Team Endicott

I don't watch the news any more. Nothing good is reported, especially in the real estate world. I know it's bad. I don't need to see a bunch of for sale signs on the news and for Bob Donaldson on WXIN to tell me it's bad to know it's bad. I'm 20+ years into residential sales. When you are in it that long you "feel" the market. The bad stats and news just beat it into you! So I don't watch the news to ease the beating!

Everyone I talk with asks me the same question, "Are we at the bottom yet?" My answer is typically a positive swing on a negative topic, "Homes are still selling and it's a great time to be a buyer!" None of us know when it's going to get better. We all are just hoping for signs of improvement. Our team and a few other really hard working agents/teams have had a good year this year, but we all know the market is tough right now.

In preparation for a listing presentation I typically pull some stats on the area and neighborhood for which I about to visit. About a week ago I was preparing for a meeting and ran across some stats that made me think I had mixed some numbers up. But low and behold I found some positive numbers among the bad numbers.

First, let me explain the bad numbers. The chart below shows the total homes sold in Fishers, Indiana from January 1 through October 31 for 2006, 2007 and 2008. Not a good trend line for most of us.

However, chart number 2 isolates the 3rd quarter for each of those years. Although still down from 2006, the third quarter of 2008 was actually up from 2007!

I'm sure the entire real estate industry is not going to jump for joy based on this one small fact for Fishers, Indiana (approximately 65,000 residents). But at least its a small glimmer of light during a very dark period of time in real estate! A piece of positive news that probably won't make the evening news, but at least I saw it!

Tom Endicott 317-388-2424

Thank you, Jeremy Strahm with Woodland Mortgage Partners, for providing the following blog! If you would like to obtain a new mortgage, refinance or have questions about forclosure you can reach Jeremy at 317-402-1173 or jeremy@woodlandmortgagepartners.com.

The current mortgage crisis is creating some horrific history; but you don't have to become one of the depressing statistics. Protect yourself from financial calamity by understanding your mortgage, being honest with your lender, and respecting your budgetary limitations.

While the root cause of the current credit crisis and housing turmoil can be traced to a wide variety of factors-including some predatory lending practices-hindsight is always sharper than foresight. In order to act now to guard yourself from the looming threat of this mortgage chaos, it's imperative that you first get to know your home loan so that you can make appropriate financial decisions.

Tips for home mortgage protection

Here are some ways to protect yourself:

• If you have an adjustable rate mortgage, strongly consider refinancing out of it into a safer and more dependable fixed-rate variety. Otherwise, rates could spike and leave you with an unwieldy monthly payment.
• Paying interest only is extremely risky, because you can make payments for years without effectively reducing your overall mortgage debt. Avoid interest-only or negative amortization loans like the plague during this current real estate climate.
• If you're facing foreclosure, seek out professional financial guidance from your lender or from a credit counseling agency. Lenders are eager to avoid defaults, and may be willing to work out new mortgage terms to help you weather the storm.
• Your current lender may penalize you for paying off your mortgage early, so before you refinance, check the small print on your loan documents. If necessary, ask your lender to waive that requirement. Some consumers have succeeded in getting those penalties removed, so challenging them is well worth the effort.

Well, after 20 years of home selling experience (over 33 when adding in Jennifer and Pam's experience) we thought it is time to finally blog! As a past manager of a couple of different company offices managing at one point 120 Realtors and as an owner of the RE/MAX Ability Plus Fishers office I have seen good Realtors and bad Realtors. We have structured our services, attitudes and actions based on what we have learned from both. Our team is very competent in handling real estate transactions. That process is very mechanical. We do it day in and day out. However, what we have found is that it's not the mechanics that make agents successful. It's the relationship building that makes an agent successful. We are approached all the time from people trying to sell us new technology to increase our business. Technology is great, but it's still a relationship business. And the relationships agents make must be more than a real estate relationship. What we have found isif you care about people and truly have their interest at heart and want to and are willing to help them, the home sales will take care of themselves. So we are lucky to be in that position - the position of helping people. What are we able to help people with the most? Education! We firmly believe education is the foundation of all transactions. With my background in training agents and Jennifer's background as an assistant principal in MSD Perry Township educating our clients comes naturally. So, coming full circle in this our first blog, our intent with all our blogs will be to educate and to share knowledge! We look forward to communicating with you.