Indianapolis Homes

The Indianapolis Star My Big Break series recently featured Paul Estridge, Jr., President & Chief Servant of The Estridge Companies, and his story of growing up in the Indianapolis home building industry.

Little did I know that my father's decision to stop selling windows and become a home builder instead would lead to my big break.

It was 1967, I was 10 years old and all I cared about was playing football for the Carmel Pups. But my father had different priorities for his son: work.

When he was growing up, his father insisted his boys always worked. And if it was good for them, it was good for the next generation, too.

My father would say, "Estridges work. They love work. Work is their life. Work is good."

CLICK HERE to read the article and to learn about the start of The Estridge Companies on IndyStar.com.
 

The popular Estridge Dot.Home E-Newsletter is full of news about all of the Estridge companies, as well as hints to maintain your Indianapolis home inside and out, golf tips, events and much more.

In the March 2010 Estridge Dot.Home Newsletter, we’ve included great tips to get you ready for Spring – your home maintenance and home decor and furnishings, as well as your golf game with the help of the Wood Wind Golf Academy.

Included in this issue:

-          Heritage Hill, a new Estridge neighborhood in Avon

-          Bidding farewell to Franklin

-          Whose home is spring ready?

-          Star studded shopping at HOMExperience

-          10 decor tips for spring

-          Golf preparation = better golf play

-          Estridge Events

-          In the News

-          Online Resources

READ the March Issue

READ the January Issue

In the past, homebuyers have held off on beginning to build their new home or moving to the home of their dreams until after the busy holiday season. However, this year, there are simply too many reasons to begin building a new Indianapolis home today.

Below are a few reasons new Estridge homeowners have listed why they began new construction on their new Estridge home now:

-          30-year Low Mortgage rates

-          Expanded and Extended Home Buyer Tax Credit of up to $8,000

-          A Home Full of Free All-New Furniture from Estridge

Now is the time to move. Rates change daily and homeowners are required to close on their new home before the end of April to receive the homebuyer tax credit. Plus, Fully Furnished & Finished from Estridge is a pilot release only until January 10^th!

Learn more at www.fully.estridge.com.

The National Association of Realtors (NAR) has released a variety of resources to assist the real estate industry including new home builders, realtors and homebuyers in better understanding the extension and expansion to the Homebuyer Tax Credit.

The most significant impacts of the new legislation are that it:

-           Extends the First-Time Home Buyer Tax Credit of up to $8,000 to first-time home buyers until April 30, 2010.

-           Expands the credit to grant a $6,500 credit to current home owners purchasing a new or existing home between November 6, 2009 and April 30, 2010.

How does this affect homebuyers? - View a Comparison Chart for details on the changes to the new Homebuyer Tax Credit.  


Additional Resources:
Learn more about the Homebuyer Tax Credit on Blog.Estridge.com.
Listen to the President's Podcast, from the NAR President.

Congratulations to Estridge Custom Galleries designated the #1 Custom Home Builder in Indianapolis by the Indianapolis Business Journal, as ranked by an IBJ survey of 2008 local revenue.

Estridge Custom Galleries and Paul E. Estridge Homes design and build custom homes in neighborhoods and on your homesite throughout Central Indiana from homes valued in the upper $400,000s to multi-millions of dollars. The custom arm of The Estridge Companies has been creating custom building experiences since 1967 around Indianapolis. 

Unique, professionally decorated model homes by Estridge Custom Galleries are available for touring in

• The Village of WestClay in Carmel
• The Bridgewater Club in Westfield
• Grandin Hall in Carmel

Additionally, Estridge Custom Galleries builds custom-designed new homes in The Willows in Zionsville and on homesites around Central Indiana.

Learn more about Estridge Custom Galleries and Paul E. Estridge Homes at

www.EstridgeCustomGalleries.com.

View a photo gallery of custom homes around Indianapolis, built by Estridge.

Learn about the 2007 Paul E. Estridge Dream Home in The Village of WestClay.

