Real Estate Information

by Nicki Campbell

The massive snowfalls we have been experiencing over the past few weeks have turned Central Ohio into a winter wonderland.  Icicles hanging from trees create a magical effect, especially when the sun comes out (this actually happened on Sunday!) and makes the icicles sparkle.

But what about the icicles that are hanging from the eaves of so many of our homes?   Far from being magical, these can be signs of a phenomenon known as "ice damming", which can cause minor or major leaks resulting in roof and insulation rot, ceiling and wall damage, attic flooding, mold and more.

Ice dams usually occur after a heavy snowfall and several days of freezing temperatures.  Warm air that builds up under the roof or in the attic will heat the underside of the roof causing the snow or ice on the roof to melt.  The resulting water runs down the roof under the snow until it reaches the roof overhang, which is very cold.  The melted water then refreezes and forms a dam of ice, behind which the water ponds.  This ponding water can back up under the roof covering and leak into the attic or along the exterior walls.

Prevention

The way to prevent ice dams is to keep the entire roof of the house the same temperature as the outside, or the eaves.  This can be accomplished by increasing ventilation, adding insulation and sealing off every possible air leak that might warm the underside of the roof.  The general recommendation for proper insulation is 1 square foot of vent for every 150 feet of attic floor area.  (This can vary according to area of the country.)  Some experts recommend installing an electric vent fan that works on a thermostat.  The fan will pull outside aire into the attic to keep the inside temperature consistent .

What Not to Do

• Do not try to "chip away" the ice.  This commonly leads to shingle or gutter damage.
• Do not install heaters or mechanical equipment in the attics.
• Do not use salt or calcium chloride to melt snow on the roof.  These chemicals are corrosive and can damage metal gutters, downspouts and flashings, as well as nearby grass and plants.
• Do not get on the roof to try to remove snow or ice.  This can cause roof damage and it is not safe for you!

What to do if ice dams are causing water damage (short term solutions)

• Hire a qualified contractor to carefully remove most of the snow from the roof above the ice dam.  He should not touch the roof with equipment or walk on the roof, if possible.  Cold roofs are brittle and are prone to damage. The contractor may decide to create one or two grooves in the ice dam to allow the ponding water to drain off. 
• Make a "snow melt sock" by cutting the legs off a pair of pantyhose, filling with calcium chloride ice melter and laying it onto the roof so it crosses the ice dam and overhangs the gutter.  This should melt small channels in the ice, allowing runoff to occur.

For more information, the University of Massachusetts has an excellent article at  http://bct.nrc.umass.edu/index.php/publications/by-title/preventing-ice-dams/. 

Other sites with information are:

http://htoyh.com  (Mr. Fix-It Home Tips)

http://diylife.com

http://thisoldhouse.com

Although we believe this information to be reliable and accurate, we cannot guarantee it.  As always, consult an experienced contractor or other expert to determine the best solution for your individual situation.

by Nicki Campbell

I spend a lot of my time helping our clients "stage" their homes before putting them on the market.  This involves de-cluttering, deep cleaning, re-arranging furniture, painting, removing wallpaper, removing cooking, pet and smoking odors (as much as is possible) and more.  Some clients are open to this and others simply cannot be convinced that it is necessary.

I recently went out to the home of a friend who has lost her husband in the past year and was thinking of selling her large home in Worthington and moving to a cozier one in a different part of town.  She had already had a "feng shui" lady out to the house who advised her to paint accent walls, place furniture in a certain way, move pictures, etc.  I gave her suggestions that were quite different because I was looking at her home as a saleable property that would appeal to the largest possible cross-section of buyers.

My guess is that she will take the feng shui lady's suggestions, make changes that will personalize her home, and stay in it.  But the experience illustrates an interesting point:  there is a big difference between decorating a home for yourself and staging a home to sell it to others!  When you decorate your home, you are doing it to suit your taste and personality.  You will probably bring in colors, objects and patterns that you love.  Family pictures will be evident and personal tastes and hobbies will be on display.  You will feel comfortable and "at home" in it because it will reflect you.

