Indianapolis/Fishers Real Estate

I know it is time for the Fishers Real Estate Monthly Market Report, but I can’t seem to focus today with Super Bowl 2010 within hours of starting!  There is so much hype and excitement in the air, as Indianapolis looks for its 2nd Super Bowl win!

All of my team members who write blogs have written about the Colts this weekend too!  One of my team members who writes for Noblesville found this great clip about Peyton Manning.

So whether you are in Miami enjoying the 70 degree weather or here in the Indy area weathering the cold; I hope you have a great time watching the Colts WIN!

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Other Northside Blogs (Carmel, Noblesville, and Geist)

 Cindy “in Indy” Marchant - Fishers Real Estate Agent
Keller Williams Realty Indy Metro NE
Fishers IN Real Estate Website
317-290-7775

Hamilton Proper is a prestigious area in Fishers with custom built homes, an 18 hole golf course on 279 acres of land (Hawthorns), a gorgeous 55,000 sq ft country club (Hawthorns Country Club) and plenty of hiking and biking trails.

Hamilton Proper is located between Hoosier Road on the west, Brooks School on the east and 116th on the north and just a tad south of 106th on the south border. 

Neighborhoods include Heron Knoll, Heather Pointe, Thorny Ridge and over 20 other neighborhoods.  I currently have a home for sale in Fishers located in the Overlook neighborhood that backs up to the 16th hole of the golf course.  This home is nearly 12,000 sq ft and has an English Cottage look and feel to it; very unique indeed.

There are currently three homes for sale in Heron Knoll, one of them is only $495,000 but it does back up to Hoosier Road.   The highest home for sale in Heron Knoll currently is for $900,000 and has a golf course as its backyard!  One of the more reasonably priced areas is Heather Pointe where homes list just under $500,000.

There is currently a short sale in the Hawthorns neighborhood selling at $2.2 Million but the assessed value is $3.7 Million.

Of the 22 homes for sale in Fishers that are currently listed over $1,000,000; 10 of them are in the Hamilton Proper area.  The highest priced at nearly $2,500,000 just came on the market yesterday.

If you are moving into the Fishers area and looking for a custom home, this is an area your Fishers Realtor would love to show you. 

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Other Northside Blogs (Carmel, Noblesville, and Geist)

 Cindy “in Indy” Marchant - Fishers Real Estate Agent
Keller Williams Realty Indy Metro NE
Fishers IN Real Estate Website
317-290-7775

I have been working with a lot of relocation clients to the Fishers area lately and love hearing what they think is great about our city.  Surprisingly the top of the list is our property taxes!  Those of us living here in Fishers think they are high, but in comparison to other states, they are LOW. 

If you are being transferred or moving to Fishers Indiana, first of all Welcome!  Fishers has so much to offer and there are many posts I’ve written on hot spots in Fishers, schools and neighborhoods to help you get acquainted.

The Marchant Team treats their relocation clients to a tour of the city and excellent relocation materials.  We love to take you to see Conner Prairie, Hamilton Town Center, Geist Reservoir, and through a variety of the best neighborhoods in Fishers.

Our relocation book contains a 40 page summary written by your Fishers Realtor (and her husband!) about Indianapolis and the surrounding area.  It has links to various schools, events, shopping, and other things you want to know when you are moving.  We also include the Indianapolis Monthly Relocation Magazine from the Chamber and many items specific to Fishers too!

Another feature we have on our Fishers Real Estate website is a Cost of Living Indicator.  You put in your current salary at your current location and then it tells you what you would need to make to equal that salary here in the Indianapolis/Fishers area.  Some clients have told me that it has helped them negotiate a better salary!

If you’d like to know more about our Fishers Relocation materials, please drop us a line.