Other Paul E. Estridge Home Photography

    

Greg Cradick, Estridge Custom Galleries lead architect and architect of the Extreme Makeover Indianapolis home, is helping the Residential Interior Design Studio class at IUPUI learn that education is a two-way street. While mentoring the Purdue School of Engineering and Technology students in designing homes for an Indianapolis new home builder, Cradick is also gaining understanding of what Generation Y is looking for in new home design.  

“I’m excited to work with this class,” said Cradick. “These students are really motivated and talented. And this program gives us the opportunity to see what this generation wants in a home.  We hope to inspire a holistic approach to home design,” he said.

Learn more about the IUPUI partnership with Estridge HERE.

Learn about the Estridge home design featured on the Extreme Makeover 2009 season finale in Indianapolis.

In the past few years, it has become difficult hard to weed fact from fiction when looking for information on whether or not it’s a good time to buy a new home. The media spotlight has provided us with an incredible amount of information, but how much is really relevant to the Indianapolis real estate market and Indianapolis home buyers?

Real Estate markets are local - local by state, city, even neighborhood or street. Indianapolis was named #8 of America’s healthiest housing market in 2009 by Forbes. There are a number of reasons why now is a great time to buy a new home in Indianapolis and why Estridge is confident in our real estate market.

1. Estridge housing permits are up.

Estridge housing permits increased 54.9% year to date from 2008 to 2009, due to a combination of factors:

1.)   Homeowners are confident that now is the time to move.

2.)   Estridge is confident that the Indianapolis real estate market is strong and needs new homes available for those that need to move quickly.

2. Interest rates are at historical lows.

Mortgage interest rates are the lowest in decades, providing home buyers the opportunity for greater purchasing power than ever before. Lower interest rates allow you to save on your monthly mortgage payment or enjoy greater purchasing power for your new home.

(View Mortgage Rates for the past 30 years at MortgageNewsDaily.com)
 

2009: $1,560.74, 5.08% 1999: $1872.13, 7.44%

MONTHLY SAVINGS = $311.39

SAVINGS OVER 30-year LIFE OF LOAN = $9,341.70

(2009 savings over the interest rate of 16.63% in 1981 are $1,396 monthly and over $40,000 over the life of the loan!)

a.       *Monthly payment calculated for a $350,000 home, 10% down payment, annual 30-year fixed rate.

3. Competition is down.

Over the past year, there are almost 18% fewer homes on the market in Indianapolis, with a greater percentage of them pending sale in June. For homes under $300,000 there are almost 19% fewer homes on the market and over 4% more homes pending sale.

a.       *Source: F.C. Tucker Indianapolis Market Report

4. Sale prices are up.

The average selling price of homes in the Indianapolis market increased over the average selling price in 2008.

Homeowners across the state of Indiana will enjoy lower property taxes as the state has lowered residential taxes and increased commercial taxes. A large deduction for owners of Indianapolis townhomes and homes allows the tax reduction, although Indiana homeowner taxes have actually increased.

According to the City of Carmel newsletter:

·          A Carmel home valued at $190,200 in 2009 will pay $1,481 in property taxes, a $643 decrease over the past 10 years.

·          A Fishers home valued at $190,000 in 2009 will pay $1,645 in property taxes, a $910 decrease over the past 10 years.

 

Learn more about how residential taxes of Carmel homeowners and other homeowners around Indiana are decreasing.
 

Building on Matt Borushko’s 6 Tips for Buying a New Home Builder, we provided 4 additional tips that will help you confidently build your dream home.

1.)               Have Representation

2.)               Don’t Overbuild

3.)               Prioritize Your Choices

4.)               Choose Location Wisely

5.)               Financing

6.)               Have Proper Expectations

7.)              Understand how your current house fits or doesn’t fit your lifestyle.

8.)              Know your comfortable investment range, not only your pre-approval amount.

9.)              Identify components of a quality new home and new home neighborhood.

10.)         Feel comfortable.

Tip #7, understand how your current house fits or doesn’t fit your lifestyle, is provided in greater detail below.

