Monthly Archives: January 2011

To Faux or Not To Faux … that is the question

Posted on 01/30/2011 | Leave a comment

There is something that real estate agents see all too often … and it’s not pretty!

I suspect it starts with the cable network’s home fix-up shows. Now that wallpaper is no longer in favor – because people learned how hard it was to remove – people are turning to other ways to add “interest” to their walls. Thus, the FAUX PAINTING concept was born.

We often see examples of homeowners who have taken an hour-long course at their local home improvement store to learn how to do faux painting. I think they must decide to “practice” on a kid’s room and choose Cookie Monster blue as their choice of colors. I’ve seen the Cookie Monster blue way too often in the kid’s room or their bath.

MOM: YOUR KID CAN “GO BLIND” WITH THAT!

While I’ve not tried faux painting, judging by what I see when showing homes, it must be difficult to paint in the corners and against the ceiling. Those areas are where there is usually too much paint compared to the rest of the wall.

When the painters were doing my home, out of curiosity, I asked them if they did faux painting. They don’t. If a homeowner wants it, they call in a faux professional. That should be a clue to DIY’ers that if the professional painters call a faux painting expert, it must not be that easy.

Faux painting can be quite attractive – when done properly. When selling your home, it’s not a deterrent to buyers as wallpaper is, but it must be done very well or it can be a turn-off. So practice, practice, practice until you are skilled to do an entire wall and especially the corners. That way your Realtor® won’t make you paint over it when you decide to sell your home. GOOD LUCK!

Copyright © 2011. 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, Fix-ups, Home selling process, Homes, Sellers

Tagged central ohio real estate market news, faux painting

January Tips for Spring Home Sellers

Posted on 01/24/2011 | Leave a comment

It’s the end of January. People have been stuck in their homes for 2 months now with this winter. But just as gardeners are scanning through the seed catalogs dreaming of warmer weather, homeowners are thinking of getting their homes ready to put on the market when spring comes. (I’m sure it will arrive … eventually.)

I’ve had several calls from sellers this month to discuss what they need to do now while they’re stuck inside. Might as well start working on the to-do list when there isn’t much else to do except shovel snow and shiver.

Best time to put the home on the market?

I recommend having it ready to put the for-sale sign in the yard at least by the first week of March. Lest you think that sounds far away, it’s only 5-weeks from now. That’s not much time if you have much work to do.

Concerned about a buyer’s home inspection?

If you’ve not kept up with home maintenance or if you’ve done some work without getting proper building permits, you might choose to hire a home inspector to allow you to fix things in advance so they don’t become deal-killers later when you have an offer. If you didn’t get building permits that were required, you’ll have to disclose that on the Residential Property Disclosure Form that must be given to the buyer. Call me for names of some reputable home inspectors.

Is your carpet & paint in tip-top shape?

I just did this fix-up in December, so I can make recommendations if you don’t want to paint yourself. Carpet installation should NOT be a DIY project. While it’s not inexpensive to do these repairs, you’ll get the money back in price or time on the market. Call me for names of companies that will give discounts.

Do you need to de-clutter?

You know it’s got to be done, don’t you? Yes, I know it’s not fun, but … it will need to be packed for your move anyway, so start early. If you haven’t used it for 6-months, make it go away. You can consider giving it to charity or sell it to consignment shops or simply trash it. I called 1-800-GOT-JUNK to get rid of some old, old furniture that I no longer wanted. I can get you a discount.

Not sure what you need to do?

Give me a call and we can schedule an appointment to discuss further. That’s one of the services I do for my clients.

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

Tagged central ohio real estate market news, tips for home sellers

Another home project – ceiling fan installation

Posted on 01/19/2011 | Leave a comment

I’ve lived in my current home nearly 14 years. I never had a ceiling fan installed even though there was a rough-in for one. After my December makeover, I decided that now was the time.

At the first home I had built, I did the installation. That home also had a 2-story ceiling but the ceiling was flat where the rough-in was. I rented a huge step-ladder, managed to get it home in the sports car I had then, and proceeded to do the installation. For that home I had purchased a Casablanca fan that was heavy. When attached to the extender rod, I couldn’t lift all of it with one hand while making the attachment with the other … and being 14 ft in the air was no thrill either. So I had to go next door to ask my neighbor if I could borrow her husband.

This time I decided to have Lowe’s (Polaris store) do the installation. BTW, I had checked fans at Home Depot but they don’t install higher than 13 ft.

