The Andrew Neal Group

Many Homeowners want to know how to put a value on their home. Typically a homeowner wants more for their house then it is worth, and the buyers are only willing to pay market value and in a declining market below market value for a home. The best advice I give my clients as a professional Real Estate agent, and a listing expert, is to price the home at the current market value right away when going on the market with a professional Real Estate Agent or selling For Sale By Owner. Many factors come in to play when considering pricing. Below I have listed some but not all the factors by importance-

1) Comparable Sales- The homes in the neighborhood or area that have sold in the past 6-12 months are extremely important. By pure numbers alone, it is good to find a home with similiar sq footage and also in similiar condition. Say your neighbor's home is 3000sq ft and your home is 3100 sq ft. Say the home sells for $300,000 in 30 days. The way many agents figure it out is divide the listing price by the sq footage. $300,000 divided by 3000 is 100. This means the neighbor's home sold $100 a sq ft in 30 days. If the home is very comparable in condition, upgrades, lot/view, and location(same neighborhood) then you could take 100 x 3100(the subject properties sq footage)=suggested listing price $310,000. I completely advise that you take atleast 2 to 3 comparables and take the average just in case the sale was a fluke(neighbor's friend bought it and paid too much etc.)

If you would like comparable sales in your area feel free to visit:

http://dealwithneal.com/Whatsmyhomeworth.aspx

and we can provide you a free market analysis of your home promptly.

2)Condition- I highly suggest your home be in the best shape possible. Clean and Neutral is very important. The popular colors in our area is typically beige walls and white trim. If your home has dark trim it may be a great investment to paint your trim white along with neutralize your walls. Consult a professional. Get rid of all wallpaper! Not all buyer's share your personal tastes, and buyer's want move-in ready in the current market. Turn-Key properties sell the quickest for the highest value. If your home is not in this condition, you will need to significantly take a price reduction off the comparable sales in the right condition.

3)Lot/View- When you go to a builder you typically pay a premium for a wooded, pond, or private lot. Many of the production builders in Fishers/Carmel etc. charge between a few thousand up to $20,000 When pricing your home take this in to consideration. If you paid $10,000 premium for your wooded lot and the comparable sales back to other homes, add 5-10k on your value! Premium lots bring premium value and interest.

4)Staging/Presentation- Homes that sell present themselves well. Go into a local builder model and analyze, if you don't know any give me a call at 317-513-7695 or email me at aneal@C21SCHEETZ.COM and I can recommend some places to look. These vacant homes are typically staged with furniture and decorated. I have a great staging company to use if you need one. Homes that are staged show the buyer how their furniture is going to fit in the rooms and also make the home show like a model. Major builders and professional stagers know what they are doing so trust your professionals. If you want premium dollar for your home or want to sell in a timely manner, I highly recommend you atleast consider staging. Staging smaller homes can cost under $1,000 and larger homes reach higher costs, but the return on investment is almost always there if you do it right.

5)Hire The Right Professional- If you seek professional Real Estate Counsel, you may be able to get a higher value for your home. The reason for this is the more demand there is for a home and less supply, the higher the price. If all your neighbor's are For Sale By Owner, and you go on the market, you may be able to get a higher price, because on the MLS there is less competition in your neighborhood. More buyer's will see your home which will increase the demand and possibly the value.

All these factors and more can have an impact on value of your home. If you are in the Metropolitan Indianapolis area or Hamilton County, I am here to help you as a Real Estate Professional as well. If you want to know your value or just want some friendly advice,feel free to give me a call or email. My name is Andrew Neal, and I am a top Real Estate Agent at Century 21 Scheetz. You can visit me at www.DealwithNeal.com, call me at 317-513-7695, or email me at aneal@c21scheetz.com. Thank you for reading how to price and prepare your home for sale.

Broad Ripple is located just north of downtown Indianapolis in Marion County. It offers many fun things including bars, top restaraunts ranging from fast food to high-end steakhouses. As growing up on the Northside, the most popular thing to do was the nightlife in Broad Ripple. Once it gets dark, the Broad Ripple strip lights up with 100's of people crowding the streets and all the bars. There are many bar options including sports bars, casual bars, dance clubs, and low key small bars off the strip. There are many outdoor activities to do during the day as well including boating on the white river, walking/running on the Monon Trail which runs from downtown Indianapolis right through the heart of Broad Ripple up to the suburbs. The great thing about Broad Ripple too is that it is only a short drive north to the top shopping malls and restaraunts and a short drive downtown to all downtown has to offer and many people's place of business.

