Indian Hill School district pulls students from a large area surrounding the Village of Indian Hill, which is where the schools are physically located. Those areas are known as Camp Dennison, Kenwood, and Symmes Twp. Today, I ran through several niche neighborhoods today and want to share those with you!

Concord Hills was the first neighborhood and it is the most upscale and largest lots of the featured areas. This spot has half to one acre parcels, homes built in the early 1960’s which any of those with bad cinder block foundations are torn down and replaced with a modern layout custom home. The target demographic that I have for this area is an empty nester who wants to spend under $800k for a new home or someone buying an original house with updates for below $500k.

Sturbridge is a neighborhood across Montgomery Rd, adjacent to the commercial corridor of Montgomery Rd, this neighborhood consists of a set of dozen streets, sidewalks on both sides, walkable, mid 1960’s houses. Theses houses are on 1/3 acre lots and the smallest homes are 2000 sqft and largest around 3200 sqft.

Heitmeyer Farms is a neighborhood accessed from both Kugler Mill and Kenwood Rd, the main entrance being Kenwood Rd. This well known neighborhood is the largest of these three featured. It has lots between .25 and .50 acres and the homes are between 1800 sqft to 3500 sqft.

While running through all of these communities, I noticed several dumpsters in all neighborhoods, one new construction in Concord Hills. The I-71 corridor cuts through Heitmeyer and Sturbridge, so some of the homes have the sound wall in the back yard which affect value. This is a nice place to call home if you want an A-B district, good public services, moderate taxes and a quality of life which has mass appeal based on recent transactions.

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I walked a property which was an estate at 7635 DeMar Rd in Indian Hill on November 6, 2017. The property was an estate, and the daughter was selling the house to close out the estate of her late mother. The adult daughter is savvy and in her sixties, an ex-Indian Hill resident and was marketing the house on Zillow.com for $565k.

When I set the appointment, this daughter disclosed to me that she was selling her parents house and she would take $535k, so walking into it, I thought – “this is great, she is already negotiating!”. The house was unique but had incredible opportunity. No real basement for “cheap square footage”, but it had a good setting on an approachable street. No home on the street is worth more than $800k, so I am thinking you can put $150k in this, purchase it for $500k and have $650k ranch house on an acre in a low tax market. These are in short supply and are a great condo alternative.

When I presented my ideas to the daughter after a week, she said that she already had a contract. She said it was contingent on sale of buyers West Chester property and that it was a good offer. The property that she had was being marketed for $565k and Closed for $440k! That is 77.8% of list to sale price!

Estate executors take notice- you are exhausted from cleaning out the house and you have burned all emotional attachment of the house. You have had days cleaning out the house that you would pay for it be taken. Executors should not sell houses!

Hire a realtor, hire me- John Payne with Keller Williams Realty to manage the sale of your house. I could have gotten this owner more than $40k more in net proceeds by professionally managing the transaction paying the buyers agent.

Be smart out there buying and selling real estate- the stakes are high. With $40k, I would have put a downpayment on a Tesla Model S, what would you have done?

The major surprises/ highlights for me are in no order:

1. Greg goes bowling
2. George makes T-shirts and drinks at two different establishments while running; proving his thirst!
3. Andrew’s clipboard of plans
4. Russell’s satellite radio presets
5. Richard running between each coffee shop running nearly a 20 mile day on impulse
6. Andrew enjoying a pint at Tafts’ on the run
7. Genuinely proud runners finishing in perfect time/ distance!

It’s a testament to your interest in running adventure that you participated in such a developing idea of mine. I was laughing and enthused the entire time and cherish our shared love of running and ever-developing friendship! In the truest sense of the phrase- Get Up, Get Out, Team Psycho!

Click on the image below to make it larger for easier reading

Our next adventure is being developed currently, but will be a tribute to the Barkley Marathon- location will be our Cincinnati Nature Center. Less than 8 total miles, scavenger hunt style, team work required. Intention of format will be less static waiting around and overall shorter program time.

