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        <title>Louisville Homes Blog</title>
        <link>http://www.louisvillehomepros.com/blog/shelbyville-ky-real-estate/</link>
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            <guid>http://www.louisvillehomepros.com/blog/do-i-need-a-survey.html</guid>
            <link>http://www.louisvillehomepros.com/blog/do-i-need-a-survey.html</link>
            <author>office@louisvillehomepros.com (Jonathan Karlen)</author>
            <title>Do I need a Survey?</title>
            <description> <![CDATA[ 



If you are like most persons, the obvious answer to “Do I need to get a survey?” is:   “I’m buying a house in a Louisville subdivision, I don’t need to get a survey. I’d rather save the $250-400.”


But, what is always obvious, isn’t necessarily correct.


In October 2006, we represented some clients that were purchasing a home in an established and fairly affluent neighborhood that felt similarly.  Upon our insistence, they finally relented and ordered a staked survey for the home they were purchasing.


The surveyor found that even though the home owner had gotten the proper permitting to construct their all brick $30,000 free standing garage, the current owner of the property had never gotten a survey either to mark the utilities.


And they found a big surprise: the garage was built directly over the Louisville Gas &amp; Electric as well as Metropolitan Sewer District easements. And as such, those utility easements granted them the right to demolish the garage if they so desired to service their utilities.


We were then able to renegotiate the purchase price on the contract, as well as get some written assurance from those 2 agencies to amend their easements to not demolish the garage.


John Borders of Borders &amp; Borders real estate closing attorneys was involved in this transaction, and it provided inspiration for an article he wrote for the Greater Louisville Association of Realtors Realtor Direct newsletter that I am publishing with his permission here:


Surveys—What You Need to Know!


One of the most common mistakes made by home buyers today is failing to have a survey performed on the property prior to purchase. Surveys reveal the dimensions of the lot and the placement of easements and building limits. But most importantly, they also disclose whether the improvements (house, garage, pool, drive, etc.) encroach upon the neighboring properties, building limits, or easements.


Prior to 1997, nearly every lender required at least a mortgage inspection (a “shortened” form of a survey) on a property before making a loan. The lenders wanted to make sure that their investment was protected from claims made as a result of encroachments. Then something dramatic (and virtually unknown) happened that allowed lenders to be protected without the performance of a survey: all the major title companies decided to insure over (i.e. grant coverage even with) survey defects for the lender’s title insurance policy. That meant that, when a garage encroached into a M.S.D. easement, for example, the lender would have protection against that type of claim. If M.S.D. forced the removal of the garage, the lender’s interest would be protected. But unfortunately, even if a buyer purchased an owner’s title insurance policy, the buyer would not be protected against that claim. Even though the title insurance policy companies removed the survey exceptions on the lender’s title insurance policies, they did not remove these exception on owners’ policies.


When lenders stopped requiring surveys, buyers stopped ordering them. The GLAR contract was amended to encourage surveys but buyers continued to purchased properties without them. Today, surveys are rarely performed on residential home purchases. Back before 1997, we dealt with 2-3 encroachment issues a week in our office. Now, we see almost no encroachments. Is that because the encroachments have disappeared? Obviously not. It’s because, even though they exist, nobody is discovering them. The only way to know if your buyer is purchasing a property with a deck encroaching onto an easement, a driveway encroaching onto a neighbor’s property, or a house built over a building limit, is by having a survey done. Simply put, if your buyer buys a home without a survey, she may be buying a home with one or more of these problems and never realize it until she attempts to sell it.


Buyers’ agents should recommend that their clients purchase staked surveys or, at least, mortgage inspections. While mortgage inspections aren’t perfect as no stakes are placed into the ground and not all corners are located, they will at least usually reveal whether there are encroachments. If the buyer doesn’t purchase a survey or mortgage inspection, and if an encroachment exists, the buyer may have an unmarketable piece of property. Or, she might have to pay to remove the encroachment. On the other hand, when the survey is performed prior to closing, the buyer can require the seller to address the issue. And if it is an irresolvable issue, the buyer can void the contact. Without a survey, the buyer assumes the risk of these potential survey defects.


