Three major metro areas in Indiana are marked as Improving Housing Markets.

The National Association of Home Builders has added 35 new metro areas to their list of 'Improving Housing Markets'. Three of those cities are in Indiana: Elkhart, Lafeyette and Indianapolis. The complete list of 76 cites are in only 31 states and the District of Columbia.

Though Bloomington is too small to be in the radar screen for this type of data, it is a great sign that our neighboring communities are starting to be noticed for healthy recovery.  The criteria that was used to compile the list: number of housing permits, home prices and employment monitored over six months.

RE/MAX is celebrating their 38th birthday with great successes!

The RE/MAX brand was established 38 years ago and forever changed the face of real estate by creating maximum commission based businesses for top producing professionals. RE/MAX Chairman Dave Liniger opened the first RE/MAX office in 1973.

This past year saw many great accomplishments:

1. Worldwide franchise sales were up nearly 30% in 2010
2. Two national surveys ranked top performing RE/MAX agents above all other national franchise agents in average transaction sides of sales.
3. Reader's Digest Canada named RE/MAX the Most Trusted Brand in Real Estate
4. RE/MAX became one of three companies to pass $100M in donations to Children's Miracle Network Hospitals.
5. RE/MAX was named Top Ten Military Spouse-Friendly Employer by Military Spouse Magazine for the 4th year in a row.

And in the Bloomington area, RE/MAX accounted for the greatest amount of real estate sales with RE/MAX Acclaimed having the greatest sales volume.

Fabian Seafood is heading back to Bloomington

You know spring has arrived when Fabian Seafood starts coming to Bloomington again. The next visit is this Tuesday, April 20th from 1:30 till 5:30 at the Bloomingfoods East location on Third Street.

This is fresh shrimp and shucked oysters straight from the Gulf. These folks drive up from Galveston Texas to share their bounty with us land-locked folks. It sells out fast, so if you are interested, get there early!

BTW, if you sign up for their email notices, you get a discount. Simply email them at SteveF@fabianseafood.com or visit their website at http://www.fabianseafood.com and sign up.

National Association of Realtors newest consumer website

The NAR has just launched this week a new consumer website that is geared to help home owners make better decisions in maintaining, protecting and increasing the value of their homes.

This site will help home owners plan projects for their homes, and offer comprehensive articles with helpful information. And the site is free. Just go to www.houselogic.com to check it out.

Chicago Makes Forbes Magazine's Top Ten World's Most Beautiful Cities

Forbes Magazine just came out with their top ten list of the world's most beautiful cities and our own mid-western mecca made the list. New York and San Francisco also made the list. Other cities included Paris, Tokyo, Cambridge England, Sydney, Florence Italy, Cape Town South Africa and London. Finishing up the list is Vancouver, home to this year's Winter Olympics.

Fabians Seafood Will Be In Bloomington Next Tuesday!

Mark your calendars! Fabians Seafood will be making a run to Bloomington with fresh shrimp caught in the Gulf of Mexico. Fabians is out of Galveston Texas and the shrimp is amazingly fresh.

In addition they plan on having Fresh Blue Crab Meat and Maybe Red Snapper.

They sell out of refrigerated trucks in the Bloomingfoods parking lot on 3rd street.

Tuesday, September 15th from 2:00 till 5:30 or until they sell out. There's always a line so get there early!

Almost There...Smith and Rogers Construction is Nearly Complete

Almost There! The photo on the right was taken on July 12th. Just six weeks later and the construction for rebuilding the curve at Smith and Rogers Roads is nearly complete.

The residents of Hyde Park along with all those who wait at the 4-way stop sign at intersection of Rogers and Sare Roads will be thrilled when this section reopens this month.

The photo to the left was taken yesterday and shows the the paving work is completed. Any day now!

The Indiana Secretary of State's New Website

Indiana's Secretary of State has a newly designed website. Here is a note from the office of Todd Rokita about the website including a link:

Greetings! The Office of the Indiana Secretary of State has redesigned its web site www.in.gov/sos. This site was designed with input from various stakeholder groups to provide a standard look and feel, and a more user-friendly experience.

The redesigned web site has standard navigation on the left. On the right, you will find a list of popular online services, FAQs and a tab called "I want to..." This tab contains links to popular actions taken by users.

