Lewis Center Ohio « Central Ohio Real Estate Market News

Entries categorized as ‘Lewis Center Ohio’

A day in the life of a Realtor®

September 4, 2008 · No Comments

I’m sure people sometimes wonder what a Realtor® does all day long. Many just think all we do is open doors for buyers and then make a whole bunch of money. Yeah, right!

Well, one of the nice things about the job is that everyday is different. There are NO typical days. We may plan a “to do” list in the evening for the next day, only to have the day completely changed due to an early morning email or phone call. Getting a contract in on a listing can change everything, since contracts take priority.

Carole Cohen, Cleveland, wrote about one of her days recently.

Paula Henry, Indianapolis, ask a question about how far Realtors® drive when working with buyers or taking listings. Based on the comments, it seems that agents who work in downtown urban areas seem to drive very little distance from their home. Agents who work in more rural areas must drive far more miles.

Yesterday happened to be the type of day that I refer to as “errand travel” days. Those are the days that I plan to complete several real estate tasks and of course, with the price of gas, I plan my route accordingly. I often refer to driving from one side of southern Delaware County to the other. Well, yesterday I did that PLUS I had to go down the east side of Franklin County as well.

View Larger Map

My day began with a visit to the Verizon store in Lewis Center because a piece broke on my bluetooth headset. Then over to a new development off Maxtown Rd (Westerville) to check the lot location of a spec home. Then to a listing in Galena to put an Open House sign strip on the yard sign. I took the scenic route south to Gahanna (through New Albany) where I had more investigations to do for a buyer client. Then further south to Blacklick to discuss the results of the investigations with the builder’s rep. I’m trying to get a price reduction on a new-build now that the builder has reduced prices on current inventory so I need FACTS.

Received a call that a security system was malfunctioning on a listing - so north to Worthington to look into that problem. The alarm was blaring while the poor showing agent was talking to me. I felt her pain as I did that ONCE. Problem solved, so next stop is to my office in Worthington to make copies of some paperwork for the office files.

Last on the ‘to-do’ list were some personal stops, the most important was to get The Murph more HeartGard medicine at his vet in Powell before they closed at 7:00. Gotta keep the little guy healthy!

Now wasn’t that day about as exciting as watching paint dry! Oh, BTW, I put about 75 miles on the WEENR-mobile and didn’t make $1.

Copyright © 2008. 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.

Categories: Buyers · Central Ohio · Delaware County · Franklin County · Galena Ohio · Home selling process · Lewis Center Ohio · New home builders · Powell Ohio · Real Living HER · Realtors® · Sellers · Transportation · Worthington Ohio
Tagged: Gahanna Ohio, Blacklick Ohio

Bambi and I didn’t connect … fortunately!

August 25, 2008 · No Comments

In the last two weeks, I’ve had the crapola scared out of me three times while driving in the evenings … and it’s not even October yet. Delaware County has a large deer population. It’s a particular problem for the southern portion of the county due to the population growth (lots of new homes) intruding upon their space and concentrating them to fewer and fewer wooded areas.

All three times, the deer ran across the road just ahead of the WEENR-mobile, missing a crash by just a few feet or yards. The first time I was on Big Walnut Rd and about 5 deer ran in front of me. The next time, I was on Home Rd, and was alerted a little in advance by a car going in the opposite direction who flashed their headlights. The last time was on Rt 23, where there are ALWAYS lots of deer laying by the side of the road. This time was the closest call and I missed hitting the deer by only a few feet. Fortunately, it was running fast!

Being an animal lover, I feel sorry for them because they are such gentle animals with those big brown eyes. Guess I watched Bambi too many times as a child. But I understand other people’s frustrations who own property that gets damaged by feedings because their populations have increased so much. And of course, encounters with vehicles causes large monetary losses, including some loss of human life. It’s a tough call as to how to handle the issue with strong opinions on both sides.

Categories: Central Ohio · Delaware County · Galena Ohio · Lewis Center Ohio · Powell Ohio · Transportation
Tagged: deer car crashes

Water fun in southern Delaware County

August 19, 2008 · 4 Comments

Today I had to traverse from one side of southern Delaware County to the other … something I do frequently. Since I wasn’t under a specific time limit, I took some time to take photos (see below) around the three main areas for boaters. It was a rather warm day in the high 80’s, so being next to water seemed like a good thing to do.

