A HUGE thanks to Mike Lyon of DoYouConvert.com for allowing us to share this. Tribes author Seth Godin talking about the future for homebuilders at the PCBC 2009 conference where Seth gave the keynote. Highlights of the keynote are on Mike's site and they are great!

This is a great year for consumers to buy new construction residences, especially spec homes. With so few homes being built this year, they will fare very well as resales in the years to come. Ooops....sorry Seth....wrong mindset (watch video).

NON RELATED....Greg will be shooting for HGTV's More Bang For Your Buck this Friday and Saturday in Indianapolis. We'll be shooting three kitchens that have recently been renovated. The episode will air this Fall on HGTV and we'll post air dates as they become available. We'll also have an updated blog post over this coming weekend about the shoot and show as a whole!

Finally....May market data is out. It still is very weak. As we joked to several people we could just change the month at the top of the report and it would look pretty much the same. If you would like a copy please email greg@gregcooper.com.

Have We Lost An Entire Generation of Home Buyers?

I worry a lot.

This meltdown, crash, near depression or (insert your own apocalyptic adjective here) of our economy has got me wondering about the Y generation (you may call them millenials or echo boomers). I've been thinking for some time about the whole concept of our disposable society and the speed of change as it relates to home ownership. It has seemed to me that more and more there's a group of people out there who aspire less to have roots then to have an exit strategy.

It hit me in 2007 when I took a trip to Palo Alto to be a part of a California company's relocation to the Indianapolis area. I was a part of their town hall meeting when they were trying to emphasize the positives of their plant moving several thousand miles east. While one of the positives of the move was certainly housing affordability (Palo Alto is a rather ritzy end of the planet to call home compared to Indy), a number of the attendees were non plused. Yes, there was a lot of angst given that their lives were going to be uprooted. Yet, it was more than that. I got the sense from a number of their best and brightest that owning a home versus renting anywhere was an absolute 'who cares.' It wasn't that they didn't have motivation given the astronomical rent most of these people were paying to share a flat and a bathroom with several absolute strangers in their area. You would think that owning your own 1700 square foot home for HALF of what they were paying to rent with room mates would have appealed to them. It seemed that a number of them were simply not interested. These were bright , aggressive people many among them engineers and other highly educated professionals who had no predisposition other than owning a home was not a priority.

While that trip may have been the starting point, it's been out there a great deal lately and perhaps we 30 and 40 somethings are at least partly to blame. Our culture is more and more of the mindset that walking away from things when they wear out our interest. It's the norm rather than the exception. Spouses, jobs, personal property, economic responsibilities, pets - you name it. Any more if people are tired of it, out it goes. It seems that many of our current young adult generation has just skipped the middle man and decided to keep the fewest roots possible, just in case they get fatigued, like they do with the latest Wii game, with their surroundings.

The home ownership roller coaster started about the time the century turned. Getting a mortgage became like eating at a fast food joint. Place your order, drive around and voila! You're a home owner! Now the tide will flow at an even faster ebb away from ownership. That mindset may increase because we have raised an entire generation of people to dispose of anything they're tired of coupled with the fact that until recently they didn't need savings, a down payment or even significant job stability to buy property. This new world of home ownership is a recipe for a huge cultural, economic change away from said ownership.

Does this generation have the discipline, motivation or even the interest to get back to the future by changing it's ways and actually saving for a house as credit gets cranked down? Will they put off the flat screen TV and latest hot car long enough to think about owning real estate?

Fifteen and twenty percent down payments are a big commit from anyone...let alone a generation that's never really had to make that choice. In the end they ultimately may no longer be interested in doing so.

