This week marked the start of a new experience as I leave Keller Williams Realty where I've been for half a decade.  After an intense interview process, evaluation phase, and ultimate decision, I decided to join RE/MAX Affiliates in Valparaiso, Indiana. My new real estate office has a wonderful broker and features an atmosphere of success with blended with professional humility. We have many proven agents with years of experience who've seen many different markets, and have great support from RE/MAX OF INDIANA as well as a huge national referral network of over 87,000 agents at last count. 

It is the national power of the brand that sets RE/MAX apart.  The company was the 2011 recipient of the prestigous J.D. Power and Associates award as the top-rated Real Estate company for customer satisfaction. According to another study by REALTrends 500, RE/MAX agents are the most productive agents in the country, averaging more sides than any other competitor.  Locally in Porter County and Valparaiso, our offices are in the top 5 in gross sales with an established sales force.  The company offers a fair and rewarding commission structure, and the technical tools I desire to grow my business. And furthermore, the company's preferred charities include Children's Miracle Network Hospitals and the Susan G. Komen Foundation to which I can lend support.

Joining a proven market leader offers me the ability to expand my service, reach my potential, and pursue the long-term opportunity in this strong franchise.  I'm very thankful for all I've learned and achieved at Keller Williams Realty, but very excited to journey into the future with RE/MAX.

A bright light in the housing market, Porter County Indiana realized a 46% increase in home sales this September 2011 over September 2010 numbers. Closed home sales grew from 109 units to 160 units in this Northwest Indiana county according to the Indiana Association of REALTORS. The 51 unit increase was the largest of all counties in Indiana. Other bright trends include a decrease in listing inventory, a decrease in months supply of inventory, and an increase in the sales price vs. original list price percentage difference. 

Porter Co., Indiana is at the southern end of Lake Michigan about 1 hour from Chicago, Illinois. Valparaiso, Chesterton, Porter, Portage, Kouts, and Hebron are all located in Porter County. The county has seen good relocation numbers possibly associated with a good and varied economy, lower property taxes than neighboring counties and states, several regional universities within it's boundaries, as well as the construction of a new Porter Hospital.

As an incentive to stimulate home building and add jobs, the Valparaiso City Council voted Monday, April 25th to waive three building permit fees thru October 2012. The waived fees include the permit fee, sewer connection charge, and park impact fees.  The waiver is an effort to lower the cost of home ownership and move some of the approximatley 1,100 vacant buildable lots within the city.  Only 32 building permits were pulled by builders in the year 2010.

The move should come as good news to many affected in the challenging economy including new home buyers, area developers, builders, subcontractors, and building supply stores. It should help to reduce the barriers to entry, and lower the ultimate cost of home ownership.  The City of Valparaiso reportedly has a strong financial position, and feels the incentive is important for job creation while maintaining relatively low tax rates for residents.

--Matt Evans, Keller Williams Realty www.themattevansteam.com       

Qualified buyers should act fast to purchase their favorite home. The FHA is making an upward adjustment to the Mortgage Insurance Premium percentage monthly fee. Currently MI is at .90%. However on April 18th, 2011, MI is rising to 1.15%.  This means that for a loan amount of $200,000, where the monthly MI charge is $150 per month, the new monthly charge will be $191.67 per month, or $41.67 more. 

This increase also acts to decrease the purchasers buying power as they will qualify for less loan because of the additional monthly expense load.  In order to cover the $41.67 per month, the buyer's loan amount would need to be reduced by $7,000. 

So homebuyers utilizing low downpayment FHA loans who are currently prequalified should work closely with their real estate agents to identify and pursue their next home now.  

Matt Evans--Keller Williams Realty, Northwest Indiana and Northern Colorado

Special thanks to Mike Forrest of Real Estate Resource Home Loans in Northwest Indiana for providing the data used in this article.

As Illinois put higher personal and corporate income taxes into effect in order to balance the budget, Indiana has begun to receive a windfall in those seeking to relocate.  Near Chicago, in Northwest Indiana, business leaders, government officials, and REALTORs are reporting increasing inquiries from Illinois residents looking to escape the higher taxes and maintain a reasonable commute to downtown Chicago.

