South Bend

This spec (builder owned) home in Deer Run on South Bend’s south side has been on the market since February 2007. It has been reduced in price from $2.3 million to $1.85 million and the builder is offering to throw in a $50,000 pool. Here is the MLS marketing description:

Incredible builder spec in deer hollow on 6 acre lot. Incredible detailing throughout w/numerous built-ins, incredible trim work, incredible ceilings! Main floor all brazilian flooring & ceramic. Incredible master suite-bath with roman steam room/shower,seperate morning areas,screen porch. Granite kitchen w/sub zero fridge - approx 400 sq ft, 2500 sq ft of bsmt finish w/theater area, second kitchen, 5th of 6th bdrm, 5th full bath, family room. Truly one of a kind. Builder offering $50,000 swimming pool allowance w/accepted offer.

It seems to me that the most remarkable thing about this property is a price reduction of half a million dollars, and still no takers. Do you think this is a good deal or was the builder dreaming when he priced this home at $2,300,000 at the beginning of the biggest downturn our market has seen since the early 80’s. In today’s market, to buy this home at $1,850,000 with $185,000 down payment, the purchaser would need an income of around $450,000 a year assuming no debt besides a home. The payment on a 30-year fixed rate of 6.375 % is $10,387/month before taxes and insurance.

With examples like this how is a consumer supposed to know if they are getting a fair deal. How would you feel if you bought this home a year ago for $2.3 million and your neighbor bought one just like it today for $1.8 million. How do you know what to offer? How do you know what’s fair? The best way to develop a negotiating strategy is to:

1. Assess the current economic situation in the market. Is it a buyer’s market, a seller’s market, or a balanced market?
2. Research the development carefully. Is it viable? Is it in demand? Is there current activity?
3. Find out what comparable homes sold for in the last 18 months, 12 months, 6 months in order to see price trends.
4. For new construction, determine the sellers financial health if possible. If it’s a spec home, have the sub-contractors been paid? Is the lumber bill current? Are there any liens filed on the property
5. Be willing to walk away from the deal. In today’s market the buyer who is willing to walk away from an unreasonable seller holds the power in the transaction. Know the price at which a house stops being a bargain and at which you are willing to move on to the next property.

If you’d like innovative professionals to look out for your interests courteously yet assertively as you buy or sell property in South Bend, Granger or Mishawaka, we’d like the chance to earn your business. Please contact us for a consultation.

 

I was talking to my “web 2.0 colleagues” about the high cost of housing on the west coast today and I had an epiphany… I should start marketing to people across the country whose employment is not location dependent that want a great home at a ridiculously low price in a decent Midwest city that has a great university, a multitude of other educational opportunities and is 45 minutes from the white sand beaches of Lake Michigan and only 90 minutes from the center of one of the worlds great cities - Chicago. How do I do this? I wonder what I can do with a targeted blog?

A few years ago I sold a home to clients relocating for exactly the affordability reasons mentioned above. They had a home in the Bay Area that backed to a freeway. They had lived there for 20 years or so. He is a high school teacher, she was a librarian and they have 4 kids. They are a nice family, and despite being very frugal, at the end of every month they struggled to make ends meet.

They sold their modest home in the Bay Area for around 800k, and bought an extremely nice 3,500 square foot home built in 1992 in a great neighborhood on a huge lot with additional space in the finished basement for 315K, paid off all their bills, put around 400K in the bank. Now, their kids are in private schools, he is a religion teacher at a Catholic High School, and she is a stay at home mom. Their lives have improved dramatically.

The South Bend Common Council passed an ordinance designed to lessen the negative impact of vacant and abandoned homes in the city. It requires the property owners to register habitually vacant or abandoned properties with the city, pay an annual fee, maintain liability insurance, and designate a property manager in the area.

According to WSBT, “The city’s code enforcement department says there are more than 600 vacant homes across the city.” The census bureau, however puts that figure at 7,981 homes. South Bend’s Housing and Community Development Plan includes a map of the county coded by vacancy rate.

If signed by Mayor Leucke, the vacant property rules will be effective January 1st.

The ordinance is available here, South Bend Tribune’s article here.

Larger cities have official, or at least commonly recognized neighborhood boundaries. Chicago for example, has 77 often mapped neighborhoods. South Bend also has neighborhoods, but there is a lot of confusion about what and where they are.

In an attempt to start a discussion, and create a map of neighborhoods in South Bend,

Mishawaka, and Granger, I’ve outlined about 40 places on this Map of South Bend Area Neighborhoods. These are just my understanding of the neighborhoods, so if you live in one and I’ve got it wrong, let me know. There are many, many more neighborhoods as well. If your’s isn’t on there, make a comment, or send me an e-mail, to nick@realst8.com, and I’ll add it. You can look for descriptions to come as well, so feel free to include your thoughts about the neighborhoods in the comments. I’ll try to incorporate them into the descriptions.With a little participation, I hope to tap into the wisdom of crowds to come up with a comprehensive and accurate map of the South Bend Area that’s better than what any group of experts could plot.