Questions? Comments? Donations? Greg@GregCooper.com or 317.848.GREG (4734)

Buying a bank owned home is no cakewalk
From Inman News and Tara-Nicholle Nelson

Q: I'm in the middle of buying a house that is a bank-owned foreclosure. It seems like every step of this escrow has been problematic, and I'm wondering if this is a sign that I should not buy this house. For example, we were supposed to close escrow in 30 days, but it's been more than 45 days since the listing agent told us that our offer was being accepted, and I'm just now signing documents. Now they're saying the bank still could take weeks to sign their documents. Is this normal?

A: All across America, Realtors are hearing a low, anguished drone -- like a really loud, really bad case of tinnitus. That sound is the wailing and gnashing of teeth of untold numbers of innocent home buyers in escrow, those brave (but smart) souls who have gotten past their "buyer's block" and decided to take advantage of this buyer's market. What is causing all this toil and trouble? The dramas and traumas of doing a deal with the bank: buying REO properties (foreclosed homes now owned by the bank).

If you are buying anything but a luxury home, REO listings comprise a huge proportion of the homes available for sale in almost every geographical market. So are short sales, but many buyers and Realtors simply refuse to consider short-sale listings (whether this is right is an issue for another column) because they have a relatively low probability of closing and the elements that increase the likelihood of closing are largely out of the hands of the buyer and buyer's broker.

Expect that the bank will not negotiate on price or repairs after your offer is accepted. Expect that the bank's escrow company or closing attorneys will be inefficient and make mistakes, requiring total and complete vigilance on the part of you and your representatives.

Expecting a tumultuous transaction not only prevents surprises, it serves at least two other purposes. First, it will stop you from obsessing over whether your transaction is "normal" and incessantly wondering why your transaction is so rocky, trying to detect some cosmic or karmic significance of the delays and irritations that can be par for the course in REO home-buying. Secondly, it will force you to focus on the vision you are trying to manifest -- the vision of your life in the home after escrow closes.

As such, smart REO buyers obtain exhaustive inspections and really pay attention to their inspectors' reports. With that said, even the normally simple task of obtaining inspections can be a source of drama with REOs. It's common for the utilities to be shut off, and getting them back on can take time and coordination with an overwhelmed listing agent.

Unfair to you, the buyer? Yes. Want to buy an REO property? Then suck it up and live with it, just long enough to get through your escrow. And keep in mind that most REO sellers are amenable to working with first-time home buyers' programs, down-payment assistance programs, providing closing cost credits, taking 100 percent financed offers, and otherwise helping home buyers in ways that individual sellers may not, so the pros of buying an REO can be plentiful.

When REO transactions drag on and on because of the bank's representatives, I've heard buyers ask, "But I thought the banks want to get rid of these properties? I'm trying to take it off their hands -- why don't they want to make it happen faster?"

My reply? Yes, as an institution every bank "wants" to get REO properties off of their portfolio. That is, it is a formal goal of the institution to get them sold. However, any individual transaction relies not on the motivations of the corporate entity, but on the competence, urgency and day-to-day effectiveness of a bunch of individual humans who are not always hard-wired or being compensated in a way that aligns their motivations with the speedy completion of your particular escrow. Will it get done? Probably so. How fast? Depends on the individuals involved.

In the final analysis, if you make sure you're getting a good enough deal to be worth the possible extra stress, you can come out of an REO transaction like a mom coming out of labor -- feeling the effects, but knowing it was well worth it!

THEY'RE GONNA DO WHAT?

Apparently, any of us who are having a side swipe (or head on) with the real estate business at this moment in time are not already suffering enough. Effective 6/1 Fannie May and Freddie Mercury have updated the underwriting engine for loan applications. In english this means changing the requrements for getting a loan.
The result seems to be an increasing denial rates on loan applications by 20%. Additionally if the application was not submitted for underwriting prior to 6/1 there will not be a 100% financing option. What does this mean? If you have not applied with a lender and had your credit pulled and underwriting findings pulled, you're starting over. From Monday 6/2 on it's a new day in the approval process.

