I was watching "Morning Joe" on MSNBC today when they reported the latest Case Schiller numbers and they were positive! After 3 years of declines, a couple of months of upward activity may show that we are finally on the road to recovery. I have always been a news junkie but I have to admit over the past year, I have been tuning out. The doom and gloom from the media made it hard to be positive in my daily life and negativity when you are working with the public is the kiss of death! If you read "The Secret", you have to believe most of us have been telling the universe to pile on the bad stuff! When the key is to think positive and believe that good things are in your future...that is pretty hard to do and listen to the talking heads on TV. It seems like every stimulus program that gets rolled out, every positive report they cover, immediately they start tearing it apart and warning us not to think things might be getting better.
I'm not a "Pollyanna" type person with my head in the sand about the problems we have been facing but at the same time I don't think anyone benefits from being "Chicken Little" either, running around screaming "The sky is falling!" Come to think of it, the media is a little like the guy that shouts FIRE! in a crowded theater, creating panic and confusion.
At any rate, I am choosing to feel good that housing prices are showing an increase! Owning your own home is still the American Dream for most of us and I love being a part of an industry that works hard everyday to make that dream a reality!

Here is a link to the complete article on CNBC's website.
http://www.cnbc.com/id/32550485

Indy Most Affordable Major Housing Market-Again!

Indianapolis, once again, was the most affordable major housing market in the country during the second quarter. Almost 95 percent of all homes sold were affordable to households earning the area’s median family income of $68,100. Indianapolis has now topped the affordability list 16 consecutive quarters.
This is according to the National Association of Homebuilders.

The most affordable market in the country plus the $8000 tax credit make buying a home a smart decision. Are you aware you can purchase HUD foreclosures in Indiana for $100.00 down? Or that if you would like to own a brand new home, many builders have drastically slashed their prices on their market ready homes in order to meet their end of the fiscal year goals?
As it stands now the $8000 tax credit program will end December 1, 2009. this means you must close by November 30th in order to qualify. If you have considered buying a home, please don't let this opportunity pass you by! Ask yourself, "how long would it take me to save $8000?" or "how long would it take me to pay down the equity on a home by $8000?"
Please call or email me today if you have any questions or would like to start looking for a home!
317-513-0141 or stacey@HRrealtygroup.com

Or you can start your search on our website:
http://tinyurl.com/HRrealty-Search

Affordable Housing Exists, If You Know Where to Look - BusinessWeek

Affordable Housing Exists, If You Know Where to Look - BusinessWeek: "BusinessWeek.com used the index to rank the 10 most affordable and 10 least affordable major metros based on incomes and home prices. Indianapolis was the most affordable—91.6% of homes sold in the second quarter could be afforded by median-income households."

Distressed Properties

There has been so much in the news about foreclosed properties and I received a good question about how purchasing them worked which I answered in another post but I thought it might be good having it in the main blog area. So if you already read this I apologize! One thing I wanted to add was that surprisingly some of the foreclosed homes out there are not only good deals, they are also in surprisingly good shape. I've seen homes in move-in condition as well as some that just need carpet & paint and were 20-30K below list price.
"Bank owned homes – you make an offer on the property just like any other home but it may take longer to get them to respond to the offer. You can make the offer whatever you wish, it does not have to be list price and they may or may not accept it, may or may not counter the offer. Generally, they will not participate in any type of seller financing, zero down programs and they will not pay closing costs. These properties are also sold “as is” and the banks usually are not willing to make any repairs. However, if a major issue shows up on inspection that would make it difficult for them to sell it to any buyer, they may be more flexible. If not, you can back out of the deal and usually get your earnest money back. Many of the bank owned, distressed homes out there are in surprisingly good shape and need little work.
HUD homes are also a good value in many cases, they are usually listed on your local MLS and you bid on them through a HUD approved broker. (Home Run Realty is a HUD approved broker BTW!) They give 1st dibs to consumers wanting a home vs. investors. In the central Indiana area, HUD is currently offering a $100 down payment program to any owner occupied buyers. This is an awesome deal!
If you qualify for an FHA loan, the down payment has to be a minimum of 3% of sales price (3.5% beginning Oct. 1st, 2008). FHA is generally the best way to go for a 1st time home buyer or anyone without a long and stellar credit history as they are a little more flexible on qualifying guidelines.
Closing costs will vary depending upon the area you are in and the type of loan program you get. A lender will need to provide you with a good faith estimate so you can get a good idea of the expenses there.
Zero down programs are still available until Oct. 1st. Some lenders are saying you must be under contract and approved for the loan by October 1st, others are saying the transaction must be closed by Oct. 1st. That is why there is no time to delay in talking to a lender and looking at properties if you have decent credit but no down payment money saved up!
Short sales can be the most difficult transactions for buyers. Banks will tell sellers they will do a short sale with them and to market the home but then not actually be looking at offers for months. Currently, I have a short sale listing where the offer has been in since July 1st and the bank has not responded to the offer. We have called, emailed, left messages and even in rare instances talked to live human beings but have not been able to get them to even give us a timeline. If you make an offer on a short sale, have a firm idea of your timeframe, how long you are willing to wait before you move on to another property.
If you live in the Central Indiana area, The Home Run Realty Team is ready to help you through the buying maze and remember for BUYERS, our services are FREE. If you do not live in our area, call us and we will still help you find a good agent in your area! You can reach us at 1-866-HOMERUN (866-466-3786) X240.

