Mark L. Ostrovsky's (marcopolo) Blog

CLEVELAN EASTERN SUBURBS 2010 MARKET UPDATE  FROM 1/1/2010 to 1/14/2010 STATUS   SHAKER HEIGHTS     BEACHWOOD    CLEVELAND HTS.   UNIVERSITY HTS. Active Properties          261            60            414            114 Sold Properties             5              0              14                ...

This is a heads-up for anyone who lives in or around Beachwood, Ohio or who may be visting the area. On Monday January 18, 2010 from 11:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M. the Maltz Museum of Jewish Heritage is holding its annual Tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The best part ... ADMISSION IS FREE! My fat...

"I'm listing my house with XYZ Realty because they offer one-stop shopping which includes an in-house mortgage and title company." There's nothing wrong with real estate companies that offers these services. Many consumers prefer the convenience of one-stop shopping. Many real estate brokerages ...

CITY OF BEACHWOOD OH PLASTIC BOTTLE ART PROJECT NEWS. The City of Beachwood OH. needs your help in putting together this eco-friendly art project and is asking residents and friends of the City to save-up and drop-off color, plastic water bottles. These bottles can be from soda, water, sports dri...

"I DON'T CARE, I'M SELLING MY HOUSE "AS IS" Unless your target buyer is Austin Powers you probably need to get rid of that psychedelic purple mylar wallpaper and that green shag carpeting you installed thirty years ago. Remember, it was new when you bought the house but it's 30 years later! Your ...

 QUESTIONS TO ASK WHEN INTERVIEWING A LISTING AGENT     •1)     How many years have you been in the business? Are you full-time? •2)     How much business do you do a year? How many of your listings           wind-up expired vs. sold? What is your list to sales price ratio? •3)     Do you have a ...

Real estate research firm Reis, Inc. reports that apartment vacancies rose to 8-percent in the last quarter of 2009. As a result many large apartment complex owners have been forced to reduce rents. One year ago the vacancy rate was 6.7%. The blame for the recent downturn goes to the recession an...

We often have clients ask about how to stage their home. Fortunately, Elly has a background in display having worked in the display department for a major department store chain. Here's a link to a Cleveland Plain Dealer article in which we were interviewed to provide home staging tips. http://ww...

"I'm no expert but I'm not paying a full commission when I can pay a discount broker a low flat fee and then pay only the selling agent's side of the commission. I negotiate for a living. Surely I can negotiate something as easy as a home sale." Yeah, right! And because every real estate agent al...

"My house appraised at an amount higher than my real estate agent claims it's worth. Do I go with the Realtor's price opinion or the appraiser's?" Perhaps we're conditioned to believe that there's no better answer than one that's scientific. But don't be blinded by science!  Real estate appraisal...