We applaud the decision by Congress to reinstate the loan limit formula for Federal Housing Administration (FHA) insured loans.  This decision will benefit the real estate industry as the loan limits are restored to 125% of the median value.

The National Association of Realtors have supplied a video which may provide information and clarification about the decision made by Congress.

Congress Restores FHA Financing Limits for 2 Years is a post from: Columbus Indiana Real Estate Homes for Sale, Community News & Photos

An annual event held every Autumn in downtown Columbus, Indiana, this special festival is enjoyed by thousand of local residents and visitors.  Featuring both international entertainment, foods and a bazaar, the two-day Ethnic Expo also includes a parade and concludes with a fireworks display.

More information on the Ethnic Expo experience is available on the website:  double click HERE

Columbus Indiana celebrates 2011 Ethnic Expo is a post from: Columbus Indiana Real Estate Homes for Sale, Community News & Photos

We recently discovered a remarkable website where costs for a variety of remodeling projects are compared to the value added  – showing the percent of the investment recovered.  Because neither cost nor value are constant throughout the country, this  study is done using various locations throughout the country including the Indianapolis area (this would be applicable for Columbus and Bartholomew County).

When considering remodeling projects, it is a good idea to check to see what sort of return there could be on the cost of the project.  Rarely, are there projects where there is a profit – value is greater than cost.  More often, cost is greater than value!

However, I believe there should be an enjoyment value factored into the mix.  Although a remodeling project might be a poor investment in terms of payback in increased value, the enjoyment derived from the new and improved feature may more than justify the expense.

The actual website is  http://www.CostvsValue.com.

Value of our area:  http://www.remodeling.hw.net/2010/costvsvalue/division/east-north-central/city/indianapolis–in.aspx

Remodeling: What Costs are Recovered, How is Value Increased? is a post from: Columbus Indiana Real Estate Homes for Sale, Community News & Photos

Buyer Advice:  Probably one of the greatest disappointments a Buyer could face might be finding a Home for Sale, Making an Offer to Purchase on the House and then failing to be approved for a Mortgage.  It becomes even more devastating when friends, family, business associates have all been told that the purchase is in process.

The situation can be addressed to eliminate the embarrassment by simply taking a few  preliminary steps to ensure success.

Available on this website’s Home Page on the far right side is a Mortgage Calculator where a payment can be determined based on the criteria you supply.  Better information can be obtained by contacting a lending institution.  One only needs to “Google” mortgage loans to see thousands of choices  (actually 10,200,000 links when we checked on Google).  You might also contact one of the following local lending institutions whose links appear below:

Centra Credit Union

Indiana Bank & Trust

Main Source Bank

Of course, for the borrower’s protection, there would still be other criteria which must be satisfied involving the property to be purchased such as substantiating the value of the property and the quality of the title.  Both very important protections for the Buyer.

Advice for the Seller:    Being ready to place the home on the market has everything to do with the amount of time required to market the property.    Frequently, Sellers believe Buyers should be able to ignore any personal belongings of the Seller, but these create distractions which generally reduce the appeal of the house.    Most Buyers are unwilling to clean up the debris of the Seller, wishing to start with a “clean palette” as they make the home their own.

Many times a Seller who has years of keepsakes and belongings needs to remove what could reduce the spacious feeling of a property, resulting in a very cluttered, over-crowded feeling.  On occasion, belongings which are valued but not frequently used can be placed in short-term storage until moving.

Another idea gaining popularity of late is the idea of having the property inspected prior to placing the home on the market.   For existing homes, finding any problems ahead of time, repairing those problems the to eliminate future issues with the Buyer, can be a wise decision.

Of course, if the Seller is able to keep the home ready for showings at all times, that flexibility could shorten the time on market.  However, because we are often dealing with occupied homes with families, it is always the Sellers right to decide if a showing of the property is approved or rescheduled for a different time or later date.  We feel it is important that the family’s needs and comfort always be considered.