FIRST ANNUAL WINTER COFFEE SHOP HASH RUN
WHO:
If you have been a consistent runner with Team Psycho, this event is available to you! Please RSVP with your estimated per mile time for a 6-8 mile run and I’ll compile teams so that our finish is as close as possible to limit the wait time. RSVP with a comment on the blog post or email john@payne-team.com
Teams of 5 people.

WHAT:
Self directed adventure running race through our wonderful playground of streets and trails! You determine the route, but you must exchange at the checkpoints designated. Those checkpoints in order are Awakenings Montgomery, Coffee Please Madeira, Starbucks Mariemont, and The Echo Hyde Park. Each team will have a Garmin watch or equivalent and you will pass that one watch amongst the team to collect your running information. The watch is the baton.

WHEN:
Date is set for February 3, 2018. Time of race is starting at 7a and should finish no later than noon for most teams.

WHERE:
Race begins at Homebucks original location at Kemper and Montgomery in Harpers Point. Finish line is officially at Washington Park’s Bandstand, one block from Taste of Belgium’s OTR location. Final party at Rhinegeist where we will have food from Findley or any delivery option available- you are responsible for your own eats! Families can join us afterwards for corn hole and day drinking. If people are interested, we could schedule a tour.

WHY:
Confucius asks “Whynot”

SCORING:
(50%) Submitted time to Actual time— like in drag racing you have to run within your bracket. If you submit the time of 8 min pace, you have to run 8 min pace. If you want to run 6:30’s, then you do you. Its not a race against historical PR’s, you’re racing yourself.
(20%) Closest to the Route mileage- so we know its “3.6 miles” from Homebucks to Awakenings, but we have the requirement of “5.3 miles” to make it interesting. Going over is fine, but wouldn’t it be awesome to plan your route perfectly?
(15%) Fastest to the finish- your team is made of cheetahs not bison, you will win this category.
(15%) Most creative capture of the milestones- presented at final location (subjective by vote). Did you just meet at the locations or did you get a selfie with the baristas? Did you plan your route to stop in and say Hi to Rob at the cemetery? Did you stop by Rick’s house and ring/run? You dream it, we’ll vote if its worth points!

DETAILS FOR RACE DAY:
Harpers Point Starbucks – Awakenings ; straight down Montgomery Rd is 3.6 miles
Awakenings – Coffee Please ; straight down Montgomery, left on Miami is 2.7 miles
Coffee Please – Mariemont Starbucks (Wooster side) ; straight down Miami and right onto RT 50 is 3.2 miles
Mariemont Starbucks – The Echo ; across Murray bike trail, up Erie and into Hyde Park Square is 4.3 miles
The Echo – Washington Park Bandstand ; Erie to Madison, McMillan to Gilbert, across highway to Reading Rd and across Central Parkway to Vine to 12th is 5.1 miles

At 6:50a in the parking lot of Starbucks in Harpers Point, we will determine the distance to be run by each member of your team. This, to be determined, distance will be the distance that we will run between each meeting location. The distance will be between 5.1 miles and 7.5 miles.

Your team can assist you with mapping the route between your two shops. I would recommend downloading a route planner like “Footpath”
The first runners on each team are confirmed and should not be changed- these are the only ones numbered.

The area has been the location of a retail center- TriCounty Mall since 1959, it is adjacent to the historic GE aircraft engine facility in neighboring Evendale and is the location of many buisinesses in the Greater Cincinnati region.

Springdale is a self governed municipality with its own police and fire departments, its own maintanence department, etc. The City services are very good because of this amount of control from these departments. The community has a world class Community Center which has focused programming for seniors, youth and all in-between. A great amenity for residents!

Residents demographic information from www.city-data.com shows that the median household income is trending within $500 annual to the Ohio average at $47,575.

After enjoying my run through the neighborhood, I can attest that the housing stock is very well maintained. Most homes are built in the housing boom of 1960. They are typically 3-4 bedrooms, homes on slab foundation and generally well cared for.

The school district is Princeton Schools and has an elementary school within the community.