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Other Northside Blogs (Carmel, Noblesville, and Geist)

 Cindy “in Indy” Marchant - Fishers Real Estate Agent
Keller Williams Realty Indy Metro NE
Fishers IN Real Estate Website
317-290-7775

I just recently posted my year end 2009/2008 analysis of the Fishers Real Estate Market; but wanted to dig a little deeper and look at the statistics by neighborhood.  You may recall that of the homes for sale in Fishers in 2009, 1,615 were sold compared with 1,676 in 2008; a 3.5% decline. The full report for the 2009 Year in Review for Fishers Real Estate is available for you to read.

This first graph shows us Fishers most popular neighborhoods, many of which I have written detailed reports on this blog. 

Each month, one of the neighborhoods that sells the most is Sunblest Farms located near the center of town.  In 2009, 89 homes were sold compared with 62 in 2008.  Part of the higher numbers is the neighborhood has nearly 1500 homes.

Other popular neighborhoods shown are Sandstone, Gray Eagle and Sumerlin Trails.

Of the 10 neighborhoods shown, five of them sold less in 2009 versus 2008, four sold more and Spyglass Hills sold exactly the same at 19. 

This next graph shows us the price per sq ft by neighborhood between 2009 and 2008.  Overall for 2009, the average price per sq ft was $92.80 compared with $97.05 in 2008.  But there were neighborhoods that saw an increase or appreciation in their pricing. 

For example, Sumerlin Trails saw a 14% increase in pricing and both Meadow Brook and Sweet Briar saw a 2% increase.  Most of the other neighborhoods did see slight decreases between 1-3%.  Sandstone remained constant.

The days on market for Fishers homes for sale in 2009 were 75 compared with 81 in 2008; so they sold quicker!  The graph for that might make this blog post a little busy, so I will highlight it just in text.  The neighborhood with the best improvement in DOM was Sunblest moving from 70 days in 08 to just 52 in 09.  Only two neighborhoods saw higher DOM’s; they were Gray Eagle (5%) and Windermere (6%).

For the Marchant Team, our days on the market were 60 per the most recent MIBOR report.  Of the thousands of Realtors® in the Metro Indy area, the Marchant Team ranked 10th in the city in 2009.  This Fishers Realtor has her pulse on the Fishers market, enabling me to be in the best position to sell your home or find you a new home.  Be sure to read all of the Fishers Real Estate Market Reports.

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Other Northside Blogs (Carmel, Noblesville, and Geist)

 Cindy “in Indy” Marchant - Fishers Real Estate Agent
Keller Williams Realty Indy Metro NE
Fishers IN Real Estate Website
317-290-7775

It’s January, which means buyers are coming out to look and buy homes for sale in Fishers!  If you have a home to sell, you need to know the secrets to selling them.  I think I am a good resource for you.  The MIBOR 2009 numbers are out and with over 6,000 Realtors®, The Marchant Team was ranked #10. 

Our average days on the market in 2009 were 60 and our sale price to list price was 95%.  Those are great stats in a what was termed one of the most turbulent years in real estate.

So what are our secrets?

1) Take a walk through your home as a buyer would.  Do you smell anything as you walk through your home, smoke (it may never sell), pet odor, musty smells, etc.  Do you see clutter?  You may LOVE your collection of Precious Moments figurines, but if you are moving they will need to be packed up anyway so start now.  Do the colors seem bold or neutral to you?  Do you have warmth in your home?  How are the carpets, how is the inside of the oven, what do the vents look like?  These are things my team is trained to talk with you about.

2) My team uses a stager whether your home is $100,000 or $1,000,000.  We have found that they can create warmth by just rearranging the furniture and accenting with pictures and greenery.  It is our best kept secret because we only share who we use with our clients.

3) Get a professional tour, and save any pictures you have of your home with the trees and flowers in bloom.  We can insert those pictures rather than use one of the pictures we have had to take in the 20 plus days of gloomy gray!

4) Advertise the home on the web, paper is passe’.  Many Realtors will tell you they put their homes on Realtor.com or Trulia, ask them if they have pay for premium positioning?  The Marchant Team does!

5) Finally and you knew this was coming, price it correctly.  I use analyticals of actives, pended and solds to determine my pricing.  Sometimes I will take the seller through the actives so they can understand their competition.  I will even bring in an appraiser if you have an unusual house, i.e. five acres in Fishers!

