Monthly Archives: February 2010

A Columbus Doxie Tweet-Up?

Posted on 02/12/2010 | Leave a comment

It’s been awhile since The Murph wrote an article here. He just learned of an event being held in Houston, TX and asked if he could share it with HIS fans. Since he’s had such a tough time with this snow that’s deeper than he is tall, I decided to humor him because I feel sorry for him.

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dachshund in car seat When Mom’s not looking, I take over her laptop and search for doggie articles on the Internet. Specifically articles on dachshunds. That’s why she had to spend a lot of money having her laptop fixed because my dog hair ruined some of the parts. The repair shop told her to keep “THE DOG” (that’s me) away from it. Hah! Fat chance of that happening.

I’ve decided that Houston might be a fun place to live … not just because they don’t get a bunch of snow. They’re having wiener dog races this month. I can run really, really fast so I’m sure I would do well.

They’re also having a dachshund tweet-up/meet-up. Now, that certainly would be a lot of fun. Not sure what facility would be willing to host the event … Doxies can be pretty noisy. It’s our duty to bark … even if it seems we’re barking for no reason at all. And we can bark really ((((LOUD))))! That’s so the hunter can hear us when we’re in the rabbit hole. I wonder if the humans wear ear plugs at these events.

I must talk to Mom about organizing a tweet-up here in the Columbus area. I know that she tweets with other local Doxie parents … I can see that because I curl up next to the laptop … which I’m not supposed to do … but I digress …

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Copyright © 2010. 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, Dog Tails, Humor, Uncategorized

Tagged dachshunds, wiener dog races

The Snow Will Melt … sometime … maybe

Posted on 02/11/2010 | 2 Comments

Although the weather forecast isn’t calling for any days above freezing yet, we certainly hope that these FEET of snow go away eventually. When the melting begins, we’ll need to be ever present for potential damage to our homes.

I learned a lesson a few years ago regarding the exterior sump pump pipe. We had some melting days, but then the nights would cause refreezing. The drain that opens to the street was still packed with snow. This meant that the melting snow flowing into the inside sump pit couldn’t eject the water into the street. As a result, the water stayed in the ground pipe and froze. Once it froze, there was no where for the sump water to go.

A local news station had a report on how to fix this problem that apparently others were having as well. First step is to clear the snow from the curb drain so that when melting does start, there is a place for the flowing water to go.

If the drain from the house to the street is already blocked with frozen water, then you may need to unscrew the cap near the top of the sump pipe (see arrow in photo) to allow the water to eject. The TV station mentioned that there was a special extender that could be purchased at a store like Home Depot or Lowe’s that could be attached to the sump pipe to carry the water away from the home’s foundation. By the time I went to the store, they were all sold out so I had to jerry rig a 5-ft long piece of PVC pipe to expel the water away so that it wouldn’t just flow back down near the foundation, causing the sump pump to recirculate the same water over and over.

So, as you’re out shoveling the drive and sidewalks, you should also shovel the snow from the sump’s curb drain to allow the water to flow freely which might avoid having it freeze in the pipe to the house. When the chunk of ice on my drain finally thawed enough to flow out to the street, it was a nearly 30″ long cylinder of ice.

I learned my lesson and will be clearing that curb drain … just as soon as the snow plows quit piling it up again and again.

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Posted in Central Ohio, Fix-ups, Homes

Tagged central ohio real estate market news, sump drains, winter home damage

Realtors® Were Busy in January

Posted on 02/09/2010 | 2 Comments

I’ve been mentioning in several of my articles during January that the real estate agents in my Powell office, as well as others I speak with, are reporting that they have and are busy with both buyers and sellers. I just checked the January data from the MLS and the numbers support what agents have been saying.

Look at the white bars! Those are the number of homes that were in-contract at the end of January! Can you believe it! Go Hilliard! Those homes that went into contract during January will probably close in February.

Jan 2010 housing sales by school district

Click to enlarge graph

The bright blue bars reflect actual closings in January 2010. The light blue bars indicate January 2009 actual closings for comparison. The number of closings were higher in 2010 for all but three of the school district areas, compared to 2009. Imagine what February actual sales are going to be like.

For you buyers and sellers who have been fence-sitting waiting till the weather improves before they take advantage of the Tax Credits, look what you’re missing.

“He who hesitates, is lost.”

“The early bird gets the worm.”

“Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

EDITED: I split the Olentangy school district into “east of Rt 23″ (LC) and “west of Rt 23 (PO). If I hadn’t done that, the pending sales would be greater than Hilliard at 128 homes. Jan 2010 sales were 42 vs 2009 at 37.

