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Retire to Florida? Maybe an early, early, early retirement! Or just moving south for the weather? I want to introduce an out of state “guest blogger.” Central Ohioans seem to love Florida, so I have asked some friends from Florida to guest blog occasionally on ColumbusBestBlog.com. According to the weatherman we’re going to get snow in Columbus tonight… so Jim’s timing could not be better…

Jim Hirschhorn of Real Living Real Estate Solutions wrote:

Central Florida is truly a melting pot of the country. I have been here about 10 years and it is almost comical when I meet new people and ask where they are from, it is rarely Florida! Having grown up in the Philadelphia area, I was used to the changing of seasons, the pretty leaves and sometimes harsh winters. My first year in Florida, I was stopped at a traffic light, in November, in a short sleeved shirt, and thought, this is pretty cool.

Florida, along with Michigan, California and Nevada have been the focus of the country with regards to foreclosures and the dreaded sub prime mortgage crisis. The only problem with this is that it seems that the media picks up the statistics that bring in viewers and readers. They forget to talk about all of the growth that Florida is experiencing. Central Florida, in particular, is attracting new industry with the Burnham Research Institute, a new University of Central Florida Medical School and a new Veterans Hospital. In Downtown Orlando, We recently approved a plan to build 3 new venues. The county Commissioners approved a billion dollar plan to bring a new sporting arena, performing arts center and renovation to the Citrus Bowl Stadium. Florida looks to double their population in the next 10 years.

We can’t forget about “The Mouse” as we call it. Disney World, Universal Studios and Seaworld/Busch Gardens are a huge draw, not only for visitors but also for career minded individuals of all ages. My friend’s father retired from a company after 40 years and now works at Disney and loves it!

It is, no question a great time to buy, especially in Central Florida. Prices have adjusted, mortgage rates are at all time lows and for those people that plan to be in a great city, Orlando is the one for you. Let’s be honest…our low temperature of 62 and high of 80 today should Make your decision a little easier.

For more information about our area, feel free to contact Jim Hirschhorn, Broker/Manager at Real Living Real Estate Solutions. I can be reached at 407-253-1377 or at Jim.Hirschhorn at RealLiving.com ;- )

Real Living Real Estate Solutions

Jim Hirschhorn, GRI
Broker-Manager, State of Florida

Real Living Real Estate Solutions, LLC
6401 Raleigh Street
Orlando, FL 32835

Thanks Jim!

… the real estate blog world is in a tizzy. A real estate blogger is being sued for 25 million dollars… He was fired by his broker. Two brokers?

This is primarily to any readers who “blog”… It’s about “blogging.”

This is on my Home Page on ColumbusBestBlog.com:

“ColumbusBestBlog.com is not the opinion of Real Living HER. ColumbusBestBlog.com is not the opinion of Real Living. Neither organization probably has an opinion about the best gyros in Columbus or the best Indian restaurant (my favorite Indian restaurant closed… please forward any recommendations quick…)

This is a blog about the best of Columbus and Central Ohio. “

Maybe I’ll put above about Real Living not having an opinion on Indian food on each and every post I write (and you have to be sure the RSS picks it up too.)

On the original Columbus Best Blog (now known or unknown as Discover Columbus) for a time I used a long disclaimer that I cobbled together from disclaimers on MLS and various websites.

From a February 2006 post:

“The information provided herein is supplied by several sources and is subject to change without notice. Columbus Best Blog does not guarantee or is any way responsible for its accuracy, and provides said information without warranties of any kind, either express or implied. Entries on Columbus Best Blog represent the opinions and ideas of the author(s). They do not necessarily reflect the views of HER Real Living. Copyright ? 2006 Maureen McCabe & Columbus Best Blog All Rights Reserved. “

Yes there is a question mark in it. I don’t know why. Maybe I had the copyright symbol there and changing templates has messed up symbols, etc. on the old entries on the blog…

The blog that started it all…. Lucas Lechuga’s Miami Blog - Opera Tower, LLC & Tibor Hollo Sues Me for $25M It’s not the blog post that started it all… that’s back in November.

Sellsius Real Estate Blog - Did Real Estate Blogger Defame Miami Developer? A $25 Million Libel Lesson

A poll on blogging… the poll is primarily for real estate bloggers… but does the idea of getting sued for what you write on your blog concern you at all? If you are a blogger vote if the poll makes sense to you. Sue Who?

My apologies to anyone named Sue…

Thanks Sellsius for the link to:

California Court of Appeal: “Dumb Ass” is not a defamatory term

My blog is pretty polite, maybe kinda Pollyannish.. I started a blog to promote Columbus and took the attitude “If you can’t say something nice don’t say anything at all.”Anyone know whether “Dumb Ass” is defamatory in Ohio? Will you be reading Columbus Builder is a “Dumb Ass” on local real estate blogs sometime soon?

Question #7: Are wall anchors a good way to stop a bulging wall?

