Depend on your Realtor

I liked this article for many reasons but I think it really emphasises the reason(s) why you should find an agent that can be your life long real estate consultant when you are selling, buying or simply researching real estate. This speaks specifically to why to find a good buyer's agent especially in this fantastic buyer's market that we are in currently.

Do you know someone that needs an agent to represent them on the buying side of a residential real estate transaction? If so, drop us a line ccinamon@curryteamindy.com with their contact information and we will give them a call.

Depend on your Realtor By Julie Young - The Indianapolis Star


In this buyer's market, working with a Realtor will help you as a home buyer navigate through the myriad of homes on the market. These agents are available to listen to your needs and find the listings best suited to your particular price point (and criteria).


With 85 percent of the home-buying starting online, it makes sense that chief among the services agents offer is up to the minute mobile searches that send alerts right to your your email or cell phone.


Agents help their clients establish home-buying plans that outline what they want in a home, what they reasonably can afford and timetable for when they can expect to move in. Buyers count on their Realtors to act as advocates for them just as sellers agents act as advocates for their interests. Realtors make sure that all pre qualification forms are completed, contracts are in order and an inspection has been preformed before attending closing.


While agents and buyers don't have a formal agreement in the same way in the same that agents and sellers have an exclusivity agreement (in this market), sticking with one Realtor you feel comfortable with will maximize your home buying experience and give you the best shot at real estate sucess.

Market Watch for June 2008

Central Indiana housing market continues to outperform national averages
Low prices contribute to sustained buyers’ market

INDIANAPOLIS – June housing statistics point to continued opportunities for buyers to take advantage of lower housing prices across the nine-county central Indiana region, while a decrease in available inventory reduces competition among sellers, according to pended sales statistics compiled by F.C. Tucker Company.

Bucking the national trend of record housing inventory levels, available local inventory dropped 6.6 percent in June with 19,412 homes on the market, 1,376 fewer homes than in June 2007. Boone and Hamilton counties, however, reported a slight increase in the number of homes available.

“While the market begins to correct itself, central Indiana home buyers are in a good position to find a house in their price range,” said H. James Litten, president of F.C. Tucker Company’s Residential Real Estate Services Division. “The average sales price is 5.1 percent lower for the first half of 2008 compared to the same period in 2007, with Morgan County being the only area to show a slight increase in average sales price.”

The average year-to-date sales price for a home in the nine-county area was $144,733, 5.1 percent less than what was reported in the first six months of 2007. The latest data from the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) reported the national average year-to-date sales price was 8 percent lower than the same period last year, as of April 2008.

With the current sales pace, Indianapolis also leads national absorption rate with an approximately 8.5-month supply of homes for sale as of June, versus the NAR national average of 10.8 months, using the organization’s latest figures from May 2008.

June pended home sales in the nine-county area were down 18.3 percent compared to June 2007 with 2,296 homes pending. Pended sales during the first half of the year are down 13.9 percent compared to the same time period in 2007. So far this year, 13,719 pended home sales have been posted; 15,935 homes were pending during the first half of 2007.

The NAR predicts improved sales in the second half of this year due to better lending practices, an improving economy and a pending home buyer tax credit which could draw potential buyers back into the marketplace. “With Central Indiana ranking high on the affordability index and national ‘best places to live’ polls, we anticipate a brighter outlook going into 2009,” Litten said.

Interest Rates

I think the perception of what interest rates are doing by the general public is always interesting. When my mom starting selling real estate in the 1980's interest rates were at just below 20%! People still bought and sold homes and the interest rates eventually came down.

Here is a report sent to us by Mike Holl- he is our Tucker Mortgage person in our office. "There currently is a perpetual fear that the mortgage interest rates are the highest they have been in years. In looking at the attached chart, you’ll see in June of 2007 the 30 year fixed was at 6.75% and in June of 2006 it was 6.875%. Please share with any buyers / sellers you feel will have a benefit from this information." I am sharing with all of you.

Mortgage%20Interest%20Rates%202005-Present.xlsx

Characteristics of Home Buyers

Boy! It has been a long time since I have posted an entry. We went on an amazing vacation and I guess I was just trying to play catch up since. This week I am committing to blogging at least once a day...so check back often for good information concerning Greater Indianapolis Real Estate.

This information was presented to us in one of our weekly sales meeting and I felt like it was good information. I hope you do too.

