Sellers

Thinking of Selling your home? This is a great place to start learning about the ins and outs from the Realtor’s perspective, The Buyer’s perspective and The Best In Class Sellers’ point of view.  Most Sellers come to us through referrals or were themselves past clients. The rest have landed here and appreciated our straight talk, ability to be creative with their home sale marketing, and our outstanding web presence.

Sellers should sign up for our Delicious Property Organizer which will keep you abreast of the competition in your area. Create a Custom Search with homes similar to your and know when they hit the market and when they reduce their price.  And, since most Sellers are also buyers, don’t forget to look over on that page too.

Sales up for 5th month, 20% fewer homes on market than in 2010

This Morning’s Press Release from the Central Ohio Board of Realtors:

Home sales remain elevated in central Ohio

(Dec. 21, 2011) November marks the fifth consecutive month of increased home sales in central Ohio this year after the first half of the year struggled to keep up with increased sales from 2010 due to the home buyer tax credits. According to the Columbus Board of REALTORS®, 1,406 homes sold in November which is seven percent more than the previous year.

Additionally, the number of residential homes scheduled to close was up over 37 percent, from 1,341 last year to 1,843 last month (November 2011).

“We’re finding that sellers recognize the challenges of today’s market and are realistically pricing their homes to sell,” says Rick Benjamin, 2011 President of the Columbus Board of REALTORS®. “Buyers are responding well to the pricing and, of course, the record low interest rates. It’s still a great time to buy a home.”

Homes in central Ohio this year have sold for an average of $157,032, down 2.5 percent from the average sale price in 2010, but up over five percent from the average sale price in the first quarter of 2011. The average price of a home sold in November was $153,673, up 3.1 percent from the previous month ($149,082).

The number of homes listed for sale last month (1,949) is 20 percent less than listings added to the market in November 2010 (2,439). The total inventory of homes available for sale in central Ohio was 12,675 at the end of November, which is down 27.5 percent from one year ago. <– That’s the key phrase and why things are normalizing.

As a result, the month’s supply, a measure of inventory that estimates how many months it would take to sell the entire home inventory, fell 28.5 percent to 7.4, down from 10.3 last year.

“A healthy months supply for our market would be around 6.5. So the decrease in inventory is a positive sign of market recovery,” adds Benjamin. “Plus, based on the concept of supply and demand, when we have too many homes on the market, homes are more likely to sell for less.”

Click here to view the November sortable housing market report by area.

Click here to view the entire central Ohio Local Market Update.

Worried about Losing your Columbus Home to Foreclosure? Find out The Ins and Outs of Obama’s New Mortgage Refi Plan

DAILY REAL ESTATE NEWS | TUESDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2011

Ohioans Private Property Rights have been upheld by Ohio Supreme Court

Lake Erie Shorline compliments of GCBL

The water, in this case Lake Erie, belongs to us all. However, if you’d like to walk along the beach, better stay in the water because homeowners own to the natural shoreline.

In a decision issued last week, the Ohio Supreme Court ruled that the private property rights of homeowners along the Lake Erie coast extend to the “natural shoreline” of the lake. In doing so, the Court resolved a legal battle that had been ongoing between the State of Ohio and the property owners since 2004.  The Ohio Association of REALTORS filed an amicus curiae (or “friend of the court”) brief in support of the property owners’ position in this case.

The issue in this case was whether a policy adopted by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) improperly restricted the use of lake front property by its owners.  Under this policy, ODNR took the position that the State of Ohio owns the lands and water of Lake Erie in trust to the “ordinary high water mark” as set by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in 1985.  Thus, although that area was included in the property owners’ deeds, ODNR required the property owners to enter into a lease with ODNR and pay a fee to use the portion of their property lakeward from the high water mark.  In a lawsuit filed by the property owners, they challenged the state’s position and argued instead that their property rights extended to the low water mark.

The trial court rejected the positions of both ODNR and the property owners.  Instead, it ruled that the public trust held by the State did not extend to either the high or low water mark, but rather, that the boundary of the public trust is “a moveable boundary consisting of the water’s edge.”  The court stated that this means the boundary is where the water touches the land at any given time.  After reaching its decision, the court reformed the legal descriptions in the deeds held by the property owners to reflect this.  This decision was subsequently upheld by the Eleventh District Court of Appeals.

In deciding this case, the Ohio Supreme Court relied upon court decisions dating back to 1878 and legislation enacted in 1917.  The Supreme Court held that the territory of the lake over which the state holds a public trust “extends to the natural shoreline, which is the line at which the water usually stands when free from disturbing causes.”

Because the property owners’ rights extend to the natural shoreline  under Ohio law, the owners have the right to access and wharf out to navigable waters.

In reaching this decision, the court stated that it was continuing its long standing history of protecting private property rights, which it considers to be fundamental.  The Ohio Association of REALTORS, through its Legal Action Fund, supported the property owners’ position in this case based upon the same belief and therefore, applaud the decision of the Ohio Supreme Court.