When I teach first-time homebuyers, I recommend that they purchase stakes surveys. But I also tell them that, if they can’t afford a staked survey, they should at least purchase a mortgage inspection. And if they can’t afford a mortgage inspection, I recommend that they not purchase a house until they can afford to protect themselves adequately. I recommend the buyers’ agents make the same recommendations to their clients.


Article Contributed By: John D. Borders, Jr. 502-894-9200


Borders &amp; Borders, PLC, 920 Dupont Road, Louisville, KY 40207





Put our team of Louisville Realtors to work for you. We want to provide you with the best in representation. Contact us today!
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            <pubDate>Fri, 02 Sep 2011 22:18:08 -0400</pubDate>
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            <guid>http://www.louisvillehomepros.com/blog/louisville-house-prices-decline-5.html</guid>
            <link>http://www.louisvillehomepros.com/blog/louisville-house-prices-decline-5.html</link>
            <author>office@louisvillehomepros.com (Jonathan Karlen)</author>
            <title>Louisville House Prices Decline 5%</title>
            <description> <![CDATA[ The Greater Louisville Association of REALTORs (GLAR) have provided the latest homes prices figures.  Louisville house prices have declined 5% in the past year (from October 2007 through October 2008).  The current average value for a Louisville home now stands at $130,000.  And if you look at it from a multi-county perspective of including Jefferson, Bullitt and Oldham County, there has been a decrease of 22% fewer homes being sold in 2008, relative to the same time frame in 2007.  Still, compared to many other markets nationally, Louisville is still holding steady and fairing the tough economic conditions quite well.  Many markets saw an 11% decrease last month alone.

From an “on the ground” perspective from Louisville Realtors, we’ve begun noticing an increase in activity right now.  There are fewer persons looking, but the ones that are – are generally serious.  [So, if you have someone wanting to schedule a showing to get in to see your home - its probably in your best interest to try to accommodate them to get in to see it.]  Additionally to the homes that are being sold, many Louisville home sellers are tiring of their home being for sale on the market, and pulling their listing.  The sales, combined with the withdrawls (or cancellations), is reducing the overall inventory on the market.  This should give buyers less to pick from and not suffer quite as much from choice overload – all of which should help strengthen the Louisville real estate market.


We anticipate a stronger real estate market here in Louisville in 2009, than we saw in 2008.  Our job market remains relatively strong, and our home prices didn’t grow, generally speaking, at unsustainable rates like it did in the markets that have been hardest hit – as such, we should be among the first in the country to experience a rebound.  We think we are getting close to the “bottoming out” that everyone is always looking for – and if you are wanting to get into a new home, the next month or two are probably your golden opportunity to get in at the lower end of the market.
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            <pubDate>Fri, 02 Sep 2011 21:38:10 -0400</pubDate>
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            <guid>http://www.louisvillehomepros.com/blog/august-2008-louisville-real-estate-market-softens.html</guid>
            <link>http://www.louisvillehomepros.com/blog/august-2008-louisville-real-estate-market-softens.html</link>
            <author>office@louisvillehomepros.com (Jonathan Karlen)</author>
            <title>August 2008: Louisville Real Estate Market Softens</title>
            <description> <![CDATA[ While the Louisville real estate  market has been fairly immune to the slowing market nationally, the latest data is now showing that things are starting to soften somewhat in regard to the sale of single family residential homes and condos.

Before we get into the August 2008 numbers, I wanted to recap all of the numbers for this year.  So, lets take a look at the data and see what we can make of it:


January 1 – August 31 2007 


Homes Sold 10513


Average Sales Price $174,428


Median Sales Price $140,000


January 1 – August 31 2008


Homes Sold 8021


Average Sales Price $170,711


Median Sales Price $137,000


So, as you can see – theres been a fairly stiff decrease in the number of the Homes Sold in Louisville this year of nearly 24%.  Interestingly enough though, theres only been a slightly over 2% decrease in the Average Sales Price, and Median Sales Price.


This would indicate that while the total number of homes that are selling has dropped – the prices for which they are selling haven’t been affected too much overall.