I first had to be up near Hoover Reservoir which extends from the east side of Westerville northward to the west side of Galena and beyond. I stopped at the southern part where the dam spillway is to snap photos. There were LOTS of Canadian geese there resting close to a picnic shelter. Given the “mess” they make, actually having a picnic there certainly wouldn’t be very appealing. There were also quite a few seagulls and brown ducks as well.

Northward on Sunbury Rd where it crosses over the reservoir, I stopped at another boat launch site to take some photos of the backside of some homes across the water. A couple of the homes have installed the huge rocks along their water frontage to prevent erosion. Others haven’t, and the erosion is obvious. There are many waterfront homes along Hoover. Because of a specific agreement with the City of Columbus, the water level can’t be raised as high as originally planned because the city would be responsible for taking the owner’s land away. (That’s why there are no waterfront homes along Alum Creek - they learned a lesson!)

Then my errands took me westward on Big Walnut Rd, so I took a brief side trip up Africa Rd to a boat launch on Alum Creek Reservoir. Not many people there, in spite of the warm day. However, it is a weekday, so most would be working. Or perhaps, the gas costs have curtailed some of the time spent on the water.

Back down Africa Rd to Lewis Center Rd which goes past the bottom of the Alum Creek Dam then northward along the west side of the reservoir. On this side of the lake, there are campgrounds, a beach, and a couple boat launches. One of them is for the sailing club. There’s something inherently peaceful about a sail boat, even though they were moored.

Also, on this side of the Reservoir is the Dog Park. Of course, I HAD to stop here. It was the busiest place … but it WAS a great day for the dogs to enjoy a swim. I wasn’t dressed appropriate to go inside the beach fence and potentially be subjected to “shake-baths”, so I stood outside the area. All I saw was large dogs, but then I heard a familiar sounding bark & snappy growl and knew there had to be a doxie somewhere. Sure enough, there was a short-hair … letting the big guys know who was REALLY the tough guy on the beach. I later learned his name was Scooter.

Continuing on with my errands near Powell, I went to the boat launch at O’Shaunessy on the Scioto River, which is just south of Home Rd off of Riverside Dr. Again, only a couple boaters in the water. As I was walking back to the WEENR-mobile, I noticed a bunch of carpenter bees were taking advantage of some flowering weeds to gather nectar. Better they spend their time here, than boring holes in nearby homes.

Since I seldom get any time off from real estate, I really enjoy the opportunity for these side jaunts to reconnect with nature and for a brief period of time forget about all the details of the real estate business. I need that once in a while to recharge the batteries.

Categories: Central Ohio · Delaware County · Dog Tails · Galena Ohio · Lewis Center Ohio · Powell Ohio · Water fun
Tagged: Alum Creek dog park, Alum Creek Reservoir, boat launches, Hoover Reservoir, O'Shaunessy dam, sailboats, Scioto River

How will property tax rates affect your choice in homes?

July 16, 2008 · No Comments

Several years ago I began tracking the multiple real estate tax rates by school districts for Columbus suburbs. I did this so buyer clients could get a feel for differences that the tax bill portion of their mortgage payment would make to the affordability of the homes we would be viewing.

When buyers have a lender pre-qualify them, the lender will tell them the maximum home price the buyer can select. They’ll also give them a maximum monthly payment. Because the tax rates among school districts can vary quite a bit, a buyer who has been approved to buy an average priced home of $200,000 may be able to be approved for that home in one district but not another. The reason is that the monthly tax portion of the mortgage payment may put them beyond the ratio set by the lender.

The other issue that may come into play, is that a school district with “lower” tax rates, may have higher priced homes. The Olentangy school district is an example of this. This district’s rates are lower than some other established suburbs, but the average home price in the district is much higher. If a buyer is approved for only $200,000, they will be hard-pressed to find a home at that price in the Olentangy district, yet, may find many such homes in that price range in Worthington, even though Worthington’s property tax rates are much higher.

Here is the chart that I’ve prepared to visually show the differences to school district property tax rates by several suburban school districts. The bars within a district represent the various taxing entities within the school district. (click on the graph to enlarge)

Of course, it goes without saying that buyers should budget for their tax rates to increase over the years they live in the home. This is especially true for the newly developing areas, like the Olentangy school district, where the growth in housing has and is creating a need to build new schools.