Characteristics of Home Buyers

The typical home buyer is 39 yrs. old, while the repeat buyer is 46 years old.

The 2006 median household income of buyers was $74,000. Among repeat buyers, the median income was $85,700.

9% of home buyers reported they were born outside the USA.

Characteristics of Homes Purchased

The typical home purchased was 1,810 SF.

67% of 1st time buyers purchased a detached single-family home, compared with 79% of repeat buyers.

The median distance recent buyers moved was 13 miles.

Buyers typically plan to stay in their home for 10 years.

The Home Search Process

79% of buyers purchased their home through a real estate agent or broker.

43% of buyers found their agent through a referral from a friend or family member.

The most important factor buyers considered when choosing an agent is their honesty and integrity.

68% of buyers would definitely use their real estate agent again or recommend the same agent to others.

Home Selling & Their Selling Experience

85% of sellers were assisted by a real estate agent when selling their home.

The most important factor when choosing a real estate professional, cited by 38% of recent sellers, is the reputation of the agent.

88% of sellers reported that their home was listed or advertised on the Internet.

Among recent sellers, 81 percent reported that they used a real estate agent that provided a range of services and managed most aspects of the home sale.

Over half of recent home sellers reported that they undertook home improvement or remodeling projects within three months prior to putting their home on the market.

More than half of home sellers traded up to a larger home when purchasing their next home.

For ¼ of sellers, their most important expectation is that the real estate agent will help sell their home within a specific time frame.

For-Sale-By-Owner (FSBO) Sellers

12% of sellers sold their home without a real estate agent.

The chief reason they did not choose to use an agent was that they did not want to pay a commission.

More than 25% of FSBO sellers took no action to market their home.

For 18% of FSBO sellers the most difficult task in selling their home was understanding and performing the necessary paperwork to complete the transaction.

Mortgage Interest Rates

With so much talk about interest rates in the media, I thought this article below written by Ron McGuire was interesting. To help you get through some of the lingo I have created a quick reference for some of the terms used. Feel free to call us anytime with questions regarding mortgage rates or any other real estate questions.

Ron McGuire- Who is he?

Ron McGuire is president of Tucker Mortgage, LLC, which is part of the F.C. Tucker family of businesses.

BPS- Basis Point

A unit that is equal to 1/100th of 1%, and is used to denote the change in a financial instrument. The basis point is commonly used for calculating changes in interest rates, equity indexes and the yield of a fixed-income security.

The relationship between percentage changes and basis points can be summarized as follows: 1% change = 100 basis points, and 0.01% = 1 basis point. So, a bond whose yield increases from 5% to 5.5% is said to increase by 50 basis points; or interest rates that have risen 1% are said to have increased by 100 basis points.

The Fed- The Federal Government...

CPI-Consumer Price Index

An inflationary indicator that measures the change in the cost of a fixed basket of products and services, including housing, electricity, food, and transportation. The CPI is published monthly. also called cost-of-living index.


MORTGAGE RATES ARE DROPPING TO 5.25%!!!! Unfortunately, that is what many consumers are thinking. The Fed is expected to lower the Fed Funds Rate and the Discount Rate another 50 bps at the March meeting. By lowering the rates the Fed obviously feels this is the top priority to try to make the banks healthy again. Their fear of inflation has been put aside temporarily (although today’s CPI index was higher than expected), but will react quickly and raise the short term rates when the economy gets back on its feet. I expect this should happen by the third quarter of 2008. Remember, short term rates help with home equity lines of credit, auto loans and any loans that may be tied to the prime lending rate offered by banks. Lowering the short term rates will not have a dramatic impact on the housing market until a legitimate plan is in place to lower long term rates (mortgage rates).

Why haven’t the long term rates followed? The main reason mortgages have not dropped but have actually increased substantially is there are no investors buying mortgage backed securities. So, to entice them they have to increase the rates to offer a better yield for their investment. The investment community is still extremely nervous due to the sub-prime or mortgage meltdown. Until the secondary market finds a comfort level with mortgages expect rates to remain higher than normal.

The 10 year minor resistance is 3.85% with a major level of 3.70%. The minor support is now 4.00% with major support at 4.60%. Less than 30 days ago we saw the 10 year hit (for about an hour) 3.27. Because of the lack of interest in mortgage backed securities, mortgage rates have not followed the 10 year note as it normally does.

