Pat's Real Estate Blog

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506 Balfour

Avon, Indiana

4 bedrooms, 2.5 baths

$173,800

Pines of Avon in Avon, Indiana.  A covered front porch and lovely landscaping welcome you to this Davis-built home with 9 foot ceilings.  A large Great Room with gas log fireplace opens to cozy screened porch.  Kitchen has island with breakfast bar & 2 pantries!  Beadboard adds a charming touch.  All appliances stay!  Unfinished basement has plenty of potential with a full bath rough-in and 9 foot ceilings.  Master retreat features a sitting area, vaulted ceiling with plant shelf, dual vanity and jetted garden tub with separate shower.

Pat Haddad, REALTOR, Associate Broker, ABR, CRS, e-Pro, GRI
Haddad Team
317-840-7555

Pat@HaddadTeam.com

 For more great listings visit www.HaddadTeam.com

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76 Ashbourne
Noblesville, IN 46060
$309,9003 bedrooms, 2 baths

Wellington Estates in Noblesville, Indiana.  Perfect in every way!  Ideal location.  Immaculately maintained.  More than 3800 square feet of quality finished living space in this beautiful family home on a wooded lot in prestigious Wellington Estates.  Formal living room; dining room w/wainscoting & tray ceiling.  Gleaming hardwoods.  Spacious kitchen with rich cherry cabinets, center island & planning desk.  Family room has gas fireplace, built-ins & French doors to sun room.  Master suite/bath, 3 large bedrooms, laundry upstairs.  Full finished basement with full bath.  Storage galore--perfect for work or play (office, home theater, inlaw quarters).

Pat Haddad, REALTOR, Associate Broker, ABR, CRS, e-Pro, GRI
Haddad Team
317-840-7555

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3602 S 800 E
Zionsville, IN 46077
$279,900
3 bedrooms, 2 baths

Zionsville, Indiana! Beautiful and Affordable Zionsville, IN horse property!  Many fabulous renovations inside, and all the outdoor space you'll need! 6+ acres include horse barn and storage buildings.  Don't miss this amazing home!  This property is closer than you might think to Carmel and Westfield and all these areas have to offer!

Pat Haddad, REALTOR, Associate Broker, ABR, CRS, e-Pro, GRI
Haddad Team
317-840-7555

The office I am affiliated with does not do the office tour of new listings.  That has been just fine with me because I am busy enough that I usually feel as if I have seen most of the inventory anyway.  However, we all know that is not true.  There are over 25,000 homes currently listed in the MLS to which I belong.  Granted, I have had some buyers look at so many homes that it felt like 25,000, but in truth, I have not seen everything in my market.

There are four buyer agents on The Haddad Team---five if you count me.  We have decided that it would be a good idea to tour our team listings as they come on the market. Why do we think this is a good idea?

1)  Most sellers are still disappointed to hear that our office no longer tours as an office.

2)  I remember back to the days when we did tour and it was always a great way to put the strength in numbers behind what you had already told the sellers whether it was in regards to price and/or condition.

3)  I also remember when occasionally a listing would get an offer the day of tour from one of the agents who toured.  Not likely to happen, but more likely than if we do not tour.

4)  A few of the buyer agents are new and it will not hurt them to see what is out there and here the comments of more experienced agents.  That is how they learn.

5)  This might just catch on.  We plan to invite anyone who wants to come and grow the group from there.

I have created a feedback form to distribute with a copy of the MLS info printed on the back.  Each agent touring the home will be asked to complete the form and return to the listing agent to do with as they see fit.  Most will share with the seller.

