Does this look familiar? This photo was taken somewhere in the central Indianapolis downtown area. If you are the first one to solve this Mystery Challenge then you win a prize, a $25 gift card to a local restaurant of your choice. For your answer to be correct, please state the name of the building that this is a part of and it’s exact location.
Entries are to be submitted by using the “Make a Comment” link in this post. Good Luck!
The residential market has some challenges these days, but in a free market dictated largely by supply and demand, whenever there is a minus someplace, there will be a plus someplace else. The positves: Home prices are generally more affordable now, and when coupled with today’s interest rates, they add up to a huge plus. Interest rates now are very close to the lowest ever available in history for refinances and home purchases. (Check today’s rates using the link below). Worth noting specifically is the fixed 30-year FHA loan at 3.75%. Along with the low down payment needed of only 3.5% of the home’s purchase price, it’s especially sensible for first-time home buyers.
The rule of thumb for refinancing is: If the interest rate available is one percent or more lower than what you have now, then take a closer look. Run the numbers…do the math. It costs about $2,400 +/- to refinance a mortgage if totaling all associated closing costs. See how long the payback would be from the savings each month between your monthly payment now and what it would be after the refinance. For example, if it takes 18 months to pay back the closing costs and you plan on staying in your current home at least five years or more, then it probably is worth pulling the trigger.
If you are considering a move to a new home, loan rates couldn’t be more cooperative. It’s a good time to sell your current home too. Don’t be fooled by media naysayers with reports that the sky is falling in the local residential market. Just the opposite is true. More than 3,500 homes have sold/closed in just the last two months in the 9-county central Indiana, greater metropolitan Indianapolis area and over 2,100 now with a sale pending. A mark imrovement over last year at this time.
Take a look at today’s rates… updated daily. Current Mortgage Rates
Hard to imagine the weather being any better than it was today. A perfect day? They are ALL perfect in their own way, but I have to admit that it’s an easier call with sun shinning, blue sky from horizon to horizon, and crisp morning air turning to warm temps in the afternoon. When the calendar flips to October, it signals a special time of year in Indiana. It’s the weather, but it’s mainly the colored leaves and the fragrances associated with autumn that bring up the most vivid memories. The leaves look like they are beginning the color change a little earlier than normal this time.
This view is along one of the walking paths at IMA that lead down to the canal. I go out of my way to go there if I’m remotely close by when the weather is like this even if I have only a few minutes. The real world can get by without me for a couple of minutes occasionally. My battery needs recharging too.
It’s been a little while since I last checked, and was hoping for an unobstructed view this morning of Victory atop the Soldiers and Sailors Monument on the Circle downtown. After being removed and completely restored recently she was hoisted to her lofty home again a few weeks ago. But I found her still peeking out through the construction cocoon. I was trying to find a good angle to capture her image inside between the horizontal layers of scaffolding which improves the farther away you are away on either Meridian or Market Streets (with zoom lens) or of course the higher you are from street level. But there just really isn’t a great vantage point right now unless you happen to be inside or work at one of the tall buildings around the circle. The surrounding buildings, trees and construction crane blocks out the view from most points at street level.
So I’ll just have to wait for the package to be unwrapped a little later on this year. It’s been a while since the Circle was free of signs of construction, barricades and equipment. It will be nice to have it back again.
A view of Fall Creek facing west from the Central Avenue Bridge. Most of the time I’m too preoccupied to give Fall Creek much thought, driving along-side or zig-zagging across a bridge or two, going one place or another. Easy to take it for granted. When actually stoping to take it in, something timelessly reminds me that it was here flowing along these same banks long before anyone even decided to settle in this area more than 200 years ago. Water was a main attraction in those days. Early commerce grew up along White River, the largest navigable waterway and Fall Creek was a major source of fresh water for the first generation of inhabitants. In this view, the old Marrott Hotel can be seen protruding up through the trees in the background, a reminder of here and now.
