by Nick Molnar on June 21, 2008
I’m fortunate in my job that I get to work with smart people from around the country. Recently, I’ve been working with a businessman from Florida considering a purchase in South Bend. He brings an entrepreneur’s eye for value to his home search, and we’ve been discussing price per square foot as a means to screen and “pre-qualify” homes in the South Bend real estate market.
In our last conversation, we decided that any property that strayed too far from the average price per square foot for the area’s upscale homes would require a justification or we wouldn’t even look at it further. If a home is on acreage, offers unusual upgrades, a waterfront location, or some other good reason for a higher price, it could be considered, but most would be eliminated quickly, allowing us to focus on the best value propositions on the market. That sounded like a smart plan to find a nice home at a good price with the least effort spent scanning properties that would just waste time.
A casual acquaintance with South Bend’s real estate market suggested $100 / square foot as a typical price for nicer homes in the area to my client, but I checked the sales data to be sure our benchmark was accurate. A search of homes that sold in the last year with the criteria my client is seeking: sold for more than $300,000, were built in or after the year 2000, and are set on 4 acres or less, excluding townhomes sold at Irish Crossings and Wexford Place yielded 47 sales, enough to draw from for our benchmark. It’s worth noting that our mls rules mostly exclude basement square feet regardless of how well finished that level may be. Since most every home in the search results had finished or walkout lower levels, I think it’s an equal handicap for all the homes and therefore can be reasonably discarded. Looking at the sales, the average sales price per square foot was $164.82. The range is about $87/sf to $305/sq ft, with the bulk of the sales between $130 and $180/sq ft.
With some idea of what homes have recently sold for, we can apply it to the homes for sale in Granger and South Bend. Of course there will be justifiable variances, for example a waterfront all-brick ranch will cost more per square feet than a brick front 2-story on a through street. But we have a starting place for quickly evaluating homes and deciding if they justify a closer look.
If you’re looking for property in South Bend, Mishawaka or Granger, and want data driven searches from Realtors who respect your time, I’d like to talk to you:
Nick Molnar
mobile: 574-309-3758
direct to voice-mail: 574-235-4836
e-mail: nick@realst8.com
by Joe Molnar on March 5, 2008
Price Reduced 5K!
Owner Says Sell.
Price Slashed 40K!!!
Every day I see similar claims made on MLS listing information sheets, property fliers, in newspaper ads and in Home Magazines. You may think they are indicative of good deals but it pays to look more closely.
Careful inspection of the details often reveals homes grossly overpriced to begin with, or a property that has been on and off the market for over a year or more with a series of reductions and increases to create the illusion of big price cuts. Today I came across an interesting listing for a new home in a subdivision on the Northwest side of South Bend. The marketing made it look like a deal but the property history revealed a different story, of repeated and drastic price changes. These cases make me wonder how many people bought homes at inflated prices while thinking they got a deal. These situations are particularly common with higher priced properties. Here are a few examples, along with the property histories:
From the mls remarks: “$40,000 PRICE REDUCTION!!! HURRY, PRICED TO SELL!”
The property history:
Interesting! This house started out at $658,000 and sold a year later for $550,000. That’s a pretty big reduction for a new home. Maybe someone was being greedy at the start?
Here’s another.
MLS remarks: “$25,000 BUYER INCENTIVE FROM SELLER! IN ADDITION, SELLER WILL MAKE YOUR FIRST 6 MORTGAGE PAYMENTS, UP TO $3000!”
The property history:
The list price started at $398,000, rose to $439,900 and the house eventually sold for $417,500 after a year on the market.
I wonder how the folks who paid the higher prices a year ago feel today knowing about these price cuts on neighboring homes. Do they impact the values in their neighborhoods? I think so. Obviously, this isn’t always the case, but you need to know the facts when you are buying. If your Realtor isn’t forthcoming, you should find one that is. Both of the homes in the example above were new homes marketed by a Realtor. The listing agent is working for the builder. Don’t ever mistake that fact. If you want representation you must have your own agent. We believe in negotiating fearlessly on the behalf of our clients. Make sure you have an agent that feels the same way.
There are lots of good deals available and many fair deals out there as well. Unfortunately there are also a number of dressed up bad deals waiting for unsuspecting buyers. Do your research, or find someone you trust to do it for you – it pays to be careful with any purchase as significant as that of a house.
by Nick Molnar on December 16, 2007
by Nick Molnar on July 17, 2007
The Midwest is often noted for its affordable housing, as in this recent ranking of metro areas highlights.
However don’t jump to the conclusion that all homes here are inexpensive. I recently needed to find what are the more expensive areas of South Bend based on sales price, not just reputation. Because there isn’t a great resource to give me that picture quickly and clearly, I had to make my own. Here is a map that shows the location of all sales over $300,000 located in the city of South Bend that closed since 7/17/05 and have data in the local MLS. There are 92. For comparison, Granger had 216 of these sales and Mishawaka had 18 in the same time period.
You’ll see the map has clusters in older neighborhoods like Sunnymede, Ridgedale and Erskine Manor, as well as newer neighborhoods like Westwood Hills, Deer Run and Pendle Woods.
It’s not a bad situation for a city to have a wide variety of housing that doesn’t skimp on the affordable end but also has a healthy population of luxury homes.
If you are looking for more on the area’s high-end subdivisions, try this Luxury Neighborhood Guide that covers South Bend, Granger and Mishawaka.
by Nick Molnar on May 1, 2007
Using data from the Greater South Bend-Mishawaka MLS, here is the April breakdown of sales statistics. Sales are increasing slowly, along with the number of homes listed. Condos continue to be the area’s hot market. About 23% of the listed inventory of condos sold this month, compared to 13% of the listed inventory of single family houses.
Houses Listed: 2,164
Houses Sold 4/1 - 4/30: 290
About 13% of listed houses sold this month.
Townhouses/Condos Listed: 57
Townhouses/Condos Sold 4/1 - 4/30: 13
About 23% of listed townhomes/condos sold this month.
Villas Listed: 56
Villas Sold 4/1 - 4/30: 9
About 16% of listed villas sold this month.
Archived South Bend market reports:
January 2007
February 2007
March 2007