It would be great to get some feedback on the feedback form.  Any suggestions or comments would be greatly appreciated:

Haddad Team Home Tour  July 8, 2008

  Property address:___________________________________________________

Opinion of community:____________________________________________

Curb appeal:____________________________________________________

Suggestions for exterior:__________________________________________

 1^st Impression upon entering home:__________________________________

Overall condition of home:_________________________________________

 Specific suggestions for interior:____________________________________

 Other comments:________________________________________________

 Opinion of price:_________________________________________________

Those of us who live in Hamilton County, Indiana are not the least bit surprised at the honor being bestowed upon us. Forbes Magazine recently named Hamilton County as the best place in the United States to raise a family. Among the criteria considered was cost of living, affordable housing, short commute times and of course a terrific school system. Admittedly, the results are skewed towards those counties with good school districts.

Forbes first looked for counties with populations of more than 65,000. Then they looked for well funded school districts. They isolated 97 counties where more than half of the per pupil spending comes from property taxes, not always a happy topic for residents, but looks like it is paying off!  Next Forbes eliminated counties with average SAT scores under 1,050 or average ACT scores under 22.  This left 51 counties.

Since raising a family involves more than just good schools , Forbes ranked the remaining counties according to 10 data points:

• Cost of living
• Graduation Rate                                                                              
• Standardized Scores
• Home Price
• Property Tax Rate as a percentage of median home price
• Percentage of home occupied by owner
• Per capita income
• Air quality
• Crime rate
• Commute Time

Hamilton County's roots are in agriculture, but after WWII, the growth in Indianapolis went north and Hamilton County became a suburb of Indy. Hamilton County is one county north of Marion County where Indianapolis is located.

The county is one of the fastest growing counties in the nation. The County's population jumped from an estimated 182,740 in 2000 to 261,661 in 2007 according to 2007 estimates by the U.S. Census Bureau. It is the fastest growing county in Indiana out of 92 counties. In 2006, based on census estimates between 2000 and 2005, Hamilton County was the 18th fastest-growing county in the nation out of 3,141.  Based on census estimates between 2000 and 2007, in 2008, Hamilton County was the 23rd fastest growing county in the nation.

Cities in Hamilton County include:  *Arcadia, *Atlanta, *Carmel, *Cicero, *Fishers, *Noblesville, *Sheridan and *Westfield. Carmel, Fishers and Noblesville have all achieved recognition from various sources for the quality of life afforded their residents.

Noblesville is the County Seat.  The historical courthouse pictured above is still in use today on the town square. Geist and Morse Reservoirs are two man made lakes in Hamilton County that offer residents and visitors many recreational activities, such as boating, skiing, fishing and waterfront properties. Geist is located in Fishers and Lawrence and Morse is located in Noblesville and Cicero.

With so much to offer, it is not surprising that many people are returning to this part of the Midwest and many are relocating and making it their new home.                                  

For the biggest, brightest and best Fourth of July celebrations, see below!!

REGIONS BANK FIREWORKS BLAST - INDIANAPOLIS

JULY 4TH, 2008

Indianapolis' largest fireworks display synchronized to music. Exhibit set off from the Regions Bank in downtown Indianapolis at dusk.  Free admission.

CARMELFEST - CARMEL

JULY 4TH, 2008

Carmel Symphony Orchestra Concert: 8:30 p.m. Carmel Gazebo, One Civic Square.  Guests are invited to bring a picnic basket and enjoy some classic patriotic tunes with a fireworks show as the grand finale. Fireworks will be set off of the bridge over the Monon Trail at 126th Street,

FISHERS FREEDOM FESTIVAL - FISHERS

JUNE 28TH AND 29TH

Fishers's annual celebration complete with parade, games, crafts and food culminating with fireworks display Sunday evening.

JULY 4TH, 2008

Marsh Symphony on the Prairie: 8 p.m. at Conner Prarie, 13400 Allisonville Road in Fishers. Gates Open at 4:30 p.m. with the concert beginning at 8 p.m. Fireworks display finale.  Tickets required and may be purchased at all Marsh Grocery Stores.

Thunder on Geist: 10 p.m. at the north end of the island near Admirals Sound and Diamond Pointe subdivisions in Fishers. Fireworks will begin at dusk. Admission is free and open to the public.

