Columbus Indiana Real Estate

Considering a Career in Real Estate?

2008-01-27T15:17:00.000-08:00

I love my job. Each day I go to work I get the opportunity to go on a new adventure. People invite me into their lives to help them achieve their personal and financial goals. I went to Indiana University to become a teacher and now I own a real estate company. A lot of people laugh when I tell them I have a degree in education, but now I am a business owner. It was funny to me for a while too, but now I realize I am still in education. Just a different kind of education.

People rely on me to educate them about our real estate market, when to sell, how to improve the value of their home, and sometimes how to avoid foreclosure. They invite me into their homes, share with me their hopes and their dreams, and let me get to know them. I feel incredibly blessed by all of the amazing people I have met and the experiences I have had selling real estate.

The other really exciting part of my job is helping other people transition into the career that has become such a huge part of my life. It is incredibly exciting to help new agents develop skills that will allow them to reach their goals and dreams. Teaching them how to price a home or how to write an offer that protects their buyer or even how to use the computer to keep track of their clients and showings is incredibly rewarding to me.

If you LOVE real estate, if you enjoy going to work and being surprised by what your day brings, if you enjoy solving real problems, then real estate might just be for you. If you have any questions about becoming a REALTOR in Columbus, Indiana, I would love to answer any questions you have. It is a unique career that offers flexibility like no other.

Speaking of which, tomorrow I am heading to Indianapolis to meet with Realtors from all over the state to discuss how the Women's Council of Realtors can best serve the Realtors in our local chapters. As President, I get to present the amazing lineup of educational events we have prepared for our local Realtors.

Happy House Hunting!
Robyn

Is Your Price on Target?

2007-12-10T06:03:00.000-08:00

When listing a property, we consider price to be the most important factor! Yes, home staging is helpful, and updating certain items is helpful. Curb appeal is king! "Location, location, location." You've heard about all of these things I am certain. However, when we price a home we take all of that into consideration. Of course, we advise our clients on the items and improvements they can make that will increase their value or cause their home to sell more quickly, but all of that aside, we should all be chanting: "price, price, price".

If you are looking for the insider secret on how to sell a home, you have come to the right place. We here at Spoon Real Estate know the secret: price it right! Here is a simple break down of what happens when you price your home at different levels:

12+% overpriced: Not showing!
6-12% overpriced: Shows some, no offers!
4-6% overpriced: showing some, low offers.
Right on Target: Showing a lot, good and oftentimes multiple offers!

Many people feel like they have to overprice their home to leave room for negotiating. We absolutely don't believe that at all. If you price your home on target, you will ultimately net more than if you overpriced your home waiting for someone looking for a bargain. If you overprice it long enough, they will get a bargain because you will become desparate to sell your house!!!

In many parts of the country right now, the real estate market is suffering. There is an oversupply of homes and a high foreclosure rate. Our market in Columbus, Indiana is pretty balanced. If you stage your home nicely and PRICE IT RIGHT, you should be able to sell your home in a reasonable period of time.

When you take a well-priced home and market it efficiently, a sale in a reasonable period of time is the result most of the time. Add a seasoned professional to make sure you have indeed priced it right, and you are in great shape.

So, how do you know if your Realtor has done a good job coming up with a price for your home? They should be using homes that have sold in your geographic area or neighborhood within the last year (six months is best), that most resemble the qualities and amenities of your home. Simply averaging the sales prices won't work. There are adjustments that need made to ensure that the homes have been compared properly. Pools, sun rooms and screened porches, extra bedrooms, finished basements, fences, fireplaces, garage size, and quality of construction are just a few of the items worth taking into consideration.

The final determination of price is usually a comparison of other active properties. In other words: what is your competition? Stay on top of what other homes around you are selling for and what they are listed for. The buyers in your market will certainly be checking out the other options!

For how, happy house selling!

Robyn Spoon

Home Inspections...do or die!

