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Tue, Aug 19, 2008

Indianapolis Downpayment Assistance To Be Eliminated by Mike Taylor

I am quite sure all of you have heard about the new bill the house and senate passed and President Bush signed into law recently. I am also quite sure you have already been deluged with news bits and information regarding the details of the not so stellar bailout so I will spare you the rehash of it. What I do want to cover is something that not many news outlets are focusing on…the elimination of the seller paid down payment assistance for FHA loans.

You may or may not know this, but FHA loans typically allow buyers an opportunity to get into a home with far less down payment than a conventional mortgage. That is FHA’s whole purpose…make housing affordable to more people. What you may not have know is that while the seller...

868 Views, 7 Comments.

Mon, Aug 18, 2008

Indianapolis Home Inspections by Mike Taylor

Indianapolis home inspection I get lots of questions about and have to deal with lots of issues concerning home inspections when selling homes. Before I go too far, let me quote the standard Indiana contract when it comes to inspections and inspection issues. Here is exactly how the contract reads:

If the Buyer reasonably believes that the Inspection Report reveals a MAJOR DEFECT with the Property and the Seller is unable or unwilling to remedy the defect to the Buyer's reasonable satisfaction before closing (or at a time otherwise agreed to by the parties), then Buyer may terminate this Agreement or waive such defect and the transaction shall proceed toward closing. Under Indiana law, "Defect" means a condition that would have a...

1038 Views, 3 Comments.

Wed, Aug 13, 2008

Indianapolis Real Estate Agent Membership Way Off in 2008 by Mike Taylor

MIBOR (Metropolitan Indianapolis Board of Realtors) recently released figures showing membership is off by 10.5% since the beginning of this year. The renewal notices and bills have finally been tallied and it reveals what I and many others have suspected all along; a substantial exodus from the real estate careers by lots of agents and brokers.

This may sound macabre, but to me this is GREAT news for both me and the average consumer. It is obvious why this is great news for me…less competition. How this benefits the consumer is that this 10.5% was likely made up part timers or soccer moms and dads who thought real estate would be fun because they like looking at houses. Getting these people out the business increases the...

615 Views, 0 Comments.

Fri, Jul 25, 2008

Davis Homes CEO Makes Gutsy Announcement by Mike Taylor

Less than 24 hours after the announcement that Davis Homes is shutting down, CEO Brad Davis has revealed that he plans to begin building custom and semi-custom homes before the end of the year.

WOW! That is either really gutsy or really stupid…or both.

I am not sure but it seems that perhaps consumer confidence in the Davis name may still be shaky on the heels of running the previous company into the ground. Despite the 2-10 buyer’s warranty they, and every other builder, provide there will undoubtedly be some disgruntled homeowners telling all of their friends about how much Davis Homes sucks. If it were me, I think I might have opted for a less bold move; maybe a silent partner in a homebuilding company or something.

What...

2503 Views, 24 Comments.

Wed, Jul 23, 2008

Its Official...Davis Homes is Out of Business by Mike Taylor

Well, it’s official…Davis Home is now closed, out of business, shut down. As of today July 23, 2008 Davis homes is no more. If you read my blog you know that I have been writing about Davis Homes going out of business since last year. I also wrote a blog post about homeowner’s getting mechanic's liens placed on their homes because Davis didn’t pay their subcontractors that generated lots of comments and interest. Thankfully, Davis homes appears to have paid these liens and done the right thing.

In a press release located on their website, Davis Homes says “Unlike some companies that simply closed their doors, Davis has worked hard during the past few months to implement a plan to complete all the homes that were under...

1402 Views, 2 Comments.

Mon, Jul 21, 2008

Hansen and Horn Selected as the Builder for Anson by Mike Taylor

Local home builder Hansen and Horn has been selected to be the home builder for the residential portion of the much anticipated Anson project just outside of Zionsville. This is huge news for the local home builder and it gives what will probably be their best location yet. The details have yet to be released, but we do know that the first phase will include 168 homes and the entire residential portion is scheduled for a total of 680 homes over the next 8 – 10 years.

Hansen and Horn is an Indianapolis based builder that prides itself on building homes that do not all look the same and don’t fit into the “cookie cutter” mold that many other builder do. Hansen and Horn is also amazingly flexible with their floor plans and the...

1536 Views, 0 Comments.

Thu, Jul 17, 2008

Hamilton County - Best Place to Live EVER by Mike Taylor

Recently, Hamilton County has been showered with recognition from the national media as a top notch place live and raise a family. CNN lists Fishers as the #10 best places to live the U.S. and Forbes recently ranked all of Hamilton County as the #1 best places in the entire country to raise a family.

If you live in Indy you already know that Hamilton County offers stellar schools, almost non existent crime, relatively easy commutes, and bargain home prices compared to the rest of the country. In addition, Hamilton County offers one of the most family friendly environments in the entire area and apparently the entire nation according to Forbes.

All of this affects real estate in a big way. It has been proven that homes that are...

1167 Views, 0 Comments.

Wed, Jul 16, 2008

Indianapolis Foreclosure Bus Generates Media Attention by Mike Taylor

If you read this post, you know we are having a foreclosure bus August 2nd in the Indianapolis and surrounding areas. While I am certainly not the first one to come up with this idea, it is the first of its kind in the Indianapolis area. Turns out we were able to generate some interest from the local media. Take a look at the story from Rafael Sanchez on Channel 6 and no, he is not coming after me, he does do regular interviews as well:

What is crazy is the response we got from this story. I have not done any other advertising and within 24 hours of this story the bus is full, even after upgrading to the bigger bus. I am still waiting for a few call backs to confirm and I imagine we will have a few cancellations, so

747 Views, 2 Comments.

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