Categories: Buyers · Central Ohio · Delaware County · Home buying process · Home prices · Homes · Housing stats · Lewis Center Ohio · Powell Ohio
Tagged: central ohio real estate market news, property taxes

Southern Delaware County home sales differ from the rest of the county

June 17, 2008 · No Comments

After I wrote yesterday’s article on the housing prices and sales in Delaware County, I thought that I really needed to segment out the data for just Southern Delaware County - the Powell, Lewis Center, Galena portion that is in the Olentangy school district. That’s the area of the county with the phenomenal growth, and pricing for that area is much higher than in the city of Delaware or the northern half of the county.

The average pricing is substantially higher than the county as a whole. The increase from 1997 vs 2008 is 28%. The decline from 2007 to 2008 is a little higher than the county as a whole, at 12.5%.

The chart showing the number of homes sold is more telling of the extreme growth of this area - and why the Olentangy school district has had to build so many schools. Keep in mind that this data only includes homes that were listed in the Columbus Board of Realtors® MLS system. It would include new-build specs that were entered into MLS, but it does NOT include all the new-build homes that buyers contracted directly with the builder. Due to all the new subdivisions that were created during this period, that could add hundreds of homes to this chart. Nevertheless, the data does give a peak at the extreme demand for homes in this area.

Categories: Central Ohio · Delaware County · Galena Ohio · Home prices · Homes · Housing stats · Lewis Center Ohio · Powell Ohio
Tagged: central ohio real estate market news, Olentangy school district

1st Qtr 2008 >Condo Sales in Columbus metro area

April 7, 2008 · 2 Comments

Most of my housing stats are for single-family homes. It’s time I do the same review for condos. So here are the averages for condos that have sold between January and March this year.

Powell area: 16 condos sold, averaging 2151 sq ft, at an average price of $277,842. The highest priced unit sold for $445,073 - a new build in the Lakes at Golf Village with 2461 sq ft.

New Albany area: 5 condos sold, averaging 1583 sq ft, at an average price of $180,589. The highest priced unit sold for $224,900.

Lewis Center area: 15 condos sold, averaging 1510 sq ft, at an average price of $174,502. The highest priced unit sold for $279,900.

Westerville area: 24 condos sold, averaging 1580 sq ft, at an average price of $153,808. The highest priced unit sold for $510,000 - a new build in Windsor Village with 3596 sq ft.

Dublin area: 45 condos sold, averaging 1314 sq ft, at an average price of $144,661. The highest priced unit sold for $590,000 - a new build in Tartan West.

Hilliard area: 54 condos sold, averaging 1358 sq ft, at an average price of $135,177. The highest priced unit sold for $530,000 - a unit in Ballantrae.

Delaware area: 10 condos sold, averaging 1410 sq ft, at an average price of $117,930. The highest priced unit sold for $185,000..

Worthington area: 24 condos sold, averaging 1242 sq ft, at an average price of $111,543. The highest priced unit sold for $170,000.

So if you’re in the market to buy a condo, you should be able to find one that suits your lifestyle or budget. Call me if you need help.

Categories: Ballantrae · Central Ohio · Columbus Ohio · Condos, patio homes · Delaware County · Delaware Ohio · Dublin Ohio · Franklin County · Golf Village, Kinsale · Golf course communities · Hilliard Ohio · Home prices · Homes · Lewis Center Ohio · Powell Ohio · Worthington Ohio
Tagged: central ohio real estate market news

Is Delaware County (Ohio) a yuppie county?

March 12, 2008 · No Comments

In Sunday’s Dispatch, a columnist was offering his opinion on how counties voted for the two Democratic candidates in the recent Primary election. In the article he mentioned that Delaware County voted much different than all the other 88 counties in Ohio citing that it was a “yuppie” county.

I decided to check the actual demographics to see if they supported his comment. The demos of the more populated southern half of the county definitely support the columnist’s yuppie comment. The numbers below are for MEDIAN HOUSEHOLD INCOME, % of residents having a BACHELOR’S DEGREE or higher, and the MEDIAN AGE of residents. The list is high-low by income.