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Posted in Buyers, Central Ohio, Delaware County, Delaware Ohio, Dublin Ohio, Franklin County, Galena Ohio, Hilliard Ohio, Homes, Homes for sale, Housing stats, Lewis Center Ohio, Powell Ohio, Real Living HER, Realtors®, Sellers, Worthington Ohio

Tagged $6500 Current Homeowner Tax Credit, $8000 1st Time Buyer Tax Credit, central ohio real estate market news

A Realtor’s® Super Bowl Sunday

Posted on 02/07/2010 | 2 Comments

Today was another of those “glamorous” Realtor® days we get to experience. I needed to check my listings after the big weekend snow storm. duck boots

Put on my trusty duck boots and dachshund socks. I think I may have a problem with these boots in 14″ of snow. Normally they work very well because they’re easy to slip out of when going into homes, but they’re not great for trudging through deep snow. I suppose it would be futile to try to QUICKLY find taller boots in a nearby store after the weekend snow.

snowy sidewalk in Westerville OH 43082 Drove to a listing to shovel the sidewalk so agents with buyers can get to the front door. Don’t want to miss a showing, you know.

Elaine Reese sold another home Drove to another listing to make sure my yard sign wasn’t snowed in. I shoveled out the snow at the base and tried to straighten the sign in the frozen ground. Then I put a new “SALE PENDING” sign strip in the top. YEAH!

The neighbor was just finishing clearing the driveway with a Bobcat. That’s a real handy gadget for long drives. But getting through the deep piles of snow that he moved, meant I was up to my knees in snow. The duck boots are failing me big time at this point.

snowy deck near Hoover Reservoir, Galena OH 43021 I took some extra photos while I was there simply because it was pretty. Not much fun to sit on this deck now, but it will be pretty the other three seasons. I would expect that the Kokopelli artwork (behind the chairs) wishes it was back home in Arizona.

snowy home in Delaware OH 43015
Came home to my snow filled neighborhood. I think our area had more snow than the other areas I drove through. Supposedly we got 14″. I judge the depth by the bird bath to the right of the big tree. I’m glad to see the ornamental tree by my front window survived. Saturday morning I feared it would split as all the limbs were bent down touching the ground.

Don’t you wish you could have had an exciting day Like I did?

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Posted in Central Ohio, Delaware County, Delaware Ohio, Elaine's Listings, Galena Ohio, Homes, Homes for sale, Real Living HER, Realtor® selection, Realtors®, Sellers

Tagged condo for sale, Hoover Reservoir home for sale, Westerville OH 43082

Snow on the ground … snow on the ground …

Posted on 02/05/2010 | Leave a comment

We’re in the process of a getting a rather large amount of snow. Who knows what it will look like by morning. Delaware County is to get between 10-14″ by tomorrow night.

The WEENR-mobile is 4WD which certainly is handy. When I was out shoveling the drive … AND shoveling a path for The Murph, I could hear the unique engine sound of some snow mobiles.

This white stuff is pretty as long as we don’t have to drive in it.

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Posted in Central Ohio, Delaware County, Delaware Ohio

Tagged central ohio real estate market news

Don’t touch my Tort!

Posted on 02/03/2010 | Leave a comment

I learned a new legal term this week thanks to a LinkedIn discussion. While Realtors® cannot give legal advice, there are a lot of laws that we need to know and abide by. I knew that the issue being discussed was not legal but I didn’t know it had a special term.

I love it when I learn something new!

The term I learned is “Tortious Interference“. So what does it mean to interfere with someone’s “tort”? Here’s what Wikipedia says:

Although the specific elements required to prove a claim of tortious interference vary from one jurisdiction to another, they typically include the following:

1. The existence of a contractual relationship or beneficial business relationship between two parties.
2. Knowledge of that relationship by a third party.
3. Intent of the third party to induce a party to the relationship to breach the relationship.
4. Lack of any privilege on the part of the third party to induce such a breach.
5. Damage to the party against whom the breach occurs.

Now you’re probably wondering what on earth this has to do with real estate. The term was referenced in a discussion about buyers asking for a portion, or reduction of, the commission that a seller agrees to pay the listing broker and Realtor®. Once in a while, a buyer may think that if they don’t use a Realtor® that they can expect to receive, or get a reduction to, the co-op portion that the listing broker may pay a buyer’s broker for helping to sell the home.

The Listing Agreement is a Contract between the Seller, the Listing Broker, and the Realtor® representing the broker. (That’s item #1 in the list above.) The Seller has contracted with the Listing Broker to market the home and to find a “ready, willing and able buyer for the home whether or not the buyer chooses to be represented by a Realtor®”.

I knew that the terms of one contract can’t be negotiated with the terms of another contract, i.e. a Purchase Offer that attempts to negotiate the terms of the Listing Contract. I just didn’t know it had a fancy legal name or that there might be legal consequences for the buyer.

So here’s a heads-up. If you’re a buyer considering asking a listing Realtor® to reduce their fee to the seller, you may want to discuss with your attorney to see if “tortious interference” applies in your area.

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

Tagged tortious interference