Franklin County Website Helps in House Hunting

The story is here

The new search features are here

The auditor's real estate site is here

New online tool lets user set criteria for property search

Monday, December 6, 2010 02:50 AM

By Elizabeth Gibson

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

The Franklin County auditor's office plans to roll out an online tool this week that will help people research properties, whether they're in the market for a house or simply curious to see who owns the most expensive mansion in town.

The program could be useful for title companies, appraisers, real-estate agents, school districts, businesses, house hunters and the curious, said Tony Frissora, the auditor's chief of staff.

Anyone already can search for information about a particular property by searching under the address or owner's name on the auditor's website. The new system allows users to set criteria and then run reports that will create spreadsheets of all the parcels that fit.

For example, someone could search for three-bedroom, two-bathroom homes in the Grandview Heights school district appraised at $200,000 to $250,000. Search categories include sale date, property type, ZIP code, appraised value and number of rooms.

"It's going to save an enormous amount of time," said Sue Lusk-Gleich, president of the Columbus Board of Realtors. "It just gives both the consumer and the Realtor more information. And the more information, the better we can do our jobs."

Unlike listings of property sales, the auditor's database includes every piece of land in the county.

Agents have had to laboriously look through property data piece by piece if a client has criteria that don't match any homes listed in the agents' database of recent listings and sales, Lusk-Gleich said.

With the new search, they will be able to run a quick report to find any matches and then contact the property owners to see if they might want to sell.

Sophisticated research groups already regularly collect the entire county database, said David Norris, who works for Community Research Partners, a nonprofit group that studies data in central Ohio. The new search system will make that information more accessible to everyone, he said.

"Anytime an agency puts public data in the hands of the public, it's a good thing," Norris said.

Business owners could use the system to scope out the demographics of a neighborhood where they're thinking about opening.

School districts could better estimate how many properties are in their taxing district.

People also could pull up comparable properties to see whether their taxes are higher or lower.

The auditor's website receives about 23 million visits a year, and the vast majority are to use the existing property-search tool, spokesman David O'Neil said.

Before basic property searches went digital, the auditor's office fielded about 300,000 calls per year, O'Neil said. This year, it's had about 50,000.

Officials hope the latest offering will make life easier for the auditor's office and the public, especially with new appraisals due for the county next year.

Another benefit: If someone wants to see how the recession has affected property values in their neighborhood, they'll be able to search the new numbers next year.

egibson@dispatch.com

60 Minutes: Your New Facebook Page: A Tour of The Redesign

Your New Facebook Page: A Tour of The Redesign

Want to see how Mark Zuckerberg is changing your Facebook profile page? Here's the first review, courtesy of "60 Minutes Overtime."

The interview are videos 2 and 3

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg unveiled his redesign on "60 Minutes" this week. We figured this was of high interest to a great many people (say, 500 million), so we asked our very own Joe Akbrud, the social media wizard at CBS News, to walk us through the changes. Joe takes "60 Minutes Overtime" editor, Ann Silvio, on a tour of what's new and different about the updated Facebook profile page.

Mark Zuckerberg, the 26-yr.-old founder and CEO of mega-social media site Facebook, talks to Lesley Stahl about his life and his business, now worth an estimated $35 billion.

Extra: Facebook Co-Founder's New Venture

December 5, 2010 5:00 PM

Facebook co-founder Chris Hughes tells Lesley Stahl about a new venture he is working on called "Jumo," which will most likely interface with Facebook.





Extra: Co-Founder Chris Hughes on Movie

December 5, 2010 5:00 PM

Facebook co-founder Chris Hughes talks about the movie "The Social Network" and the Mark Zuckerberg portrayed on film vs. the real person.

Facebookers Changing Profile Pics to Cartoon Characters to Fight Child Abuse

Facebookers Changing Profile Pics to Cartoon Characters to Fight Child Abuse

Why is Rocko, that one-dimensional wallaby from the ’90s cartoon series, now a friend of mine on Facebook? And Charlie Brown? And Chip ‘n’ Dale?

Other Facebook () users — if they haven’t jumped on the bandwagon already — will likely see a similar trend in the next few days. A new campaign is asking users to change their profile picture to a photo of a favorite childhood cartoon to raise awareness of child abuse.

According to a Facebook Page that appears to be promoting the profile pic switch, this is the Campaign to End Violence Against Children – Childhood Cartoon Faces.

