South Bend Area Real Estate Blog

South Bend Real Estate Report: June 2009

by Nick Molnar on July 1, 2009 · 1 comment

June 2009 saw 250 sales close for a combined total of $30.99 million. There are 2,621 active listings in the MLS today. In aggregate, sales closed at about 94% of the asking price at the time of sale, though at only about 86% of original list price. That means sellers aren’t generally accepting very low bids, but are lowering their prices gradually to the point where they sell near list price. The average number of days on the market for sales that closed in June was 133.

We are seeing more FHA financing, and considerable interest in the tax credit for first time buyers. Condo sales have been slow, as have sales above $300,000.

in June 2006 there were 28 sales over $300,000
in June 2007 there were 20 sales over $300,000
in June 2008 there were 21 sales over $300,000
in June 2009 there were 11 sales over $300,000

Here is the long term graph of sales volume in the South Bend Area MLS

High Price Sales

There was a sale at $1.13 million on Meadow Bank Lane in Elkhart. Despite being nearby, Elkhart is an entirely different market and I don’t work in it - the taxes are different, the political influences, the environmental concerns and county level issues, where the improving and declining areas are, pretty much everything that influences real estate sales other than quality of construction is different for Elkhart County when compared to St. Joseph County. Despite that, many agents work in both areas, and some include Michigan as well. We’ve decided to focus and do a better job on a smaller area - St Joseph County and especially the areas of South Bend, Mishawaka and Granger near Notre Dame. So I won’thighlight it here, but because this sale is in the South Bend Area MLS, I didn’t strip it from the stats.

In St. Joseph County, the high price sale was 51445 Shamrock Hills Drive. It closed at $760,000. It hit the market June 2008 at $875,000 and was listed for $825,000 when it sold.

There were 3 sales over $500,000. There are 73 listings above that price.
There were 11 sales over $300,000. There are 277 listings above that price.
There were 19 sales over $250,000. There are 373 listings above that price.
There were 42 sales over $200,000. There are 550 listings above that price.

Low Price Sales

223 Bronson seems to have adjusted it’s sales date and price to again be the lowest price sale - the new info indicates it sold for $5,000.

Excluding Bronson, the low price sale is 209 N Pagin St which closed at $6,900.

There were 122 sales below $100,000. There are 1,234 listings below that price.
There were 61 sales below $50,000. There are 469 listings below that price.
There were 35 sales below $25,000. There are 191 listings below that price.

Here is the scatter graph, with every sales this month.

Financing

FHA loans were the most common method of payment in June, accounting for about 35% of sales. They are becoming common because guidelines for conventional financing are increasingly more strict. Conventional financing generally requires a 20% downpayment and solid credit scores. FHA loans allow people buy homes with just 3.5 % down and lower credit scores.

Notre Dame Condos and Townhomes

Sales were again slow for Notre Dame condos andtownhomes.

Two units closed in the North Shore Club, a 3 bedroom, 2 bath townhouse at $117,000 and a 2 bedroom, 1.5 bath condo at $87,500. That leaves ten North Shore Club units on the market priced from $59,900 to $162,900.

One condo sold in Oak Hill at $198,000, which is the second highest price ever paid in Oak Hill, behind a sale for $230,000 in April 2008. The unit that just sold, 1561 Oak Hill Drive P1, was an upgraded corner unit with walkout lower level for a total of 4 bedrooms and 3 baths. That leaves 11 on the market priced from $145,000 to $234,900. listings here. It was the first sale in Oak Hill since June 2008, but shows there may still be demand for walk to Notre Dame condos priced below $200,000 - a niche no other condos fill.

A condo sold in The Forest for $185,000. That leaves 6 on the market, priced from to $164,900 to $212,000.

There was one sale in the Main Street Villas, a 4 bedroom, 2 bath home that closed at $207,000. That leaves 10 on the market, priced from $175,500 to $219,900.

There were another handful of sales at other condo complexes and villa communities, but none that could really be stretched to be called a Notre Dame condo.

