Carmel, Z-ville & Fishers home buying question (Zionsville, Hamilton: real estate, foreclosed)

[somar2]

Hello all,

My family and I are relocating to Hamilton County in about 8 / 10 weeks and are really excited about moving to this wonderful area.

We have talked with a few real estate agents and have received mixed feedback regarding how aggressive we should be with our offers. Of course we want to get the best deal without being insulting to the seller / builder. One agent told us that she would start with asking 50k under asking for spec homes and homes sitting on the market for over 150 days. Another agent told us that 10k is about the normal price reduction for the current market.

If anyone has any advice for us, we would greatly appreciate it.

BTW our price range is $325k

Also - has anyone heard about a property tax cap for Hamilton county? The taxes seem to be almost 2X the Carmel taxes.

Thanks!

[Zoo Animals On Wheels]

Originally Posted by somar2

Hello all,

My family and I are relocating to Hamilton County in about 8 / 10 weeks and are really excited about moving to this wonderful area.

We have talked with a few real estate agents and have received mixed feedback regarding how aggressive we should be with our offers. Of course we want to get the best deal without being insulting to the seller / builder. One agent told us that she would start with asking 50k under asking for spec homes and homes sitting on the market for over 150 days. Another agent told us that 10k is about the normal price reduction for the current market.

If anyone has any advice for us, we would greatly appreciate it.

BTW our price range is $325k

Also - has anyone heard about a property tax cap for Hamilton county? The taxes seem to be almost 2X the Carmel taxes.

Thanks!

Don't worry about being "insulting." Offer a price that makes good economic sense. Study recent (VERY recent...don't go back beyond Sept. '08, as everything changed when Lehmann went under) comps and don't by any means offer more than what the comps indicate. Pay attention to original listing prices and what the houses actually sold for. Depending upon the house in question, you might offer 5% lower than the comps. If a seller is "insulted" by that, you can then decide if you want to offer a higher price or look at another house...there are plenty on the market right now.

I don't understand how anyone could tell you a specific dollar amount to lower your offer by that would be inclusive of all houses, neighborhoods, and listing prices. Some houses will be listed realistically for this market (the median price of an Indy-area house has declined about 6% from April '08), some will be listed high, some may even be listed low if the sellers just want to cut loose and move on. No specific dollar amount will take all those situations into account.

Good luck!

[MikiJayne]

If you want to give a low offer, the worst they can do is say no, so offer what you are comfortable with. You never know unless you try.

Look at the comps, what has sold and how those compare to the house you want, then decide from there.

Zoo Animals gave great advice! Reps to you!

[nhkev]

the realtor gets a higher commision the more the selling price.... would not look to them for advice on what to offer because it is your money. What I sense is that you don't want to overpay. The previous advice on comps is best. What a house in on the market for is somewhat irrevelvant as you may notice some houses on the market for long periods reduce their asking prices. What a buyer is willing to pay is what determines the selling price. I just purchased a piece of property a month ago in another state ,sunday I was walking the property and the next door neighbor came by to say hello. She said that she and spouse wanted to buy the lot but didn't have the $140k that was being asked. Her husband had said "why not just throw in a low ball offer" wife said oh they'll never take it, it's already priced very low (lot sold for $400k 3 yrs ago) . I offered 68k seller countered at $68,500 if I could close w/in 10 days. apparently she owned a house that was getting ready to be foreclosed on and selling this lot was going to save her home. neighbor's jaw dropped when I told her what I paid.. point is if the house is on the market you never know what level of motivation or need is to sell. I would make an offer low and if the realtor balks at it, just say I have 3 different homes that I'm interested in if they don't accept this I will probably make an offer on one of the others unless they come back with an offer I can't refuse. good luck

[somar2]

Thanks for the great advice everyone.

Is it safe to assume that Zionsville property taxes will always be higher due to the lack of commercial tax revenue? We really love the charm in Zionsville, and the fact that the high school is smaller, but $325k doesn't seem to go as far as it does in Carmel or Fishers.

[nhkev]

i am not from the area but I believe this to be the case... they have inacted property tax reform and the basis of it will be that if you live in the house as a primary residence your taxes will be 1% of the market value and commercial or investment property will be 2% of it's market value so whatever you buy it for should be close to it's market value..from talking to realtors this should help lower the taxes in zionsville and carmel