It is very rare to have such a large gap between short term and long term rates. This has occurred maybe three to four times over the past ten years. I do believe this is temporary; but I am not sold that the gap will narrow dramatically soon. -Ron McGuire

Showings

One of the many things that I think the F.C. Tucker does well is setting up showings for our listing clients. Many times this is invisible to the the typical buyer that is looking for a home since they do not set the appointments but their buyers agent does. When a showing appointment is set on one of our listings the showing receptionist calls our seller to approve the appointment and then calls the buyer agent back to let them know it is okay to show the property and then any special instructions that might be helpful to that agent. Then the showing system immediately emails us to let us know about the showing, have record of that appointment and know all the contact information for the agent that showed the property so we can follow up with them.

This year our office has also been sending us the data for how many showings our listings have had in comparison to last year. So far, who says we are in a declining market? It does not seem like that when looking at these numbers.

Week #6 2008: 99
Week #6 2007: 84
15% Increase

Week #5 2008: 116
Week #5 2007: 92
20% Increase

Showings are what sells houses and it looks like 2008 is going to be a great year for showing a house.

Choosing a Realtor

A REALTOR® can assist homebuyers and sellers with many time-consuming and complicated tasks. Some services include guiding you through the process of selling your home from beginning to end, providing comparable information about the prices at which other properties have sold, and sharing information about your home through the Broker Listing Cooperative™ (BLC™) listing cooperative and on the Internet.

After a home is listed, the REALTOR® will qualify potential buyers to make sure they would be financially able to buy the property, negotiate a sales contract, and help you prepare for a smooth closing of the transaction.

In other words, the benefits of using a REALTOR® are numerous. But how can consumers find the right REALTOR® to meet their personal needs? MIBOR recommends that potential homebuyers and sellers look for an agent that:

Is a member of the local board of REALTORS®

Explains and discloses agency relationships early on in the process, including the role of the agent, and who they are representing.

Advises how to prepare your home for the market .

Shows enthusiasm for your property, listens attentively, instills confidence, operates in a professional manner, and has a complementary personality style to yours.

Has already researched your property in the public records and the BLC™.

Brings data on nearby homes that have sold (or failed to sell) recently.

This information was taken from the Indiana MIBOR site. MIBOR is the professional association representing central Indiana's REALTORS® Founded in 1912, MIBOR was established by 43 charter members and today serves the needs of more than 7,500 members in Boone, Brown, Hamilton, Hancock, Hendricks, Johnson, Marion, Montgomery, Morgan, and Shelby counties. In addition to serving these counties, MIBOR also provides a Broker Listing Cooperative™ (BLC™) listing cooperative to REALTORS® in Decatur, Madison and Putnam counties.

Ask me for information

One of my goals is to become a real estate consultant not just a real estate agent but someone you can go to for all of your real esate related questions at any time not just when you are buying or selling. I hope this information below is beneficial to you.

Central Indiana October home sales show some areas of improvement

INDIANAPOLIS – While central Indiana pended home sales continue to fall behind last year’s levels, some counties are showing improvement in home sales and less available inventory, according to data compiled by F.C. Tucker Company.

October pended home sales overall were 12.1 percent less than October 2006. Specific county highlights include Boone County, where October pended home sales rose 27.9 percent compared to the same time last year, and Johnson County, where October pended home sales increased 0.6 percent over last year. By comparison, Shelby County posted the most significant drop in pended home sales in October with a 36.2 percent decrease.

“Although there were some bright spots in October, we are hoping we continue to make progress in reaching normal sales levels,” said H. James Litten, president of F.C. Tucker Company’s Residential Real Estate Services Division. “Our above-average home sales success over the past few years is now balancing out, so homeowners are seeing the natural low that comes from such a historic high.”
Year-to-date real estate sales totals for the nine-county area continue to lag somewhat behind 2006 statistics. So far this year, 25,055 homes have been sold compared to 27,115 during the same time last year, down 7.6 percent. For the second straight month, year-to-date sales in Hancock County are above 2006 figures, up 0.8 percent at the end of October.

On an inventory level basis, Morgan County’s inventory balanced out in October at 666 homes, the same number of homes available in October 2006. Shelby County’s available inventory decreased 6.5 percent in October; Marion County’s inventory rose 9.9 percent.

Editor’s Note: All statistics were compiled by F.C. Tucker Company from a report drawn from MIBOR statistics on Nov. 8, 2007.

If you would like this information for any month in the past or would like me to email it directly to you for future months please let me know.