“Until Monday (Dec. 6), there should be no human faces on Facebook but an invasion of memories. This is for eliminating violence against children,” the page says. The undisclosed campaign creator asks Facebook users to change their profile pic and share the above statement in their status.

The origins of this campaign remain a mystery, as it doesn’t seem to be affiliated with any official organization. And not that you need to limit child abuse awareness to a certain time of year, but, at least in the U.S., National Child Abuse Prevention Month isn’t until April. Some Facebook commenters have also pointed out the perhaps misdirected effort, posting messages skeptical of any tangible outcomes.

“Yeah…like this is gonna help end violence against children…” one commenter wrote.

Regardless of the campaign’s effectiveness, or what Malcolm Gladwell would probably say about it, the Childhood Cartoon Faces campaign is catching on.

Will you be changing your profile picture? And what do you think about Facebook awareness campaigns? Share your thoughts in the comments.

Columbus City Council Announces Process To Fill Vacancies

COLUMBUS CITY COUNCIL

MEDIA ALERT

For Immediate Release: December 3, 2010

For More Information:

John Ivanic, (614) 645-6798

CITY COUNCIL ANNOUNCES PROCESS TO FILL VACANCIES

(Please Note - Application Deadline is Friday, December 17, 2010)

(COLUMBUS)—With the pending departure of City Council President Michael C. Mentel and Councilmember Charleta B. Tavares, City Council announced the application procedures to fill the two vacancies.

Following the recommendations prescribed in a memo by President Mentel, the City Clerk will accept applications from 8:00 a.m. on Monday, December 6, 2010 through 12:00 p.m. on Friday, December 17, 2010. Applicants must submit six copies each (one for each of the five remaining members of Council and one to be made available for media purposes) of a resume and a narrative of no more than two typed pages describing the issues and challenges facing Columbus. These documents must be accepted and time-stamped by the City Clerk’s office in City Hall Room 231 by the deadline. Emails and facsimiles will not be accepted. No exceptions will be made.

The City Clerk will schedule interview appointments to be held on Thursday, January 6, 2011 and Friday, January 7, 2011. The vote to appoint new Council members is tentatively scheduled for Monday, January 10.

A full copy of Mentel’s memo is provided below.

To: Columbus City Councilmembers

From: Columbus City Council President Michael C. Mentel

Cc: City Clerk Andrea Blevins

Date: December 2, 2010

RE: Proposed Procedures and Timeline for City Council Vacancies

With two vacancies on Columbus City Council soon to be created by the impending departure of Councilmember Tavares and myself, there are many imminent issues facing Columbus—such as the adoption of the 2011 general fund budget and the implementation of the Deferred Retirement Option Plan (DROP)—that will require a full complement of Council members to address the city’s business. Thus, it is necessary to begin now in establishing a timeline and process to fill the vacancies in order to provide appropriate notice and guidance to the public and the remaining five-member Council caucus.

In an effort to help facilitate the appointment process in accordance with the public meeting requirements of the Columbus City Charter and Ohio Revised Code, I am proposing the following procedures and timeline listed below. It is an objective, practical, and timely approach to ensure minimal disruption to the daily operation of the city and permit emergency action to be taken if warranted by exigent circumstances.

It has been the longstanding policy of City Council that departing members refrain from any involvement or influence in the process to choose their replacements. Therefore, if a majority of the remaining five-member Council caucus agrees with this prescribed process, I would recommend the City Clerk work in conjunction with the Communications Director to publicize and implement these procedures as soon as possible.

TIMELINE and PROCEDURES

Monday, December 6, 2010 through Friday, December 17, 2010 – 12:00 p.m.

• Applicants must submit six copies (one for each remaining member of Council and one to be made available for media purposes) of their resume and a two-page narrative to the City Clerk. All applications must be physically received and time-stamped by City Clerk staff in Room 231 of City Hall by 12:00 p.m. on Friday, December 17. No emails or facsimiles will be accepted. Applicants are solely responsible for ensuring the City Clerk receives their information before the deadline. No exceptions will be made.

All information submitted by the applicants is considered public record and shall be made available upon request.

As always, each Council member is free to decide whether or not to schedule individual interviews with any of the applicants with whom they choose to meet. To help provide ample time to schedule these individual interviews, the City Clerk will provide copies of the applicants’ information to the five remaining Council members immediately upon submission.

Wednesday, December 22, 2010 – 5:00 p.m.

• After reviewing the applications and conducting individual interviews at their discretion, the five remaining Council offices shall submit up to four names to the City Clerk for consideration to fill the vacancies. The names of these applicants and the member of Council who made the respective request are considered public information and shall be made available upon request. The City Clerk shall then contact these applicants to schedule interview appointments with the full five-member Council caucus.