Go Directly to Jail.
Here's the question of the week:

Q: I have a property that is worth $500,000 that I am selling for $300,000. I know it is worth $500,000 because I had it appraised recently at that value. A buyer wants to pay me $400,000 and then have me give him $100,000 back after the closing. Is this legal?

Dear 'Frustrated':
If your property is truly worth $500,000, you should get paid that amount and any contract to sell the property should accurately reflect what you are getting paid for it. If your "appraisal" is accurate, you should be receiving that amount in the fair market. In the end, you know what they say. Appraisals are like......well never mind.

To answer your question, giving $100,000 to your buyer after the closing may be illegal on many fronts. If your buyer is obtaining a loan to buy the property, you may be participating in a fraud against the lender by structuring the transaction to deceive the lender into believing that the buyer is putting money down for the purchase when the buyer is actually getting money back after the closing. It may also be illegal under the laws of our state and under your local municipal codes that require you to accurately reflect the sales price for any property sold by you. Please consider a trade with a preforeclosure in Mars Hill before consumating this transaction or at the very least GET AN ATTORNEY.

Give Me An F!
Foreclosures continue to rise nationally, blowing the lid off in the 1st quarter of 2008 compared to the 4th quarter of 2007. Locally it's trending the wrong way as well. In 2007 23.7% of all sales were bank owned. In the first five months of 2008, nearly 29% of all sales were bank owned. Want to be thoroughly depressed? Go take a look at how many foreclosures are in your own zip code at RealtyTrac. It's another important factor in further slowing the absorption of inventory in the current market which is a must before any recovery in the housing market can occur.

Special quality abounds in our House of the Week

It's tough enough to sell a home in this market without any internal issues to deal with in a given property. On the rare occasion that a residence is truly right, the story is an easy one to tell. As things are today, many homes are good....few are great. Great Indiana homes ultimately are a pristine reward for their eventual new owners. The incredibly detailed and intricate craftsmanship is everywhere in this residence and at $797,900, 3969 Chadwick Drive in Carmel is a great home.

Built by Will Wright and completed 8 years ago, there is little detail or true quality left out. From the endless hand crafted wood work to the constant attention to every well thought out design element, it's difficult to find a flaw and probably would be well in excess of $900,000 to reproduce if you could find a comperable lot. With great complimentary community amenities like the
Arts and Design District,the sparkling new fifty five million dollar Monon Fitness Center and the Indiana and national award winning Carmel Clay Schools, it's an area that enjoys great quality of life.

The home is a daylight ranch with complete exposure on the lower level. It has four solid bedrooms with the potential for a fifth on the lower level. There is a grand gourmet Kitchen and Great Room combination that pulls all who enter into the center of the main level. From the double ovens to center island and into the Great Room, it's a remarkable area.

Sitting just to the right of the flat screen is the Sun room entrance, a bright and picturesque retreat that works beautifully for office or a quiet reading or relaxing area.

The main level also boasts the Master Suite with spacious sitting area and roomy, opulent bath and walk in closets. The laundry also occupies the main level and here's a rarity: The laundry actually has abundant room for appliances, folding space and an entire wall of cabinetry above a secretarial area. In today's new homes too often the laundry areas are depleted, but not here.

The lower level has bedroom space, exercise and storage with the highlight being the rec area.

Billards, theater viewing and a cozy fireplace combine with the wet bar to set the perfect entertaining location. This is a part of the home that could have great access to the rear yard, a perfectly manicured stretch that the current owner has considered a pool on and has the renderings to illustrate the possibility.

One of the unspoken high points to this home in Carolina Commons is that is sits on a remarkably convenient location. Just north of 106th and Haverstick and backed up in the neighborhood to a family estate, this marvelous residence/location package are a fantastic combination that's rarely found in today's marketplace. You can view the complete visual tour here or you can contact us directly for more information.

Greg@GregCooper.com or 317.848.GREG (4734)

Here's a novel idea........

