First time buyers could buy this 4 bedroom, 2.5 bath home in Old Towne East for around $250K

This afternoon President Obama signed the bill into law that will extend the $8,000 homebuyer tax credit to contracts signed by April 30 and closed by June 30.

I’m surprised that they left the two month window but I think it’s very smart. Still, even if it were this week, I would not try to buy a short sale property or a foreclosure that doesn’t have the deed in the bank’s name even with the 7.5 month leeway.

Here’s the best part–a tax credit for SELLERS. The bill creates a $6,500 credit for those who buy a home after living in their current house at least five years. That will apply to contracts signed by April 30 and closed by June 30. The current credit defines a first-time homebuyer as someone who has not owned a residence within the past three years.

The credit will be available only for the purchase of principal residences priced at $800,000 or less.

This is huge. If you have owned your Columbus area home for at least five years–and I believe you must have lived in the home for at least five of the last eight years–you too can receive a credit. I can’t envision a scenario where you could claim both sides of the tax credits unless it was something along the lines of you selling your home and then turning around and buying the next home in your new spouse or girl/boyfriend’s name who has not owned a home.

The bill will raise the adjusted gross income cap to $125,000 for single filers and $225,000 for joint filers. The amount of the credit currently begins to phase out for taxpayers whose adjusted gross income is more than $75,000, or $150,000 for joint filers.

This is important. It opens the tax credit up to a whole new set of first time buyers who were not previously eligible and who could, conceivably, purchase a home with a little higher price tag that this year’s crop of first time home buyers weren’t even looking at.

Mobile post sent by JoetheRealtor using Utterli.  Replies.  mp3 ]]> http://columbushomesblog.com/2009/11/06/thoughts-on-german-village-homes-4-sale/feed/ 0 http://columbushomesblog.com/2009/10/30/city-center-demolition-creates/ http://columbushomesblog.com/2009/10/30/city-center-demolition-creates/#comments Fri, 30 Oct 2009 18:52:52 +0000 Joe Peffer http://columbushomesblog.com/2009/10/30/city-center-demolition-creates/

Mobile post sent by JoetheRealtor using Utterli.  Replies.  mp3 ]]> http://columbushomesblog.com/2009/10/30/city-center-demolition-creates/feed/ 0 http://columbushomesblog.com/2009/10/29/columbus-public-schools-update-closings-awards-annual-report/ http://columbushomesblog.com/2009/10/29/columbus-public-schools-update-closings-awards-annual-report/#comments Thu, 29 Oct 2009 18:14:35 +0000 Joe Peffer http://columbushomesblog.com/?p=1118

Click here for a link to both the Financial and Academic Annual Report for the Columbus City School District

The idea of school closings can terrify a community.  Many local neighborhood schools in the City of Columbus, however, are experiencing declining attendance.  No community wants to see a giant unused building in the middle of it where a school used to reside but the bright side here is that the district has a plan. In the end, I believe that the plan will benefit all Columbus City School students.

Any real estate novice will tell you that good schools are good for local housing and great schools are great for resale. At the same time, a re-purposed school building, as opposed to a vacant one, will benefit a neighborhood–maybe even more than the original school. My hope is that, aside from temporary housing for other schools, any of these schools that do end up closing can become active participants in the community in which they reside and in a fashion benefiting the neighborhood.

District to Make Good on Levy Promise to Close Six Schools, Community Informational Meetings Dates Announced

As promised to voters, the district is developing a new K-12 student assignment plan, which makes effective use of the school buildings through balanced enrollment, aligned school feeder patterns, and high-quality academic programming at every school.

With the guidance of the Columbus City Schools (CCS) Board of Education policy,3226.1, the district has also committed to closing at least six school buildings.

This BOE policy establishes specific criteria for building closure including such factors as student enrollment trends, ability to maintain feeder patterns, educational programs, capacity, safety and access, relocation, diversity, accessibility, age and condition, and other factors.

Following the task force’s final recommendations, community meetings will be held to gather public comment throughout November before a final vote by the board in December. Pending community input and Columbus Board of Education approval, a modified reassignment plan would go into effect in for 2010-11 school year.

Click here for upcoming community meeting locations and dates, as well as the most up-to-date information.

Six Columbus Schools Named as Schools of Promise

Six Columbus schools have earned the designation of Schools of Promiseby the Ohio Department of Education. It is the largest number of any district in the state. All public elementary and secondary schools that administer the Ohio Achievement Test and the Ohio Graduation Test and receive a report card rating were considered for the recognition. A total 134 schools were named 2008-09 Schools of Promise.

“Columbus City Schools (CCS) is committed to providing a strong system of learning support that includes academic rigor,” said Columbus Superintendent Gene T. Harris, Ph.D., adding that the recognition is an honor for all the students and the staff districtwide.

The 2008-09 honorees (and the number of years as a School of Promise) are:

• Alpine ES (1)
• Berwick ES (2)
• Centennial HS (4)
• Columbus Alternative HS (5)
• Eastmoor Academy HS (3)
• Fort Hayes Arts and Academic HS (5)

The ODE Schools of Promise program recognizes schools across Ohio that demonstrate high achievement in reading and mathematics for all groups of students, despite the fact that 40 percent or more of their students come from low-income backgrounds.

Students in these schools met or exceeded the state standard of 75 percent passage in reading and/or mathematics for the school year 2008-09, as well as the federal Adequate Yearly Progress requirement.

Click here to review the full selection criteria.