2007-12-03T07:32:00.000-08:00

Since I began selling real estate nearly a decade ago, the home inspection industry has completely changed! Buyers used to have a friend or a trusted carpenter come along and let them know if they had any serious concerns before they bought. These friends and trusted advisers weren't licensed or fully trained. Some were better than others...many weren't insured. Today, the home inspection industry is a huge and amazing industry. It is a huge improvement over my early days in real estate, but more confusing than ever.

What is the purpose of a home inspection? What types of inspections can you have done? Who should perform the inspections? Once an inspection has been completed, what should you do with the information? These are all questions that my buyers have been asking.

First, you should always reserve the right to inspect a property. In some cases, like bank repo's, and other "as-is" properties, you can inspect, but it doesn't mean that the owner will make repairs. In some rare cases, it doesn't even mean you can get out of the deal if you find something you don't like. SCARY! However, most of the time, in Indiana anyway, major items found on an inspection can be cause to terminate the transaction with your earnest money in tact. I say "most of the time" because it depends on how your contract is written. Be sure to have a clause that allows for this if you want to be fully protected.

Second, you must be certain that your contract allows for the types of inspections you wish to have done. Here are a few: whole house inspection, radon inspection, termite or other wood destroying organism inspection, lead paint inspection, mold inspection, and so on and so on and so on.

Third, do your homework before you choose an inspector or a type of inspection. What are you hoping to find? What will you do with the results? Who will perform the inspections.

I would make sure to get referrals from a real estate professional on the "who" of the above list. Your Realtor should also be able to answer simple questions or refer you to your answers in some way.

In Indiana, a whole house inspector now has to be licensed. This is another huge change from my early days in real estate.

My final words of advice: attend the inspection. Not only will you want first hand knowledge of any problems that are found, but you will learn the ins and outs of maintaining your new home.

Good luck and happy house hunting.
Robyn

**The information here is the opinion of Robyn Spoon. I do not warrant or guarantee the information above.

Brookfield Place

2007-11-26T06:08:00.000-08:00

We are excited to announce that Brookfield Place is now selling! The process to develop this piece of land has been an adventure and an amazing experience. Last week, I was pleased to drive by and see pavement!!! Each of the 22 home sites will be designed and built custom per the client. It is exciting to be a part of a neighborhood from the beginning. We have had the opportunity to consider what makes a neighborhood a great place to live as well as a place that will hold its value over time.

With none of the lots backing up to anyone else and a beautiful green space in the center, there should be a home site that works for everyone. In order to secure a home site, buyers may provide a deposit that will hold the lot for a period of time. An extra deposit will secure the home throughout construction and allow clients to avoid having to get a construction loan or move twice. Each home will be custom designed by Joel Spoon and then built by our construction company, Spoon Construction. We are pleased to see the variety of home plans individuals are interested in and the wonderful people we get to work with.

Check out the Brookfield Place link on the Spoon Real Estate web site for more information about lot availability and pricing.

Happy House Hunting!
Robyn

Columbus Indiana Real Estate Market Condition!

2007-11-19T09:38:00.000-08:00

After coming back from the National Convention for the National Association of Realtors, I feel it is important to take some time to reflect on our market here in Columbus, Indiana. My suspicion was proven correct: there are some really tough real estate markets out there across the country, but ours is NOT one of them. The areas that seem to have been hardest are the coastal areas and major metropolitan areas. I spoke with a Realtor from Ft Myers, Florida where they have seen their supply of homes multipy by nearly 5 x in the past year. Needless to say, the demand for homes has not only not gone up, but actually gone down!!!

In all fairness, many of these coastal areas in Florida and California have seen massive increases in home values over the past five years. Builders and Realtors alike have been speculating new home and condominium construction at an alarming rate...a rate that the demand did not keep up with. Coupled with risky loans, the market in those areas are in big trouble.

Columbus, Indiana is another story. We, like most smaller communities in the midwest, never saw the massive home appreciation like these big metro areas. Our unemployment rate is low, interest rates are low, and our supply of homes is in pretty good balance with our demand. Many of our homes locally have seen healthy appreciation because of the reasonable number of homes available for sale. If you are interested in some information about the value of your home, feel free to contact me at rspoon@spoonrealestate.com. A free CMA is yours for the asking.