43082, Westerville: $95,618, 50%, 36 yrs
43065, Powell: $83,484, 57%, 34 yrs
43035, Lewis Center: $71,870, 51%, 31 yrs

43021, Galena: $68,973, 38%, 40 yrs
43061, Ostrander: $62,296, 26%, 38 yrs
43074, Sunbury: $61,094, 25%, 38 yrs
43015, Delaware: $51,422, 29%, 34 yrs

43334, Marengo: $47,000, 8%, 36 yrs
43066, Radnor: $41750, 16%, 40 yrs

Categories: Central Ohio · Delaware County · Delaware Ohio · Galena Ohio · Lewis Center Ohio · Media · Newspaper · Powell Ohio
Tagged: 43015, 43021, 43035, 43061, 43065, 43066, 43074, 43082, 43334, central ohio real estate market news, delaware county zip codes, demographics, median age, median income

Year-end home prices for 5 years by central ohio school district

January 9, 2008 · No Comments

OK, here’s the last report to be updated with year-end data - I think!

This report shows the 5-Year Average Home Price comparison by central Ohio school district. It should be the final “nail-in-the-coffin” that shows that central Ohio DOES NOT have severe falling prices like California and Florida. (click on the thumbnail to view full size)

Our growth has been quite conservative over the years. There was some minor decline in 2007, caused by all the media hype and higher than normal inventories. Builders have cut back the number of specs and we’re getting some of the resale inventory sold, so things are improving.

We’re probably not out of the woods yet, but as I noted in yesterday’s post, the market is looking like it might improve a little over last year. For the economy’s sake nationwide, let’s hope so.

The percent change of the 2007 average home price versus the 2003 average home price for each of the school districts, is as follows:

Buckeye Valley +23%
Upper Arlington +22%
Olentangy (Powell area) +19%
Worthington +17%
Dublin +14%
Olentangy (Lewis Center area) +12%
New Albany +10%
Marysville +8%
Gahanna +7%
Hilliard +7%
Delaware +5%
Westerville +4%
Big Walnut (2%)

One thing to keep in mind is that these are the average SALE PRICES for the school district. It does not represent the price increase a given home might experience. It only represents the prices that buyers are paying for a home in that district.

Regarding Buckeye Valley, most likely the increase reflects the new development that is occurring there. The newer homes would be more upscale than the older rural homes that are prevalent in the district. Big Walnut’s data is apt to also be skewed as to whether a new development was selling heavily during one of the years.

Categories: Central Ohio · Delaware County · Delaware Ohio · Dublin Ohio · Franklin County · Hilliard Ohio · Home prices · Homes · Housing stats · Lewis Center Ohio · Powell Ohio · Schools · Worthington Ohio

Does Southern Delaware County have an identity issue?

November 30, 2007 · 2 Comments

When I speak about a particular part of my market area, I often refer to it as “Southern Delaware County“. Of course, I also mention Powell, Lewis Center and Delaware. But usually Southern Delaware County is a better descriptor of the area. This portion of the county is growing very fast so local folks refer to it frequently.

I propose that we need to come up with a better … easier … name for this area (the blue area in the map).

Southern Delaware County Ohio map

The homes in the blue area have a mailing address of either Powell, Lewis Center or Delaware. But actually the land is located in the townships of Liberty, Orange, Berlin and Delaware. There’s also three zipcodes: 43065 for Powell; 43035 for Lewis Center; and 43015 for Delaware. The Olentangy School District covers most of the area, but some of the upper portions are within the Delaware School District.

The Delaware 43015 zip code goes all the way south down to Orange Rd mostly, but not entirely, between Rt 23 and Rt 315. The Powell zip code 43065 goes all the way north to Delaware between Rt 315 and the Scioto River, except for a chunk that is the 43015 zip. The Lewis Center zip 43035 goes all the way north to Cheshire Rd, where it changes to the Delaware zip 43015.

It’s all very confusing for outsiders and sometimes for locals as well.

So I’m going to propose that the blue area west of Rt 23 over to the Scioto River be renamed Libertydell. The area east of Rt 23 over to Alum Creek Reservoir would be called Deloran. Then to complete the KISS principle, each new area will have its own zip code. And while we’re at it, we’ll make the boundaries match the key roads or the water rather than having the jig-jogs that exist now.