This is a quick list but it is the beginnings of how the Marchant Team achieves the numbers and statistics we do.  Add to that we are a team that is dedicated to what we do, care about you as a person, communicate in record time with valuable information. continue to be on the cutting edge of technology and are Christians and you have the reason we are #10 out of all those Realtors!

If you want to sell your home in Fishers, call a Fishers Realtor that can do it!

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Other Northside Blogs (Carmel, Noblesville, and Geist)

 Cindy “in Indy” Marchant - Fishers Real Estate Agent
Keller Williams Realty Indy Metro NE
Fishers IN Real Estate Website
317-290-7775

Hello Fishers Readers!  I’ve been out of town all week and asked for some help in writing on the Fishers Real Estate Blog.  Jon Knight quickly accepted the challenge. He has over 16 years experience in the mortgage industry as both a mortgage broker and a mortgage banker.  He is currently the Branch Manager for Primary Residential Mortgage, Inc. located in Fishers, Indiana. 

• Bank Statements:  Watch out for large deposits that are hard to explain.  If a large deposit shows up on the bank statements you provide to your lender, be prepared to explain and document them.  Do your best to avoid making large deposits for approx. 90 days prior to loan application. 

• NSF’s: It should go without saying, but avoid any and all NSF fees, overdraft fees, and bounced-check fees on any bank statements at least 90 days prior to making loan application. 

Obtain a free consultation prior to making formal loan application easily.  You can call Jon directly at 317-567-2307 or email him at jknight@primeresindy.com to discuss your specific situation.

Thanks Jon!

Search homes for sale in Fishers by Neighborhood

Other Northside Blogs (Carmel, Noblesville, and Geist)

 Cindy “in Indy” Marchant - Fishers Real Estate Agent
Keller Williams Realty Indy Metro NE
Fishers IN Real Estate Website
317-290-7775

Most of my clients want an inspection but every so often I get this question.  It usually comes from someone who is fairly handy and does a good job of looking at the home prior to buying it.  However, I still think an inspection is one of the cheapest ways to ensure you are getting a good home and not a money pit.

I recently was watching an episode of Income Property on HGTV and during the episode, the contractor found so much mold and about a dozen dead birds in one of the basement closets.  I had to ask myself, did the buyers not have the home inspected when they bought it?  I know that when you buy a home, between down payment, closing costs, and home owners insurance that one more item to pay for can really stretch your money.  But, for about $250 to $350 you can get peace of mind. 

Currently one of the inspectors that I use, Rob Rehm, who sometimes is a ghost writer for me on this blog has a $100 off coupon for my clients or a free radon test.  This makes the price even better for clients.

I also hear this question when a client is building new construction.  They think it is new so what could be wrong.  Again, I will tell you that the builders out there (and many of them are excellent) build according to city code and BAGI standards, but they sometimes do miss things.  We are all human after all.  I think a second pair of “trained eyes” is worth the dollars it costs.

Inspectors typically will walk a roof, pull the electrical door off the panel to have a look, evaluate crawl spaces, run faucets and other areas to ensure no leaking is present, check for mold (not through a test but again through their trained eye) and look over the foundation, chimney and other prime areas where money can be spent to fix things.  They provide a detailed report with pictures categorizing the items into Major Concerns and Consideration Items.

The two best questions to ask an Inspector during an inspeciton are

1. What happens if that doesn’t get fixed?
2. What is it likely to cost to fix it?

With those answers you will be in a good position to negotiate what items you want fixed prior to closing.  I would recommend that all items be repaired PRIOR to closing.  There is the option of escrowing the money for the repair vendor, but what if the repair ends up costing more.  The seller will likely not pay additional monies after it is closed and you the buyer will end up paying for it.

As part of our First Time Buyer’s Class, we have Rob at our meeting.  He spends about 20 minutes going over the inspection process and gives out a sample report.  He along with me and a lender spend about an hour educating first time buyers how to approach the home buying process.  We have them each month typically on the last Thursday of the month.  We hope to see you there!