The higher taxes have compounded a problem of an already high cost of living for Chicago area residents.  From high property taxes to high sales taxes, residents were ready to seek relief.  Property taxes in Northwest Indiana are quite a bit lower than in the adjoining Illinois counties.  While Lake County Indiana costs a bit more, Porter County property taxes can be 1/2 to even 2/3 less than the Illinois counties charge.

In most areas, median house prices are less as well.  In the Porter County Seat of Valparaiso, the 2010 median price for a single family home was just under $175,000, and has remained stable for at least three years.  In contrast, median home prices Illinois suburbs are much higher.  Orland Park has a median price approaching $250,000, and in prime locations like Naperville, the median price has gone above the $300,000 mark.   

This week alone, the Matt Evans Team fielded inquiries from a few people looking to sell their homes in Illinois and relocate to Indiana.  Some are even sales people and small business owners who are considering a business relocation if possible.  The team expects the trend to continue throughout the year, with a peak in the summer Lake Michigan Beach tourism season when many Illinois residents visit Portage, Chesterton, Michigan City, and other Northwest Indiana and Southwestern Michigan towns. 

This article is submitted by Matt Evans, Broker Associate with Keller Williams Realty of Northwest Indiana. For more information on this and other real estate topics, visit www.TheMattEvansTeam.com. 

Distressed home sales make up a fair share of the home sales market in Northwest Indiana, but not nearly the number in other markets around the country.  While exact figures are hard to uncover due to listing classification differences, a little over 11% of homes sold in Valparaiso (91 homes total) were either short sales or foreclosed (REO) home sales as shown in the GNIAR MLS. This figure does not include non-MLS or tax sale proceedings that were held by Porter County, so the ultimate figure is undoubtedly a bit higher.  As a comparison with an extremely distressed home market, California's figures have approached 30-40% distressed as a percent of total home sales. 

Matt Evans, Broker Associate with Keller Williams Realty, says his team had success in selling several distressed properties in 2010, and some others on very slim margins.  His team sold a handful of the financially distressed homes and land in the region, including REOs, short pay or short sales, and auction homes from South Haven, Valparaiso, Laporte, Chesterton, Crown Point, and Porter areas.  His team also has several homes currently listed as short sales, and is currently working with buyers to seek HUD homes and REOs that are coming on the market. 

According to Matt, the key to selling any distressed property is "professional marketing, including great marketing remarks, top-quality photos, visual tours, while having a clean, presentable,and showable home.  Also, knowing the property and it's surroundings, as well as handling objections and concerns up-front with full disclosure solidifies prospective buyers and sellers with a better understanding from the start." 

Matt also says it takes a seller willing to work for the success of the sale, especially in short pay situations, and preparing and pricing the home right from the start to get offers on the property.  And he says buyers must be willing to do some due diligence on the front end of the purchase with a calculated financial risk sometimes, such as paying for home inspections or appraisals, especially at auctions and as-is sales where it is "buyer beware".

While likely to be under 15% of the market in Valpo, distessed properties will still continue to be an important part of the market as new inventory continues to hit the market and affect average home price for years to come. 

The content of this blog is provided by Matt Evans, Keller Williams Realty as information about the local NWI real estate market.  For more information on buying or selling homes in Northwest Indiana, contact Matt thru his website at www.TheMattEvansTeam.com. 

Valparaiso residential home sales in 2010 remained relatively stable in year-over-year comparisons versus 2009 figures.  GNIAR MLS data shows that while unit sales were slightly down from 815 units to 809 units, median sales price remained identical to 2009 at $174,900.  Average days on market stayed at 84 days, and the average house sold square footage was stable at 1921 SF. 

On the inventory side, as of January 1, 2011 there were 587 single-family homes on the market, with a total months supply of inventory (MSI) figure of 9.7 months.  Most experts consider a 6.0 MSI figure as a balanced market, so overall the Valpo market is still considered a buyer's market in single-family homes.  When looking at various price levels, however, this figure is slightly skewed by the high months supply of inventory at higher prices, especially above $400,000 where a 15 to 45 MSI is noted.  A balanced market is evident under $100,000, and no more than an 8 MSI is noted up to $199,999 so there are pockets of market strength for sellers. 

Porter County MSI was 10.3 months as the year 2010 came to a close.  A slightly weaker market is evident for Porter County Indiana overall vs. Valparaiso at the $150,000 to $300,000 ranges, however that is a typical market condition as Valparaiso has stronger home sales in these price categories.  In fact, Valparaiso addresses accounted for over 52% of Porter County homes sales in 2010. 