This is the exact opposite of what you should do to prepare your home for sale.  Your first goal should be to "de-personalize" each room, i.e. to take your personality out so that prospective buyers can imagine themselves and their own possessions in the home.  Most of the family pictures should be packed away, wall colors should be neutral, decorative objects should be pared down and furniture should be arrange to make the room appear larger.  Walls should be painted in a neutral shade, carpets should be cleaned (or replaced), windows should be washed, woodwork touched up --everything should look fresh and new.

This is not to say that your home should be sterile and unwelcoming!  Although walls and floors should be neutral, a few carefully chosen accent pieces and bright throw pillows will help to make the home appear warm and inviting.  A breakfast bar or dining table might be set with colorful placemats and dishes, a basket of soaps and some candles might be arranged beside the tub, a book might be placed beside a bed or an armchair -- all to help buyers envision themselves living in and enjoying the home themselves.

If all this sounds too much to tackle or too difficult to figure out for yourself, that's why we are here!  We have been doing this for years and can recommend lots of things that will help make your house sell as quickly as possible.  (We can also give you the names of some professional stagers who will do an even better job.)

Unless, like my friend, you decide to stay in your home and decorate it just for you!

by Erin LaBuda

If you are "on the fence" about whether or not to sell your home in the Worthington area, here is some information that may help you with that decision.  I am currently working with several ready, willing and able buyers who would like to live in the Worthington area.  They are looking at homes priced from $100 to $300,000.

As of today, there are only 28 homes on the market in all of the Worthington School District priced between $200 and 275,000 with at least 3 bedrooms and 2 baths....Not very many considering the community has 23,500 households!

After looking through the total inventory of Worthington School District homes, I realized that the inventory is very light.  This indicates that there is a shift in this community towards a Seller's Market, one in which the demand far exceeds the supply.  This is great news for anyone who has been considering selling their home but was nervous after hearing the reports on the housing market (on a national level).  It would seem that here, in Worthington, those reports do not apply.

Feel free to give us a call or e-mail if you would like to see what is available in the Worthington market or would like a "Market Snapshot" of your neighborhood.

There is a new website that has been created to help homeowners maintain and improve their homes' value.  This site promises to help owners make wise choices about financing, taxes, insurance, maintenance and improvements.   The web site is www.HouseLogic.com.  Log on to gain great information that is very useful and helpful.

by Penny Gowin

Worthington Youth Boosters is a wonderful program for children who attend the Worthington school district.  My two children have been participating in programs offered by WYB for 5 years and we keep returning to the program.  My boys have learned skills and sportsmanship from volunteer parents who spare their free time to coach the children.  The program promotes positive participation from the athletes and parents alike.  WYB offers a wide range of sports including cheerleading, baseball, track, wrestling, football, basketball and more.  It is an inexpensive way for children to learn skills to build upon in middle and high schools sports.  The league also offers travel teams throughout the year for additional fees.   To find out more about this great organization you can visit the WYB website at www.worthingtonboosters.com

by Nicki Campbell

The numbers are in for 2010 and, once again, the LaBuda Advantage Team was #1 in the Worthington School District! 

In a tough economic year, especially in the area of real estate, we managed to sell more homes in the Worthington area than ever before --a total of 62!  Our annual "Thank you, Worthington" ad will appear in the local paper today with photos of most of the houses we have sold and, for the first time, we were unable to fit all of them on the full page!

How could this have happened in this of all years?  Part of it has to be due to the fact that Worthington continues to be a favorite of so many home-buyers.  It has a small-town, community feeling, a charming historic business district, great schools and lots of diverse neighborhoods, all the while being close-in to everything in Columbus for convenience.  The other factor in our success this year, in my opinion, is the fact that we have built a reputation in Worthington, over many years, that has served us well at a time when people are hesitant to take a risk with their largest investment -- their home. 

