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Of course you should be nice to your elders, but when it comes to housing, one needs to be extra nice. In housing we have some challenges. We have an inventory problem and we have an affordability problem. Many of your elders don’t have those problems so kids,…

No More Free Roofs? We love our insurance companies; we hate our insurance companies. If you haven’t noticed, insurance companies are tightening up requirements on roof replacements.  It is the consequence of their own doing.  Just about every homeowner in our…

 Yeah yeah yeah, we all think we are paying too much in property taxes, but are you paying too much based on a value that is higher than what your home is worth? Your county auditor is charged with assigning a value to your home and then assesses taxes based on that…

Did I Mess Up? Some of my last listings have been similar but different situations. The three condos and the house have become a familiar situation.  I’m helping families sell their parent’s homes. One condo was a 93-year-old going into assisted living, one condo…

Everybody who does business wants to be someone their client’s trust.  The highest levels of trust are becoming more and more uncommon.  We have lost so much trust in just about every type of business, politician, institution and even our closest relationships.…

In August, buyer brokerage for real estate went through a change to make fees paid and collected by real estate brokerages more transparent to the public. Fees have always been negotiable but consumers rarely questioned the fees, mainly because home owners who profited from…

We have a housing shortage in our country.We have an affordability challenge for homebuyers. Current homeowners feel “stuck” in their current home either because they hold a much lower interest rate on their current home, or they can’t make sense of selling their…

The real estate market in the Central Ohio area is competitive.  I think by now, we all know we are in a classic seller’s market when it comes to residential real estate. For every house on the market, there are four ready, willing and able buyers if the house is…

 How to Help Your Kids Buy a House, UPDATEDA few years ago, I wrote this title and article based on the competitive nature of the residential real estate market.  Today, it’s still competitive, but with interest rates in the 7% range, affordability is now…

Procrastination Real estate gives me the flexibility to arrange my schedule. Traditionally, realtors work when the rest of you don’t work including a lot of nights and weekends.  Coming from retail, I was okay with that. It also gives me the opportunity to volunteer…

Three Ladies, Three Different SalesI had the pleasure to work with three different ladies recently who all needed to sell their homes. All three ladies were widowers. Each one had a different story and I loved hearing about all of them. My 25 years of volunteering at…

The Personal Connection When Zillow launched, they said it would take the place of real estate agents. Now, with artificial intelligence, again it’s said we won’t need real estate agents. What those entities don’t have is the personal connection.  I have built…