Category Archives: Lewis Center Ohio

Articles about Lewis Center Ohio

The Parade of Homes is coming soon

Posted on 05/23/2012 | Leave a comment

The 2012 BIA Parade of Homes begins June 16. I drove by over the weekend to see how the building was coming along. As usual, much was in disarray as workers are scrambling to get everything finished in time. Some of the homes have SOLD signs on them already.

2012 Parade of Homes Lewis Center Ohio 

This is the 60th Anniversary of the Parade, so they are celebrating with a theme of “mid-century design” by using some design elements from the 1950′s. Hopefully they won’t use some of that awful striped flowered wallpaper that was popular then. (Yes, my Mom used it along with a fuschia-colored frieze sofa.) Probably won’t see the teeny-tiny TV screens either.

The Parade runs from June 16 thru July 1. It costs $2 per vehicle to park and $12 to enter (kids under 12 are free). The hours are: Mon-Sat 12pm-9pm; Sun 12pm-6pm. There are 12 builders this year: 3Pillar Homes, Compass Homes, Dominion Homes, Fischer Homes, Maronda Homes, M/I Homes, Miller Troyer Custom Homes, Rockford Homes, Silvestri Homes, Trinity Homes, Truberry Custom Homes, and Weaver Custom Homes. The location is off of Lewis Center Rd, just west of Old State Rd in Delaware County.

Go into your attic to get your poodle skirt, angora sweater, penny loafers and bobby socks. Guys … you can wear your Fonzy leather jacket and slick your hair back in a “DA” … assuming you still HAVE hair. :-)

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Posted in Buyers, Central Ohio, Delaware County, Homes, Homes for sale, Lewis Center Ohio, New home builders

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1 Qtr Home Sales Results for Central Ohio

Posted on 04/09/2012 | Leave a comment

Enough days have passed since the end of the first quarter, that I can now look at the real estate home sale results. Generally the results are pretty positive when compared with the 1st Quarter 2011. Most school districts realized an increase in the number of homes sold, and many also benefitted from higher average prices as well. Remember, when considering higher prices, that doesn’t mean that any given home will receive more money, it merely means the average of the prices the buyers CHOSE to buy was higher. In a way, that can be good since it may indicate that buyers are in better financial positions when they finally decide to buy.

1st Qtr Home Sales *
School 2011
#		 2012
#		 %
Chg		 2011
Avg $		 2012
Avg $		 %
Chg
New Albany 52 54 +3.8% $411,688 $449,190 +9.1%
Dublin 72 96 +33.3% $340,516 $352,136 +3.4%
Olentangy (Rt 23 west) 74 74 0.0% $381,090 $345,315 -9.4%
Olentangy (Rt 23 east) 56 81 +44.6% $288,849 $300,727 +4.1%
Big Walnut 32 24 -25.0% $236,814 $261,066 +10.2%
Worthington 66 99 +50.0% $237,233 $225,191 -5.1%
Westerville 113 110 -2.6% $213,378 $202,877 -4.9%
Buckeye Valley 16 23 +43.7% $297,196 $223,175 -24.9%
Hilliard 115 105 -8.7% $212,216 $192,141 -9.5%
Marysville 34 33 -2.9% $190,209 $159,350 -16.2%
Delaware 36 60 +66.7% $142,931 $149,411 +4.5%

* Data does not include homes sold as REO, foreclosure or short sale.

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Posted in Central Ohio, Delaware County, Delaware Ohio, Dublin Ohio, Franklin County, Galena Ohio, Hilliard Ohio, Home prices, Homes, Housing stats, Lewis Center Ohio, Powell Ohio, Worthington Ohio

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Our Tax Rates Keep Going Up … Surprised?

Posted on 03/09/2012 | Leave a comment

Every year after the local property tax rates are published on the Auditor’s web site, I update a tax graph that compares the various rates for nearby school districts. I frequently get questions or requests from readers regarding these graphs.

Well, I just updated the graph again and this year there were some noticeable changes in the districts’ relationships with each other. Most noticeable is that the top tax rate is now approaching $100 (that’s per $1000 of assessed value). For all prior years, New Albany had the highest tax rate by far. Now the Hilliard district is higher than New Albany’s. There are other changes as well. For comparison, view the graph I posted a year ago to see how much things have changed. View 2011 graph.

2012 Tax Rates by Central Ohio School District

2012 central ohio tax rates by school district

Click to enlarge. Note that the base is at $20 not $0

NOTE: On March 6, Westerville approved a school levy. I doubt that the increase of that levy has been incorporated into the Auditor’s web site data at this writing.