Can't wait for November!

44% of Americans surveyed by Harris Interactive believe the housing market will improve after the presidential election. The survey also showed a strong indication that there are a lot of buyers out there that have delayed their home purchase but plan to make a move within the next 12-24 months.
Of course, this means that buyers who wait will be competing with everyone else and the market will flip to a seller's market. If you have a stable job and owning a home is in your plans. Don't delay, you will be able to build equity faster if you buy on the low end of the scale rather than wait for the market to go back up. We have had less of a price decline in the Central Indiana area than many other areas because we did not have the huge price run-ups that they had but there are plenty of homes currently on the market with motivated sellers because it has been so stagnant.

Communication dilemma...

I've been busy the past couple of weeks sending out emails and calling everyone who has contacted us the past year or so about buying a home to make them aware of the recent changes in the housing market. Many of our clients in the past 10 years have used the Nehemiah program and otters like it to help them into a home. These down payment assistance programs have been cancelled by the new housing bill effective October 1st. At this point, we don't know if this means the transaction has to close by Oct. 1st or if it is in process by that date that will suffice. So if someone has decent credit (doesn't have to be perfect!) but no downpayment money saved, this may be their only opportunity for quite a while to buy a home. Add to this that it is still a buyer's market,with plenty of homes to choose from and low interest rates-there may not be a better time for many people to get into a home of their own.
Anyway, I hope my emails are not annoying people, I have no desire to SPAM anyone. I know many times when I receive an email I may not read it or I may delete it and then realize I need the info it contains. There is such a short window of time for people to act on this, I think it is important enough to be a little bit of a pest.

"Perfect Storm" for Buyers

The new Housing bill signed into law this week has created a short window of time for buyers to take advantage of a couple of important programs. The Housing bill will take away one of the most important tools buyers have had to get into a home-the down payment assistance programs. Non-profits like Nehemiah, Neighborhood Gold etc have enabled many people who would not have been able to purchase a home to buy a home (and no, most of them DID NOT DEFAULT!). The housing bill removes the down-payment assistance programs for FHA loans as of Oct. 1st, 2008. We don't know yet if that means you have to close by Oct. 1st or be pre-approve, under contract etc. They are also planning to raise the minimum down payment from 3% to 3.5%.
A big positive that came out of the bill is a $7500 tax credit for 1st time buyers or people who have not purchased a home in the last 3 years. This is good on homes closed between April 9, 2008-July 1st, 2009. This could mean if you are due a tax refund of $1000 at the end of the year, with this credit you would get $8500!
So between now and Oct. 1st, buyers can still take advantage of the down payment assistance and get the $7500 tax credit. Add to this the low interest rates, and the high inventory of homes for sale, you get a perfect storm situation for Buyers! If you have been considering purchasing a home, do not delay. You need to call your Realtor today to see about getting pre-approved and to start the home search process. Oct. 1st will be here before we know it. If you are not working with a Realtor, call us at 866-Home Run (866-466-3786) and we would be happy to help.