Million-dollar homes in Upper Arlington, New Albany, Dublin and Powell: What they all have in common

UPPER ARLINGTON, (Ohio) — Take a peek into this $1.5 million new listing in Upper Arlington, one of 11 $1 million-plus properties for sale in that school district.

In the past year, 46 homes priced at $1 million or more sold in the Upper Arlington School District, according to Sue Van Woerkom, a real estate agent with Keller Williams Capital Partners and president-elect of Columbus Realtors.

“It took just about three months to get them sold in the past year,” she said. “Currently, there are 11 listed for sale in Upper Arlington schools.”

Million-dollar homes have to check all the boxes, Woerkom said. “Open floor plans, privacy on the lot, a good school district typically, or a close commute to work. A home where they can work out and a lot of people work from home, so office space, and wonderful kitchen, and entertainment space.”

“The home has to be everything now — from your gym to your office to your restaurant,” Woerkom said. “They are looking for the whole package.”

While a starter home priced at $300,000 would sell on average in a couple of days with multiple offers, the higher-priced house might be on sale a bit longer. In terms of the home on Sawmill Road, Woerkom said, “If we go by averages, it might be on the market for 72 days, [but] someone might still come snatch it up.”

Ten years ago in 2011, the market was in the tank. Just four homes sold in the Upper Arlington schools for a million dollars or more, and it took eight months on average to close on that house.

“Million-dollar homes take a bit longer to sell,l but they do sell,” Woerkom said. “Thankfully our economy is doing well, and money is still cheap and we are seeing that we’re selling them in record numbers. Again, markets are unique to the area they are located in, so it may take longer to sell in another area versus Arlington versus Bexley versus Powell. They all have million-dollar homes for sale.”

Holly Lockett, a realtor with Keller Williams Capital Partners who also sells high-end homes for Bob Webb, said open-concept floorplans are a must. In the Upper Arlington home, she points out all the spaces for entertaining.

“When you have a lot of people, everybody kind of congregates in the kitchen…it’s all about entertaining,” Lockett said.

In the Upper Arlington house, there are three spaces for people to sit in the kitchen area. They also can go out a sliding glass door to a brand-new deck with a built-in grill, wood-burning fireplace, and hot tub. If there is rain, they can shelter on the screened-in porch and still enjoy the fresh air.

There’s a difference, though, between a million-dollar home and a million-dollar property, cautions Lockett:

“There’s a difference between a property and a house. When you talk about the property, you’re talking about the land, everything the house sits on is surrounding…the horse barn and stables might be fantastic, but the house isn’t fantastic. Million-dollar house and million-dollar property are two separate things,” she said.