Welcome to Petra's Columbus Real Estate Blog...
what it's like to live, work and play in the Columbus Ohio Area

Columbus Ohio truly is a great place to live!  Columbus has the best real estate market in Ohio and also one of the best job markets around too.  I suppose they both go hand in hand. Columbus real estate offers something for everyone, no matter what your price range.

Columbus Ohio Real Estate Market

You can find homes and condos starting around $50,000 to well over a million dollars built anywhere from the late 1800’s to the present.  Quaint historic neighborhoods with some older mission, tudor and victorian style homes built in the early 1900’s can be found in one of my favorite areas, Clintonville as well as in the Short North, Victorian Village, German Village, Old Town East and Bexley.  You can find newer homes and new home construction in most Central Ohio suburbs and in some areas of Columbus like the popular Easton Town Center area in Northeast Columbus.

Modern upscale condos and lofts can be found, in the Short North and Downtown Columbus. Waterfront properties can be found overlooking the Scioto River in Downtown Columbus, Grandview and Upper Arlington areas, on the Ohio River in Powell and northeast in Westerville there are waterfront homes on the Hoover Resevoir.

Homes on golf course lots and communities abound in just about every area of Columbus and the suburbs with some of the most popular golf course communities being Muirfield in Dublin, Wedgewood in Powell, Highland Lakes Golf Course and Medallion in Westerville, Pinnacle Golf Club in Grove City, Columbus Country Club in East Columbus, Heritage Golf Club and  Ballantrae in Hilliard, the Safari Golf Course by the Columbus Zoo and so many others.

The most affordable housing can be found in the city of Columbus and many of the Central Ohio suburbs including: Blacklick, Canal Winchester, Grove City, Groveport, Obetz, Reynoldsburg and few in Gahanna, Hilliard or Westerville.  The higher priced suburbs of Columbus include Hilliard, Dublin, Worthington, Powell, Lewis Center, Westerville, Gahanna and New Albany.

To learn more about Columbus and Central Ohio real estate, schools and community information visit:  ColumbusCastles.com/areainfo

Columbus Ohio Economy and Job Market

In August 2009, US News & World Report ranked Columbus, the Capital of Ohio, one of America’s best places to find a job in 2009. According to Bill LaFayette, Vice President of Economic Analysis for the Columbus Ohio Chamber of Commerce, when comparing  Columbus’s data to national averages, he says Columbus is doing a lot better than average.

Ohio State Capital Building

One thing that helps our economy in Central Ohio is that Columbus, is not only in the middle of Ohio, but also pretty much central to most of the country.  Due to Ohio’s central location, we have a strong transportation and distribution industry, which has grown by a third since 2001.

Central Ohio’s diverse economy also contributes to making our job market resilient.  Health care, hospitality, manufacturing and even the tech industry provide a variety of jobs.   Some of Columbus’s major employers include Ohio State University, Ohio Health, Cardinal Health, Ross Labs, Nationwide Insurance, JPMorgan Chase Bank, Bob Evans, Grange Insurance, Farmers Insurance, Safe Auto Insurance, Riverside Hospital, Ohio State University Hospitals, Verizon, Limited Brands and others. In addition, the City of Columbus, State of Ohio and the US Federal government provide thousands of jobs in Columbus Ohio. LaFayette explains that employment in information technology occupations is significantly higher than in comparably sized regions because “so many of our sectors are voracious consumers of data” and need top-notch IT infrastructure.

I’ve helped a lot of people relocating to Columbus, buy a home in Central Ohio.  While I’m not seeing as many people move to Columbus as I did a few years ago, I do still frequently get calls from buyers looking to move to Columbus Ohio and buy a home here.  I’ve even received inquiries from buyers who plan to move to Columbus, once they find a job.  In the mean time, I can email new real estate listing updates, in their price range, from the Columbus MLS (multiple listing service).  Most buyers find this FREE service a very helpful way to get educated about the Columbus Ohio real estate market and what they can get in their price range.

I also offer an extensive relocation package that I mail out to clients once they are planning to move here.  If you’re planning to move to Columbus Ohio and would like my FREE relocation information package or would like to receive real estate listing updates by email, please either CONTACT ME at 614-895-0496 or complete the form on my Columbus Ohio Relocation Page to get started.  I greatly appreciate the opportunity to help make your move to Columbus Ohio successful.

This is a buyer’s market right?  The media keeps publicizing how bad the real estate market is all over the US.  So how is it possible that I have come across 4 multiple offer situations in the last month here in Columbus Ohio?  Let me share a little more about each scenario to give you a better idea of what the real estate market is really doing here in the Columbus Ohio area. 

