Tag Archives: Realtor

How about a new home for Christmas?

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There are benefits to buying a home at the end of the year, plus what a great Christmas gift to yourself!

Summer may be our busy season, but winter offers great opportunities for buying a house, especially for renters looking to become homeowners, growing families trading up to larger houses and baby boomers seeking homes to fit their evolving lifestyles.  The housing choices during December are less than in the spring, but market-wise, but if that fits your timeline, you could luck out.  The benefits to buying a house at the end of the year are fairly extensive:
1. Tax savings – If you close by December 31, you can deduct mortgage interest, property taxes, points on your loan and interest costs. These deductions can be significant, especially in the early years of your loan when you’re paying off a lot of interest.
2. Motivated sellers – Many sellers want to enjoy tax savings on the next home they purchase. They may accept lower bids in order to meet Uncle Sam’s deadlines. However, if you’re in a strong seller’s market, you’ll want to be conservative and heed advice from a real estate professional, like me!
3. Builder incentives – there are a number of Indianapolis builders who have “inventory” or “spec” homes that are available now and empty!  As the builders move to close out their year, they may offer upgrades or little extras to sell houses before the calendar turns.
4. Available movers – Many moving companies are booked six weeks or more in advance during the busy summer months, in the winter, it’s normally easier to find a moving company or rental equipment on shorter notice.
5. Paying toward something you own – If you’re renting, your monthly check goes toward something that will last you a month: You’ll never see any return on that money. When you buy a house, your monthly mortgage payment goes toward an investment—and ultimately a roof that’s yours.
6. Consistent payments – Landlords will likely increase your rent every year, once you buy a home, you can rely on consistent payments if you have a fixed-rate loan, the only fluctuation you might see is if your homeowners insurance or property taxes go up or down!
7. Freedom to renovate – Update your kitchen, paint your home’s exterior neon orange, change your fixtures or replace your flooring; whatever inspires you, no one can tell you, “No!”
8. Gaining equity – In the beginning, most of your payment goes toward interest. But gradually more will go toward paying off your principal, meaning you build up equity—or savings—in your home. Another factor in equity is appreciation: As home values rise, so does your rate of equity!
So who do you know that I can help Turn their dreams into an address…?
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Do you have an addiction to your smartphone?

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I know I do!  As a REALTOR®, I’m constantly checking emails and texts and thanks to my bluetooth, I can even do it while I’m on the phone!  This article is courtesy of the MSN Lifestyle page, but I found it to be so true!

You constantly look at it. When you aren’t around it, you feel anxious, and when you have it, it’s all you can think about. Yes, we’re talking about your smartphone. Our obsession with mobile gadgets has become epic – 1 in every 5 people in the world own a smartphone these days. And now there are a handful of new syndromes that come with that addiction.

1. Text claw and mobile phone elbow

“Text Claw” is a non-medical term used to describe all of the finger cramping and sore muscles that come from continuous scrolling, texting, and gaming on smartphones. An even more common side effect: Using your phone too much can cause inflammation in your tendons and enhance existing conditions, like tendinitis and carpal tunnel. Similarly, “Mobile phone elbow” describes tingling or numbness in ring and pinky fingers after bending your elbow for long periods of time. 

If your non-stop smartphoning has you feeling sore and weak, do some stretches. Put down the phone, then try bending your wrists backward, putting your hands together like a prayer and pushing down. Then, doing some wrist flexes. If you experience pain for longer than a week, try applying heat. Or better still, see a doctor.

2. iPosture and text neck

Slouching over your phone for hours at a time is ruining your neck and hurting your back muscles. “iPosture” or “text neck” are just two of a few phrases doctors throw around to describe the excessive stress on neck muscles. According to a study of young adults in the U.K., 84 percent of those tracked experienced back pain during the last year, mainly due to being hunched over smartphones, tablets, and computers.

Fixing your posture can relieve lower back pain, and limiting your phone use can alleviate neck strain. While it seems awkward, try to hold your phone directly out and in front of your face, not on your lap where you might need to look down for minutes at a time.

