This was my first year attending the Indian Market....Apparently this is the 20th year...Where I've been all this time, I don't know...I was privileged enough to hear Brule play and I must say, they are awesome!  I bought a CD, bought some jewelry, then said "OK, don't show me any more!" :) Here's a link to one of the videos I took...The sound in no way does them any justice! And once again, I wasn't speechless...sigh... 06/23/2012

8354 Twin Pointe in Geist is for Sale Situated on a private wooded lot, this home at 8354 Twin Pointe in Geist has some of the best features you’ll find in a home.  Mr. Seller has a concrete background and was able to finish the stairs to the basement and the basement floors in a stained concrete that is stunning.  He also created a walkway to the home that is inviting and long lasting.  Mrs. Seller is a professional decorative and mural painter.  While there aren’t any rooms in the home with murals, she is offering to paint one of those rooms for the buyer AND the buyer’s agent as an incentive.  She typically paints children’s rooms but has also done doctor’s offices too.  She sent me quite a few pictures and I picked this one; let me know if you’d like to see more! This home is 3,000 ... 06/05/2012

If you're wondering whether to rent or buy in the Indianapolis area, here's some news that might help you make up your mind: Rent is on the rise. According to an article posted on 27/7 Wall Street, Indianapolis is No. 5 on a list of six major cities in which rent has increased by 10% or more in the past 12 months. Blame it on (relatively) stable housing prices during the recession and above average job growth in the past year. Information from the real estate web site Trulia shows that out of 100 metro regions, home prices in Indy had the second-smallest decline during the recession. Job growth, at 1.5% for the past year, was higher than average for most of the cities studied. So does this mean it makes more sense to buy an Indianapolis home than to rent? Maybe. If you are confident you... 05/24/2012

I keep running across different things when I'm searching information regarding "Pinterest"...It looks like it's a website the links to things you want to keep track of.  Is that the gist of this thing?  Just wondering if any of you have ever used it and what you use it for?  Is it more or less a way to book mark favorite sites and pages or does it do more than that? 05/20/2012

Blog+Irv=Blirv Share on Facebook Adventures in Real Estate: How's this for a new HGTV show? We sold a FANTASTIC Irvington house last week. Can't share all the details yet but let's just say that this place is one of the most eye-popping vintage homes in our Irvington 'hood. Cute as a button, perfect for the adorable new owners, incredible design inside and out, and a fantastic price. In fact, we love it so much, we would buy it ourselves if we could. Which is exactly what Jamie told the buyers: If you don't buy this house, I will. OK, so it wasn't a serious threat, but it was certainly an earnest expression of how much we loved the house. Do we need another house? No. But it got me thinking that this could be the basis for a new show on HGTV.  As you may know, Jamie and I are HGTV addic... 05/11/2012

What does a median square footage of 1940 square feet and a median list price of  $133,000 get you? A top spot on the list of 10 Most Affordable Cities to Buy a Home! Indianapolis came in at No. 4 on the list, which was released by 24/7 Wall St. using statistics from Realtor.com.  According to the article, "These low costs, along with better-than-average unemployment, have led to some increased interest in the city’s real estate. Median list prices climbed 6.4% in the past recorded year, and inventory fell by more than 18% over the same period."  San Francisco, not surprisingly, topped the list of Least Affordable Cities to Buy a Home. The median square footage of a home in San Fransisco is a cramped 1423, and the median list price is a whopping $611,700. That's $420.99 per square foot!... 04/19/2012

Private Mortgage Insurance (PMI) or Mortgage Insurance Premium (MIP) - How it works For those of you purchasing a home with either an Insured Conventional or FHA loan, you're going to be paying a premium for mortgage insurance. Why?  Because the lenders want protection in case you default on your shiny new loan.  I just learned today that PMI on an Insured Conventional loan doesn't exactly work as advertised.  As a result, I wanted to pass on this information to you. How can you avoid having to pay PMI or an MIP?  Put 20% down on the property, then you won't have to worry about paying the extra fee for mortgage insurance each month. The two most popular loans that require mortgage insurance are an FHA loan (MIP) and an Insured Conventional Loan (PMI) MIP on an FHA loan works in the foll... 04/04/2012

