Muir Woods Online

Welcome to Muir Woods Online!

This web site is a service to the Muir Woods neighborhood by:

Ken Fisher of Ken R Fisher & Associates, Inc., Realtors,

Reduced Fee Brokers, For Sale by Owner Services & Consultants. 

Ken Fisher, an Experienced Full Time, Full Service Realtor since 1973 and Real Estate Company Owner since 1988 and his wife, Suzanne, have enjoyed living in Muir Woods since November, 2003.

VIDEO TOUR OF MUIR WOODS

This complimentary web site is designed to provide:

...  a Condo Owners Tips Newsletter outlining many of the pluses and minuses of owning in Muir Woods.

... a 'Wish List' of thoughts and ideas regarding our community.

...  a 'Who To Call' when you have problems with the operating systems in your home.  Considering the contractors used by Hills, you will need someone else!

... Email your comments to KenFisher@Realtor.com and they will be forwarded promptly as may be necessary.

...  an easy source for the Home Owner Association Covenants, Rules and Regulations.

Please note:  We have a new HOA Insurance Company.  Erie Insurance replaced Nationwide as of May 1, 2008.  The agent is Jim Burke of Shepherd Insurance at 846-5554.  The switch from Nationwide apparently has saved Muir Woods about $7,000.00 annually.  By the way, VP Jim Egner and our HOA Attorney Neil Davis were successful in resolving a settlement for June, 2006 hail damage to the tune of a net $525,000.00.  The money will be placed into the reserve account for roofing requirements.

Taxes, Property Tax Valuation, Homestead and Mortgage exemptions?  Need information?  Are your exemptions really on file?  Email me today at KenFisher@Realtor.com for the latest information.

Did You Know?  If one of the Muir Woods HOA Members/Owners files Bankruptcy, the Association must get in line to get a portion of the potential asset distribution which typically is zero and the rest of us pay their unfair share.  But, if one of the Muir Woods HOA Members loses their property without filing for Bankruptcy, they are still fully responsible for the monthly HOA fees and can be sued for those fees until someone takes over the property (Mortgage Lender or Buyer) and they then become responsible for those fees.  This is another reason that the HSE Sewer Fees must be removed from the monthly fees immediately!  The Board should take some action here immediately as we should not be required to pay for the stupidity and / or total lack of responsibility of others.  I feel quite sure that this By-Laws change would receive quick approval by all of our responsible members ... only those who don't like to pay their bills would refuse to vote.  This should be addressed at the December 9th Annual Meeting!

Homes For Sale ... Yesterday, Today and Maybe Tomorrow Too!

We provide an active link to the BLC/MLS System for you at Homes For Sale.

We make a point to NOT ACTIVELY SOLICIT for business within Muir Woods because apparently every potentially part time and/or unemployed agent in North Indianapolis, Fishers, Carmel and Noblesville does ... the USPS needs their business!

The market is really starting to improve and clean, right priced homes are selling, mortgage rates are down and holding and folks are refinancing at better fixed rates.  Loan requirements are tightening up and credit score requirements are getting stiffer, BUT don't let the Talking Heads on TV get you down ... they get paid well for what they READ - many could not find their way out of a closet with help!  I do believe that they will elect the next President of the United States unless YOU do something about it.  We have reached a 'tipping point' in our country ... the ignorant have obviously finally outnumbered the intelligent.

We can tell you what properties have sold and when as well as what the 'real' general appreciation rate is for Muir Woods ... without potential commission based bias.  If you want to pay 7% to sell your home, do it ... but what a waste of your home's equity! 

If you don't want to pay 7%, contact KenFisher@Realtor.com today.  We have offered offer equity saving CHOICES since 1973.

FREE Home Staging Analysis

You can visit us anytime by clicking on www.KenFisherRealtors.com and search the entire BLC/MLS System at your leisure.

