Stay Informed on the Local Market

Weather Alert!  Indianapolis, In and the Surrounding Metro Area!

     It is FREEZING RAIN out there!  Take precautions!  Stay off the streets if possible, or please proceed with extreme caution!  Power Outages are expected, have your plan ready to movve to a warmer place, and have your:

       Emergency Kit  ready for a couple of days.  (Food, Water, enough for at least 72hr.,  Medication, Blankets,      Sleeping  bags,  Flashlights, Radio, Battery operated TV, batteries, just to name a few.  Allow extra time to de-ce your car!

        If this storms proves to be a very bad one, the Indiana National Gaurd is on stand-by!   We pray that is will NOT happen!  Just stay tune to your Local Radio Stations and/or Tv stations for updates on school closings, work and other closings!

I repeat!  We are under a weather alert!

BE SAFE, BE BLESSED!

Bev Stewart

Citywise Real Estate Services, LLC

Finding a home inspector is the logical next step to buying a new home. But a home inspection is really not as easy as it sounds.

Choosing a home inspector, for instance, involves a lot of other factors to consider besides cost. Actually, asking how much he’s charging for his professional service is the least of your concern right this time. So what other considerations do you need in order to ensure that you are choosing the home inspector who is just right for the job?

Your Agent’s A-List

Usually, home buyers do not know who they can turn to when looking for home inspector. Sometimes, they ask their friends. Others research the Internet. While still others ask their real estate agent for a recommendation. Let’s say that you asked your real estate agent and so he gives you a short list of in house home inspectors that have a good reputation and are recommended regularly. You can use this list as your basis to make your own choices, however, do not limit yourself to those home inspectors on the list as there might an inspector there who is working too closely with the agent and will be willing to overlook some issues in order to keep getting referrals. Be wary of this type of irregular deals.

Home Inspector Associations

Another good place to start looking for home inspectors is the trade organization industry. Home inspection associations often have their own professional standards and codes to follow and usually, they are very strict with their members for compliance. If you want a home inspector that can truly be trusted, you can try any one of these organizations but make sure that you do your own research about that organization as well.

Questions to Ask

The following is a list of some questions you may want to consider asking when seeking a home inspector for your new property:

Is your home inspector experienced in this field? Ask him whether this is his first time inspecting a home, or he is relatively new to the profession, or he has been doing it for some time. In home inspection, experience comes into sharp play so make sure that your home inspector has at least some experience.

Approximately how many inspections has your home inspector performed? This question is actually just related to the one above. The meaning is clear: Just make sure that you are not the first on their list of inspections performed.

Before he became a home inspector, what was his job? Most home inspectors undergo training before they obtain their occupational license. However, not all of them have held jobs that were more or less related to the construction field. So if you want your home inspector to be the best there is, it might be a good idea to hire someone who’s had previous experience in building trades than an ex-circus clown.

There is a lot of free information available to you about buying, selling or investing in real estate. For complete information about the real estate market including current homes for sale, property values and more please visit the most complete website online dedicated to everything real estate.

 So please feel free to contact me with any of your mortgage questions and I will me more than glad to answer your queries. Call me on my cell at 317-514-9998 or email me at indyhome4u@ameritech.net.

What would be the right price to offer for a home in ? Experienced real estate agents have much to teach you. Beverly J. Stewart

The next thing to do after finding a property you want to purchase is to make an offer. How do you figure out the right price for a house? ? Here, I'll tell you what to think about when choosing a number for your bid.

Tip 1 - Understand the The first step in understanding real estate conditions is considering where those conditions currently stand. The current state of the real estate market in this locale experiencing in the last few years both upswings and downswings Is it a buyer's market right now, or a seller's market? Is a house likely to sit on the market for weeks, or is it likely to receive multiple offers?

Look into what other similar houses in the area are selling for, both currently and in the last few months. This will allow you a good starting point to decide what price you should offer

Tip 2 - Understand Your Seller's Mindset

The goal of making an offer isn't to offer market price. Make your first offer low but still palatable to the seller for best results.