3. Computer vision syndrome

Staring at the tiny font in your texts and scrolling through dozens of tweets can lead to eyestrain, blurred vision, dizziness, and dry eyes. And blurred vision plus sore neck muscles can also cause headaches.

If you’re experiencing eye discomfort, make your phone’s font size bigger. Mark Rosenfield, O.D., Ph.D., told Men’s Health that phone users should try to hold their phones at least 16 inches away from their faces. Every few minutes look up from your screen at something far away for short breaks, and don’t forget to blink.

4. Nomophobia

Short for “no-mobile-phone phobia,” this is exactly what it sounds like: the fear of being without your cell. According to a study of 1,000 people in the U.K., 66 percent of the population fears losing or being without their phones at any given time. Some of the symptoms of nomophobia include anxiety or negative physical symptoms if you have lost or cannot use your cell phone, obsessively checking to make sure you have your phone with you, and constantly worrying about losing it somewhere. Interestingly, the study found that women suffer from this more than men.

If this sounds like you, experts suggest employing common anxiety-relieving relaxation techniques like yoga and deep breathing.

5. Phantom pocket vibration syndrome

No, you didn’t just get a text message! A professor at Indiana University found that 89 percent of the undergraduates in her study experienced phantom vibrations when their phones weren’t actually vibrating. The study also found that students who were dependent on text messages and social media updates were more anxious when their phones weren’t really vibrating.

A good way to break the addiction? Try shutting your vibration function off and commit to only checking your phone during designated hours. If you have to keep your phone with you, place it in your bag instead. And try to resist checking your bag every five minutes. Otherwise, you might become the first case of phantom bag vibration syndrome.

So…do you exhibit any of these symptoms?????

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Vicki Reed

 

Follow-up on the home tour…

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I positioned myself in the kitchen for the tour and I loved it when I heard people walk into my home and said “wow”!  It’s not fancy, but it is full of character, from the wood floors to the leaded glass french doors between my living room and dining room to the bedroom turned into a dressing room, it feels good when someone recognizes the love you put into your home.

Yes, some think it’s strange that I opened my home to strangers for a tour, but it is for a worthy cause as a fundraiser for the continued maintenance and care of The Benton House (click here to read more).

I cannot take any credit for the amazing renovations the gentlemen who owned the property before me did, it’s stunning, I didn’t even have to paint, just moved my things in, arranged them and hung pictures, but I think that my touches is what makes it feel like a home.  The decor is somewhat eclectic, a Lazy Boy camelback sofa, a roll-top desk that was my grandmothers, a wood and iron table in the dining room, antique dresser and gentlemen’s chest combined with a bit of animal print really make the dressing room interesting!  My bedroom is, by far, my favorite room in the house…dark chocolate walls, red curtains and bedding with cream accents and my big, cream comfy chair that all of my nieces (and my mom) hoped wouldn’t fit!

The attic is my office…taupe walls and generations of my family history detailed in black and white photos taking up nearly an entire wall, all watching me as I sit here working and hoping to make them proud.

So now I know what strangers think of my home…what would they say about yours?

Me in the kitchen

Vicki Reed

In the market for a new home…got $25 mil to spare?

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From the Indy Star last week…amazing, the property taxes annually are more than most people’s first home price!

Asherwood, the lavish Carmel estate where Mel and Bren Simon and their family lived for many years, is for sale for $25 million.

The seven-bedroom, 51,000-square-foot house sits on 106 acres that includes two swimming pools, tennis courts and a private 18-hole golf course, according to www.mibor.com.

Like to be outside? The lot also includes a clubhouse, greenhouse, pool house, and guest house among other maintenance buildings.

Prefer the indoors? There’s one indoor pool, an expansive workout room, home theater and caterer-ready professional kitchen in the home where presidents have been wined and dined.

The property tax on the estate is $54,654 semi-annually, according to the website of the listing Realtor Natasha Radovich with Carpenter.

