Wall Street Journal-
June 25, 2007
Indianapolis Appraisal Associates, Inc.
/ Kelley School of Business GLB financial institution compliance policy
collaboration
United States WSJ article in .pdf
European article WSJ in .pdf
Asian article WSJ in .pdf
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Wish TV 8 July 5, 2007 "Some Hoosiers may be overpaying
property taxes"
Click here for the full story and to watch the video clip
By
Daniel Miller
News 8 @ 11:00INDIANAPOLIS - In about three weeks, property taxes
will be due for Marion County homeowners who haven't filed for an
extension.
Luciano Pisciotta says his east side home is an ongoing project.
"It had been on the market for several months," Pisciotta told
24-Hour News 8.
He bought it for $60,000 in 2004. Today it's worth nearly $120,000.
"We fixed it up. We had to do a fair amount of work before we could
even move into the house, including painting and tearing things out,"
he explained.
After three years, Pisciotta says something did not look right
after getting his current property tax bill.
"Someone is not taking a close enough look at the paperwork they're
sending out. Anyone who's in business, and the government is in
business, you really need to crunch numbers before you send people a
bill for these things," said Pisciotta.
Pisciotta's home measures about 1500 square feet. His tax bill is
for a home nearly 2100 square feet. So he called for help.
"Our phones started ringing, I think, just about as soon as the
bills came out," said
Brett Martin with Indianapolis Appraisal
Associates.
Martin is a licensed Indianapolis appraiser. He measured
Pisciotta's home and found the discrepancy.
"That can change a lot, in fact that can change a lot in a market,"
Martin explained.
He says people can be overpaying and not know it.
"At the end of the day, if you can't stick a sign in your front
yard and sell your home for the assessed value in a reasonable amount
of time, I would consider getting a professional appraiser," Martin
told us.
You have options if you're concerned about your property tax bill:
- You can contact your township assessor for a review of your
bill.
- You can get an independent appraisal of your property which
costs about $300.
- You can file an appeal.
- You can call your state representative about the tax rate. This
won't solve your current issue, but it may prompt lawmakers to look
at the issue for the future.
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Attorney general taking a hard look
at real estate fraud
INDIANAPOLIS -- With mortgage fraud cases
appearing across the state, Indiana's attorney general is cracking down
on wayward real estate brokers and appraisers. In the past year,
Attorney General Steve Carter's office has brought disciplinary
complaints against 170 appraisers. Currently, about 640 investigations
of real estate brokers and salespeople are under way, the office said.
(AP)
http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070410/BUSINESS/704100342/1003/BUSINESS
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Making Home
Improvements Pay...2006 Cost vs. Value Report
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View the PDF version of the
full report published in REALTOR® Magazine
This article was
published on: 12/01/2006
2006 Cost vs.
Value
Making Home
Improvements Pay
What’s the return for remodeling?
Remodeling
magazine’s annual report compares construction costs with resale values
for 25 common remodeling projects in 60 U.S. markets.
Prices for most remodeling projects continue to climb, while the recoup
value of improvements at resale is declining to levels last seen in
2002. These are the findings of
Remodeling
magazine’s 19th annual
Cost vs. Value Report,
the eighth prepared in cooperation with REALTOR® Magazine. None of this
should come as much of a surprise to you: This year’s recoup values
confirm the housing slowdown many parts of the country are experiencing.
With both home-sale and remodeling activity at
record levels in the last five to six years, some cooling is inevitable.
Indications are that the current downturn represents a return to normal
levels.
A number of improvements designed to make the report more reliable and
useful has also affected both cost and value data. For starters,
Remodeling
took a fresh look at the specs for the 25 projects it studies each year.
(REALTOR® Magazine, in the past, has limited the number of projects it
included in its coverage.) The cost-to-construct figures (which include
labor, material, subcontractors, and gross profit) are higher than in
previous years, but also more accurate. (Read full project descriptions
at www.remodelingmagazine.com.) The estimates of resale value are also
more accurate than ever before (see Survey confidence is high, below),
thanks to the more than 2,000 members of the NATIONAL ASSOCATION OF
REALTORS® who completed Remodeling’s
e-mail survey this past summer.
In addition, the report introduces nine regional
averages, following the divisions established by the U.S. Census Bureau.
This breakdown provides higher confidence levels than could be achieved
with the four larger U.S. regions measured in previous years.
What the
numbers mean
When comparing cost estimates for actual projects, remember that
averaging tends to have a leveling effect on (Job Cost) data. And,
seemingly small differences in size, scope, or quality of finishes can
dramatically affect the final project cost. Remember, too, that, even in
neighborhoods in the same city, local conditions can affect both the
cost and value of a remodeling project, making our numbers appear too
high or too low.
In an actual real estate transaction, the cost recouped for a given
remodeling project depends on a variety of factors. These include the
condition of the rest of the house, the value of similar homes nearby,
and the rate at which property values are changing in the surrounding
area. A home’s urban, suburban, or rural setting also affects its value,
as does the availability and cost of new and existing homes in the
immediate vicinity.
{Indianapolis Appraisal Associates brings value to clients and customers
by marrying information from the report with our home pricing expertise
and our knowledge of qualified remodelers in our area.}
View the PDF version of the
full report published in REALTOR® Magazine
About the report
Research team
Specpan,
an Indianapolis-based company, programmed and hosted the Web-based
survey, collected and compiled the data, and provided pre- and
post-survey consulting. More than 100,000 NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF
REALTORS® members — salespeople, brokers, and appraisers received e-mail
links to the survey. Of those, 2,188 provided value estimates.
