I got a text this morning from a client that I just started working with.  She asked about a new house that popped up on the market yesterday.  She simply wanted more information on it.   She sent me a short text yesterday.   "I feel so bad bothering you on the weekend...  but can you get me more information on this home?  Please and thank you!  Feel free to ignore me if you are trying to take some time off."   How sweet was that?   I texted her back that it was NO PROBLEM at all.  I work most weekends.  Heck.  I work most days, and a lot of nights.   Reaching out to me on a weekend is not a problem at all.  I really don't mind. Here's how Amanda and I work throughout the week...   We don't get up at the crack of dawn to start our days.  True story.   We start our days off slow.  We wak... 02/22/2014

My short answer...  YES.  Here's my long answer: Amanda and I have sold a lot of homes in the Fort Wayne area during our careers as Realtors.  We've received many low ball offers over the years on our listings. Here's a list of the times that it's worked out well for the buyer:         Are you catching my drift here?     In all fairness, I've seen low ball offers that have worked before.   I've seen them work on homes that have been listed for a long time.   I've seen them work on foreclosures, although not recently, as banks are wising up on their list prices.   I've seen them work when the seller has given their position away to my buyers.     Here's when they don't work:  On homes that are listed at fair market value that haven't been on the market very long.     For whatever reason,... 02/19/2014

Amanda and I have been selling real estate full time in Fort Wayne for over 5 years now.  We haven't seen it all, but we've seen a lot!  One of the things we've seen is buyers making mistakes when purchasing their new home.  Here's a list of 10 mistakes buyers make when purchasing a home. 10.  Waiting to pull the trigger.  You've found the perfect home in the right price range, but you get cold feet.  You wait a day or two to think about it, and then another buyer swoops in and does pull the trigger.    9.  Pulling the trigger too quickly.  You aren't 100% sure on a home you've seen, but you don't want somebody else to get it.    8.  Settling.  Buying a home is one of the biggest investments you'll make in your life. You want to be 1,000% sure that the home you are purchasing is exactly... 02/17/2014

This winter here in Fort Wayne has been brutal.   I think we've had at least 500 feet of snow (I might be exaggerating) and have had brutally cold temperatures.  Nobody wants to get out and shovel in this crap.   You could also argue that not many people want to get out to look at homes in this stuff either.  But we have had a few serious buyers that haven't let these things stop them.   Last week I was showing homes to some of these hardcore buyers.  We were all bundled up with our snow boots and had our cute little hats on.   A few of the homes were vacant.  Clearly the sellers had moved on.  That's not a problem.   You know what is a problem?  The driveways and sidewalk up to the home weren't shoveled or cleared out.   One of the homes had 4-5 foot snow drifts.   So there we were.  M... 02/13/2014

Here's what happened in the Fort Wayne real estate market in January, 2014. Homes sold:  209 Average list price:  $113,899 Average sales price:  $109,378 Median sales price:  $86,000 Average days on market:  68 Lowest sales price:  $12,000  (Major fixer upper in Southeast Fort Wayne) Highest sales price:  $645,000 (Luxury home in Sycamore Hills Subdivision in Southwest Fort Wayne) What does this tell us about the real estate market in Fort Wayne?   It's pretty good for January! Average days on market is great at 68.   Homes selling for 96% of list price is also very great!   Overall things are pretty good in our market.  That surprises us just a little bit because of the ridiculous amoount of snow we've gotten and the bitter cold that has followed that.   So...  is it a good time to lis... 02/10/2014

YES. I recently got a home under contract for my buyer that is brand new construction.  It was completed about a month ago.   Don't you just LOVE the new home smell?? My buyer asked me if I thought she should get a home inspection, even though the home was brand spankin new.  My answer was simple.  Yes.  Yes you should.   Even though it's brand new, there still could be things wrong with it.   At the inspection, I asked my favorite inspector (Dave Rust from Inspections First) his thoughts on having an inspection on a brand new home.   Then he hit us with a story...   A few years back he was doing an inspection on a brand new home.  It was going very smooth until he got into the attic.   I don't remember exactly what was wrong because he used a bunch of technical terms that were above my... 02/05/2014

  Current Mortgage Rates for ALLEN COUNTY, IN   as of 2/5/2014 9:19:18 AM (CST)   Hello ! I've included below a selection of current rates for a few of our many products.  I’d be happy to discuss options with you and your client based on their particular needs.   Loan Type Interest Rate APRFORM#192837465 FHA 30-yr fixed 3.875% 5.433% 30-yr fixed Conforming 4.250% 4.792% VA 30-yr fixed 3.875% 4.112%   Information displayed is accurate as of the date of the latest update and is subject to change without notice.      For information on the many other loan options we have available, please contact me.  I look forward to hearing from you.   Timothy Yanes   Mortgage Consultant NMLSR ID 259901   Wells Fargo Home Mortgage  |  1230 Ruston Pass  |  Fort Wayne, IN  46825 MAC M3208-011 Tel (260) 4... 02/04/2014