Buying or Selling a Home: Advice for Buyers & Sellers is a post from: Columbus Indiana Real Estate Homes for Sale, Community News & Photos

Pictured is the “Star Projector” in the Planetarium at Columbus East High School.  The Planetarium is certainly very special and offers a unique educational opportunity! http://www.go-astronomy.com/planetarium.php?ID=232

When I married my husband in 1986 I knew he ultimately wanted to return to his home town of Columbus, Indiana to live and raise our family.  He couldn’t say enough good things about his alma mater East High school.  I thought yah, yah, yah; my high school experience was OK at best but not excellent like he talked about his high school years.  Now that we have lived in Columbus for over 12-years, him teaching Biology at East High School, our oldest graduating from East in 2010 and our youngest now an Olympian freshman with the goal of breaking free in 2014.  I have to agree with the excellence of Columbus East High School.  BCSC has challenged both of our children academically, encouraged them to stretch and grow in many areas, and aided in developing their natural talents and abilities.

Some of the many things we have found helpful regarding East High School and the Bartholomew County school system are…high academic expectations and support, parent connect allowing parents to monitor course work, the athletic programs offer 20 varsity sports, the diversity of the student body, multiple learning and career pathways offered,  over ½ of graduates earn an academic honors diploma, merit scholarships are awarded each year, a rigorous curriculum, leading edge technology, early college programming, project lead the way, a universal design approach to learning, senior projects, job shadowing, academic challenge programs, dual credit programs…just to list a few.  For the complete list of 100 reasons for a BCSC education go to the website address listed below:

http://www.bcsc.k12.in.us/easths/lib/easths/pdf%20docs/100_Hundred%20Reasons%20why%20BCSC.pdf.

If that were enough – East’s also prepares students for college.  BCSC accomplishes this by exposing the student body to interactive resource groups and by placing students in both small & large learning environments helping to make a smoother transition into the college experience.  The Advance Placement (AP) courses offered by East are English Lit, Statistics, Calculus (2 levels), Computer Programming, Music Theory, Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Environmental Science, US Government, US History, European History, Microeconomics, Macroeconomics, and Human Geography offering college credit with end-of-the-year testing.  East offers Indiana University-Bloomington dual credit courses allowing students to get both college and high school credit while in the high school classroom.  Those courses include; W131 Composition, L202 Literature, P101 & P102 Psychology, M118 Finite Math, M 211 & M 212 Calculus, C105 & C125 Chemistry, L112 Biology, K300 Statistics for a grand total of 39 college credit courses.  A US History course is in the developmental stages increasing this total to over 40 some college credits before even graduating from high school.  Then if your student leans more towards a technical area of study, East offers 43 career training courses in their C4 program leading to many different career paths.  The C4 courses offer dual college credit hours as well through the academic institutions of Vincennes, Ivy Tech, and Purdue.  All the dual credit information included in this article was provided by the East Guidance Department.  For more information on any of the courses mentioned above – contact the Director of Guidance, Mr. Doug Moore at the email address of MooreD@bcsc.k12.in.us.

I’m impressed and I’m not even an alumnus of Columbus East High School.  I’m a Galesburg Silver Streak!  Go silver and gold!! 

By Michelle Walls

E-Mail:  Michelle@C21Breeden.com

812-378-1717 Bus.     812-314-5747 Cell

Century 21, Breeden

Residential Sales Agent

What is a Columbus, Indiana Education Worth? is a post from: Columbus Indiana Real Estate Homes for Sale, Community News & Photos

Our office recently had the privilege of hearing Dr. John Quick, Superintendent of Schools, Bartholomew Consolidated School Corporation speak to our Residential and Commercial Agents.  Dr. Quick shared information about the successes of the students and the programs of the school system.   Among the very interesting facts shared, one of those we found most exciting was this:

“The top ten percent of BCSC students outperform the top ten percent in the nation.”

The following is an article appearing in the BCSC Annual Report:

The goal of the BCSC vision of a World-Class Community Learning System is that all learners develop a deep understanding of the world and an intellectual foundation to act and think effectively on that understanding.

At every level of the system we want learners to be intellectually engaged in the learning process.  When learners graduate from this system we want them to be effective communicators, motivated learners, confident and empowered learners, collaborative workers, responsible citizens, quality performers, and responsible family members.