Monday, January 3, 2011 – 5:00 p.m.

• Reorganization Meeting

Thursday, January 6, 2011 – 10:00 a.m.

• A public meeting shall be held (with all required notices to be published in advance in the City Bulletin) in order to enter into executive session for the sole purpose of interviewing applicants. (Per 121.22 (G) of the Ohio Revised Code, a “majority of a quorum” of the five remaining Council members must decide “by a roll call vote” to hold an executive session). Minutes shall be maintained by the City Clerk and no decisions or straw votes shall be permitted during executive session. Once the interviews are completed, the five remaining Council members shall adjourn out of executive session and enter back into the public meeting, which subsequently will be adjourned as well. Media and the public are free to attend the public portions of this meeting and may speak with any of the applicants before or after their interviews.

Friday, January 7, 2011 – 10:00 a.m.

• In a repeat of the day before, a public meeting shall be held (with all required notices to be published in advance in the City Bulletin) in order to enter into executive session for the sole purpose of interviewing applicants. (Per 121.22 (G) of the Ohio Revised Code, a “majority of a quorum” of the five remaining Council members must decide “by a roll call vote” to hold an executive session). Minutes shall be maintained by the City Clerk and no decisions or straw votes shall be permitted during executive session. Once the interviews are completed, the five remaining Council members shall adjourn out of executive session and enter back into the public meeting, which subsequently will be adjourned as well. Media and the public are free to attend the public portions of this meeting and may speak with any of the applicants before or after their interviews.

Monday, January 10, 2011 – 4:00 p.m.

• Pursuant to division (G)(1) of section 121.22 of the Ohio Revised Code, a public meeting shall be held (with all required notices to be published in advance in the City Bulletin) in order to enter into executive session for the sole purpose of considering the appointment of two new Council members. Minutes shall be maintained by the City Clerk and no decisions or straw votes shall be permitted during executive session.

Monday, January 10, 2011 – 5:00 p.m.

• The five remaining Council members will adjourn out of executive session and enter back into the public meeting. The Council members shall then have the opportunity to nominate applicants for each of the two vacancies and vote to appoint new members. If a majority of the Council members vote to appoint a nominee, he or she shall then be eligible to be sworn in under oath and take office pursuant to Sections 5 and 202-1 of the Columbus City Charter.

-30-

USA Today: Foreclosures weigh on metro home prices

Remember: All real estate is local. You need to discuss buying or selling with a local expert. Someone who can interpret the data for your particular situation.

The story is here

The Associated Press

NEW YORK — Millions of foreclosures and weak demand from buyers are forcing home prices down in most major U.S. cities.

Prices are falling even in such places as San Francisco and San Diego, which had posted strong increases a few months ago. Analysts say many markets won't improve until they see fewer foreclosures and more job gains.

"Unemployment is still high, people are afraid of losing their homes, and credit is hard to get," said Maureen Maitland, vice president of Standard & Poor's index services.

A report Tuesday underscored the weakness. Home prices declined in 18 of the 20 cities, according to the S&P/Case-Shiller 20-city index. Prices fell 0.7% in September from August, the second-consecutive monthly drop.

The biggest weight on prices going forward is foreclosures, because foreclosed homes sell at steep discounts and reduce nearby property values. About 2 million loans are in foreclosure, and another 2.4 million borrowers have missed at least 90 days of payments, according to LPS Applied Analytics.

Foreclosed properties and other distressed sales are dominating the Tampa market, said Stephanie LeFew, owner of Tampa Home Buy Realty. The number of homes there that received a foreclosure notice rose 7% in the July-September quarter from the previous quarter, according to foreclosure tracker RealtyTrac.

"Buyers are getting discounts of 50% and more," LeFew said.

Prices there hit their lowest point since 2003, dropping 0.8% in September from August, according to the Case-Shiller index. The median price in Tampa was $115,700 in the third quarter, according to Internet real estate service Zillow.

Miami and Phoenix are also being greatly affected by foreclosures. One in every 41 Miami households received a foreclosure filing in the July-September quarter. Home prices there fell 1.2% from August to September.

In Phoenix, the foreclosure rate was one in 44 in the July-September quarter; home prices fell 1.5% from August to September.

Las Vegas has the nation's worst foreclosure rate. One in every 25 households received a foreclosure filing in the July-September quarter.