It's important to understand the mindset of the seller,in order to achieve this.

You should pay attention to how long the house has been on the market. They may be more likely to want to sell for a lower price,if it's been listed for several months already.

How much the seller paid for the property is another thing to look into. It has an impact on the seller's mentality,although this doesn't affect its current value. They're likely to be more lenient,if the seller is already making a profit no matter how much they sell it for. People are more likely to be frugal if they are losing money from selling.

Tip  #3: Your whole offer matters, not just the numbers. Acceptance of your offer will generally depend on the details contained in the fine print. Craft the best real estate possible offer by working with your agent.

A lot of free info is at your fingertips regarding all things buying-selling-investing in real estate. For more detail regarding the real estate market including current homes for sale, property values and more please visit the most complete website online dedicated to everything real estate at www.indyhomeliving.com. Feel free to contact me if you have any question with real estate or mortgage and I will be glad to answer your questions. You can contact me on my mobile at 317-514-9998 or email me at indyhome4u@ameritech.net.

It is always the case that your home is the most important and most expensive purchase you will ever make. However, unlike the other purchases that buyers make with a guarantee attached to it, your home often comes WITHOUT a money-back guarantee or even a return policy. This is true even if you are not satisfied with your purchase. So once you buy a home, you are on your own in its maintenance, repair, problems, and bills payment. And THIS is the reason why you have to know as much about your potential home as you possibly can before you sign under that dotted line and close that deal.

What Do Home Inspectors Do?

Everybody is ready to believe that the best way to understand a home’s condition, habitability, and safety is through a home inspector, and they are right in believing so. A properly trained and professional home inspector will review a house and all its systems. He will look at how one component of the house might affect the operability or lifespan of another. And in doing this, he is able to give you a more or less accurate picture that no amount of sales talk can cover up.

The home inspector will go through the property and perform a comprehensive and objective visual inspection of all its aspects. He will assess the condition of the house and of all its systems. In doing that, he helps in determining the components that are not performing properly as well as items that are beyond their useful life or are unsafe.

A home inspector’s specialty is identifying problems and areas that need repair. However, a home inspector’s job is not merely restricted to problem identification. His functions may include areas where critical repairs may be needed and where there may have been problems in the past. The purpose of a home inspector’s report is to provide you, the client, with a better understanding of property conditions, as observed at the time of the inspection.

What is the Scope of the Inspection?

The home inspector can only provide a visual inspection. He does this by looking at the home’s various systems, including both the interior and exterior components. If he cannot gain access to certain difficult to reach areas, then they will not be included in his assessment. But the usual places that a home inspector checks include exterior components, such as roofing, flashing, chimneys, gutters, downsprouts, wall surfaces, the foundation, and the grading around it.

Interior systems that a home inspector will check include electrical, heating, air conditioning, ventilation, plumbing, insulation, flooring, ceiling and wall finishes, windows and doors. Fireplaces and wood stoves are not the areas of the home inspector. Only WETT (Wood Energy Technology Training) specialists are qualified to inspect those areas.

A home inspector does not appraise your home. Neither is he able to exact quotes for repairs or point out the noncompliance with building code requirements.

There is a lot of free information available to you about buying, selling or investing in real estate. For complete information about the real estate market including current homes for sale, property values and more please visit the most complete website online dedicated to everything real estate. So please feel free to contact me with any of your mortgage questions and I will me more than glad to answer your queries. Call me on my cell at 317-514-9998 or email me at indyhome4u@ameritech.net.

Unemployment, illness, divorce, bankruptcy, family problems, failure to pay bills on time-- these problems can lead to unfavorable information on your credit report. Just one or two disparaging remarks, without an adequate explanation, can result in a rejection for a home loan.

But there is no need to let a bad credit history stop you from buying a home in [Proflile.market].

Here's what you can do:

- Clean up your credit report. If you haven't checked your credit report in the last six months, get a copy to see what the credit bureau has in its files about you. Maybe things aren't so bad as you think.

