Well, it’s not really a big mystery.

Three Meadows is “newer” than Colonial Acres.

In the 1800′s and 1900′s?  It was a farm – with lots of apple trees and apple orchards and mature trees and woods.

It was a huge – in fact at the time in the 1970′s – the largest master planned community in Northwest Ohio ever developed.

Mixed use.  Recreation. Commercial.  Residential.

Oh . . . and I grew up in Three Meadows.  So it’s near and dear to my heart.

But there’s another subdivision there – and it was there first:  Colonial Acres.

The houses are pretty much the same.  The layout is the same.  The location is adjacent.

What’s the difference?

The mailbox!   If the mailbox is the fancy, painted wood, brown and gold trim colored style?  You are in Three Meadows.

Regular mailbox – the house is in Colonial Acres.

I will dovetail this arcane Perrysburg real estate tip with my newest Perrysburg listing -

904 Bexton in Colonial Acres.

3 beds, den, Florida room, newer David Hahn kitchen, fireplace, all appliances.

And most importantly to me . . .  it overlooks the backyard of my best friend in Middle School and Perrysburg High School – Carlos Weeber.  We used to play with his dog Saddie adjacent to this house.  And then head out . . . . in his Porsche 914 to cause trouble and mayhem all around Perrysburg.  But those stories and the resulting arrest records/damage claims/insurance settlements must all remain sealed at this time . . .

The house in question?  Updated.  Mint condition. Impeccable.

The neighborhood?  Well, now you know about the history and design of Three Meadows/Colonial Acres.

And since the local miscreants have all gone on and moved on to professional positions in sales/management/medicine/and public service . . . the quality of the area has only gone up.

This is the back yard view – from Carlos’s old yard to help bring back my memories.

$149,900 buys it.   And the estates’ “tag sale” is in a couple of weeks if you want to pick up some great furniture.

13.

That’s how many new build houses are on the MLS as I write this.

13.

In a city/township of almost 50,ooo people.

That’s. Not. Many.

13.

The new construction market has imploded.  Died.  The builders are gone.  Busted.  The developers are gone.  Broke.   The few homes on the market are by very specialized and savvy niche builders.

And they tend more towards building for contract rather than speculation.

Want a new home?  You are going to have to sign a contract and have your financing in place.  That’s how it works in 2012.

(By way of the old memory bank . . . it worked this way in 2005 – we would get in a car and show you 25 houses in various stages of completion in Perrysburg and if you didn’t like any of them we would have one build just for you . . . )

How bad was it nationwide?  National TOTAL new construction sales fell 2.2% from last month to a rate of 307,000 annualized.  The total in 2010 was 323,000, the lowest amount since record keeping began in 1963.

That’s the dead cat thud.

There is now nowhere to go but up . . . right?

Builders have to be very careful . . . but there is no competition if you have a spec or can build on a contract.

Buyers?  Better be ready to rent while you build!

Why?  I only write about one listing – a “listing post” – when it’s A. In Perrysburg.   And B. Special.

So I will write about 1752 Horseshoe Bend.

Because it’s a great house.  3 beds, side-load garage, Corian counters, fenced yard, big basement ready to finish, and as neat and clean as a pin.   $207k tax value.  Today’s price?  $185k.

Oh, the location?

Check out this aerial photo – it’s the house/lot just above the “H” in Horseshoe Bend.   Oh – that’s Perrysburg High School off to the west . . . . so no excuses about it being too cold or wet to walk to school!

Which is what we have in Perrysburg.

I could write about the increase of homes being foreclosed.   And I could write about the national and local statistics of homes “under water”.   And I could write and tell you about the personal trauma so many Northwest Ohioans are facing in this market.

And yet . . . there are many homes selling for MORE than asking price.

And with more than one offer coming in.

The market is bifurcated – with 2 sides.  2 halfs.  2 realities.

Case in point: the single family MSI in the 43551.  That stands for “months supply of inventory”.

It’s a measure of how balanced the market is.  How “hot” it is.  How hard buyers or sellers have to fight for each deal.  It is, in one sense, a worthless number!  Because you only buy one house.  You only have one house to sell (normally) if you are a seller.  The medians and averages and group aggregation of data mean little in one little deal.

But they do set the tone for the market.

Right now?   Just 6.1 months supply of inventory in Perrysburg.   Last August there were 260 houses for sale in Perrysburg and 7.9 months of inventory.  Last month there were only 224 houses for sale and with 37 under contract just 6.1 months supply of inventory.   MSI always drops in the Summer.  It always goes up in the Winter.   But that is a 23% drop in 12 months from August to August.   So the Perrysburg market “feels” hotter if you are a buyer.   If you are a seller?   The broken record says “it’s all about price and condition” and it is.

As soon as the preliminary work is done this great 2 story with 5 beds and a finished basement will be going on the market.

We have a saying that you have to have heard before . . . something about location . . . perhaps this is familiar to you?

How about adjacent to Woodland Elementary?    Adjacent to Woodlands Park and Ft. Imagination?