So, now lets take a closer look at the August numbers.


August 2007


Homes Sold 1521


Average Selling Price $179,715


Median Selling Price $141,750


Average Days on Market (DOM) 74


August 2008


Homes Sold 965


Average Selling Price $181,472


Median Selling Price $140,000


Average Days on Market (DOM) 90


The total number of sales is down significantly (965 vs. 1521, which equates to an almost 37% decrease in the number of sales) .  And the average days on market has increased from 2.5 months to approximately 3 months.  But, probably more interesting is that the average selling price actually went up.  This would indicate that the higher end properties ($1,000,000+) while being fewer in number for the overall sales, are actually increasing the overall average value for Louisville homes sold.


So, what does this mean for a person looking to buy or sell Louisville real estate?  It means that homes are selling, albeit at a slower rate than in the past – BUT it does not mean they are selling for substantially less than they were previously.  (Sorry to those out there looking for a slam dunk deal in buying a Louisville home for 20 or 30 cents on the dollar.  It just isn’t commonplace here at this point in time.)


For Buyers: Theres lots of inventory to select from.  Currently there are over 10,000 homes for sale in Louisville market.  There are homes that represent a good value out there.  You just have to dig through them and find the one you want.  But – don’t expect to steal it.  Prices are holding fairly firm for those houses that are selling.


For Sellers:  Lots of inventory (read: competition) and longer market times are the norm.  If you want to get your home sold, you need to price it appropriately AND be the nicest within whatever price point you are currently competing.  No matter the price range, you will want to be at the lower end of that price range to get your home sold.
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            <pubDate>Fri, 02 Sep 2011 21:21:28 -0400</pubDate>
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            <guid>http://www.louisvillehomepros.com/blog/shelby-county-ky-home-expo.html</guid>
            <link>http://www.louisvillehomepros.com/blog/shelby-county-ky-home-expo.html</link>
            <author>office@louisvillehomepros.com (Jonathan Karlen)</author>
            <title>Shelby County KY Home Expo</title>
            <description> <![CDATA[ The first annual Shelby County Homes  Expo starts this weekend at the Shelby County Fairgrounds in the Floral Hall.  It begins on Saturday July 12th at 10:00 am and goes until mid-afternoon at 3:00 pm.

The cost of admission is free.


Some of the features include numerous giveaways one of which is the possibility of winning a big screen television and others include free closing costs.  Various vendors will be there which include Realtors, insurance representatives, homes builders, homes repair businesses, mortgage lenders and more.


Some of the main hosts for the event includes Citizens Union Bank (CUB), Kentucky Housing Corporation (KHC), as well as HJW Career and Financial Literacy Institute.


If you own a home, or want to own a home, be sure to come out this weekend at the Shelby County Fairgrounds, and take a look at what some of the local persons have to offer regarding the Shelbyville KY real estate market. Click the following to view all of the homes for sale on the Louisville MLS and as always if you have any questions we would be happy to assist.
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            <pubDate>Fri, 02 Sep 2011 21:11:44 -0400</pubDate>
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            <guid>http://www.louisvillehomepros.com/blog/simpsonville-kentucky-downtown-proposed.html</guid>
            <link>http://www.louisvillehomepros.com/blog/simpsonville-kentucky-downtown-proposed.html</link>
            <author>office@louisvillehomepros.com (Jonathan Karlen)</author>
            <title>Simpsonville Kentucky – Downtown Proposed</title>
            <description> <![CDATA[ Simponsville Kentucky is a thriving and growing community that lies immediately east of the Louisville KY real estate market. It has served as an outpost in a mostly agricultural and rural landscape. But Simpsonville KY government officials have asked the Triple S Planning &amp; Zoning commission to consider how the city would be able to create a downtown district to better serve the community and its neighbors.

There is the understanding that the actual concept for a downtown Simpsonville KY may take up to 20 or even 40 years, but they are wanting to make plans now for the future that is coming this way. Some work preparing the way has already been started: Simpsonville requested money from the Kentucky state government to fund sidewalks along the US 60 corridor that goes through the city.