A quick rundown of the other complexes we watch:

Ivy Quad is not listing any condos in the MLS
Stadium Village has three condos listed for sale, from $350,000 to $460,000
Eddy Street Commons apartments are reportedly renting well but the condos available for purchase are reportedly delayed. It’s unlikely any will be complete this year.
Pendle Woods has 4 unlived in homes listed in the MLS, priced from $275,000 to $400,000. A different Pendle Woods villa is going to sheriff’s sale July 16th.
Irish Crossings has 11 townhomes for sale, including one resale listed for more than the seller purchased it for in April 2008.
Wexford Place has one condo for sale. It’s a resale and has been on the market for just over a year now. It’s listed at $324,900 - above what the seller paid when s/he purchased it in July of 2007.
Dublin Village has 5 condos listed for sale, from $214,900 to $295,000
Stonebridge has two units in the MLS, at $225,900 and $279,900
Savannah Pass has 6 condos or villas listed for sale, from $127,500 to $169,900
New London Lake has one condo available, listed at $121,500. It has one unit pending, a townhouse.
Woodbridge has 5 condos listed for sale, from $68,000 to $125,000

That’s the June 2009 market report for South Bend real estate. It’s the most current and thorough you’ll find, but it’s still not precise enough or complete enough to make informed decisions on if you are buying or selling real estate in the South Bend Area. If you’d like a personal consulatation or need help with South Bend Area real estate, contact a realst8.com agent.

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Behind the Scenes: One South Bend House Sale

by Nick Molnar on June 24, 2009 · 5 comments

5309 Larkspur in Hermitage Estates was my family’s last home. We sold it in April 2009 after 180 days on the market. In that time, we went through a series of price reductions from a hopeful $175,000 to a more realistic $160,000. We had 20+ showings with almost uniformly positive feedback. But offers didn’t come and most of the potential buyers had to sell their house first, desired a larger backyard, or didn’t see the third bedroom as true bedroom space - it had French doors and was furnished as a home office. One couple came to the house three or four times but finally decided to pursue a distressed sale in a nearby neighborhood of newly built homes.

But we prepped and cleaned for each showing, polished our online photos, put out hundreds of flyers, made periodic price cuts and decorated the third bedroom as a bedroom and in the warmer Spring market received an offer and came to terms with the buyers.

We didn’t get the price we hoped, or the price we would have commanded in 2007, but we did sell our house. Hermitage Estates has both houses and villas - which is a term used locally to define ranch homes with mandatory monthly fees for lawn care and snow removal. The villas sell more quickly than the houses in this neighborhood. This year there have been two sales in the neighborhood - our former house and one villa. There are two pending sales, both villas. There are three active listings, two houses and one villa. The houses still on the market have been listed for sale for eight and thirteen months. One is two doors down from 5309 Larkpsur.

We closed at $158,000 and we paid $3,000 towards the buyers closing costs. That’s a true purchase price of $155,000.

Of course there were expenses:

a 3% commission to a buyer’s agent: $4,740
closing fees at a local title company: $1,155
tax proration for taxes accrued but not billed: $2,800
repairs: ~$1500

By the time it was all said and done, we brought $3,435 to close. That’s right, we paid someone to take our house.

But we didn’t really. We bought the house in 2003 for $148,000 so we actually made a small profit. But we took a second mortgage a few years ago. The $21,587 balance on that loan, along with the $127,535 payoff on our first mortgage were more than covered by the purchase price. But factor in the expense to sell and the money we took out of the house as a second mortgage made it difficult to sell - it would have been impossible if we couldn’t come up with $3,435 the day of closing. And most commonly a seller would pay more - we paid just one commission and not two.

It’s a tough truth that many people are in a situation where they can’t sell their house for enough to payoff their mortgage/s and cover the costs to sell. In that case the decision to sell and bring money to close or to stay in the house when you want or need move is a personal one. No realtor can help you make that decision. But if you’d like an honest assesment of what your property might sell for in the current market, a good realtor can help you see what similar homes have sold for recently, and help you understand your options.

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Moving Up to a Lesser House

by Nick Molnar on June 23, 2009 · 0 comments

Nobody goes to a sick doctor, a skinny cook, or a lawyer in jail. When I’m working with an expert I ask “what would you do? It cuts to the heart of the matter. Not sure what to order for dinner? Ask the waitress what she eats on break. Trying to decide on a traditional or tankless water heater? Ask your plumber “what’s in your house?” Make adjustments for personal preference and move forward. The “what would you do” type questions let you get the message without the static of “every option is both good and bad” ambivalence. Of course your experts can lie, cheat or funnel you to a certain product for their own reasons, but if you suspect them of that type of behavior why are you working with them in the first place?

