"You scored a lot of points with us when you answered my specific questions straight up without any BS. I think other Realtors would have told us what they thought we wanted to hear." - Brad Rosser
"As a first-time homebuyer, I was nervous about the entire process. Step by step, Joe made it easy and fun. His expertise in the Columbus real estate market is a tremendous asset. He is highly recommended!" - Nicolette Horan
"I wanted to say thank you again, so much, for all your hard work. I know that you really put a lot of time into this transaction and I really, really appreciate it. I'm so happy I got the house and it all worked out and I just wanted to say thanks again, you did a great job and i really appreciate it. I will put that on the survey when they send it to me.
If there is ever anything I can do for you, please don't hesitate to give me a call. I will refer every single person I know to you. I'm going to go get my dog and we're going to sit on the floor of our new house and have a glass of champaign.
Thanks a lot Joe" -- Michael Mamp
One of Columbus’ most interesting drives, in regard to historic housing stock, is up and down Bryden Road from I-71 to Nelson Road.
Huge, Drop dead beautiful homes that once housed Columbus Titans of Industry were flying off the shelf for huge sums earlier this decade. What happened? I posted this on the Delicious Real Estate Blog.
While I touched on the number of foreclosures in the area and the run up of home sales figures through middle part of the 2000’s, I didn’t say much about the legitimacy of those high sale prices.
At the time, it seemed that these huge historic properties were simply finally getting their due respect. Bigger, and in some cases better, giant homes were selling for almost the same numbers as those in the Short North. Were they worth it?
It’s easy to say that they were not worth it, in retrospect. But, I’d caution that perhaps many of them were and that they are, in fact, undervalued today. Olde Towne East is at downtown Columbus’ doorstep. While it may be surrounded by neighborhoods many home buyers may find unattractive for various reasons and while it may lack the many walkable amenities of other near-Downtown neighborhoods like German Village and the Short North, you can’t beat the housing stock on the Near East side.
Aside from the obvious cases of mortgage fraud — now vacant, undesirable and a large write off for some lender somewhere — many Olde Towne East area homes sold for higher than historical figures, but many were not exorbitant. I think we’ll see an eventual return to higher numbers, an improving neighborhood North of Long and South of Main and a renewed desire to live in an ultra convenient and gorgeous neighborhood.
Many things have to happen before the area is 100% desirable—empty storefronts must become galleries, shops and restaraunts, Franklin Park has to finish thier $20 Million Master Plan and the East-West streets that are already desirable have to fill in at the middle, among other things. Is it a good time to buy here? I’d say yes.