Of course, we also sell homes in other areas of the city.  We love Dublin, Clintonville and Westerville, not to mention Gahanna, New Albany and the Short North!  Some of our favorite properties have been in Hilliard and Upper Arlington.  Many of our buyers have settled in Powell and other parts of Southern Delaware County.  Columbus has many wonderful neighborhoods and we love to find the right neighborhood for each buyer!

Call us if you have questions about buying or selling in Worthington -- or anywhere else in the greater Columbus area.  We'll be happy to help you!

by Lynn Nadler

I was attending a meeting last night of Realtors and Mortgage people.  There were, of course, discussions of the market, who is busy and why and what is going to happen over the next few months.

The unanimous feeling was that the Real Estate market in Columbus is "heating up" in certain price points.  Homes that first time home buyers can purchase appear to be the hottest, then come the homes in the over-$275,000 price range.  The slowest market is the over-$500,000 market, but there are some great "deals" in this area.

The other point that was made by the mortgage people was that rates WILL go up!!!  They all felt that by mid-summer, rates will begin to rise and level off in the 6-6 1/2% range by the end of the year.

What does this mean for all those looking for a home?  Start now, call a Realtor and a loan specialist and take advantage of the market before it's too late!!

The economic news is finally starting to look better!  We have our fingers crossed, but it looks like the real estate market bottomed out during the first quarter of this year.  Looking at the average sale price per quarter since 2007, you can se how quickly the market dropped and how it appears to be picking up:

Data from the Central Ohio Multiple Listing Service (MLS)

The next quarter will be an important piece of the puzzle.  The feds are still keeping interest rates low!  You get more for your home, and it is still a great time to buy.  If you are thinking about it, now is the time to consider a move.

Don't forget the First Time Home-Buyer Tax Credit... $8,000 cash in these buyers' pockets.  Deadline to close is December 1, 2009! 

Recently in the “Home & Garden” section of  The Columbus Dispatch  the topic was “Homes that had sold in the Columbus area within 5 days of listing.”

Everyone has read more articles than they think they ever wanted to read regarding the state of the real estate market.  It seemed there was never any good news.

Well, there is. 

We have sold many homes this year in under 30 days including some that went into contract within a week of listing.

What did these homes or owners do to make that happen?

What did we do to make it happen?

Us first – I attribute the large number of sales we have had this year, despite a challenging market in 2009, to our superior marketing and straight talk.

I attribute the success also to the sellers who listened to the sound advice we gave them as far as how to condition their homes “ahead” of other competitive properties.  More sparkle, more updates, more everything!

These sellers also priced their homes according to our advice.  Pricing that reflected what the market was telling us.  Their homes had to be priced based on 2009 prices and they had to be “ahead” of the competition by 3-5%.

These are the properties that are “in the market” vs. the properties that “are not in the market”.  Those that are in the market are the ones that sell.  Those that are not sit and unfortunately end up taking a lower price ultimately than they would have had they priced the homes in ahead of the market on the first day they were listed.

Making your home attractive to more buyers is the name of the game.  Waiting for a buyer is not.

We've all probably heard about the $8000 first time home buyer credit that is available but did you know that there are other tax credit incentives available?  I had heard a few radio advertisements about a $1500 tax credit if I blew more insulation in my homes walls but wasn't really sure if I qualified...so, I decided to look in to what is available from the new stimulus bill and found some interesting and possibly tax saving options.

                                                 Windows and Doors

                                                 Insulation

                                                 Roofs (Metal and Asphalt)

                                                 HVAC

                                                 Water Heaters (non-solar)

                                                 Biomass Stoves

                                                 Geothermal Heat Pumps

                                                 Solar Panels

                                                 Solar Water Heaters

                                                 Small Wind Energy Systems

                                                 Fuel Cells