FALL IS A GREAT TIME TO SELL YOUR HOME
Most people associate spring with listing a home to sell. Fall, however, may be the best time. Traditionally there is a significant increase in listings in the spring which increases the competition for sellers. There are a lot a people shopping around for houses and a lot of houses sell during the summer. When school starts, listings drop off and new listings continue to decline through the winter. That’s when a smart seller jumps in with both feet. Right now, the inventory of houses is low. The number of houses sold hasn’t decreased, however. By listing in the fall a seller has less competition. As the weather chills the looki-loos tend to thin out. A fall listing is likely to have fewer but more serious buyers look at it.
Kosciusko County Market
August
Closings:
115 ⇧ 10% Y:Y
Median Closing Price:
$137,500 ⇩ 10% Y:Y
Median Days on Market:
34 ⇩ 44% Y:Y
New Listings:
115 ⇧ 7% Y:Y
Inventory:
586 ⇩ 15% Y:Y
Sales / List Price:
96% ⇧ 1% Y:Y
Buyers’ Market
Elkhart County Market
August
Closings:
203 ⇧ 33% Y:Y
Median Closing Price:
$135,000 ⇧ 8% Y:Y
Median Days on Market:
18 ⇩ 15% Y:Y
New Listings:
223 ⇩ 10% Y:Y
Inventory:
749 ⇩ 22% Y:Y
Sales / List Price:
98% ⇧ 1% Y:Y
Sellers’ Market
Strong Fall Harvest Expected for Michiana Farmers
From South Bend Tribune / Ted Booker
Mother Nature’s fickle mood kept Michiana farmers off balance this summer with dry spells and heavy rainstorms that flooded fields.
But most farmers are still expected to enjoy a decent fall harvest of corn and soybean crops, said Phil Sutton, agriculture and natural resources educator with the Purdue University Extension office in St. Joseph County.
Some farmers have already begun harvesting crops, he said, but most will begin later in the month. Crops in some Michiana counties have fared better than in others.
St. Joseph County was hammered by historic rains on Aug. 15, which set a daily rainfall record for South Bend at 7.69 inches. Many of the county’s cash-crop farmers had fields that were flooded, Sutton said, cutting off the oxygen to plants and halting their growth. Farms with heavy clay soil, which doesn’t drain well, were impacted the most.
“Heavy rain drowned out some spots in our fields and halted the development of a really good corn crop in this county,” Sutton said. “When that rain hit, you had a corn crop with probably 20 percent of its yield to go. But with water sitting on fields in hot weather, those plants die fairly quickly because of the lack of oxygen to the roots.”
Even so, Sutton said, farmers are expected to enjoy a “pretty good corn crop” and believes “soybeans are going to be an excellent crop.”
Did You Know?
The first Jack O’Lanterns were actually made from turnips?
Do Halloween Dangers Lurk at Your Entryway
From HouseLogic / Oliver Marks
Is your front entryway ready for Halloween visitors? Keep everything fun and accident-free with these seven safety tips.
Everyone loves a good scare on Halloween — as long as it’s just a trick.
To help you avoid any real-life scares — such as falls, fires, and traffic accidents — around your property this All Hallows Eve, play it safe while you’re setting up your Halloween lights and decorations.
Here are seven simple precautions recommended by John Pettibone, curator of Hammond Castle, a Gloucester, Mass., mansion that draws thousands to its renowned 20-room haunted house every Halloween season.
1. Light the Scene
Providing plenty of illumination ensures that your visitors can see where they’re walking, helping to avoid missteps and falls. Pettibone suggests using the highest wattage bulbs your outdoor lighting fixtures can safely take (check the label on the socket), and adding landscape lights every few feet along your front walk.
2. Secure the Footing
Clear your walk, steps, and stoop of any obstructions that could trip youngsters focused more on tricks and treats than watching where they’re going. That means moving potted mums and jack o’lanterns out of the way, and hammering down any nail heads protruding out of your steps.
3. Tighten the Railings
If your porch railings are wobbly or broken, family members and friends may know not to lean too heavily on them, but Halloween visitors won’t. So hire a contractor or handyman to fix the problem. It’ll make your home safer for guests all year round. Because more strangers come to your front door this night than the rest of the year combined, now is the time to take care of it.
4. Eliminate Fire Hazards
Don’t put real candles into your carved pumpkins or paper lanterns. “That’s a fire waiting to happen,” says Pettibone. Instead, pick up a bulk pack of LED-bulb faux candles, which emit a yellowish, flickering, battery-powered light that looks amazingly similar to the real thing — without the danger.
5. Secure Your Property
To prevent burglaries and Halloween pranks — especially on mischief night the previous evening — make sure to keep all windows and doors (other than your main door) locked shut.
You might have an electrician add motion-sensor lights around your property, so anyone who walks down your driveway or around into the backyard will be discouraged from intruding any farther.
6. Set the Scene
In addition to spooky items like cotton cobwebs and half-buried skeletons, consider a few safety-related scene-setters. Pettibone suggests propping open the screen or storm door so it doesn’t get in the way when there’s a big group of kids congregated on your stoop. “We use yellow caution tape to tie open the door,” he says. “You can order it online and it works well with the Halloween theme.” A 1,000-ft. roll of 3-inch-wide caution tape is about $8.
You’ll also want a working doorbell, so if yours is broken, either hire an electrician or handyman to fix it — or install a wireless doorbell in its place.
7. Enhance Street Safety
Four times as many child pedestrians get killed on Halloween night than a normal night. So limit the danger as much as you can by clearing parked cars off the curb to allow better visibility and placing a reflective “watch for children sign” at the edge of the road. For for high-traffic roads in Halloween-intensive neighborhoods, consider posting an adult in the street with a hand-held traffic control light to help maintain safety.
If your property is currently listed for sale or lease, this is not intended as a solicitation of that listing.
Real Estate Monthly | Kent Kauffman 