Training is Essential in Real Estate for Great Customer Service, from your local Realtor Andy Eckert

Training is Essential for Great Customer Service !

Business Liquidation Personal Property Auction April 9th & 16th, from Realtor Andy Eckert

Personal Property Auction

RONALD MAUTNER BUSINESS LIQUIDATION

All Items Selling Regardless Of Price

Sat. Apr. 9 @ 9:30 AM
&
Sat. Apr. 16 @ 9:30 AM

121 S Main St., Auburn In. 46706

ANTIQUES & COLLECTIBLES

• FURNITURE
• GLASSWARE
• SEWING MACHINES & SUPPLIES
• TOYS
• TOOLS
• MISCELLANEOUS & SCRAP

COME ONE COME ALL! CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFO

4th Quarter Results "The Skinny" from your Local Huntington County Realtor Andy Eckert

4th Quarter "The Skinny" for Allen, Huntington County and Surrounding areas in Indiana!

Travel, Sunburns and Peso's in February, from your local Realtor, Andy Eckert

This month has been filled with travel, sunburns and peso’s.

Steph and I went with some old and new friends to Punta Mita Mexico. Jason and Taberly Hart invited us and Brian and Renee Welsh to travel with them to    Taberly’s Fathers property in Mexico. Tom Toole purchased this property over 15 years ago and built a hacienda with 3 rentable rooms we stayed in. Tom drove us from the airport and all around over the week showing us all the local shopping and eateries. I never got tired of fresh sea food and salsa or the mango drinks (virgin of course). The village we stayed in offered small grocery stores and     restaurants on every street and corner. We tested many places and always came away full and satisfied.  If you followed any of my posts on Facebook you would have seen some nice pictures of the area and some more of my humor. I enjoyed the simple life I watched all around me for this past week and appreciated the fact that these folks seem poor to the naked eye but were rich beyond what most  Americans could ever hope for. They are so rich with tradition, family and religion we as Americans lack most of those traits in todays world of fast pace lives. I saw more smiles and heard more Holas in 7 days in Mexico the I’ve seen or heard    hellos in Huntington in months. We can learn from the people we consider less fortunate because I think we have it turned around some.

Brian and Renee are new fast friends to Steph and I, they are originally from Michigan so that took some getting over the language barrier. Brian or as we like to call him Mark, Indiana Jones or Jacques Cousteau, likes to be busy exploring. He snorkeled a few times and each time boats started following him around like a whale sighting. Brian had an app for each phase of our trip and some we never heard of. Renee was the sun goddess, never too much sun for this girl. Renee also was tight with the purse strings when Brian wanted to over indulge in the local markets. We look forward to spending more time with them this summer at the lake since we finally got invited to visit.

Taberly and Jason were lots of fun to spend time with since Taberly is like one of the family down there in most places we visited. We shared a room the 1st night and Jason and I had a hard time sleeping with the girls log sawing going on. I swear I heard thunder that night but never a drop of rain, go figure.

We left the kids in good hands and colleges, maybe next time gringos.

Adios Amigos

I’m never too busy to sell you casa for you or your family…….

Message me if you want Toms contact info.

I also have a Professional Photograher for your Real Estate Property Photos!

Investing in Real Estate, is it worth it? From your Local Realtor Andy Eckert

Is an investment worth the Rewards?

Home Prices are going up again! Check out the Local Market Results, from your Huntington County Realtor Andy Eckert

Photo shoot for our next Metro Net commercial. A big shout out to HU media school program directing the process. It will air in the next 60 days. 

Go Real Living Ness Bros leading the pack.

OUR LOCAL MARKET 4th Quarter Results "The Skinny"

Home Prices Are Accelerating Again

DAILY REAL ESTATE NEWS | FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2016

Home prices posted a strong growth in closing out the final quarter of 2015, despite a moderating pace of sales, according to a new quarterly report released by the National Association of REALTORS® this week.

NAR reports that the median existing single-family home price rose in 81 percent – or 145 out of 179 metro area – of the markets tracked. Thirty metro areas – or 17 percent – posted double-digit price increases in the fourth quarter of 2015, which trumps the 12 percent of markets that saw double-digit increases in the fourth quarter of 2014. 

CLICK HERE TO READY FULL STORY

Consider this before downsizing your home, from your Huntington County Realtor, Andy Eckert

Many ups and downs to consider before downsizing 

Among retirees who move, half of them choose smaller digs, finds a new study by Merrill Lynch and Age Wave. Less home and yard work, cost cutting and accessing their home equity were the chief reasons for the move.

The rise in real estate values have made the payoff even bigger, say experts at MONEY.com. Home equity, for many baby boomers, far exceeds the value of their 401(k) or IRA.

* Go or stay? Swapping a home in a cold city for a condo in a warm climate should save on your retirement funds. But it takes due diligence to calculate the monthly savings. Moving alone will cost about 10 percent of the price of your old place.

Jan Cullinane, author of The Single Woman's Guide to Retirement, says one couple saved on property taxes and heating but their homeowners insurance was far more expensive.

* Single-family or condo? You'll save on moving expenses by staying in your present area and by having a place with fewer bedrooms. Condos cost less than single-family homes, but you'll pay for shared maintenance and homeowners association fees, which may cover water and yard work. These costs are usually higher than buyers expect.

* Buy or rent? Sometimes renting is better than buying, especially if you want to stay closer to your kids. But the kids themselves might move in a few years. Don't buy unless you want to be there for five years or more.

Instead of buying a home, you might rather put the proceeds of your home sale into your investment portfolio.

* Now or later? Now is better than later. You're likely better equipped for the physical and emotional stress of a move in your sixties than in your eighties.

If government-backed loans haven't increased,how can I get a  jumbo loan?

Some home buyers in pricey markets could face higher down payments this year if home prices outrun maximum limits for government-backed mortgages.

For 2016, Fannie May and Freddie Mac have not increased the loan backing from $417 or less or $625 in high-cost cities of California and New York. In those areas, some counties will finance mortgages that are somewhat higher. But not to worry. Most buyers who have to move from government backed mortgages won't get much of a hit on interest rates. One major lender, for example, recently advertised a 30-year fixed-rate jumbo mortgage rate of 4.125 percent. This is only slightly higher than the 3.75 percent rate for government-backed loans.

But you may be stuck with a higher down payment requirement on a jumbo. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac allow for a down payment of as little as 3 percent. Many jumbo lenders ask 10 percent or even 15 percent. A borrower's credit score also has to be higher when he or she gets a jumbo loan. The hurtle for many buyers moving from a government-backed mortgage is the higher qualifications for getting a jumbo loan. But many people are still qualifying.

One San Francisco mortgage broker said nearly four out of five home buyers need jumbo mortgages in San Francisco, up from less than half of borrowers five years ago. He says buyers in his area often come from the high-paying technology industry and usually have the incomes to pay on a jumbo loan. But they don't have the down payment or six to 12 months of mortgage payments in reserve that the loans require. The broker says most homes in his area cost about a million bucks.

In most parts of the United States, where the median home price is $219,600, the federal mortgage limit isn't a problem.