This chart shows a history of sales prices from 1/2008 to 10/2011.  Median sales prices are at their lowest point in 2 years.

The following graph shows “year over year” pricing trends (in other words, it compares last October’s numbers with this Octobers:

This is most telling for sellers (and there are many in Pickerington) who’s homes are segmented well above the median and average price ranges for the Pickerington OH real estate market.  Most buyers are buying in that range, so for those priced considerably higher, it means longer selling times and fewer showings than homes priced in the $125,000 – 200,000 “sweet spot”.

Pickerington home sellers need take a realistic look at these numbers, and either postpone any plans for selling, or price home aggressively.

Here is the FULL report from the Columbus MLS:

Pickerington-Local-School-District1011

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Since a significant part of my clientele are families and individuals relocating to Columbus OH and all over Central OH, I have many discussions with my clients about specific towns and neighborhoods.   I did a previous post about shopping for homes in Central Ohio from a distance, using the online tools that are available to individuals and families that are relocating to our community.

A home buyer can look at exquisite listing photos for a year, but until he or she gets into the car and drives the neighborhood,  they will never really know if that’s a place they would like to live.  Shopping for homes is best done at the street level.

This is why it is important to have someone who knows the community to guide the buyer along the process (me, for the purposes of this example!).

Great communities become great communities with time and people.  Great communities are  not born (or built).

The feel of the neighborhood tells alot:  how do the neighbors maintain their properties?  Do they put down fresh mulch every year?  Are the lawns meticulously mowed?  Are there street lights and well-maintained sidewalks?  Are there children outside playing?

Does the neighborhood have a civic or neighborhood association?  What activities does the association sponsor to involve the residents of the community?  A quick Google search can determine if an association exists.   Also, a Realtor can research links to civic associations.

For some buyers, it is all about getting the biggest, newest house for the least amount of money, in an acceptable school district.  But for other buyers, the community matters most.  They will sacrifice square footage and open airy layouts for neighborhoods where you know all your neighbors, and communities where shopping and conveniences are close at hand, often referred to as “walkability”.

A buyer needs to determine what is most important before starting the process.  Feel free to contact me for more information about some areas here in Central Ohio that have vibrant community life and walkability.

It has been my privilege over the past couple of years to represent many veterans and active duty service men and women here in Columbus OH and Central Ohio, through the USAA Movers Advantage Program.  Spending time with these good folks, learning their stories, hearing of the sacrifices that the spouses and families have made with the frequent relocation,  less than perfect temporary housing situations, and most importantly, holding down the home front while the service member is overseas serving our country.

While I have represented some active duty and reservist family members, it has been the most enjoyable for me to help those retiring service members that are purchasing the home they plan on finally “settling down” in.  How wonderful it must be for them and their families, realizing that twenty, twenty-five, or longer years of service, and all the moving, paperwork, deployments, and other inconveniences that are experienced by service families will be behind them.

Here is wishing all those families a wonderful and safe Veterans Day!

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NOT the actual house (but you probably knew that already!)

I regularly do Broker Price Opnions (BPOs), which are a kind of mini-appraisal that lenders order often, to get a street level opinion on a property’s value, without ordering a full-blown appraisal.  BPO’s can be a source of supplemental income, and they help us agents stay in tune with where property values are in a given area.

The BPO that I completed today was in the 43206 zip code of Columbus, OH, east of Parsons Avenue.  Values in this part of the market are are among the hardest hit in our region.   One property that we had listed, that couldn’t get sold, and subsequently went to foreclosure had sold in 2006 for over $100,000.   Its currently listed as a bank owned property in the high $20,000 range, and still sitting.  (That home is actually only 1 block from the home that I was evaluating today).   Six months ago, $20,000 was a common value in this area.  But not today: values have dropped even lower.   When I drove down to take the photo, I thought values would be in the mid- to high- teens.  Not so much.  Most of what is selling is $5000 – 10,000.  Very sad.

But back to the title of my article.  In pulling comparable properties that have sold (we call ‘em “comps”),  I loaded the sold data into a chart form, which also displayed the cost per square foot of these homes, or “per square foot price”.   One sale in this area from May, 2011 struck me.  A 2 story home, three bedrooms, 1 bath, 1196 square feet, sold for $3500.00…(Three Thousand Five Hundred Dollars).   That calculates to a “per square foot” price of $2.93.   About the price of decent carpet, installed. Wow.   A house, for the price of most carpeting.

I often tell clients, when we get on the subject of urban investment properties, “Fortunes are being made in this economy for many investors”.   An income generating property that can be had for $10,000, that generates $600 per month in income for that investor…that is significant.  That investor will have made back all his or her money in 1 year and 5 months.  Wow. Not for the faint of heart though, but still: Wow.

As a relocation specialist, I am always up to the task of previewing homes for my out-of-town clients.  But usually they come to town at some point to see homes in person, and make a decision.  Imagine my surprise when a new client last fall informed me that he would NOT be coming to Columbus, OH to finalize his search for a new home.  So I got to pick out his new home.  Not a problem.  I wish I got to pick out all my clients homes – it might save us all lots of time.  ”NO, you don’t want that house — I don’t like that street–too close to a busy highway…” or “You really won’t like living next to those train tracks…”

To complicate matters, he had a very low price point to work with–roughly 30% of the median price in our metro market!   We found a place — a solid little home with good mechanicals, on a quiet street. We benefited from the former buyer bailing out at the last minute, and a seller anxious to move on.   He closed successfully, and made arrangements to move to Central Ohio.

Now this is not my recommended method to shop for homes.  In person is best.  BUT, you CAN shop remotely.  I employed this method when helping my father-in-law shop for Florida homes from our home in Central Ohio.  He did have an agent in Florida, sending listings, but we used this method to weed out areas that might not be best, especially since he was going to be a “snow bird” (come back up north in the warmer months).