As for running, I enjoyed a 3 mile loop, which could be extended if I braved more commercially overrun roads. Routes to the north are cut off by the Interstate 275, but if you go about a mile West, you will have great running within Winton Woods area.

I enjoyed a run through Ross Park Woods which is a neighborhood park with a soccer field, baseball field, playground, parking area and a major surprise– frisbee golf! There is a drainage creek that it seems as though locals fish the stream, or kids use it to play as it has some worn paths to the banks.

If you are looking for a property within the area, please review our listing at 11687 Lawnview Ave, Springdale OH 45246 or any of these properties Actively for sale!

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The corridor which stretches from Fairfax to Avondale is a transformative project connecting neighborhoods that have plenty in common that they will be successful. I can see myself jumping on my bike and traversing this corridor to enjoy dinner, cocktails and entertainment- locking up for the night and Ubering home. I believe a potential use of the corridor will be for just social events.  It will also be for the bike commuters living in one area and working in an adjacent. It will connect children to schools and provide safe routes.

Email or call me to be put on a MLS property search that traverses our City. This is exciting and for those looking for “value” in property, you can not afford to not take notice!

John@Payne-Team.com or 513-500-7474

Exciting new developments coming to Montgomery and Blue Ash are proving the concept of this model. What’s interesting about each of these is the Montgomery development has a focused face towards the Montgomery Rd frontage with a greenbelt on 2 sides. Likewise, the frontage of the Summit Park is on Pfeiffer/ Glendale Milford with likely an access point off of Plainfield, but buffered by commercial development on one side. They are encompassed and have very defined boundaries, unlike developments in corn fields. This detail alone on this shows future resale value because competition is controlled or stifled by lack of supply.

If I was to put fresh batteries into my crystal ball, I would say that each will have major success. The demographic of each is very similar with likely a slightly younger crowd gravitating towards Summit Park because of the tenants who have publically committed. The specific tenants have not been named in Montgomery when this was published.

If you don’t live in a location that is a Work, Live, Play structure and you would like too, please call me and we can identify a location within the Greater Cincinnati market to help better your enjoyment of day to day living! John Payne 513-500-7474.

Financing a renovation is a challenge for many people. But depending on debt ratios and equity in the house, the opportunities are actually very plentiful. Depending on when, how and why you’re buying the property, a customized plan should be made for you with your lender and financial planner. Three common options for renovation financing are securing an equity line of credit, getting a construction loan, or borrowing from a 401(k).

The most popular option is to use equity in the house to finance the line of credit, known as an equity line of credit. This is a tried-and-true method used by owners with significant equity in the house. Most loans are going to give you 75-90% of your equity in your house as a line of credit.

Example:

• $300,000 house with 20% put down when at purchase
• Access to approx. $45,000 equity line of credit

This money is available for you to use for renovations and improvements—and you don’t pay interest on money in the credit line, only the used balance of the account.

A construction loan is the second best tool for financing a renovation. This option is best for larger scale projects, or projects for which you have a large equity position or cash-on-hand deposit you’d like to leverage for the major addition to the house. These loans are typically a 12-month interest only term for a specified amount of money, and you pay interest on the entire balance of the account the moment that the loan is approved.

The last option is a 401(k) loan. The 401k loan is a not a product, but it’s a divesting of money in your current investment portfolio. The maximum is 50% of your balance, not to exceed $50,000. The money is not taxed as income, but you may have to pay sale penalties from your investment broker. The loan must be re-paid within 5 years and can be repaid on an amortization schedule. The difficulty of this loan is that you are missing the advances in the marketplace when its withdrawn, but the benefit is that you miss the decline of the market during your withdraw. Consult your financial planner on this loan as your “cost of money” is unknown.

Once you’ve decided on the best financing option for your renovation project, you’re ready to call your architect or general contractor and start the conversation about planning the renovation.

And don’t forget to have your realtor—or better yet me—review your plans and your budget to make sure you’re adding value in the correct place in your home and maintaining relevance in the housing community!