What's Happening in Northwest Indiana?

Buying a Northwest Indiana home? Get a full home search here 
Selling your Northwest Indiana home? Get a Home Price Evaluation

  

Hey everyone, today I am here with a quick market update for you. Today we are going to take a look at the latest real estate numbers in Northwest Indiana. We're going to take a look at the numbers through May of 2015, and compare them to what we we're seeing at the same time last year.

Through May of 2014, we sold 3,147 homes in all of Northwest Indiana. Through May of 2015, that number is now 3,255 homes, an increase of 3.4%.

 
The average sales price for a home in Indiana was $144,877 in May of 2014. In May of 2015, the average price was up to $155,484. That's an astonishing increase of over 7% in just one year!
We'd also like to congratulate Anthony Dubbs for winning a gift card in our testimonial and trivia contest.

For our next trivia contest, we are going to provide you with 3 different movie quotes. The first person to tell me which movies the quotes are from in an email will win a gift card as well! Here are the three quotes:

1. "Zed... is dead."

2. "You want answers?"
"I think I'm entitled to them"
"Do you want answers?!"
"I want the truth!"
"You can't handle the truth!"

3. "Look man, I ain't falling for no banana in my tailpipe."

If you have any questions for us, feel free to give us a call or send us an email. We look forward to hearing from you!

Do You Want a Free Gift Card or a Chance to Win $1,000?

Buying a Northwest Indiana home? Get a full home search here 
Selling your Northwest Indiana home? Get a Home Price Evaluation

Leave Your Zillow Review Now for Your FREE Gift Card!

Today I'm going to offer you some bribes. I need reviews on Zillow.com, and I also want some of your referrals.

If you go into Zillow and write me a review, I will give you a gift card to Starbucks or Family Express. I currently have no reviews, and I would be extremely happy if you could go in and write one for me.

Another thing I need from you is your referrals! There is a statistic that every person knows 4 people who are looking to buy or sell a home every year. With this being said, I assume you might know one or two people that could help me out. If you refer me a client, I'll put your name in a drawing where you'll have the chance to win $1,000!

Lastly, I have a trivia question, and I'm going to reward the first person who responds with a correct answer. Respond to bart@bartsellshouses.com for a chance to win $25 to your store of choice!

The trivia question is simple. There was a group of high school kids in a movie back in the 1980's, and it was about them spending their Saturday together in detention. What movie am I referring to?

You have a lot of opportunities here to win cash and gift cards.

As always, please refer to me as your #1 resource for real estate in Northwest Indiana!

Three Things to Think About Before you Buy a Home

Buying a Northwest Indiana home? Get a full home search here 
Selling your Northwest Indiana home? Get a Home Price Evaluation

 

As we enter the busy spring real estate market, there are probably a lot of buyers that are on the fence as to whether they should purchase a home. I have three important things you should be considering before you go to purchase a home in 2015. This is the same advice I give to all of my clients.

1. Form a plan: Think about where you want to be and what type of home you want. Do you need a yard with a fence, or a large shed on the property? When you can narrow down what you want, you can also narrow down your home search, which makes the process much easier. Don't forget to form a budget, either. It's important to consider how much you can comfortably afford.
2. Interview Agents: I find it crazy that almost no buyers do this. You need to find a professional that will be a good fit for your specific needs. This is extremely important to a successful transaction. When you're buying a home, you don't have to pay a commission, so why wouldn't you want to find the best person for the job?
3. Get Pre-Approved: When you speak with a lender and get approved to buy a home, you'll know what price range to look at, so you won't be wasting anyone's precious time. Also, sellers love to see buyers that have been approved for a loan, because they know that they're serious about buying, and this will help you as a buyer to win offers in crowded markets like the one here in Northwest Indiana.

If you're thinking about buying or selling a home this spring, now is the time to take action. The market is heating up and you don't want to be left behind. Give me a call and I'd be glad to help you out in any way possible!