Be sure to check out our Simpsonville KY homes for sale and our wonderful subdivisions in Louisville KY neigbhorhood home search.


There is a push for community and citizen input on the proposal as well as potential grandfathering of existing businesses that may not comply with the potential future plans for the area and their ordinance changes that may occur that would place them in potential violation. At this point, most of the citizens appear to be behind the idea of getting ideas and plans in place for the future. Simpsonville KY gets a big thumbs up for thinking and planning ahead. Too many times, cities can grow before they really even know it – and then the infrastructure for those homes and businesses are insufficient to meet the needs of the rapid growth that they enjoyed in the first place. Getting things in place now before the demand from Louisville eastward stimulates high density real estate development is an excellent idea.
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            <pubDate>Fri, 02 Sep 2011 20:55:06 -0400</pubDate>
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            <guid>http://www.louisvillehomepros.com/blog/2008-shelby-county-kentucky-fair-horse-show.html</guid>
            <link>http://www.louisvillehomepros.com/blog/2008-shelby-county-kentucky-fair-horse-show.html</link>
            <author>office@louisvillehomepros.com (Jonathan Karlen)</author>
            <title>2008 Shelby County Kentucky Fair &amp; Horse Show</title>
            <description> <![CDATA[ The 146th annual Shelby County Kentucky Fair &amp; Horse Show is coming up June 12-21, 2008. Many events are scheduled this year including a Dairy Show, carnival rides, 4-H horse show, Miss Shelby County Pre-Teen, Floral displays, Little Miss &amp; Mister contest, NKTTA Truck Tug, Miniature horse show, Miss Shelby County Teen, Garden Tractor Pull, 4-H &amp; Future Farmers of America Rabbit Show, Poultry Show, Hog Show, Sheep Show, Goat Show, Baby Show, Shelby County Master Showman Contest, Beef Show, and sale of 4-H Project animals.

Admission to the Shelby county fair is free for children 10 and under. To all others, admission is $6. The main entrance is located on US60 at the horse statue (no tractors or livestock will be allowed through that entrance).


The Horse shows will begin at 7:00 pm each day beginning Wednesday. [For those that are unaware, Shelbyville Kentucky is The Saddle Horse Capital of the World.] For those interested in more information for the horse shows, please contact R.H. Bennet at (502) 664-0870, or Beth Snider (502) 647-0076. Ticket prices range from $20 to $40 for admission of the horse show events. For those persons that may be intersted in real estate, be sure to check out our Shelbyville horse farms for sale and put our team at the #1 Louisville RE/MAX office to work for you.
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            <pubDate>Fri, 02 Sep 2011 20:51:13 -0400</pubDate>
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            <guid>http://www.louisvillehomepros.com/blog/louisville-foreclosure-rate-declines.html</guid>
            <link>http://www.louisvillehomepros.com/blog/louisville-foreclosure-rate-declines.html</link>
            <author>office@louisvillehomepros.com (Jonathan Karlen)</author>
            <title>Louisville Foreclosure Rate Declines</title>
            <description> <![CDATA[ 
The Louisville foreclosure rate declined by 48% this year in 2008 compared to the same month in 2007.  And this is on the heels of a decline of 8% drop that took place during the 1st quarter of this year (again, using the same frame of comparison of during the same period in 2007).


And if you compare those numbers to the national average that has experienced a 65% INCREASE in foreclosures, you can see clearly that the Louisville real estate market is definitely bucking the trend.


To get into specifics:  288 foreclosure filings were made in the metropolitan Louisville homes market for April 2008.  This equates to approximately 1 in every 1874 homes in the area.  Nationally, there was approximately 1 foreclosure filing made for every 519 homes.


And even on a larger perspective of the entire state of Kentucky, Kentucky ranks 43rd for foreclosure rates with 1 in every 3710 homes making a foreclosure filing.  Our nearby neighbor Indiana, was ranked 11th with 1 in every 544 homes filing.


Again, the “bad” real estate markets continue to fair poorly:  Out of the top 10 highest foreclosure rates in the entire country for metropolitan areas, 9 of the 10 were in Florida and California.