You may also visit www.Realtor.com and, for the most part, do the same thing.   We, as one in twenty Realtors, always provide the highly effective Realtor.com Showcase Enhanced Features and Multiple Photos marketing feature for our listings.  This is a very important marketing advantage for our Sellers.  There are many real estate agents who are either unaware of or just unwilling to provide this additional service because it does cost money.

Adding to the advantages of Realtor.com Showcase Enhanced Features, we market using over 25 websites including one that provides access to the top 140 newspaper markets in the United States and now featuring Wal-mart Classifieds too.  Not a bad feature of the capabilities and efforts of a smaller, low overhead, independent company!

You may visit www.MLSinfoSearch.com to set up a daily BLC/MLS search for properties of interest anywhere in the United States.  Search results will appear in your email box daily as properties become available.  We also have a fantastic, top quality, non-PC Referral Network for anywhere in the country that you may use without cost to you.

When visiting our web sites, you may get a feeling that we are not members of the 'One Stop Shopping' Real Estate Rip-Off Club.  We obviously are not!  We believe that the so-called 'One Stop Shopping' benefit(?) offered by numerous real estate companies and many builders attempting to increase their bottom line profit at your expense is quite often questionable and typically nothing more than a well-designed effort to eliminate competition at the financial expense of the customer and client (it has definitely contributed heavily to the sub-prime mortgage scandal).  We do not feel that it is ethical to own a new home construction company, a real estate company, a title insurance company, an appraisal company, a mortgage company, a survey company, an inspection company and an insurance company all within a single holding company.  We believe that it is in the best interest of our customers and clients to offer referrals to the necessary individual companies and do not seek referral fees or kickbacks from those companies.

Upcoming Holidays and Events

•  Muir Woods Luncheon at Lincoln Square, 8150 Oaklandon Road.  November 18th  RSVP to Betty 585-1902, Marie 595-0919, Mary 842-1798 or Betty 849-0813..
•  Circle of Lights at Monument Circle - November 28th.
•  Games and Cards at the Clubhouse - 1:00 PM December 2nd.
•  Annual HOA Board Meeting on December 9th at 7:00PM - Lantern Road School.
•  Christmas At The Zoo - December 5th through December 30th.
•  Muir Woods Luncheon at Macaroni Grill, 2375 E 116th, Carmel.  January 20th. 
•  more ...

Problem Reports

Emergencies:  Call Jessica McCoy at Omni ... 541-0000 ... when some idiot is parking on and destroying your lawn ... Call Omni when someone is parking in the street ... Call Omni when you have some EXTERIOR or BETWEEN UNIT problem ... who knows, they might even call you back!  And they might not call you back!  I called on 9/09/08 regarding a  plumbing leak from the unit upstairs that was impacting two units, my call was returned by Omni on 09/15/08.  Thankfully, the guy upstairs honored his responsibility and called Hamm & Sons to remedy the problem.  Apparently, Omni is quite good at managing their own profit margin with little regard to their customers.  Please don't call Omni when their gutter cleaning folks dump dead, slimy, rotted leaves on your siding, your bushes, your windows ... Please don't call Omni with the bush trimmers try to re-educate the world on what a disastrous, landscape pruning job they can do ... they don't care .... call Steve Gavin.  Maybe you should call Steve Gavin FIRST in every case of whatever the problem might be ... or just knock on his door!

A comment has been made that 21 homeowners did not pay their Association Fees causing a shortfall in the HSE Sewer Bill payment.  I suggest that the Bylaws be amended at once to remove the Sewer Bill from the dues.  If they don't pay, HSE can promptly lien their property and may be in a position to have their water turned off in the process.

I am also in favor of listing every owner who does not pay his or her Association Fees within 30 days or less on a monthly bulletin to all association members.

The Wish List - Wouldn't It Be Nice If ...

