Unzillowable  is  a word coined by Sellsius° Blog :

"Unzillowable, adjective (un zil’ o abull): unable to be valued by the popular website zillow.com."

Zillowed according to Realty Times

Zillow says:  "Compare home values to avoid overpaying"  to buyers...

"Zillow.com - Your Edge in Real EstateZillow provides a free Home Valuation Tool for Real Estate enthusiasts. Whether you're an agent, broker, buyer of investment property or first time ... "

"Use home valuation tools to arrive at the right selling price"

How Zillowable is Upper Arlington?

Busy street 3 bedroom  1 and 1/2 bath  1 story home with a 1 car garage, Sale price $137,000  Zillow value $176,686

3 bedroom, 1 bath  1 STORY home  with 1 carport, Sale price $157,000  Zillow value not bad... $158,093!

Sciotangy subdivision,   3 bedroom , 3 and 1/2 baths,  1 story with a 2 Car garage, Sale price  $237,000  Zillow value $220,286

3 bedroom,   1 and 1/2 bath  2 Story home with a  2 car garage sold for $250,000  Zillow value $259,293 (clost to list price... very, very close.)

4 bedroom  3 and 1/2 bath   1 story home with a  2 car garage  sold for  $366,900  Zillow value $365,303 VERY GOOD!

4 bedroom,   2 and 1/ 2 bath  2 story home with a 2 car garage sold for  $433,000 Zillow value $321,427
River Park subdivision,   4 bedroom   2 and 1/2 bath  1 story home with a  2 car garage  sold for  $400,000 Zillow value $259,704 extensive updating....

3 bedroom,  2 and 1/2 bath  1 story home with a 2 car garage, sold for $475,000 Zillow value  $559,721

Features of a property that Sellsius° Blog speculated might make a home Unzillowable include:

•  Traffic noise
• Privacy
• Neighbors - Best or Worst? - Do they party a lot? Are they loud or obnoxious? Are they kind, quiet and considerate?
• Neighbor’s property - Do they have junk everywhere? Do they never maintain their landscaping, property or their house? Are they meticulous?
• Neighbor’s pets - Barking dogs? Exotic animals?
• Unique Day & Night Features - Street lights & signs shining through the bedroom windows at night. Daytime construction.
• Water Issues - Basement floods only when it’s a real heavy rain.
• Cul de sac - Positive & negative features. More privacy but lacks alternative emergency access routes. Dead end street.
• Stigmatized home
• Exposure
• Views
• Offbeat homes
• Wallpaper
• Paint color
• Land Pitch - Bad slope where you have to cut alot of grass. Water Drainage.
• Smell - Good & Bad. Pet smells. Orange grove. Farm & Crops.
• “est” Homes - The nicest/ugliest home in the neighborhood.
• Homes in non-disclosure states
• Future events - [Building, Community, Neighborhood, Town, City, State] New laws, zoning changes, re-routed roadways, long term construction (see Second Avenue Subway construction project in NYC)

Updates:
• Bugs - mosquitoes, mice, rats, ants, termites, pigeons, etc…
• Micro Climate– leeward, windward, etc
Room flow
Decorating scheme
Landscaping
Local market condition–buyers’/ sellers’, mortgage rates
Current market pool–priced inventory a home is competing against
Provenance—historical, architectural, celebrity.

 c. 2006 Columbus Best Blog and Maureen McCabe

The 2006 BIA Parade of Homes began today in Central Ohio.

The BIA websites have a list of earlier Parade of Homes.  I love showing former Parade of Homes houses, sometimes they are caught in a time warp.  Sometimes the decorating is so extreme and it looks so great at the parade and ten years later is so dated but 25 plus years later it is retro.   