I made a video of the installation. The section of the vid where I speak is hard to see as the light from the windows behind me affected the contrast. Oh well, you don’t need to see me anyway.

View my YouTube Channel for other vids that I’ve made at http://www.youtube.com/reesespeanutteam

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Posted in Central Ohio, Delaware County, Delaware Ohio, Fix-ups, Homes, Lewis Center Ohio

Tagged ceiling fan installation by Lowe's, central ohio real estate market news

Delaware County (OH) property taxes are about due

Posted on 01/16/2011 | Leave a comment

Did you receive your Delaware County property tax invoice in the mail this past week? They were sent out and are to be paid by Feb 10, 2011. I just wrote the check and licked the envelope to pay mine.

You’ll only receive the invoice IF you do not have to escrow them with your mortgage payment. Whether or not they are escrowed was determined by your lender at the time you bought the home and is based on how much you put down on the home. (Generally requires 20% or more down payment to avoid escrowing the money).

If your property taxes and home insurance are paid with your mortgage payment and escrowed, then the invoice will be sent to your mortgage holder to be paid from the escrow account. You’ll never see the invoice but do watch on your next statement to make sure the taxes were paid.

There are some interesting details on the invoice that you might want to review.

You can see how your tax amount is appropriated to various entities, such as the school district, the library, 911, vocational school, etc.
Usually there are reductions to your tax amount, based on whether you are occupying the home or whether you qualify for the Homestead reduction (65 & over).
There’s also a special notice that if the taxes aren’t paid within one year from the due date, the property is subject to foreclosure. So better pay them.

If you have any questions, call the Delaware County Treasurer’s office at 740-833-2480. The Treasurer now is Jon Peterson. The office is located on the 1st floor of the Delaware County Services Bldg at 140 N Sandusky St in Delaware.

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Posted in Central Ohio, Delaware County, Delaware Ohio

Tagged real estate property taxes

Paint your home now & get a discount

Posted on 01/16/2011 | Leave a comment

The firm that painted the interior of my home in December (see those posts) has advised me that they are offering a Spring Special for my readers only. Schedule your paint work before March and receive a 15% discount. The discount they previously offered my readers was 10%.

The company is Dynamic Painting in Lewis Center. Call them at 614-554-5630. They do both interior and exterior; residential and commercial. They are bonded and insured; rated by Angie’s List and the BBB. Follow them on Twitter @dynamicpainting. Their website is DynamicPainting.net.

Note: I did not nor do not receive any monetary compensation for this recommendation. The company simply did a good job for me and therefore, I’m suggesting them to others.

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Posted in Central Ohio, Delaware County, Delaware Ohio, Fix-ups, Homes, Lewis Center Ohio, Sellers

Tagged lewis center home painter

Luxury home sales around Columbus OH

Posted on 01/10/2011 | Leave a comment

Lots of people like to look at million dollar homes on the Internet, even though we may not have a prayer of affording them. It’s fun to see how “others” live.

In my continued end-of-year reviews, I looked at the number of homes that sold for more than $1 million around the Columbus metro area.

million $ homes sold in 2010 in central ohio

click to enlarge graph

Here’s the details on the numbers in the chart:

As might be expected, New Albany sold the most homes (14) over $1 million. The most expensive home ($5,184,000) was there as well. The average price of the homes was $1,579,678 and they averaged 8,483 sq ft. The $5 million dollar home had 17,771 sq ft and was located in The Farms community.
Southern Delaware County - specifically the Olentangy school district – saw 10 homes sell over $1 million. Nine of those were in the townships around Powell. The average price of the homes was $1,294,350 with a size of 7,722 sq ft. The highest price was $1,618,500 with 7,670 sq ft. This home was located in Liberty Twp.
Upper Arlington sold 5 homes over $1 million, at an average of $1,429,000 with 6,275 sq ft. The highest priced home sold at $2,045,000 and included 8,173 sq ft.
Dublin is next, having sold 4 homes over $1 million, averaging $1,481,250 with 9,454 sq ft. The highest priced home sold for $2,200,000 and it had 12,540 sq ft. It was located in Muirfield near #8 & #9 holes.
Galena had a couple of homes over $1 million. One sold at $2,812,500 (10,450 sq ft) and the other sold for $3,200,000 (12,500 sq ft).
Gahanna also sold 2 homes with both selling for $1,500,000.