NOBLESVILLE

JULY 4TH, 2008

Unsung Hereos Parade: 5 p.m. at the Courthouse Square in Downtown Noblesville. The parade route starts at 16th and Harrison streets, travels from 16th Street to Logan Street, from Logan to Ninth Street, from Ninth to Monument Street, then back to 16th Street.
The event precedes Noblesville's Fireworks Festival at 6 p.m. 18111 Cumberland Road.The festival will also include games, activities, food vendors, music by Dave & Rae, interactive inflatables, rock climbing wall, miniature NASCAR track, balloon artists, caricaturists, face painting, a car show featuring classics and street rods and a fireworks display at dusk. Admission is free and open to the public.

CICERO

JULY 4TH, 2008

Lights Over Morse Lake - Fireworks: 10 p.m. Watch fireworks on Morse Lake near Jackson Street in Cicero. The public is invited to sit nearby the Jackson Street Bridge or at Red Bridge Park. Boaters are also welcome! Admission is free and open to the public.

FIREWORKS TRAIN

Fireworks Train: Take a patriotic ride on the Fireworks Train from Hobbs Station at Noblesville's Forest Park to enjoy a spectacular fireworks show on the water in Cicero. The Fireworks Train will leave Hobbs Station for Cicero at 5:30 and 8 p.m. The train will return to the Museum about 20 minutes after the fireworks display concludes.
Fireworks are free, the cost of the excursion is $10 for adults and $8 for children. Park in Forest Park and take the train. Call for exact departure times. Reservations are required.

How to spend our marketing dollar.  Who among us does not ask that question several times per year?  We know we will spend money on our websites.  That's a given.  Then there is a long list of items we do year after year without asking questions, among them:

•  'Just Sold/Just Listed' postcards.
• Farming
• 33 or more client touches
• Sponsoring the local Little League team
• 1st time home buyer seminars
• Open Houses
• Broker's Opens
• Bigger, better signs
• Riders for the signs

And the list goes on.  The soliciting from vendors wanting our advertising dollar is relentless.  REALTORS make a lot of money and so we have a lot of money to spend on advertising, right?  Some of the most relentless are the local newspapers and real estate magazines.

I personally have cut back on much of what I am willing to spend. Back in the days when I had few listings, I thought the small inventory was the reason my ads did not cause the phone to ring.  Now that I carry more listings, I can see that maybe it was not about the number of listings. I recently went on a listing appointment and when I pulled into the driveway of a high end home, there were about 4-5 Sunday papers laying there.  I remember thinking, "It won't be difficult to convince these people that folks don't take the time to read the Sunday paper anymore."  One of my selling points for the benefits of listing with an agent with a highly ranked site. I got the listing.

The IBJ (Indianapolis Business Journal) states that 80% of their subscribers prefer to receive advertisements in the IBJ rather than direct mail.  Well, maybe so, but if they could choose not to have any advertising at all, would they?  I am asking because I don't know.  I do know my own clients have asked me to e-mail their bi-monthly reports rather than mail them.  Less paper to deal with and less to throw away.

Our local paper, The Indianapolis Star , has a very successful website and I do advertise my listings there.  However, most of the people searching there must have their own agent because they seem to request a map to the house more than anything.

What I see locally is that the same top producers spend money on full page ads in the newspapers and real estate inserts. Out of over 7,000 agents in my local board, these advertisers are maybe 3-4 agents with another 45 or so running 2" X 2" ads.  Are they doing this because it brings them buyers for their listings or are they doing this because this is what the sellers expect and they are trying to keep the sellers happy? Maybe in reality it is bringing them more sellers? Has the NAR or anyone else done a study or taken a survey to find out what kind of results REALTORS get from these ads?

Perhaps those who comment on this post can also share their results?  Should we keep throwing in the money on print advertising or are we throwing it away?