(It should be noted that during the pendency of this litigation, the ODNR withdrew enforcement of its policy and did not require property owners to lease the area of their property contained within their deeds.)

Source: Peg Ritenour, VP Legal Services & Administration

Read a complete summary of the case:
http://www.sconet.state.oh.us/PIO/summaries/2011/0914/091806.asp

Central Ohio May Housing Update – Getting Warmer?

Buying in German Village? Bloomberg doesn't know that market.

Remember that when you read headlines about ‘the real estate market’ (unless you’re reading them here) the real estate market in question is not your market. It’s a mythical national housing market where the numbers make no sense when trying to make home buying decisions locally.

Below is the latest from the Columbus Board of Realtors. These figures are getting warmer but guess what, the numbers included in the Columbus Board of Realtors announcements include Delaware, Fayette, Madison, Morrow, Pickaway and Union Counties and parts of Champagne, Clark, Hocking, Licking, Fairfield, Knox, Logan, Marion, Muskingham, Perry and Ross Counties.

You might just be concerned about the Franklin County numbers. Getting Warmer. Then again, if you’re selling your home in Clintonville, what do you care about how the Grove City figures look? You want to know what’s up in Clintonville. That’s what I’m here for. This, for example, is what’s up in Clintonville. Want to know what’s up in your neck of the woods? Ask.

Here is the Columbus Board of Realtors article on May numbers.

Housing activity increased in May

(June 21, 2011) The central Ohio housing market was active last month as more homes were put on the market and in contract compared to last year. There were 2,610 homes for sale that went into contract (but haven’t closed) which was up 44.8 percent over the 1,803 homes put in contract during May 2010 according to the Columbus Board of REALTORS®.

As for inventory, there were 3,723 homes added to the market in May 2011, up 10.6 percent from the 3,366 new listings during the same month one year ago.

“In contracts and new listings are both important housing market indicators,” says Rick Benjamin, 2011 President of the Columbus Board of REALTORS®. “Having such strong increases in both areas is a healthy sign for the central Ohio housing market.”

Currently, there are approximately 15,146 residential homes available for sale in the central Ohio area – 12,322 single family homes and 2,824 condominiums.

Home prices continue to inch up, with May’s average sale price up 2.6 percent over April. However, May’s average sale price of $158,191 was down 4.7 percent from the same period in 2010.

Homes closed last month reached 1,875, up 15.7 percent over April home closings, but were down 25 percent from May of 2010.

“May of 2010 was a busy month for home sales as so many buyers were on their way to the closing table after meeting the home buyer tax credit deadline,” offers Benjamin. “But sales are up over 2009 when we were in the midst of the first round of home buyer tax incentives which is yet another positive sign.”

Columbus Board of Realtors Announces official March Numbers

What's the takeaway? The Central Ohio Real Estate Market is hanging in there and there's more good news than bad. Of course, your micro-market is all that mattes to you.

Today the local Board of Realtors announced official March numbers. Numbers, being what they are, can be divulged and manipulated in any number of ways….here’s the Board’s take…..

The 1,487 homes sold last month was 31.8 percent higher than the previous month’s sales of 1,128. Year to date sales of 3,678 lag 2010 by 7.9 percent, but are still 6.9 percent ahead of the 2,178 homes sold in the first quarter of 2009.

“At the risk of sounding like a broken record, we still have to keep in mind that 2010 home sales were significantly impacted by the second set of home buyer tax credits, offers Rick Benjamin, 2011 President of the Columbus Board of REALTORS®. “By comparison, March closings are actually 9.3 percent higher than homes closed in March of 2009 when the first round of tax credits was available.”

In addition, 2,512 homes were put in contract last month touting an 11.5 percent increase over the 2,252 contracted sales in March of 2010.

Homes in central Ohio this year have sold for an average of $143,773, down 3.7 percent from the average sale price in 2010, but up 3.8 percent from the average sale price in 2009. The average price of a home sold in March was $144,975, up 2.1 percent from the previous month ($140,770).

The number of homes listed for sale last month (3,886) dropped almost 22 percent from the previous year (4,972) bringing the total inventory of homes available for sale in central Ohio to 14,370, down 22.3 percent from one year ago.

“Home sales follow the simple economic concept of supply and demand,” adds Benjamin. “When the supply is higher than the demand, the product, in this case a home, is subject to sell for less. So a decrease in inventory is a positive for our market.”

“The other positive is, of course, last month’s drop in unemployment to 7.6 percent – the lowest point since January 2009.”

There were 2,280 homes listed for sale in Franklin County last month. The surrounding counties of Delaware and Licking saw 316 and 302 new listings respectively.

Chances are, if you live in Franklin County you may not care how things in the greater Central Ohio Market are….You care about how things in your community are selling or not selling. How are things going in your neck of the wood? Ask me, I’ll let you know.