For those looking to relocate to the area, MSI and other figures like sale price vs. list price are important indicators of buying power.  However, they may also indicate the stability of the home market in this particular part of the midwest that has varied and continued employment with it's proximity to big cities such as Chicago, service and manufacturing jobs, big industry, and still plenty of agriculture. 

This information is provided by Broker Associate Matt Evans of Keller Williams Realty Leaders using information from the Greater Northwest Indiana Association of REALTORS GNIAR MLS. Matt can be reached at 219-241-8401 or www.themattevansteam.com for more information.

Where a slowdown is created in the REO or foreclosure market, opportunities may be enhanced for buyers and sellers of distressed properties. As lenders with assets headed toward foreclosure consider slowing the process, bank asset managers may be more inclined to negotiate short payoffs in coming months. 

A short sale is where the lienholders (or mortgage holders) of a property will take a payoff from sale that is less than the principal, interest, and fees owned to the lienholder on that property. This shortage in some cases will be forgiven by the lender, and the seller or property owner can avoid foreclosure.  This keeps the home (bank asset) from deteriorating and losing value in the foreclosure process, creating a sale of the property prior to foreclosure.

Many things can affect the success of short sales, including the buyer's patience, the seller's financial status, the number of loans and lienholders, and the quality of the negotiator, they can be successful.  According to Matt Evans, his team has negotiated, thru a third party, several successful short sales in Indiana and Colorado, and each property poses it's own challenges. He says "it's important to have a willing and responsive seller, and a patient buyer in for the long haul." It can often take 60-90 days to successfully negotiate a sale, and streams of paperwork are required along the way. 

Matt notes, "Especially in the Northwest Indiana GNIAR MLS region we are working, sellers have to price their home slightly below market value, and be willing to do price drops until an acceptable contract is achieved. From there, the processing really begins on the short sale."

Many good sources exist for short sale information, and each state and each lender requires different forms and information.  Most states require a short sale disclosure, that set the terms and expectations for both parties as the short sale moves forward. If you are expecting to be short on the sale of your home, be sure to meet with a real estate agent (REALTOR) with experience to get the job done.

For more information, go to www.themattevansteam.com and click on the REO and short sale link, or click on http://www.themattevansteam.com/atj/user/AdditionalGetAction.do?pageId=192085  for more information. 

--Matt Evans, Keller Williams Realty, Northwest Indiana and Northern Colorado   

The Matt Evans Team put two great homes under contract this past week in LaPorte and Valparaiso, Indiana. 

3428 Kama Drive in LaPorte is a NASB REO/foreclosure that will close within the next 7 days. It is a fantastic all brick two story home in golf course community and great deal to first time homebuyer!   

The home at 726-1 Imperial in Valparaiso is a newly renovated home at under $100,000 in short sale with Bank of America. We got formal approval within 3 days of formal contract, after having preliminary approval already arranged. Had the great pleasure of working with a very responsive Seller on this property.  It's fantastic when requests are made by the negotiator and acted upon very quickly by the Seller who wants to avoid foreclosure, and who will get a forgiveness of the short debt.

Thanks to responsive banks, flexible Seller & Buyer, and a great negotiator, we are on our way to closing on two nice homes in Indiana for our clients.  For more great homes, visit www.TheMattEvansTeam.com.

Month's supply of inventory in single family housing went up nearly across the board versus July figures as fall approached the region in Northwest Indiana.  Only the $300K-$400K and $750K-$1M categories saw a slight decrease in inventories in Valparaiso, while Porter County's numbers only improved in the $750-$1M range.   

In Porter County, home sales in August one month solds dropped from 99 to 94, while home sales in Valparaiso actually increased from 51 to 56 single family units.  The difference in Valpo was that single family home supply vs. July figures went up from 615 homes to 709 homes.  Total inventory also climbed in Porter County 

With interest rates at historic lows, buyers are still exercising some caution while looking for great deals when purchasing a home.  Market sentiment is that some sellers may now be putting their homes on the market after waiting an extended period for the market to "recover".  September 2010 home sales and inventory numbers in the GNIAR MLS region will be available soon.  Month's supply of inventory is a measure many real estate professionals and industry analysts use as a measure of real estate market health.  A balanced market is considered to be around a 6-month supply of inventory.