Still, the city is beginning to show signs of stabilizing. For the second-consecutive month, home prices ticked up 0.1%, according to the Case-Shiller report. Buyers are getting prices that are now more than 50% below their peak from four years ago.

"We're seeing retirees from California and New York, especially, buying homes with cash," said Steve Harless of Realty One Group.

Washington was the only other city to post an increase month over month in the Case-Shiller index. The nation's capital has had fewer foreclosures and one of the best economies.

The outlook for California's cities is mixed. Three California cities in the Case-Shiller index — Los Angeles, San Diego and San Francisco — have seen home prices rebound sharply in the past year.

Yet, prices have softened in the last two months in those cities. Demand has weakened since federal home-buying tax credits expired in the spring. The Case-Shiller index is a moving, three-month average. The September figures are made up of prices in July, August and September, so it would be the first month to show the full impact of the end of the tax credits.

September housing prices
Metro	Sept.-Aug. change	Aug.-July change	1-year change
Atlanta	-1.0%	-1.0%	-3.1%
Boston	-1.3%	-0.3%	0.4%
Charlotte	-1.0%	-0.4%	-3.7%
Chicago	-1.5%	0.4%	-5.6%
Cleveland	-3.0%	-0.3%	-1.9%
Dallas	-1.6%	-1.2%	-2.6%
Denver	-1.0%	-0.1%	-1.6%
Detroit	-1.3%	0.5%	-3.0%
Las Vegas	0.1%	0.1%	-3.5%
Los Angeles	-0.1%	-0.4%	4.4%
Miami	-1.2%	-0.3%	-2.7%
Minneapolis	-2.1%	-0.4%	-1.2%
New York	-0.3%	0.1%	-0.1%
Phoenix	-1.5%	-1.3%	-1.9%
Portland	-1.9%	-0.9%	-3.6%
San Diego	-1.0%	-0.6%	5.0%
San Francisco	-0.9%	-0.3%	5.5%
Seattle	-0.6%	-0.8%	-2.6%
Tampa	-0.8%	-0.5%	-4.3%
Washington	0.3%	0.2%	4.5%
Composite-10	-0.5%	-0.1%	1.6%
Composite-20	-0.7%	-0.2%	0.6%
Source: Standard & Poor's and Fiserv Not seasonally adjusted

Columbus Dispatch: Smarter Searching, Mobile devices put listing information in the palms of homebuyers' hands

The story is here

Sunday, November 28, 2010 03:01 AM

By Jim Weiker

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

When Bob Barnes and Ryan Poirier headed out a few weeks ago to shop for homes, they made sure to bring Barnes' cell phone - but not to call people.

They wanted the phone to find homes.

With the help of their real-estate agent, Barnes and Poirier had placed a home-search tool called Smarter Agent on Barnes' Android phone. The service guided them to homes for sale in the Clintonville neighborhood they were searching.

Ryan Poirier, left, and Bob Barnes use an Android phone to search for homes in Clintonville, including this one on Acton Road.

"You don't have to lug around a computer or have tons of printouts," Barnes said. "When we drove into an area, the phone lists the closest homes for sale, and then you can see the homes and look at pictures."

Such mobile technology is changing the way many buyers search for real estate.

"It's the next generation of shopping for a home," said Barnes' agent, Terry Penrod, with Real Living HER. "What the Internet did for real estate, the mobile application will do for the search. It puts data into the buyers' hands where they want it when they want it."

Get my free application here

Mobile devices have long had uses in real-estate searches, from simply texting an agent to sending a photo of a house.

But smart phones such as iPhones, Palms, BlackBerries and Androids dramatically changed the game by combining easy Web access with the GPS, allowing shoppers to browse a neighborhood and pull up information on homes for sale as they pass by.

No one tracks how many people use such services on smart phones or other mobile devices such as iPads, but agents and experts say use has leapt the past few years.

On an iPad, homebuyers can circle a neighborhood to search.

"There's definitely been growth," said Sarah Poston, e-marketing director for Coldwell Banker King Thompson. "Over 90 percent of homebuyers in general are using the Internet to search for homes, and 30 percent of the nation is accessing the Internet through mobile devices."

Some services focus on a portion of real-estate listings such as foreclosed properties or rentals.

But the most common combine real-estate listing information with mapping services. Among the most popular such applications are those produced by Realtor. com, Zillow, Coldwell Banker, Trulia and Homes.com.

All allow users to find homes for sale near their current location or near an address they enter. Most draw listings directly from local Multiple Listing Services, although a Dispatch sample found a wide variance in the number of listings the five applications pulled up.

