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Around the Cincinnati area there was a 12.5% increase in home sales in August compared to the same time last year. Here’s how the numbers break down: “County real estate agents closed on sales of 388 houses last month, the highest number of sales for the month of August in four years, according to figures provided by the Cincinnati Area Board of Realtors. Approximately 345 homes sold in August 2011, 275 in August 2010 and 374 in August 2009.”
“We only missed passing 2008 by four transactions,” said Tom Hasselbeck, vice president and sales manager of Sibcy Cline Realtors’ Fairfield office, and president of Cincinnati Area Board of Realtors. Clearly that’s a good sign that the housing market is on the mend. This means that local realtors have to step up their game in order to stay competitive and that might require a little out of the box thinking to land those prospective and qualified new home buyers.
Although home sales are bouncing back, there are still many foreclosed properties waiting to get in on the action. The banks and lending companies would like nothing better than to clear those toxic assets off the books. As a realtor you could jump in and take over the listing for those homes. First you have to remove the “stigma” of a foreclosed property. That can be accomplished when you partner up with Junk King Cincinnati.
Junk King is a local Cincinnati business that is all about junk removal. Typically, Junk King is hired by homeowners and business owners to help them clear out the clutter in their lives. But you can put Junk King to work as a foreclosure cleanup crew. Too often folks who have left a home under the dark cloud of foreclosure did so without much regard for that property. They probably left a lot of things behind that they simply couldn’t bother with. You can instruct the Junk King Cincinnati crew to clean out a home from top to bottom. This is an easier job for Junk King than the typical residential cleanup. That’s because with the homeowner, stuff is being left behind and the crew has to work around those items. That includes any left behind furniture, drapes, carpet, mattresses, kitchen appliances and garbage. It can all be carted away!
The Junk King crew also has their own truck and will handle the proper disposal of those items. You won’t be paying for any dumping fees or labor costs. The only charge you’ll incur is based on the amount of space the junk will take up in the truck. This cost is provided in advance by a Junk King supervisor who provides a written estimate for the work. With a Junk King Cincinnati crew, you’ll be able to get that foreclosed home cleaned up and back on the market in a snap.
Junk King Cincinnati has had a great recycling week so far. On Monday we hauled a couple of tons of coal out of an older home that used to have coal burning furnace. We brought it back to our warehouse and worked on finding a place for it. We received a call from a gentleman that volunteers for the Christian Appalachian Project. He donates time and materials to help people in Eastern Kentucky. He came and took 3/4 of the coal that we hauled and loaded it into his pickup truck to take it to a poor family in eastern Kentucky that has a coal burning fireplace and stove. He even told me the name of the family that would probably get the coal.
How much space do you really need? A lot of Cincinnati residents are asking themselves that very question when it comes to figuring out where they should live. If you’ve been wondering about downsizing your life then you’re not alone. Keep in mind that downsizing doesn’t always mean moving into a smaller place. It could mean making the most of the space your living in now and that requires getting rid of junk.
According to a recent survey rents for apartments in the Cincinnati area are expected to rise in the coming months. Already for 2012 apartment renters are seeing an increase of 2.8% in their monthly rent fees over the same time from last year. The good news is that there are more multifamily homes being constructed in the area which should add about 1,000 new apartments the city. However, there is still a premium for decent apartments. This is due in no small part to the fact that many folks are putting off buying a home in this volatile real estate market and instead are staying put in their own apartments. If you’re a current apartment owner who feels a bit frustrated with the confines of your space it might be time to clear out some of the clutter and make the most of your living environment.
Recently GreenSource Cincinnati held an event downtown to allow folks drop off their e-waste. What they accepted where any kind of cables, CD-ROM drives, cell phones, circuit boards, computer speakers, monitors, DVD players, fact sheet, hard drives, keyboards, laptops, LCD monitors, mainframes, microwaves, modems, personal copiers, printers, scanners, speakers, telephones, televisions, terminals and VCR. Pretty much anything that has to do with electricity they collected except for batteries or light bulbs.
When you sign up for work in an office in Cincinnati you are essentially becoming a member of a team. You’ll have your role to play as you collectively work together to accomplish the goals of your company. As with any kind of team there might be people that get along and others who just don’t fit in. Every office has their “types.” Can you recognize these qualities in your coworkers?
The difference between an avid collector and a clinically diagnosed hoarder is often in the eyes of the beholder. While a hoarder might think there is nothing wrong with holding onto everything that comes into their possession over the course of a lifetime there are others who say that this kind of collecting creates a health hazard. Compulsive hoarding is not a new phenomenon; it’s just something that has recently been recognized as a serious mental disorder. Many neighborhood associations have banded together to form cleanup crews to help their neighbors tackle these problems. However, a Cincinnati judge hopes to get at the root cause of this condition by requiring those who are charged severe hoarding seek out professional mental health counseling as part of their prohibition.
The popular cable channel TLC introduced the phenomenon of hoarding too many Americans through their show “Hoarding: Buried Alive.” On this reality program cameras were taken inside the home of hoarders whose lives have gotten out of control through their obsessive-compulsive behavior. In most instances these hoarders were in complete denial as to their surroundings. Some of these stories were especially tragic when there were innocent animals involved like the house that was overrun with rats while another one was swarming with rabbits. It takes a lot of coordination between professional junk haulers and trained psychotherapist to help these hoarders regain a sense of normalcy. Sadly sometimes after a thorough cleanup these folks go right back to their old habits.
Recently construction crews have begun demolishing the hundred year old Schiel School on Short Vine Street. Since it opened in 1911, literally hundreds of thousands of students have passed through this Cincinnati public school building. The school district sold the building back in 2005 for $1.5 million but the school was allowed to continue using it until the end of this year. This is just one of 10 schools in the Cincinnati district that were targeted for closure and demolition. It’s all part of a $1 billion construction plan to upgrade Cincinnati’s aging school buildings. Building new schools is a good idea for Cincinnati. This will allow students to come to learn in environments that are well ventilated, properly heated and wired for Internet access. But first they have to make room by tearing down all those old schools.
an army of dedicated service professionals standing by in Cincinnati whose mission is to make our lives more livable. If something breaks, leaks, cracks or crumbles we should already know who to call. An honest plumber or mechanic is an extremely valued member of your own service team. If you’ve just moved into a new home one of the first things you might do is check in with your neighbors to find out who the good service technicians are. These folks are the problem solvers. In reality you hope you never have to call upon them but when you do, you expect them to show up on time and get the job done right without any “surprises.”