The home also includes six fireplaces, eight full bathrooms and 16 half-baths.

It is the most expensive residential property on the market here in recent years, said Claire Belby, a spokeswoman for the Metropolitan Indianapolis Board of Realtors, or MIBOR.

INDYSTAR

Since 2000, 72 properties have been listed for $10 million or more. But only four of those have been residential; the majority were for commercial land or agricultural properties.

Simon and his first wife, Bess, bought the Asherwood home and property in 1973. Automotive engineer Louis H. Schwitzer built the original estate.

Over time, Simon and his second wife, Bren, expanded the home, adding on a 10,000-square-foot addition that included a 4,000-square-foot master bedroom wing.

But in 1998 they had to rebuild after a fire, thought to have started when a candle lit fabric-covered walls in one of the bedrooms, left much of the house uninhabitable.

Mel Simon, co-owner of the Pacers and co-founder of Simon Property Group, died in 2009.

INDYSTAR

The sale of Asherwood comes after the end of three years’ of litigation over his $1 billion estate, which ultimately was settled out-of-court.

Deborah Simon had alleged her stepmother coerced her father into changing his will so that Bren Simon received a much larger portion of the estate.

Mel and Bren Simon had multiple homes. She sold a New York condo soon after his death. In 2010, she listed their 20,000-square-foot mansion in Los Angeles’s Bel-Air neighborhood for $50 million.

The price was steep even for Bel-Air. She lowered the listing to $29 million in 2012 and delisted the property in 2013.

Estate properties can be a hard sell. Lucas Oil co-founder Forrest Lucas bought Stephen Hilbert’s estate at auction for $3 million in 2010 after it languished for five 5 years on the market.

Built for $35 million, the 25,000-square-foot house with its 15,000-square-foot sports pavilion, swimming pools and infinity waterfall, pool house and opulent grounds, originally was listed for $20 million. The property listing dropped to under $10 million over time, but finally went to auction when no buyers stepped forward.

Don’t feel like you can spend $25 mil?  Let’s talk about your budget and see what we can find that’s a little more reasonable!

Vicki Reed

 

I’m back…

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Yes, I’ve been gone…so many things to update you on!

First and most importantly, I’ve moved!  Last year I wrote a few posts about helping my friend Kate purchase a co-op in Irvington and another couple about the Irvington area…well, now I’m a resident and Kate’s neighbor!

I now live in a townhome…basement, main floor has a living room, dining room and kitchen, second floor has 2 bedrooms…well, actually 1 bedroom and a dressing room (built in 1917 = no closet space, turned 2nd bedroom into a dressing room!) and a bath and lastly, the attic space has been finished and makes a perfect office!  I have a 1 car detattached garage and have finally stopped shutting the door while still sitting in the car, getting used to a garage NOT attached to the house has been one of my biggest challenges!

I love my new neighborhood!  Kate and I walked to dinner at Legend and stopped for ice cream at the new ice cream shop on Washington Street.  The very walkable lifestyle of Irvington is fantastic!  September is the Historic Home Tour…and I am participating – more on that another day.

In addition to moving, unpacking, etc., my business has been going very well, several closings over the months of June and July and many happy families.

Most importantly, an update on my beautiful nieces:  Allyson and Jordan graduated from high school, Michelle is engaged to Zack and I went on a short trip with Ashley, Riley and my Parents…it’s been a crazy couple of months and I have enjoyed every bit of it!  Ashley and Riley will be the first of them to see the new place (Sunday) can’t wait to hear what they have to say about it!

Hope everyone is enjoying their summer and look forward to Living in Indy being back on track!

For Home Tour

Vicki Reed

Spring Selling Season Arrives Early!

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Winter finally seems to have broken and the temps seem to be on the upswing!  Homes in the hot areas are already moving quickly in the Indianapolis and surrounding areas.  If you’re thinking this spring is a good time to starting looking for a house, you aren’t alone. That’s the problem. Your dream house, which might have been easy enough for you to grab a few years ago, is being eyed by other potential buyers.