The challenge for this system is to intellectually engage all learners at each level.  This is a difficult challenge as learners who enter the system all enter with a variety of backgrounds.  Add to this the range of variables and the new knowledge and research that confirms that each individual brain operates and processes information and reasoning differently.  All of this has lead BCSC to develop multiple pathways and options for learners to engage their learning styles.

The development of multiple pathways is based on brain research, the changing world, the changing work force, and the changing demographics of our learners.  For these reasons, no one educational path or method of instruction can address all learners in any meaningful way.  The development of multiple pathways and options to address how learners are instructed and assessed is essential if we truly want to intellectually engage all learners in the system.  Multiple pathways and learning options will provide flexibility into the learning opportunities available to students.  By offering multiple paths and options for all of our students, we will continue to prepare our students for the rapidly changing and challenging 21^st century.

DEFINITION OF TERMS FOR

MULTIPLE PATHWAYS AND LEARNING OPTIONS

Academic Challenge/ (AC)

The Academic Challenge/High Ability program is a High Ability - rigorous and robust curriculum using instructional practices that  challenge students who have shown high ability skills in their  primary grade course work.  Admissions to the elementary and  middle school programs are highly competitive.

AP/ACP -  (AP)

Advanced Placement are courses offered through approval from the College Board.  Students can earn college credit by scoring well enough on the AP exam in May.  There is a cost for those exams. (ACP) Advanced College Project offers students dual credit from the high schools and Indiana University by taking a specific approved course and paying the university tuition.  Students must earn a “C” or better for the course to earn dual credit.  These credits usually transfer to most colleges.  Students should research this prior to enrolling.

Career & Technical

Career pathways at the high school level prepare students for Education -    post-secondary education or for the competitive job market demanding high-level technical skills, as well as strong math, science and communications backgrounds incorporating problem-solving and critical thinking skills.  Dual credit agreements are available with IUPUC, IVY Tech, Purdue Statewide School of Technology, Vincennes University, and most clusters offer state and national certifications.

Centers of Excellence -

Borrowed from the business world, this concept allows a more effective use of assets while still allowing individual schools and their students to maintain their identities.  Centers of Excellence provide the best educational opportunities and highest standards for learning environments we can provide for a specific learning discipline.  The Finance Academy, which is held at a site in downtown Columbus so that students have access to the various practicing Columbus financial institutions, is an example of a Center of Excellence.

General Education -

This is the current model and system of instruction that is in place now at our schools.

Early College -

High School students may arrange to take an off-campus course at IVY Tech or IUPUC which can count in their general studies curriculum at the university they later choose to attend.  This credit would primarily transfer to the state institutions in Indiana.  Costs would be the normal tuition charge per college class with scholarships available.

Intellectually Engaged

The learner must be the active worker in the learning process and

Learner -

Not just the passive recipient of information and answers for someone else’s questions.  This engagement must incorporate the skill and habit of learning to learn in order to figure out complex problems and issues.  The learner must develop the ability to apply, analyze, synthesize and evaluate while making solid intellectual connections.  The questions learners ask become as important as the answers students give.

International/Global

This is a curricular program that focuses on interdisciplinary Studies -   studies in an international and global perspective.  The curriculum would include global challenges, various global cultures, global connections and foreign language acquisition.

Magnet School -

Magnet schools or magnet programs are specialized schools or programs that draw upon students throughout the district who are deeply interested in that curricular and instructional focus.

Signature Academies –

These magnet schools have an instructional program that is based on the instructional practice of project-based learning.   Project-based learning engages students in the curriculum by putting the students in a center of a project or problem that requires students to learn concepts and skills in order to complete the project or solve the problem.  Students work in teams and in a technology rich environment to address real world projects and problems and create presentations to share what they have learned.

Small Learning

Small Learning Communities (SLCs) provide close, caring Communities -   environments in a more personalized school setting where students get individual attention.  Research suggests that in larger high schools it is difficult for every student to be known well and feel a sense of belonging to the school.

We wish to acknowledge the contribution of this article  by the BCSC which was used with their permission.

Our Schools are Outstanding & Offer Learning Options! is a post from: Columbus Indiana Real Estate Homes for Sale, Community News & Photos