columbusbestblog.com

Another Forbes.com list of cities…  according to Forbes.com and Moodys Economy.com when it comes to housing market stability,  Columbus is number three in the country:  

“Housing Trends - America’s Most Stable Housing Markets”

1. Seattle

2. Pittsburgh

3. Columbus

They say of our Columbus home prices

 ”Annual price change from 2006: -1.2%

Projected price change to 2008: 3.49%

“Based on Moody’s Economy.com calculations, next year Columbus should boast the eighth-fastest sales rate of the 40 markets examined.”

There is a slide show of Americas most stable housing markets online within the Forbes.com article  including Columbus and a little further down the list Cincinnati.  Forbes.com uses a similar photo of the skyline of downtown Columbus from North Bank Park. 

In the October 1, 2007 article Forbes.com and Moody’s Economy.com get into the effect of the subprime mortgage market’s  collapse nationally and in local markets:

“It largely reflects that these markets never went through the boom and aren’t going through the severe bust,” says Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Economy.com. “Price growth is not great, but [these markets] are not having house price declines. [All markets] are experiencing pricing problems, but in these markets it’s less of a problem.”

Ready to make a move?

Sellers:  What’s your Central Ohio home worth?  Market Analysis  Request

Buyers:   

Search Central Ohio Homes Online No Sign Up

MyRealLiving.com -  set up your own page  Choose me as your agent if you would like to work together to find a property! 

Find a Central Ohio Home  - Let me help you find your “Dream Home” 

Photo credits: This photo of the Columbus Ohio Skyline Photo above is from Wikipedia.  “Skyline of Columbus, Ohio Photo shot by Derek Jensen (Tysto), 2006-01-23, Wikipedia says  I, the copyright holder of this work, hereby release it into the public domain. This applies worldwide. In case this is not legally possible: I grant anyone the right to use this work for any purpose, without any conditions, unless such conditions are required by law.”  Thanks Derek

Home Sellers  has your Central Ohio home has been shown? 

In our market leaving a business card is the way you can tell if a Central Ohio home has been shown by a real estate agent who is a member of the Columbus Board of REALTORS®

Usually a business card is left to show the agent has been there.  Other ways to tell?  Foot prints in the carpet.

More than a business card left?  A football schedule magnet? A bookmark (this was an item sold to real estate agents and the ads did say it was nice to leave on showing.. I thought it sounded sleazy.  Did the agent leave a nice little note about what the showing agent could do to get your house sold that your listing agent is not doing? I’d say talk to your listing agent about anything more than business cards and footprints in the carpet.  The shoing agent may be soliciting your business.   

Feedback…. It is customary in this market for the listing agent to get feedback from the buyer’s agent.  The listing agent emails, faxes or calls the agents who have shown the property for feedback on the showing.

I am uncomfortable when a seller calls me directly for feedback when I have shown a listing. 

The Columbus Board of REALTORS recently had an article in our magazine about feedback.  Especially in this kind of market sellers are anxious for feedback from their agent.  As a seller you are not going to get feedback on 100% of the showings on a property.

The best feedback on a showing is a purchase offer.

Last summer I got a call for feedback from the listing agent (the broker of the company) on a house I had not shown.  I had not scheduled an appointment to show the house but I called the “bonehead” broker who called for feedback. 

I was concerned someone had scheduled an appointment in my name.  I asked the agent if an appointment had been scheduled in my name.

“No”

I asked the agent if the electronic lockbox on the property showed me showing the home.  I don’t think he bothered to check that…  but it would not have because although I don’t remember every detail of every day I would remember showing a client a house.  The address would have rang a bell.   The listing office would have had a record of my scheduling an appointment to show… 

I asked him why he was calling me for feedback. He said the seller said I showed it and left marketing material in the house. 

“Huh?”

I assured him I had not shown the listing or solicited the seller by leaving marketing material in the house. 

Curious I looked up the listing.  It was a few blocks from one of my listings, same number of bedrooms and baths,  same style, similar price range.  Had a buyer or agent who showed my listing also shown this brokers listing?  Probably.  Had they left a fact sheet on my listing in the sellers home?  That’s  all I could figure out.  Now I am not calling the seller a bonehead, he hired a brokerage who has records of who has scheduled appointments to show the listing.  The seller has hired a member of the Columbus Board of REALTORS® who has outfitted the front door of the house with a system that affords the broker a method of determining who has shown the property (I assume… I never showed the property, maybe the brokerage is one that does not protect it’s seller’s property and family with an electronic lock box…. that’s the last generation of lockbox pictured above.  New lockboxes are blue, sleek, modern…  the agent can read the lockbox and see who has accessed the property.)  

The phone call for feedback was because of a a litter bug?  Someone left something with my name and contact info at the house?

My apologies if a fact sheet for my similar property was left in your property by someone who visited both properties but really if a sloppy buyer left a Baby Ruth wrapper at the house who would your agent be tracking down for feedback?

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Sellers:  What’s your Central Ohio home worth?  Market Analysis  Request

Buyers:   

Search Central Ohio Homes Online No Sign Up

MyRealLiving.com -  set up your own page  Choose me as your agent if you would like to work together to find a property! 

Find a Central Ohio Home  - Let me help you find your “Dream Home”

Your tree’s (The tree trunk is on your lot) branches of the tree hang over your neighbor’s lot… what are your responsibilities? 

Can the neighbor trim the tree? 

Are you required to trim the tree for the neighbor?

I had a client write a crazy clause about tree trimming into a purchase contract (and an attorney review clause too, thank goodness.)  The seller did not comply.  We were lucky.  It turned out what the buyer asked for was illegal.  

The “tree trimmer”  cleaned out the dead ”stuff” but did not deface the tree or trespass on the neighbor’s property.  

I can’t provide details of that transaction because of client confidentiality.

California real estate agent Mary Pope-Handy  shared the NOLO (legal website) about tree trimming, maintenance, responsibility, etc.  via a real estate forum.

Need local real estate legal advice?  I can refer you to a good real estate attorney or two since I am just a lowly real estate agent…