Best Practices: Selling Homes Hoosier-style

By Brooke Schmidt, Real Estate Business Magazine, August/September 2006

For Indiana's RE/MAX regional director, CRB equals success.

Based in Indianapolis, Ind., Jonathan D. Nicholas, ABR, CRB, CRS, GRI and the 2007 CRB first vice president, works as the regional director for RE/MAX of Indiana where he faces a Midwestern market he calls "every day Hoosier real estate." Although many theories exist about where the term "Hoosier" originates, most can agree that the word conjures up images of traditions, comfort and family. These values are reflected in Indiana's real estate market, which, Nicholas explains, "does not fluctuate by leaps and bounds."

In a business where less than 10% of home sales are high end, Nicholas says that the average home price in Indiana is about $140,000. Combine this with a steady 0% to 5% average annual appreciation rate and you're looking at what Nicholas refers to as "bread and butter real estate." But bread and butter can be filling, and last year RE/MAX of Indiana saw $4.5 billion in sales — that's $1.2 billion more than the company's nearest competitor, says Nicholas. This year, he expects to see 36,000 properties sell through RE/MAX of Indiana.