to the few buyers that are shopping. Everyone wants to get a good deal, and that applies to the upscale buyer as well as the first-time buyer.

Luxury Homes Sold in Delaware County Ohio

Click to enlarge chart

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 Buyers, Central Ohio, Delaware County, Home prices, Homes, Homes for sale, Housing stats, Sellers

Tagged central ohio real estate market news, luxury homes in central ohio

“Central Ohio’s Best Residential Real Estate Agency”

Posted on 10/14/2009 | Leave a comment

Real Living HER was the winner of Columbus CEO’s “Best of the Best 2009″ award for “Best Residential Real Estate Agency”. You can read about it in the November issue which is on the stands now.

The winners were the result of nominations by CEO readers, so that makes the award so much more meaningful. I knew Real Living was the best broker to be associated with due to all the technological tools and advances that they offer to agents and our clients. It’s nice to know that the public, especially the CEO readers, recognize that Real Living is far and away the best.

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Posted in Central Ohio, Media, Real Living HER, Realtors®

Tagged Best Residential Real Estate Agency, Columbus CEO magazine, Real Living HER wins Columbus CEO Best of Business award

I’m now on Facebook.

Posted on 10/14/2009 | Leave a comment

I have resisted having a Facebook page. There I said it!

I’m on LinkedIN and enjoy it for the professional contacts. I tweet on Twitter and find it beneficial because I primarily use it for a news feed and like knowing what’s going on in the world as well as locally. (I don’t do the I’m having coffee or I’ve got a headache folks.) I have this blog as well as my photoblog to primarily share real estate info and area photos with you who choose to read.

But I resisted Facebook. At least I tried to resist.

One of my daughters set up a Facebook account, plus I’ve had some clients ask why I don’t have one. So after several months, I finally caved!

Unlike this blog – which is open for the world to see – I’m planning to keep my Facebook account “closer to the vest” so that I can share more personal info with family, friends, clients, and neighbors. I’ve already found some “old” classmates that I haven’t seen for ___ years. (not sharing how “old”)

Yesterday I chatted with my daughter via IM which took less time than email or a phone call, using the Facebook chat feature. Have you heard that email is becoming obsolete? Yep, I read that on Twitter from the WSJ. It’s a new world of communication. I’m not sure it’s better, but it’s the way it is now. As one of my oldest granddaughter’s friends said about me, “I’m a COOL grandma”.

Can I add “COOL GRANDMA” to my list of credentials?

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Posted in Commentary, Humor, Internet, Technology

Tagged Facebook

Your Tax Dollars At “Work”?

Posted on 10/11/2009 | 2 Comments

You may not be a blogger or care anything about the nuts ‘n’ bolts of blogging, but if you’re reading this, then obviously you DO read blogs. The one thing I think I can be fairly certain of is that I’ll bet you care how your tax dollars are being spent. Right? Especially in today’s economy as the government seems to keep adding layers and adding costs from increased regulation.

No free speech On Monday, (Oct 5, 09), the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) decided that it needs to regulate blogging in order to protect consumers. That’s right … they’re going to assign people to monitor the hundreds of thousands of blogs to make sure that if a blogger receives something free or payment for blogging about a product, that the blogger discloses that fact. This regulation will also include testimonials.

The rules take effect Dec 1, 09 and violations can result in various sanctions, including lawsuits. The “guides are not binding law, but rather interpretations of law”. Interpretations?? Read the NYT article.

IMO, given the trillions of dollars in debt that our country is in, creating a Federal Dept. to watch what I say or don’t say, is a HUGE waste of money! They’ll be watching the mommy-bloggers, the garden bloggers, the foodie bloggers, and all the other gazillion bloggers then interpret whether they’re violating the guidelines. Yes, there are a few bloggers who are paid for positive reviews of a product or a company or a restaurant’s meal. Are there enough of them to warrant this cost? I really doubt it. Can you say CAVEAT EMPTOR? The majority of bloggers simply comment on a product, menu, or movie that they happened to like … or not.

I don’t have a testimonial page, but a lot of real estate agents do. Some of those testimonials are real, some are made up by the agent. Will those agents be forbidden to hide behind a disclaimer that “results may not be typical”?

For the record, I haven’t received any money for blogging … EXCEPT when one of the homes I have blogged about is sold. When I write about one of my listings that is for sale, will I now have to disclose that if the home is sold, that I’ll receive a portion of the commission that the seller is paying to my broker? That would seem obvious to me, but I guess the government doesn’t think you’re smart enough to figure that out, and therefore, you need to be protected.