Two very bright guys named Brian Boero and Mark Davison at 1000wattblog.com, have created a video from research they've done about the real estate climate or more specifically the real estate client. While I'm not in 100% agreement with every sentiment (I happen to think it helps that customers know I'm a real person), there is a real education to be had in this video. More to the point, I'd love to know what YOU think about the thoughts expressed in this one minute capsule. Feel free to email me....agree, disagree or digress. Greg@GregCooper.com

I am not a lead

From Mama Carolla's to Bub's. Midwest Living hits the Monon Trail.

In the May/June edition of Midwest Living, Donna Segal and her husband bike from Broad Ripple north along the 16 mile expanse of the Monon Trail and ruin my diet with Mistro Mare from Mama Carolla's,
cookies from Rene's Bakery and a full frontal view of The Big Ugly burger from Bub's, among other things. It's a wonderful piece that maps the trail from 54th street north to Main Street in Carmel where Bub's, Bazeaux and Ferrin's Fruit Winnery all sit within a short block. Touting a million Monon users a year, this is a great piece on our city and region that appears on a national scope. I think the over/under on weight gain just from reading the piece is 5 pounds.


Builder's numbers from Indianapolis continue to slide with the pace for new homes to be right at 4500 built in 2008, down 60% from the annual average just 3 years ago. Meanwhile the local housing stats are grim but with some faint flickers of light down the tunnel. Local sales of preexisting homes are off anywhere from 10%to 40% depending upon which geography you're in with some micro price points suffering more than others. The entire market is razor thin right now with there being little logic as to what sells and how. The general rule of thumb is that unique sells as long as it hits the highest demand for the market. Great houses sell in most cases. Good houses sit - unless they're priced in an incredibly aggressive manner. First time home buyers should be out in droves but they're not for several reasons. They are still hesitant because of all of the bad press and they're still uncertain because of how tight the lending standards have become in the last 60 days. The easy money of the past 15 years is gone. Right now we're essentially in a risk based lending world, with credit scores, income and down payment driving what a prospective buyer can obtain in the way of financing. The ability and experience of the Mortgage agent is EVERYTHING in the pursuit of a home purchase right now.

The day is coming when listing a home for sale will mean much more than a local MLS posting. There are multiple national platforms that are battling for that brand position and if I had to lay money down, I'd say Zillow will emerge eventually as the leader. Zillow allows anyone to post a home for sale and in some cases post a 'hypothetical' home for sale so that potential sellers can see what demand there may be for their property. Of all national real estate hits, Realtor.com still commands about 9% of the initial search hits but Zillow is growing at over 4% while Realtor.com's numbers are shrinking. Will that make all Realtors obsolete? In a word, no. The future will require Brokers to be vastly skilled in the practice of analysis and presentation rather than simply just spooning out proprietary information as has been the case in the past. Those who don't, won't surivive. Those who master these tools will flourish and be highly sought after.

Comments....questions.....donations:
Greg@GregCooper.com or 317.848.GREG (4734)

Earth Week 2008: It's not just for tree huggers anymore.

Breaking News. I'm late to the party. The effort to recognize
'saving the planet'
began decades ago and even though I remember vividly planting a tree with my elementary school class on Earth Day, I've never fully embraced the concept. Not that I disagreed with it mind you, it's just that either I didn't have the time or was far too shallow and self centered to get it.

Well I've come around. No, I won't be making any appearances at TreeHuggers anonymous anytime soon (Hi I'm Greg and I'm a tree hugger) but suddenly having a conscience about the condition of the world we live in has become clear. It's not just any one thing that has changed my view, perhaps it was many. Perhaps it was my eight year old watching someone toss a bag of trash on the highway and ask me why they would. Perhaps it was the recognition of how magnificent a Bradford Pear looks on an Indiana Spring day. Perhaps I'm just getting older and am finally realizing what am amazing world we live in. Perhaps it was the simple understanding that my personal business can be done in a way that uses less of everything perishable than it did two years ago.