Since development is quickly turning this huge area from farmland to housing developments and retail stores, we need to fix this indentity crises before it’s too late. People need to know where they live … don’cha think??

Copyright © 2007. 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.

Categories: Delaware County · Delaware Ohio · Lewis Center Ohio · Powell Ohio

Top 5 Real Estate Broker’s Market Share around Columbus

November 20, 2007 · No Comments

I just created a new page for you. It shows the market share of the Top 5 real estate brokers for eleven areas/communities around Central Ohio. (see the Broker Market Share tab just above the blog title header)

You may be preparing to buy or sell a home and want to choose a broker that will get you results. These graphs will show you who the top five players are in your community. The data is based on the total number of single-family homes and condos sold for the past 12 months by the brokerage. I’ll be updating the page on a monthly basis as the new month-end numbers become available.

Naturally, Real Living HER is the top brokerage - not only in Central Ohio but ALL of Ohio. Being a high-tech, internet driven company, Real Living’s key strength is its use of technology and powerful resources to improve the real estate transaction. The eleven graphs are for:

Total Central Ohio MLS area
Franklin - Delaware - Union counties
Powell and Lewis Center areas
Cities of Delaware, Dublin, Hilliard, Westerville, Worthington

I hope you find this new page useful and informative. As always, please call or email me if you have any questions. ENJOY!

Categories: Central Ohio · Delaware County · Delaware Ohio · Dublin Ohio · Franklin County · Hilliard Ohio · Homes · Housing stats · Lewis Center Ohio · Powell Ohio · Real Living HER · Realtors® · Worthington Ohio

Lewis Center is an area of Delaware County - not a suburb - yet.

October 18, 2007 · 2 Comments

I often receive calls from out-of-state buyers who have been using my web site or this blog for early information as they are considering their move to central Ohio. Usually they ask the typical questions about the differences in suburbs such as Powell, Dublin, Worthington AND Lewis Center.

It’s easy to tell them about the first three burbs as they are actual cities with downtown areas, landmarks, golf communities AND “personalities”. They are destination places, even if one doesn’t live there, to go to employers, places of worship, sports or rec centers, and special community events.

Describing Lewis Center is much harder. Prior to the explosion of development in southern Delaware County, Lewis Center was a few homes next to a railroad crossing and a post office in one of the buildings. Because most of the land in the southeast quadrant of the county was farmland, the post office serviced a large rural AREA in Orange Township with a zip code of 43035.

Copyrighted subdivision Orange Township (and the zip code) is, for the most part, bounded by Rt 23 on the west, Powell Rd on the south, Peachblow Rd to the north, and Alum Creek and Alum Creek Reservoir to the east. Except for some strip shopping centers and commercial buildings along Rt 23 between Powell and Orange Rds, the area is now only made up of housing developments. There is no “downtown” area. A golf course is currently being built off Old State Rd, north of Powell Rd, which will provide a source of recreation. (Alum Creek Reservoir is outside the zip code).

The Orange Township trustees recognize this “lack of identity” and were working with developers to create a “downtown” community off Rt 23, north of Orange Rd. However, some of the key developers tabled their plans when the current housing market shifted. So for now, Lewis Center remains a Copyrighted-housing field “bedroom area” that people go home to at the end of their work day.

Currently, the majority of the housing developments are located off Old State Rd, which runs north-south in the middle of the township. Home prices range from the low $200’s to high $300’s for the most part. Of course, there are exceptions. You can check actual subdivision average prices by visiting the “SUBDIVISION HOME PRICES“ page on this blog (tab is above).

Lewis Center is served by the Olentangy School District. I have the average prices by school district recorded on my web site with “east of Rt 23″ representing the Lewis Center area but it also includes data for the portion of Galena that is in that section of the school district.

Categories: Central Ohio · Delaware County · Lewis Center Ohio

Condo Sales in central Ohio for the 2nd Quarter

August 4, 2007 · No Comments

You can live a carefree lifestyle for very reasonable cost in the north/northwest communities around Columbus. Or if you want total luxury, there are many options for you as well.

Condos such as the one to the left, generally cost below $160K depending on the number of bedrooms and the location of the complex. Some of these complexes offer garages, while some only have carports or street parking.

The Epcon Group offers many condo complexes all around the Columbus area. This particular one is one of four such complexes in the Powell area. Depending on the location and number of bedrooms, they generally are priced in the $200K-260K price range. A pool and a party house are included.

