Columbus and Marion OH Real Estate Blog

Preparing for Appraisal When Selling a Home

Preparing for Appraisal When Selling a Home

You are in the final stretch of closing on the sale of your home. You have approved an offer and set a move-out date, now it is time for the buyer’s due diligence. One of the items in the due diligence process is the lender’s mandatory appraisal.

Here is a seller’s “cheat sheet” to help an appraisal go more smoothly

Understand the Process

The lender is usually the one requiring the appointment to be made for an official appraisal to be conducted by a licensed appraiser. The appraiser will conduct an in-person valuation of the property.

The appraiser conducts their valuation by using local comparable sales and a visit to the property to check out a premade list of external and internal value factors. The appraiser will take into account features like upgraded materials, the overall condition of the property, and location.

Be Flexible in Setting the Appointment

Appraisers are in high demand right now and as such, they try to schedule appraisals back to back for the same area. If you are only able to let the appraiser in on certain days this can slow down the process.

Research Your Home’s Value on Your Own

If you want to ensure the appraiser is giving a good evaluation of your home, you can do some things to look at the factors that go into property value on your own. You can check online tools, have your agent help you with comparable values, or get your own pre-listing appraisal to ensure the appraiser is working in your best interest and not the buyers.

Make Minor Repairs

Though the appraisal...

Tips for Surviving a Neighbor's Renovation Project

Tips for Surviving a Neighbor's Renovation Project

Since the beginning of the pandemic, a record number of homeowners have taken on home renovations either in the hopes of turning their current house into a dream home that they want to spend a lot of time in or for the purpose of getting the best return on investment and highest profit possible from the sale of their home.

When a neighbor decides to renovate their house, it can mean that you are living with constant clinking and banging from construction projects on the house next door. Construction can be a loud and even dirty process that can bring several disruptions to the peace and quiet of the neighborhood.

Here are some survival tactics to help you through the inevitable noise and mess that carries over from a neighbor’s renovation projects

Talk to your neighbor

Understanding what is going on with the project and getting the full big picture ahead of time can be helpful.  Being aware of what will be going on ahead of time helps you to prepare for how you can prepare for and positively deal with any noise and other annoyances like road congestion, extra people, and extra flying dust.

Ask your neighbor if they would mind keeping in touch with you about the big projects that could impact the area around their home during the renovation. Make your initial conversation one that is not combative rather just one of seeking information for anything that might need to be prepared for like a large amount of noise or more equipment or trucks in the street.

If your neighbor is not willing to give you information that could impact the quality of living for those around them and you have an HOA you could communicate with them and ask...

Merion is a Hot Spot of Great Local Restaurants

Merion Village is a neighborhood of Columbus Ohio with several great local businesses and restaurants that have some of the best food in central Ohio.

Here are some of the favorite local restaurants that Merion has to offer.

Merion is a Hot Spot of Great Local Restaurants

Nursery Lane Baking Company

If you are looking for one of the best sweet treat places in the area this is it. This bakery features the most amazing cakes and pastries in the village. Many of the decorations on the baked goods feature floral themes. Flowers are a love of the owner Lauren.

If you are someone who loves a great Instagram-worthy treat this is the place to go and hang out and relax for a little bit. Every pastry here is a work of art and the pastries change each season having you return to see what the next beautiful piece of art will be.

Mid City Garage

Mid City Garage

Though this sounds more like a place to take your car than to sit down and eat, you can find this retro restaurant at 1179 Jaeger St.

Mid City Garage features woodstone-fired pizza and charcuterie boards as their most beloved menu attractions. They have both indoor and outdoor seating for your social distancing preferences. It is the perfect place to enjoy a sunny afternoon and also a homemade cocktail or two, along with the most amazing pizza you’ve ever had.

Rally’s...

A Clutter-Free Approach to Unpacking a New Home

A Clutter-Free Approach to Unpacking a New Home

Moving to a new home is a perfect opportunity to de-clutter your belongings. It is a great time to dump off all of the unneeded stuff and not have to haul it into a new home. The very best time to get rid of items you no longer use or need is while you are packing, but unpacking can be another great opportunity to edit your belongings even further.

Using the unpacking process to de-clutter can come in handy if you needed to pack in a frenzy and move things quickly. It could also be a strategy if you hired someone else to do the packing and moving for you.

Here are some tips for de-cluttering your life while unpacking after moving into your new home

Unpack one room and start with the essentials

Challenge yourself not to just unpack a little bit here, a little bit there. Take some time to go one room at a time. Limit yourself to staying within just the one room and getting it done start to finish.

Make sure to start with the very essential items needed to make the room function. Such as if you were in the bedroom, starting with bedding and all of your clothes.

Purge as you unpack

Even if you feel like you have done a lot of sifting through, unneeded and unwanted items while you were packing it is good to do a double check of these things as you unpack.

You want to make sure that you are ruthless in editing what comes out of the boxes and stays in your new home. Set aside some empty boxes for tossing items you know have no place in your new home. Either if they don’t fit or you truly know you will not be using them.

That way these items are ready to go right to the donation center. You may even...