• ... Folks turned DOWN their heavy bass music by 11:00PM nightly thus negating the necessity to contact the Fishers Police Department more often than once! View the FishersNoiseOrdinance.pdf
• ... Folks did not use the roadways nor the turn arounds (these are not city streets) as parking lots (violating the intent of the Rules and Regs of Muir Woods with impunity. Watch what happens when an accident occurs!
•  ... Folks did not park on their lawns thereby costing everyone for lawn repair ... the Board should bill the violators as those violations occur.
•  ... Our lawns looked like those next door at the Hills owned apartments.  Cheap is cheap and looks cheap too.  Uneven cutting, ruts in the lawns, excessive weeds, scalping weed eating all contribute to a POOR LAWN JOB! The lacking efforts of the lawn care people are the result of their apparent bid of $30,000 less than the next guy.
•  ... People were stopped from soliciting the neighborhood with advertising papers tucked behind mailbox flags or just laid in piles on the mailbox posts.
•  ... The Association Members (that's us) were informed when trash will and won't be picked up on holidays.
•   ... The revision of the CC&R's to either emphasize or provide for the capability to assess individual units for such things as painting, repairing damaged lawns by vehicles, replacing dead lawns, etc.
•  ... Folks consistently putting out their trash prior to dusk on Sundays (some even on Thursdays and Fridays ... trash is trash is trash and other folks do not appreciate inconsiderate people diminishing the quality of life in our subdivision. 
•  ... Folks would park their commercial vehicles, RV's and boats elsewhere in compliance with the Home Owner Association documents that they agreed to prior to taking possession of their property.
•  ... If the Fishers cop who illegally parks on our private roadway to clock folks in the School Zone would get a good, honest job somewhere else.

PROBLEM REPORTS   

• Some wood decks are in serious trouble as apparently none have ever had any wood treatment.  Problems include warped and cracked boards, and lifting nails and screws.  Some of these events are causing more difficulties to those under the decks.  Delayed maintenance has caused what could have been preventable deck replacements at everyone's expense.
•  It was stated 3 years ago that folks continually watering Muir Lane with their sprinkler systems would damage the roadway ... well, surprise, surprise!  How much has it cost to repair the damage? and who paid for it?  Guess!  And, are they still doing it?
• If an idiot speeds through the neighborhood and slides into and damages your lawn or your mailbox, SUE THEM for damages!  Your Association probably won't respond.
• Who paid for the lawn damage done by two pickup trucks at 10515 Muir Lane over the Christmas holidays and why do their visitors continue to park on the lawn? How about the damage at 10464 and 10544 Muir Lane done by visitors to those properties.  Perhaps these destructive folks should park at Wal-mart and walk!  Why doesn't a member of the Board do something about it?!
•  Who pays for the continual lawn damages by the tenants at 9251 Muir Lane?
•  Why are we subjected to a junk vehicle dripping oil and parking overnight at 10485 Muir Lane? Oil leaks will literally eat holes into the asphalt of the roadway.
• It would be quite helpful if the Board of Directors informed the members about things like when events are scheduled, when trash pickup will not occur, when the lawn care folks decide to change their schedule (or what their schedule and services really are), when snow removal will occur or other things of importance by email ... it's a new thing! 
•  By the way, who pays when a neighbor refuses to water their lawn? ... and the lawn dies!  Apparently we now know ... it's all of us! 
•  Who is paying for the water used by several residents to run their lawn sprinklers?
•  Plastic, plastic, plastic!  I personally don't think that Mother Nature cares much for plastic plants except perhaps on graves (where the folks can't complain anymore). And, I am sure that she does not care for plastic shopping bags blowing into the landscaping and into the woods!
•  Watch out for refrigerator water leaks on the Chateau models.  The water runs through the floor into the Entry ceiling of the Baldwin models below.  This is YOUR PROBLEM and will COST YOU the owner of the Chateau!
•  Speaking of Water Leaks, my home's water heater (installed by Hills/B&W Plumbing 35 months ago) was replaced by Hamm & Sons.  B&W did not know whether the warranty was still in effect.  Hamm & Sons did the work under the warranty based upon the AO Smith serial number.  The Hamm & Sons plumber said the water heater was probably damaged by rough handling at time of installation.  Customer Service at AO Smith agreed!  The water heater next door failed less than 60 days later for the same reason.
•  Dryer Vents and Dryer Vent Fires! Nope, not yet ... no one has burnt down an entire building yet.  BUT, it will occur unless YOU CHECK YOUR OUTSIDE DRYER VENT for lint clogging.  Make sure that you have a smoke detector in your laundry room.  If someone burns down my building, I will SUE THEM FOR ALL DAMAGES, IGNORANCE and STUPIDITY!
•  It is hard to believe but some folks have the audacity to allow their pets to do what pets do on their decks above other folk's patios and deck enclosures!   
•  People walking dogs without leashes and FAILING to pick up dog waste ... how sad that some folks would be so incompetent and inconsiderate.
•  Installation of SPEED BUMPS?  Where is Jay Leno when we need him!  What a Joke!  How about all of the racket for the folks who live in front of the speed bumps ... a constant bump, bump, bump.
•  Problems with failures to remove tall landscaping grasses in the Fall ... apparently nobody cares. This stuff blows everywhere and stops up gutters and roadway drains.
•  Blowing Trash is really YOUR PROBLEM.  Tie up your trash bags like you have some sense!  Stacking up pizza boxes just doesn't quite cut it. 
•  Burned out Exterior Lighting ... an ongoing problem!  Hello, Hello, can you see the light? 
•  A Furnace Filter Source ... you can save a lot of bucks here and UPS delivers.
•  Unsightly Trash Cans ... enough said.
•  Parking in the Roadway or the Turnarounds ... only a selfish person would do this.
•  Garage + Driveway = 4 vehicles
•  Dead bushes from pet urination ... too bad pets don't know what we know.
•  Dog waste ruining lawns ... poor doggy has to do his or her business somewhere.
•  Idiots damaging lawns with vehicles ... seems like this problem does not often occur, thankfully.
•  Vandals in the neighborhood ... we've been pretty lucky so far.
•  Heavy trash pickup - call Republic to find out when.
•  more ...

