McANA

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This morning, I attended the Marion County Alliance of Neighborhood Associations (McANA) monthly meeting. It is somewhat like the Pike Township Residents Association (PTRA) organization, but covers all of Marion County.

I normally do not attend their meetings. I had twenty years ago because of some of their invited speakers. Susan Blair, president of PTRA, called me to tell me about the speakers at this week’s meeting. They were going to have a liaison from Indianapolis Business and Neighborhood Services speak about their challenges.

I have been a Board member of Pike Township Residents Association for twenty-four years. In those years I have learned more about zoning and neighborhood problems then any Realtor I know. Before every PTRA meeting, we have a Code Compliance committee meeting. It usually has a representative from Health and Hospital, a city inspector from Business and Neighborhood Services, and sometimes our Pike Fire Marshall. It is a meeting where we can discuss what these different services are working on and give them new challenges. I have learned more about what these city services can do, the people to talk to, and the challenges they have just attending these meetings. About five years ago, the chairman resigned and I was made the chairman of the committee.

For about the past year, we have not had a city inspector from Business and Neighborhood Services. It seems that the city has jobs for twenty city inspectors but only has five inspectors. Pike Township does not have a city inspector at this time. This is a real problem. Not only does a city inspector solve problems but also we can learn what code enforcement can do. It is a true learning experience.

Joseline Medina is Pike Township’s new Mayor’s Advocate. She has only been on the job about four months. Before, she worked at the Mayor’s Action Center. She attended our Code Compliance meeting about two months ago. After hearing all of our complaints and comments, in the middle of the meeting she said “what you need is a city inspector”.

This morning at the McANA meeting Caitlin Morgan, who is the liaison from Business and Neighborhood Services got pounded with questions. It seems that the problems in Pike are the same problems city wide. Semi parking, trash, city cutting down trees, zoning violations, inoperable cars, are just some of the complications. She handled it well. She did not have answers for all questions but vowed to research. We also had a discussion about how to improve reporting and getting responses and status.

My main concern was getting a city inspector to attend our committee meetings. I guess nobody wants to work for the city.

Tim Lord

No Hallways?

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I can’t get my head around an article that I read this morning.

“America’s Homes Are Shrinking—and One Standard Feature Is Disappearing”

It says houses on the drawing board are getting smaller. This can reduce the cost of a house. How do you reduce the size of a house and get bigger square footage? The article says “losing a hallway or two”. This is the part I can’t get my head around.

What are you suppose to do? Have all bedrooms and bathrooms entered into from the living room, dining room, or kitchen? I guess I can understand if you have one big open area that has doors to all rooms. That is rare for the average house in Pike Township. What happens when you live in a two-story house? Even if there is a loft on the second floor, it usually takes up several hundred square feet. Is this something that we can look forward to in the future?

I can understand when builders put heating units in an attic. Very common in small condos. Instead of having the heating unit in a closet somewhere on the first or second floor, you gain about 25 square feet putting it in the attic. I have even seen this done in a large new home built by a major builder. Square feet is something that Realtors, and Appraisers use when looking at pricing. Dollars per square foot.

Interesting that assessors use the outside footprint of the house when determining property taxes. The assessor may say your house has 1700 square feet (average size in Pike Township), but if you measured all the “living space” in your house you may come up with a much smaller number because of walls, closets, utility rooms, pantries, etc.

Can you get you head around this?

Tim

Hot Wheels Car Show Review

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I have known Dave and Marjorie Koch for years. I met them at Los Rancheros restaurant about 14 years ago. I sold their house in Liberty Creek and sold them a new one in Bradford Woods. Dave is a Hot Wheels collector and produces two Hot Wheels shows a year. They are usually at the Pike High School cafeteria. They have invited me to attend these shows over the years. I am not a Hot Wheels collector nor do I own any. Normally this kind of show would not interest me. What does interest me is how big it has become over the years. Last Saturday, the vendor tables filled the cafeteria and overflowed into the school hallway. It is open to the public and they serve a free catered lunch plus the fact that many vendors bring food for the pitch-in table, which gets me interested. Also, the fact that the prices for some of the Hot Wheel cars are approaching the $2,000 mark.

