First Friday…huh?

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Any idea what First Friday is?  What about IDADA?

Well, IDADA is the Indianapolis Downtown Artists and Dealers Association and the First Friday of each month, they sponsor The IDADA First Friday Art Tour.  This is IDADA’s longest-running program.  It is a free, self-guided tour that happens on the first Friday of every month and that is open to the public.  The tour includes artist studios and art galleries that are members of IDADA and located in the downtown area.  The IDADA First Friday Art Tour venues open their doors from about 6:00-9:00pm (or even later in some locations) to allow people to see their artwork.  There is no distinct beginning or ending point to the tour—people are encouraged to hop from studios to galleries as they please!  Each month, IDADA publishes a brochure that is available at participating locations and that is also available on the IDADA website.  The brochure includes a map of all of the IDADA First Friday venues as well as an alphabetical listing that explains what is going on at each venue.

I was fortunate to have been invited to attend a special showing for my friend and fantastic artist Patty Coulter  last Friday.  Patty had entered a contest last Fall to design a special edition wine label for Mallow Run Winery...and she won and Mallow Run Winery sponsored a showing of her work during First Friday!  Her beautiful design is on the Impression Pinot Grigio – LIMITED EDITION LABEL

An instant palate-pleaser with rich flavors of ripe peach and pear and a lingering finish of refreshing grapefruit. Perfect with grilled fish, or try it with spicy chicken enchiladas. Label artwork by local artist Patty Coulter, in a proud partnership with the Greater Greenwood Arts Council; proceeds from the sale of this great wine will be donated to promote artists and art awareness in the community.

Patty is a woman of many talents, she also owns and operates Spectrum Flooring Services in Greenwood.  Spectrum Flooring Services was founded in 2005 on the premise that quality flooring, backed by full manufacturer’s warranty and expert worry-free installations, could be sold at a minimum markup, in sufficient volume to be profitable.  They consistently live up to that that philosophy and their business and experience is strong.  In addition to being a fantastic artist and business woman, Patty is an expert Interior Designer and Stager.  If you need flooring, try Patty and Spectrum, you will be happy.

Are you ready for a new home for that flooring?  Need new carpet before we put your home on the market?  Let’s talk!

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Vicki Reed

We found the home of your dreams…what’s next?

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We’ve found your new home, negotiated the deal, now the real work begins!

As your Realtor, I will deliver the Earnest Money check to the Seller’s Agent – remember, this check will be cashed!  The funds you put down varies with the price of the home – good rule of thumb is 1% of the purchase price…$175,000 home = $1,750.00 Earnest Money.  Earnest Money is a deposit made to a seller showing the buyer’s good faith in a transaction.

I will notify your lender and provide them a copy of your Purchase Agreement. You will work with them to complete your loan process.  It is important that you respond to all of their requests as quickly as possible!  We cannot close on the purchase of your new home until they say we can!

It is important that you schedule a Home Inspection as soon as possible! The clock starts ticking immediately on our time to schedule, complete and request any inspection repairs, 12 – 15 days is standard for most Purchase Agreements.  I recommend Iron Gate Inspection Services, it is not necessary for you to be present for the entire inspection, but you should be there for the last hour so that the inspector can review the report and home with you, and as your Agent, I will stop by the Inspection as well just to make sure everything is going well.  We will work together to review the Inspection Report and formulate an Inspection Response. This is the second round of negotiations.  The key to Inspection Response negotiations is that we share the entire report with the Seller’s Agent and be reasonable in our repair requests.

Closing…finally! Again, until your lender provides “clear to close”, we are at their mercy!  We generally have an idea about when it will be, I will keep and eye process to make certain we are always in compliance with the Purchase Agreement.  I will notify you of when and where the closing will be scheduled and as we near the date…how much money you may need to bring to closing.

The most frequent questions I get about Closing are:

How long will it take to sign all the paperwork?
The closing itself generally takes from 30 to 60 minutes – sometimes longer depending on wire transfers and paperwork.

What do I need to bring to closing?
Buyers and Sellers both need a form of photo ID and any money you owe should be in the form of a cashier’s check – if over $10,000, funds are required to be wired.

