Living In Pike.com

If Ali Khan gets zoning approval he will transform 4914, 4930 and 4942 Lafayette Road into a strip center with at least 5 tenants including his Health Spot store and a new franchise of Dick’s Bodacious BBQ along with several other businesses. Right now this property located at the NW corner of I65 and Lafayette road is vacant and needs a zoning change before he can move forward.

The only problem I see is the city won’t allow a median cut on Lafayette Road. This means to enter the center you must be traveling south on Lafayette Road. When you leave the center you have to go south on Lafayette Road. Ali says he has a plan to resolve that in the future. We shall see…

Brian Sauer, Fire Marshal for Pike Township is stepping down from the job and becoming a on the line fireman. I hope the township finds someone who will serve us as well as Brian did. I have known Brian for several years and know that his dedication to his job has made Pike a safer place to live. Good luck Brian!!! Picture of Brian at Taste Of Pike

Fortune House restaurant at 9106 Wesleyan Road (you could see it from 91st and Michigan Road) has been torn down. The restaurant and land were sold for $850,000 to Ruby Tuesday. As I remember, a Ruby Tuesday was originally built across the street on Michigan Road and torn down several years ago with some other restaurants. That area of Michigan Road is like the Bermuda Triangle for restaurants. They come and they go mysteriously…

It was noticed yesterday that the BP gas station at 56th and Georgetown Road was boarded up and the pumps wraped in black plastic. All indications that there was a BP there are gone. The signs are covered and there is no way to drive in. It seems like this happened overnight. I also found out that there are 2 BP stations between Bloomington and Lake Monroe that look the very same.

As reported in Pike’s Peek the old Shell station at I465 and 86th that was supposed to be turned into a BP station this year and the BP station at 86th and Michigan Road that was taking over the old Chinese restaurant and expanding have not happen.

Looks like “…one of the largest gasoline retailers in the United States.” is either slowing down or tightening up. I must say that it is not true for their station at 71st and Woodland Drive. It seems to be doing a landslide business. Some mornings I go in there for coffee and can’t find a parking space.

Ever since the Shell gas station was torn down, there has been wild speculation about what would replace it. I have the answer. It seems the rumors have been true all along. Currently construction has started on Flagstar Bank by Capitol Construction. In the very near future Mezzetta Construction will start on the new Culvers. If I am counting correctly, that will bring the total up to 9 restaurants(including fast food) at that corner.

The Northwest corner of 71st and Marsh Road has been zoned for about 90 condos. Starting price will be about $180,000. The developers at the time of zoning did not have a builder for the project. One of the developers is a builder and there was speculation that his company might build the condos. It turns out that his company is not going to do the project. The developers are in talks with a upscale builder. There have been rumors that it was Davis Homes. I am told that it is not Davis. Time will tell.

Last Wednesday I attended another Brokers Open. It was at Walden Glen which is located just south of 86th and Lafayette Road. A very small community with only 23 houses. It was a 2 story, 3 bedrooom with loft, 2.5 baths withand a full unfinished basement. This home had something that the majority of buyers look for. A back yard with nothing behind you. What privacy. At the end of a cul-de-sac with an open field behind it and a basketball court in the backyard. It is in move in condition and priced at $265,000. Indalecio and Janice Ruiz hosted the Brokers Open. Thanks for lunch and good seeing you again.

I attended a very nice Brokers Open House today. For those of you who do not know what a Brokers Open House is, let me explain. What a Sunday Open House is for buyers, a Brokers Open House is for Real Estate Agents. Usually the listing agent holds the house open for agents and serves lunch to those who attend. It is a method of getting agents in the house. The agents may have buyers that might be interested in the house.

This house is located on 82nd Street just west of Lafayette Road. It is a 3 bedroom, 3 full bath ranch built on 1.6 acres, built in 1983 with some very interesting updates. The pitch of the roof allowed them to open up two attic areas into very nice living areas. One of which has a circular staircase leading up to the upper area. One of the 3 original bedrooms was turned into a good size master bath. Besides the standard 2 car attached garage it has a second detached one car garage with a second floor that can be used for storage. About half the fenced backyard is wooded area. I noticed the owners have a play set in the middle of the woods. I bet the kids have a ball. To top things off, it has a very nice above ground swimming pool with decks all around it.

For this kind of country setting, the acreage and the uniqueness of this property, I think it is priced fairly at $229,500. Thanks Julie Brooks (seller’s agent) for inviting me and for lunch. It was very nice meeting you.

As a rule, I try to attend all Brokers Open Houses in Pike if I know about them. It lets me see houses that I normally might not see, adds to my mental inventory of houses for sale and allows me to meet new people.

I was there for a little over 2 hours yesterday afternoon…long enough to get sunburn. The weather was perfect. I thought the attendance was good for the first annual. Intech Park was a great place to have Taste Of Pike. It was easy to access, plenty of parking and no long lines. Anyone who was traveling past on 465 could get a good view of what was going on. The first person I ran into that I knew was Ike Randolph who is a City County Council Member representing most of Pike Township and was instrumental in setting up Taste Of Pike. I saw a lot of familiar people. There was a good selection of food vendors from Pike. Booth space was taken up by a wide range of businesses. There were 2 stages set up for musical and dance entertainment that was continuous all day. I took several pictures of the happenings.

