Team Lachey hot off of their win on the NBC Clash of the Choirs competition is performing tonight, New Year’s Eve on Fountain Square downtown. As part of Nick continuing to give back to his hometown community those who brave the seasonably cold weather will be no doubt treated to some amazing choral arrangements. The $250,000 prize money from the Clash competition is going to support Cincinnati Children’s Hospital in Clifton and is sure to bring much needed support to the nationally recognized pediatric center. If you are going downtown tonight pack warm and dry as the weather will be in the high 30’s with a few possible light showers.

Part of living in a city like Cincinnati is that there is such a variety of activities all around. One of the great things that we found is a fantastic community symphony orchestra. The Seven Hills Sinfonietta is an unbelievable collection of the city’s most talented armature musicians. Their musical repertoire is nothing short of professional and they sound as good as any professional symphony I have ever heard. Coming up on March 16th at B’nai Tzedek in Kenwood, they will be performing Debussy’s Prelude a l’apres-midi d’une faune and Ravel’s Scheherazade. Below is a YouTube video of the Ravel so you can appreciate the complexity of music that this group takes on. I hope to see you all there, admission is free.

There are now drawings and models of the new Queen City Square available for viewing. Western and Southern has a press release available for viewing and it describes some of the attributes of the structure. The real question is in the wisdom of constructing a new office high rise in a market that has such a high vacancy rates. Even though the QCS project is not due to open until 2011 I hope there will bee a serious need for the space. Downtown is growing with more living space and now hopefully there will be an attraction of new creative class workers to fill both the new offices and new residences. A recent Grubb report on office vacancy rate show the third quarter of 2007 continues a trend of decreasing vacancy rates initiated in the 3rd quarter of 2006. We will keep our eye on the development downtown as the QCS and The Banks come on line adding even more high quality new living and working space to Cincinnati.

If you recently purchased a home Cincinnati and are new to Ohio you will probably need to get your automobile title and drivers license transfered over. There are a few tips we learned in making the process fast, easy, and even save you money. Here are the steps to take, and where you can go to get them accomplished. Reality is you can get this all done in one day. A lot of steps in a lot of different places, but each step can be completed in under 45 minutes.

According to the Ohio BMV you will need to have on hand the following documents:
Primary and Secondary proof of identity
Proof of residency (utility bill, pay check, letter from your employer)
Current title (if you won your car outright)
Proof of Insurance
Cash

Step One: Affidavit
In Hamilton County you will need to bring the above paperwork to the Highway Patrol Drivers License Testing Facility and ask for an inspection and affidavit. They will check your automobile for Mileage and the VIN number to make sure it matches your title. Be aware that this Affidavit is only good for 30 days, and knowing when to get this inspection could save you a lot of money. While you are there you might as well go next door and take your Ohio drivers license test and get your license.

Step Two: New Title
Now that you have your Affidavit you can go downtown and get your Ohio Title. But wait … here are two opportunities to save money. First only get your Affidavit within 30 days of your current license plate expiring. In most cases this is 30 days before your birthday. Second tip is take the time to drive down to the Registrars office on or after your birthday. This way you will not have to pay a partial year of registration fees. Once you have your Title you can go get your plates.

Step Three: Plates
Now that you have your Ohio Title it is time to go get your plates. Your local Ohio BMV location should be able to get you your plates as well as offer renewal services. Just remember - if you are from out of town you may need to get a front license plate holder since Ohio law says you need licenses plated on both bumpers.

A recent product launch proves to be a possible boon for the Real Estate marketing industry. GotZapp is a mobile social network that allows users to send photos, data, sounds, and more to mobile phones as a single download. Some of the developers have pointed to the fact that it could be an exceptional medium for quickly sending home information to potential home buyers. The great thing about the company is here in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Part of what impacts home prices are the outside forces such as interest rates, supply, demand, schools, and other business and neighborhood factors. Personal perception is a major factor in the market value of a home or neighborhood, and it is valuable information for any buy looking to get a fair deal, and any seller looking to market their property at a reasonable price.

So here is Home Predict, website that is allowing people from all over predict the value of homes and neighborhoods. What is important is that market value is a function of the Wisdom of Crowds. If 90 of 100 people think that a neighborhood’s average home is worth $200,000 it is good bet that as a buyer you should be looking to pay about that much, and as a seller it would be wise to list it as such.

In the market boom what we saw collectively was a skewing of the perception of value. We all thought homes were worth more, and therefore the price tags went up. Now as the market cools, and the economy slows we collectively are correcting our perception. Potential buyer’s value perception are the most important information to have, but a community wide poll would probably return similar results. I’d like to see a group of us getting on and helping to set the value of our homes and real estate here in Cincinnati.

Here is an amazing pricing game. The game asks participants to price some various properties and depending on how much the house sells for the participants win points. It is an exceptionally brilliant way to gauge the public’s perception of property value and can be a great tool to help buyers and sellers understand the market value of certain property in particular areas. I have to say it is a wake up call to see how affordable homes are here in the Cincinnati area. Logging onto the site give you a real appreciation for our cost of living. Moreover it is a neat tool for Real Estate Agents to practice drafting Competitive Market Analysis and comparing their findings with other players.

One year ago today the Ohio Smoking Ban went into effect, and was covered by the Cincinnati Blog. More than just being able to breathe easier in bars and restaurants not not coming
home smelling like smoke, it is an investment in the health and well
being of Ohio Citizens. The legislation is helping to insure more
health, productive, and happy citizens who are able to contribute to
and support their local communities. Below is a graph from The American Cancer Society
on death rates of lung cancer in men. As you can see since 1992 rates
have begun to drop due to smoking cessation activities, like smoking
bans. Ohio is not only improving health, it is saving money on health
care and saving lives.

In the last few months we all have heard a lot of information about interest rates, and that they are moving up and down. The rates have been in flux and Dan Green, a local Cincinnati Mortgage Broker who writes The Mortgage Report blog, gives a great interview explaining why mortgage rates change and what it all means beyond our own house payments. This is great background information for anyone looking to buy a home.

Everyone agrees that people loosing their homes to Foreclosure is bad for individuals, banks, and neighborhoods. In fact so many people are aware of it even Congress is stepping in to help people in better proceed with Debt Forgiveness. In normal circumstances when you have a debt forgiven, or reduced, that amount is counted as taxable Income, according to the IRS. If you bank forgives you for the last $10,000 of your loan, why would the IRS think you have the cash to pay taxes on it? Silly.

The Federal Government is stepping in and offering up H.R. 3648, a bill that would eliminate Federal tax on debt forgiveness. The House has passed the bill and it is on the way to the Senate. So how would that impact us? Well in short it could lead to more Cincinnati residents staying in their homes. The US Census Bureau says that home ownership in the Cincinnati metro area has slipped a bit from 68.4% in 2005 to 65.5 in 2006. It is so important for us as a community to do the most we can to maintain our home ownership rates up because people who care about their homes also care about their communities. You can continue reading about this topic at Open Congress.