As your Agent, it is my job to protect you, fight for you and navigate the process of purchasing a new home…and I am great at my job.  Contact me today and let’s get you a new home!

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Vicki Reed

Likes & Dislikes

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What I LIKE

  • Hearing “have a nice day” from the shoe shine guy.
  • Having someone hold a door open for me – chivalry still exists!
  • Please and Thank You, Excuse Me, Go ahead, you only have a few items.
  • Smelling the baking aroma from the ‘flavor factory’ as I drive past I465 and Park 100.
  • Catching up with old friends.
  • Hugs, kisses & phone calls from grandkids.
  • Unexpected mail (not a bill or ad).
  • A funny, clean joke.
  • Not-for-profit employees – they do it for the benefit of helping others.
  • A ‘loaner’ in Euchre.
  • The library.
  • Rest stops along interstate highways.
  • Baby pictures – any baby – they’re all cute.
  • Post-it notes.

What I DON’T Like

  • Drivers that tailgate – I’m going the speed limit – Back OFF!
  • Co-workers that take the last drop of coffee from the pot and don’t make another one; my usual response is a quote from ‘ The Old Man’ from A Christmas Story: “sons ‘o bitches!”.
  • Spit on the sidewalk – at least do it in the gutter.
  • Smelling the  ‘s**t factory’ smells when the wind blows up from the south.
  • Loud cell phone talkers – we don’t need to know your business.
  • TV news ‘teasers’ – just give us the news, NOW!
  • Politicians – most of them are crooks one way or another.
  • Reality shows; drama in real life is enough for me.
  • One-ply toilet paper.
  • Litter/trash along the road/sidewalk.
  • The word ‘like’ 20 times in one sentence.
  • Dirty snow.

Something to think about BEFORE you put your home on the market…

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Whether you are thinking of up-sizing or down-sizing, have you thought about how you are going to pay for your next home?  For most of us, financing is necessary, but will you qualify for that next home?  BEFORE you decide to list your home, please, please get pre-qualified for your next one!

Lesson Learned…

Home was listed for sale at the beginning of September, Buyer made an offer on December 2, a little back and forth and they were under contract on December 5 with a close date of February 1.  As part of the Buyer due diligence, they had a home inspection by Iron Gate Inspection Services, Buyer’s Agent provided Inspection Response to the Seller‘s Agent and Seller quickly agreed to fix everything on inspection response.

Fast forward to January 18, 2 weeks before closing, Buyer receives a letter from an Attorney retained by Seller, that Seller is unable to secure a mortgage and Seller no longer wishes to sell their home and asked that Buyer give them “good title” and walk away.

Buyer retained an Attorney and by January 22, Seller was told they must close on the sale of their home on February 1 as agreed to in the contract.

What would you have done?  In this case, the Buyer was my client and we won and she will be moving into her new home this weekend, BUT, I also represent Sellers and this has changed MY listing presentation and I will be asking my Sellers to pre-qualify PRIOR to their home going on the market.  My goal is to Turn your Dreams into an Address…but I can’t do that without your due diligence, know your status before making a decision to sell, you don’t want to go from owning to renting.  The Shanley Team at Inlanta Mortgage is ready and willing to work through this with you and I’ve made it easy for you with a link on my home page (as well as in the right hand column of this blog post) directly to their application.  Also check out my post “Power of the Pre-Qual“…it’s not just for Buyer’s anymore!

Not sure of the current value of your home?  Visit my website and request a Current Market Analysis of your home’s value and let’s talk!

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Vicki Reed

Chivalry isn’t dead…but sometimes it’s snoozing…

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Remember when men would open and hold doors for women?  Heck, just when anyone would?  I had a great experience this morning that shows me that my Wish # 3 is working!  Just to refresh, Wish # 3 was that everyone remember to be human, not just during the holiday season, but all year long.