Real Estate in Broad Ripple is extremely popular. It is not unusual to see multiple offers on a home within a few days or weeks. As a top Real Estate Agent in the Broad Ripple area, I typically represent many first time homebuyers purchasing an affordable home. I also represent many sellers ranging from people who are moving from their Broad Ripple Bungalows to a larger home in Meridian Kessler or moving up to larger homes with bigger yards, and higher ranked schools in the suburbs. I also represent many investors who purchase bankowned/reo and HUD properties between 20k-40k and sell them between 100k-120k. Here is a video walk thru of one of our flip properties:

http://www.youtube.com/user/andrewnealgroup#p/u/4/ue16vFdzZBA

There are many great resale homes available right now as well. The hottest area of Broad Ripple is between 62nd(Broad Ripple Ave.) and Kessler Ave. We have sold many homes including these below

1228 Kessler Blvd- Sold in 3 days in 2010!

6130 Kingsley Indy

6173 Ralston Indy

We have sold many others including several in 2010 on Crestview and Norwaldo. We recommend to our buyers to find a home with an updated kitchen, newer windows, newer roof, and refinished hardwoods. You can expect to pay around 150k-200k in the hottest areas. If you go South of Kessler you can find good deals and still close to Broad Ripple Ave. If a buyer wants to purchase for under 120k, the best area is to buy a rehab off an investor for between 100k-120k. Regardless of your price range there are great deals to be had in this market. Feel free to call me personally anytime with any questions or if you would like to see good options in Broad Ripple or if you are considering selling your Broad Ripple Home. You can call me at 317-513-7695 or email me at aneal@c21scheetz.com. My website is www.DealwithNeal.com. Thank you for reading my blog.

Is it a great time to buy? The First Time Homebuyer Tax credit came and went, but people are still buying homes. With low interest rates and great homes on the market, why wouldn't you purchase a home? During the tax credit, buyers would run into multiple offers and loose to a higher bidder. Now, that the $8,000 tax credit is no longer in the reach for buyers that did not have an accepted purchase agreement before the end of April, the above scenario of multiple offers is less frequent, unless you are buying a bank owned property. Bank owned properties are a whole other topic. Buyers feel less pressure to find the home of their dreams versus just trying to get the $8,000 tax credit. So ask yourself the question again, why should I not buy my dream home? If you would like to search available homes including bank owned properties, please visit our free home search at DealwithNeal.com.

John Wright
Century 21 Scheetz
The Andrew Neal Group
Real Estate Agent
317-850-3771
jwright@c21scheetz.com
www.DealwithNeal.com

The rule on investment properties or flipping homes is that if the home is sold for more than 100% of the original purchase price, then it must have two appraisals. Federal Housing Administration (FHA) states that there must be a second appraisal in order for the property to close. This is an FHA rule not a lender rule. The buyer pays for the first appraisal usually through closing costs, but the buyer cannot pay for the second appraisal. Who is the responsible party for the second appraisal? The seller is the responsible party. The seller has to pay for the second appraisal in advance. As Real Estate Agents we must make sure we inform our clients of this from the very beginning.

My perspective on this is that if the buyer already gets closing costs for appraisals, right? The seller is already paying money toward the buyers closing costs, so this should be included into the closing costs. FHA would have to change their rules, so in the meantime, the seller is the responsible party.

Sincerely,

John Wright

Century 21 Scheetz

The Andrew Neal Group

317-814-5530

jwright@c21scheetz.com

www.DealwithNeal.com

The current Real Estate Market has created many fantastic Investment Opportunties throughout the country. Prices are down foreclosures/HUD Homes etc. are coming on the market daily, creating many great chances for investors to buy Real Estate at a discount, rehab the properties, and sell for a profit.

We at The Andrew Neal Group at Century 21 Scheetz in the Indianapolis area love to invest and help other investors profit from buying HUD/Foreclosure Properties, help rehab the property, and then we sell it for a substantial profit. Here is a video below of one of the homes we are working on currently in the South Broad Ripple area on the Northside of Indianapolis, a hot area for investing.

Before:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=99fmH-CmpWc

After:

http://www.youtube.com/user/andrewnealgroup#p/u/3/ue16vFdzZBA

My personal favorite area to invest is in Broad Ripple. In the Broad Ripple Area, we purchase homes typically between 20k-40k cash for our investors and then rehab them for between 25k-35k. The homes are usually HUD, Bankowned, or Estate Sales. We then go on to sell the homes for between 95k-120k. The renovations to the homes typically include, new roof, repaint siding, new windows, restain hardwoods, ceramic tile kitchen, new cabinets in kitchen, new granite countertops, new stainless appliances, paint interior of home beige with white trim, possibly finish basement if numbers work, etc. We then stage the home and put the home on the market. The home's typically sell within 1 day-2 weeks on the market.

The Andrew Neal Group helps investors locate potential properties throughout the Indianapolis area. The most popular places are in Broad Ripple and Eastside Indianapolis. If you would like us to help you with your investing needs feel free to call us at 317-850-3771 or 317-814-5530 or you can email me at aneal@c21scheetz.com. Feel free to also visit us on our custom website www.DealwithNeal.com. Thank you for reading our blog.