Indianapolis Real Estate News And Information From HomeToIndy.com

 Short sales are NOT short!

In the midst of several short sale negotiations, experience tells me home buyers do not know what Short Sale means. While visiting a past client yesterday, she asked if a short sale meant the seller was trying to sell fast. In theory, that is usually the case. The seller is trying to sell fast to get out of a home they can no longer afford. In practice, it rarely happens fast. The process can be long and drawn out with twists and turns not found in a traditional home purchase. A short sale – in simple terms - means the bank or investor is being asked to accept less than is owed on the property. Banks and investors really don’t like losing money – who can blame them, most of us don’t! As a buyer, what does short sale mean for you?

Where are the deals?

Although there are deals to be had...

Once again, Indianapolis Real Estate has led the nation in most affordable housing for the 12th straight quarter. That’s 3 years of consistently offering the most affordable housing to the residents of Indianapolis. The article at CNN Money  states the median sales price for homes sold in the second quarter was $108,000.

How does that price point hold up throughout the Indianapolis area?  The chart below shows the average price of homes sold in Indianapolis and the suburbs since January 1, 2008.

For the month of July, there were 17 homes sold and closed in Traders Point, compared with 12 homes sold in June.

The highest price home was $810,200.

The lowest priced home sold was $82,500.

The average sold home in Trader's Point was a three bedroom, three bath with 2683 square feet and an average price of $300,541.

The average Days on Market for homes sold was 93 days, up from 88 days last month.

There are currently 198 homes available for sale in Trader's Point, which gives us an absorption rate of 11.64 months. Average days on market and absorption rate will vary by price range.

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For the month of July, there were 137 homes sold and closed in Carmel, Indiana. There were 136 sold in June.

The highest price home was $1,650,000.

The lowest priced home sold was $62,300.

The average Days on Market for homes sold was 76 days, up from 65 days in June.

The average home sold in Carmel was three bedroom, three bath home with 2764 square foot.

There are currently 890 homes available for sale in Carmel, which gives us an absorption rate of 6.49 months.

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Average days on market and absorption rate will vary by price range. 

Statistics were obtained from the Metropolitan Indianapolis Board of Realtors (MIBOR) data and are representative of ...

For the month of July, there were 44 homes sold and closed in Zionsville Indiana; compared to 31 homes sold in June.

The highest price home sold was $957,805.

The lowest priced home sold was $69,730.

The average Days on Market for homes sold was 106 days, up from 55 in June.

The average Zionsville home sold was a four bedroom, three bath with 2989 square feet and sold for $357,859.

There are currently 343 available home for sale in Zionsville, which gives us an absorption rate of 7.7 months. Average days on market and absorption rate will vary by price range. 

For the month of July, there were 158 homes sold and closed in Fishers Indiana; 32 more than June.

The highest price home sold was $1,125,000.

The lowest priced home sold was $87,500.

The average Days on Market for homes sold was 64 days, down form 76 in June.

The average Fishers home sold was a three bedroom, two bath with 2338 square feet and sold for $223,310.

There are currently 843 homes available for sale in Fishers, which gives us an absorption rate of 5.33 months. Average days on market and absorption rate will vary by price range. 

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Indianapolis Real Estate Blog, written by Paula Henry, an ...

For the month of July, there were 27 homes sold and closed in Plainfield, compared with 31 homes sold in June.

The highest price home was $320,000.

The lowest priced home sold was $20,000.

The average Plainfield home sold was a three bedroom, two bath with 1915 square feet.

The average Days on Market for homes sold was 84 days, up from 82 days last month.

There are currently 198 homes available for sale in Plainfield, which gives us an absorption rate of 7.33 months.

For the month of July, there were 84 homes sold and closed in Avon, compared to 89 homes sold in June.

The highest price home was $382,500.

The lowest priced home sold was $69,900.

The average Avon home sold was a three bedroom, two bath with 2015 square feet.