These vendors come from all across the Midwest area. I can vouch for that seeing license plates from cars from adjoining states in the parking lot. Dave holds raffles for Hot Wheels cars, there is a gravity feed race track for kids, some vendors give away free Hot Wheels cars for kids, and other vendors have cars for $1. The lunch line is long but moves along at a good pace.

It was a GRAND SHOW. The next one will be in December. Visit their Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/IndyHW/

Gravity feed race track in the background

What are the advantages of being in a homeowners association?

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Homeowners associations (HOAs) can offer several advantages to its members, including:

Property Maintenance: HOAs can maintain the property and ensure that it is well-kept, clean, and attractive, which can help maintain or increase property values.

Amenities: HOAs may provide community amenities such as swimming pools, fitness centers, parks, or other shared facilities that can enhance the quality of life for homeowners.

Community Events: HOAs can organize community events, such as holiday parties, picnics, or social gatherings, which can help foster a sense of community and encourage neighborly interactions.

Rules and Regulations: HOAs can establish and enforce rules and regulations for the community, which can help maintain a standard of living and protect property values.

Dispute Resolution: HOAs can help resolve disputes between neighbors or between homeowners and the association, which can avoid the need for costly legal action.

Professional Management: HOAs often have a professional management team that can handle administrative tasks, maintain financial records, and ensure compliance with local laws and regulations.

It’s important to note that while HOAs can offer many benefits, they can also have downsides, such as the potential for higher fees or restrictions on how you can use your property. It’s important to carefully review the HOA rules and regulations and consider whether the benefits outweigh the potential drawbacks before buying a property in an HOA.

Pike Actives In Graphics

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The below graph shows all the houses/condos that are currently for sale.

The left column shows at what price point.
The bottom shows when it was listed.

The orange dots are single-family homes.
The blue dots are condos.

Click here for PDF

This month, so far, the average number of days on the market has been 14.
The average over the past 6 months, has been 10 days.

As you can see on the chart, the majority of houses/condos are between the price point of $200,000 to $300,000.
Very few are still on the market after 90 days.

Chickens Are Coming To Traders Point

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I always thought Traders Point Shopping Center was an upscale place and I still do. In the beginning, it had several nice restaurants along 86th Street. Originally there were Chili’s, Abuelos, Longhorn, and Macaroni Grill. Later on, there was Panera at the west end. I don’t consider any of those fast food places. Yes, Wendy’s is at the corner of 86th and Zionsville Road but was there before Traders Point Shopping Center went in.

Then things changed. Macaroni Grill went out of business and nothing replaced it. It has been vacant for years. Abuelos went out of business and Chef Mike’s moved in. After about a year Mike retired and closed down his business. Shortly after that Luciana’s moved into Chef Mike’s location.

This brings me to Chickens. At the July 13th meeting of the Pike Township Residents Association, we had the following presentation;

5720 West 86th Street – 2022-CAP-841/2022-CVR-841 Dos Primos Capital Group requests 1) Modification of Commitments related to petition 2003-ZON-102 to modify Commitment 5.c to allow for Lot 2 to be split into two lots resulting in seven total outlots (previous commitment limited the number of outlots to six), and 2) Variance of Development Standards to provide for drive-through service unit and stacking spaces in the front yard along 86th Street (not permitted). Current zoning C-S. Council District 1. Hearing date 7/28/22, Hearing Examiner. Presenter is Joe Calderon. Chairperson is Mark Nordmeyer, PTRA Vice-President, District I.

In layman’s terms, they wanted to take the old Macaroni Grill lot and split it into two lots. The east lot would be the old Macaroni Grill building. The west lot, which was the parking lot for Macaroni Grill would become Slim Chickens, a fast food chicken place with a drive-through.

