Show your love for the best new Downtown Eatery

Written by: Joe Peffer

As the age old debate about which must to come first — amenities or residents — to downtown Columbus slowly dies down as we simultaneously get more and more downtown Columbus condo buyers and downtown eating establishments, an opportunity to give some love to your favorite new 2010 downtown restaurant comes from the folks at the Inside 43215 blog.

BTW, did you know that Downtown condos sales increased 23 percent in 2010 according to statistics from the Columbus Board of Realtors ? (Yes, I realize that doesn’t mean much but it does sound good.)

See all the entries here and vote here.
Here is where my vote goes, Si Senor. I can’t get enough of their sandwhiches and don’t get me started on their Tres Leches….

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Is it time to consider buying a home in Weinland Park?

Written by: Joe Peffer

This 1266 brick 3 bedroom at 1237 Hamlet sold for $75,000 last October

I’ve been going on about Weinland Park for years. My first house was there on the 1200 block of Hamlet Street. There’s been hype, there’s been movement, there’s been changes. There haven’t been a whole lot of real estate sales.

Last year within Weinland Park (loosely defined as 5th Avenue North Chittenden and High Street East to the Tracks) 12 residences sold with an average price per square foot of  $108.25 for an average sale price of $118,460. The median sales price though, was $80.91. Half of those 12 sales, however, were condominiums in the York on High project built in the former Masonic Temple at 1276 North High. Taking those properties out of the mix plunges the median $/sf to $32.25. But…

Is Weinland Park on the verge of a real estate renaissance.

Seemingly perpetually ‘on the verge’ of becoming a destination neighborhood — at least to the degree of success that the  Old North Columbus Neighborhood (a campus bookend to Weinland Park) has enjoyed in recent years — Weinland Park does have a lot going for it.

This newly renovated 1733 sf 4 bed 1.5 bath home on Euclid is in contract and listed at $179,900

The new(ish) Weinland Park Elementary School which boasts the Schoenbaum Family Center, sits in a nicely refurbished Weinland Park for which the neighborhood is named.  Newly rehabbed CPO properties line 4th street, some with well groomed landscaping. More than just proposals to build 500+ units of condominiums and apartments with approximately 1.5 acres of greenspace and a community center on the former brownstone sites of Columbus Coated Fabrics and the Auld Company which came from recommendations in the Weinland Park Neighborhood Plan adopted by Columbus City Council in 2006.

How about the Newly relocated Hot Cards site on 5th Avenue? Middle West Spirits? Drake Brothers Meadery? The newly opened Bar L’ertanger?  The still shiny 11th Avenue Columbus 4th Precinct Station? Any way you slice it, Weinland Park is on the move. The Short North cannot go anywhere but North and the goodness of South Campus has been heading South.

Live in Weinland Park and you can both walk to Surly Girl for drinks and eats or walk to South Campus Gateway for a film. That’s a pretty unique opportunity anywhere, especially at this kind of price point.

Does some ‘bad element’ still exist? Probably. Is the housing stock as Stellar as Victorian Village or even Italian Village? No, not at all. But those are two reason why the area is still affordable. If you buy this year you won’t exactly be a pioneer but you might be a bit of a settler.

Also see this from the Knowlton School of Architecture Studio and this from Local Matters.

Feel like doing some exploring? call me 614-940-9100.

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Investing in Columbus area Single Family Homes

Written by: Joe Peffer

After today’s closing, Peter and Adam shared some insights regarding investing in Columbus area homes as a way to build wealth over time and supplement your income. If your Columbus Investment Philosophy involves Buy-and-Hold, Buy-for-Cash-Flow or Buy-and-Flip, we can help you achieve your goals.

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Looking to insulate your Columbus area home? Consider foam.

Written by: Joe Peffer

Foam is a great insulator for new homes and can be used in your older home with fantastic results.

“I’d like to buy a midtown Columbus home full of history and character but I just don’t think I could afford the utilities.”  That’s something I hear from buyers and it’s a very legitimate concern with heating and cooling costs constantly rising in Central Ohio.

If you share that concern, you’re in luck. Today we have what I hope is the first of many guest posts from Home Energy Performance Know-it-All Joshua Lloyd of Sym Home.
Many of the homes in the United States are under insulated by today’s standards and if you live in a home built before the 1980’s, there is a chance that your home has little to no insulation. As a matter of fact, many experts say that the required insulation levels for new home construction have not kept pace with the increase in fuel prices. And with the recent BP oil spill, many are afraid our fuel prices are going to sky rocket.

Why are you considering insulating your home? Most insulate their homes to reduce their monthly utility bills, others for improved comfort, and even improved indoor air quality.  There are many products available to insulate existing homes, but today we will talk about foam insulation. Most of you may think of the can of Great Stuff that you find at your local hardware store, or if you have watched episodes of This Old House, you will see the contractors spray applying an expanding foam product to the open cavities of your exterior walls. So you may be asking yourself, how do I insulate my existing walls without tearing down all my drywall?
There are insulating contractors that can carefully remove your siding or even drill small holes on the interior of your home and pump insulation into your existing walls. For those of you who are not familiar with foam insulation, it is a great product because it accomplishes three very important tasks in one product. It provides an insulating value, it seals your home from air leaks, and it acts as a vapor retarder. The air sealing qualities of foam are very important when insulating an older home that has never had insulation. As a matter of fact, foam insulation contractors will claim that foam insulation will reduce the air leakage of your home by up to 50%.

I can verify this is true after performing a before and after air leakage test of an un-insulated home in Cleveland Heights home built in 1956. Actually, the air leakage reduced by 46% and will save the homeowner $250 a year in air leakage alone. However, taking into account the air leakage and insulating value of the home, the home owner is going to save approximately $1,000 a year in utility costs for their almost 1,800 square foot – 2 story home. Taking this into account, their $4,400 investment will pay for itself in less than 5 years. This does not take into account any current federal tax credits that may be available for improving the efficiency of your home.

All foam products are not created equal. There are Read the rest of this entry »

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