The overall real estate market softening that Louisville has experienced has been slight – and its not been primarily from a market correction as much as it is due to a build up with inventory and a softening of the national economy overall.  Basically, a lot of the problems (which aren’t many) that Louisville homes for sale may be having is primarily due to everyone else muddying things up – and not really from what we’ve been doing on our own accord.


The Louisville homes market should continue to strengthen despite a softening economy nationally, provided no major changes occur that would have a negative impact, and housing inventory remains constant or declines.
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            <pubDate>Fri, 02 Sep 2011 20:27:52 -0400</pubDate>
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            <guid>http://www.louisvillehomepros.com/blog/new-louisville-homes-starts-decline.html</guid>
            <link>http://www.louisvillehomepros.com/blog/new-louisville-homes-starts-decline.html</link>
            <author>office@louisvillehomepros.com (Jonathan Karlen)</author>
            <title>New Louisville Homes Starts Decline</title>
            <description> <![CDATA[ The most recent numbers are in from the Home Builders Association of Louisville. New Louisville homes  are down approximately 30 percent from this time last year. The Home Builders Association of Louisville has even gone so far as to recommend to its members to delay additional new Louisville homes that they may be planning until some of the properties that are currently on the market are sold.

There remains a tremendous amount of inventory on the market currently. For the metropolitan Louisville real estate market, inventory is currently sitting at approximately 9-10 months. (What that means is, if no new homes came on the market, the properties currently on the market, and demand for purchasing a Louisville home remained steady, those homes would expect to sell in approximately 9-10 months.)


Some areas within the metropolitan Louisville real estate market have dramatically much higher inventory. One example, would be the Shelbyville KY homes for sale currently on the market. At the current rate of demand, there is almost 2 years worth of inventory. [Which incidentally - is primarily due to inflated pricing for Shelbyville KY real estate. The homes that are priced appropriately are moving, but a tremendous amount of properties in Shelby County are, to be blunt, delusional (or ignorant) in their pricing valuations for today's market conditions and demand for homes in Shelby County KY. These elevated prices have many homes just sitting on the market........waiting.....and waiting.....and waiting.] Additional pressures and concerns for rising fuel prices also are making many persons wanting to live closer to their work and the larger metropolitan areas, rather than further away in the country.


As expected though for the Louisville real estate market – it continues to show its resiliency relative to the national overall perspective, the median price for homes in the metropolitan area were actually up from a year ago.


From our own perspective, it appears the most active markets are the 2 extremes: Those properties under $150,000, and those properties in the $1.2 – $2 million range seem to be the most in demand presently. Many homes in the several hundred thousand range, are seeing little activity with most persons seemingly waiting for what they perceive to be the “bottom” of the real estate market. [Here's a hint everyone: prices were UP, not down - for January &amp; February 2008, despite the excess inventory. That would indicate that you've already missed the bottom end of the Louisville KY real estate market - and you should be pulling the trigger now.]
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            <pubDate>Fri, 02 Sep 2011 20:22:00 -0400</pubDate>
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            <guid>http://www.louisvillehomepros.com/blog/shelbyville-ky-homes-transfers-week-ending-april-19-2008.html</guid>
            <link>http://www.louisvillehomepros.com/blog/shelbyville-ky-homes-transfers-week-ending-april-19-2008.html</link>
            <author>office@louisvillehomepros.com (Jonathan Karlen)</author>
            <title>Shelbyville KY Homes Transfers week ending April 19 2008</title>
            <description> <![CDATA[ Its that time again for the most recent Shelbyville KY real estate  transfers for week ending April 19, 2008. The following are the Shelbyville KY homes that were sold for the week:

Dominion Homes of Kentucky LTD – to Angela &amp; Kevin Veeley – lot 40 Cloverbrook Farms, phase 1 section 1 – $142025


Charterwest Mortgage LLC through Countrywide Home Loans &amp; Christy Reese – to The Bank of New York – lot 5 Ardmore Subdivision – $1


David &amp; Stacey Monteleone – to Prudential Relocation Inc. – tract A, Rockbridge Heights II – $293000