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Posted in Central Ohio, Delaware County, Delaware Ohio, Dublin Ohio, Franklin County, Galena Ohio, Hilliard Ohio, Lewis Center Ohio, Powell Ohio, Schools, Worthington Ohio

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Homes For Sale in Olentangy SD

Posted on 02/13/2012 | Leave a comment

It’s time to start searching for a home if you want to move by the end of the school year. I work mostly in the Olentangy school district area, and there are many homes available for buyers to choose. The following chart shows the number of homes for sale as of this afternoon. It changes all the time but this gives you a glimpse into the variety you’ll have to view. There are also many new home builders that will be more than willing to build your home from scratch. Some are starting to offer special deals, since the economy has impacted their business moreso than the resale market.

Zip # For Sale Sq Ft Avg $
43015 72 3590 $530,599
43065 154 3818 $505,680
43082 30 3394 $415,546
43021 49 3137 $359,076
43035 119 2728 $296,505

If you’re into luxury homes, there are 13 homes priced over $1 million with an average sq ft of 7883. All are located west of Rt 23 with most being in the various subdivisions along the Olentangy River between Powell Rd up to the junction with Rt 23 (south of Delaware).

If you’re ready to start looking, give me a call and we’ll go shopping. Remember, interest rates are rock bottom!

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Posted in Buyers, Central Ohio, Delaware County, Galena Ohio, Homes, Homes for sale, Lewis Center Ohio, Powell Ohio

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Sledding hill is ready … just needs snow

Posted on 11/13/2011 | Leave a comment

I drove through Highbanks Metro Park recently to take some fall photos for my photoblog at OlentangyLiving.com. I noticed a small sledding hill that the rangers have prepared for winter by putting straw bales in front of the trees and BBQ grills. One bale doesn’t seem like enough of a buffer to keep a sledder from going SPLAT!

Highbanks Metro Park, Lewis Center OH 43035

If you live outside Ohio, don’t make fun of what we call a “sledding hill”. We take what we can get in our rather flat terrain. Google Map for Highbanks Park

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Posted in Central Ohio, Delaware County, Lewis Center Ohio

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Post election info. Read it and weep???

Posted on 11/11/2011 | Leave a comment

Business First published an article on the 2011 School District Rankings as released by the Ohio Department of Education. Their website includes a searchable database for readers to look up their specific district or compare it to other districts.

Local Schools Rank Within the State

2011 Ohio School District Rankings
Rank District Students Index $/Student
40 Dublin 13,614 106.94 $13,013
41 Olentangy 16,263 106.93 $9,465
49 New Albany 4,191 106.63 $12,249
124 Hilliard 14,945 103.53 $11,398
138 Worthington 9,098 103.15 $13,305
168 Big Walnut 2,797 102.35 $9,261
175 Marysville 5,345 102.16 $9,467
190 Westerville 14,105 101.92 $10,890
226 Bckye Valley 2,344 101.10 $9,938
266 Delaware 4,942 100.34 $10,009

Salaries of Some School Positions

You can also search by school for the salaries that are paid by district. The highly controversial SB5 (Issue 2) was about helping local governments decide how to best spend their budgets rather than having the public sector unions dictate salaries, benefits and pensions. The voters repealed the bill and now with many school levies having failed, schools and local governments are looking for ways to cut expenses to meet their budgets.

Out of curiosity, I checked the Business First database for salaries for the school district I live in – Delaware. Delaware was a district whose hefty levy passed. My findings:

  • 2 Superintendents: one earning $121,290; one earning $112,019
  • 1 Assistant Superintendent earning $109,535
  • 8 Principals with salaries between $109,535 to $77,411
  • 6 Assistant Principals with salaries between $78,584 to $69,673
  • 2 Directors earning $105,165 and $98,920
  • 3 Supervisors earning between $101,106 to $65,784
  • 12 Remedial Specialists with 5 earning in the $70,000′s.
  • 11 Counselors earning between $78,887 to $51,044
  • 291 Teachers with 66 earning in the $70,000′s; 66 in the $60,000′s; 57 in the $50,000′s; 53 in the $40,000′s; 39 in the $30,000′s; and 19 below $30,000
  • 30 Clerical workers earning between $60,377 to $20,106

You might want to check YOUR district before the next election asking for more money from the voters.

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, Delaware County, Delaware Ohio, Dublin Ohio, Franklin County, Galena Ohio, Hilliard Ohio, Lewis Center Ohio, Powell Ohio, Schools, Surveys, Worthington Ohio

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