Note: In order to bring you the best possible online experience, the redesigned site is built on a flat structure. This means that many of our web page addresses have changed. If you have bookmarked any of our pages, please make sure to update your bookmarks.

Stone Cutters Coffee and Wine Cafe

Stone Cutters, the new coffee shop on the east side (Covenanter Drive) has just expanded their menu to include tapas and wine in the afternoons and evenings. The tapas menu is created by owner Greg Danielson and changes weekly. A sample of this past week's menu included:

• Brioch with Chai Tea Whipped Butter for $2...excellent!
• Mozzarella Stuffed Meatballs with Marinara and a Parm Crisp for $7...delicious!
• A beautiful Cheese Plate with three different compotes and fresh bread for $8...super!
• Dim Sum of steamed Pot Stickers and Chix Spring Rolls for $6...lovely!

The wine list has several whites, reds and Prosecco. The Brancotte Sauvignon Blanc for $6 a glass was really lovely and others at the table enjoyed a split of Mionetto Il Prosecco for $14.50.

Stone Cutters plays great music all day and when the weather cools down just a bit, it'll be wonderful to sit outside and enjoy tapas and a glass of wine. All this at a great price and a super convenient location for many on the east side of Bloomington.

And for a bonus, the next two Fridays and Saturdays at Stone Cutters, they are offering Buy-one-get-one-free tapas from 5 till 7. Check it out!

Photo: Charlie Dupree enjoying a break at Stone Cutters this week.

Bloomington Board of Realtors is to Launch Their New MLS Soon

The Bloomington Board of Realtors will launch their new MLS system on September 30th of this year. This is a project that has been in the works for quite a while. Originally the board had planned to launch the new site mid summer. To find out more about the new system, follow this link:

http://www.marketlinx.com/demos/innovia/innovia.htm

This new system is from the company Market Linx and the system is InnoVia.

A Fabulous Mansion in the Middle of the Bay

A friend sent these photos to me of this amazing house perched on a rock in the middle of the Narragansett Bay in Rhode Island. The 103 year old house is approachable by boat. These are such beautiful views through the windows. Thanks to fropki.com for the photos.

Important information about Chinese Produced Drywall

I was working with an out-of-town buyer two weeks ago and he mentioned the issue of Chinese produced drywall. He had an associate who had huge issues with this product in Florida. Today the National Association of Realtors forwarded this article via the Wall Street Journal:

Home owners in Florida, as well as other parts of the country, are claiming that drywall imported from China is making them sick and corroding the plumbing and HVAC systems in their homes.

An estimated 100,000 houses in the United States, most built in 2006 and 2007, may have some of the allegedly defective drywall, which is being investigated by a plethora of government agencies, including the Environmental Protection Agency and the Centers for Disease Control.

If these investigations result in a recall, it could be a costly proposition. Experts estimate that pulling out defective drywall and replacing corroded electrical wiring, plumbing and HVAC in an affected home could cost at least $100,000 per property.

Several class action lawsuits have been consolidated in federal court in New Orleans, but suing foreign-based manufacturers for liability is difficult and any judgment is almost impossible to enforce, experts say.

Source: The Wall Street Journal, M.P. McQueen (08/07/2009)

Four Things to Know About Your Home Electrical System

While researching information on the National Association of Realtors web site, I came across a great article from Leslie Banker who is the co-author of The Pocket Renovator (2007). The article is about four basic points of information dealing with electrical systems of homes. Here are some of the highlights from the article:

These are some basics that you should know:

1. Does the home have 220 volt service? (220 volt service equates to 200 amps just as 110 volt service equates to 100 amps) If the home was recently built, the answer is almost always yes. Most houses today have two 110 volt wires and one neutral wire running into the house from the local distribution system. These wires can run underground or above ground. If there are two 110 volt wires running to the house, then the house has 220 volt service and appliances, such as dryers and air conditioners.

Older houses were usually built with 110 volt service; if the electrical system hasn’t been upgraded, it won’t be possible to use some models of appliances (though alternatives can be found).

2. What’s the difference between a fuse and a circuit breaker? Fuses and circuit breakers are both found in the electrical panel (or sub-panel) of a house. They both serve the purpose of cutting the flow of electricity when a circuit gets overloaded—a potentially dangerous situation. Circuit breakers will be found in most houses built after the 1960s or in older buildings that have had their electrical systems upgraded.