History - BIA Parade of Homes

1950s

1955  Brookside Estates
1958  Adjacent to the Moores and Dales Plat.

1960s

1961  Laurel Canyon
1962  Gahanna area
1963  Northwest area, Forest Park West
1964  Ravenwood
1965  Walnut Hill Park
1966  Worthington Hills
1967  Northern Upper Arlington Area
1968  Annehurst Village, Westerville
1969  Northeast area, Forest Park East

1970s

1970  Gables South
1971  Greentree, Reynoldsburg
1972  Foxboro, Gahanna
1973  No Parade
1974  The Glen #2, Dublin
1975  Woodlake Colony, Westerville
1976  Glen Crest, Reynoldsburg
1977  Freedom Colony II, Westerville
1978  Olde Mill, Westerville
1979  Bent Tree Woods,  Westerville

1980s

  
1980  Scioto Trace, Hilliard
1981  The Glade of Little Turtle
1982  Brookside Colony, Worthington
1983  Concord Village, Upper Arlington
1984  Olde Sawmill, Worthington
1985  Olentangy Ridge (Phase 1), Powell
1986  Earlington Village,  Dublin
1987  Olentangy Ridge (Phase 2), Powell
1988  Scioto Run, Hilliard
1989  The Crossing at McKenna Creek, Gahanna

1990s

1990  Villages at Rocky Fork, Gahanna
1991  New Albany Country Club
1992  Planters Grove & Fenway, New Albany
1993  Wedgewood, Powell
1994  Highland Lakes, Genoa Township
1995  Heritage Lakes, Hilliard
1996  Academy Ridge, Gahanna
1997  Scioto Point, Upper Arlington & Heron Bay, Buckeye Lake
1998  Hawk’s Nest, Dublin
1999  Tiverton Community, New Albany

This decade... what are we going to call it? 

2000  Tartan Fields, Dublin
2001  Stepping Stone, Blacklick
2002  Ballentrae, Dublin
2003  Shawnee Crossing, Pickerington
2004  Sherman Lakes, Delaware County
2005  Glenross, Delaware City

There are a couple I don't recognize.....in the 60's and 70's.  There are more in the 50's and 60's but they were sometimes scattered sites.  

Copyright 2006 Columbus Best Blog and Maureen McCabe

I learned a new acronym today.  PICNIC.  IT people think we (normal people... not IT people ) are PICNICs.   I love picnics.  Foget about work, it's a long weekend, those computer problems will be there on Tuesday....

Central Ohio in the summer means:

Picnic with the Pops

Schiller Park - Picnicing w/ Actors' Theatre

Ohio State Parks including nearby Alum Creek

Metro Parks

City Parks - Columbus

City Parks - Dublin

City Parks - Hilliard

City Parks - Gahanna

City Parks - Grove City

City Parks - New Albany

City Parks - Powell

City Parks - Upper Arlington

City Parks - Westerville

City Parks - Worthington

Liberty Township Parks

Orange Township Parks

Some communities websites say more about picnicing than others.

Worthington:

"Picnic tables are provided for family outings" in Indianola Park..... I am sure other Worthington parks have picnic tables too.

Dublin:

"Picnic areas are available on a first-come, first-served. Reservations are not accepted."

Info about 'PICNIC's'  shared by Greg Cremia of Re/Max Ocean Realty on a real estate forum.  I bet they have great places to picnic in the "outer banks" in North Carolina. 

No mountains, no oceans but we have cows in Columbus.   

P.S. I am working today... Old Worthington Open House  bring your picnic...

and remember Worthington's Memorial Day Parade.   10 AM Monday.   E. Dublin Granville and South on High Street.

Copyright 2006 Columbus Best Blog and Maureen McCabe

I added a clock to my blog because.... I could.  It may not stay.   I added a traditional round clock for stylistic reasons It goes so well with the Real Living logo. ...but also because it shows the face of Columbus.  The frame of the clock is 270.   Worthington is just inside the 12. 

Dublin is just north betwen the 10 and the 11.

Powell is just north of  the 11. 

Lewis Center is just north between the 12 and the 1.   

Westerville is just north of the 1.  

New Albany is east of the 2.  

Gahanna is east between the 2 and the 3.  

Reynoldsburg is... you get the idea.  

The Greater Columbus Chamber of Commerce website uses more of a dart board / bulls eye approach to the suburbs. 

Dartboard

10 minute commute suburbs include:

Bexley

Gahanna

Upper Arlington

15 minute commute suburbs include:

Hilliard

Worthington

Reynoldsburg

Grove City

20 minute commute suburbs include: 

Dublin

Westerville

New Albany

30 minute commute suburbs include:  

Powell

Marysville 

Granville 

Commute Times Suburbs to downtown Columbus

Copyright 2006 Columbus Best Blog and Maureen McCabe