So, I think it is fair game for you to ask a realtor about their house. Did they sell their McMansion and move to a smallish ranch ahead of the coming wave of aging baby boomers? Do they tell their friends to rent for another year but echo the “now is a great time to buy” commercials to their clients? Did they buy a foreclosure, an estate, at an auction? Do they move every two years or plan to never move again? Much of this is personal taste, but knowing what they did, and asking what they would do in your sitation will get you a more actionable answer than asking “is this a good neighborhood?”

In that vein, I’ll take you through my situation. If any of you have wondered why articles have been few and far between in recent months on this site, this is your answer. We gave up a great home and brought money to close its sale, but we cut our monthly payment to less than half, bought a “fixer” and expect to make somewhere in the mid five figures when we sell, tax free if we handle it properly. But we had to do a double move, weeks of intense changes to the house before we moved in, and are now facing years of renovation projects.

Watch for a flurry of posts based on our project in the coming months. But this week, I’ll start with the basics. Check back daily for posts on how we sold our last home, how and why we bought the house we are now in, and the numbers behind the strategy of living in a house while you slowly fix it for resale.

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South Bend Real Estate Report: May 2009

by Nick Molnar on June 1, 2009 · 9 comments

There were 251 closed sales totalling $26.69 million through the South Bend Area MLS in May 2009. That’s about 27% higher than last month’s number, which just topped $21 million in sales. May 2009 is also about 35% lower when compared with May 2008. Sales seem to be following typical seasonal patterns - though at a far reduced volume - as in recent years. If this continues, sales will peak in June or July, remain near that level in August and then fall September through December to a figure closer to January or February’s.

Here is the long term sales graph that shows the seasonal peak and places this years sales in context.

High Price Sales

The highest price sale was at 51330 Grand Oaks Court in Granger’s Woodland Hills neighborhood. It was listed for $859,000 and closed at $800,000. That is 93% of list price. The seller appears to have bought it in 9/2007 for $800,000 so it sold at a net loss after paying fees and commissions.

Rounding out the top three most expensive sales for the month are two homes in Granger’s Covington Shores neighborhood:
14664 Heatherton was listed at $599k and sold for $560k. That is 93% of list price
51308 Harbor Ridge was listed at $465k and sold for $442,500. That is 95% of list price.

Low Price Sales

The lowest price sale was $3,500 for 223 E Bronson, which was listed for $9,900 at the time it sold. That is 35% of list price.

Rounding out the three lowest price sales are:
423 W Garfield in Elkhart, listed at $8,900 and sold for $6,000, or 67% of list price.
1618 Elwood Ave, listed at $7,900 and sold for $6,500, or 82% of list price.

Number of Sales vs. Number of Listings by Price Range

over $500,000… 2 sales leaving 69 homes remaining
$400,000 - $499,999… 3 sales leaving 56 homes remaining
$300,000 - $399,999… 3 sales leaving 140 homes remaining
$200,000 - $299,999… 16 sales leaving 258 homes remaining
$100,000 - $199,999… 90 sales leaving 844 homes remaining
$50,000 - $99,999… 60 sales leaving 761 homes remaining
$00,001 - $49,999… 77 sales leaving 420 homes remaining

May 2009 Real Estate Sales at a Glance

Here is the scatter graph with the price of every sold home in May 2009.

Notre Dame Condos and Townhomes

It was another slow month for condo sales. Four “Notre Dame condos” sold this month. I’m using that term loosely to cover condos, townhomes and villas - any property that is maintenance-free with a monthly fee. There are 92 such properties listed for sale within 3 miles of Notre Dame’s Golden Dome (photos and details here).

A 3 br, 2.5 ba Pendle Woods villa sold for $403,688. It was listed 10/2006 for $396,900.
A 3 br, 3.5 ba Dublin Village townhouse sold for $225,000. It was listed 07/2008 for $249,900.
A 3 br, 2 ba Woodbridge condo sold for $88,000. It was listed 02/2009 for $115,000.
A 1 br, 1 ba North Shore Club condo sold for $54,000. It was listed 09/2008 for $69,900.

