Cleveland Neighborhood News: The Warehouse District Scheduled For Some Changes

My open house did not turn out as planned today.....the keys didn't work! And my client is in California so......time to read up on the news. Turns out The Planning Commission approved some upgrades for The Warehouse District. The change that should appeal the most to District residents are the parks being created including South of Lakeside -- always exciting when we start utilizing our key natural resource...The Lake. Another change is to add taxi stands to the District. Now to get taxis there. Cleveland needs to be more proactive about taxis - we all have horror stories about them not showing up, even if we try to call for one. Anyway, here is the newsnet5 blurb about it.

And here is fellow blogger Tom Breckenridge's post about it. For the first time since I lived in Maryland I've actually hear a design plan talk about a sense of place. There truly is a vibrancy to the entire Downtown area these past six months. Now we need a bookstore :=) Peace Out - 3C

Cleveland Housing News: Lead Paint Abatement Important, Especially For Children

It's become easier, as a Realtor®, to recognize homes that might need to get rid of lead paint. Normally our homes have been painted, layer upon layer, so the original lead paint job on a 1920 Era home is sealed safely away. But what if the paint in the room is peeling? Alternatively, if you have older double hung windows that get opened and shut every day as the temperatures rise and fall, the original paint jobs could be peeling against the friction of the opening and closing of these windows. Kids love to look out the window and the youngest ones love to eat whatever is not nailed down. Including paint chips. Another problem area can be a closest or storage area under the eaves in an attic. Sometimes these areas have clearly not been painted for decades. It's a good idea to put a few coats of paint on a closet or attic storage area just to be safe.

The Cuyahoga Co. Board of Health reports that they have received a $7 million grant from HUD to take care of already identified lead paint issues in NE Ohio. About 1300 Cuyahoga County children experienced lead poisoning in 2005. This grant will allow you to apply for monies to repair your home and you can read about the criteria to get the money here.

Sellers of homes in Ohio are required to fill out a Lead Paint Disclosure form to alert prospective buyers of any lead issues that may exist before they purchase. Buyers also have the right to a lead paint inspection prior to purchasing, in addition to a general home inspection. I have to admit, I have never had a buyer opt to get that inspection.

The City of Lakewood First Time Home Buyer Program utilizes a HUD inspection as part of their mortgage lending and purchase process. Peeling paint must be scraped/patched and repainted before their inspectors will sign off on the inspection. I had a home buyer purchasing a Lakewood home with this program and the house was neat as a pin and very well cared for. But there were porch railings and garage walls that were peeling. We had to get that corrected.

If you are buying a home and you will have young children inside the home when you move in, do you have newer windows? Do you have the older double hung rope/sash windows? Please be sure to look at the condition of the window sashes so you will know what you are dealing with when you move into your new home.

You can also go here to the HUD website and read more about keeping your home safe from lead paint poisoning issues. Peace Out-3C

The chair for the argumentative side in all of us

It's been a long week. I was trying to find a Thermador oven I saw advertised in a magazine at work today for almost 7 grand; to show it to a friend of mine on AOL. Long story short, I wound up on a site called Born Rich. It fascinated me. And you have to see the entire write up about the Argument Chair pictured here - maybe we need one in our office for buyers and sellers who can't come to terms! :-) Peace out 3C

A Short Sale Could Save You From Foreclosure

Short Sales are a valid alternative to getting completely mired in the foreclosure process. The important thing is to not ignore notices from your bank or lender; call their collections department immediately and see what kind of alternatives you have.

I love it when someone explains the process so well that I don't have to. One of my favorite bloggers is a Realtor® in Minnesota and she explains the short sale issue perfectly here. Read what Bonnie Erickson has to say; it might help you avoid getting into a real mortgage fix. Peace Out-3C

Rail Freight Enhancement Could Alleviate Traffic Congestion

The Heartland Institute did a report on traffic, freight and otherwise. They are a group that focuses on transportation issues. In this report they outline the value of increasing rail usage for freight carriers nationwide. One of the benefits is traffic congestion. Another one is wear and tear on the highways.

How many times have you been on a highway to find that 18-wheelers are slowing traffic considerably? They need to be on the roads (I tell myself), because we all need our goods and services. But it can get aggravating. When I lived in the DC area there were almost daily gridlock situations due to heavy truck traffic. The NJ Turnpike even has separate lanes for trucks for this reason.

They point out that a National focus should be improved rail quality because......

".... there are signs the growth cannot continue with the nation's current rail infrastructure. Freight train average operating speeds dropped from 24 miles per hour in 1990 to 21 miles per hour in 2000, reflecting at least in part constrained capacity, according to Cox. The problem is especially bad in the Chicago and Los Angeles areas and along the East and West Coasts...."

They also discuss the advantage to passenger rail service...but Wendell Cox, a Senior spokesperson for the Heartland Institute, feels that without continued new rail services, a concentrated effort should be made to at least improve the rail services from a freight carrying perspective. The article is really worth a read. Peace Out - 3C

Cleveland Real Estate Trends: More Stats on the West Side

Two more 'computer listing oriented areas' meaning they combine communities like Clifton Park and Bellaire Puritas. These stats are for tge number of homes sold between April and August for 2000 through 2007. The dollar amount is the average sale price during these months.

Bellaire Puritas, Westtown, Clifton Park

2000
209 Total homes sold during those months
$77,439 Average Sale Price

2001
177
$85,169

2002
185
$87,767

2003
218
$82,661

2004
232
$88,042

2005
215
$85,649

2006
180
$93,409

2007
$197
$70,425

Bellaire Puritas,West Park

2000
180
$105,461

2001
187
$106,713

2002
206
$107,819

2003
200
$114,527

2004
241
$112,630

2005
221
$112,921

2006
186
$112,234

2007
177
$101,995

Peace Out - 3C

Cleveland Housing Sale Trends 2000 to 2007

The last seven years have seen spikes in sale prices and declines on Cleveland's West Side. Some of the stats are interesting. In the area that includes Ohio City and Tremont, there were more sales in 2007 than any of the other years; the amount of money on average that sellers got for these homes was less than any other time. In general, bank owned/foreclosed properties play a part in these statistics because in each of these areas, there are homes selling for prices way below normal market prices. Anyway, here are the stats, and again, they include all homes sold with area brokerages. These are numbers of homes sold and the average sale prices for April through August of each of these years.

Old Brooklyn/Archwood Denison/Memphis

2000
163 Homes Sold
$85,460 Average Sale Price

2001
167
$92,295

2002
220
$94,920

2003
181
$98,929

2004
201
$102,547

2005
175
$102,921

2006
172
$92,338

2007
159
$80,109

Ohio City/Tremont/Clark Metro/Detroit Shoreway

2000
147
$66,596

2001
150
$76,509

2002
156
$74,547

2003
180
$85,592

2004
178
$79,255

2005
174
$92,579

2006
196
$79,362

2007
222
$65,719

Peace Out - 3C