April2,2012Thisweek's HOUSEWE'RECRAZYABOUT Best. Rehab. Ever. Under 90K, two bedrooms, built in the 50s and sleekly renovated from top to bottom. The street is remarkably quiet, surrounded by pretty homes and the backyard is HUGE and mostly fenced in. perfect for starters, downsizers, anyone who appreciates a compact house with true utility and style. From the outside, it's a plain Jane. (In fact, we're not even showing a picture of it here because we're convinced you'll take a look and think: meh --in fact, it is classic mid-century modern.) But inside? Va-va-va-voom! Text or call us to see it in person. (812) 361-8302 Check it out. * *This home is marketed with permission from the listing agent. 04/02/2012

I'm in Indianapolis IN for a Housemaster regional meeting and, of course, talking about the FHA 203k loan program, what else? Alan Peterson, a HouseMaster franchisee has recently become the "go to guy" in this area. He is  a very knowledgeable home and we are happy to let you know that he has done a few 203 projects and has been providing in-house training to Realtor associations and real estate office.  If you need to learn more about the 203k lending process, need us to suggest a good lender, or contractor please feel free to contact Alan.  It pleases me so to see another home inspector see the potential for the program and take off in an area that clearly is needed here in the Mid-West. As you already know we also provide this in-house training all over CA, SC, NC, FL, TX, CO, OR, So... 03/12/2012

Negative Equity in the U.S. I admit to being ONE who has Negative Equity.  As a Realtor, my whole life has centered around real estate.  I sell real estate, I invest in real estate, and I BELIEVE in Real Estate as an investment.  Although, I have lost $1,000,000 in equity, I still believe in Real Estate investments.  The problem is those of us who were just going along buying and selling in the past, got caught with our "britches" down.  Some of us were lucky enough or smart enough to not "leverage".  Some of us with 50% equity have still lost any leveraging power, because the value is just not there.  I could still be a buyer in today's market, but with creative financing.  Now is a good time for some of us to begin buying again.  But you have to have the cash to do it.  Only this tim... 03/08/2012

House Prices: Window of Opportunity Beginning to Close Posted: 27 Feb 2012 04:00 AM PST There have been conflicting opinions as to where housing prices are headed. We want to give our opinion on this subject for the short term. We believe sellers have a window of opportunity for the next 90-120 days in most parts of the country in which to sell their homes for maximum price. We believe there will be increased downward pressure on home prices throughout the rest of the year. Why renewed downward pressure? Any item’s price is determined by ‘supply and demand’. In many parts of the country, existing housing inventory has dropped to historic norms in the last few months. However, an inventory of distressed properties (foreclosures and short sales) will be coming to market this year. This i... 02/27/2012

  On February 10, 2012 the FDIC took over a local small town Indiana bank.  If you have read about the process, you know it is very clandestine until the takeover day.  On a Friday afternoon, FDIC standard operating procedures, several FDIC employees enter the bank to take over everything.  They confiscate the keys, money, files, computers, etc.  They work endlessly all weekend, and then open up under control of the FDIC on Monday. The purchase of the bank assets are sold to another bank.  All clients of the bank are told to contact their new bank for additional information.....UNLESS....your loan is delinquent.  IF your loan is delinquent, you get to talk to the FDIC.  Your loan is in limbo, until it is sold to an investor.  The Keywords are Government and confusion.  Need I say more? 02/25/2012

  There are 623 Indianapolis Short Sales currently.  They range in price from $849,900 to $7,400.  415 of these Indianapolis Short Sales are under $100,000. 10 of these would be considered Luxury Indianapolis Short Sale Homes.  There are 89 Pending Indianapolis Short Sales, ranging in price from $420,000 to $9,000.There are 42 Active Short Sales currently in Greenwood IN. They range in list price from $369,000 to $45,000 There are 8 Pending Greenwood IN Short Sales, ranging in price from $120,000 to $71,441. If you are in need of an experienced Short Sale team, give us a call today.  We have closed many many Short Sales.  We are an aggressive team on our Short Sales and have the Letters of Recommendation to back up that experience and a strong success rate in getting our Short Sales cl... 02/09/2012

