Indy Realtor's Blog: All Categories

A new stretch of 146th street recently opened at exit 10 of I-69 in Hamilton County to officially connect I-69 to Cumberland Road.  This is one step in an effort to eventually connect I-69 to I-65 from Hamilton County through Boone County.  The plans to make the full connection a very vague and far from a reality, however, this stretch is one more piece of the puzzle. 

The 4 mile, $53 million stretch will add one more reason for residential and commercial developers to enter the Hamilton County real estate market.  There are already 3 major projects centered around exit 10:

            Noblesville Corporate Campus – A 4,550 mixed use project that will extend up to the Madison County line.

            Saxony – Already a huge success, this 750 acre…

Parkside Village is a small subdivision that consists of just over 100 homes nestled right in heart of downtown Carmel.   Parkside Village offers something very unique in the very desirable area of Carmel, affordability.  While the average home in Carmel normally sells for just under $300,000, Parkside Village offers homes that range from $110,000 - $160,000.  Take a look at this house I just listed in this subdivision:

 
The MLS number is 2767529.  This house offers an amazing 1757 square feet with 3 bedrooms, 2.5 baths and a loft for under $150,000.   This home and this neighborhood represent a hard to find thing in Carmel.  It is near impossible these days to get into the Carmel area with Carmel schools for anywhere near this price range. …

Carmel Real Estate is a good news bad news situation for September 2007.  The bad news first: the number of Carmel homes sold in September 2007 was down 25.22% over last years sales numbers.  The number of homes sold in Carmel under $600,000 dropped from 115 in September 2006 to 86 in September 2007.

Now for the good news, the average price for a home that sold on the Carmel real estate market in September 2007 was up 10.65% over last year.  September 2006 had an average selling price of $281,254; September 2007 had an average selling price of $311,206 for an average gain of $29,952. 

The average home in Carmel sold for 95% of the asking price and took 77 days to sell in September 2007.  2006 yielded very similar numbers with the average home…

The Department of Justice Antitrust Division launched a new website this week aimed squarely at the real estate industry.  The DOJ and the National Association of Realtors have been embroiled in a legal battle for a few years now because the DOJ believes that NAR supports policies that deter competition and unnaturally keep real estate commissions high. 

The site goes on to talk about different business models that are present and emerging in real estate brokerages.  The site even has a section that talks about how a company like… ahem…Rebate Real Estate…can save a buyer thousands of dollars when purchasing a home. 

Although this site bolsters my case and obviously I am in favor of what they are talking about, it does seem a little lopsided.  There…

I realized the other day as I was reviewing a HUD-1 or Settlement Statement with a client of mine, that while I take the ability to scan one of these for inaccuracies, errant charges, or omissions, that many intelligent people don’t know how to read one.  I have set out to go through it line by line in simple English so people know what they are looking at. 

This article will cover the seller’s side of the transaction and I will follow up with another article for the buyer’s side.  Okay, let gets to it.

I think it makes more sense to start on the second page and then go to the first.  The entire second page is where they are detailing the fees you will be incurring for the sale of your house.

Page 2

• Line 700: This…

In a bold move to fight the town of Fishers annexing them, Geist residents have filed 273 petitions with Hamilton County to become the towns of East and West Geist.  If this measure gets approved, the two new towns could be incorporated as early as November 2007.

Although I think one Geist would be better than two, earlier this year the town of Fishers annexed the lake bottom of Geist reservoir and forced Geist residents to incorporate into the two separate towns.  Geist residents estimate that they will be able to save as much as 20% in property taxes with no loss of services.   

If you would like to voice your concern or show your support for this measure, you should attend the County Commissioners meeting on 9/24 at 2PM the Judicial Building in…

The Town of Fishers sweetened the pot in its attempt to annex 22 Geist area neighborhoods.  The letter was sent out Tuesday and was really just putting on paper what they had already talked about with the area’s homeowners.  The town is currently pursuing a voluntary “unification” with Fishers and the Geist area, but they need 51% of the homeowners to want to be annexed. 

The town is currently offering tax abatements and interest free loans for 30 years for those that would need to add water and sewer connections to their home.  However, most Geist area residents are fighting mad about the significant tax increase.  In an effort to alleviate the tax increase of 16 - 22%, the city is offering to ease the homeowners into the new taxes over a three…

The good news:  Westfield real estate owners will pay a lower tax rate in 2008.

The bad news:  Because the assessed value in Westfield has gone up, most residents will not see a big change in their tax bill.

In an almost unheard of move these days, Westfield actually lowered the property tax rate.  This could actually be a turning point for Westfield.  Westfield has typically had a very high tax rate compared to some of its other Hamilton County neighbors.  The growth and appreciation of Westfield’s residential and commercial sectors are turning Westfield into a vibrant city not just the city north of Carmel with cheaper houses.  Westfield has been quietly and continually growing due to its affordable home prices, good Hamilton County location and…