IT IS A SELLER’S MARKET!  Whether you are a first time buyer or a move-up/down buyer, you must have everything in order prior to viewing homes!  Gone are the days of getting your financing in order after you found the home of your dreams, in order to make the home buying process run as smoothly as possible, follow these simple tips and LISTEN TO YOUR REALTOR!:

1. Get your financing lined up.  You may not worry about being turned down by the mortgage lender, but the seller doesn’t know that. The seller may also be in a hurry to hand you the keys. YOU HAVE TO BE PRE-APPROVED FOR YOUR MORTGAGE!  There are 2 numbers when you are dealing with your financing – first is the number your lender approves you for and second is the number you are comfortable spending!  The lender may say you can spend $300,000, but what does that mean to your monthly budget?  Working with a lender will help you decide what the right number is – contact Pat Hammer at Waterstone Mortgage and get started today!

2. Try to find out why the seller is selling. Buying and selling homes are emotional decisions, an emotional seller versus a nonemotional seller will react to different things.  If you have sellers who raised their kids in the house and lived there for most of their lives, they may appreciate a buyer who will do the same. Sending a personal letter with your offer may move you to the front of the pack!

3. Be flexible.  If you’re competing against other buyers, be as accommodating as possible.  Be flexible on closing dates and occupancy, the goal is for you to get the home of your dreams, and see number 1…a mortgage contingency allows buyers to back out of the deal if they can’t get financing for the house. Sellers don’t like mortgage contingencies – they don’t want to wave off potential buyers only to learn that their buyer can’t actually purchase the house.

 4. Sweeten the deal.  In a hot market, it is not uncommon to offer over list price, how much more is up to you, but even another $500 might get the seller’s attention.  You could also consider waiving the appraisal. That means if the bank determines the house isn’t worth the purchase price you and the seller agreed to, and it won’t lend you all of the money to cover it, you’ll have to make up the difference – provided you have the funds, of course.

5. Be fast. This is a big decision and you likely don’t want to rush, but if you know you can afford the house and you love it and the neighborhood, then, yes, you probably should rush.  In an age of instantaneous communication, minutes count and can make the difference between an accepted or rejected offer.  Make certain your agent uses the most current technology such as electronic signatures, in order to ensure immediate responses.

6. Be bold. If you really want the house, don’t get too cute and make a lowball offer, thinking there will be a lot of negotiation. You should suggest something close to the price the homeowner is expecting, or risk your offer being ignored. And this isn’t the time to be petty – or cheap, don’t haggle over $500 on a $200,000 deal.

7. Provide good customer service. Wait, isn’t that the seller’s job? You would hope so, but in a competitive market, it comes down to thinking of the homeowner as your customer. You’ll get his business (well, the house) if you’re personable, easy to work with and able to offer a good deal. Of course, you want to make sure you don’t offer the seller such an amazing deal that you hate yourself the day after closing. You want the welcome mat – what you don’t want is to be a doormat.

I can help you meet your goals and provide excellent guidance through what is one of the most important purchases of your life…call, text or email me!

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Vicki Reed

Homes for Heroes®

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Do you know about Homes for Heroes®?  Their mission is to provide extraordinary savings to local heroes who provide extraordinary services to our community every day.

Homes for Heroes® is a company that affiliates with Realtors® (like me!), lenders and other real estate-related service providers who offer substantial rebates and discounts to the Heroes who serve our nation and its communities every day. Our Heroes include military personnel, firefighters, law enforcement officers and others who make our communities a better place to live.

This program was created after the tragic events of 9/11 as a “Thank you” to the men and women who have given so much. Heroes across the country register on the website every day looking for the savings. They are matched with Homes for Heroes® Affiliates in their area. Homes for Heroes® is now expanding its discounts beyond the home buying and selling process with the Friends of Heroes® program.