These two luxury complexes (below) are located in the Powell area with prices ranging from the high $300K’s to mid $400’s depending on the options and the view.The first complex is Village at Kinsale with many units having a view of the golf course.

The complex on the right is the Lakes at Golf Village. Both these luxury complexes are located at the intersection of Sawmill Parkway and Rutherford Rd.

Just as I did for single-family homes, I compiled the 2^nd quarter sales results (Jan-Jun) for condos in six suburbs north and northwest of Columbus. One caveat to the data below regarding the higher priced units, is that the data does not include sales direct with the builder. It only includes sales recorded in the MLS system which is mostly resale homes. Since most of the upscale units are brand new, or too new to be on the resale market, they aren’t reflected truly in the data below.

Powell area:

· Below $200K: 29 units were sold averaging $163K with 1457 sq ft.

· $200K-$399K: 27 units were sold averaging $281K with 2116 sq ft.

· Over $400K: 1 resale unit was sold at $433K with 2361 sq ft.

· Overall Average: 57 units sold averaging $223K with 2894 sq ft.

Dublin area:

· Below $200K: 166 units were sold averaging $131K with 1232 sq ft.

· $200K-$399K: 27 units were sold averaging $236K with 1955 sq ft.

· Overall Average: 192 units sold averaging $145K with 1335 sq ft.

Lewis Center area:

· Below $200K: 19 units were sold averaging $134K with 1285 sq ft.

· $200K-$399K: 1 unit was sold costing $201K with 2236 sq ft.

· Overall Average: 20 units sold averaging $137K with 1335 sq ft.

Hilliard area:

· Below $200K: 131 units were sold averaging $111K with 1187 sq ft.

· $200K-$399K: 18 units were sold averaging $267K with 2082 sq ft.

· Overall Average: 149 units sold averaging $130K with 1297 sq ft.

Worthington area:

· Below $200K: 110 units were sold averaging $108K with 1168 sq ft.

· $200K-$399K: 6 units were sold averaging $244K with 2274 sq ft.

· Overall Average: 116 units sold averaging $115K with 1225 sq ft.

Delaware area:

· Below $200K: 31 units were sold averaging $99K with 1135 sq ft.

· $200K-$399K: 1 unit was sold costing $203K with 1474 sq ft.

· Overall Average: 32 units sold averaging $102K with 1146 sq ft.

If you’re interested in purchasing a condo, call or email me with your specifications and we’ll start working on getting you into a carefree life.

Copyright © 2007. 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.

Categories: Central Ohio · Condos, patio homes · Delaware County · Delaware Ohio · Dublin Ohio · Franklin County · Golf Village, Kinsale · Golf course communities · Hilliard Ohio · Home prices · Homes · Housing stats · Lewis Center Ohio · Powell Ohio · Worthington Ohio
Tagged: Epcon Communities, Lakes at Golf Village, luxury condos, Village at Kinsale

2nd Qtr Home sales in Central Ohio comparison to 2006

July 31, 2007 · No Comments

I just completed a review of how the sales are doing for the 2nd Qtr period (Jan-Jun) versus last year for six suburbs that I work.

Central Ohio didn’t go through the double digit increase the past few years as did the East and West coasts and Florida. Our increases were moderate - just keeping up with inflation.

However, beginning last fall with all the media hype on the housing bubble for the coasts and Florida, buyers in our market began to pull back on their purchases even though interest rates and pricing were still positive. This softening of sales caused excess inventory not only for existing sales but also new builds. Growing foreclosure rates certainly didn’t help either.

Given those market conditions, sellers have had to reduce their pricing to get their home sold. So naturally, a review of sales this year vs last, shows some of that softening. The following six ‘burbs are listed in the order of their average selling price for 2007:

Powell (43065 zip, Olentangy SD):

Average price is up 4% from $393K to $408K. The average size (sq ft) is up 3% from 2936 to 3024. The number of homes sold during the six months is down 9%, going from 226 down to 206.

Dublin (Dublin SD):

Average price is down 8% from $357K to $327K. The average size (sq ft) is down 4% from 2725 to 2623. The number of homes sold is down 2%, going from 411 down to 401.