Our national news has been telling some pretty scary stories about high foreclosure rates, bad mortgage programs, and tough real estate markets. All of these stories are true in the context of their location, but real estate continues to be a local economic condition. Today is a great time to buy and sell in Columbus, Indiana. Great loan programs from local lenders, wonderful existing and new construction homes are available, and there are buyers for your existing home.

Be sure to price your home right, make sure it is in good resale condition, and hire a great Realtor to represent you. There is a house out there for you and a great loan program to make it all come together.

Interested in attending an open house? The Columbus Board of Realtors has a great new site for open houses!
All for now. Happy House Hunting!

Knowledge is everything!

2007-11-15T07:33:00.000-08:00

I am getting ready to head over to the convention center for my final day here at the National Association of Realtors National Convention. For some reason, I am always surprised at how much information and knowledge I am able to compile at an event like this. It is refreshing to see Realtors from all over the country come together to hone their skills. What an amazing group of people.

Absorption Rate Pricing, Economic Updates, Technology, Photography skills, advertising skills, negotiating skills, and more. All around me I see people here trying to improve their management and leadership skills. I am proud to be part of this group, and I can't wait to get back to Columbus, Indiana to use the skills I have learned about real estate, the housing market, avoiding foreclosure, advertising and marketing the homes we have listed, and being the best managing/owning broker I can be.

Until next time...

Moving across state lines...

2006-06-27T10:19:00.000-07:00

A quick note to those of you getting ready to make a cross-state transfer: check with your local BMV to verify the laws reguarding a change in address. A friend of mine recently moved here from Georgia and found out the hard way that hanging on to those "Peachy Plates" from Georgia was a bad move. It turns out that according to Indiana Law she needed to get her insurance changed and plates purchased in less than two months or else she risked a suspended license as well as fines!!! Moving is a busy time; especially a long distance move. One more item to add to your moving checklist needs to be a trip to your local BMV to determine how much time you have to transfer plates, etc. You may also be able to check out the internet to get the information you need to avoid a trip to my least favorite errand: a trip to the BMV!!!

Happy Moving,
Robyn

To Build or Not To Build?

2006-06-06T07:47:00.000-07:00

Deciding whether or not to build a new home can be a difficult question to answer. There are many pros and cons to building a new home and many questions to answer before you get started. I have compiled a top ten reasons to build a new home rather than buy existing below:

When you build a new home, you get everything new all at the same time!
A new home has the possibility of adding specialized wiring for all those new technology gadgets we all love!
No wallpaper to tear down (this is one of my personal favorites, because I really do not like to take down wallpaper.)
You won't have nearly the maintenance issues because a newer home offers a lot of the great new low maintenance features.
You will not inherit "do-it-yourself" projects...although, some of these are a lot of fun if done well!
No overgrown landscaping with roots the size of a bulldozer to remove!
You have the opportunity to build a home with energy efficiency features that are important in light of the recent gas price increases.
You get to pick everything out...no dated light fixtures to replace, mint green bathroom fixtures to decorate around....
You pick the place!
You decide what's included!

Now, that all sounds great! However, I have found over the years that many people go into building a home without the benefit of experience. Be certain to pick a builder carefully. Here are a few tips for picking a great builder:

Get several references from people who have built with the builder.
Check to make sure the builder has enough experience to build the type of home you are interested in building.
Make sure the list of specifications (all the stuff to be included in the construction of the home) is very very long!
Double check to make sure the allowances inlcuded will be enough to cover the cost of the items you are likely to pick out (it is no fun to go over budget on a new home).
Be certain that you feel like you have a good rapport with the builder (you will be together for a lot of months and years to come).

Hopefully, these suggestions will be helpful to you. The list is certainly not conclusive, but a good start.

Happy House Building,

Robyn

Moving with Kids!