I have a report that two of the entry level condos at Ivy Quad sold outside the mls. They would have been in the low to mid $200,000s

There were no sales this month in Irish Crossings or Oak Hill, each of which have 10+ condos listed for sale. The future of the North Douglas condos project remains uncertain after the developer removed his petition for rezoning from the Mishawaka City Council’s early May agenda. There have been no sales at the Riverwalk Townhomes in Mishawaka, and just a few at the Townes at Kamm Island and at Keenan Court. There are 6 condo-hotel units at Waterford Estates listed for resale in the mls, including one at a reduced price of $89,999 which is below the original prices of the units. Waterford Estates has also begun a time-share program.

Need Real Estate Help?

That’s the May report. If you need help making sense of it, understanding what is happening in a specific neighborhood or buying or selling real estate in the South Bend Area, contact a realst8.com agent.

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South Bend Real Estate Report: April 2009

by Nick Molnar on May 2, 2009 · 7 comments

Month over month things look much better - sales are up 23%. Year over year things look much worse - sales are down 35%.

April 2009 saw 219 closed sales through the South Bend Area MLS and $21.04 million in sales volume. That is markedly higher than this year’s earlier sales numbers, but only about 65% of April 2008’s $32.45 million in sales. It is also roughly half of 2007’s $42.74 million in sales.

Sales continued at the lower price segments of the market:
57 sales closed under $25,000 this month. Previous year’s Aprils closed 43 (2006), 53 (2007) and 60 (2008) sales under $25,000.

This month’s high price sales were $550,000 for a 93 acre Lakeville farm with 2 houses and mulitple buildings.

More typically, the higher price sales included a $520,000 sale in Woodland Hills and 5 sales in Granger and South Bend between $290k and $410k.

The lowest price sale was $6,600. There were 15 cash sales at or below $10,000.

It was a rough month for Notre Dame condos. The North Douglas condos seem to be headed for a sale and conversion to apartments. There were only two sales that could be considered Notre Dame condos. One at the North Shore Club, a 1,210 square foot 2 bedroom for $90,000. The second wasn’t properly a condo, but a Pendle Woods villa (free-standing like a house, but with a HOA that includes lawn care like a condo) for $292,900. Construction continues at the newNotre Dame condo projects: Irish Crossings, Stadium Village, Ivy Quad and Eddy Commons.

Here’s the scatter graph for all the sales prices at a glance.

And a breakdown of how the purchases were financed. Cash is king, but FHA is on the rise. Sellers, that matters because FHA loans come with more rules. There are guidelines and regulations that could force further inspections, repairs and appraisals. In these cases, you can participate or risk your buyer losing their loan and you losing the sale. Rehabbers who are selling after holding a property less than six months need to be especially aware of this.

And the long term graph.

That’s the best and most current public report you’ll find on South Bend real estate. If you need more info, an analysis of a niche market, or professional assistance buying or selling property in the South Bend Area, contact a realst8.com agent.

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Search South Bend Area Foreclosures

by Nick Molnar on April 10, 2009 · 7 comments

Foreclosures continue to make the headlines, yet they’ve been difficult to search online. There are a few subscription sites that offer details on bank owned homes, but many of the homes on those sites have already sold.

Today, I’m happy to open a beta version of realst8.com’s South Bend Area Foreclosure Search. It is in development and has a few bugs, but you can search all the bank owned properties listed for sale by a Realtor in the Greater South Bend-Mishawaka MLS by map or on a table. You can also filter the results displayed by city, number of bedrooms, or zip-code.

Map View

Table View

This foreclosure search is beta, so it is likely to change both form and function in the future. In the meantime, please try it and send feedback. Are there any details you wish were displayed that aren’t? Do you wish you could search by “days on the market” or sort by 2007 tax bills? Send me feeback by e-mail or in the comments and I’ll try to make it more useful.