Client number 1:  I’m working with a couple who just recently sold their home in Indiana and are now ready to buy their next home in the Columbus Ohio area.  They love older vintage style homes with lots of character, charm and hardwood floors in walking type communities.  The husband is a resident at Mount Carmel and Saint Ann’s Hospitals.  The wife will be going to OSU to complete the Internal Medicine program.  So they wanted areas convenient to Downtown, OSU and Westerville.   They decided to look for older homes in the Bexley, Clintonville, German Village and Worthington areas. 

We had found a home in Clintonville that they just loved and were ready to make an offer on when it went into contract.  There was one other home in Clintonville and 2 homes in Bexley that they also liked and all three went into contract at the same time.  All of these homes had been on the market for less than 2 weeks.  Even though there is plenty more on the market, most of the other homes are not nearly as nice so they decided to just wait until something new came on the market.  Three days ago a new real estate listing came on the market in Bexley and we went to see it right away.  It was the perfect home for them so we made an offer right away before anyone else had a chance!  They are now very happy to be in contract on this cute cape cod home in Bexley!  

Client number 2:  I’m working with another couple who have their current home in contract and has to move by the end of July (I’m selling their current home in the OSU/Upper Arlington/Riverside Hospital area).  The husband works at Chase in the Polaris/Lewis Center area and the wife works in Westerville.  They are also very active in their church which is located just North of the OSU Campus area so they wanted to buy a home somewhere in between these areas.  We have been looking for homes in the Clintonville, Worthington and Westerville areas. They’re expecting their 2nd child, so modern day conveniences like a finished basement, 1st floor den and 2 car attached garage are important to them.  

They quickly realized you can get a much nicer home for the money in some well established neighborhoods in Westerville.  We found their ideal home in Westerville last Saturday.  We went back on Monday to see it a 2nd time and were ready to make an offer on it and found out they already had another offer that they were ready to accept.  So we quickly made our best offer on this home too, but the seller decided to take the other one because it came in first.  This home had been on the market for less than 2 weeks.

Client number 2 again:  Okay - I mentioned that I’m also selling their home which is located in the Cranford Subdivision in Northwest Columbus (Upper Arlington, OSU and Riverside Hospital area).  Here’s a link to that Northwest Columbus Ranch Home.  I always try to provide staging and home preparation advice to my clients who want to sell their home because I know that homes in the best condition sell quicker and for more money.  So this client took the time to properly prepare their home for the market.  This particular area of Columbus is very popular due to it’s convenient location, on the edge of Upper Arlington, plus it’sclose to OSU and Riverside Hospital.  In addition, you can get to Downtown Columbus in about 10 minutes.  However, I’ve still seen some homes sit on the market a while in this area, when they are not properly prepared. 

Since this home was properly prepared for the market, we experienced lots of showings.  After about 2 weeks on the market, we received an offer from someone who is planning to go to graduate school at the Ohio State University (OSU).  We had started negotiating with this client when a 2nd offer came in.  The sellers had to decide which offer they wanted to take and decided to stay with the first buyer because they agreed to take the home as is.  This was appealing to the seller because they are ready to move on to their next home and don’t want to bother with any more repairs on their current home.  

Client number 3:  I’m working with another couple who are first time home buyers.  The husband works in Downtown Columbus and the wife works in the Worthington area.  So they’re looking for homes in Worthington, Dublin, Westerville and Gahanna areas.  They have some pretty specific needs in their first home - a fenced in yard for their dog and some separate living space for her Dad who is planning to move in with them.  So we found a cute ranch home in Gahanna that offered a nice large basement that they planned on finishing for a mother in law type suite for her Dad. Only problem, 2 other people wanted the same home at the same time.  That’s right - this home had 3 offers at the same time.  Unfortunately, our offer was not the chosen one.  My clients offered the most they could afford and that obviously wasn’t enough. 

In October of 2007, Forbes ranked the Columbus Ohio real estate market the 3rd most stable in the US.  I find that homes are still selling well in many areas of Central Ohio.  I think the key in the three homes in Bexley, Clintonville and Westerville mentioned above, is the homes went into contract quickly because they were all in good condition, properly prepared/staged and priced right for the current market.  I always say that homes in the best condition will sell more quickly and for more money.  Visit http://www.columbuscastles.com/sellers, to learn more.

There are some areas of Columbus and some Central Ohio suburbs that are not selling as quick, but that certainly is not the case everywhere.  Some of the areas that are struggeling the most are areas with newer homes that were developed too quickly.  Also in some of those newer developments, builders are still building.  So it’s very challenging to try and sell your home and compete against the builder’s buyer financing incentives.

Overall, you’ll find the Columbus Ohio real estate market to be doing much better than many other parts of the US and even other areas in Ohio.  If you’re interested in buying or selling a home, I’d love to work for you.  Please CONTACT PETRA at 614-895-0496 anytime from 8am-10pm EST for personal assistance with your Columbus Ohio real estate needs.