I read a featured article this morning that suggested that home owners should get their own inspection before they list their home.   Coincidentally, this article was written by a home inspector.   Here are my thoughts on the issue... Most sellers have lived in their home for at least a few years before selling.  They know their home well, both the good and the bad.   When we list a home for sale, we have the seller fill out a seller's disclosure form where they disclose the condition (to the best of their knowledge) of almost every item in the home.   There is no guarantee or promise that the seller's disclosure is 100% accurate.  I'm sure somebody has checked "not defective" on an item thinking that it worked, and then during the inspection it came up as defective.  If I listed my cur... 01/30/2014

Besides selling real estate for Century 21 Bradley here in Fort Wayne, I (Jared) also mentor new agents.  What can I say?  Teaching is in my blood.  I come from a family of coaches.   Not too long ago I took on a new agent.  He was full of fire.  Full of machismo.  Dude was ready to go! In our first meeting, he was pumped.  He told me that he is suuuuch a good salesman, that he could sell ice to an Eskimo.   My reply was simple; "Awesome!  Can you sell ice to this Eskimo twice?"   He laughed and admitted that he probably couldn't.     Selling real estate isn't like retail sales.   It's not our job to sell things to people that they don't need.  It's not our job to up sell folks.  It's not our job to push people into spending top dollar on a home when there is something very similar and ... 01/29/2014

Overall, the real estate market in Fort Wayne slowed down during the holidays.   Showings were down and buyers were few and far between.  Sure, we closed a few and got a few under contract, but overall it was slow.   Amanda and I have been Realtors in Fort Wayne for five years now, so we expected the slow down and were okay with it.  We took some time to relax and to work on our goals for 2014.   We thought that after the holidays things would really pick up again.   Then we got dumped on.  We had 11 inches of snow, followed by a deep freeze that saw high temperatures of -11 and -17.  Normally the first week of the new year things start moving, but not that week.  Everybody was huddled inside and in survival mode.   Then it happened.   The phone started ringing again.   Our listings sta... 01/19/2014

Just the other day Amanda and I got a phone call from a friend that is going to be listing his home with us here in Fort Wayne.   He asked us about the market overall and how things were in his specific neighborhood.  Then he asked us a question that we've never had a seller ask before. Do I need to have an appraisal done before I list my home? The short answer is no.  You don't have to have an appraisal done before you list your home.  Here's the longer answer... What Amanda and I do is run what's called a comparative market analysis (CMA).  We take a look at your home, then we look homes similar to yours in your area that have recently sold.   We like to go back about six months, but if there aren't enough comparables then we go back to a year.  We don't look at anything older than th... 01/16/2014

Jonathans Landing and The Lakes of Jonathans Landing are communities located in award winning Southwest Allen County School District, at the corner of Covington Road and West County Line Road.   Some of the amenities are both an adult and a kiddie pool, a picnic area, a playground for the kids, and plenty of relaxing views near the numerous lakes throughout.   Homes in Jonathans Landing range in age from brand new construction to around 20 years old.  Most of the homes are larger two story homes with well over 2,000 square feet.  Prices vary from the low $200,000 range all the way up to the $300,000 range.   There is still plenty of building going on in these subdivisions along with a lot of existing homes. Let's take a look at homes sold in 2013 in Jonathans Landing and The Lakes of Jo... 01/14/2014

This week we are facing something we haven't faced in three weeks...   A FULL WORK WEEK! Last week we had the blizzard of 2014.  It started snowing on Sunday and by the end of it we had 10.5 inches of snow in our area.   Sunday night into Monday the temperatures dropped, and all the way through Tuesday temperatures were sub zero with wind chills near -50.   That definitely stopped folks from buying and selling homes.   The week prior was New Years, and the week before that was Christmas.   I'm not going to lie.  I kind of enjoyed the down time a little bit.  Amanda and I both worked from home and were productive and did manage to sell a few of our listings, but we are both definitely ready to get back to the daily grind this week. The kids are back in school now.  I think I heard a coll... 01/12/2014

I have a friend that is moving to a new state for a job opportunity.  I got him hooked up with a Realtor in that area, and he recently started physically looking for his new home.   The other day he called me and told me about how he is "handling" his Realtor.   You see, "Bob" talked to his lender and got pre-approved for $300,000, but only wanted to spend around $250,000.  He told his lender to issue him a pre-approval letter for up to $250,000.   I chuckled and asked him why he was doing this.   He said "I know how you Realtors are..." I replied with "What is THAT supposed to mean??"   He laughed and said "You guys are always trying to up-sell us.  If I gave my Realtor a pre-approval for $300,000 and told him that I wanted to stay at $250,000, he'd still want me to buy closer to $300,... 01/09/2014