With a new home, you have the unique opportunity to design it to truly fit your family’s lifestyle, as well as include the features and style you desire. Taking the time to think through what you like and don’t like in your current house is a crucial step in determining the right design for your new home.

What do you enjoy about your current house? Is there an outdoor living area that you will especially miss when you make your move? Does your family cozy up to a fireplace in the winter? Is there a person in your household who would benefit from a private bath? Are you looking for private space through a main level master suite?  These are features and spaces you will want to include in the design of your new home in Indianapolis.

Consider each room, the popular traffic flow, areas you wish you utilized more often and what keeps you from doing so. Are there features that would help to keep you organized that are missing, like a family foyer with storage cubes and coat hooks? If you were able to interact with your family while you were cooking, would you do more of it?

Take the time to do your research. Review floorplans online. Walk a variety of resale homes and new homes from Indianapolis builders to see how homeowners use the space in their home and consider what would be helpful in yours. Most likely, there are ways in which space is being utilized or designed that you haven’t seen, but would find helpful (for example, the PDA Pantry in many Estridge new home designs).

Create a list of your new home design priorities (not only the style of the home) and reference these as you are shopping online or visiting a builder and reviewing home designs. Browse Estridge new home designs at www.estridge.com or visit Estridge model homes for ideas.

We are proud to announce the introduction of three (3) new Meridian Collection home designs in Estridge neighborhoods, including one main level master home design. Enjoy unique architectural stylings and custom home design details throughout. Designed by Greg Cradick, Estridge Custom Galleries Senior Architect, these new luxury homes draw on our background as an Indiana custom home builder and feature open designs, elegance and floorplan flexibility.

To learn more about these new homes and view the full design and personalization opportunities, schedule an appointment with an Estridge New Home Consultant in Centennial at 146th Street, Lincolnshire, The Reserve at Rock Bridge, Manor at Anderson Hall or The Reserve at Highland Green.

Or visit Estridge.com to learn more about the NEW Meridian Collection homes.

1275 Balsam Fir Pass
Avon, IN 46123

$315,000

BLC#2905108
www.tourfactory.com/471710

Estridge Community: Whispering Pines in Avon, located off of CR625, 2 miles south of Rockville Road.

Featured Estridge Home Highlights:

• 4 bedrooms, 2.5 baths + loft
• Finished lower level with 9’ ceilings
• Over 3700 square feet of finished living space
• Designer kitchen with staggered height cabinets and solid surface countertops
• Open great room features fireplace with custom crafted mantel
• Hardwood flooring
• Luxurious master suite with cathedral ceiling and garden bath
• 3-car tandem garage
• Large treated wood deck provides great outdoor living space! 

Learn more about this Estridge 627 Whispering Pines Collection home design

View Photo Tour of this luxury new home

View all new Indianapolis Homes Available Now by Estridge.
Learn more about Estridge, Indianapolis Home Builder

Featured Estridge Available Home - Jan. 14, 2009

8518 Seafield Drive

Brownsburg, IN 46112

Price: $289,900

BLC: 2864266
www.tourfactory.com/403643

Estridge Community: Highland Green in Brownsburg, located off of SR267, 2 miles north of I-74.

View Photo Tour of this luxury new home

Learn more about Highland Green Collection homes

Featured Estridge Home Highlights:

• 4 bedrooms, 2.5 baths
• Over 2600 square feet of finished living space + unfinished lower level
• Private homesite with mature trees
• Gorgeous kitchen with granite countertops, hardwood floors and quality Whirlpool® appliances
• Breakfast nook opens to sunny family room with fireplace
• Elegant formal living and dining rooms with arched entries and detailed columns
• Luxurious master suite with garden tub, separate shower and walk-in closet organized with laminate wood shelving
• 2-story foyer welcomes guests

View More Photos of this luxury home: http://www.tourfactory.com/403643

Learn more about Highland Green

Learn more about Estridge

View all Indianapolis Real Estate by Estridge

Optimism about the Indianapolis Real Estate industry is spreading throughout the media. Below is an article from wthr.com that further details the current sentiment in the real estate industry discussed in yesterday's Estridge blog post, Predictions prove positive for Indianapolis Real Estate in 2009.

