August 20, 2010
By
Debbie Milnar
Norma Sliwinski presents this fabulous home in Oregon at 1021 S. Coy.
Front view of 1021 S. Coy
This traditional home at 1021 S. Coy in Oregon, Ohio sits on nearly two acres and has updates including the addition of a bonus room that could be a fourth bedroom, a new roof and two wood decks; one in front and one in back. The location will put you within minutes of the expressway, shopping and the library. Enjoy hosting parties in this fabulous yard featuring a large pond complete with slide and beach area! The winter months are fun too with skating and a small sledding hill.
View of pond at 1021 S. Coy
For more information on this property or to reach Norma Sliwinski, visit www.1021coy.danberry.com.
August 19, 2010
By
Dick Baker
Do trees boost a property's value?
Even if you hate raking in the fall, I’ll bet you would agree that a home site with nice trees has greater appeal than one that appears to be a former corn field.
A recent study by the U.S. Forest Service says the presence of street trees increases home values by an average of $7,000. That’s an awfully broad generalization, but any REALTOR will tell you that they in fact raise property values.
Way back in the 70’s I had a client ask me to provide him with an estimate of the value of a large tree in his front yard that was lost in a storm (he intended to make a claim on his homeowners insurance). That was a difficult exercise, however in the Internet age there are some interesting tools out there. In case you ever wondered about the value of a particular specimen in your yard, the Arbor Day Foundation offers an interesting tool on their site. Go to www.arborday.org/calculator and enter your ZIP code, the name of the tree and its diameter to learn the annual benefits of your tree. While you’re at it, you might want to browse their tree store. It’s an inexpensive way to get your next generation of trees going!
August 18, 2010
By
Debbie Milnar
Kevin Warren presents this fabulous home in Maumee at 642 Stacey.
Front view of 642 Stacey in Maumee
This large, traditional, two-story home at 642 Stacey is set deep into a great Maumee neighborhood with very little traffic and also offers great curb appeal. It features a formal living room, family room with fireplace as well as a fully finished basement. Recent updates include bamboo floors in family room, fresh paint throughout and new GE appliances in the kitchen. Enjoy entertaining on one of two backyard patios, each with custom-built pergolas, and enjoy views of the beautifully landscaped yard with many perennial plants.
Back yard patios of 642 Stacey in Maumee
For more information on this property or to reach Kevin Warren, visit www.642stacey.danberry.com.
August 16, 2010
By
Debbie Milnar
Tony Bassett presents this fabulous home in Old Orchard at 2837 Meadowwood.
Front view of 2837 Meadowwood, Old Orchard
This gorgeous brick home at 2837 Meadowwood in the Old Orchard neighborhood features beautiful wood floors & coved ceilings. The living room is spacious and opens into an incredible enclosed patio with skylights, great for entertaining! It also looks out onto a beautiful, professionally landscaped yard. Updates include a newly remodeled eat-in kitchen with all appliances. Enjoy the fully finished, carpeted basement, which has been set up for a home theater.
Beautiful living room with fireplace
For more information on this property or to reach Tony Bassett, visit www.2837meadowwood.danberry.com.
August 13, 2010
By
Debbie Milnar
Rick Popiolek Presents this fabulous condo at 7948 Hidden Harbour in Holland, Ohio
Back view of 7948 Hidden Harbour, Holland
Enjoy the waterfront view from this condo at 7948 Hidden Harbour in Holland, Ohio, as well as a dock for your boat! This home has a contemporary design and is close to Spring Meadows shopping and the expressway, while still being in a quiet neighborhood. Recent updates include new paint, laminate flooring, remodeled kitchen with solid surface countertops and tile floors. Enjoy the views from your deck or get a closer look on the nice beach area. You can also enjoy water activities, while maintaining a “green” community. All watercrafts must be electric or human powered; no gas powered engines allowed. This house is ready for you to move into today!
View of lake from condo
For more information on this property or to reach Rick Popiolek, visit
www.7948hiddenharbour.danberry.com.
August 12, 2010
By
Dick Baker
Maybe, but you haven’t missed out on the savings!
Attention home buyers! You are probably aware that the federal government offered tax credits on home purchases with contracts accepted by the end of April, 2010. For first-time buyers that could have amounted to as much as $6,500. That was certainly an incentive to buy.
If you think you missed the boat, consider this. If you commit to a home purchase soon while mortgage interest rates are the lowest anyone in our industry can remember, you should be able to save nearly the same amount in interest as you would have received in a tax credit! How so, you ask?
Here are the numbers for a very common scenario in the Toledo real estate market, and you can substitute different numbers to fit your family’s specific circumstances. A $100,000 mortgage last September would likely have been made at an interest rate of 5.1%. Today, you are likely to get a mortgage loan at 4.5%. In our market, many people remain in their home about ten years. The difference in the interest a homeowner would pay after ten years on those two mortgage loans amortized over 30 years would be approximately $5,848. In other words, those who missed out on the tax credits can realize nearly the same benefit over time simply because of declining interest rates!