Answer: NO WAY! I have stacks of wall anchor plates at my shop. They came from all the wall anchor systems we had to remove to truly SOLVE once and forever the Bowed wall problem. Wall anchor systems are supposed to slowly straighten a wall over time. The company comes out drill a hole in the wall and drives a metal rod or screw into the earth. The threaded rod then has a plate nut and washer. The company will give you a special wrench and then tell you to give it a ¼ turn every couple of months to “draw the wall slowly back. This is pure nonsense in order to truly straighten a wall the wall must first be excavated removing the heavy soil so the wall can be then straightened and repaired.

Someone was talking about wall anchors recently… here? In the comments? Inspector? Contractor? I mostly still see I beams… does he collect those too? Why would he be taking wall anchors back and collecting them? Discard them? Recycle them? This is a series from a spam email from a basement contractor in Central Ohio.

Question Seven dedicated to Dave of Dave’s Beer for his devotion to the series. Thanks

Wet Basement Quiz Questions 5 & 6

Wet Basement Quiz Question 4

Wet Basement Quiz Question 3

Wet Basement Quiz Question 2

Central Ohio Wet Basement Quiz…

My Real Living HER website is MaureenMcCabe.com

On my website are a list of current open houses for the company… all current Real Living HER open houses.  There are 80 some on the list for this week.  Last weekend about 280 open houses were listed, including my 2 - 4 , Sunday January 27, 2008 Open House  in the Village of Minerva Park in NE Central Ohio… 

  I picked up a call yesterday that said:

“uh Hi Maureen my name is Jason I’m uh at XXX S. Wall St. with some friends of mine.  We were uh taking a look at the… we  wanted to go through the open house at the condo here at  uh Brewers Gate and uh  we’re here, it’s about 1:40  and uh there’s no one here, the door is not uh open uh for the unit.  So if you could please give me a call back.  We would love to take a look at this unit. 

uh the number is 614-XXX-XXX, XXX-XXXX again the name is Jason. Thank you. “

Sent yesterday at 1:46 PM

…hmmm downtown at someone else’s listing and open house but for some reason he thinks I should be there.  Poor befuddled Jason.  Jason is NOT my client.  The listing he is calling on is NOT my listing… happens occasionally… but not all that often.

As I said…I was on my way to my open house in Minerva Park…  after putting up signs, opening the door, turning on lights, I tried to find someone to look at the open house list online for the numbers that Jason was obviously oblivious to… no luck there…  Before calling Jason back to try to help him I worked with  the first couple who I arrived at my open house…

Then I returned Jason’s call and tried to tell him he’d contacted the wrong person.  When I returned Jason’s call he was not as uh polite… 

Jason never waivered in his belief that I was supposed to be in the Brewery District, so he and his friends could get into that condo. He was so sure of himself he could not see the contact info just below my name.  It said “presented by” so I ought to be there… 

I got the impression Jason was looking at it on a mobile device… maybe it was not there in the way he was looking at it.  He was on my website, and he is welcome to be on my website.  If he needs to contact someone though the info about the listing agent is right below my name: 

Property listing courtesy of:  Real Living HER (Metro Office)
Office: 614-221-7400
Fax: 614-220-4350
 
Listing Agent Name
Direct: (614) XXX-XXXX
Fax: (614)XXX-XXXX

Jason said there was no contact info there.  No link to click to the open house. 

There is a link to the open house list which would also have the contact info for the listing agent and whomever is hosting the Open House.

If you are on my website you will see all open house listings presented by me… (on another Real Living HER agent’s website? All listings will be presented by them… ) look at other open house.. wow all 280 plus would be presented by the person whose website you are on!  but there is contact info there if you look for it, click on the links.

If you click on the open house link it will take you to a list of open houses with again who the listing agent is and WHO is hosting the open house with all the contact info you need, to contact someone who…. uh cares.

The bottom of the list is a great place to be in this case.

The third quarter 2007 report from the PMI Institute (private mortgage insurance) about  risk by US market is out… It’s a PDF.  PMI 3rd Quarter 2007 ’What’s a Normal Housing Market?’  Page 7 and page 11 are my favorites.Page 11 map is a great graphic.  California, Las Vegas, parts of Florida are  red hot with risk for declining prices.  Not so much the markets on the bottom of the table on page 7 pf the PMI report:

1.  Fort Worth - Arlington TX
2.  Dallas, Plano, Irving TX
3.  Pittsburgh PA
4.  Houston, Sugarland-Baytown TX
5.  San Antonio TX
6.  Indianapolis - Carmel IN
7.  Cincinnati - Middletown OH, KY, IN
8.  Columbus OH
9.  Austin Roundrock TX
10. Kansas City MO KS

Harley E. Rouda Jr. president of Real Living (Real Living is in lots of markets across the US but is based in Columbus Ohio)  forwarded the news to Real Living associates yesterday with a note:

“Dan Riley in Cleveland shared this information with me that is very interesting. Basically, you can look at the top metro markets in the U.S. and see the probability of average home price decreases over the next 2 years; Affordability Index; as well as other information. In many markets, the media hype predicting home price declines is just not based on the facts.”

Thanks Harley Rouda Jr.  Thanks Dan Riley from Cleveland….