Don’t look now, but the Indianapolis real estate market just had its best month of the year. Here is a look at what happened in September for homes under $500,000 in Indianapolis:   2007 2008 % Change Active N/A 11362 Homes Sold 967 873 -10% Average Selling Price $104,459 $104,008 0% Days on Market 94 94 0% Price Per Square Foot $64 $63 -2% The number of homes sold is down over last year, but only by 9.72% not by the 20 and 30 percent that we have been seeing in previous months. In addition, this is early in the month and this number will inevitably grow as agents close out the lagging deals from last month in the MLS. In addition to the vast improvement in the number of homes sold, the average sales price is basically unchanged over last year. Previously this year, we were seeing doub... 10/05/2008

Lawrence Township Real Estate activity for the month of September 2008 is as follows: Active Single Family Homes Listed                            194 Active Single Family Homes Currently Active            1034 (5% decline from last month) Active Single Family Homes Sold                               116 Average Sale Price                                                     130,600 (all listings sold) Average Sale Price *                                                  177,000 (listings sold > $100,000) Average Days on Market                                           96 Neighborhoods w/Most Sold                    Glicks and Geist Valley Estates Previous months market reports for Lawrence Township Real Estate are available. The highest listing in Lawrence Township was for $1,525,000 in... 10/04/2008

Here is a quick glance at what happened on the Lawrence Township real estate market in Indianapolis for homes under $500,000 in August 2008:   2007 2008 % Change Active N/A 1130 Homes Sold 162 139 -14% Average Selling Price $140,850 $120,932 -14% Days on Market 90 87 -3% Price Per Square Foot $74 $65 -12% If you are considering purchasing a home in Lawrence Township or any Indianapolis real estate, please contact Mike Taylor at 317-362-4064. If you are looking at the north side of Lawrence around the Geist area, you might also be interested in Fishers Indiana real estate.   09/28/2008

I CAN HELP!Many homeowners are receiving tax bills that don't seem to be in line with the real value of their homes.  With many real estate markets changing rapidly, it pays to find out for sure.  This is particularly true for buyers from 2005-2006 - commonly referred to as the "BOOM" period. Present market conditions, however, have seen 10-20% drops in some Central Indiana markets.  And while local tax authorities may have lowered assessments some - they are at times still not in line with current market conditions. As a homeowner, you can fight your tax assessment on your own.  You need to know what you are currently assessed, and then figure out what it OUGHT to be assessed for.     A few tools along the way may include: A CMA or Competitive Market Analysis - this is typically a com... 09/09/2008

There were no major revelations in August for Indianapolis real estate. Here is a glance at the numbers for homes sold in Indianapolis under $500,000:   2007 2008 % Change Active N/A 8773 Homes Sold 1197 921 -23% Average Selling Price $109,746 $101,680 -7% Days on Market 83 88 6% Price Per Square Foot $68 $62 -9% As you can see, the pattern is pretty much the same as previous months: the number of homes sold is down by about ¼ and the average sales price is also down. One positive factor worth mentioning is that for the past 4 months the average sales price has shown a decrease only in the single digits whereas in the first 4 months of the year, the average sales price was down by as much as 19%. The absorption rate is still relatively high at a 9.18 months supply of Indianapolis homes... 09/08/2008

The Educated Franchisee, by Rick Bisio, is a complete guide to entering, owning and operating a franchise.    •1)     Preparing Yourself for Business Ownership: The first five chapters of this book are focused on helping the reader decide if business ownership is truly something that makes sense as a career and life choice.   •2)     Getting it Right the First Time - How to Examine a Franchise: The second section of the book is focused on educating the reader on how to dissect a franchise system.  Some franchise systems are great but others should are not very attractive investments.  This how-to manual coaches the reader through the steps that assure a thorough exploration of franchise business ownership and thoughtful decision making.     •3)     You've Found the Right Business - Now ... 09/05/2008

