Columbus Real Estate Professionals

An attorney friend of mine drafted this up and I thought it worth sharing. I hope you find this information useful and informative.

In a typical growth market, real estate tax valuations struggle to keep up with increasing values. This creates a benefit for property owners who pay taxes based on a valuation that is below the fair market value. In today’s market however, property values have declined and, in some cases, are below the Auditor’s appraised value. This results in the property owner paying hundreds or thousands of dollars for taxable value that is no longer supported by the market. So what can you do to keep your taxable value in line with your property’s true value? Simply take action.

Each of Ohio’s 88 counties has their own Auditor who is responsible for valuing real property at least once every six years and it is this value that serves as the basis for your taxable value. Additionally, each county has a board of revision that is responsible for evaluating property valuation complaints and determining whether to reduce the appraised value (and taxable value) of your house. Each property owner (and some people through their relationship with the property owner) has the right to file a complaint against valuation if they feel that the current appraised value exceeds the fair market value.

There are a number of factors that contribute to the fair market value of real property but, as a property owner, it is your duty to know what value has been assigned to your property and to object where the valuation is outdated. While the most obvious valuation issues surround properties that have been purchased or offered for sale in the past year, many neighborhoods have seen a dramatic decrease in property values that could make your long-time home a candidate for re-valuation. If you think your property (residential or commercial) is a candidate for a reduction in taxable valuation, please contact my office or pick up a complaint form from your county auditor. The deadline for filing your 2009 complaint is March 31, 2010.

By: Andrew C. Clark, Esq. ANELLI HOLFORD, LTD.

6099 Riverside Drive, Suite 207

Dublin, OH 43017

(614) 228-7710

aclark@ahlawltd.com

I would like to blog today about bank properties in New Albany Ohio. The information provided here is based on MLS data and includes all active and sold listings with acceptance conditions showing bank involvement in New Albany Ohio over the last 12 months. I will also be including short sales in this information, as they also require bank acceptance of any offers pertaining to them.

Currently there are 12 active New Albany bank properties on the market. These homes range in price from $177K through $1.249 million. These homes are spread out over 8 neighborhoods, and cover a wide range of overall condition. If you would like information on any of these homes, please feel free to email me at Columbushomesearch@gmail.com

One important thing to make note of here is that the 12 bank involved properties currently active in New Albany do not include any homes that could potentially be bank involved depending on where any offers would come in at. For those unfamiliar with this process, bank involvement in a short sale situation comes into play when a home is selling for less than what the current balance owed on the property is. When an offer on a property is less than the current balance owed to the bank, both seller and the bank must approve any offers. If you would like to see potential bank involved (short sale) opportunities, just email me at the address above.

Many buyers in today’s market target bank properties due to the perception of below market values. In many cases, this is absolutely true; but not always. Obviously, the condition of the home must also be taken into consideration when determining overall value of the property, and some bank properties are better maintained than others.

There were 18 bank properties sold in New Albany over the last 12 months as shown on the MLS. I believe the actual number of properties sold with bank involvement over the last 12 months in New Albany is higher than this, as many homes that are on the market may not start off as short sale properties, but depending on the offers received will end up in a short sale situation. When this happens, the acceptance conditions as used for this search may not be updated to show bank involvement.

As real estate professionals, we understand the importance of monitoring market activity, which is one of the reasons we provide the following to those we assist with their real estate needs:

1) Altos Market Trend Report (SAMPLE) - Allows you to monitor market trend activity in an easy to read format for your areas of interest. You can sign up for these FREE reports by click HERE

2) MLS Auto Notifications-see all active properties in your area(s) of interest

3) Bank Involved Property Lists- Lists of properties in your areas of interest showing bank involvement regarding acceptance conditions

4) HOT Keyword searches- This search will pull properties with remarks indicating below market values, possible bank involvement, and anything else that would be important to you individually.

In wrapping this up, I think it is important for buyers to know there are some incredible opportunities out there, and with the right professionals in your corner, you will have some tremendous opportunities.

The New Albany bank properties noted in this blog are just one set of the opportunities out there, so be sure to look at every opportunity available to you.

Enjoy Your Search

Search the MLS at www.mycolumbushomes.com

In today’s market, many buyer and sellers are asking how Dublin Ohio home sales are trending. The answer is that sales are down across the board, but not as much as you might expect with everything you hear on TV. The Dublin Ohio Home market is still a buyers' market with higher than desired inventories of homes for sale, and a continual addition of bank owned homes hitting the market each quarter. Even with these downward pressures, Dublin Ohio homes have weathered the storm better than many other areas around central Ohio and beyond.

The statistics included here are for comparison purposes showing year end totals for 2008 and 2009 regarding homes sales within the Dublin Ohio corporate limits. In 2008 there were 566 homes sold in Dublin Ohio, compared to 519 in 2009. This is a reduction in overall volume of 8.30%. In addition to this, the average sale price has declined from $327,586 in 2008 to $322,043 in 2009. With that being said, this 1.69% decline in sales price for Dublin Ohio home sales between 08 and 09 should take into consideration the downward pressure that just a couple of bank owned homes can put on an entire neighborhood, thus making the numbers look worse than they really are.

All too often, the media is focusing on how terrible the real estate market is.  But, the fact is, homes in Dublin Ohio are holding their values. The average sold vs. list price for Dublin Ohio homes in 2009 was 95.41%.

The reason I felt this information important to share is that all to often we only hear about how terrible the market is.  There is no doubt the real estate market across the country is at the low end of its cycle, but let’s not lose sight of some important facts about strong central Ohio communities like Dublin.

If you wish to monitor market activity for Dublin Ohio, please use the form in the right hand margin (or click HERE) and sign up for our bi-monthly updates featuring easy to read grafts depicting market activity for most areas around central Ohio.

For those more interested in Dublin Ohio Homes for sale, you can visit our site at www.mycolumbushomes.com and search the local MLS just as agents do for homes in Dublin as well as all over central Ohio.