Let's take a quick look at homes sold in 2013 and homes for sale in Fort Wayne between $250,000 and $300,000. Homes Sold:  173 Average list price:  $282,325 Average sales price:  $274,664 Average days on market:  73 Median days on market:  43 How are buyers purchasing homes for sale in Fort Wayne between $250,000 and $300,000 in 2013?   Conventional loan:  127 FHA loan:  20 Cash:  16 VA:  9 How many homes are currently for sale in Fort Wayne between $250,000 and $300,000?   Active homes for sale:  59 Average list price:  $278,289 Median list price:  279,900 Average days on market:  118 Out of the 59 homes listed, 54 are site built homes, 3 are condos, and 3 are villas.   If you're considering selling or buying a home in Fort Wayne in this price range and would like a pressure free conve... 01/07/2014

Let's take a quick look at homes sold in 2013 and homes for sale in Fort Wayne between $200,000 and $250,000. Homes Sold:  297 Average list price:  $230,289 Average sales price:  $223,094 Average days on market:  62 Median days on market:  32 How are buyers purchasing homes for sale in Fort Wayne between $200,000 and $250,000 in 2013?   Conventional loan:  208 FHA loan:  31 Cash:  38 VA:  18 USDA:  1 Land contract/lease option:  1 How many homes are currently for sale in Fort Wayne between $200,000 and $250,000?   Active homes for sale:  75 Average list price:  $227,112 Median list price:  $225,000 Average days on market:  137 Out of the 75 homes listed, 69 are site built homes, 1 is a condo, and 5 are villas.   If you're considering selling or buying a home in Fort Wayne in this price ... 01/07/2014

Let's take a quick look at homes sold in 2013 and homes for sale in Fort Wayne between $150,000 and $200,000. Homes Sold:  523 Average list price:  $176,000 Average sales price:  $171,877 Average days on market:  46 Median days on market:  25 How are buyers purchasing homes for sale in Fort Wayne between $150,000 and $200,000 in 2013?   Conventional loan:  319 FHA loan:  108 Cash:  54 VA:  32 USDA:  7 Land contract/lease option:  2 Indiana housing authority:  1 How many homes are currently for sale in Fort Wayne between $150,000 and $200,000?   Active homes for sale:  148 Average list price:  $171,002 Median list price:  $169,500 Average days on market:  96 Out of the 148 homes listed, 134 are site built homes, 3 are condos, and 10 are villas.   If you're considering selling or buying a... 01/06/2014

Let's take a quick look at homes sold in 2013 and homes for sale in Fort Wayne between $100,000 and $150,000. Homes Sold:  1,218 Average list price:  $126,668 Average sales price:  $123,258 Average days on market:  61 Median days on market:  36 How are buyers purchasing homes for sale in Fort Wayne between $100,000 and $150,000 in 2013?   Conventional loan:  631 FHA loan:  382 Cash:  123 VA:  67 USDA:  7 Land contract/lease option:  4 Indiana housing authority:  1 Other:  3  (I'm not exactly sure what "other" is.  Maybe an assumable mortgage?) How many homes are currently for sale in Fort Wayne between $100,000 and $150,000?   Active homes for sale:  365 Average list price:  $124,612 Median list price:  $124,900 Average days on market:  95 Out of the 365 homes listed, 328 are site built... 01/06/2014

Here is a quick look at what happened last year in the real estate market for the SWAC school district in Fort Wayne, IN.   Homes sold:  811 Average list price:  $232,423 Average sales price:  $223,843 Median sales price:  $173,500 Average days on market:  59 Lowest sales price:  $18,750.  This was a 4 bedroom foreclosure in Roanoke that needed plenty of repairs.   Highest sales price:  $1,335,000. This home was a 6 bedroom, 6,800 square foot home with a full finished walkout basement in The Cliffs Subdivision off of Covington Rd.  It was listed for $1,500,000 and was on the market for 87 days before selling. Out of the 811 homes sold in 2013 in SWAC, only 52 of them were under $100,000. 30 homes sold for over $500,000.  12 homes sold for over $750,000, and 4 sold for over $1,000,000. W... 01/01/2014

Here is a quick look at what happened last year in the real estate market for the NWAC school district in Fort Wayne, IN. Homes sold:  745 Average list price:  $198,538 Average sales price:  $193,135 Median sales price:  $164,900 Average days on market:  61 Lowest sales price:  $8,027.  This was a bungalow in Arcola that was also a foreclosure.   Highest sales price:  $767,500.  This home was a 5 bedroom, 3,776 square foot home with a full finished walkout basement in Bluffs at Twin Eagles.  It was listed for $849,888 and was on the market for 330 days before selling. Out of the 745 homes sold in 2013 in NWAC, only 46 of them were under $100,000. Only 10 homes sold for over $500,000. What do these numbers tell us?   The Northwest Allen County School District is one of the most desired s... 01/01/2014