Click here for PDF

After much discussion as to what will happen to the Macaroni Grill building, the traffic flow, landscaping, etc. the Board members of Pike Township Residents Association supported it. The Pike Township Residents Association Board vote is not binding. The City is strongly influenced by our vote. On July 28th, the City supported it.

This might be what it will look like;

Although it seems odd to me, I guess having an open business is better than having an empty business building sit for many years.

Chicken has become a big thing.

Tim

Metropolitan School District of Pike Township Facts – 2022

LivingInPike.com Posted on by

Pike High School has an A rating from the Indiana Department of Education.

707 students received their diplomas.

425 students completed coursework for college credits, with several earning multiple credits.

$13,789,248 earned in scholarships and academic awards.

15 students chose military service upon graduation.

146 students graduated with Career and Technical Education (CTE) certifications.

Pike Township Real Estate Price Study

LivingInPike.com Posted on by

Disclosure – Information Deemed Reliable, but Not Guaranteed. The information came from MIBOR’s (Metropolitan Indianapolis Board of Realtors) BLC (Broker Listing Cooperative).

Click here for PDF

Years ago I use to say

80 percent of the houses sold in Pike Township were under $150,000. Today, the numbers have changed. 80 percent of the houses sold in Pike Township are under $307,500. Years ago it was common to see houses on the market for 60 to 90 days. Now, the average this year is 9.42 days.

Interpreting the chart

By watching the bars in certain categories, you can spot when the market changed. For instance, in 2016 the under $50,000 category had 67 homes. In the first half of this year, there were none.

In the $50,000 to $99,999 category, in 2016 there were 311 houses/condos sold. In the first half of this year, there were only 6.

The decline of $100,000 to $149,999 houses/condos is the same. 466 in 2016 to 57 so far this year.

At the same time houses/condos from $150,000 to $199,999 and $200,000 to $249,999 rocketed upward.

Why the changes?

The mix of houses/condos sold has been the same. The new builds in Pike during the 1990s and early 2000s have slowed down to a crawl. Mostly because there is no place to build that would suit builders and residents in certain areas. It comes down to supply and demand. I can remember when there were over 1,000 houses/condos on the market in Pike. This morning there are only 48. Because of this, prices have skyrocketed. Multiple offers and bidding wars have been the norm.

Watch the shift

In 2016 the majority of houses/condos sold were between $0 and $199,000. Today the majority is between $150,000 and $299,999. The average price this year is $260,000 with the median price at $235,000. The top category in 2016 was $100,000 to $149,999. This year it is $200,000 to $249,000.

Misc…

Typically in a normal market, you see very few high-priced (over $500,000) houses on the market. They may take anywhere from 90 days to 2 years to sell. Last year there were 59 with average days on the market of 48 days.

26% of houses/condos sold so far in the first half of 2022 were cash sales. The average in the past 6 years has been around 20%. In a normal market, this usually runs about 10%. There is a saying in the trade “Cash is King”. Why? Because with a cash sale, you can close within 10 days. There are fewer costs to the buyer since there is no loan. Sellers would generally take less than the list price if it was a cash sale. In my experience, I don’t find this to be true unless the cash offer is over the list price. Usually, investors will rarely do this. In this bidding wars market, loan offers come in over list price. The challenge becomes the appraisal. The lender will only lend up to the appraisal amount. If the buyer has offered over the appraisal amount, will the seller lower the price to the appraisal amount? The difference between the appraisal amount and the offer price is known as the appraisal gap. Some sellers will insist that they want the offer price even though it did not appraise. That means that the buyer has to come up with the difference in cash. That can lead to new challenges for the seller.

With interest rates now in the 5’s, buyers are getting priced out of the market in terms of higher loan payments. Pike inventory (houses on the market) has increased this year. Last year it was around 20 to 25. Right now it is about twice that.

A balanced market (not a buyers market or sellers market) is usually 6 months of sales. We would need 500 to 600 homes/condos on the market to reach that goal.

Tim