The average Days on Market for homes sold was 67 days, down from 76 days last month.

There are currently 536 homes available for sale in Avon, which gives us an absorption rate of 6.38 months. Average days on market and absorption rate will vary by price range.

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Statistics were obtained from the Metropolitan Indianapolis Board of...

For the month of July, there were 56 homes sold and closed in Brownsburg, which is up by six homes over June.

The highest price home was $309,000.

The lowest priced home sold was $59,342.

The average Brownsburg home sold was a three bedroom, two bath with 1836 square feet.

The average Days on Market for homes sold was 82 days, down from 128 days last month.

There are currently 432 homes available for sale in Brownsburg, which gives us an absorption rate of 7.71 months.

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Average days on market and ...

BPO is short for Broker Price Opinion. A BPO is most commonly used by banks and investors when determining the property value of a home which is in the pre-foreclosure process.

In place of a full appraisal, the bank or investor will hire a broker or agent to evaluate the property and provide a written opinion of value. We use our market knowledge and listing data to assist the bank in determining fair market value based on variables within the area of the subject property.

This is a common question from home sellers I speak to. What they really want to know is what I am going to do to market their home. I have a very extensive online and offline marketing program designed to optimize exposure to my client’s home to buyers and their agents. My offline marketing does not include print advertising as it relates to newspaper ads and home books. This may confound some home sellers, but most understand times have changed and most buyers are online.

Recent statistics indicate abut 84% of home buyers start their search online. RE/Max of Indiana does have a home book and all our listings are there. I have recieved exactly one call directly attributed to that book in the last year. Not the type of advertising which pays off for my seller. Truth is, it costs me very little to add my clients home to the book. My online presence through the IndyStar has produced a hundred times more phone calls, emails and direct contact with home buyers.

I hear other...

There’s something about having homes available in the $10,000–40,000 price range, which brings out the investor in everyone. Naturally, there are some great investments in the mix of bank owned homes in Indianapolis; however, there are many, which are not.

I was out this week with a client who is looking for investment opportunities here in Indy and we looked at 22 homes. Our day took us into many neighborhoods north and east of downtown and included only duplex homes. A disturbing statistic was the number of homes which were recently bought where someone had started the repairs, then the home was foreclosed on. These homes are not for the faint of heart nor those without resources to finish the job. 

My client is a contractor who knows what he is looking for, can do the work himself, therefore, eliminating the expense of hired help. Except for me of...

Fannie Mae announced a new risk-based pricing model and additional mortgage delivery fees this week, adding to the cost of buying a home. Risk-based pricing was first introduced by Fannie Mae this past April. It added new, mandatory loan fees for high-risk borrowers while rewarding a small group of low-risk borrowers with fee credits.

In the updated model, even 720 credit scores with a 20 percent downpayment won't protect mortgage applicants from the risk-based fees and they can range as high as 2.750 percent, depending on credit scores and downpayment size. 

Fannie Mae will continue the practice of rewarding high-downpayment borrowers with fee credits. Fannie Mae's second pricing change involves the Adverse Market Delivery Charge and it is not risk-based -- it applies to all applicants equally.  First introduced in December 2007, Adverse Market Delivery Charges are mandatory...

For the second consecutive meeting, the Federal Open Market Committee left the Fed Funds Rate unchanged at 2.000 percent. In its press release, the Federal Reserve addresses inflation, saying that it 'has been high', fingering energy and commodity costs as culprits. 

The Fed does expects inflation to moderate later this year, however. Regarding recession, the Fed addressed softening labor markets and tightening credit, and said that high energy prices may slow down economic activity in the months ahead. The key comment, repeated from the June statement, was this:

Over time, the substantial easing of monetary policy, combined with ongoing measures to foster market liquidity, should help to promote moderate economic growth.

Translated, it reads:

The Federal Reserve expects that its policy changes to-date will help the markets find balance and order....