About Amanda

Amanda Ohio is a small town , located approximately 15
miles southeast of Ohio’s capital city, Columbus.

Amanda is a small rural farming community in between
Lancaster (To the east) & Circleville (To the west)

Many things take place in Amanda during the year, however nothing is as important, or popular as high school football. The Aces are the local football team that seemingly everyone supports in this small town. It’s no surprise to take a drive down main street in Amanda and see Aces flags in every yard , flags on the flagpole, and even uniforms in the windows. The Amanda Clearcreek Aces are one of the most honored teams in the area, even among rival schools, with many state championship titles to their name.

Homes For Sale

Most of the homes for sale in the Amanda area are outside of the town , however there are still many homes inside of corporation limits. Amanda consists mainly of turn of the century homes, with the median being right around 80 years of age for a home.

Land & Farms

Because of the rural nature of the Amanda area , there are usually a number of farms and lots for sale. Prices range greatly depending on the type of land , whether it’s raw or improved , and the use for the land as well.

In general , farm land sells for anywhere from $3500 to $4500 per acre. Residential use land sells in the $6,000-$20,000 per acre range, depending on size and location. As of the time of this report (May 2010) price per acre ranged from $7,7351 to $13,267 per acre for a residential lot.

Rentals & Apartments

At the moment, there is no official online rental management system for the Amanda area , however there exist a few options for finding rentals.

Craigslist Apartments is one of the better available options for finding homes for rent. Also , if you’re in the area locally , look for the Fairfield County Advertiser and Lancaster Gazette, both of these publications list homes for rent in the area.

We are expecting a MLS-Like system that will allow people to view homes for rent online, however this system has not been released yet.

Real Estate Prices

Prices for homes in Amanda can vary greatly depending on whether you’re inside the town of Amanda or outside in the country. The low median value for a home inside the city of Amanda will be around $40,000 , while the high median is around $350,000. This is not to say that there are not homes available above/below these prices, however 90% of the homes available will be within these price ranges. There normally are only 3-4 listings inside the town of Amanda, and 15-25 outside of Amanda.

When dealing with properties outside of Amanda , prices increase greatly due to desirability as well as the fact that most homes come on 1 to 5 acre lots.

The median value , over the past 4 years in Amanda is at $98,529 , with the highest sale being for $229,000 and the lowest sale being at $56,500 (A auctioned property).

Outside of Amanda , most homes are on 1 to 5 acre lots, with a median sales price of $136,950 and 1439 square feet. The average marketing time for a home in the Amanda area is 79 days. Data for home sales in Amanda was collected by the Columbus Board of Realtors , and displayed as information on the MLS system. Dates used were from 1/1/2009 through 1/1/2010 in the 43102 zip code (Amanda). This consists of ONLY homes sold by Realtors, and does not include for-sale-by-owner properties , or auctions that were not a part of the MLS system.

Foreclosures

As with every other area in the US , foreclosures play a partial role in the pricing of homes for sale in the Amanda market area. At any given time, there are approximately 2-6 properties for sale within the Amanda zip code. Foreclosures make up approximately 25% to 35% of annual home sales, which negatively impact the price of properties in the area. This is a good thing for buyers who look to find a deal , however bad for people who are concerned with home appreciation or who need to sell their homes. One can expect a savings of 10% to 20% over the cost of a similar home that is not foreclosed , however potential home buyers need to keep in mind that although the number of foreclosure sales make up a fair portion of the market sales , active foreclosure listings only account for 5% to 10% of total listings available. This means that there is a much smaller selection of homes for sale that are foreclosures than there are normal sales.

Good alternatives to a foreclosure purchases are Estate sales and Short Sales.

From recent data , short sales actually sell slightly under the average foreclosure sale ,by about a extra 5% to 10% , however they can be more difficult to deal with. When purchasing a short sale property, you must keep in mind that there is very little choice in timeline to close the property. This means that you must be ready to purchase the property (and have an available mortgage) anywhere from 14 days to 3 months after the purchase of a home. In one instance , I worked with a client who had to wait 3 months before a home recieved final approval from a bank to close. This can be problematic because in many cases you will not know when you can move, and in some rarer cases still , the bank ultimately refuses the sale of the property in favor of foreclosure , leaving you with many wasted weeks of effort (or months).

Estate sales on the other hand are much more straightforward than Short sales or even Foreclosures. There is normally a small savings of these types of homes ,as the estate must sell the property, however there are very few of these homes available at any given time (I see maybe 5 to 10 per year).

When looking at these types of potentially distressed sales, don’t forget that there are MANY people who have their homes for sale, and are willing to offer a bargain, and are motivated to sell. These types of conventional , owner-occupied sales can be a great investment as compared to foreclosures without any of the associated hassle.

Things To Do In Amanda