Merry Christmas Columbus. You Know, There’s No Place Like Home for the Holidays…

Written by: Joe Peffer

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NOBO – North of Broad (affordable new housing on Columbus’ near East side) is Alive and Well

Written by: Joe Peffer

New homes don’t pop up in old neighborhoods every day. It happens, certainly. Builders or would-be homeowners buy vacant lots and put a new house on them. It’s called in-fill housing. At a time when many condo projects in and around Columbus are/have been flailing, North Of Broad has ever so slowly continued selling homes in a neighborhood full of vacant homes that is still struggling to regain an identity while balancing new interest in historic homes with gentrification.

Along the way, Columbus Housing Partnership’s Homeport division has built the City’s first LEED Certified home and buy, develop and market new projects. Here is one new home-owner’s heartfelt appreciation for her new home.

You should also know that, “Homeport Housing Advisory Center services give people the information they need to improve their financial lives and prepare to purchase their own homes. Homebuyer and Housing Counseling Programs also work to address the underlying social and economic needs facing families within Columbus neighborhoods. The Homeport Housing Advisory Center helps people understand that purchasing a home comes with many obligations. The Homeport Housing Advisory Center teaches its clients how to be responsible homeowners and good neighbors.”

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Berwick Neighborhood Real Estate Right Now — For Sale and Sold in one of Columbus’ best communities, Berwick

Written by: Joe Peffer

This update references the entire Berwick Neighborhood from I-70 to Livingston Avenue and James Road to Alum Creek Drive.

This 3bed, 2bath 1902 sf Berwick Ranch on Floribunda sold in 48 days for $179,900

Homes on the market: There are 18 homes currently on the market in BERWICK, they average:

• $149,560
• $82.16/sf and
• 154 days on market.
• The most Expensive listed right now in Berwick is 1429 Haddon 4 bed, 3 bath, 2525 sf which, at $314,900, is almost $100K more than the next expensive home, 2576 Brookwood at $219,900.

Berwick Homes in contract with escape clauses contingent on the sale of another home: None

Berwick Homes in Contract contingent on financing/inspections as of today: 7

• Averaging 2187 sf
• $173,786
• $80.51/sf
• 53 days on market
• None of these Berwick homes have been on the market more than 4 months and 2569 Berwick Blvd went into contract after only 8 days on the market.

Greater Berwick area Homes SOLD thus far in 2010: 27

• Averaging 1915 sf
• $146,493 avg List but a $138,215  Sale price or 94.5%
• $71.53/sf
• only 68 days on market

Welcome to Berwick

All in all, not a bad real estate market in Berwick for 2010. There looks to be just over a six month supply of homes on the market. Berwick remains in good standing with Columbus area home buyers because of the affordability, good size homes, proximity to both downtown Columbus and Bexley and because it feels like a very nice, close knit, well taken care of neighborhood with attractive and unique homes and mature trees. Add to that mix an excellent Columbus alternative elementary school which now goes through 8th grade and you’ve got yourself one hot community.

Known for generous lots and sprawling mid century modern ranches that original owners are still turning over, it’s no surprise that of the 18 homes active on the market, 10 are ranches–5 of the 7 Berwick homes in Contract are ranches and more than half of the homes sold in Berwick were ranches. Berwick also boast a goodly number of cape cods and, outside of counting the often large basements, few homes in Berwick surpass 2500 sf.

Of course there are always a few exceptions — like 1362 Haddon Rd and its 6056 remodeled square feet that sold for $520,000 a few weeks ago.

Would you like me to break it down by North and South of Scottwood, East and West of Roosevelt? email me and I will be glad to help any way I can.

You May also enjoy this The Ranch Home

or What’s an Extra $20,000 get you in Columbus

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The Goldilocks Quotient – How big of a Columbus home is ‘Just Right’ for you?

Written by: Joe Peffer

How small is the smallest home you could live in daily and still be comfortable? Is bigger always better? Is left over money at the end of the month a big enough incentive to simplify your housing needs? I like the idea of these tiny 100 square foot homes like the one in the video for places like that plot of land in Hocking Hills you just bought with a big pond and great views. While a tiny home may not always be practical, I hope that when you are contemplating the size of your next home that you stop to think about that ‘just right’ size. I’ll call it the Goldilocks Quotient. There, I just coined a new phrase.

Conventional wisdom around the country is that Buyers care less these days about getting the biggest house they can buy with their money and more about getting a house that’s just right and suits their needs.  It’s been said that Buyers are looking for greener options and homes that are more economically friendly to heat and live in on a daily basis. It’s not a new phenomena and I’ve written about it before.

Over the last Sixty Days in Columbus, the average square feet of  the 761 homes that sold was 1,550 and the median was 1,410 square feet. In the same time frame Ten years ago, the 1,419 homes that sold (!wow, nearly twice as many homes in the same period!) averaged 1447 square feet.  So maybe the average Columbus home that has sold on the market has gone down by about 100 square feet over the last ten years. It’s Columbus so many of the homes are in older established neighborhoods and the amount of room inside those homes is what was when they were built 20, 40 80 years ago. Ditto with inner ring suburbs like Bexley, Grandview and Worthington. These communities aren’t building tons of new homes which would be an interesting way to track Columbus Homebuyer requirements but they obviously offer bigger and smaller homes. A more detailed look into Columbus Home Buyers’ preferences over the years may tell us more than this cursory information but this post is more to get you thinking than it is stocked with data.

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