It seems like in real estate, you're either keeping up with the current market and trends or falling behind. Between uncontrollable circumstances, development needs, and financing, you're typically just hoping to stay out front enough to avoid chasing the wrong customers and products. What the heck is Curt talking about, you may be asking? I'll break it down. In my 18+ years of real estate brokerage, very few years have looked the same in terms of sales and inquiries—and when you work primarily in a fast-growing, highly targeted place like Westfield, Indiana, this couldn't be more true.
The Current Market. Westfield, Indiana, continues to evolve in terms of who the market is for development and projects, just as new sites and buildings come online. For instance, one year the market is selling to speculators looking to buy, hold, and sell at the right time. They were able to get in early enough to feel like they were getting a deal—maybe even offsetting a 1031 exchange—and patiently wait for the development or end user to come along and pay up. This is nothing new, and if you look at every happening community, this is going on today. It can be a long, slow game, but if you saw the returns some of these early buyers are getting, you would rethink that 401(k) and crypto wallet. Today, the current market has matured to end users and seasoned developers with very large projects. So the dentist, the mixed-use developer, and the QSR are all finding new spaces to construct and do business. They see it as an affluent market with enough residents, businesses, and visitors to support their endeavor.
Trends. We all read the news stories about new products being developed, like build-to-rent, family entertainment, and of course the beloved pickleball (which I can say I've only played once). The trends in recent years for development and users are no doubt these three things in Westfield, Indiana. Think about what new neighborhoods are announced that no longer talk about basketball and playsets but instead repeat over and over again: pickleball courts. Yes, every neighborhood finds the hearts of the community with a pickleball court. There's also family entertainment, and with a huge bedroom community and Grand Park, the need and demand for things to do as a family is growing. Birdies is a great example of this, as they provide a place where an entire family can hang out or a baseball team can kill an afternoon. This type of development will continue to be attracted to Westfield, and they will continue to do well. Lastly, as housing becomes more challenging and builders have used up all their tricks to make interest rates and construction costs a non-issue, buying a home is still not what it used to be. This leads to trends to offset that cost, like build-to-rent, which is a single-family home built to be a rental. Same with apartments. The trend today is more apartments, and as much as we smugly say "no more apartments," it's exactly what young people and so many others want to move into in a desired community. Those trends will change, but until then, we're set to lead that demand.
Chasing the Wrong Customers. When you sell real estate—especially commercial land in Westfield, Indiana—your buyers don't change as much as your listings do if you want them to move. As an example, today I have a couple of properties that would make great neighborhoods, but the homebuilders are passing, and my sites that are better suited for a drive-through or day care are getting the most traffic. Mixed-use sites and townhome land are still hot, as they can spread the cost of development into vertical development and still keep the ability to offer a nice downtown product. The demand for that product is still there, so it's a good idea for me to be sharing those options. Retail oddly seems to just keep going, even at high rental rates, but if you get them in a good spot on a busy, accessible road, they are paying up. So to not be showing retail sites to developers would be missing the mark. You know what I'm not showing right now? You guessed it: office and industrial ground. The industrial is too hard to find and develop, and the office market is still just sitting idle. Both will be something I may chase in the near future, but today that's not the right customer.So when people ask me what the current market is and what's moving, I typically have a slightly different answer each time. Not because I'm all over the place in my business, but because I'm following the trends and development demand of Westfield, Indiana.
If you ever have any questions, please feel free to reach out at 317-698-2700 or email below.
Curt has been in the Indianapolis real estate business for over 18 years and spent his first years learning all aspects of commercial management and brokerage. He has had great success in managing existing commercial projects and new retail and office developments. Curt specializes in building owner representation and purchases in the Westfield, Indiana, market, as well as throughout the northern Hamilton County area. Curt is passionate about growing the local Westfield community and in his free time volunteers with Student Impact while raising two children with his wife, Jennifer.