Updated: Jan 9, 2009 09:29 AM EST

Lynsay Clutter/ Eyewitness News

http://www.wthr.com/Global/story.asp?s=9644610

Indianapolis- The housing market is hurting across the country, but there is hope here in Indiana, with signs of improvement.

Foreclosure rates began to plateau at the end of the third quarter, and housing inventory is starting to decrease, leading local realtors to believe the market is on its way to correcting itself.

It is a hopeful sign, but it's going to be a long road.

In the 9 Counties of Central Indiana, Colliers Turley Martin Tucker's reports, home closings fell 11% in 2008, the average home price fell 5% and building permits fell 37%.

Foreclosures helped contribute to the problem by flooding the market with inventory. Indiana ranked 6th highest in the nation with 30,800 mortgages in foreclosure.

The Indiana Builders Association says high home inventory and falling home values are at the core of the current economic crisis.

With no demand in the market, at least two local builders, Gunstra and Davis Homes, recently closed their doors.

"Home builders create a lot of jobs going to and from the job every day, and also the ripple effect. Someone who buys a new home, buys furniture at the furniture stores, appliances and the appliance stores, and draperies, and everything that goes into a new house. That all helps stimulate the economy and create jobs for folks around the state of Indiana," said Rick Wadja, Indiana Home Builders Association.

Wadja was in Washington DC Wednesday asking Indiana's local delegation for help. Builders want a package of subsidies included in Obama's Economic Stimulus that would bring mortgage rates to just under 3% for the first half of the year.

This unique 2-story custom home design is a great addition to the Grandin Hall Designer Gallery Collection of homes. With 4 bedrooms and 3.5 baths offers great flexibility in size from 3,451 to 5,208 sq. ft. the Townsend is complete with features and finishes ideal for how families live today. You can begin building your very own Townsend at Grandin Hall from $435,000.

From Estridge Custom Galleries, Indiana Custom Home Builder for over 40 years, the Designer Gallery in Grandin Hall features a variety of flexible custom home designs with open living spaces, main level master suites in some homes, designer kitchens and much more! All with the commitment to quality and attention to detail you expect from one of Indiana's finest luxury home builders.

Call the Grandin Hall team at 669.8700 to learn more today or visit the model in Carmel off of 146th St. between Gray Rd. and Hazel Dell Pkwy.

View the Townsend home design.    
Learn more about Grandin Hall.

View Grandin Hall Photo Gallery: http://www.myestridgehome.com/home/GrandinHall/

Most reports regarding shopping for real estate state that between 70% to 85% of home buyers start their search on the internet or do online research at some point throughout their new home shopping. We also know that every home buyer shops differently and uses different resources. That’s why we’ve tried to develop many different places for you to find Estridge on the web.

Where can you learn about Estridge homes and neighborhoods? All over.

-   www.Estridge.com – Estridge Collections’ official website with information on Estridge history, companies, homes, neighborhoods, Estridge Design Studio at HOMExperience, lifestyle tips, photo tours of neighborhoods and homes, view home designs, learn about the surrounding communities and more. Plus, Ask Angie, the Estridge Online Concierge for assistance in finding information, relocating, scheduling appointments and more.

-   www.EstridgeCustomGalleries.com – Estridge Custom’s official website with information on Estridge Custom Galleries homes and neighborhoods, Paul E. Estridge homes, building your custom home on your own homesite, custom homes available now, and a wide library of photos to view. Use the Online Concierge chat to quickly answer all of your questions about building an Indiana custom home.

-   Blog.estridge.com – The Estridge blog –information about Indianapolis homes, Indianapolis real estate, tips on living in your home, featured Estridge homes available now, HOMExperience cooking class recipes and much more.