2006-04-27T08:39:00.000-07:00

Columbus Indiana Real EstateMoving can be an incredible adventure or an incredible disaster if you are a kid!
(Or let's face it, for us adults as well!) Planning for a move is half of the battle. Since I was a teenager, I have moved literally dozens of times. Joel and I are getting ready to move for the ninth time in our eleven year marriage! It seems any more that moving has become habitual for me. When others are ready for spring cleaning, I am packing up for another move. Okay, I admit we are a little crazy, but we do own a real estate company and a construction company. I think we keep moving because God wants to make sure we have moved enough to be sympathetic we our clients. With that said, I have a fair amount of experience moving with children. We have three children and each one has lived in almost as many homes as the years they have been alive. There are a few simple things you can do to make a move simple with children:
First, talk to your children honestly about the move. Once you know for sure a move is imminent, they need to know. Second, involve them in the packing. My experience is that children believe that a home is not just the home, but the stuff in the home. Provide them with one special box they can color or decorate to make their own. Allow them to choose their favorite things to put in the box. Assure them that all of their other things will also be coming, but that this box was the one with their most important things. You should try, it at all possible, to not put this box on a moving van, but take it with you in your car or otherwise so the child can deliver it directly to their new room.
Third, when looking for the new home avoid bringing your children with you. Find someone to watch them. Finding a home is a stressful process for adults, but an even more confusing process for children. Once you have found your new home take your children for a visit. If that isn't possible, take pictures of the new home and neighborhood, school, etc. to show them where they are going. Fourth, if you aren't stressed, they won't be stressed.

There are bunches of great reads on the subject of moving. A few we keep at the Spoon Real Estate office are the following: The Berenstein Bears' Moving Day by Stan and Jan Berenstein, But Mom, I don't want to move!by Susan Miller available through Focus on the Family, and The Moving Book: A Kids' Survival Guideby Gabriel Davis. Susan Miller has also written a book called, "After the Boxes are Unpacked", which is geared towards helping women transition in long distance moves which sounds great as well.

Feel free to e-mail me or call our real estate office if you have any questions about how you might find these books.
Happy Moving!
Robyn

Finding the perfect house!

2006-03-28T09:58:00.000-08:00

Columbus Indiana Real Estate For a home buyer, the most important part of purchasing a home is finding the right match for your needs. How on earth does someone even begin to look for that right home? We, as Realtors, have so many different tools available to help you find the right home for your budget and needs. If you click on the link to the left that says Search Columbus MLS, you will find most of the homes available through the Columbus Board of Realtors for Columbus, Indiana. Our staff has been through many of the homes through the process of showing homes to clients and previewing homes on the market. If you have any questions about the features of these homes, don't hesitate to call.

Happy House Hunting.
Robyn

"Some 'Preapprovals' worthless"

2006-03-23T13:04:00.000-08:00

Columbus Indiana Real EstateNew national research shows that many buyers and homesellers are kidding themselves when it comes to a very important step in the home buying or selling process: loan preapprovals! Be aware of the fact that many preapproval letters are not worth the paper they are printed on! Kenneth Harney, a syndicated columnist,writes "More than half of the participants in a nationally representative statistical sample of realty agents identified unreliable or bogus preapproval letters as a key cause of breakdowns in transactions. The agents said 39 percent of all preapprovals by Internet-based lenders were faulty or "invalid". This is something we definitely see in our industry. One of the biggest obstacles we, as Realtors, must overcome for our clients is the financing piece. A word to the wise: be cautious if you are a seller about accepting an offer based on a preapproval letter without asking some questions and be cautious if you a buyer when you are determining who will provide your financing. There are so many factors which contribute to the cost of borrowing money. The interest rate is simply one factor. A reputable Realtor should be able to help you at least ask the right questions. If you are planning to sell your home "For Sale By Owner", be prepared in advance for how you will deal with financing issues your buyer may bring. In order to be truly "prequalified", the lender should have required some proof of income, a copy of a credit report pulled, and more. Good luck and happy selling!
Robyn

Columbus Indiana Real Estate: Stage your home for a quick sale!