I'm not interested in simply putting people out of work to make certain a specific strain of weed has more of a natural environment to procreate in but I am interested in balance. Balance between doing one's job or living one's life and doing so in a way that doesn't trash the world around us. In other words a simple effort to exist without gobbling every usable resourse around us when it's not necessary to do so. For me, technology has actually furthered the Earth Day cause.

Technology has brought my real estate business to a point that we can almost go paperless if we make the effort. Frankly we should be going paperless because it's easier and it's better for the world we live in. We're at the point today where very little cannot be scanned and filed electronically. In fact we do that after every real estate closing we have. Our company sets up a web storage for every document that takes place during a transaction and maintains it for seven years after the closing. We should, as an industry be doing it for every aspect of a transaction from listing a property to the day it closes. Yard signs made from recycled paper, creating recycling stations at our offices, finding ways to cut office energy costs and yes, giving up the industry mandated Sedan DeVille in favor of a more fuel efficient way of getting around would all help. If the real estate business would take the lead and make an effort to reduce our carbon footprint, think about the results it would cause. We would instantly raise awareness of eco friendly policies simply through our marketing and frankly we would get a little love from a general public who often views us as one level above ambulance chasers in the business food chain.

So let's all make an effort. Not to throw out the baby with the bath water like many who are utterly hypocritical about green, but to just do what each of us honestly and reasonably can to 'do well by doing good.' In the meantime why don't we finish on a lighter note with a rant by my good friend Lewis Black on Earth Day 2007. He spares no one...which is why I've always liked Lewis.



Questions? Comments? Donations? Greg@GregCooper.com or 317.848.GREG (4734).

Taking Stock(dale). Where are we? The American economy feels a bit like that phrase uttered by Ross Perot's running mate, Admiral James Stockdale during his vice presidential debate a number of years ago.

"Who Am I? Why am I here? How did I get here"?

Contradictions abound as to where we actually are right now. Oil prices are skyrocketing due to demand (by the way with China putting 2500 NEW vehicles on the road every day, don't expect that to get better anytime soon). Consumer confidence has reached it's worst point in more than a decade and banks and major lending institutions are being watched daily for some stress point that could lead to a failure. Recession? Recession? RECESSION? (he says in Jim Mora like amazement). Of course we're in a recession. We don't need two quarters of documented history to tell us that. Yet despite all of that the stock market seems to have stabilized over the past week or so. While I don't agree with the overall observation that mortgage rates are historically low, many do feel that's the case. NOTE: In my mind, far too many people have 5.0%+- mortgages obtained in the '04-'05 years to think 6.0% is a 'good deal.'

While the credit crunch has lead to significantly more stringent guidelines for getting a mortgage, don't think anyone with a pulse couldn't get a VISA card right now. I think even this guy would qualify today:

While the unsecured credit market has become a dead man's party at this moment in history, that too should tighten some as lenders take a pounding this year from defaults on bank cards and the like. Frankly that couldn't come soon enough. It is beyond ridiculous how easy it is to get unsecured credit given how easy it is to wipe it out and start over. It's also a major contributor to identify theft, another problem plaguing the 'good credit' market.


So where does that leave us in the housing market? The summary version is that I still believe, as I have for months, that those who buy homes in our current environment over the long haul, will look at it as one of the best investments of their lives. The cost of building new product will never be less than it is today. If you're a seller, forget trying to understand the market. It's not about price point, meaning you're better off at $250K than $800K. What's selling today is unique.

Well perhaps not quite this unique but unique none the less.

By my definition what qualifies as unique in Today's New World Of Real Estate is a home that fits the perfect need of an active and motivated buyer in the market place. Sound simple? It's not. There aren't that many of those active and motivated buyers out there. If you are one of those, try and avoid this pitfall: Don't think when you find the home that fits your wish list you are going to offer .60 on the dollar and buy it. The overall market has already forced that property into a price contraction. If it hadn't, you wouldn't be looking at it.