About a year ago I began working with a single young mother of three boys to help her find a home.  Her credit was not horrible, but she had no money to put down and very low income.  I could go on and on about this person telling you about her devotion to her children and church and how she attends school in the evenings in addition to working to try to make a better life for her and her family.  However, the point of this post is to make sure all of you out there don't miss out on an opportunity to truly help someone in need.

Cindy (ficticious name) and I looked at homes on a weekly basis for months.  It is not easy to find a decent house and keep the payment between $600 and $700 a month---even in one of the most affordable markets in the country.  We looked at all kinds of run down properties and homes with special problems such as being located in a flood plain or manufactured homes made to look like stick built. Keep in mind that Cindy had no extra money and needed to find something that would be habitable from day one.  No extra funds for the roof, or carpet, or appliances.

I was contacted by the local branch of Habitat for Humanity to help them locate lots on which to build their homes.  Up to that point, I really didn't know much about this organization other than some famous people were picking up hammers and helping to build some of these homes.  I learned that they could put someone in a home with nothing down and their payments could be as low as $400 per month--taxes and insurance included!  I encouraged Cindy to contact them to see if she would be eligible for one of their homes.

She called me just a few minutes ago to tell me that she had gotten through their process and had been chosen for one of the homes to be built in 2009!  I got chills and a lump in my throat all at the same time.  Cindy will be required to help build her house and she has also volunteered to help work on homes for others as time allows.

The KW office I am affiliated with just announced this past week that we have volunteered to help fund and build a Habitat home in the fall.  We were each asked to donate $20---about the cost of a pizza, and a few hours one day in the fall.

I urge each of you to keep this possibility in mind for buyers who contact you and who seem hopeless. Don't turn people away until you have given them this option.  I also urge you to check out the possibility of sponsoring a Habitat for Humanity Home.  As we all know, what goes around comes around and we need to take care of each other!

Indianapolis was recently named as the 2nd most affordable city in the United States. Understandably, this has attracted the attention of many investors.  In spite of the fact that most 'investors' who contact us are just everyday folks thinking they may have found a new way to get rich quick, we (me and my team members) are polite and try to give them the information they seek.  Very few of these people wind up using our services to purchase property.

The latest contact we had was a woman who admits to being a novice.  She has 'mentors' giving her advice and is more willing to listen to these mentors than the advice of seasoned REALTORS who do business in her area of interest.  She only wants to consider bank owned and foreclosed properties.  Today she gave us a list of ten requirements that the bank would have to agree to before she would bless them with the purchase of one of their homes.  She actually thinks the bank is dying for her offer and will bow to her demands.

Among her demands---1)  She wants the offer to be contingent upon approval from her partners.  This is after bank acceptance, then she wants to go to her partners to see what they say.

2)  She wants the bank to agree to let her sell the home to another party before she closes on it herself.

3)  She wants 72 hours to deliver the earnest money and she wants to write a personal check.

4)  She wants to choose the title company.

5)  She wants the home taken off the market at acceptance.

6)  She wants ten days to walk away from the deal if she is not satisfied with the inspection. 

The other items are already written into the Indiana State Purchase Agreement, but she wants us to write them in again.

We have told her that banks play by nobody's rules and that she can ask for anything, but they have their guidelines and they are carved in stone.  She said it sounds as if we don't want to work with her..... 

I always tell new agents and even my clients that I learn at least one new thing from every transaction.  With that said, after every closing, I should always have something new to share with the ActiveRain community.

After one of my closings last week I learned that home warranty coverage does not always begin on closing day even though the policy states that it does.  My buyer had plumbing issues on move-in day.  I was very proud that she remembered what I told her and called the warranty hot-line before the plumber.  The warranty company promply told her that since it was after hours on Friday she would have to wait until Monday when they could contact the title company to verify that the check covering the warranty had been mailed out.

Needless to say I was on the phone immediately and was given the same hogwash. I then called the sales rep and was able to get this resolved.  However, my client's sense of security in having that warranty has been severly shaken. This was a first for me.  Not everyone will have issues move-in day, but now I know if they do, we will have to call the sales rep directly.