Indiana Realtor blog by James P Wells. Discussing Real Estate topics concerning Central Indiana and the US. Focusing on Boone and Marion County.

Sorry for not posting in a while, I’ve had some trouble with writer’s block. While it seems I could write all day about the current property tax proposals, I’ve been really busy rehabilitating a rental property for the last several weeks. With that finally done and new renters in the property I should be able to back to some writing.

Some of my posts that I hope to have in the near future:

• Indiana property tax updates- I won’t go into much detail in this article, with a vote of 93 to 1, the governor’s plan has been approved by the House of Representatives and will now move to the Senate for vote. You can view details of House Bill 1001 here
• Title Insurance and Clear Title- I am helping my father-in-law correct a title problem on a property he sold to a friend 2 years ago and will use it to explain title insurance and clear title
• Anson Indiana- Medco announced last month that they have decided to build their new distribution plant in Anson :} I’ll try and keep everyone updated on any new developments.

If anyone has topics or questions they would like me to address, send me an email and let me know.

Well, it’s holiday time and things in the real estate market slow down drastically in the last 2 months of the year. Many people are too busy to mess with buying a house during the holidays.

As a homeowner, you always have to worry about legal issues when you have guests over because you may be held responsible for their actions. You also have to worry about their safety and well being- what if you give everyone food poisoning?!?! I don’t normally sweat the small stuff, but I recently ran across this interesting form that you may want to use this Thanksgiving:

I’ve owned rental property for several years now. It sure can be tough at times, but rewarding at others. In the past two years, I’ve gotten worse renters than in the past. I don’t know if it’s that I’m getting too nice in my old age, or what.

I finished laying, then grouted, the bathroom floor today in the front unit of a current property. A little over 1/2 of the place has been cleaned and painted. The bathroom now looks 1000% better (I also took the “warning gas” sticker off the bathroom door). I don’t do all the work needed on the property, a plumber is the among the 1st professional I’ll call, right with an electrician. But the ceramic tile floor in the bathroom is now much more durable than the previous laminate that one renters had scorched, and another tore out. It adds beauty, functionality, and durability.

I had 2 types of sanded grout that would give me just about enough to do the job. I took the chance and mixed the bags: I was 1/4 a medium to light gray and 3/4 a coffee brown by 2 different manufacturers. If I ran out, I would have a really tough time matching the grout. I worked my way from the back corner giving the areas that needed the grout, the grout they needed. A little over halfway done, I realized how close it was going to be on whether I would have enough to finish the job. I started grouting strategically, planning to hide any other future grout needs behind the toilet. Fortunately, the toilet sits right next to the door, so I was able to save those areas till last. The best part was finishing the bucket of grout perfectly in sync with finishing the floor. All I had to do was clean the bucket, wasn’t any leftover grout.

Making improvements to a property, if done properly can definitely add to the value. Whether it’s your residence or investment property, don’t forget to re-invest over time and as needed.

Well, I just got done greeting a bunch of strange little ghosts and goblins at my house and realized I didn’t write about the holiday. Each year a house at 748 Beach Street in Kenova, West Virginia is transformed into the Great Pumpkin House. The owner Ric Griffith and hundreds of other volunteers carve thousands of pumpkins to put on display at this home each year during Halloween.

This year, there are 3,036 pumpkins on display between 10/28 and 11/4.

This is a continuation of an earlier blog where I will explain certain real estate terms for you:

• Closing- This refers to the time when the buyer and seller meet to sign the final documents (normally at a title company) to transfer the deed of the property and transfer funds for the purchase.
• Closing Costs- These are the fees and costs incurred at the closing and are a 1-time charge. Normally closing costs include (but are not limited to): Closing fee by title company, recording fees, courier fees, points or pre-paid finance charges on the mortgage, title insurance fees, property taxes, attorney fees, and survey.
• Collateral- What you are using to secure a loan in case you can’t pay- in real estate, it is the house.
• Commission- The fee paid to your Realtor.
• Common Area- This is a piece of property that is owned by all the homeowners within a given community and the homeowners normally pay for upkeep of these areas thru homeowner’s associations fees. Examples include, swimming pools, playgrounds, and community entrances.
• Comparable Sales- Properties used that are similar in nature to the subject, and are normally used to help establish a properties estimated value.
• Condominium- A type of property ownership involving the “Horizontal property laws”. Condo’s normally have more common areas and higher maintenance fees that usual properties.
• Contingency- A condition to a contract that must be met to make the contract legally binding. In real estate, offers to purchase may be contingent upon the sale of a buyer’s existing home.
• Conventional Mortgage- a loan that is not FHA or VA. the terms is also commonly used to identify mortgages that meet common requirements to be sold on the secondary market.
• Credit Report- This is a borrowers history of debt repayment.
• Debt- An obligation to repay borrowed money.
• Deed- The legal document which states ownership of property.
• Deed-in-Lieu of Foreclosure- To avoid actual foreclosure proceedings a mortgagee can sign the deed of the property over to the mortgage company instead of foreclosure. There must be agreement by both parties for this transaction.
• Default- A term used to describe when a borrow has failed to meet the repayment obligations of a loan, normally 30 days past due.
• Delinquency- Same as Default.
• Depreciation- A loss of value in a property, the opposite of appreciation. It is also an accounting term used for assets to reduce taxable income.
• Down Payment- Any portion of the purchase price of a property that is not financed.
• Due-on-Sale- A standard clause in mortgages that requires the loan be paid in full upon the effect sale of the property.
• Earnest Money-A”goodwill” downpayment of funds by a buyer to seller to be submitted with an offer to purchase.
• Easement- A right of way providing access to a property. Many utility companies have easements to gain access to equipment.
• Eminent Domain- The ability of the government to seize private property for public use, requires payment to owner for fair market value.
• Equity- The difference between the value of a property and the amount owed on the property.
• Escrow- Funds placed in a non-interest bearing account to be head until a later time.
• Eviction- Legal forced removal of a renter.

I find that when talking with many people, I use language that you may not fully understand. To help those of you that may not know what a short sale is, or what points on a mortgage are, I have developed a list of these Real Estate terms:

• ARM (Adjustable Rate Mortgage) - Very simply, this is a mortgage where the interest rate can change during the life of the loan based upon an index. The index can vary, but the index is the starting point of the interest rate. For example- the index can be the prime rate at the 1st of every month. Most ARM’s will add to the index to achieve the actual rate- prime plus 3%
• Amoritization - Every mortgage has a portion of the payment which goes towards interest and a portion which goes towards principle (the original amount borrowed). At the beginning of your loan, most of the payment normally goes towards interest, but over time the balance of your loan goes down and the majority of your payment will go towards principle. The amortization is simple the time frame required for you to payoff the loan based upon this schedule.
• APR (Annual Percentage Rate) - This is not the same as your interest rate (or note rate). The APR is a combination of your interest rate and any loan fees configured on an annual basis to determine the entire cost of borrowing money. Your interest rate will always be equal to (if there are no loan fees) or lower than your APR.
• Appraisal - A written professional estimate (educated opinion) of a properties current value performed by a licensed Appraiser.
• Appreciation - The increase in value of a property during ownership.
• Assessed Value - The value placed on your property by the local government for tax purposes. (Performed by your local county Assessor in Indiana).
• Assignment - The sale of your mortgage from one company to another.
• Assumable Mortgage - A specific loan in which a borrower takes over the loan obligation. Rare and the new borrower must be approved by the mortgage company.
• Balloon Mortgage - A loan in which the balance becomes due before the scheduled amortization. For example- You house payment will payoff the within 30 years, but you are required to payoff the loan by the 15th year. (Most people will sell or refinance to payoff these kinds of loans)
• Bankruptcy - I know it’s pretty obvious but- the legal restructuring of debt and liabilities or even relief of those obligations. The most common types are Chapter 7 and Chapter 13.
• Bridge Loan - Very uncommon, normally used by individuals which have not yet sold their current home. The bridge loan is a mortgage against their existing home to obtain funds to buy the new home, in some cases the loan can then be transferred to the new property or even has a lien against both properties at the time of the loan.
• Broker - For my purposes it means, a licensed Broker by the State. Real Estate Agents must perform under the guidance of a Broker and have that Broker hold their license. In the mortgage industry though, a broker is a 3rd party which helps obtain mortgage funds from a lender.