When will it all come back? Oh that's easy. When new construction grinds to a complete hault so that current inventories are absorbed and employment and wage growth occur, thus reinvigorating demand to the point where it exceeds supply. Pretty simple stuff and economically sound....and no if you're wondering I didn't write it but I agree wholeheartedly. The time is coming when we will see prices begin to rise but in the meantime, don't believe everything you read about how horrid it is out there. There are challenges but the cycle will turn.

Questions? Comments? Donations? Greg@GregCooper.com or 317.848.GREG

A great commercial for Indy, taking care of the mother ship and a National MLS....

A bit of positive in all of the negative news we've had lately about our economy. Local recording artist Jon McLaughlin has a release out titled Indiana which he's graciously allowed the Indianapolis Chamber of Commerce to use in their marketing via the web. You can view the video by going to the Chamber of Commerce web site.

We would also encourage you to support Jon's work at his home page as well. I've heard the song 'For You From Me' about four times and it's already stuck in my head. Thanks Jon for such a great piece of work and the opportunity for our state to be presented in such a good way!

While I'm making a rare foray into music, here's another one for you. My friend Jim Swinson's alter ego is
Pamilco Joe, an environmentally friendly musician from North Carolina that has worked tirelessly educating kids about taking care of the world we live in. His CD's play every night in our house (I can sing them in my sleep) and are a great investment if you spend any time around children. Jim and his better half, Clearwater Flow have played multiple times at the White House and the Smithsonian Zoo. He and his multi talented band are on their 2008 World Tour right now performing at schools, festivals and gatherings spreading the word.

National MLS?
Real Estate site Zillow has begun the inevitable process of forming a national MLS by signing on their first client in Connecticut yesterday. All homes for sale in the state of Connecticut will be on Zillow which is an incredibly user friendly site. Should Realtors be concerned? Uh, yes. Not because it will make us obsolete but because like every service industry, the cream of the crop will survive and the rest will not. It's no coincidence that one of Zillow's founding members was a part of Expedia.com who, along with Priceline and Travelocity and countless other sites have basically put travel agents out of business. 10 months ago I wrote a piece about how the parallel of the travel and real estate industry would mean massive changes for all involved in the process of selling property. I believe in that parallel now more than ever. In a nutshell, here is is:

As Realtors, our value in the future will come not from proprietary information but in the analysis and guidance we give people based on that information.

Mull this over. If you're a consumer, I'd appreciate your thoughts by email or phone contact points listed at the bottom of the post.

Nightly real estate rates mixed
30-year fixed rate at 5.66%; 10-year Treasury yield at 3.34%
Long-term mortgage interest rates ended Wednesday mixed, and the benchmark 10-year Treasury bond yield dropped to 3.34 percent. The 30-year fixed-rate average held steady at 5.66 percent, while the 15-year fixed rate gained to 5.09 percent. The 1-year adjustable rate rose to 5.42 percent. The 30-year Treasury bond yield slipped to 4.21 percent.Rates and bonds are current as of 7:15 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. Mortgage rate figures are according to Bankrate.com, which publishes nightly averages based on its survey of 4,000 banks in 50 states. Points on these mortgages range from zero to 3.5.


As always...questions....comments.....donations: Greg@GregCooper.com or
317-848-GREG (4734)

Stupid Is As Stupid Does

Apparently it's catching. The stupid gene, disease, virus, etc., is making the rounds to a degree that would make Mama Gump quiver with disgust. Yes, in an era that finds us in the worst real estate market in 30 years, we still have a mass worship at the alter of dumb and dumber. Locally, Indiana house leader Pat Bauer insisted on passing a tax relief bill that exempts two northern Indiana counties from a constitutional limit of a one percent cap on property taxes against the valuation of the home. Lake and St. Joseph's counties, prepare to get Ned Beaty in Deliverance style treatment. The only reason I care at all about this is because I'm originally from 'the region' and I hate the fact that Pat and his cronies can now stick it to the people that still live in those counties. The other teeny little issue could be the fact that it may make the whole amendment unconsitutional and we'll have to go through this entire damn charade again if that's the case....and why wouldn't it be?