Lewis Center (43035 zip, Olentangy SD):

Average price is down 1% from $282K to $280K. The average size (sq ft) is down 1% from 2423 to 2399. The number of homes sold during the six months is down 21%, going from 214 down to 170.

Worthington (Worthington SD):

Average price is down 1% from $239K to $236K. The average size (sq ft) is down 2% from 2006 to 1966. The number of homes sold during the six months is down 7%, going from 335 down to 311.

Hilliard (Hilliard SD):

Average price is down 6% from $214K to $201K. The average size (sq ft) is down 3% from 1930 to 1877. The number of homes sold during the six months is down 6%, going from 597 down to 559.

Delaware (43015 zip, Delaware SD):

Average price is up 2% from $158K to $162K. The average size (sq ft) is up 3% from 1745 to 1798. The number of homes sold during the six months is up 5%, going from 223 down to 234.

Copyright © 2007. 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.

Alum Creek Reservoir, in Delaware County, offers entertainment for the “whole” family

July 30, 2007 · 2 Comments

Copyrighted Alum Creek beach There’s nothing that beats the summer’s heat better than being on, in or near water.

On a recent warm evening, The Murph and I were driving by Alum Creek Reservoir in the Lewis Center area and decided to cruise through some of roadways that access the actual water.

Boaters were enjoying their time ON the water in their speedboats, sailboats or jet skis. The beach area was very busy with many families enjoying their play time in the water or cooking their favorite barbeque at the picnic tables nearby.The Murph’s nose was working overtime picking up all the yummy BBQ odors.

Those wanting a slower pace were sitting along the banks of the numerous inlets with their fishing poles in the water. Perhaps, if they’re lucky, they’ll soon be cooking the results of their efforts. Judging by their laughter, I assume that actually catching any fish is secondary to the good conversation they’re having with friends or new acquaintances.

Since it was a weekend night, one of the campgrounds we drove by was a flurry of activity with many tents set-up and folks getting ready for their Copyrighted Alum Creek Dog Park evening activities. The aroma from cooking hamburgers and steaks again put The Murph’s nose in high gear.

As a final treat for The Murph, I drove by the fairly new Dog Park that the State created for the 4-legged members of the family. There are two large fenced areas - one for big dogs - one for the little guys. As long as they’re sociable, the dogs can run free to meet and greet others and sniff the ground to evaluate all the previous visitors.

Copyrighted Alum Creek Dog Park beach A third fenced area provides access to a special beach where they can bone-up on their dog-paddling skills or fetch a stick thrown by their human. Since the waves were higher than The Murph is tall, he watched the activities from the sidelines.

Nothing smells worse than a wet dog, so a local rescue group was offering free baths for the ride home. Why is swimming fun but baths aren’t?

After an hour or so of sniffing food, barking at people, jumping in his car seat, running with other dogs, The Murph fell asleep on the way home.

I suspect there will be other visitors to Alum Creek that evening that will do the same on their trips home.

Copyright © 2007. 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.

Categories: Central Ohio · Delaware County · Dog Tails · Lewis Center Ohio · Water fun
Tagged: Alum Creek Reservoir, Alum Creek dog park

Watch your backside

June 19, 2007 · No Comments

Southern Delaware County is the fastest growing portion of any area in Ohio and one of the top 15 in the Nation. While growth can be good - bringing new jobs and assisting the economy - it can also have its painful side.

Such is the case with the southeast quadrant of Delaware County where much of the geography is within the Lewis Center mailing district. The addition of the new Polaris Mall and the HUGE banking complex, created the opportunity for extensive housing growth.This is very evident when driving north on Old State Rd. On either side of the road is development after development, with new ones in various stages of completion.

Copyrighted-housing field The subdivision in this photo has been in existence for around 10 years, and still has farm fields around some of its perimeter. However, buyers should be aware when purchasing such properties, that these golden fields of grain can one day be filled with other such homes.

The moral of this story is to do your homework if you’re considering the purchase of a home with a vacant lot in your backyard. Even then, recognize that zoning changes are a possibility if/when the land changes ownership.

It’s called Caveat Emptor!

Copyright © 2007. 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.

Categories: Buyers · Central Ohio · Delaware County · Homes · Homes for sale · Lewis Center Ohio · New home builders
Tagged: Polaris mall, vacant land