Of course the interest savings are much more significant over the life of the loan and definitely greater for higher mortgage amounts – this was simply intended as one typical example. If you would like to calculate your own mortgage payment, The Danberry Co., Realtors and First Mortgage Consultants can help! Just go to: http://www.danberry.com/mortgage_calculator/
August 11, 2010
By
Debbie Milnar
Jo Lyman Presents 6643 Hunters Crossing
Front view of 6643 Hunters Crossing
This home in
Maumee has a marvelous view of the Fox Hollow pond and fountain and is located at
6643 Hunters Crossing. Home backs up to neighborhood walking trail and green space. The home is soft and contemprary and offers a first floor master as well as a full, finished basement. You will be close to shopping, expressways and restaurants, yet tucked away in a great neighborhood. This home at
6643 Hunters Crossing is a lot of home for only $259,900 and has just had water back-up and sump pump installed. The office “doubles” as a wine storage area and there are lots of vaulted ceilings, ceiling fans, and 1540 square feet of basement! Wow!
View from back of 6643 Hunters Crossing
For more information on this property or to reach Jo Lyman, visit www.6643hunterscrossing.danberry.com.
August 5, 2010
By
Dick Baker
There are at least three reasons I am hesitant to accept everything I read in newspapers as the truth, whole truth and nothing but the truth. First, meeting deadlines may mean that extensive research on topics may be impractical. Secondly, some articles may include at least a hint of the editor’s or publisher’s opinions. And most commonly, at least when we read articles about the real estate industry, many of them are based on national statistics or address a national audience, but real estate markets are local.
Last week I read an article in USA TODAY that I’ll bet all real estate practitioners would agree with. The headline is simple and to the point: “Homes will sell if priced right; foreclosures have impact.” This is true in the Toledo real estate market just as it is in New York, Las Vegas or Washington. Sellers simply cannot wish and hope their way to the values of 2004 and 2005. That is a bitter pill for most sellers to swallow, but there is a silver lining. When most sellers sell, they become buyers, and they then benefit from the same lower values. On balance, many even come out ahead on the exchange!
July 30, 2010
By
Valerie Suelzer
While local real estate brokerages in the area have decreased their budget and focus on adding new technology for their agents and consumers, Danberry has done just the opposite in the last year. I’ve just returned from the Inman Real Estate Connect Conference in San Francisco, held July 13-15, 2010. I attended along with many other members of the Enterprise Network, a group of brokers across the country who partner with Active Website for their technology needs. The synergy of being able to compare notes with other like minds in the industry is invaluable. Read Active Website’s Top Five Takeaways from Real Estate Connect.
The conference was an affirmation for the advancements that Danberry has made with Active Website over the last year.
Some items which were recommended at the conference that Danberry has already implemented are:
- Individual Property Websites – each property listed with Danberry gets its own site such as 123main.danberry.com.
- Danberry.com Mobile – No longer can we rely on just websites to deliver listing info. Danberry Mobile has just been upgraded for the iPhone and Android users, but can be used with ANY web phone.
- Share this – Allows the agent, seller and potential buyers to Share favorite listings to their Facebook, Twitter, Linked in, etc. Look for the Share This icon on the details page of any listing.
- Google Map Search – Use the Point of Interest tab on the map search to turn on all of the schools, coffee shops, restaurants or just about anything you are looking for. Use the street view to take a “walk” down the street and see the neighboring properties.
- Greater Search Engine Optimization – Danberry.com’s traffic is up 40% ytd over last year. This is largely due to increased traffic from search engines.
- Craigslist – Danberry agents can quickly create flyers with photos and lots of calls to action to post to Craigslist. Because of this, Craigslist has become the number one referrer of traffic to Danberry.com outside of search engines.
What’s new and upcoming?
“As an industry, we need to move towards the mindset that our customers come first in order to truly embrace the new age customer and build a successful online brand.” Ido Zucker, Managing Partner at Active Website.
Danberry could not agree more. Going forward, we will be adding and evaluating several new improvements to Danberry.com such as:
- Community Information for Every Listing – In the next 30 days, all listings on Danberry.com will have community information available. This includes a breakdown of age of population, climate and weather, education, median income, crime, comprehensive school reports and mapping of nearby establishments.
- Facebook – Bigger than Google? Facebook is approaching 500 million fans and has become Danberry’s number three referrer of traffic (a year ago they were not even in the top 50). Danberry will evaluate advertising to select demographics of Facebookers.
- “Like” to be added to all listings on Danberry.com – You’ve been doing it on Facebook for years – why not “like’ a property on Danberry.com? This feature along with others will be discussed at Active Website’s September Conference. Delivery date to be announced!
Valerie Suelzer, Director of Technology
Danberry Realtors
valerie@danberry.com