The money raised from this event will go to support the Pike Performing Arts Center, located on Zionsville Rd.

The following were sponsors of the event:

Have you ever heard of someone asking for a CMA of their house? Do you know what it is? For those of you that don’t know…a CMA is a Comparable Market Analysis. When a seller is getting ready to sell their house or wants to know what their house would sell for on the market today, they have a Realtor® prepare a CMA for them. This is a free service from Realtors®. The following are the steps I take to prepare a CMA…

1. Look up the property tax record of the homeowner and make sure it belongs to who is asking for the service. The property tax record will also give me the year that the house was built, the breakdown of square footage and the last transaction date (this usually tells me when the homeowner bought the house).

2. Go to IndyGov.org/gis and get an aerial view of the property. This shows me where the house is located in the community (location, location, location…), if the owner has any amenities like a deck, fenced yard, swimming pool, etc. The aerial will also tell me if the house is on a cul-de-sac, corner lot, next to a busy street or railroad, next to a factory or in the perfect community location.

3. I then go to the MLS system and look for like houses (same/close square footage, bedrooms, baths and amenities) that have sold in the community in the past year. This tells me what buyers are willing to pay for the same configuration of house in that community. I try to pick at least 2 houses that are the same or close.
Another method I use is dollars per square foot. First I see what the average dollars per square foot is for all the houses that have sold in the community in the past year. Then I see what the average dollars per square foot are for the above two comparables. If the two figures (community and comparables) are close, I take this into consideration. If the two figures are extremely different, then I look for reasons why or place less importance on the numbers.

4. I also look at withdrawn and expired listings. These are houses that were on the market and the seller either decided to take it off the market or the listing contract expired without a sale. In both cases this could be an indication that the house was priced to high to begin with.

5. Lastly I look at what is currently on the market today in the community. This is your competition. You have to be aware of like houses that are priced above and below the market. Like houses priced above market give you an advantage. Above market pricing means, all things considered, that these houses probably will be the last to sell. Below market pricing means, all things considered, that these houses probably will be the first to sell. You also have to remember that in Pike Township during off season that the list price/sell price ratio is about 97 percent. During season it is about 98 percent. This mean that if a house is priced at $100,000 the seller will be willing to take $97,000 off season and $98,000 during the selling season. In a community where there are only a few houses for sale, pricing to beat your competition is not as important. When the supply is low and the demand is high, houses will tend to sell. If the community has 10 or more houses for sale, pricing to beat the competition becomes more important.

6. By taking the selling prices of the comparables, the average dollars per square foot, the prices of like houses of expired or withdrawn listings and the listing prices of like houses on the market today, I will have developed a “RANGE” of prices. The spread will probably end up between $5,000 and $15,000. The smaller the spread the easier it is to determine “market price”. The larger the spread the more research you have to do.

He is an example:

A homeowner asks me to do a CMA on his 3 bedroom 2 bath ranch home. It has 1,200 square feet and was built in 1999. The community where it is located happens to be a popular one and has a healthy turnover rate (number of houses that sell every year on average).

Comparables
3 bedroom, 2 bath, 1150 square feet, built in 1997, listed for $125,000 and sold for $123,000 ($107/SF)

3 bedroom, 2 bath, 1300 square feet, built in 2000, listed for $130,000 and sold for $125,000 ($96/SF)

Expired and Withdrawn
3 bedroom, 2 bath, 1200 square feet, built in 1999, listed for $135,000, expired after 6 months

3 bedroom, 2 bath, 1350 square feet, built in 2001, listed for $137,000, withdrawn after 4 months

Currently For Sale
3 bedroom, 2 bath, 1200 square feet, built in 2000, listed for $130,000

3 bedroom, 2 bath, 1100 square feet, built in 1998, listed for $125,000

The Range;
Comparable – $123,000
Comparable – $125,000
Expired – $135,000
Withdrawn – $137,000
Active – $130,000
Active – $135,000
Square Footage Price – $125,567 (based on a average square footage price of $101.50 and a list price/sale price ratio of .97)
1200 square feet X $101.50 = $121,800 / .97 (list price/sale price ratio) = $125,567.

$123,000 to $137,000 = $12,000 spread

7. I make an appointment with the seller to see the house. As I tour the house I am taking notes as to what are the good points and bad. If the house had numerous updates, was in great condition and needed nothing, I would suggest that the home be marketed at the higher end of the spread. If the house needed new carpeting, paint and repairs, then I would suggest that the house be marketed at the lower end of the spread. How much higher or lower is a judgment call and depends on how motivated the seller is.

8. I would show the seller all my research and documentation. I would then suggest a market price. Sellers always price their own homes. It is my job to give them as much information as I can to help them make that decision. If a seller thinks that their house is worth much more and I think that I can’t sell it for what they want, then it is my choice to not take that listing and wish the seller “good luck”.

A CMA is not an appraisal. Appraisals in the State of Indiana require licensed Appraisers. Appraisals usually cost about $300 and are much more detailed in information.

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