An unusual case…..from the Ohio Association of Realtor’s blog….

The case of the magnetized house

By Peg Ritenour

The Ohio Supreme Court has sided with buyers who sued their builder for damages they claim resulted from some sort of magnetic field that exists in their brand new house. The lawsuit was thrown out by two courts  based on some fine print in the contract  until the Supreme Court reversed the earlier decisions in a 7-0 ruling.

Here’s what happened…

Shortly after buyers purchased a house from Centex Homes in 2004 they began having problems with their computers, TV’s and phones. The problem was believed to be caused by the builder’s use of steel trusses instead of wooden ones. Somehow these steel trusses had become magnetized and emitted a magnetic field that resulted in all the electronics in the house going haywire.

The buyers sued the builder for costs they incurred in replacing all their electronics under the theory that the builder failed to construct their home in a workman like manner. The buyers found out that another couple was also suing Centex over the exact  same problem and their cases were consolidated. The  builder successfully had the cases thrown out by the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas based on a clause in the contract that said the buyers waived all express and implied warranties. This was upheld by the Court of Appeals.

But on review the Ohio Supreme Court disagreed. In a unanimous decision the Court held that a home builder’s duty to construct a house in a workmanlike manner using ordinary care is a duty imposed by law—not a warranty —and that this duty can’t be waived. In reaching this decision Judge Pfeiffer stated “The duty does not require builders to be perfect, but it does establish a standard of care below which builders may not fall without being subject to liability”.

So what happens now? The case goes back to the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas for a trial on whether the builder met this duty. We’ll keep you posted on what happens next!

There are 108 properties for sale in the Greater Short North.

This short north brick Italianate on West First has 3 bed, 1.5 baths, and 2670 sf. It sold $282,000 last month after 154 days on the market and a price drop of $47K from the original list price

13 more are in contract.  Only 30 of those 108 properties, however, are single family homes. Take out the top 2 and bottom 2 of those active homes for sale in the Short North and you’ll find a median price for single a single family home at about $152.50/square foot and an average of around $355,400 for an average 2422 square foot house that has been on the market for an average 124 days.

A couple of my favorites are 25 E 1st for price/size/location (Yes, it only has 1 full bath) and 106 E Lincoln 3,154 sf 3 bed, 2.5 bath with character all over the place.

The six listings in contract, as usual, had an average days on market closer to 30 and as little as 6 days for the 3 bed, 1 bath, needs work 200 West Fourth Street – a 1616 sq ft foreclosure on the market at $174,900 that had multiple offers.

In the last six months, 24 homes have sold in the Short North area which, for recap purposes here, includes Victorian Village, Italian Village, Harrison West and the Circles.  Those sold homes in the Short North averaged about $$273,000 or $137/sq ft. after an average 4 months on the market. Important to note–the average and median sales price/list price was 94%.

Of note, 7 of those homes, more than 1/4 of all the homes, were 2 bedroom homes averaging $147/sf. Remember, the smaller the home, the more it costs/sq ft.  The average 3 bedroom home in the Short North sold for about $150/sf or $282,145 for around 2000 sq ft.

Next up, an update on Short North Condos for sale and sold.

In 2011, the breakdown of Million Dollar Columbus Homes saw 1 sale in Westerville, 1 in Upper Arlington, 2 in Dublin, 3 in Columbus, 4 in Bexley and 22 in New Albany.

A whopping 281 homes sold in Franklin county for a sales price above $500,000 in 2011. What will North of half a million dollars get you in and Greater Columbus? On average, about 4 bedrooms and 3 baths in around 4741 square feet.

Thirty-One of those 2011 home sales were at least $1Million or more which puts you at about 5 beds, 5 baths and just over 7500 sf.  Surprisingly, the average days on market for were a mere 190 days — though on average they sold for only 85% of list price.

Surely our friends moving to Columbus from the East or West coast are salivating at that kind of space at prices they’d consider values, but in Central Ohio, $1MM is a lot of money.

All three Columbus homes that sold for for more than $1,000,000 were in German Village, 2 of them were on Deshler across from Schiller Park.

As we remember that cost may have nothing to do with quality or character, here are the cream of the most expensive home sales crop in greater Columbus for 2011: