Posted on June 4th, 2009 by Richard. Categories: For Home Sellers, Real Estate Perspective
When considering value and salability, Sellers sometimes look at only their side of the issue. They just think about the amount of money they want or need to net from the sale, and they think about what is great about the home that they think others should like. Those are probably worth considering in there someplace, but the real issue is not what they like about the home or what they need to get from the sale, it’s what a buyer will like about the home that ultimately decides whether their home will sell or not and how much it will bring.
Buyers have a real advantage in that they can go anywhere to look, compare and purchase a home. A Seller cannot change their location or the basic design of the home at all. So all they really have to work with is condition and price…and marketing, which is where I come in.
I can show comparable sales on paper all day long, but sometimes Sellers still don’t get it. The best thing to do is for me to put them in the car and go and visit some other homes on the market that fit the same profile as theirs, as if they were a Buyer. And then make the last stop their own home. Hopefully some perspective is achieved about what they need to do to get their home ready for the market and pricing. Pricing must be competitive if they want to sell.
Posted on June 3rd, 2009 by Richard. Categories: Historic Homes / Buildings
528 Lockerbie Street is a famous address in Indy. Home to local poet James Whitcomb Riley at one time. It doesn’t take much imagination to hear the carriage wheels of the past with clonking horses hoofs on the cobblestone street in front…which is still there today. The house still looks probably very close to what it did in 1872 when it was built although Indianapolis has moved on. Still the Lockerbie neighborhood around this house is remarkably preserved.
If you like traditional architecture, Lockerbie is certainly the place for you. Go for a walk or drive slowly down any of the streets or alleys, there is one astounding home after another. Some were magnificent in their day, but some were just simple homes for average folks when originally built. But what was considered simple detail then, is now classic architecture and has taken on an elegance and grandeur provided by the passing of many years.
Posted on June 2nd, 2009 by Richard. Categories: For Home Sellers
Often people ask me, “What’s my home worth?” But it’s almost impossible for me to say exactly what someones home would bring, especially without thinking about it for a while. I am comfortable however providing a probable range of values that their home would sell for. I do this partly by researching the prices of homes that sold recently that are very similar and located in the same neighborhood ideally, or as close by as possible in another similar area. Real estate is just like people in that you are judged by the company you keep. Averaging prices of similar homes that have sold recently nearby gives a foundation of value. This is what appraisers use when determining value for a lender’s appraisal.
But if you really want to determine pricing when putting a home on the market, you also have to figure in current market conditions and how prices have been trending…up or down. And you also have to look at other homes on the market now which would be your competition, and how they are priced. Buyers will be directly comparing your home to them. A house must be priced competitively if you want to sell it. All three of those methods weigh into the process.
But also, there is a gut feeling that I have for what a home is worth after years of looking at homes on the market and showing homes recently. I add that into the mix too…and I come up with a probable range of values. So, to me it’s not really an exact science at all…it’s an intuitive process. You want to price it to realize as much as possible from the sale, but you don’t want to price it so high that it won’t sell. Finally, you make a educated guess as to pricing…and you leave it up to the market to decide. In the end a home is worth what a buyer is willing to offer and a seller is willing to accept.
Posted on May 31st, 2009 by Richard. Categories: Sports & Recreation
Alright… I admit it. I put this photo up just for me. I guess I miss football season. But I bet there’s a few others that do too. Lucas Oil Stadium looks lonely doesn’t it? Not even any cars in the parking lot or people around the building anywhere. Hardly any activity around here this time of year.
But… it’s coming. There’s light at the end of the tunnel. Only about 10 weeks until the Colts first pre-season game. And there will be stories in the press even before that about things that go on in camp, comments from players, coaches, etc. So the energy will start to build much sooner than that. OK… I feel better now.
Posted on May 30th, 2009 by Richard. Categories: Video Flash
Here’s a mesmerizing video from a spot on the Canal near White River State Park.
Video-YouTube
Careful…
Don’t get wet!
Posted on May 29th, 2009 by Richard. Categories: Just for Fun
Is it just me? I’m not sure what the ad agency was thinking when they designed this for a billboard on 82nd Street. Nothing against Joe’s Crab Shack…it’s a fun place to eat with good food. But do you think their customer traffic numbers have improved because of these directions? To me it just seems like it contradicts itself. It directs travelers to go Straight Ahead…or do they want you go Left…but the large Blue Arrow points right…and all the smaller Red Arrows at the bottom point right. It’s lucky I know where Joe’s Crab Shack is located already.