Does anyone think the residents of Lake and St. Joseph counties won't fight this thing? If all of the work of the most recent general assembly becomes for naught, let's call for Pat's rug on a stick, shall we?

Next there's the genuises at Countrywide Mortgage. Terribly managed at the corporate level, they're now in the business of owning as much real estate as possible. Recently our brokerage had a home that had been listed for sale starting at $800,000 for over a year that had dropped to $675,000 with CW holding the mortgage. As it became a short sale (upside down) with NO offers on the home until it reached the $675K mark, it finally got an offer that was accepted by CW at $650K.

Their appraiser came to do a final appraisal on the home prior to the new buyer closing. The CW appraiser decided that even though the home had not sold at every price point from $800K on down to $675K where it finally got an offer, they would value it at $750,000 and subsequently blow the only offer to purchase they would have in over a year. Genius. That was the second such dealing we've had with Countrywide in the last six months that has ended like this. We all know what they say about fool me once....


Ahhh.....then there's the whole Bear Stearns fiasco that took a stock price of $80+- a share on 3/10/2008 and turned it into $2 a share 6 days later. This situation is much more complicated with liquidity and investment placement issues but the bottom line is that one of America's leading finiancial institutions has fallen faster than Humpty Dumpty. Thousands of employees are out of work, retirement portfolios are gone and massive uncertainly crowds the financial markets. Is there another Wall Steet shoe to drop along with Bear? Let's hope not. The fragile psyche of the consumer doesn't need any more bad news.

Let's switch gears to conclude with a little good news. Of a more pure and simple fun nature, I had the pleasure of watching, filming and nearly getting arrested participating in the Indy St. Patty's day parade with my step son Jack on 3/17. It was cold, blustery and no one cared. Many people that we know don't really understand Jack's interest in Irish Dance. Well here it is: I'm sure even at his age the 4-1 ratio of females to males isn't all bad. From our end it's physical, mental and social requiring discipline and a personal investment from him. Everyone's a specialist in this day and age and if that specialty helps you grow into a better person, I'm all for it. It's a long way from politics, home mortgage nightmares and Wall Street but right now, that's not all bad.

Questions....commments.....contact: Greg@GregCooper.com or 317-848-GREG (4734)

It's not brain surgery.....well ok, maybe it is.
Pricing a home to get to the closing table in this market is no easy task. It requires putting your emotion aside and simply analyzing the market if you want to sell a home in the Indianapolis area. Here are a few blunt thoughts on how to approach and survive the process....




This week for no extra charge, I've offered a couple of points on staging your home as you prepare to put it on the market. Believe it or not, buyers actually frown on homes that have the life size snow globe still out front in February.



Interest rates have been down, up and then down again over the past couple of weeks. Inflation fears sparked the upward trend while the pressure of the reduction of the prime rate by the Federal reserve has worked to hold rates in check. Current 30 year fixed rates sit at 5.74% for a 30 year loan. Please contact your lending institution for rates based on the program that is appropriate for you.

On Monday, February 11th we'll take an in depth look at the sales numbers for the first month of 2008 and see where we're headed as we begin the new year. It's getting better, right? It has to be getting better.....I'm sure it's getting better....no doubt the numbers have risen and we are starting to see an up turn in the market! Right. We'll see on Monday.

Comments....questions....contact.....Greg@GregCooper.com or 317.848.GREG(4734)

Update 1/24.....The Governor's property tax reduction plan passed through the Indiana House headed for the state Senate on Thursday. If it gets through the Senate and signed, it would limit taxes to 1% of a home's assessed value per year. It was a bipartisan effort and is badly needed to help property values in Indiana. We'e should have a better idea on it's final fate next week.

