Carmel Indiana Real Estate and Homes for Sale

Carmel Indiana Real Estate has 639 homes actively on the market today!  Of those only 122 are ranches.  It seems more and more people are wanting ranches; could be a sign of the demographics shifting to an older population?

Located off 116th just west of Rangeline and east of College is Fairgreen Trace.  It is a small community of about 70 homes built by Trinity between 2000 and 2003. 

There is very little turnover in this community with only two homes being sold in the last year.  Both of those homes sold in about 100 days and at $118 a square foot.  The homes range from 1650 sq ft up to about 2400 sq ft.  Most are 3 bedrooms and two baths and no basements.

The average price is between $225,000 and $250,000 typically.  One of the benefits of living in Fairgreen Trace is its proximity to the Monon Trail.  The Monon offers 15 miles of biking, hiking and blading for the outdoor spirited.  The Monon Center has both indoor and outdoor swimming and a lazy river!

Looking for a ranch in Carmel will lead you to many different neighborhoods, and Fairgreen Trace should be one of them.  It’s proximity to Meridian and to the Carmel area makes it easy to shop, have dinner and enjoy the outdoors.

Be sure to read all of the neighborhood reports to find out which Carmel neighborhoods are right for you!

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

It is always great to come to the blog to read about Carmel Real Estate and the neighborhoods and market reports, but community events are fun to write about too.

The Marchant Team and Keller Williams will be hosting our 4th annual Spring Fling and Easter Egg Hunt.  This is a great event for the community and provides lots of fun for the kids.

This year we will have a bounce house, the firetruck, several face painters, a balloon twister and or course the Easter Bunny will be there too!  We will have a photographer to take your child’s pictures and will email them to you.  And there will be an Easter Egg Hunt!

The rules of the Egg Hunt are as follow:

• The children can get as many eggs as they find, but they all must be different colors.
• Children can trade their eggs in for prizes.
• Children need to bring their own baskets to collect the eggs.
• The Egg Hunt is held outside in the field by our offices and if rainy or too cold, will be moved inside.

This is a free event but we would like to request each family bring one non-perishable canned good to help supply the area food pantry’s.

For date and time, please email me directly at cindymarchant@comcast.net so that we will have enough eggs, prizes, and helpers to make this a great event!

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

I have been selling Carmel Real Estate and the surrounding area since 2001.  I have met so many wonderful clients who have become my friends.  During the year I host many client appreciation events because these friends refer so much business to me.

Last night we had a wine tasting at the Vine and Table in Carmel.  Matt was our host and he explained six or so different wines to us and then gave us a tasting.  They have a quaint spot at the back of the store where we set up our tables and appetizers.  It was truly a great evening for all of us.

Joe Husar is the founder of Vine and Table, he is also involved with Kahn’s Wines.  He has had over 25 years of experience with restuarants and wines in the Midwest.

Vine and Table is a gourmet market featuring fine wines from around the world, specialty gourmet foods and artisanal cheeses and some one of kind gifts.

They have free wine tasting every Saturday from 11-3 at their store at 313 East Carmel Drive.  Their store hours are Monday-Saturday 10-7:30.  They have many different tasting events to showcase their products and teach you about wines so be sure to attend one soon.

There are so many great hot spots in Carmel; it is no secret why so many people want to live in Carmel.  So when you buy your next home in Carmel, be sure to contact this Carmel Realtor for the best experience and you’ll be invited to all our clients appreciation events too!

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

There are nearly 700 homes for sale in Carmel Indiana and I’m working my way through all of the neighborhoods.  Did you know that you can actually search by neighborhood in Carmel; if for example you wanted to live in Williamson Run after reading this post!

Williamson Run is an older neighborhood built mostly in the early 90s.  It is located just east of Keystone on between 96th and 106th.  There are 186 homes in Williamson Run and currently there are no active listings.  There have only been 8 that have sold since 3/1/09 through today 2/23/10 which shows the level of transition is very low.

Typically a home in Williamson Run is at least 3000 sq ft with a basement.  The garages are split fairly evenly at two and three.  There are many homes with three full baths and sometimes five bedrooms. 

The average price per square foot runs $115 and they typically are not on the market for more than 90 days making this neighborhood a great area for appreciation and resale.  Be sure to read all of the neighborhood reports for Carmel Indianan Real Estate.

It is also desirable because of it’s proximity to I465 from Keystone.  There are so many great restaurants as well in the area such as Scotty’s Brewhouse and Eddie Merlot’s.

If you are looking to sell a home or purchase a home in Carmel Indiana, this blog will give you a great deal of information and I would also love the opportunity to talk with you. 

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

In about a month when the temperatures start to warm up and the snow melts away, many people will enter the first time home buyer’s market.  The interest rates were below 5% last week and the inventory is still strong.  Add to that the $8,000 first time buyer tax credit sunsets for contracts written after 4/30/10 and a perfect storm awaits.  There usually are a lot of questions for the first time home buyer such as:

• What is PMI?
• Should I buy an older resale or build new construction?
• How do I find the best deals?
• Do I really need to use a Realtor?
• How much do I need to put down?
• How much can I afford?

The list is endless depending on how much you have researched or perhaps even who you know.  I have a First Time Home Buyer’s Class on the last Thursday of each month from 7:00 to 8:00.  Registration is required. 

At the meeting, I have a lender and home inspector as well as myself spend about 15 minutes each with tips for buying your first home.  We answer all of the above questions and dozens of others.  We’ll even share some secrets to buying a home!  The inspector will give you an example of a report, the lender will share what the closing costs should be and I’ll go over how we find the right house for you and how to read an MLS sheet too.