Prudential Relocation Inc – to Jennifer Payne &amp; Trevor Rowe – Tract A Rockbridge Heights II – $293000


Bank of New York acting as successor Trustee, Raymundo &amp; Carmelina Nava – to The Bank of New York Trust Company – lot 36 Midland estates section 2 – $1


Chase Bank USA – Jeffrey Waldridge – to Federal National Mortgage Association – tract 1 Hillview Estates – $1


AKL Properties LLC – to Michael &amp; Gwynne Brunzo – lot 20 Knobview Estates – $189000


Kevin Browning – to Joseph &amp; Johnna Griffith – property in Shelby County – $55500


National City Mortgage Company, Roy Lay Senior – to Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation – lot 6 Grove Subdivision – $1


Nancy &amp; Charles Wells – to Kelly Cannon – lot 44 Orchard Crossing – $109500


Aurora Loan Services &amp; Edna Parr – to Secretary of Veteran’s Affairs – property located at Watson and Main Street – $1


Wells Fargo Bank acting as trustee, and Scott &amp; Suzanne Frech – to Wells Fargo Bank trustee – lot 42 Cardinal Club Estates – $1


Louisville and Nashville Railroad – to Glen &amp; Lise Sageser – property located at James Quincy Estate – $100


Glenn &amp; Lise Sageser – to James &amp; Lisa Sams – property near Christianburg Kentucky – $300


James &amp; Lisa Sams – to Aurora Farms LLC – 2 tracts in Shelby County KY – $165000


Andrew &amp; Lisa Cheak – to Paul Castro – Lot 32 Woodfield Subdivision section II – $172000


Jo Ann Dillen &amp; Mary Goldey – to Jo Ann Dillen &amp; Mary Goldey – lot 42 Estates of Osprey Cove – $1


As you can tell by looking at the Shelbyville homes for sale that sold and transfered this week, a majority of the homes are in the more conservative end of the spending market. There were no luxury homes sold this week as the most expensive property was $293000. Again, this would indicate a softening in the luxury Shelby county real estate market – and prices SHOULD come down. [How long it takes for persons to realize this is anyone's guess.] The tremendous glut of inventory on the market combined with weakening demand for living in Shelby County is basic Economics 101: excess Shelbyville Kentucky homes inventory + weakening demand = should equate to lower prices. Hopefully the Shelbyville Kentucky real estate market will start actually looking at the data – rather than just shooting from the gut, or worse – just listing the properties for whatever the home owner wants. Look at the data.
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            <pubDate>Fri, 02 Sep 2011 20:19:05 -0400</pubDate>
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            <guid>http://www.louisvillehomepros.com/blog/remax-continues-to-post-strong-growth.html</guid>
            <link>http://www.louisvillehomepros.com/blog/remax-continues-to-post-strong-growth.html</link>
            <author>office@louisvillehomepros.com (Jonathan Karlen)</author>
            <title>REMAX continues to post strong growth</title>
            <description> <![CDATA[ The REMAX real estate franchise continues to post strong growth.  According to the most recent March 2008 REMAX newspaper, there were 276 new RE/MAX offices in over 40 countries for the past quarter of November, December 2007 and January 2008.  Quite excellent, but how is RE/MAX fairing in the United States?

53 new RE/MAX offices opened during that same 3 month time frame.  Some of the other countries that are experiencing strong REMAX growth are as follows:


United Kingdom - 19 new REMAX offices


Portugal – 18 new REMAX offices


Australia &amp; Italy – 17 new offices


Canada – 16 new offices


Turkey – 15 new offices


Quite good locally, nationally, and internationally.


Of course, if you are looking for a Louisville Kentucky REMAX office – you’ve certainly reached the right place.  Our office of REMAX Properties East represents what we consider to be the best that the real estate industry has to offer.  From dedicated support staff, to expert professional technical assistance – there is manpower to support the full time real estate professional with whatever they may need to help succeed and grow their business – and we are proud to be a member of the leading REMAX Louisville office.
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            <pubDate>Fri, 02 Sep 2011 20:14:46 -0400</pubDate>
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