I’ve always been a fan of City Center.  Everything everyone has ever pointed out about its faults, chiefly that it should have opened up to the streets surrounding it, has been true but it held a special place in the downtown retail fabric. I’m a buy-local guy and not a fan of big box retailers, malls or shopping itself but City Center was always close and always convenient. Parking was cheap and easy and chances are if our family had some kind of a retail need, we could fill it at City Center.

With the Annex in River South Condos literally just down the street finishing construction and Neighborhood Launch a stones throw away, will downtown Columbus condo buyers continue to consider living in the Center City now that City Center is gone?

Yes, they will. While the city of Columbus is touting a park to spring up from the ashes of the demolished mall, that is not the long term answer anyone wants to see in that prime spot. The City is talking to developers right now who are willing to put down their own money to build on the location. I’ve heard rumors of more condos, more apartments, major grocery, convenience and other retail stores in conjunction with class A office space.  It’ll happen.  Will we ever see another Macy’s type store downtown? Probably not. But maybe we could see some other fantastic possibilities.

Of possible interest from this and other sites regarding downtown retail and living…..

• Downtown Columbus’ Neighborhood Launch – a quick update

• Top 10 Chains We Wouldn’t Mind Seeing Downtown

• The Past, Present and Future of Retail in Columbus

• Population increase hasn’t translated into retail growth

One nice touch is that the  bill would also prohibit the IRS from “recapturing” the $8,000 credit when service members are forced to sell or rent out their houses because they are ordered to deploy to a different duty station, overseas or inside the country.

Clintonville

Greater Short North including Harrison West, Italian Village and Victorian Village

German Village and Brewery District

Schumacher Place and Merion Village

Greater Olde Towne East

Grandview Hieghts and Marblecliff

This 4 bedroom, 3.5 bath home on North Drexel will be open Thursday

A few years ago many Columbus Neighborhoods enjoyed “Third Thursday” open houses.  Us local Columbus Realtor types had an idea that home buyers would like an alternative to open houses being held only on Sunday.

It worked, but it didn’t work well in some locations. For example,the idea never really took off in Clintonville and Midtown Columbus neighborhoods. In the Bexley, Berwick and Eastmoor areas, however, Third Thursday went well.  So well, in fact, that today I think it is the only area that is still doing The Third Thursday open house promotion.

I believe Open Houses are more for Realtors than they are for selling the house, but I think that the 2008 total saw 12  homes go in to contract as a result of buyers seeing the home on a Thursday. It is seasonal though and next Thursday marks the last Third Thursday open house event until the spring.

Today is the deadline for inclusion in the advertising for the Bexley, Berwick and Eastmoor 3rd Thursday open house extravaganza and to date it looks like all the homes that will be open will be in Bexley. They include….

Replacing Sidewalks can be a big job but a valuable one.

I’ve found that sidewalks tend to be a value added feature for buyers looking at Columbus Homes for sale. Most of my buyers buy homes inside of I-270 and most of my buyers prefer to have sidewalks for ease of travel when walking around the  neighborhood, for a safe place to meet and greet neighbors, for a safe way to travel through a community, for the perceived safety of theirs and the neighborhood children (I couldn’t find a study that says sidewalks keep children safer but since they keep kids and cars from being in the same place at the  same time, I have to think it’s true) and because they simply feel that a home, a community, needs sidewalks.

In a neighborhood like Clintonville, most streets have sidewalks but the sidewalks don’t necessarily extend the length of the street,ie-there are some that seem to end somewhat randomly as you get closer to Indianola – often only to be taken up again down the street. Also, some North – South streets in Clintonville have no sidewalks.

In slightly more urban areas like German Village or Victorian Village, you can pretty much count on sidewalks though you definitely can’t always count on them being in good repair. In German Village, for example, some of those sidewalks are well over 110 years old and they’re brick which is a bigger maintenance issue. This leads to the next point, the sidewalk is the homeowner’s responsibility. Not just for shoveling snow, but if the walk has cracks all over it and is falling apart the City of Columbus will ask you to fix it. Nicely the first time.

It’s a bit of a catch-22 for homeowners who might buy a house, based in part, because of the lovely trees up and down the block only to find that the roots of those trees have demolished the sidewalks and now they have to pay to replace the walk.

You might get lucky though. Smaller municipalities like Bexley have more discretion and money to throw at keeping sidewalks in good repair. This summer the city of Bexley went around and marked sidewalk squares to be replaced and replaced them on their own dime, sparing the homeowner the cost. (Yes, the money no doubt came from homeowners to begin with)  That won’t always be the case in Bexley and it’s not something you can count on happening anywhere else in greater Columbus.

In less urban areas and sprinkled throughout Columbus you might find communities with no sidewalks. These homes are usually a little farther from the street and the yards are big. Typically, these areas also have less traffic and less need for sidewalks and the poor children who live there never have the opportunity to break their mother’s back.

Despite living on one of the oldest blocks of the city, my sidewalks are unusually wide, probably 5 feet.  This adds to my overall love of my block and is a small luxury that I really enjoy, even if only in the back of my mind. Also, because my neighborhood is so urban there are people who walk up and down my street all the time. I love that about my street.

In Gahanna and Dublin there just aren’t random people walking down your street and the quotient of local flavor goes down because of it. I’m sure many Columbus area home buyers might find that comforting but I say if you’ve got sidewalks, use them.

I love that the guy in the studio starts out saying the  home is overpriced, then they flash the text that the interested buyers want to tear it down just as the Real Estate Agent is going on about it and it ends with the anchor complaining about the train whistle being heard from a $2.3million dollar home.