Special offer

How to Read an MLS in the Indianapolis Real Estate Market

By
Real Estate Agent with Keller Williams Indy NE 317-290-7775 www.marchantteam.com

Whether you are a first time buyer or a seasoned buyer, making sense of the MLS sheet is sometimes challenging.  I've included an MLS sheet below with some of the standard questions I get labeled 1-3.

Carmel Indiana Real Estate

Let's start with Label #1.  It is L, F and W.  L stands for the Level of the room .

M is main, U is upper and B would be basement.  In this example there is not a Basement so only M and U are used.

F stands for the flooring type in the room.  For example, C is for Carpet, T is for Tile and H is for Hardwoods in this example.  Another example of flooring might be V for Vinyl.  Sometimes you will see O as well for Other.

W is for Window and it is a yes or no category referring to whether the window "treatments" stay.  Blinds always stay, but a valance or drapes may or may not so it is indicated in this column.

Let's move on to Item #2.  Property taxes are paid in arrears in Indiana.  So the tax year that is now due is 2009.  The taxes are paid semi annually so in this example the annual taxes are $2,339 times 2 or $4,678.  What is important about this section is the exemptions.  There are numerous property exemptions available to people.  But the two most common are the Homestead and the Mortgage.  The homestead is available if the home is your primary residence and it is worth $45,000 as a deduction from the assessed value.  The mortgage exemption is available if you have a mortgage on the home and it is worth an additional $3,000.

In this example, we can see that the Homestead exemption has been filed, but NOT Recorded.  This is important because the taxes shown are shown without the Homestead exemption.  With the exemption the taxes would be considerably less, maybe up to 30%.  Understanding this area of the MLS is very important to understanding your monthly payments!

Finally, item #3 is where we see the square footage of the main level, the upper level and if there were a basement, we would see that too.  The FB and HB are the number of Full Baths and Half Baths in the home.

When you are looking for homes for sale in Carmel Indiana, these are the types of MLS sheets your Realtor will provide for you.  Understanding how to read them is important to asking the right questions.   There are many reasons to use a Realtor in your purchase of a home, and remember we are free to you.  The seller pays the Realtor's commission.  As a Carmel Real Estate agent, I like to spend time educating my buyers so they get the most value from me and have a smooth transaction!

Search homes with one local phone number

Search homes with YOUR phone

Search Carmel Indiana Real Estate by Neighborhood

Search Carmel Indiana Real Estate by Price

Carmel Indiana Homes for Sale Carmel Homes for Sale and their Value

Cindy "in Indy" Marchant - Carmel Real Estate Agent
Keller Williams Realty Indy Metro NE
Carmel IN Real Estate Website
317-290-7775

Posted by

***********************************************************************************

Let's Connect!

Follow Cindy Marchant on Facebook Follow Cindy Marchant on Linked In