The information can be refined by price range, type of property, number of bedrooms and so forth. Users can click on the homes to access the same details they would find online with, typically, several photos of the home.

Beyond that basic function, the services vary slightly in the way the information is presented:

• Realtor.com's service allows users to search neighborhood open houses, and in the Dispatch sample, appeared to offer the fullest lineup of listings.

• Coldwell Banker also allows a search of recent sales, open houses and listings that have appeared in the past seven days, although in a test, Coldwell Banker's listings were not as comprehensive as some others.

• Zillow presents both map and listing details on the same screen, allowing a user to see information about homes without losing the map. Zillow also adds an estimate of a home's worth (what it calls its "Zestimate") and, on the same screen, shows homes recently sold in addition to homes for sale.

• Trulia also offers open-house searches and searches for properties that are for sale, for rent or have been sold, though not on the same page. The listings were not as comprehensive as others, though the service offers one unusual feature: searching strictly homes that have dropped in price.

• Homes.com also failed to show many listings, although the service offers one potentially useful function: a mortgage calculator on each listing, allowing an immediate check of the monthly payment.

Such services are available on smart phones, but companies are now exploring ways to provide similar services to conventional cell phones. Coldwell Banker offers something called prtmobile, which allows users of any phone to call a number, punch in the code from a real-estate sign and learn about a house and request a showing from the agent.

Patrick Guanciale, a Coldwell Banker agent in Newark, has been using the service for some of his listings for more than a year.

A real-estate agent's sign in Newark includes signage for PRT, which allows potential buyers to search for homes using a mobile device.

"I was at the Quarter Horse Congress a few weeks ago and got a call about one of my listings," Guanciale said. "I was able to stand there and tell them about it, and send them more information. I sent them 22 pictures."

Real Living HER is exploring a similar service that uses a street address instead of a code from the sign.

Some companies are also exploring something called QR code, which skips the dialing part altogether. Shoppers with the phones that can read the codes can simply scan the code into a phone to access the information.

Such applications are useful, but they are basically extensions of what people can do from their personal computer, notes Mark Lesswing, the senior vice president and chief technology officer with the National Association of Realtors.

In the future, he said, look for services that are unique to mobile devices, such as phones that recognize images, allowing users to simply point the phone at the house and automatically download information.

A variation of this service that's potentially on the horizon would allow a home shopper to scan a neighborhood he likes with his phone, and the service would suggest similar neighborhoods he might consider.

"A lot of what we've seen so far is somewhat pedestrian," Lesswing said. "You'll see that change."

jweiker@dispatch.com

Please note: One image was added to this post

This year's central Ohio housing market mirroring 2009

The link is here

Posted: 11/22/2010

Columbus Board of REALTORS®

(November 23, 2010) The housing market in central Ohio, which rebounded nicely when the federal tax credits were offered in 2009 and early 2010, today is looking like “more of the same.”

According to the Columbus Board of REALTORS® (CBR), the number of homes sold and the average price of homes sold from January though October 2010 are nearly identical to the statistics from 2009.

The number of homes sold from January through October was 16,891 – almost identical to the 16,932 homes sold in the same period of 2009. Average sale price so far this year is $160,671 compared to $161,623 last year.

“While we certainly would like to see a more lively housing market, we’re just pleased that year-to-date numbers are holding their own,” says CBR President Sue Lusk-Gleich.

Home sales are likely to grow in 2011, but not too quickly. According to the New York Federal Reserve Bank, household finances are improving, and major purchases will increase as well.

Freddie Mac reports that the average 30-year fixed mortgage rate in October 2010 was 4.23 percent – the lowest rate since the statistics were first recorded by Freddie Mac in 1971. Ten years ago, the rate was 7.8 percent; 20 years ago, it was 10.17 percent; 30 years ago, it was 13.79 percent. According to Lusk-Gleich, “The time to buy is now.”

“Those of us in the real estate profession continue to talk about how perfect this market is for many buyers – especially for those purchasing their first home,” Lusk-Gleich adds.

The Columbus Board of REALTORS® Multiple Listing Service (MLS) serves all of Franklin, Delaware, Fayette, Madison, Morrow, Pickaway and Union Counties and parts of Champagne, Clark, Hocking, Licking, Fairfield, Knox, Logan, Marion, and Ross Counties.

For more information about the central Ohio housing market, visit www.ColumbusRealtors.com

To view residential properties for sale, visit www.terrypenrod.com