Fuses have a thin strip of metal that literally blows when there’s too much electricity flowing through it. When this happens, the fuse needs to be taken out and replaced.

3. Where’s the “main panel?” This is where all the circuits in the house originate from and it’s usually near where the electric power enters the building. It will be filled with circuit breakers (or fuses in an older building). The main panel has a rating that determines the total amount of current that can flow out to the circuits at one time before the main circuit breaker shuts the entire system down.

4. Are the outlets grounded? These days most electrical outlets that you see accept three prong plugs. This means, almost always, that the outlet is grounded. A grounding wire, which connects to the round third hole, protects against electric current escaping from the circuit and causing shocks.

Older houses might only have two prong outlets, meaning there’s no grounding protection in the circuits. Upgrading an electrical system to include grounding wires involves opening the walls and can be a significant amount of work. How much work it is depends on the size, construction and layout of the house.

Home Sales in June Rise for the Third Consecutive Month

From an article in the New York Times, the number of home sales for 'previously occupied homes' rose for the third month in a row. These numbers are for existing homes but do not include new construction.

The median sales price for homes in the US was $181,800 in June, up from $174,700 in May. However this is down 15.4% from the month of June 2008 when the median home sale price was $215,000.

Weekend Video: Five biggest real estate myths

Weekend videos are a popular event here at the b-town Report and who can resist Barbara Corcoran on a Sunday Morning.

Let's see what this NYC real estate expert has to say about the five biggest real estate myths:

http://vodpod.com/watch/1315630-msnbc-com-video-five-biggest-real-estate-myths

Anyone Looking for a French Chateau?

How about a $27 million dollar french chateau...in Texas. To the left is www.trulia.com 's house of the week. This home features a home theatre, wine cellar, a veranda that can seat 450 of our closest Friends (if only we were all so popular), and a 15 car garage. For more information follow this link:

http://www.trulia.com/property/1062749893-1851-Turbeville-Rd-Hickory-Creek-TX-75065

Monroe County's New GIS Web Site

Welcome to Monroe County's new GIS system. The graphics are really great and there are added features like 360 degree panning for a street view. Like all GIS systems, you have to be careful how you enter information for searches. I have found that when doing a property address search you only need to enter the street number, direction and type of street.

Example: 2212 E Granville Drive

This allows the system to work smoothly. If you do a search by property owner, you have to enter the names exactly as they are on the recorded deed or tax bill.

It's a great improvement. Enjoy! http://gistest.co.monroe.in.us/egis39dn/##

The B-town Report is Celebrating their 200th Posting!

You have to celebrate the little things in life too. This is the 200th posting on the b-town Report which was started the past January.

There's lots of information in the index on the left side of the page so browse, enjoy, learn and yes, even catch up on the the real estate dealings of celebrities.

We try to make the b-town Report a great source for information on the housing market as well as the community at large. If you have any suggestions for entries, please let us know.

Renwick to Add Townhomes to Their Line Up of Residential Opportunities

In addition to Renwick's current residential offerings of single family homes, paired patio homes, 'zero lot line' homes and apartments, they now plan to add townhouse to the mix. According to their website, the town homes will be located near the village center, pictured above.

According to Shannon Richardson who works for WS homes, the developer of Renwick, the townhouses will be priced between $200,000 and $240,000. Plans are calling for the majority of the town homes to have two bedroom s located on the second floor with a garage on the basement level. The main level will have varying sizes of living room space with an open kitchen.

Renwick has proven to be one of Bloomington's most successful new developments and certainly one of the most creative. The new section of Cameron Row, called Springhouse Ridge, is currently under construction. These paired patio homes will offer an upgraded exterior from Cameron Row and prices will start significantly higher. Check out more information at: http://www.renwickbloomington.com

The Top Ten Places To Live in the US

Money Magazine just published their top ten places to live in the August edition of their magazine.

"Here are its top 10 selections for the best overall places to live—all of them small towns with strong local economies, good schools, affordable homes, and low crime rates"

1. Louisville, Colo.
2. Chanhassen, Minn.
3. Papillion, Neb.
4. Middleton, Wisc.
5. Milton, Mass.
6. Warren, N.J.
7. Keller, Texas
8. Peachtree City, Ga.
9. Lake St. Louis, Mo.
10. Mukilteo, Wash.

For a complete list and even more information, follow this link: http://money.cnn.com/magazines/moneymag/bplive/2009/top100/