Jon Wnoroski, Summit County Realtor

As a former educator and liaison to Summit County Juvenile Court I took great interest in the Juvenile Diversion program offered by the City of Green under the direction of the Summit County Sheriff's Department and Drew Alexander, Sheriff, Summit County Ohio.

The Juvenile Diversion program is an effective too for "first-time offenders." It takes into consideration that youngsters can make an error in judgment and find themselves in a bit of "hot water" as a result. It is not necessarily intended for dealing with youngsters seriously involved in gang activity or "hard core" offenders; the juvenile court system will deal with these elements.

The program is well-founded philosophically and strives to make youngsters responsible for their actions without having them have a record in the court system. It's a great program for helping young people understand their civic responsibility while making them responsible for their actions at the same time.

The program offers assistance for families who are having difficulty and encourages them to become involved with the program before a situation escalates to a more difficult problem. The city of Green and the Summit County Sheriff's Department is on the "right track" for dealing with issues related to juvenile crime and making great advances in minimizing juvenile offenses in our community.

I congratulate the city of Green and the Summit County Sheriff's Department for their efforts. I have seen this program work effectively in other communities and know it has a positive impact.

How do you determine which school district your listing is located? Do you figure the a home is located in a particular political subdivision and the school district also located in that political subdivision is the one you identify in MLS? Do you ask your sellers what school district their home is located in? Or do you use some other method?

Many people assume that the school their children will attend is the one located in the political subdivision they reside. This is a common error because school districts (at least in Ohio) are considered separate political subdivision and have their own boundaries. Sometimes the school district's boundaries are the same as the political subdivision in which they are located; at other times they are not.

You would think your sellers would know what school district they are a part of; but, on the other hand, they might not. Their children may not have attended the local public school; they may have attended private schools, charter schools, etc.

Why is it important to accurately identify the public school where a home is located?

Actually, it's very important if a family based their decision to buy based on the school district they want to enroll their children.

Have you ever known anyone who purchased a home and relied on school district information placed in MLS? Have you ever known anyone who purchased a home in a political subdivision only to find that their home is located in a school district other than what was listed in MLS? Can you imagine how they would react to this revelation?

How to avoid school district boundary issues:

The best way to avoid problems of this nature is to verify your school information and document who you spoke with and what they told you.

Call the school district; but just don't call anyone! The best source to contact in any school district if you want to be sure that an address is within a particular school district is the "transportation department." The transportation department works on school boundary issues on a regular basis; they can tell you that 108 Elm St. is in their district and that 110 Elm St. is not.

Building secretaries and the Superintendent's secretary are wonderful people. However, they work on a variety of matters on a daily basis and generally are not completely familiar with district boundaries. Go directly to the people who know; the transportation department.

As agents we are responsible for the accuracy of information in MLS.

If you are a buyer, take time to verify information before you buy!

Every six years Summit County goes through a "re-appraisal." One would expect these re-appraisals to result in lower valuations since we have heard through the media that property values are decreasing in our area. However, our re-appraisals have not all resulted in lower valuations. Some people had lower appraisals while others saw increases in their property values. The response to the re-appraisal issue in our area met mixed reviews.

You can read the article by clicking on the following link:

http://www.ohio.com/news/27647744.html

Some of the reader comments to an article in the Akron Beacon Journal are below:

• "Gotta love it...value up/ taxes up...value down/ taxes up. Blood-suckers.
• What would the property sell for today? That should be the value of the property.
• The number of homes not sold and the amount that homes are sold for at county foreclosure sales should be the primary part of the auditors assessment.
• These real estate property taxes are a clever, but evil device employed to fleece hard working people.
• It just a way to get more taxes outta us, its also fraud in my opinion. I have city sewer, well water, no side walks, grave road, and can hold my breath from end to end of my property. 11 yrs ago my taxes where $450 1/2 now its $800 1/2. Something fishy going on and its no the fish in the lakes.
• The county upped my property value by $10,000 on this reappraisal. I guess since Akron's property values dropped the county is going to make it up in the suburbs."

These comments are just a few that people made in response to this news article. There were some that were rather abrasive and many more that showed displeasure with the re-appraisals. More comments can be viewed at the bottom of the news article.

As in every community, some values do increase (homes seem to be selling better in those areas) while others have decreased in today's market.

I'm not sure what method Summit County used (this year) to do this re-appraisal. In the past they actually had appraisers out in the field and inspected each property (where they could get access) and even interviewed the owner. At other times, the county simply calculated property values based on a fixed percentage. Regardless, the property owner does that the right to challenge their appraisal. The procedure for challenging your re-appraisal can be found on the Summit County Auditor's web site.

Summit County, Ohio is located in northeastern, Ohio just south of Cleveland. It is the highest elevation on the Ohio and Erie Canal with a 2007 population estimate of 543,487.

Real estate sales (number of units sold) have declined over the past four years to it's lowest level in some time. Sales trends appear to be similar in each of the four years studied (2005, 2006, 2007, and 2008).

Sales of residential properties rallied in June, 2008 and nearly matched the sales total for 2007.

Typically peak sales periods for any given year tend to be from April through October. That trend seems to have held true for each of the past four years. After peaking in June, 2008, Summit County sales dropped off steeply in July (keeping consistent with sales patterns in previous years).

When we take the maximum sales from 2005 - 2007 (blue line) and the minimum sales from 2005 - 2007 (black line) and compare those figures with 2008 sales, we see that 2008 sales falls below the minimum sales of the past three years.

May failed to keep up with the expected trend in sales with a huge recovery posted in June.

Summit County, Ohio sales trends indicate decreased production when compared to previous years. It is anticipated that sales will continue at current trends with sales continuing to be lower than prior years. Sales data will continue to be charted to see if the market will experience an upturn over the next several months.

Summit County, Ohio residential real estate sales have declined steadily from it's peak period in 2004.

Sales in 2007 were 3,561 units lower than 2004.

Since 2004, residential real estate sales have declined by nearly 1,000 units per year. Sales between 2006 and 2007 declined a little more than 1,700 units.

Presently, Summit County, Ohio unit sales trends tend to be moving in a downward direction with no indication of a reversal in the near future. Trend data will continue to be monitored for signs of future recovery.

Starting September 1 (2008) of this year, homeowners with well or septic systems in several Summit County cities are required to have a new inspection prior to selling their property.

Any homeowner that has a private well or septic system and has a property for sale which will close on September 1 or later will be required to have this inspection. Homes that currently have a "sale pending" that will NOT close until September 1 or later will be required to have a well and septic inspection.

The Summit County Health Department has jurisdiction over certain cities while other cities have their own rules. Contact the Summit County Health Department for further information.

The fees are as follows:

• Well & Septic Pre-Sale Real Estate Inspection: $275.00
• Septic ONLY Pre-Sale Real Estate Inspection: $200.00 (If property has public water)
• Well ONLY Pre-Sale Real Estate Inspection: $150.00 (If property has public sewer)

All private water systems and sewage treatment systems will need to be inspected by a water system evaluator approved by the Health Commissioner. A complete list of approved contractors will be available on the Summit County Health Department web site (and in our offices) on September 1. Before then, sellers can call the Summit County Health Department at 330-923-4891 to verify if a contractor of the seller's choice is approved.

According to the new rule, if the inspection and/or samples show a threat to public health, or if corrections need to be made, the health department will issue a time frame for the repairs to be made.

Sellers need to be aware that if they do NOT get the required inspections before the house is transferred to a new owner, or if there are repairs that need to be made before the transfer, there will be a fee for the former homeowner.