Data from Greater Cincinnati Multiple Listing Service

To see last month’s numbers click here.

Real Estate in the West Chester and Liberty Township (and a little bit of Sharonville) made simple.

• Slightly lower Average List Price for both single family homes and condominiums
• An increase in pending sales for condos, a small drop for single family homes
• A small dip in the average sold prices

Simple rules to follow when selling your property:

• You cannot change the location
• You can ensure the property looks great -inside and out and…
• You can price it to sell!

Let’s make sure that you have the “elements” in your favor before you list your property- call 513-300-4090 or email me.

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Related Articles: Mason

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Data from Greater Cincinnati Multiple Listing Service

Single family home sales in the Mason School District continue to improve slightly.  Condominium sales are off just a smidgen.  If you look at last’s months numbers you will see a small uptick in prices for single family homes and a slight decline for prices in condos.  The good news continues to be relatively strong activitey in the Mason market.

If you need a more detailed breakdown, email or give me a call.

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No big surprise- most of the housing markets east of the Mississippi River are experiencing slight price declines.

I just returned from a great meeting with real estate/relocation people representing major cities from Florida to New York.  The information was fairly uniform, slightly declining housing prices, problems with constant media attention on the worst markets, foreclosures and how employers are dealing with transferees who are upside down with mortgages.

The good news, sellers are beginning to adjust their prices, subsequently there is a slight uptick in pending sales in most markets. 

No mad rush on real estate, but a picture of the market finally adjusting pricing to meet demand.  (sort of like the stock market)

Consensus of the group is that foreclosures will continue to impact all markets.  There is no easy fix and for many borrowers-”a bail out” will only delay their problems.  The markets with big home owner associations (HOA), such as Florida are feeling the pain of foreclosure.  Foreclosed property owners do not pay the association fees-leaving the remaining home owners (or condo owners) scrambling to cover expenses.

Relocating employees -many without a “buyout package” (buyout is when the employer will guarantee the purchase of the property after so many days on the market) leaves many transferees struggling with selling a property in one market while having to rent housing in their new location. 

States with the most diverse economies are doing better than the states relying on one or two major industries.  With new progressive governors, Alabama and Louisiana have done a lot to attract “very large” employers into their states.  The State of Ohio’s focus appears to be on small employers and this does impact the real estate markets around the state.

New trends are always of interest……

In the greater Cincinnati, West Chester, Mason and Fairfield real estate markets the term “turnkey” describes a property in “move in condition”.  The buyer won’t have to paint, carpet or do anything to the property.  On the west coast of Florida, turnkey has a taken a whole new meaning.  Turnkey means  the seller is supplying new bathroom towels, kitchen utensils, linens, china, glassware and silverware for the buyers. 

Wow- I think I like the idea.

It’s important to stay up with what is going on inside and outside our local real estate market.  If you have questions or comments- call 513-300-4090, send an email or use the comment section below.

If you would like to keep up to date with the local market-subscribe now.

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Yesterday we were downtown to see the last show in this year’s Broadway Series at the Aronoff.  “Jersey’s Boys” was delightful, but finding a place to eat lunch before the matinee performance was - well frustrating.

Chicken or egg- on Sunday’s it is very evident that downtown Cincinnati is not the place to catch a quick lunch (or late breakfast) before attending the 1pm show.

Eateries around Fountain Square were either closed on Sunday or didn’t open until noon.  There is a great place, First Watch,just north of the Aronoff. However, since it is one of the few places open before 11:30am on Sunday-it is always jammed and you wait 20-35 minutes for a table. 

There were hoards of theater goers wandering around looking for someplace to eat…and finding very little to fulfill their needs.

I know weather and timing of activities downtown make it very difficult for restaurants to open early to serve a fickle group of matinee diners- but without some consistent, affordable eating places within walking distance of the theater- the theory of the chicken or egg for downtown will remain just that- a question.

Maybe it is time to crack a few eggs and allow the Aronoff to add tables and chairs and offer “box” lunches from a variety of downtown restaurants.  It may take time to build a following- but maybe some out of the crate thinking will encourage business at all hours in downtown Cincinnati.

Let me know what your think.

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Judging by the emails I received, I guess there is a lot of interest in “online storage”. The previous article “Are You Prepared for a Green Fried Computer?” raised questions and I took the liberty copying one of the emails into the comments because it covered several very good points.

It seems as if the “senior sector”  has spawned all sorts of new relocation types of services, usually free to seniors, but often requiring  hefty referral fees from vendors. 

Today many assisted care facilities are partnering with relocation companies to provide end-to-end services.  Occasionally problems arise when the facility’s management team does not disclose to the incoming seniors - that they will be ”pushed” to utilize the services.  Many of these seniors do not require or want the services-yet they must deal with repeated calls and micromanagement from a relocation service provider - usually located in another city.

If a family member, living in a distant location, requires help with a move I would suggest you check with their community senior services groups to find help.  Or check with the real estate agent to determine if they have a “services department”.  (Or call me 513-300-4090 and I will find the right agent for you)  Several brokerages offer access to preferred vendors and these contractors are usually bonded and insured.

Also The National Association of Realtors (NAR) has a professional designation Senior Real Estate Specialists (SRES).  The training enhances a realtor’s ability to work with the 50+ age group.  Several real estate web sites allow you to search by designations.  A quick search of the just the SRES site rendered 17 names of  agents serving the 45069 zip code.

However the online data storage component is another story and I did not have any luck finding companies offering a service to handle inputting the information as well as providing storage.

Sometimes the solution is as simple as using the online tools we access on a daily basis.

Both Google and Yahoo offer free online “storage” for documents.  Google Docs and Yahoo Briefcase allow you to upload documents for storage.  I have used Google Docs extensively and am able to create new documents and spreadsheets to share or store.  My son told me about Yahoo Briefcase and it was very easy to upload a current document to the site.  Both of the services require a sign-in/ password to activate. 

A friend of mine has taken a much easier approach- he emails “stuff” to a free email account (in this case Hotmail).  Many of the documents are sent as attachments and the attachments are password protected.  By the time I study all the alternatives, this may be the easiest way for us to “store” information too.

The article that peeked my initial interest (but no actual activity on my part) was written by Walter Mossberg of the Wall Street Journal at the end of 2006. The article titled “These Services Make Backing Up Your Files Safe and Inexpensive” provides detailed explanation on a few services.  Another of  Mr. Mossberg’s columns in the Wall Street Journal and a recent issue of PC World review SugarSync- a software product which allows users to keep multiple devices up to date.  For owners with a variety of computers in many locations- this may be the best bet for keeping information.

Finally a quick search of ConsumerSearch.com provides a good comparison of several sites/services available for back-up.

Stick with what works for you- if you make it too complicated you’ll never follow through with compiling and retaining the documentation.

If you would like to share information on real estate for ”seniors” or online data storage -post a comment below or send an email. 

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