Search homes for sale in Fishers by Neighborhood

Other Northside Blogs (Carmel, Noblesville, and Geist)

 Cindy “in Indy” Marchant - Fishers Real Estate Agent
Keller Williams Realty Indy Metro NE
Fishers IN Real Estate Website
317-290-7775

I was very anxious to view 2009 to 2008 to determine if we had declining values in Fishers, specific trends and any good news!  I am an accountant by background and love the analytics of evaluating real estate; I also am a very good negotiator as a result of my previous training.  That is a trait you WANT in your Fishers Real Estate Agent!

For 2009, there were 1,615 homes that sold in Fishers compared with 1,676 in 2008 so a decline of about 3.5% during what has been termed the most turbulent year in the housing market ever.  Apparently no one told the residents in Fishers that! 

If we look at the days on market (DOM) and price per sq ft, we see 2009 at 75 DOM and 2008 at 81 DOM which is an improvement!  Homes were selling faster.  The Marchant Team had seven homes in 2009 that sold in less than 20 days!  Our average for 2009 was 67.

The price per sq ft in 2009 was $92.80 versus $97.05 in 2008; so some disappointment there as we saw a decline in the Fishers Real Estate market.  There may be a few reasons for this.  I noticed seller motivation very high this year as move up buyers saw great opportunities on the buy side and were willing to give more on the sale side.  In addition our foreclosure and short sales were significantly higher this year (50%); these homes will typically sell for less per sq ft. 

For December, we saw 81 homes sell compared with 102 in 2008 (it might be that folks have not turned in their year end closings yet, so I’m not overly alarmed by that).  The highest priced home was $1,150,000 in the Horizons with 9,000 sq ft; keep in mind this home had been on the market since August of 2004 starting at $1,600,000.

There was a home in Lake Stonebridge that sold for $295,000 that was bank owned; normally that neighborhood is well into the $500,000 to buy.  I know, it is where when I sell enough real estate, I will move!

You can look back to our monthly Fishers Real Estate market reports to see how each month looked and the neighborhoods that sold well.  Statistics always vary by location right down to neighborhood.  Let me know if you are interested in how your neighborhood faired.  Or you might find it as a Fishers Neighborhood I have already highlighted.  Our team writes varies area blogs, including the Noblesville Real Estate year end Market Report and the Carmel Indiana Real Estate year end Market Report.

It is always good to know what is ahead as well and while I wish I could tell you your house will sell for $5,000 more than you thought in 10 days with multiple offers, I can’t.  There are some trends worth reading about though to help you sort through the Real Estate Market for 2010!

Search homes for sale in Fishers by Neighborhood

Other Northside Blogs (Carmel, Noblesville, and Geist)

 Cindy “in Indy” Marchant - Fishers Real Estate Agent
Keller Williams Realty Indy Metro NE
Fishers IN Real Estate Website
317-290-7775

There is quite a bit of controversy on the Cap and Trade being discussed; this is more than just the regulation of pollution emitted into the atmosphere.  Their is language being discussed around cap and trade for things that we use daily like gas, electric, etc.  I’m not here to debate the issue but to give you some ideas on how it might be used in a conversation about Fishers Real Estate.

We recently had some folks in from Langdon Mortgage Company to talk with the Marchant Team.  Here are some tidbits I picked up:

• You can borrow 5% over the appraised value for energy efficient items such as insulation, windows or furnace for example. 
• You can borrow an additional $2,500 over the above for weatherization items.
• If you spent $5,000 for a new furnance/air conditioner; it would cost you about $28.00 more a month and chances are you would save that in utility costs. 

This is important as we think about both “being green” and about cap and trade.  Reducing the consumption of utilities is going to become more important over time.  This EEM (Energy Efficient Mortgage) isn’t available to JUST new home buyers, exisiting home owners can put the purchase of these items in their mortgage as well.

Want to know more?  Send me a quick email and I will put you in touch with the experts at Langdon Mortgage to see if the program is right for you!