2006-03-22T07:48:00.000-08:00

Columbus Indiana Real Estate: Stage your home for a quick sale!
HGTV

Stage your home for sale!

2006-03-16T18:47:00.000-08:00

Now that spring is here and you are ready to put your house on the market you are probably wondering if your house needs a quick pick-me-up. It probably does. The question of how to prepare your home for sale is one that happens at every consultation appointment we do at Spoon Real Estate. You have spent however many years you have lived in your home making it personally reflect your personality, tastes, and interests. Now, the goal is simple: reverse all that you have done! Not quite. Of course, if you want your home to sell quickly and for the best price possible, you will definitely want to do your homework on preparing to sell. My suggestion is simple: neutralize the decor, neutralize the odors in your home, and neutralize and problem areas. Wow! This is work. Yes, it is, however, in the end a little hard work on the front end will save you time and money in the end. How do you neutralize decor? Make sure your wall colors and accent colors are capable of going with lots of peoples things. If you have a lot of strong color in your home, try to tone it down with more neutral accesories. My house doesn't smell you might say. 80% of all complaints potential buyers make about homes they see has to do with smoking odors, pet odors, cooking odors, and mildew odors. WOW! Have someone give you an honest opinion and take the necessary steps. It might involve leaving Fido out in the garage or limiting his movement in the house to the mud room until the sale is complete. You might check out hgtv.com for more helpful hints OR call your Spoon Real Estate agent to discuss what you might do to prepare your home for sale. We have many wonderful resources available to help out and tons of experience. You can also check out HGTV's Site for staging help. Happy Staging for the spring market!

Spring Fever!

2006-03-06T16:35:00.000-08:00

Columbus Indiana Real EstateWow! The spring real estate market is definitely here! Spoon Real Estate helped seven houses go into pending in 10 days. It has been a busy time. What a great time to get your house on the market. According to the Columbus Board of Realtors MLS today, there are 383 homes actively for sale in the Columbus and Bartholomew County areas. Spoon Real Estate would love the opportunity to interview for the important job of advising you through your next sale. I also want to take just a second to thank The Republic newspaper for doing such an awesome job highlighting Ryan Wasson's senior project to become a Realtor and work with a client. I feel incredibly privileged to be a part of this project and pleased that our local newspaper did such an awesome job highlighting the efforts of a local senior high student! Check out the article if you get a chance...it was in the newspaper Monday, March 6, 2006.

Columbus Indiana Real Estate

2006-03-06T16:27:00.000-08:00

Columbus Indiana Real Estate

2006-02-13T10:01:00.000-08:00

Columbus Indiana Real Estate

Virtual Tours

2006-02-11T12:46:00.000-08:00

Have you ever wondered about the value of a virtual tour? According to the 2004 National Association of Realtors Profile of Homebuyers and Homesellers Report, 84% of home buyers say photos and detailed property descriptions are the most important features when searching online for homes-followed closely by virtual tours! There you have it!!! When you consider the rising importance of the internet with regards to advertising homes for sale, this statistic is a relevant one to consider. Virtual tours are a great way to show case a home to potential transferees, buyers who lack time and need a way to weed out properties they are going to see, and to Realtors trying to decrease their showing schedule as well. Don't hesitate to e-mail me if you have any more questions about how a virtual tour might help your property sell faster.

Columbus Indiana Real Estate

2006-02-11T12:42:00.000-08:00

Columbus Indiana Real Estate

Residential Fire Sprinklers

2006-02-10T13:41:00.000-08:00

Residential Fire Sprinklers

GRI Training

2006-02-06T14:10:00.000-08:00

Clients and friends,

I am spending this week at the GRI (Graduate Realtor Institute) in Bloomington to bring new technology and marketing skills to our clients. My first attempt at adding new technology to our community is by bringing you updated information through this blog. So, welcome to my new blog. I am looking forward to bringing you up to date real estate information through this blog.

Robyn