Check out these sites for money saving Real Estate opportunities:

Search the entire BLC/MLS System through our MLS Gateway on our web sites

http://www.KenFisherRealtors.com - Our Reduced Fee Company Web Site                                        
 

www.MLSinfoSearch.com - Automatic Daily Searches for New Listings on the Market anywhere in the United States.
 

www.TheRealEstateExpress.com - Money Saving Fee Based Consulting Services ... you can save a lot of money and still get full service.

www.NewHomesCashRebates.com - New Home Buyers Can Get Cash Rebates ... opportunity knocks for a new home or condo.
 

www.IndyBuyOwner.com - For Sale By Owner Services and Information ... we are the longest serving For Sale By Owner company in Central Indiana.  Most have or are going out of business.

... and if you want to take an informative journey to the other side of the real estate business, visit www.RealEstateTheDarkSide.com. Quite often, all is not nice in real estate land ... and you really are pretty much on your own.  We wish you the very best of luck when you venture into the Real Estate Land of the Unknown and the game often called "Real Estate Agent Roulette".

We also offer www.KenFisherPro.com - Money Saving Domain Name and Web Site Hosting Services

Referrals:  If you know of anyone considering selling or buying a home or investment property in the next few months, I personally would definitely appreciate the referral. Please ask them to contact me and then email to let me know who will be making a contact.

Agent Recruiting:  If you know of anyone considering real estate as a full or part-time profession, I would be happy to talk with them personally.  We offer many benefits to the 'new' agent as well as the existing agent desiring to be successful in the business.  Our agents are not 'lost in the shuffle' of the big companies.  We offer personalized 'one-on-one' training and extremely low fees to help the agent  attain financial success more easily.  We are not into 'pyramiding' or 'agent networking' as that will cost the agent a lot of money in both the short run as well as the long run.  Check out www.KenFisherRealtors.com/Career.html  for more information on the potentially lucrative career of Real Estate Sales and Marketing with a successful, independent real estate company.

KenFisher@Realtor.com