Hard to beat this location!

You want more information – hit me with an email at jon@modene.com

Which I do from time to time.

Especially when it’s a rare rural offering.

3 beds.  2 stories.  1 long, long driveway.

6+ acres with a private wood lot.

And it’s a newer 1700 sq. foot Forrester/Wherle built house.  With a basement.

Price?

$149,900.

So you will have to act very fast.   Feel free to call or email if you want to get away the City and live in the Township.

(Hint: It’s the house smack dab in the center . . . in the middle of the farm fields, and the house includes all of the woods.

Never before have little things made such a difference if you are selling in Perrysburg.

Don’t think that price is the only dimension in the market today.  It’s the most important dimension, but not the only one.

Several clients that I have just started working with on the sell side really impressed me recently.

They did EVERYTHING to get their home ready.  No stone was left unturned.  No blemish was left unpainted.  Everything that could be fixed, cleaned, regrouted, painted, and spiffed up was.

Houses in this condition do impress the buyer that looks at them.   They sell faster.  They sell for more money.  They raise the bar in the neighborhood to a new, higher level.

If you are going to sell you want to be the house that the buyers remember favorably.

If you show enough homes you can remember the ones that were really, really bad.   “Wear a mask” bad.   You don’t want to be remembered for something bad, but for being exceptional.

Some ideas:

1. Professional carpet cleaning.

2. Grout and tile and showers and baths – make them perfect.

3. Paint.  No blemishes.  No wild colors.

4. Screw everything back in place that the wind/snow/rain has changed.

5. Put all the extra stuff away.  In the garage or basement or storage locker.

6. Lighten and brighten all the rooms.   It works.

7. I am not a big landscape fan – buyers know how easy landscape can be change/fixed.  But some mulch and some flowers from Andersons or Mosers or Black Diamond?  Easy to add.  Cheap to buy.

Just don’t let the kids help without supervision . . .

Which I try not to do too often.

But . . . . since this is in all actuality the absolute nicest, best, most amazing house on the market in Perrysburg right now, it gets it’s own blog entry.

If you want to see what $795k will buy you should call me.

Here is the garage!  (Also known as the “Man Cave” or as my normal patter/joke goes the “Mother In Law Suite” . . . but in this case it REALLY IS!  With a full apartment upstairs.)

Want more details?  Pond? Check.  Fully finished lower level?  Check.  Fireplace in the den?  Check.  High/vaulted ceilings? Check.  Granite, tile, marble? Check.

To see it is to fall in love.

Call or email me for your tour.  24290 Sun Air in Perrysburg Township – $795,000.

Out and about in Perrysburg today.   Foreclosing and securing new bank owned properties in the city and township.

Then out to Toledo and Rossford – to snap some photos on a rare sun-shiney day of some new listings.

Then back to work on offers and new listings.

And everywhere I go . . . . “is the market getting better?” is the question.

Not based on what I am seeing.

Then I read this from Marketwatch.com

BOSTON (MarketWatch) — If you thought the housing crisis was bad, think again.

It’s worse.

New data just out from Zillow, the real-estate information company, show house prices are falling at their fastest rate since the Lehman collapse.

Average home prices are down 8% from a year ago, 3% over the quarter, and are falling at about 1% every month, according to Zillow.

And the percentage of homeowners in negative-equity positions — with a home worth less than its mortgage — has rocketed to 28%, a new crisis high.

Zillow now predicts prices will fall about 8% this year and says it no longer expects the market to bottom before 2012.

“There’s no way we can get to flat, from these depreciation levels, in the last nine months of the year,” says Zillow economist Stan Humphries. “Demand is a lot more anemic than we had previously thought.”

Just lovely.

Normally I write about the “big picture” in Perrysburg real estate.   And about the little picture of the lessons and corrections and information that I gain/acquire/pick up/and am corrected by in my daily life of listing and selling houses in Perrysburg.

Today – I am writing up 2 new listings in Perrysburg.

They are polar opposites.

A happy story of great, satisfied, loyal, smart clients.   I sold them the house – now transferring out of the area.

One is a modern, contemporary floor plan, staged to perfection (hat tip to my Stager – Gina Graf!), in perfect condition.   1st floor master. 4000+ sq. feet.  Finished basement.  Modern high ceilings.  Whole house sound system, vacuum, video, Cat-5, etc.

The second?  A terrible tale of injury, financial distress, legal trouble, and sadness mixed with grief and sickness and divorce.

It’s on a challenged lot.  With a new owner – Fannie Mae – who really is not interested in owning houses in Perrysburg but in helping new home owners acquire them for a fair price.  I had to help this owner foreclose on the prior owner.   Long story – but the end result is a brick ranch with a bargain price.

2 houses.

2 different conditions/locations/stories/journies.

So – if you are interested in 3628 River Ridge . . . or in 11001 Avenue Road (the official street name for SR 795) you can let me know.

I will show them both and see which one meets your needs . . .