I like to update the Fishers homes for sale statistic in each blog, so as of today there are 677 homes for sale and 136 are under $150,000. 

Search homes for sale in Fishers by Neighborhood

Other Northside Blogs (Carmel, Noblesville, and Geist)

 Cindy “in Indy” Marchant - Fishers Real Estate Agent
Keller Williams Realty Indy Metro NE
Fishers IN Real Estate Website
317-290-7775

It’s January and very cold tonight!  We could be out looking at the 650 homes for sale in Fishers or we could just take a quick read at the highlights of the last decade!  I will tell you the number of homes for sale right now is about 50 less than normal; that is because if you have an awesome Fishers Realtor, she would expire your listing on 12/31/09 and relist on 1/4/10 to get you a new MLS number.  Did you know that the first two digits of the MLS number denote the year listed?  I don’t want any of my sellers going into 2010 with a 2009 number to indicate the listing “might be” old.  That’s one reason if you have your Fishers home for sale, you should list it with me!

Now on to the Stories of the Decade!

Top 10 News Stories of this Decade

For 2000, there were several to choose from (as in each year) from the 500 plus votes that separated Bush and Gore to Microsoft being split up, but I picked the Y2K story.  There were quite a few tech stories in 2000 including “Google” being added to Miriam Webster’s Dictionary!

For 2001, there is no other story that even begins to match the intensity, emotion and sorrow of 9/11.  I can remember exactly where I was and exactly what I was doing when I received the news.  Can you?

It was a happy sight to see nine coal miners pulled from the Pennsylvania mine in 2002 after 77 hours of being trapped.  Imagine the gratitude you would feel to see a loved one after an ordeal like that.  Give thanks today!

In 2003 we all were saddened to see the Columbia Shuttle disaster on February 1st; this was the second shuttle NASA lost.  The first was in 1986 with the famous Christa McAuliffe, first school teacher in space.

On a lighter note, 2004 brough the introduction of Facebook!  If I’m not yet your friend, please find me!  The link is a post written by the founder, Mark Zuckerberg.

I think we were all glued to the tv in 2005 to watch the tragedy of Katrina.  We all know the devastation and loss of lives that New Orleans and other areas suffered. 

In 2006, this might be one that did not hit your radar but is a story worth mentioning.   A 100 year old woman died in Florida leaving $35.6 million to diabetes and cancer research.  There is a woman that truly understands your reward is NOT here on earth, but in heaven.  Kudo’s to her.

I, of course, feel obligated to tell you that the biggest story of 2007 was the mortgage crisis and melt down of the housing industry.  But, a bigger story loomed for us in Indy, Colts win the 2007 Superbowl!  I bring this up over the Real Estate story to take our thoughts away from the NY Jets game and to look towards another Superbowl victory!

I think we would probably all agree the biggest story of 2008 was President Barrick Obama winning the presidency.

And drum roll…for 2009 I was torn between the death of Michael Jackson.  I did afterall grow up singing along to  ”I’ll be there” and “Ben”.  The link has only had 3.7 million hits!  But, I love the story of Captain Sullenberger and the Miracle on the Hudson.  I also loved the debut of Susan Boyles, my eyes well up EVERY time I watch her on YouTube! If you haven’t seen it, I encourage you to watch the rise of the underdog; it is nothing short of heartwarming.  It currently has 83,000,000 hits.

So that wraps up the last decade, hopefully there was a tidbit or two in there worth the read!  As you move into 2010 and a new decade, find a purpose, give more from the heart and share yourself with those around you. 

I know this post wasn’t about Real Estate this time; but I will return as your local Realtor next week; it’s good to think about other things than Real Estate over the holidays and I appreciate the time away.

Search homes for sale in Fishers by Neighborhood

Other Northside Blogs (Carmel, Noblesville, and Geist)

 Cindy “in Indy” Marchant - Fishers Real Estate Agent
Keller Williams Realty Indy Metro NE
Fishers IN Real Estate Website
317-290-7775