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- Real Estate "How To's" from Real Living

I really really do not like to write "how to's" from Real Living...

Really I don't... and Real Living has already "how to'd" it all...  so here are links... I'd like you to contact me rather than finding another agent with Real Living HER but I do want to share this info with you...


Buy or Sell First

Real Estate Glossary

Home Buying Help 

Save Time and Get Pre-Approved - Real Living Mortgage

Neighborhood Considerations

Buyer Frequently Asked Questions

House Tour Checklist

Home Selling Help

Steps to Selling

Negotiating

Seller Frequently Asked Questions

Closing and Moving

Contact me if I can be of help:

614-388-8249 or 800-848-7400 ext. 8842 (toll free you will have to leave a message on my voice mail) or Contact Form

I'd love to hear from you if you have a comment on the topic, of buying and selling real estate in Central Ohio. All comments are moderated so you will not see your comment immediately. Thanks. Copyright 2008 Discover Columbus and Maureen McCabe
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Jun. 15, 2008 - Father's Day 2008 Open Houses

Is Father's Day a good day for an open house?

Depends.

If it's a vacant house... maybe...  Today's Real Living HER  Open House List says "There are 207 Open Houses available. To narrow down the list, please select the city you are interested in from one of the following options and click "Go":"

Not a huge number for a summer Sunday...

The link above is NOT a static list of 6-15-2008 open houses in Central Ohio... you will see the current list in that link if you read this post in the future.

I'd love to hear from you if you have a comment on the topic. All comments are moderated so you will not see your comment immediately. Thanks. Copyright 2008 Discover Columbus and Maureen McCabe.

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May. 28, 2008 - National Association of Realtors

Realtors... the big R.

The DOJ (Department of Justice) had a lawsuit against NAR (National Association of Realtors) for years. CNN (is that Cable News Network?) Money says the DOJ lawsuit against NAR was filed in September 2005.

Settled Tuesday… breaking news…  I’d nearly forgot what it was about… It was about  IDX (internet data exchange?) and VOWs (virtual office websites?)

In the CNNMoney.com article Realtors settle case with U.S.

“Real estate agents were accused of illegally blocking posting of home listings and limiting competition from online brokers.”

I think by “Real estate agents” they are referring to NAR, a national trade organization.

It will be interesting to watch. It has to go to court. Then 60 days later, the world as we know it will change? Or it won’t.

CNN says

“The report found that more consumers use the Web when house hunting than rely on “For Sale” yard signs.”

Duh!

Search for Central Ohio homes…  somewhere here… there’s a link to the search for local homes.  I read the LA Times and other unlocal newspapers… then went to our own Columbus Dispatch to see what they have to say about it.

In today’s Columbus Dispatch News Briefs it says:

“The settlement, which requires court approval, opens the MLS databases to online and traditional agents.”

Also in today’s local news briefs… and certainly less dry and boring… news of Columbus Ohio based Victoria’s Secret… going after another company for using the word “sexy.”

“Victoria’s Secret appeals trademark ruling on ’sexy’ “

This was previously posted (mostly, a couple of small changes...) on ColumbusBestBlog.com  another Central Ohio blog I write. 

I'd love to hear from you if you have a comment on the topic of national or local real estate. All comments are moderated so you will not see your comment immediately. Thanks. Copyright 2008 Discover Columbus and Maureen McCabe
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Mar. 20, 2008 - February 2008 Columbus Home Sales

An email from the Columbus Board of Realtors to members today, said  The drop in mortgage interest rates in late January generated immediate housing activity,”

The Board of Realtors emailed the press release to members that they were releasing to the media today.  What a great idea.  I really hate reading it in the newspaper.

The article on the  Columbus Board of Realtors website quotes president Greg Hrabcak:

"It appears many buyers were waiting for the rates to drop as homes contracted for last month were up over the last three months as well as the year before."

Sales (closings) were down but "in contract" listings were up.

Columbus Board of Realtors - Home Sales for February 2008

Central Ohio market reports on Discover Columbus

I'd love to hear from you if you have a comment on the topic. All comments are moderated so you will not see your comment immediately. Thanks. Copyright 2008 Discover Columbus and Maureen McCabe

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Feb. 14, 2008 - Columbus on Zillow's Zindex


Tuesday I listened to a conference call about 4th Quarter Home Values from Zillow.  Dr. Stan Humphries (Humphries is ”Zillow’s chief Zestimator” according to a post about the conference call on ActiveRain.  The press release refers to Humphries as “Zillow vice president of data and analytics.”)  Humphries ran through a lot of numbers and a lot of slides on the Zillow site…

A Zestimate is a homes value.  Those Zestimates make up a Zindex.

Zillow 4th Quarter Report

“Home Values Continued Decline in Fourth Quarter, Leaving Approximately One in Three New Homeowners With Negative Equity”

If you look at the national map…(on the Zillow site in the report) there are diamonds in various colors  to represent the increase and decrease in value by market (MSA.) The red color is the highest appreciation in value and the darkest blue is the most depreciation in value of homes in the market.

On the national map, Central Ohio (Columbus) is a yellow diamond meaning the value is even, unchanged. A number California and Florida communities have values that have declined, lots of blue, deep, deep blue in California and Florida.  Nationally there are not a lot of red area,  Junction City Colorado, a market in western New York state, a market in Oklahoma. 

Zoom in closer to home in Ohio and you can see Central Ohio cities, Delaware, Dublin, Gahanna, Galena, Powell, Sunbury, Upper Arlington, Westerville, Worthington…

The diamonds are red (good, value up) to Navy (bad value down) on the map. I have tried to replicate that in the list below... my apologies that it makes it hard to read in the yellow range... 

The Red of this spectrum Home Values are Up 9%+   Hot?

Powell + 11.6%
Sunbury + 9.7%

A Reddish Orange ....Tangerine Home Values are Up 4% to 8%

Galena +4.3%
Delaware +5.5%
Westerville +4.9%

The Color of OJ or Squash....
Home Values are Up 1% to 3%

Grove City + 2.3%

Yellow Home Values are Unchanged 

Upper Arlington +.1
Worthington -.2
Gahanna -.8

If you can't read the yellow... Home Values are Unchanged.  Homes in the market are virtually unchanged.


Chartreuse Home Values are Down 1% to 2 %

Columbus -1.2%
Dublin - 1.7 %


Green Home Values are Down 5%-6%

New Albany -4.1%

Aqua Home Values are Down 7 to 9%

No Central Ohio
Turquoise* Home Values are Down 7% to 9%

Reynoldsburg - 7.1%

Blue Home Values are Down 10% to 12%

No Central Ohio

Bluer Home Values are Down 13% to 16%

No Central Ohio

Bluer than Blue Home Values are Down 16-19%

No Central Ohio

The Deepest Darkest Navy Blue - Home Values are Down 20% +

No Central Ohio

If you can't read the yellow... Home Values are Unchanged. 

Zillow's Zindex is the value of all homes in a market... not just those that have sold. 

I'd love to hear from you if you have a comment on the topic of home values in our market or elsewhere. All comments are moderated so you will not see your comment immediately. Thanks. Copyright 2008 Discover Columbus and Maureen McCabe
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Discover Columbus is a site about Columbus Ohio. Originally named "Columbus Best Blog," it was never the best blog in Columbus Ohio. It was a blog about the best in Columbus and Central Ohio! Best restaurants, best real estate company, best schools, best neighborhoods..... written by Maureen McCabe a licensed real estate agent with Columbus Ohio's best real estate company, Real Living HER. Discover Columbus is just a site about Central Ohio.

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