If you were turned down for credit in the last 30 days, you can get a free copy of your credit report from the credit bureau listed on the rejection letter.

After you have a copy of your written credit report, if you dispute any incorrect items, be sure to contact the credit bureau in writing. The credit bureau will then report the discrepancy to the erring firm, such as a department store or credit card company, for their version.

If no reply is received within 30 days, the credit bureau must remove the disputed item from your credit report. Be sure to follow up to enforce your legal rights.

- Buy a home with an existing assumable loan. There are thousands of homes for sale with existing, assumable VA and FHA mortgages which can be assumed by anyone (except perhaps a bankrupt arsonist). But if the seller is to be released of liability on the loan, then a complete loan application with credit check is required.

- Buy with seller financing. Although seller financing isn't as easy to find as it was a few years ago, many home sellers will carry back a first or second mortgage to help finance your home purchase. Rarely will a seller check your credit since the seller looks to the property as the security.

- Obtain an 'easy qualifier' loan from an equity lender. Many banks and S& Ls offer "easy qualifier" mortgages to home buyers who pay at least a 25 percent down payment. When your down payment equity in the home will be substantial, the lender is well-protected in case you don't make the mortgage payments. At least one or two lenders in each major city usually offer this type of equity loan.

- Get a co-signer. If you can't get the seller to help finance your purchase and you aren't making a 25 percent down payment, a new conventional loan must be obtained. Perhaps a friend or relative will co-sign on the mortgage to help you qualify. Most lenders, however, require the co-signer to also take title to the property.

- Buy with an equity share co-owner. Another alternative is to get a wealthy friend or relative to make all or part of the down payment in return for part ownership of the property. This equity share method is especially good for parents who want to help their adult children get into a first home.

- Keep the seller as a co-owner. When the seller can't or won't help finance the sale, keep the seller as a co-owner to help qualify for a new mortgage.

- Pledge additional assets as security. Although your credit may not be the greatest, some flexible lenders will make mortgage loans if they have more than adequate security.

- Get the seller to guarantee part of the loan. If the seller will be receiving considerable cash from the home sale, he may be willing to deposit that money with the bank or S&L which will make the necessary mortgage if the money is pledged to guarantee part of the loan. For the seller's protection, he should receive a second mortgage on the home which can be foreclosed if the guarantee is enforced by the lender.

- Lease the home with an option to buy. A lease-option gives the prospective home buyer time to try out the home while, at the same time, clearing up any credit problems. Typical one- or two-year lease-options usually provide for an up-front payment to the seller of a "non-refundable consideration for the purchase option" and a locked-in price for the home.


There is a lot of free information available to you about buying, selling or investing in real estate. For complete information about the real estate market including current homes for sale, property values and more please visit the most complete website online dedicated to everything real estate. So please feel free to contact me with any of your mortgage questions and I will me more than glad to answer you queries. Call me on my cell at 317-514-9998 or email me at indyhome4u@ameritech.net.

One of the many dire predictions done these past few months by many Indianapolis Metrpolitan, Lawrence Township, and Suburban Areas  ‘bubbleologists’ out there -

that is all those who indulge in the contemplation of bubbles in the Indianapolis Metrpolitan, Lawrence Township, and Suburban Areas real estate market of all sizes and colors, whether real or imaginary, coming our way - was that by now real estate markets everywhere would be inundated and swept away by a tsunami of foreclosures of apocalyptic proportions.

The general rationale among those specializing in the fine art of staring at crystal balls (or perhaps at several empty bottles of rum) was that the steady increase in interest rates, the consequence of a tightening monetary policy implemented by the Fed since mid-2004, would have led by now to a collapse of the adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs) market, since consumers could not possibly cope with the increased monthly payments. This, in turn, would dramatically increase mortgage defaults and foreclosures, with the end result that real estate markets everywhere would be flooded with excess inventory at deflated prices, thus causing markets to crash - the tsunami I was talking about.