Its great when the listing agent provides 20 or more photos, but listing photos don’t always tell the whole story.  It’s their job to market the home, not disclose its locational deficiencies.

Here is how you search for Central Ohio homes before you relocate:

1) Go to maps.bing.com.  Type in the address in question.  (When I send clients listings that they might be interested in, the property address will be highlighted, and when clicked, will open a new window, with the Bing map).   Clicking on the “Birds Eye” option above the map will bring up an “fly over” aerial view of the property.

There are 2 views, a wider birds eye view, and a close up view.  The close up view is good to see what kind of property it is (size of the backyard, orientation to the street and neighboring properties), like below:

2) Once you have explored the aerial view of the home, its a good idea to “back out” and get the more wide angle Bird’s Eye view.  This view is where you can identify potential neighborhood or area issues (landfills, commercial or industrial properties, train tracks, or in this case, major highways):

3) Once you like the appearance of the property from the air, its time to see what it might feel like to drive through the neighborhood, as well as what types of businesses are in the area.  We used this method to rule out quite a few properties when assisting my father in law with his Florida house hunt.

For this next part of the home search, we will switch to Google Maps.  Google has the ever-useful “Street View” that offers a virtual “drive by” view of many streets in populous metropolitan areas, including Columbus and much of Central Ohio.

For the first example, I’ll use the former home of my sister-in-law, located just off Lane Avenue, in the desirable area of Upper Arlington, OH.

4) Plug the property address at maps.google.com.  On the street map that Google delivers, you’ll see many local businesses that Google places on the map for you. For this location, I already am learning some things about this area:  I see a couple of coffe shops, restaurants, a toy store, a French pastry shop–I like this area already…

5) Locate the “Google Man” on the upper left area of the map, and drag him to the street on which you want your “virtual drive by”.  For this house, I would drag him to the house location, to see the house and the neighborhood.

6) Then I would proceed to “virtually” drive down the street, towards the retail establishments on the main roads (these are in yellow).  If the main streets are taking too long, you can pick up your “Google Man”, and drag him to the main thoroughfare.

7) Once on the main street (Lane Avenue) we can get a virtual view of the businesses.  From the types of shops located here, we can surmise that this is probably an upscale area (Wolfgang Pucks, Bed Bath and Beyond, Talbots).  In Street View, you can see a 360 degree view of the surroundings, by clicking and holding the left mouse button, and moving the mouse around.

Below is a Google Street view of another area, and you can contrast the business atmosphere there.

For someone relocating to Central Ohio from outside the area, this method can be a helpful tool in understanding the area immediately surrounding the neighborhood.

It should be noted that I am not necessarily advocating completely ruling out a neighborhood if there is not a Starbucks and Abercrombie and Fitch right around the corner.  But a high number of boarded up storefronts can be an indicator of the financial health of the community, which can be a consideration for families relocating to a new area.

The 2011 Central Ohio BIA Parade of Homes kicks off this week north of Columbus, in the Olentangy School district in southern Delaware County.  A kick-off event happens tonight, Friday, June 10 with a $75 per ticket preview party, with proceeds benefiting the Nationwide Childrens Hospital Foundation.

The Parade is located this year in the Olentangy Falls subdivision.  The event will run from June 11 through June 26, 2011.  Tickets are $12 per person, with children 12 and under free.  This year, you can purchase your 2011 Parade of Homes online here.

Some of the local builders featuring homes in this years Parade include M/I Homes, Manor Homes, Fischer Homes, New England Homes, P&D Builders, and many others. Eleven builders will be featured in the Parade this time around.

Heres a map.  Located off Hyatts Road, between Route 23 and 315.

In doing research for this buyer, I am coming across a disturbing trend: listing agents are taking overpriced listings.  Now I realize that OBEYING our seller clients, when it comes to pricing the property, is nothing new.  The seller really thinks their house is so much better than every other house that has ever been on the market, insisting on listing their home for a price that is too high.

Here is the question that runs through my mind:  How does this agent and their client think that this home can ever sell for 10-40% more than ANY HOUSE HAS SOLD IN THE AREA IN THE PAST TWO YEARS???!!!

Case in point:  in my town (Reynoldsburg), the highest sale in the past 24 months has been $247,900; in the past 6 months, the highest sale was $228,00, with the average sale price over $200k coming in at $213,700 (and there were only 8 sales in the past 6 months over $200k).

Taking that data into consideration, there are currently 23 homes listed in the Reynoldsburg School District priced over $220,000.  This includes 2 bank owned listings priced at $299.9k and $364.9k.  BANK OWNED!  Really?  Who did that BPO?  And the highest priced listing comes in at $419,000.   Wow.  Just, wow.

As a resident of my town, my greatest wish is that all of these homes will sell for list price.  I really do, since it will help all homeowners in our town.  But it is not helping anyone (agents/buyers/sellers/appraisers) by having all of these homes listed that almost anyone would predict will not sell for anywhere close to the list price.   Below is a snapshot of recent sales statistics in Reynoldsburg for all homes sold.  Its an uphill battle trying to get any home sold for a price that is more than twice the average sales price for the area, not to mention 3 or 4 times that price.

In the introductory session that our local Columbus MLS held for new agents back in 2003, the speaker, who was a real estate attorney, asked the new agents, “What is your job as an agent?”.  Many of the usual answers came back: “To represent our clients’ interests”, “To list properties”, etc.  Yes, but not quite.  His correct answer to this question was, “To move real estate”.  In other words, to bring together buyers and sellers, and move them to the closing table.

Its our job to MOVE properties, not just to LIST properties.  Let’s keep this in mind.

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