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Are you nervous about buying a house? I would be surprised if you weren’t. I have purchased 70 houses in my career, and every time there are two questions that dog me, as they should you: (1) What is this Seller not telling me? And (2) Am I paying too much for this property? But how do you know that those are questions you should even be asking, particularly if you are a first-time home buyer? That’s where HOC comes in. They offer classes Homebuyer Training Classes for $99 for two people, and they also offer a free program called LIFT, which used to offer downpayment grants of $1,500, and now offers downpayment grants of $15,000! Yep! That’s grants, not loans! There is a FREE “Cincinnati Neighborhood Lift Launch Event” that is coming up – which provides those grants, and if you are looking into purchasing a home, you would do yourself a…

You may not have considered this aspect of home-buying, but it is one that has an impact worth taking note of! Melissa Dittman Tracey published an article in Realtor Magazine (September/October 2014), exposing an aspect of home-buying that many don’t consider: Who lived there before you, and What’s Lurking Behind Those Walls? No, we’re not talking a CSI-like stash of money or – – dead bodies – but we are talking about residue that can be left by drug production. Yes, meth production. Surprised? That’s not surprising! Who thinks about such things when you go to buy a house? Your realtor does! And you have a right to ask – and you realtor has a responsibility to reveal – information of that sort about the home in which you want to live. Why? Because, it seems, meth contamination can affect those who are particularly sensitive to remnants of the drug: “from respiratory…

You probably have no idea how many firsts Cincinnati has birthed. Cincinnati can conjure up images of sleepy little towns, Midwestern backwoods mentalities… Nothing could be further from the truth! For one thing, there are so many artists/actors that come from this area, it merits its own Hollywood movie. Doris Day Julie Hagerty Sarah Jessica Parker Steven Spielberg Roy Rogers Jerry Springer Rosemary Clooney George Clooney That’s a short list! And social firsts? We gotcha covered there too: First professional baseball team. (1869) First team to play games under lights. (5/24/35) First time President throws out opening day baseball. (William Howard Taft, April 14, 1910) First woman to own a Major League Baseball team. (Margaret “Marge” Schott, 1984) First city to establish a weather bureau, also first to issue a weather bulletin. (1869) The first & only city to own a Railroad. (Cincinnati Southern in 1880) The first municipal university. (1870) The…

We did it! Cincinnati voted to save Union Terminal! This is important for so many reasons, and our favorite one is that in a culture that increasingly leaves history in the dust, we get to keep a “through-line” from the early 20th Century, on into the 21st – preserving that history, meaning, artistry, a culture that defines our city and reminds us of our origins. In moving into the 21st Century, we think that knowing our history helps us grow and change by giving us a solid historical footing. Once upon a time, another Cincinnati icon – Music Hall – had to be approached by boat! On the side that is now Central Parkway was a body of water called the Miami Canal. Across the water from Music Hall was the Children’s Hospital, as you can see in this image:   We heard today that for one of the large…

My father was an exceptional businessman, and he passed that ability along to me. He also passed along a sense of responsibility to the community in which I grew up: the Cincinnati community. Becoming a Realtor brought to me a powerful mode of giving back in ways that I could never have done otherwise. I decided to create Unify Cincinnati, in 1998, so that I could get CincyLand involved in others’ service-oriented projects, and create some of my own. As a result, I am proud to say that CincyLand helped a local church repurpose property in order to start a Women’s Shelter, sponsored Marines stationed at T.Q. airbase in Iraq, provided support for the Children’s Home of Cincinnati, and continues to be involved with land and building donations for distressed properties that can be repurposed and put to great use for our community needs. Why do I do it? Because I…

I don’t believe in selling. I believe in listening. Because it’s all about comfort level – yours. Whether you are buying or selling, you have concerns about your property that are far more compelling even than money, and I want to address and support your comfort level. To do that requires listening. Closely. You may be selling a family home because you have to do so, rather than out of a desire. And that makes it difficult to let go. You may be buying a new home for reasons that are out of your control and that make you feel even more passionate about what that new home needs to be for you and your family. That is what I listen to first: Why you are selling or buying, how you feel about it, what you need in order to feel good – or at least better – about it,…