ELKHART -- Jim Mauter is a survivor of the volatile housing market. He has been a homeowner and a landlord, he has bought property with fixed-rate mortgages and for no money down, and he has undergone the buying, selling and foreclosure processes.
About two years ago, his five rental homes in South Bend went into foreclosure and now his residence on Springbrook is on the market because his monthly mortgage payments rose dramatically, pushed by ballooning property taxes.
Certainly the 2,600-square-foot house was more than he needed six years ago but he liked the quiet neighborhood and since the housing market at that time was hot, he knew he could not take too long to make a decision.
"When I looked at this house," Mauter remembered while standing in his driveway, "it had only been on the market two weeks and there were already offers on it."
The house has been for sale since July 5 but, at most, a few interested parties have only plucked a flier from the Cressy & Everett sign planted in the front yard. Mauter and his wife, Alicia, can see how the market has changed by driving around town and seeing realty signs in neighborhood after neighborhood.
The couple does not want to sell but after receiving a 2007 property tax bill that was 35 percent higher than the previous year, they opted to leave before the 2008 tax bill arrives.
To get a buyer, Mauter recently slashed the price $30,000 to $152,900, almost $5,000 under its assessed value.
A wide selection of homes, falling prices and even some added incentives are making the real estate market, both locally and nationally, a buyer's dream.
"It's a wonderful time to buy a home," said Don DeShano, managing broker for the Cressy & Everett office in Elkhart.
Homeowners planting for-sale signs in their yards are doing so for a variety of reasons, some typical like they want a smaller residence or they need a larger home, and some a reflection of current conditions in that they can no longer afford to make the monthly mortgage payments.
In Elkhart County, a 7.7-month supply of houses is on the market, according to Jeff Birky, president of the Elkhart County Multiple Listing Service. A six-month supply generally is considered a balanced market.
As of Sept. 11, a total of 1,462 homes were listed with MLS and during the summer, 573 had been sold.
Although the number of people wanting to purchase a home has remained the same, Realtors say stricter lending criteria has reduced the number of qualified buyers.
So sellers, like the Mauters, are sitting and waiting.
On a shady, pleasant street in a neighborhood south of the Elkhart city limits, one home has had a For Sale By Owner sign in the front yard for two months.
"No bites," said the stay-at-home-mom who asked not to be identified.
The two-story, three bedroom house is being sold as the result of a divorce. The mother of three finds herself not only having to sell a home in a slow market but also being unable to secure a loan to buy another home.
"I don't have credit," she said, explaining everything has been in her ex-husband's name. "I can't get a mortgage."
In a neighborhood on the north side of the downtown, a two-bedroom bungalow has been on the market for four months. The owner, who also asked not be named, has had only two phone calls and neither caller was interested in seeing the property in person.
The owner wants to sell the home so he can move closer to his job and, therefore, cut his $50-a-week gasoline habit. But pointing to the current housing market, he is prepared to continue the commute.
"We have to try to persuade the seller in this market to get their homes in absolute top condition and priced right," DeShano said.
Some sellers are offering concessions or incentives to move their homes. DeShano estimated that more than half of the homes sales in Elkhart County in 2007 had the sellers paying some or all of the buyers' closing costs. Typically such costs average 2.5 percent to 3 percent of the home's price.
The Mauters are not putting anything extra on the table, hoping the price cut will be enough.
"At first we were pretty upset," said Mauter, a kidney-transplant recipient, "but in the grand scheme of things, everything we've been through, at least we have a place to go home at night."