Our office building has an exterior door, a vestibule and open stairs coming from the second floor and then another door to enter the first floor of the building and elevators.  As is usual, I’m coming in from the parking lot with a rolling computer bag, another bag on top of that for my BOLD (Business Objective Life by Design) class, and my purse and coffee (yes, I know, too much stuff!  At least with the rolling bag I no longer feel like a pack mule!) and a very nice man had just come down the stairs to leave the building, held the door for me THEN came around me and held the door into the lobby for me as well before he left the building!  He didn’t have to do that, went out of his way to assist me in entering the building…THANK YOU!  This small kindness helped get my day off to a great start.

What have you done for someone else today?  Me?  Well, today I fought for my client and won!  It really wasn’t  huge, we had the final walk-through today before closing on Friday and discovered that the homeowner had removed the chandelier that was in the property when we made the purchase and replaced it with a “builder’s brass” one…they are re-installing the light they removed and my client is happy.  Want a Realtor who will fight for you?  Call, email or text me!

Now…go out and do something nice for someone!

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Vicki Reed

Do you know about Meetup.com?

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As a Realtor, I’m always looking for networking opportunities and struggle because a lot of them cost significant dollars to join and only allow one of each profession among their ranks.  Several years ago…before my move to the Real Estate biz…I found Meetup.com because I was bored with my life and looking for things to do that would shake things up a bit!

Meetup.com has groups for anything you can imagine and if you can’t find something that interests you, you are encouraged start a Meetup of your own.  Founded in NYC following 9/11 (click here to read a message from the Founder), Meetup was created to use the internet to get off the internet and actually meet and interact with others who have similar interests but that you might never have met.  There are groups for Moms, Singles over 40, Live Theater Lovers, Movie Buffs, Bikers, Hikers, Christian Women in Business, and even groups who like Beer!  I encourage you to see what is there that might interest you!

I have used it for several things over different times in my life over the last few years, now I use it to find networking opportunities and master mind groups for small business.  At Keller Williams Indy Metro NE, I created a group of Independent Agents, MAX T Agents (Maximizing Independent Agents Extreme Talents), we support each other, back each other up, share business ideas and best practices and more and more lately we’ve been talking about networking opportunities and where to find them.  I always suggest Meetup.com and am surprised how few people know about it!  Business networking is defined as “a socioeconomic activity by which groups of like-minded business people recognize, create, or act upon business opportunities.”  These are generally small groups who meet for a specific purpose, some weekly, some monthly, but always worthwhile.

So for all of you out there complaining that you do don’t have anyone to do anything with…check out the groups on Meetup.com…WordPress (the host of this blog) even has one in Indy!  I’m thinking of starting one for First Time Home Buyers…what do you think?

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Vicki Reed

Remember “It was a dark and stormy night…” from Peanuts?

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Well, it is a gray and snowy day in the Indy area…” and dozens of Indy drivers are driving around without their headlights on!  Makes you folks in the gray and white cars especially difficult to see and really difficult to avoid hitting or pulling out in front of!  I have made my trek from Beech Grove to Greenwood and back to Southport for a quick coffee break before meeting clients, fairly interesting.  Please, please, please use your headlights, especially on days like today, if we can see each other maybe we won’t hit each other!

Now…let’s talk about snowy/icy road tailgating!  Really folks?  Do you think riding my bumper is going to make me drive any faster on roads that are snow covered?  I can tell you right now…just makes me want to slow down even more!  I’m sorry you are late for whatever you are racing too, but my life is too valuable to me to drive unsafely on days like today.

Okay, so I’m off my soapbox, I’m not expecting anyone to change their habits because of my rant, but if it makes 1 person turn on their headlights and possibly avoid an accident then I’m happy!

One of the advantages of  being a Realtor is that I control my schedule, wish I had scheduled today working in my home office, not out in this beautiful (sarcasm doesn’t really translate well in a blog post does it?) Indiana weather!  My next stop is visiting potential investment properties with my clients, this means no one has shoveled the walks and in a lot of cases, there isn’t any heat on in the home…that’s why I needed this coffee  break, just to prepare myself.  Hope you all have a great and safe day!

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Vicki Reed

Downtown Winter Dining on a Budget!