   This week, I  attended an Indiana CRS BOD Meeting and Luncheon at the Marriott in downtown Indianapolis, IN. Indy is host city for Super Bowl XLVI and what a great NFL experience  is happening the week leading up to the big game Hoosier Hospitality at it's finest! Media madness at it's best too!  SKY sports blog even got a photo of Jeff and the Colts Super fan at the same time they were posing and looking at My camera LOL ! Here is a brief photo re-cap of the fun time we had before and after my conferences :) Zipline anyone?  what you can't see are the office workers 4 stories up in adjacent buildings that were distracted by the zipline riders this week LOL                   xxxxxxxx                                                                                                   I t... 02/01/2012

  GPS Home Search - Using a Smart Phone!!!!     Buyers can use their smart phone to search for homes for sale nearest where they are now. Let's say you're in a neighborhood that you love, and you want to find more homes for sale nearby. At callcarpenter.com, you can search for homes for sale and they will be sorted by the nearest home within a mile of your location. Drive to a different neighborhood, and your search results will change. You can be in front of a home and download all of the info about that house right to your phone. "We're thrilled to be the first real estate firm in metro Indianapolis to offer a GPS search option on our mobile website," said David Caveness, Senior VP of Carpenter Realtors®. "Home buyers will find this extremely helpful, convenient and fun when they're d... 02/01/2012

Originally Posted at My Indy Waterfront Blog Finding the right REALTOR is often hard when everyone knows someone you should use. Finding one that is familiar with Geist, water frontage, dock ownership options, Cocktail Cove, etc is challenging. You want to consider things like experience, knowledge of the local Geist Real Estate market and availability as you make your decision. As well as Trust…you want someone you can trust with such a big decision. Here are some things to consider as you start the process of searching for a waterfront home for sale in Geist. The Metropolitan Board of REALTORS has 5,800 members. There were 75% of those agents that did less than 10 transactions last year. And of the remaining, only 250 agents wrote more than 30 transactions last year. That says that th... 01/21/2012

Homes sold on Geist Reservoir for the year 2011 compared to 2010 were about even. There were 33 homes sold on Geist Reservoir in 2011 compared with 31 a year ago. Currently there are 32 homes for sale on Geist Reservoir. The map shows what area on Geist Reservoir sold, the red are sold and the four gold ones are pended (offer accepted). The majority of the homes sold on Geist Reservoir were in the Springs of Cambridge; 10 homes of the 33 were in this neighborhood. A close second were the homes in the Admirals with 8. There were 8 homes over $1,000,000 that sold in Geist in 2011, compared with only 4 in 2010. On the other side; there were only 2 condo’s this year compared with 5 last year. The days on market also trended positively; 106 days in 2011 compared with 161 days in 2010. The Ma... 01/12/2012

Lockerbie Square Condos For Sale Offered for sale by The Hoagland Group -- $269,000. Welcome home to exceptional downtown living in popular historic Lockerbie Glove Condos in Lockerbie Square! Just a block from the excitement of Mass Ave, yet located on a quiet little street tucked among historic homes in Lockerbie Square! Close to convenient downtown Indianapolis shopping & entertainment, your new condo features a spacious great room with an entire wall of windows, 2 spacious bedrooms with architectural details such as curved walls, laundry room and 2 full baths. Exposed brick walls & a 12' beamed ceilings capture the historic preservation of this unique building which was the former Lockerbie Glove Factory. With stunning contemporary updated baths, a gourmet kitchen with a center ... 01/03/2012

Originally Posted at My Indy Waterfront Blog Looking for some options for New Years Eve in Geist? If only we were in a warm climate and could use the Reservoir for boating in December! There are some great other options though: Living Proof will be a the Hilton Garden Inn; they are a 7 piece R & B band and were voted #1 Band in 2010 by the Indy Channel.com’s A List! It is $275 a couple and include one night stay in the hotel and an open bar! Looking for something a little more family oriented…Pinheads will have a Glow Bowl from 5-8 p.m. at $35/hour per lane for unlimited bowling. They will also have a a New Years Eve bowling party from 9:30 p.m. to 12:30 a.m. at $149.95 per lane up to 6 people. If you don’t mind a short commute to downtown, there is a Masquerade Ball at Union Station. L... 12/28/2011

12/18/2011