The numbers for Indianapolis Real Estate (specifically Lawrence Township) are in for August 2008: Lawrence Township Real Estate activity for the month of August 2008 is as follows: Active Single Family Homes Listed                           220 Active Single Family Homes Currently Active          1095 Active Single Family Homes Sold                              103 Average Sale Price                                                 135,000 Average Days on Market                                         74 Neighborhoods w/Most Sold                     Devonshire, Glicks and Kensington Farms   Devonshire is an older neighborhood near 75th and Binford Blvd (SR37); Glicks is a first time buyers neighborhood where houses can be bought for less than $50,000; Kensington Farms is an intermediate ... 09/03/2008

Get a first look at the new Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Indiana!  We attended the Colts vs The Bengals on Thursday and were stunned by the views, ambience and energy of the new stadium; nevermind the loss the Colts suffered with the Bengals! The stadium, at a cost of $720 MILLION dollars seats 63,000 and slightly more for concerts or conventions.  It covers more than 39 acres of land; compared with 12 acres for the old RCA Dome that seats 58,000.  The coolest part of the new digs aren't the 14 escalators, 26 ceiling fans that look to span some 16 feet, or the 148 concessions stands; it is the retractable roof!  In addition to the retractable roof, there is a window wall that also opens.  It is the largest moveable glass wall in the world!   Another great feature are the scoreboar... 08/31/2008

If you look at my townhome popularity, I mentioned how supply was outpacing demand.  Well, while that is true, the average sales price for condos in downtown is up, way up.  Despite the fact the number of Indianapolis condominiums sold is down by more than 100 or 36% since last year, the average selling price rose to $324,541 in 2008.  This price jump represents an increase of almost $50,000 or 18% over the previous year's numbers.  Obviously, this means despite the decrease in units sold there are higher priced units selling in downtown Indianapolis.  My best guess is that more and more people are finding that downtown living is more attractive with gas prices and the general cost of living increasing on a daily basis.  In addition, more and more developers are building higher end unit... 08/27/2008

Townhouses are proving increasingly popular with home buyers looking to buy newly built homes, attracting young families who have ditched detached properties for a trendier, more affordable new style of home.With the average price of a new detached home recorded as ?307,875 in September, young families are turning to more affordable townhouses which offer a similar amount of internal space but are currently 63,000 pounds sterling less than the price of a detached home of similar size.According to SmartNewHomes.com, townhouses have experienced the biggest growth over the last year and now make up 10% of the new homes mix - up 3% since the same time last year. However, prices remain competitive and in the current market, home buyers can purchase a new townhouse for less than they would ha... 08/27/2008

The Rib America Festival takes place from August 29th, thru September 1st in Military Park, Downtown Indianapolis.  Ribs from Award-Winning Vendors will be served, along with music by Ted Nugent,          The Why Store, The Elms, Peter Frampton, and many more. Admission before 1 P.M. is free on Saturday and Sunday, $5.00 Admission after 1 P.M. , Children 12 and under-free admision at all times. Check website for updates on this information! For more information visit:  www.ribamerica.com   Are you new to Indianapolis or just looking to Purchase a Home?  Keep us in mind for your Real Estate Needs! Heather in Indy www.SmithFitzgeraldTeam.com 08/18/2008

Hello all, My name is Jayson Manship and I'm new to Active Rain. I am the Director of Operations for a company called Referral Builder, LLC. We help new home builders grow their referral business. My company has just introduced a new product to the market called URBaCS. I have worked as a sales professional for Hansen & Horn, the admin of our company's CRM (Salesforce.com) and as a database marketing expert for the Indiana Pacers basketball team. I am excited about this network and these groups and I hope to learn and grow in this new community. 08/12/2008

