General Real Estate Info (8)
Trends and information relating to the real estate industry.
New requirements are being placed on residential heating & air conditioning systems, beginning May 1, 2013, by the Department of Energy. While these new standards are environmentally friendly, they will result in higher prices for homeowners!
So, if your HVAC system is near the end of its wear life, you should decide whether to buy a lower cost unit before May 1st or if it is worth the investment to you to wait on an more efficient, more environmentally friendly system.
You can read more at https://www.acca.org/archives/industry-resources/government-affairs/hot-air/5808.
The past 10 years have delivered some sobering lessons in real estate! We’re closing this series with a look at some general life lessons as they relate to real estate and the economy:
- High home-ownership rates are important, but they must be sustainable. Since every 2 home purchases supports or creates an American job, our economy depends on home-ownership. It is then easy to see how a decline in homeownership can negatively affect our economy as well!
- Homeowners’ confidence in the economy is directly related to the value of their homes. When values and employment are on the rise, people spend money! When they decline, people obviously spend less.
- The economy is now global. In this age of world trade, our economy is (at least in part) dependent on the health of the world-wide economy. We are living in a global community!
I hope this has been an informative and helpful series. What other economic or real estate lessons have YOU learned in the last 10 years?
Using its knowledge, experience, resources and integrity Team Endicott’s mission is to help Our clients buy & sel their home for the best price with the best terms. Team Endicott services the Fishers,Carmel, Westfield, Noblesville, Zionsville, Broad Ripple, and the northern Indianapolis real estate markets.
The past 10 years have delivered some sobering lessons in real estate! In Part 2 of this series, let’s look at financing:
- The process of purchasing/financing a home is more complicated. High foreclosure rates & falling prices have caused a tightening of credit. While this hurts in the short-term; if the market is allowed to properly evolve, we will come out the other end as a more cash-based economy. Historically, this leads to lower foreclosure rates and to more steadily increasing hope prices.
- Sound underwriting of mortgages is critical. There is a tough balance to maintain here! On one hand, only those buyers most likely to repay their mortgages should be able to get financed for a home. At the same time, bad things happen to good people. We need to develop underwriting standards that allow good people to recover as quickly as possible & to return them to home-ownership more quickly as they recover from those bad events.
- Financial reserves for families, companies and countries are necessary. Any budget, for any person or organization, needs to include a “rainy day” fund to get them through bad times. These reserves are becoming a requirement for mortgage approval as well.
- Home equity should not be used for ordinary living expenses. Since appreciation is no longer a real estate “given,” it only makes sense to build as much equity into our homes as possible. It’s money in the bank! And, if prices fall again, and you need to sell, that equity can insulate you from owing any money at closing. If prices do continue to rise, you will make more money when you sell. Either way, you win!
Next week, we will wrap up this series with some general life lessons as they relate to real estate and the economy. Have a great week!
Using its knowledge, experience, resources and integrity Team Endicott’s mission is to help clients buy and sell homes for the best possible price and terms that the market will bear, in the shortest amount of time. Team Endicott services the Fishers, Carmel, Westfield, Noblesville, Zionsville, Broad Ripple, and the northern Indianapolis real estate markets.
The past 10 years have delivered some sobering lessons in real estate! If we take in those lessons, we are much better equipped to buy/sell/invest wisely with our real estate dollars. In this, part 1 of this blog series, we’ll dive right into those lessons learned:
- The economy struggles to recover without housing. Looking back over the past 10 years, each economic recovery was bolstered (or initiated) by a recovery in housing starts & sales. Housing markets also sustained our economy in some difficult economic periods in that same time span.
- Everyone needs shelter, but not everyone needs to OWN their shelter. Younger adults are looking soberly at the housing market. They hesitate to invest so much money without assurance of positive return on their investment. (Later tickpoints will help ease those concerns) Also, since real estate is appreciated at a slower rate these days, it may not make sense to buy a home unless you’re planning to live there 4 or more years.
- Home prices almost always to up but they can, and sometimes do, go down. There have been very few market downturns in the past several decades. For each year where the market declines, it is reasonable to expect more than ten years of upward trends. This is not a guarantee that houses will rise in value for the next 10 years, but we do have historical assurances!
Next week, we will look at some real estate lessons as they pertain to mortgages! Stay tuned!
Using its knowledge, experience, resources and integrity Team Endicott's Mission is to help people buy & sell homes for the best possible price and terms in the current market. Team Endicott provides professional real estate services in Hamilton county the greater Indianapolis area, focusing in Fishers, Carmel, Noblesville, Westfield, Zionsville, Broad Ripple and northern Marion County.