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North Shore Club: Low Prices and Water Views

by Nick Molnar on April 2, 2009 · 0 comments

There are at least 13 condo or townhouse complexes that cluster around Notre Dame and are popular with students, professors and alumni. You can find basic info on them on my Notre Dame Real Estate Guide, NotreDamePads.com. But if you are new to South Bend, or researching options with the web as your only resource you’ll want to know more. That’s when you should really call me for up to the minute information, but to bridge the gap I’m going to profile the complexes here on the South Bend Real Estate Blog.

Our lead off complex is the North Shore Club.

The summary

North Shore Club condos are a good option if you are looking for a well priced condo near Notre Dame, Holy Cross or St. Mary’s, but don’t need to be right next to them. They have a secluded setting on the river, and are one of the rare Notre Dame condo complexes that have three bedroom units priced under $150,000. They are almost 40 years old, so if you need something that feels new you are unlikely to find it here.

New London Lake Condos have a nice water feature with a pool on an island, Woodbridge Condos have several fountains, and Irish Crossings Townhomes ring a pond, but the North Shore Club has the best water views of any of the Notre Dame condos. If that is your only criteria, no need to read any further. Not every condo in the North Shore Club has a water view, but most do, either of a pond, the St. Joseph River, or both.

The grounds

The complex has a wooded grounds, a path along the river, a clubhouse, and pool. It’s also the only condo option in South Bend with community tennis courts.

There are really two types of housing at North Shore Club: Condos and Townhouses

The condos

In the front of the complex, are condos. They were built in 1971 and range from 773 square foot 1 bedroom, 1 bath condos to 1,667 square foot two-story condos with 3 bedrooms and 2.5 baths. Condos on Marigold Way are two story units with private entrances. Condos on Wildlfower Way have common hallways. Condo sales in the North Shore Club have closed between $53,000 and $130,000 and averaged about $74/square foot. Features like detached garages and lack of views obviously impact sales prices, as does the condition of the condos.

The townhouses

In the back of the complex, near the tennis courts, are duplex style townhouses with attached garages. These were mostly built in the 1980s and have sold from $134,500 to $295,000. Most are set on the river, and while they run up to 2,900 square feet, most have about 2,000 square feet. Sales prices for the townhomes have averaged around $101/square foot though there aren’t enough sales for that to be definitive and many of the sales are from several years ago.

The condo fees

Condo fees in South Bend are $100-$200 / month in most complexes. That usually buys you lawn service, snow removal, common area insurances, and often a community pool. At North Shore Club, fees are higher but they include more. Currently, association dues run about $200 - $425 / month but they include common area maintenance and insurance, community pool, clubhouse and tennis courts, as well as heat, water, trash and basic cable TV.

The rules

Pets are OK, including larger dogs.
Parking is not regulated beyond the garages, though it doesn’t seem to be an issue as there are many spaces and North Shore Club is far enough from Notre Dame that it doesn’t get spillover parking on football weekends.
Renting your condo is allowed. Leases must be for 30 days or more with a copy of the lease in the condo office.

Best features

Peaceful, park-like setting with water views and woods. No traffic noise.
Roughly one mile to Notre Dame, but priced far below complexes billed as “walking distance”
Range of options, from smaller 1 bedroom condos to 3 bedroom spaces with 2-story living rooms.

Not so nice features

These are older units, the condos were built in 1971. Though they have been maintained, many interiors need paint, carpet, and other updates.
High fees. These aren’t bad if you occupy the condo, but if you are looking for a place for occasional use, you will pay a somewhat higher amount here than if you had individual bills for your utilities.

Watch out for

The windows. The windows used in the North Shore Club condos have double panes and metal frames. In some of the condos condensation collected on the frames and damaged the drywall over a period of years. Others have seals that have worn out, allowing moisture between the panes and giving the window a premanently fogged look. Both issues can be corrected, but if your are buying, you can ask the seller to pay for the repair.

The geese. The woods and water that make North Shore Club so pleasant also attract wildlife, including geese. This isn’t really a drawback, but it’s worth mentioning so you know ahead of time that geese will wander past your patio. I’ve heard that grape kool aid sprinkled in the grass keeps geese away, but haven’t tested it myself.

Available units

Still with me? Here’s a live link to the North Shore Club Condos listed for sale. At the time I’m writing this, there are seven on the market. The pick of the litter is 1565 Wildflower, a realst8.com listing.