Here is a quick glace at what happened on the Indianapolis real estate market in July 2008 for homes under $500,000:   2007 2008 % Change Active N/A 9031 Homes Sold 1235 1021 -17% Average Selling Price $119,270 $108,870 -9% Days on Market 86 104 21% Price Per Square Foot n/a $67 n/a I don’t know if this is a fluke or hopefully the start of a trend, but both the average sales price and the number of homes sold seem to be improving as the year progresses. For the first time this year, we have seen a less than 20% decrease in the number of homes sold in Indianapolis. The average sales price, while slightly lower than last month, also seems to be trending towards less and less of a loss as the year progresses. While these numbers may not sound fantastic, when they are compared to January’s... 08/10/2008

Lawrence Township Real Estate Market Report-July 2008 Lawrence Township is located within Marion County in Indianapolis on the Northeast side of Indy. Active Single Family Homes              1140 Homes sold in July 2008                   106 Average Sales Price                  $170,575.00 Average Days on Market                   221 Neighborhoods w/most sold       Glicks, Moorings and Admirals The Marion County area covers a broad range of income/demographics; to help you better understand this market please see table below: Homes sold for less than $100,000 in July            32 Homes sold for between $100,001 and 200,000    47 Homes sold for between $200,001 and 300,000    16 Homes sold for more than $300,001                    11 08/02/2008

  If you are NEW to the homebuying process, I can assist you & make your homebuying process fast & easy. 07/22/2008

The Indianapolis real estate market seems to pretty much staying the same from the beginning of the year. The number of Indianapolis homes sold is still down substantially over last year and the average selling price is also down. Here is a look at what happened on the Indianapolis market for homes under $500,000:   2007 2008 % Change Active N/A 8937 Homes Sold 1396 1041 -25% Average Selling Price $117,648 $109,713 -7% Days on Market 83 87 5% Price Per Square Foot $72 $65 -10%   The one piece of good news I can see from this report is that the average selling price is down by only 7% over last year. While this may seems terrible at first glance, it is actually a vast improvement over the 20% decrease we saw back in January. The absorption rate, or number of months supply of homes curre... 07/17/2008

Lawrence Township is located within Marion County in Indianapolis on the Northeast side of Indy. Active Single Family Homes  1166 Home sold in June 2008 160 Average Sale Price $             137,400.00 Average Days on Market 153 Neighborhood w/most Sold Glicks 2nd most Sold Bayridge   Kensington Farms This report covers a very large geographical area and has a wide range of prices $9,000 to $825,000.  Over the next few months, I will try to refine this to give you better information. 07/11/2008

10022 Sandover Lane; $157,800 Located near Fort Ben in Lawrence Township.  Beautiful maintained home, cul-de-sac lot w/ tree lined stocked pond view; original owners. Stained wood railing overlooking 2-story entry.  Large kitchen w/island, office. Finished garage w/ storage areas.  Huge deck w/ bench seating.  Great landscaping w/shade trees in fully fenced back yard.  Minutes from Ft. Harrison State Park, YMCA, and golf course.  Great neighborhood w/ community pool.  Email Cindy at CindyMarchant@comcast.net for more information or visit my website at www.marchantteam.com for additional pictures.   07/05/2008

We have seen a great home sale quickly in the Moorings.  This home on the lake was listed at $399,000 and sold for $395,000 in 33 days!  That is great news for our neighborhood.   The Moorings offers a pool, tennis courts and active Women's Group.  It is located just south of 96th street off of Mud Creek. Home is 9321 Southwind Court 07/05/2008

I live in Lawrence Township in Marion County, Indiana.  I wanted to just write a little bit about our schools.  It is true that if you go to popular school evaluator sites, you will see that our schools don't rank as high as some.  You can go to my website and see those evaluators.  I totally understand that schools are an important driver to selecting a home. Here are some things about Lawrence Township Schools that you might not know: There are three elementary magnet schools; Spanish at Forest Glen, Global studies at Forest Glen and Science and Technology at Indian Creek Elementary.  (My daughters went to Indian Creek and the oldest graduated 7th in her class and is a junior at DePauw...bright kids come out of Lawrence Township!) There is an Early Learning Center for 3-5 year olds th... 06/23/2008