Real Estate Information

IS BUYING A SHORT SALE WORTH IT?

Buying a short sale can turn out to be a good investment but there are a few things you should know before submitting an offer. First, you must be in a situation where you have plenty of time to wait for a response, banks/lenders will respond on their own time. Often times it takes several weeks to get a response and it can be even longer if there is more than one lien holder involved. Secon, banks/lenders will not even consider an offer if it is contingent upon selling a home. Third, a buyer must be prepared to buy the home as-is. In most cases, sellers don't have money for repairs and thus it will become the responsibility of the new owner. Lastly, at the end of the day the bank/lender has the final say. They can always turn down the short sale request even though you waited for an answer.

May was a great month for us but a lot of hard work. We sold 35 homes in May and closed 16. We had 30 homes set to close in May but half of them have pushed into June. The banks and the new nation wide appraisal firms are behind. They have limited staff for the volume of business they are doing with new home sales and refinances. The good news is that the housing market for our area is on the move!

Are you thinking of selling? Now is the perfect time to get your home on the market. Many of the south side neighborhoods are gearing up for their annual community garage sales. Not only is it a great way to de-clutter your home, but just think of how many people will drive by your home during the community sale. Check with your neighbors and your home owner's association about your community garage sale!

Sorry I didn't get a chance to post last week! We haves sold 50 houses in the last 61 days and listed 46. We are currently working 7 offers, trying to get 6 buyers out today and list another 3. The one thing I can tell you...we are moving houses. All price ranges are selling as well. Until next week, do something great and have a profound and lasting impact on someone.

I just read some stats I thought I would share. Indianapolis is for the 14th consecutive quarter (that's 4.5 years) the most affordable city to own a home in the United States! Affordability is measured by taking Indy's general populace that could buy the median-priced home in our area and have the monthly payment of the home be under 28% of their gross monthly income. The percentage for Indianapolis is 93.1% and second place, Warren Michigan was at 89.6%. That is a difference of 3.5% and if you think about it- Indianapolis is 1.7 million people! 

The National Association of Realtors indicated that the Midwest would be the first area to stabalize in the housing market. I hope all of the indications are true and accurate. NAR reported that pending sales jumped 14.5% in the Midwest for February. The biggest reason is the affordability of homes in the Midwest and the first time buyer $8,000 incentive. Here is some food for thought...What would the market do if we were all given $8,000 to move? I think the market would explode and we would all consider moving, especially with rates under 5% this morning.

The market is hot and we are on fire. We just sold our 30th house for the month and we have 4 more offers out. If you have been thinking about selling, buying or building...now is the time! The market is limited on houses and inventory is still down over last year at this time. As far as buying or building- the rates are unbelievable and you could qualify for the $8,000 tax credit. Call for details but whatever you do, don't wait...get into the market now!

We are on fire! We sold 8 houses last week and have another 5 offers hung out waiting for answers. Chris, my youngest son, was married this past weekend and we are all trying to recover from the lack of sleep. It was a fun wedding and I am very happy for Kristina and Chris. Until next week...bring on spring and warm weather!

What a week! This past week was crazy. The weather has turned the market on. We sold a lot of houses including 5 on Friday the 13th and 2 on the 16th. I had 3 listing appointments yesterday and 3 more call-ins for people wanting to sell their homes. We had 5 buyer's out and 3 more contact us about buying. My youngest, Chris, is getting married on Saturday and we are thrilled about that, but we will be ready for life to get back to normal! Until next week, have a great week and enjoy the spring weather!

You might have noticed the signs in front of most real estate offices on the Southside trying to explain the $8,000 tax credit to new buyers. The Southside Housing Alliance, which we are a part of, has banned together to promote this credit to get buyers moving and to help stimulate the housing market. Regardless of who you use to buy a home please support one of the real estate offices that are spending their money to help the economy.

Good News- Citibank reported a profit today and the stock market rallied!