-   www.MyEstridgeHome.com –Extensive photo library with over 900 photos of Estridge homes, neighborhoods and HOMExperience. View photos of Estridge homes being built, custom design features and much more. MyEstridgeHome.com is also where new homeowners can create their very own Estridge home website.

-   www.TourFactory.com – View photo tours of Estridge homes available now and neighborhoods.

-   www.Facebook.com – Become a fan of The Estridge Companies on Facebook. View photo galleries and information only found on Facebook.

-   http://www.youtube.com/estridgehomes – Estridge has a YouTube channel with informational videos from the Estridge Building a Better Life DVD and photo tours of our new homes around Indianapolis.

-   Estridge Homes Available Now and neighborhoods are also found in other Indianapolis homes and home builder outlets: www.Trulia.com, www.Mibor.com, www.Homes.com, www.google.com, www.Yahoo.com, www.HomeDebut.com, www.Zillow.com, www.CraigsList.com, and more

Other Estridge Companies websites:

-   www.WoodWindGolf.com – Wood Wind Golf Club at 161^st Street and Towne Road.

-   www.FirstSourceCap.com – FirstSource Capital is Estirdge’s inhouse mortgage lender

-   www.FirstMileUSA.com – First Mile is Estridge’s technology company that serves many Estridge neighborhoods and businesses around the greater Indianapolis area with internet, phone, cable, and security services.

Looking for a new home for the holidays or gathering decorating ideas as you move into the new year? View a variety of new home designs from Estridge, as well as luxury Indianapolis Homes during the Estridge Holiday Open House – this weekend, December 6&7 at EVERY Estridge Neighborhood. See townhomes, 2-story and ranch homes, as well as Indiana custom homes from Estridge and Estridge Custom Galleries.

EstridgeHoliday Open House
Saturday December 6 & Sunday December 7
Noon to 6pm
Estridge Collections and Estridge Custom Homes Available Now

Schafer in Anderson Hall
13082 Heatherfield Drive
Fishers, IN 46038
$349,900 ~ BLC:2859477

Description:
Brand New Estridge Home Design with over 2,300 square feet of finished living space plus a full unfinished lower level.

-   Luxury Ranch highlighted by a covered front porch with a flower box.

-   Designer Kitchen features granite countertops, staggered height cabinetry and oversized breakfast bar island.

-   Luxurious master suite with tray ceiling, feature garden tub, oversized shower and spacious walk-in closet.

-   Stone fireplace and large Andersen windows accent great room.

-   Enter organized family foyer from garage and utilize storage cubes, coat hooks and a PDA Pantry.

-   10' ceilings throughout.

View Photo Tour of this Home
Learn more about Anderson Hall -  Estridge Community in Fishers
View all Indianapolis Homes by Estridge for sale

With such a stream of disappointing news from the media, it is exciting to see reporting on opportunity and positive growth within the real estate industry. 
 

The recent article from the Associated Press, Number of first-time home buyers is increasing, details a growing market for Indiana home builders and real estate professionals. According to the article, the number of first time home buyers rose to 2% to 41% of all 2007 real estate transactions. Low interest rates, expanded choice and the flexibility of first time home buyers create a great market opportunity for Indianapolis townhomes and Indianapolis real estate in general.

Strengthening the confidence and knowledge of first-time home buyers, especially during a time when the media is creating doubt abouttheir investment decision, while providing outstanding service, will help develop a long term relationship with these new homeowners.

Read the full article: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27631021/

Number of first-time home buyers is increasing

Survey shows they are taking advantage of falling prices, interest rates

The Associated Press

updated 2:36 p.m. ET, Sun., Nov. 9, 2008

Check out the Homes in Indy Real Estate Coach Blog.

The 10-part Exploring Indiana series offer great suggestions for things to do in Indianapolis and surrounding areas – options for rain or shine.

Click here for a list of great museums around Indianapolis:

http://realtyinsights.blogspot.com/2008/08/exploring-indiana-part-6.html

Great suggestions for Indianapolis Home Owners and those who are just visiting!