Families Needed to Host French Exchange Students

Twenty-five French students are coming to the area this summer, and blogger Jill Werling Quinn is looking for host families. Can you help?

Paint Lakewood Applications Now Available

Blogger Laura Krawczyk explains the LakewoodAlive Program and how it helps residents with the cost of painting their homes.

Home Inspection, Moving Tips & Organic Lawn Care: Patch Blogs

Several Patch bloggers wrote posts this week on how to take care of your home — inside and out.

Want to know more about your home's foundation? Or how to go green in terms of lawn care? We have bloggers who can help.  We rounded up the three best House and Home posts from this week, in case you missed them. 1. Before the shrubs around your home start getting lush again, check out your house's foundation. If you see cracks, check out this blog by Cynthia Freeney to find out what they mean, and how you can fix them. 2. Are you moving in the near future? Try to make it as stress free as possible by following these tips from Moving Ahead Services blogger Jeffrey Collins. 3. Who doesn't love a lush, green lawn?  Did you know you don't need lots of chemicals to get it that way? Take the organic approach by following these tips from blogger…

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Five Most Expensive Homes For Sale in Lakewood

This city of beautiful homes sure has some to be proud of — but many of them come with a high price-tag.

Lakewood is known as the "City of Beautiful" homes. There are many. If price is any indication of our housing stock, we thought we'd highlight the five-highest ones on the market.  Enjoy. For additional photos of the homes, visit the AOL Real Estate section showing all the homes for sale in Lakewood.

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LOOK: 'Come Home to Lakewood' House Tour Attracts the Crowds

Among others, the tour featured a lakefront home, a Tudor, a Clifton Park arts-and-crafts, a Clifton Park Colonial Revival, a lakefront condo and a two-bedroom gem.

How to Have a Perfect Lakewood Garden...

Lakewood Patch blogger offers up the perfect how-to when it comes to gardening in our densely populated city.

Lakewood Home Values Drop 3.6 Percent Since 2009

City officials were expecting the worst after disgraced former county auditor corrupted the appraisal process.

Home values in Lakewood have fallen 3.6 percent since 2009.  That’s according to a preliminary report issued to cities across Cuyahoga County. And the drop appears to be a countywide trend. According to the Plain Dealer, the report is the result of a state-mandated appraisal — the first “since Frank Russo corrupted the process as auditor.”  Dru Siley, Lakewood’s director of building and housing, said that despite the decline, he was pleased with the preliminary report. “We were bracing for something worse — something more like 10 percent,” he said. “So this is great news.” He said that one of the positive indicators is the quality of the city’s housing stock. “I think what you’re seeing from the housing survey is that 86 percent — and …

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What's Your Favorite Home Store?

Where's the best place to go to buy items for the house?

You're in the middle of fixing something around the house and realize you don't have the right tool. Or maybe you're looking to spruce up you home and need some new decorative accessories, or curtains, or towels. Where do you go? We're taking nominations for the best home store in Lakewood. Check out our Directory of Places for the many options in town. The nomination period is closed and voting will begin on July 23. Follow Lakewood Patch on Facebook and Twitter, and sign up for our daily newsletter.

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Five Most Expensive Homes For Sale in Lakewood

This city of beautiful homes sure has some to be proud of.

Lakewood is known as the "City of Beautiful" homes. There are many. If price is any indication of our housing stock, we thought we'd highlight the five-highest ones on the market.  Enjoy. For additional photos of the homes, visit the AOL Real Estate section showing all the homes for sale in Lakewood.

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Make Me a Match: How to Pick the Perfect Real Estate Agent

The most important questions to ask a prospective real estate agent

You’ve picked a good time to put your house on the market: Prospective buyers might be few, but low interest rates guarantee that they’re serious about their business. They’re picky, though: They want what they want, and they want it now. So you want the best real estate agent you can find, someone who knows the business inside out. From Ohio’s thousands of agents, how are you going to select the one that’s right for you? You can start the old-fashioned way, by asking around. While that’s the perennial first-place winner in the find-an-agent game, it isn’t necessarily the best way at the moment. What is the likelihood that a friend, relative or acquaintance has recently dealt with a real estate agent? “The Internet changed the game for …

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Colin McHale

12:57 pm on Thursday, October 20, 2011

I agree with nearly everything in this article, except the part about choosing a full-time REALTOR. This comment is often said by full time agents, but there is never a good reason. I know many part-time agents who are more successful than their full time counterparts. Individuals needs to properly interview an agent and choose the person that is going to represent them best, regardless of …   more ›