Exceeding your buy, sell expectations

EXPERIENCE. Almost 20 years.

Buying or selling:  are you looking to find a realtor, real estate agent with deep knowledge and experience in Columbus, Franklin County, Delaware County, Licking County and all of Central Ohio?  I would love the opportunity to discuss your real estate needs!  I work hard to understand you, and your family's wants, needs, and wishes.

Look at the sales map and you'll see 100's of closings with happy buyers and sellers. 

Search for a home for sale in Columbus Ohio - here.... and surrounding areas. Search all of: Franklin County, Delaware County, Licking County, Fairfield County, Pickaway County, Madison County, Morrow County, and Union County; plus parts of: Athens, Champaign, Clark, Clinton, Fairfield,Hocking, Knox, Logan, Marion, Muskingum, Perry and Ross Counties too.

Sure, Zillow has homes for sale in Columbus Ohio - but searching here shows you for sales - not in contracts!

Search houses for sale in Columbus Ohio.

Search condos for sale in Columbus Ohio.

Looking for new builds in Columbus Ohio & surrounding areas - I can help!

Search for new homes in Columbus Ohio & surrounding areas. Search for homes newer than 1990, or newer than 2000, or newer than 2010. I can help you search for almost new homes as well!

Search for cheap homes in Columbus Ohio & surrounding areas too. This gets trickier because many low priced homes are not inhabitable, or need major repairs or renovations. These are harder to find but I can help you do it!

Help finding, searching for new homes under construction, Builders ofer call these homes: spec homes, which is just an abbreviation for building a home on speculation - "spec"ulation. 

DEPTH of KNOWLEDGE. Professional experience in mortgage, finance, and investments. Experience in new home construction and new home building. Compared to many real estate agents, I have a deeper understanding of home trades and mechanicals. Experience successfully negotiating for the benefit of clients.

MOTIVATED. Michael Bishop will always make every effort to work with clients, when, where, and how, they want to handled.

ANSWER THE PHONE. I hate leaving messages, and I think most other people do as well. I try to answer calls when they come and when I cannot - I try to return those calls promptly.

FIGHT FOR CLIENTS - FIGHT FOR WHAT'S RIGHT. Just because it's a hyper-competitive market does NOT mean it's OK to allow a buyer to pay too much. Nor is it OK for a seller to not get the top dollar for their property when the circumstances merit.

HOUSE VALUE UNDERSTANDING. What is the value of any given property? That's is the magic question every buyer and every seller hopes to know. Why is it so difficult? There are many reasons. One key reason is nearly everyone has there own uniques experiences; they have their own unique system of prioritizing values; they have their own unique means of appreciating styles, colors, space and how they work, or don't work together.

To create an example, we'll say there are 10 prospective buyers all looking in the same neighborhood, school district. All are pre-approved to buy up to $450,000 and the neighborhood sales are generally $375,000 to $500,000, and a nice 3 BR 2.5 BA 2 story home is for sale at $419,900.

On the surface this home fits all their price requirements. Now here's how this usually works out based on my 19+ years.... a couple buyers will say it has to have 4 BR (interest zero) Two more buyers say they don't like style, color, or maybe the neighbors. Now, 4 of 10 are out already. Four others tour and while they think it's OK, they'd never pay the full price - we'll say they'd pay $350,000 to $400,000. Not likely enough to win on an offer. Of the two remaining one says it's a great fit, and they'll offer list: $419,900. But one prospective buyer LOVES, LOVES, loves it! They do not want it to slip away, or get outbid, so they offer a premium $429,900. They become the buyer, and the other nine continue to search for a similar house that makes them feel like that last buyer. 

OPINIONS. Everyone has them. You do. Your spouse or partner has opinions. Your family does. Your kids have opinions too (like wantiong the master bedroom). Your boss does. Your neighbors have opinions. The toughest fact to accept is all opinions are different. It can be confusing.

FACTS not OPINIONS. The crucible of how I attempt to help all clients. Buying homes, condos, investment property, building new homes is with facts. The sale of homes, houses, condos, land, lots, multi-family or investment property - these closings become facts. Stats. Statistics. Numbers. Data. Not opinions.

NUMBERS STORY, A Father's Wisdom. When I was a little kid, my father, (a WWII US Navy vet - only high school educated) told me: "Son, liars will figure. But the figures will never lie." It's no doubt, in part, the reason I studied Economics.

This is broadly the same concept a mortgage company, credit union, bank or lender uses when they use comps from the appraisal to come up with their appraisal value on the property someone is buying. Comp is an abbreviation for comparable. What do similar properties sell for near the one you are buying or selling and does the value make sense? If a buyer is putting down a 5% down payment, that means the lender is providing the other 95%. Using the story above, a $429,900 house - the 95% is $408,405 loaned. The lender wants to be certain they are making a loan at a fair price. Not an over inflated price. 

OVER PAYING, DON'T DO IT. What is over paying. The most common way to get that answer is through a fair, independent appraisal. The appraiser typically looks for 3-5 similar sales; much like what I have already described. Same area, roughly the same size house and lot. Generally in the same school district. By comparing these 3-5 comps to the property being sold, the appraiser determines an appraisal value. As a buyer you want that number to at least be equal to your purchase price and definitely not be valued for less than the purchase price. 