Hamilton County High Schools Fill Half of the Indiana Top 10 List - no date
Written by Tom Fisher
U.S. News & World Report recently completed a survey of Indiana High Schools, student to teacher ratios and ranking their students’ level of college readiness. Hamilton county high schools pulled a major coup by filling 5 of the top 10 slots in the survey.
What this means for homebuyers with children is that, if you are looking to buy a home in Hamilton County and school systems are important to you, you are looking in the right place! County schools in the top 10, listed in order of their appearance on the list are: Carmel (3), Westfield (7), Hamilton Southeastern (8), Fishers H.S. (9) and Noblesville (10).
To see the Indiana high school rankings, visit: http://www.usnews.com/education/best-high-schools/indiana/rankings
Using its knowledge, experience, resources and integrity Team Endicott’s mission is to help home buyers buy their home for the best price with the best terms. Team Endicott services the Fishers, Carmel, Westfield, Noblesville, Zionsville, Broad Ripple, and the northern Indianapolis real estate markets.
With Spring’s arrival comes mulch time! Since you don’t want your mulch washing away, or getting into grassy areas, taking a few steps to prepare for your new mulch can keep it looking good all season.
• Edge Your Mulch Beds – simply dig (with a straight tip shovel) a 4” trench around the edge of your mulch beds. This will keep the mulch in its place and out of the grass. In areas with stone or other edging, just make sure the edging is equal to, or higher than, the top of your mulch.
• Drainage – in any areas where downspouts protrude, run a drain tile (tube) from the downspout through the mulch bed, to just outside the mulch border. Digging a 2-3” trench for the drain will keep it from sticking out above the mulch once it is spread.
• Low-lying areas – I learned this one from experience! When putting mulch beds in low spots, run a perforated drain tile from one edge of the bed to the opposite side. Put caps on each end of the drain tile to prevent clogs. This will allow rainwater to pass through the mulch bed without water puddling in your yard!
• Weed control – pulling weeds is not the most fun way to spend summer. Put down weed barrier (available in rolls) on bare dirt before you mulch. This will eliminate over 90% of your weed problems for several years (ours has lasted 5 years so far). Then, once the mulch is spread, liberally sprinkle Preen or another brand of weed control product on top of the mulch.
One last tip: Apply the mulch 2-3 inches deep. If it’s deep enough, then you can simply turn it over in year 2 to make it look new again. Happy Mulching!
Using its knowledge, experience, resources and integrity Team Endicott’s mission is to sell homes for the highest market price in the shortest amount of time with the best terms. Team Endicott services the Fishers, Carmel, Westfield, Noblesville, Zionsville, Broad Ripple, and the northern Indianapolis real estate markets.
Home sales are off to a very strong start this year! The number of homes sold and the number of pending home sales are both up, 13-17% throughout Central Indiana. And Indianapolis is showing a particularly strong start to the new year!
Sales prices are rising, although sluggishly, but homes are selling much better than at the same time last year. And, with mortgage rates at historic lows (some even below 4% over 30 years), buyers can afford to buy more house.
What does this mean? This is one of those times in real estate where it is a very good time to buy and, from recent sales figures, a good time to sell, too!
For more information on Indianapolis sales results, check out this link: http://www.indystar.com/article/20120220/BUSINESS/120220033/-1/7daysarchives/Indy-area-existing-home-sales-pick-up-January
Using its knowledge, experience, resources and integrity Team Endicott’s mission is to help our clients buy and sell homes for the best market price in the shortest amount of time with the best terms. Team Endicott services the Fishers, Carmel, Westfield, Noblesville, Zionsville, Broad Ripple, and the northern Indianapolis real estate markets.
Client, Friend, or Both?
People say you shouldn’t mix business with pleasure and I agree! Does that mean that I think people shouldn’t do business with friends, absolutely not! As a realtor, I work with people I know every day. I rely on doing business with people I know which are sometimes “friends”. Professionals are able to work with friends when they follow a few simple rules.
- Maintain Communication – Clearly communicate, from the beginning, your communication style and regularity. Separate business conversations from social topics so that your client/friend knows that you are focused on the business at hand. Communicate effectively and promptly so the client/friend views this as a business transaction.
- Set Clear Expectations – Meet with your client/friend just as you would any business relationship and set expectations of what they should expect throughout the business transaction and then follow through with it.
- Keep things Confidential – If you are maintaining communication as stated above, following expectations throughout, and not disclosing or discussing business related items in social settings then your client/friend will trust you on a business level.
Working with friends can sometimes be difficult, but with good communication, clear expectations, and maintaining confidentiality; success will occur.
Using its knowledge, experience, resources and integrity Team Endicott’s mission is to sell homes for the highest market price in the shortest amount of time with the best terms. Team Endicott services the Fishers, Carmel, Westfield, Noblesville, Zionsville, Broad Ripple, and the northern Indianapolis real estate markets.
