Realtors Look To Boost Local Market
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By Tim [email protected]
"We're just trying to tell the real state of real estate," said KBOR member Bev Ganshorn, "not what people have heard."
The effort is called the "Surround Sound Campaign." It involves local radio and newspaper ads, billboards and online marketing with messages like, "Eight out of 10 economists believe home prices will rise in the next five years. The other two are life-long pessimists."[[In-content Ad]]Ganshorn said the ads are designed to fight messages consumers get from the national real estate news about plunging home sales, constricting credit markets, shrinking home equity and rising foreclosures.
The campaign's target audience includes people Ganshorn calls "buy-shy fence sitters."
"The buy-shy fence sitter is that buyer who has been bombarded with all the negative impact of the national news and the doom and gloom," she said. "We are targeting those folks to say Kosciusko County is doing well."
Ganshorn said the county's real estate market has suffered since the collapse of the U.S. housing market, but not near as much as most people think.
"We get lumped in there with California and Florida and those horrible markets," Ganshorn said. "It's just the national news stating that markets are diving and if you buy a home now, they are continuing to drop in value. That is not at all the truth."
Ganshorn said the current economic climate has left potential real estate consumers fearful about investing and doubtful about the availability of loans.
Though the security of some of the nation's major housing markets took a hit when the housing bubble burst, Ganshorn said Kosciusko County has fared better. She said the county's natural resources, including more than 100 lakes, the orthopedic industry and support industries have helped the county's real estate market remain solid.
According to the Bureau of Economic Analysis, in 2008, the median home price in Indiana was $117,900. In Kosciusko County, the median home price was $122,000.
"We have lenders who are willing to lend with interest rates at an all-time low," she said. "Owning a home over a 10-year span, the average return would be three to five times greater than the stockmarket. Your home is one of the best and safest things you can invest in."
Ganshorn said there are many incentives for home ownership, including an $8,000 tax credit for first-time home buyers.
The KBOR will spend $20,000 on the Surround Sound Campaign. Half of the funding came through a grant from the Indiana Association of Realtors.
Ganshorn said KBOR and the state association are willing to commit money toward the campaign because they believe it will give local consumers a more complete picture of the local real estate market and boost consumers' confidence as they consider home ownership.
"We just feel Kosciusko County has a whole lot to offer," she said.
For more information, visit www.kbor.com
"We're just trying to tell the real state of real estate," said KBOR member Bev Ganshorn, "not what people have heard."
The effort is called the "Surround Sound Campaign." It involves local radio and newspaper ads, billboards and online marketing with messages like, "Eight out of 10 economists believe home prices will rise in the next five years. The other two are life-long pessimists."[[In-content Ad]]Ganshorn said the ads are designed to fight messages consumers get from the national real estate news about plunging home sales, constricting credit markets, shrinking home equity and rising foreclosures.
The campaign's target audience includes people Ganshorn calls "buy-shy fence sitters."
"The buy-shy fence sitter is that buyer who has been bombarded with all the negative impact of the national news and the doom and gloom," she said. "We are targeting those folks to say Kosciusko County is doing well."
Ganshorn said the county's real estate market has suffered since the collapse of the U.S. housing market, but not near as much as most people think.
"We get lumped in there with California and Florida and those horrible markets," Ganshorn said. "It's just the national news stating that markets are diving and if you buy a home now, they are continuing to drop in value. That is not at all the truth."
Ganshorn said the current economic climate has left potential real estate consumers fearful about investing and doubtful about the availability of loans.
Though the security of some of the nation's major housing markets took a hit when the housing bubble burst, Ganshorn said Kosciusko County has fared better. She said the county's natural resources, including more than 100 lakes, the orthopedic industry and support industries have helped the county's real estate market remain solid.
According to the Bureau of Economic Analysis, in 2008, the median home price in Indiana was $117,900. In Kosciusko County, the median home price was $122,000.
"We have lenders who are willing to lend with interest rates at an all-time low," she said. "Owning a home over a 10-year span, the average return would be three to five times greater than the stockmarket. Your home is one of the best and safest things you can invest in."
Ganshorn said there are many incentives for home ownership, including an $8,000 tax credit for first-time home buyers.
The KBOR will spend $20,000 on the Surround Sound Campaign. Half of the funding came through a grant from the Indiana Association of Realtors.
Ganshorn said KBOR and the state association are willing to commit money toward the campaign because they believe it will give local consumers a more complete picture of the local real estate market and boost consumers' confidence as they consider home ownership.
"We just feel Kosciusko County has a whole lot to offer," she said.
For more information, visit www.kbor.com
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