In regard to this new ruling, a fellow blogger suggested that politicians should be required to wear patches representing the lobbyists who fund them … much in the way that race car drivers wear patches for the companies that support them with money. That doesn’t seem like a bad idea. How ’bout the FTC works on THAT disclosure?

What are your thoughts on this government expense?

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Posted in Commentary, Realtors®

Tagged FTC blogging guides

Buyer Showings by Zip Code for Central Ohio

Posted on 10/09/2009 | Leave a comment

The timing to take advantage of the $8,000 1st Time Home Buyer’s Tax Credit is basically over since the closing must occur by Nov 30. Nationally and locally, real estate agents believed it helped sell lower priced homes but did little to stimulate home sales priced over $300K. While REO’s, short-sales and foreclosure inventories may have been reduced, these homes do nothing to benefit the move-up market since they aren’t owned by sellers who plan to buy a different home.

I’ve spoken with other agents who say they have noticed a decline in showings in the past week, especially over $300K. I decided to explore how showings have been the past month by using the market reports from Centralized Showing Service, which is the company most brokers use to conveniently set up our showings.

As the graph shows, there is a substantial difference in the number of showings in the lower price ranges. The chart is by zip code which means 2 or 3 school districts can be in one zip. (CSS reports don’t allow for a search by school district.) If your home is currently for sale or you’re planning to list your home, this will give you an idea as to what you might expect for the number of showings based on your price range or zip code.

Click to enlarge graph, then click again to read zips

If your home isn’t yet listed and you would like to see data for your specific home, give me a call or email me.

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Posted in Buyers, Central Ohio, Delaware County, Delaware Ohio, Dublin Ohio, Franklin County, Galena Ohio, Home prices, Homes, Homes for sale, Housing stats, Lewis Center Ohio, Powell Ohio, Sellers, Worthington Ohio

Tagged central ohio real estate market news, home showings by zip code

Confession: I was a Realtor’s Nightmare

Posted on 10/08/2009 | Leave a comment

The first home I purchased (1987), was a new build. I was so excited watching as it went from just a hole in the ground, through the framing stage to ultimate completion. I had a blank canvas on which to put my touch both inside and out. And, boy, did I take advantage of that for the eight years I lived there.

By the time I sold it in ’95, the backyard was a jungle, and there were no white walls inside. You see, since my plans were to one day retire to Tucson, I decorated my OHIO home in the way Tucson homes were decorated. I wanted to “feel” like I was living there even though I wasn’t there yet. The colors we associate with Arizona – turquoise, pinks, oranges – are the colors of the soil (caliche), so the homes are actually camouflaged. Obviously, we don’t find those colors here, so … well … it just looks weird here.

When I was ready to sell, I selected a very nice agent that had been recommended to me. Normally, Jim is a quiet person with mild expressions. However, when we met to sign the listing papers and do the walk-thru of my home, I still chuckle at the look he had on his face when he walked into my bedroom. While he was too nice and quiet to ever say it, I’m sure he was thinking “OMG“! scan0004

scan0003 I had painted the upper walls the color of the AZ ground, with a special AZ-style wallpaper and co-ordinating border. I had to flip through LOTS of wallpaper books before I found just the “perfect” one.

The purpose of the wall mural was to make me feel like I was looking out on a lanai when I woke up in cold winter mornings.

scan0002 As if the bedroom wasn’t bad enough, the adjoining bath used the THIRD version of the coordinating paper. Don’t ya’ just love it!

I agreed to repaint some of the other rooms, but I told Jim that I didn’t have time to redo this room. I remember telling him that the buyers would either like it or they wouldn’t. (I was a “bad” seller) Now that I am a Realtor®, I can fully appreciate what Jim must have been thinking.

Apparently, the buyers liked the rest of the home, and I’ve no idea what their thoughts were on this room, but we went into contract in 13 days at full price. So kudos to Jim for a job well done.

My advice for today’s sellers … don’t do what I did. It’s an entirely different market than it was in ’95, and today’s buyers want neutral because they’re too busy to undo your “custom” decorating.

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Posted in Central Ohio, Fix-ups, Franklin County, Home selling process, Homes, Homes for sale, Sellers

Tagged AZ style home in OH