About 19669247

Housing Market Surges Higher

The May numbers are just in, and they say the market was “Red Hot” in May!!!  Closed sales were up a torrid 19% over last May, and plus 9% for the past 12 months.  (That was even more than for any month back in 2006.)  Couple that with a scarcity of new listings, and the amount of available inventory continues to be tight, down 11% from a year ago.  That combination of forces has also pushed the median average price up to $159,000.  (That’s plus 4% over last May and DSC04420the highest that number has EVER been.)

Homes sold for 95.7% of their original asking price.  Many wannabe’ buyers who attempted low ball offers were simply left out in the cold.  Bottom line, if you’re serious about buying a new home, then you need to be serious with your offer.

If you’d like a hand taking advantage of what this Red Hot market has to offer, do give me a call.

 

 “I work harder to make good things happen!”  -Bob

Realtor Gets 6 Years Behind Bars

As far as I’m concerned they should’ve given him a lot more time in the big house.  The guy was a real jerk, and the State’s Attorney General’s office finally got him corralled and locked behind bars.  Thank God!  I opened the Indy Star over the weekend and stumbled upon an article (see attachment) about David Garden getting locked up and let’s just say it put a big *** smile on my face.

You see, one day a half-dozen years ago, I got a call from Bank of America telling me they had a mortgage customer, Pam, who desperately needed help with a short sale.  So, I called Pam and listened to her story.  She tells me this David Garden character had talked her into doing a short sale and had told her she needed to move out of her house so he could get it done.  That was red flag #1 as most of the time with short sales the homeowner was able to stay in the house until it actually sold.  As I questioned further I realized that this Garden guy wasn’t incompetent.  Heck no, he was a crook.  I just didn’t know how big of one yet…

Pam told me that Garden had rented out her house and was collecting the rent.  He wasn’t sharing the rent and after nearly a year the short sale was going nowhere.  So I went over to the house to see about getting the tenant out of there so Pam could move back in while I went about the many months long process of bringing about a successful short sale.  After a couple tries, I finally caught the tenant, Susan, at the house.  We talked and she was nice enough.  And then she told me her story.  Well, actually it was Pam’s story!  Garden had given her the same song and dance, and had moved her into Pam’s house where she was paying rent to Garden.  Meanwhile, Garden had rented her house to someone else and (you guessed it) he was pocketing that rent as well.

With a little work and a whole lot of patience, I got the tenant at Susan’s house to move along, got Susan and Pam back into their respective houses, eventually sold both houses, and both women were able to move forward with their lives in an orderly non-stressed fashion.

Like so many people, they had the rug pulled out from underneath them during the Financial Crisis, losing jobs only to struggle to find employment at a lower pay scale.  They could not keep their mortgages up.  And while they were dealing with all of that, raising Kkids and grandkids, this predator David Garden was taking advantage of these women (and dozens of others like them).  What a jerk!  I am so glad he has finally gotten his just deserves.

If you’d like an ethical hand to help guide you around the predators, do give me a call.

 

 “I work harder to make good things happen!”  -Bob

Average Sales Price Hits 150

MIBOR issued its monthly report for April and for the first time, the median average sales price in central Indiana hit the $150,000 mark.  The push came from a combination of increasing sales coupled with tightening inventory.

Sales surged 12% while the number of new listings shrank 4% compared to last April’s numbers.  The combination has been trending, and has caused the months of inventory to shrink to just 3.9.  DSC04420That’s a tight market.  While there are plenty of buyers, one has to wonder why the sellers are sitting on the sidelines?  With sales and prices on the rise, one would guess more home owners would be planting For Sale signs in their front yards!

If you’d like to see what this market might have to offer you, give me a call.