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It’s that time again…Devour Downtown!  Held semi-annually, Winterfest is January 21 – February 3, this event encourages us to savor fare from more than 50 downtown restaurants and get special deals from entertainment venues and attractions including the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, Indiana Ice and many more! For more information and a list of participating restaurants and their special menus, visit http://devourdowntown.org.

How about topping the evening off with a carriage ride?  Yellow Rose Carriages are at your disposal to take you on a horse drawn carriage tour of Indianapolis.

Rather stay indoors?  Retreat to one of the many live music venues in downtown…Blues?  Slippery Noodle Inn is Indiana‘s oldest bar, and home of the Blues in Indiana features live local, regional and national Blues seven nights a week.  Prefer Jazz?  Check out the Chatterbox Jazz Club in the heart of the Mass Ave Arts District hosts live, local jazz seven nights a week!  Sing-a-long?  Try Howl at the Moon for a night of dueling pianos and high energy singing.  The list goes on and on…

Want to live downtown in the midst of all this energy?  Let’s talk!  Downtown has a variety of properties, starting as low as $60,000 all the way to $2,790,000…what’s your budget?  Check out my website to search for available properties!

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Vicki Reed

Instead of “State of the Union”, how about the state of Indiana Real Estate?

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The Metropolitan Indianapolis Board of Realtors (MIBOR) announced yesterday that Indianapolis home sales in 2012 are up 18.5% over 2011!  Fellow agents in my Keller Williams Realty office are complaining that homes are moving so fast that their appointments are being cancelled before they can see the properties because the home sellers have accepted an offer!  Click here for the full Indianapolis Star article and here for the MIBOR press release…NOW IS THE TIME!!!!

Are you interested in Buying a new home?  Inventory is lower, prices are heading higher, and interest rates are still really low…NOW IS THE TIME to get pre-qualified (click here to start the process with a lender I trust) and let’s start shopping!

Are you interested in Selling then Buying a new home?  Get the best of both markets by selling and up-sizing or down sizing NOW!  Not sure what today’s market value is for your home?  Contact me for a FREE Comparative Market Analysis and let’s discuss your options…just because we meet doesn’t mean you have to sell, it is part of weighing your options to make sure we do exactly what you need done.  Have plenty of equity in your current home?  I work with Don Allen at US Savings Bank who offers “bridge” loans to help you get into your next home.

I am here to help you reach whatever your home dreams are…buying, selling or both.  Your priorities are mine, I work very hard to get the absolute best deal for you and to Turn your Dream into an Address…visit my website VLR Real Estate for more information on who I am and what I can do for you.

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Vicki Reed

Home Inventory??? Why?

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The Richmond Hills tragedy (click here if you want to know more about this senseless act) and a recent home invasion robbery in my own neighborhood reminds me why it is important to know exactly what you own.  I know, we’ve always been told…take pictures, keep your receipts, yada, yada, yada…do you have all of those things?  What about the new IPad you just got for Christmas?  The engagement ring when he proposed at New Year‘s?  The family silver you inherited from your Grandmother when she passed last year?

I have a solution for you!  Please let me introduce you to The Inventory Lady – Jo Soard.  Jo is a bonded, insured and certified third party Inventory Professional who will document your home and business assets, provide you written and digital documentation as well as secure a copy off site for future needs and will update your inventory annually at minimal cost.  A member of American Home Inventory Professionals (not in the Indianapolis area?  Click here to find someone in you area!), Jo is professional, efficient and one of the nicest people I know!  Use The Inventory Lady to help you know just what you own!

Now…how about a new home for all of those things to live?

Home Sellers, now is the time to put your home on the market!  Prices are edging higher, inventory is down and days on market decreasing, check out my website to see what’s happening on your side of town, sign up and let’s talk about the value of your home!

Ready to buy your first home?  Let’s pre-qualify you for your mortgage and talk about what your needs are in a new home.  Why should you pre-qualify?  Check out this earlier blog post, then click this link to complete a preliminary application to see exactly where you stand then let’s go shopping!  Rates are still historically low and prices are edging up….let’s do this!

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Vicki Reed