Hometech Information Systems,
the Bethesda, Md.–based estimating software developer, provided
cost-to-construct estimates for each of the 60 cities surveyed. Survey
confidence is high. The statistical accuracy or confidence level of the
national averages is 95 percent (+/– 2 percent), which means that 95
percent of the time, national results for this survey will fall within 2
percent to either side of the results published here.
No cause for alarm
Should you be concerned about lower recoup values in this year’s Cost
vs. Value Report?
The unusually strong housing market over the past few years has boosted
both remodeling and new-construction activity. For many home owners, the
appreciation in house prices significantly added to their net worth.
Similarly, home improvement projects often paid for themselves through a
comparable increase in the home’s value. But every good thing must come
to an end. Eventually, things return to normal. Luckily, today’s normal
is great news for home owners and real estate practitioners: When you
consider its value at resale, a home improvement project costs only 20
cents to 25 cents on the dollar. The other 75 cents to 80 cents spent on
a project goes directly back into the home through increased value, not
to mention increased owner enjoyment.
By
Kermit Baker, director of the Remodeling Futures Program at the Joint
Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University.
Replacement projects lead returns
Of the top 10 projects nationally measured by cost recouped at resale,
seven, including the top three, are replacement projects. An upscale
fiber cement siding replacement returned 88 percent of the investment.
Midrange vinyl siding replacement was second at 87.2 percent, and
midrange wood window replacement edged out minor kitchen remodeling for
third at 85.2 percent. Only roofing replacement finished outside the top
10 projects, at 73.9 percent for a midrange job, and 72.9 percent for an
upscale one.
Energy efficiency in the face of high fuel prices could be a logical
reason why replacement projects are high-value performers. But Charlie
Gindele, president of Dial One Window Replacement Specialists, in Santa
Ana, Calif., calls that a rationalization. The thing that motivates
people, by and large, is the aesthetics, he says.
Amy Mills Siler, a salesperson at Joan Ryder and Associates Real Estate
Inc., in Bel Air, Md., agrees that most home buyers are looking for a
house with curb appeal. If they drive up to a house with dingy aluminum
siding and old windows, the buyers automatically get a bad taste in
their mouth, she says. The old saying ‘Don’t judge a book by its cover’
falls on deaf ears with most clients.
Gindele, who works in Orange County, Calif., where median housing prices
in the second quarter of 2006 topped $726,000, says the return on
investment is just an added bonus to home owners, who undertake
remodeling projects for a variety of benefits. Among other things, they
do it because they want the ease of operation, the beauty, the
sound-deadening component, he says. But it’s nice to recover your
expense.
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Kelley School of Business
News Room
Kelley School of Business Indianapolis faculty featured in Wall Street
Journal
7/10/2007 (Kelley Indianapolis)
A professor at the IU Kelley School of
Business Indianapolis has received national kudos for his work helping
local small businesses manage technology security issues. The June
25th edition of the Wall Street Journal recognizes Kelley Associate
Professor of Accounting Eric Johnson for a class project that engages
teams of Kelley Indianapolis undergrads to help local small businesses
analyze the security of their computer networks and other information
systems, pointing out potential vulnerabilities and recommending
improvements.
The article, “Where to Find Good, Cheap Tech
Help,” points out “Most small business owners can’t afford consultants
or an IT staff. For tech support, they draw on other resources…” The
piece goes on to explore potential sources of advice and information,
and highlights the Kelley Indianapolis class project as a model of a
productive academic partnership, specifically mentioning Johnson’s
work with local company Indianapolis Appraisal Associates, Inc.
“It’s great to have the classes’ work
recognized by the Wall Street Journal – the article points out a real
challenge that small companies face,” said Johnson. “Large
corporations have internal IT departments and consultants to deal with
information security issues. Smaller firms don’t have the resources
and end up taking an ad hoc approach – or worse, no approach at all.”
Johnson’s class focuses specifically on
security issues – safeguarding data, computer resources, and
protecting companies from legal liabilities that come with the use of
telecommunications and information technology. As part of the course,
teams of 3-4 students met with local companies like
Indianapolis Appraisal Associates
and worked with management over the course of the Spring 2007
semester. The teams focused on issues like acceptable use and
anti-virus policies, database security, e-mail use guidelines, server
security and more.
The project was met with enthusiasm by the
small business community and paid off in valuable hands-on experience
for the students as well; Johnson intends to repeat the project next
year.
“It’s really a win-win,” Johnson finished.
“We all know that small business is the lifeblood of Central Indiana’s
economy, and we’re pitching in to help them succeed. At the same
time, we’re exposing Kelley students to real-world experience outside
the classroom.”
The Wall Street Journal article can also be
viewed online by visiting
http://www.startupjournal.com/runbusiness/relationships/
and clicking on the title.
The IU Kelley School of Business has been a
leader in American business education for more than 80 years. With an
enrollment of more than 4,800 undergraduate and nearly 2,000 graduate
students, it is among the premier business schools in the country,
with both the undergraduate and graduate programs ranked among the
best in the United States. Kelley’s Indianapolis campus, based at
IUPUI, is home to the school’s Evening MBA and Master of Professional
Accountancy programs and a full-time undergraduate program.
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