Update 1/23....another trickle of good news! On this morning's Today Show Suze Orman added her 2 cents about how now was a great time to buy a home. I know it's just Suze Orman but it's still a national platform speading the word that homeowners and potential sellers need. Since the current market challenges are by and large psychological in nature, good news is welcome on any media stage. Aside from Tuesday's rate reduction, many market experts are expecting another 3/4 point rate cut during the week of January 28, 2008. IF that occurs, it would be the most significant reduction in more than 50 years.

The Federal Reserve cut the prime lending rate 3/4 of a point on 1/22 in an emergency session. The Fed is looking to stave off a recession that the real estate industry has been telling them is coming for nearly a year. Thanks for listening Fed Governors, albeit MONTHS after the fact. Had you been paying attention last summer perhaps some of this pain could have been avoided. It will take some time for it to affect retail mortgage rates, however. While you're enjoying that...here's The Real Estate Minute for the week of 1/21/08 which looks backwards, forwards and to Pluto.



This Week's Bonus Topic: How far should municipalities go to encourage 'public' projects in a community?


Carmel has spent millions in it's quest to become a city of destination and quality lifestyle with it's currently being constructed Performing Arts Center and it's Arts and Design District. The City of Indianapolis has numerous such projects including one of the newest, the Cultural Trail. Speedway, Greenwood and several other suburbs are working on civic improvements as well. The ever increasing question has become how much taxpayer or for that matter private money should be spent in developing these types of projects in order to improve quality of life? Further, should communities spend this money with an 'if you build it, they will come mentality'? By this I mean should these projects be done with the intent of drawing in future tax dollars to fund already completed improvements. The desire to have our communities raise their quality of life has ignited a debate over how much is too much when it comes to spending tax dollars to 'seed' an area's improvements in lifestyle. At no point in our area's history has this become more apparent than now when the property tax debate has raged on about what monies should be spent where both today and in the future. It's clear that our insane property tax increase of '07 will get resolved to a degree this Spring. What isn't clear as to what financial sacrifices we'll be willing to make in the future to fund those quality of life improvements.
Questions or comments....you can always find me here:
317-848-GREG (4734) or Greg@GregCooper.com

Here it comes...2008 is already on us. Subprime mortgage messes, property taxes, over supply of homes, changing Indiana property value...take your pick. It's all going to affect real estate in 2008 and what could be more exciting than hearing me talk about it? For just over a minute and a half, peer into the crystal ball with me and find out. For those of you dozing off during the video there will be a vitual class monitor walking the digital aisles with a ruler to keep your attention. As you may notice even though this is factual information, one can't take themself too seriously. On January 21, I'll have a video "state of the market" that will provide an overall summary and some specific predictions as to where we're headed this year.




As always if you have comments or questions, here's where to find me:

Greg@GregCooper.com or 317.848.GREG (4734)

Giving Thanks

2007 has brought many opportunities to The Richwine Group.....from the former Christel Dehaan residence that closed by mid 2007.....




....to this amazing 40 acre property in west Clay Township, also recognized as the former Hilbert Mansion. Could there be a new owner in this home's future?




The former Hilbert Estate has been rumored to be sold on multiple occasions. No matter what you read anywhere, there has been no sale to date on the former Hibert residence at 1143 West 116th Street in Carmel, Indiana.

Below is another one of the Indiana and the midwest's finest estates now also offered by the The Richwine Group. It is a stunning Geist Lake area property with nearly 6 acres on the secluded northern shore.



We have been blessed with great success again in 2007. We look forward to serving the Indianapolis area for years to come thanks to the great people we are privileged to work with. Thank you and have a joyous holiday season!

Greg Cooper 317.848.GREG(4734) or greg@gregcooper.com