It is typically a small class (8-12) and we generate quite a bit of discussion.  So whether you are interested in buying a home for sale in Carmel or a surrounding area, this class could be very beneficial for you.  And it is FREE.  Again, it is important that you register so that we know how many materials and food to provide.  It is a class you will definitely be telling other about.  I hope to see you there!

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

Today, there are 683 active homes for sale in Carmel Indiana and 5% of 33 of those are short sales.  Whilte this is not a huge amount in terms of percentage, it is one of the more sought after type of homes in the market.  Many buyers or investors are looking for a deal and short sales sometimes can be that deal.

The “short” explanation for a short sale is a property that is going to sell for less than the amount owed on the property.  In other words, the bank is willing to accept less than the full balance due and will usually forgive the difference.

Another explanation would be to say the current owner has negative equity.  The amount the home sells for is less than the amount owed so it is negative equity.

The question I commonly get is are short sales a bargain?  As with most professionals when faced with a difficult question, the response is, “it depends”.  It depends on whether the seller/owner has one mortgage or two.  It depends on how long the home as been on the market.  It depends on who has the mortgage.  It depends on a variety of variables.  But, that being said you can expect to get the home for less than it is worth.

What you can also expect is repairs and maintenance items.  When you think about it, the seller/owner is behind on their payments, they probably didn’t have excess funds for repair items.  So typically there will be some sweat equity involved. 

I have sold several bank owned homes in 2009 and they were all great examples of great deals and less than 50% of those I sold needed nothing more than carpet and paint and maybe an appliance or two.

If you’d like to receive bank owned homes or short sale homes available in Carmel Indiana, please send me an email.  I can create a search in minutes and any new listings that meet those criteria will pop in your inbox the day it goes on the market, giving you the best opportunity to take advantage of the deal!

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

It is all good news for the Carmel Indiana Real Estate market in January!  There were 51 homes that sold in January compared with 50 in January of 2009.  This is better than the news for Fishers Real Estate, they saw a 12% decline January 10 to 09.

The number of distressed homes was down just a tad from a year ago and the new home construction was also down a bit.  Both were less than 15% of the total sold.

The other good news is the price per square foot and the days on market.  For 2010 the price per sq ft moved to $117 from $107 a year ago!  The days on market (DOM) moved to 100 from 113 a year ago.  That is a 9% improvement in price per sq ft and 12% improvement in DOM.

Perhaps the best news is the luxury homes for sale in Carmel Indiana.  I classify that as any home for sale in Carmel over $500,000.  In January of 2009, there were only five.  This year in January there were 14!  That is a significant increase in those homes.  It might be a great time to put your luxury Carmel home for sale!

The highest priced home that sold in Carmel Indiana was in Spring Run Estates near 106th and Ditch.  It sold for $1,400,000 with 10,000 sq ft.  This home sold in 112 days so very close to the average DOM.  The lowest priced home sold in Carmel for $63,000.

Neighborhoods topping the charts for January sales were Saddle Creek and Stanford Park (new home construction by Ryland) and of course, the Village of West Clay.  VWC had six homes sell in January, so more than 10% of the total.

Spring is around the corner and if you have been thinking about selling your home, I would love the opportunity to sit down with you to discuss how the Marchant Team sold 115 homes with an average DOM of 60 in 2009.

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

I normally would be doing my Carmel Indiana Real Estate Market Report and I promise I will have it out to you by next Wednesday but everyone really cares about the Colts playing the Saints, so let’s talk about that!

Watching Super Bowl 2010 will have many highlights including the win for the Colts, but we all love the Super Bowl commercials too!  The half time show with Roger Daltrey and Pete Townsend (WHO) should be awesome, but aren’t those guys like in their 70’s!

Perhaps one of the best things about watching the Super Bowl is the food! There are dozens of Super Bowl recipes to ensure you are not disappointed with the selection of food!

There are quite a few Colts players that own Carmel Real Estate, including Dwight Freeney and Jeff Saturday.  They own homes on the west side of Carmel.  Luckily neither of their homes are for sale in Carmel so they should be sticking around!

Just to give you an idea of the current activity in Carmel, there are 683 homes for sale in Carmel with 211 or 31% over $500,000.  There are 91 homes that are currently pended awaiting a successful close, 41 of those pended/sold in January.  Only 50 closed in January of 2010 but that is exactly how many closed in January of 2009!

Enjoy the Super Bowl!

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

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.

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!

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

There are currently 679 homes for sale in Carmel today!  There are numerous great neighborhoods in Carmel and today I am highlighting Blue Creek Woods.  The location is ideal; off of 106th just west of Gray Road and east of Keystone.  That is ideal access to the interstate or downtown and those neighborhoods in that area sell quickly.

It is also conveninently located near Forest Dale Elementary school and St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic Church.

There are 69 homes in Blue Creek Woods, most of them built between 1984 and 1986.  The typical price of a home in this area is around $250,000 to $275,000.  Of the 69 homes in this Carmel neighborhood, 43 of them are priced over $250,000.

Currently there is just one home that is available in Blue Creek Woods.  It is a 2100 sq ft home with four bedrooms but, without a basement on over a 1/2 acre lot.  It JUST came on the market on 1/22/10.  Homes do not come on the market very often, only four have sold in the last two years.  That tells you something about the people who live there, they like it!

I sold a home in here in 2008 to an investor.  He will make so much money, makes me wish I had bought it.  It was a distressed property and definitely needed work.  But he got it for $58 a square foot compared to the average in the neighborhood of $111 a sq ft!

I’m not sure there is a Best Neighborhood in Carmel Indiana, but your Carmel Realtor is trying to highlight as many as she can for you.  So, be sure to read about all the great neighborhoods in Carmel.  There is a link below to search by neighborhood if you are curious about a particular one. 

I also write monthly market reports highlighting the activity and most recently did a year in review market report. 

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