APPRAISAL PROBLEMS, CAB BE AVOIDED. The standard purchase contract used in Central Ohio addresses the short appraisal. Essentially stating the value has to meet or exceed the purchase price to legally keep the buyer in the contract. I am not an attorney, and I do not provide legal advice, but when the property appraises for less than the contract the buyer can terminate for that reason, or they can challenge the appraisal if there are clear errors on some of the comps used. The lender typically assists the buyer in this circumstance, and the agent buyer's agent can as well. Most often the appraisal comes in magically right at the contract price. As a guess I'll estimate that is true 94% of the time. I'm still guessing but have had some lender say 4-5% of the appraisals are lower than the contract price and maybe 1-2% of them come in over the contract price.

AVOID APPRAISAL PROBLEMS with DEEP DIVE into DATA. If you see some other parts of my marketing, you will see: Buy Sell Have Fun & Know the NUMBERS. What does that mean? Well, the numbers, as Dad taught me don't lie. I typically look at the prior 1-3 years. Not months but the prior 1-3 years of sales of similar properties. Loosely using a similar standard to what an appraiser might use, and see how the comps, or comparables look two years ago. One year ago. Six months ago, and then lastly the prior 3+/- months. The last group is where the comps selected should come from. 

HIGH, LOW, AVERAGE: PRICE PER SQUARE FOOT. While the appraiser reviews 3-5 properties - this typical summary often has 50-200 comps closed over the past 1-3 years. So back to the Dad story: Liars will figure, but the FIGURES will never lie. The key metric I use is PRICE PER SQUARE FOOT. ($/SF). So if the $429,900 house is 1,792 SF. $429,900 / 1,792 = $239.90/SF so I'll call that $240/SF. To build out the comparison we will say the house is in average condition, but I have already called to your attention that the roof looks pretty old, and both the gas furnace and air conditioner are also getting old.  If my sales summary shows 12 sales in the past 3+/- months and they've closed at an average of $255/SF with the low being $185/SF and the high closing at $320/SF.

REAL NUMBER VALUES ESTIMATED. So in the math established by closed sales of similar homes, same schools, in the same area, roughly the same size. Provides the extremes: what is worst. What is Best. What is typical. If the home was WORST: 1,792 x $185/SF = $331,520. If the BEST: 1,792 x $320/SF = $573,440.

AVERAGE $/SF. TYPICAL SALE: If the home was typical then 1,792 x $255 = $456,960.  So while the buyer in the example paid over the list price it is at least possible that the home could appraise over the sale price of $429,900. I'd say based on experience it should appraise at or above based on the numbers. However, keep in mind the appraiser uses 3-5 comps typically and if the comps are not good it is still possible that the appraised value could come in under the sale price which creates a whole other sting of complications, and possible variations. 

Numbers. Data. Facts. Stats. Statistics. (Know the Numbers) Data from closed sales are not opinions. I have found them to be super reliable. Highly predictive and have contributed to 30+ appraisals over the purchase price since 2020. Keep ion mind in 2020-2023, there were. not a lot of appraisals coming in over the purchase price. I believe lenders will confirm the total of appraisals during that time was lower that usual. Which is in part why I want to: Know the Numbers.

As an agent who knows the Central Ohio area inside and out, I bring a wealth of knowledge on local communities, current market conditions, and more. I strive to make your real estate experience an exceptional one. Michael Bishop, The Cooler Real Estate Agent with Howard Hanna Real Estate Services has been helping home buyers and sellers for nearly 20 years. 

Some real estate agents specialize in an area, or school district. I become an expert where you want to buy or sell. Whether it is in Franklin county, Delaware county, Licking county, Fairfield county, Pickaway county, Madison county, Union county and even counties outlying such as Morrow, Marion, Knox, Muskingum, Perry, Coshocton, or Hocking. 

The key to the method is data driven. Sales facts. Closed property statistics. Comparing apples to apples. Same types of property, such as single family dwellings (SFD). Included SFD are several styles; they range from ranch, 2 story, 3 story, (3) three level splits, (4) four level splits, (5) five level splits, bi-levels. Example: should a 3,800 square foot 2 story be compared to a 900 square foot ranch? I'd say no because it doesn't fit the apple-to-apple comparison. Should a 1,650 SF 3-level split be compared to an 1,700 SF 2 story. That's not ideal but generally acceptable; if: they are pretty close to each other; they are in the same school district; and the sale is recent, ideally less than 3 months ago.  

Whether buying or selling a home, I can advise you through the processes from beginning to close. Call me or email me to set up a time to discuss your specific real estate needs. Call or text Michael Bishop (614) 600-4554

The Cooler Real Estate Agent. What's that cooler about?

The cooler is simply a reference to a common gift I present after a purchase or sale of your property. A cooler. Like something you put beverages or food in to keep it cool. Naturally there's a whole story on how I ended up with that idea but that's it in a nutshell. I typically give my clients a cooler!

Closed home buyer and home seller map.