Thanks to Don Shanley and The Shanley Team at Inlanta Mortgage, this program is available in the Indianapolis area and I am so proud to one of the Realtor® Affiliates available to help our Heros achieve their dreams!

So how does the program work?  The key to the program is that there is NO COST TO THE HERO!  Here’s an example of how the program is working with Inlanta Mortgage:

Buy a $125,000 Home:
Average Realtor Commission (3.5%)*  = $4,375.00
Realtor (again…that would be me!) credits 25% BACK TO HERO AT CLOSING = $1,094.00
CREDITED TO YOU FROM INLANTA MORTGAGE = $1,350.00
TOTAL CREDITS AT CLOSING = $2,444.00
*Based on a 3.5% Commission. Credit is off actual commission paid to the Buying or Selling Agent

It’s a lot of information to take in, stop by the Indiana State Fair and meet me and The Shanley Team to talk about what we are doing for our local Hero’s as well as what we can do for YOU!

homes for heros logo

Vicki Reed

Why is your home not selling?

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Why do some homes linger on the market for months (or years) while others are snapped up in a matter of days?  Much has to do with price, but a lot of factors can conspire to keep your home sitting…

Let’s talk about price…this is usually the largest factor in any home that doesn’t sell.  Did you meet with several Realtors?  Let me guess, you chose the one who said they would price it the highest and now here you sit.  As your agent, it is my job to price your home to sell, not just put a sign in your yard and garner new buyer clients from sign calls, yes, that’s what happens when your home doesn’t sell, we just get new buyer clients from you while your home languishes!  I watch the market, watch the trends and provide you with the best possible price to get you to your next home, be it in the same city or across the country.  A great rule of thumb is 10 showings no offers or 2 weeks no offers means your home is overpriced.

Now about that decor…everybody’s taste is different, so less is more when it comes to decor at sale time.  Declutter, move away from the 80’s (or even 70’s?) and do everything you can to make the home seem clean and fresh…change out those “builder brass” light fixtures for brushed nickel or bronze, you’ll increase your bottom line!  Paint the walls a light neutral shade and the trim white, pack away the knick knacks and make the home as clutter free as possible: too much clutter = not enough storage in the buyer’s minds!

Make certain you have finished all those little home repair projects, if a home looks as if it’s going to cost half as much to repair or renovate as it does to purchase, it’s going to take a long time to sell.  Don’t forget to deal with the cooking, pet or mold odors!  You may have to consider replacing carpet or painting walls to get rid of the odor, your home should smell clean and fresh, but don’t overdo it!  If potential buyers notice a heavy scent of air freshener, they will wonder what you are trying to cover up!

I have turned down listings because the homeowner was not willing to listen to me regarding price – they listed with another agent at a higher price and sat on the market for 6 months until their listing expired with that agent…then called me, listed at my suggested price and sold in 30 days.  Will you listen to me?  Call me today and let’s talk about it!

For Sale Personal 2

Vicki Reed

Who are your Role Models?

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March is Women’s History Month and today is International Women’s Day, when we take time to appreciate women’s contributions to society. I strive to lead by and set an example for my five beautiful nieces, to make certain they know they can do anything they choose…the road might not always be easy, but the rewards are worth it!

I grew up on a farm in Madison, Indiana, but I always knew I wanted…more, but I could never define “more”.  My beautiful, strong mother set a great example for me.  I was fortunate to have grown up knowing two other amazing women, my Grandmothers.  Between Mom, Granny (Mom’s Mom) and Mamma (Dad’s Mom), I learned so much about life, love, cooking, and well, just living.  I didn’t choose the path that was expected, I could have married, had babies and stayed on the Farm, but they instilled a certainty in me that I could do anything I chose…who knew that it would be a Realtor, changing careers in my late 40’s is something I never expected, but am thrilled that I did and while my Grandmother’s have gone (Granny 28 years ago and Mamma only recently) I’m so fortunate to have my Mom, never wavering in her faith that I will succeed.

Fast forward to today…the strength of the friends I surround myself with (both women and men) astounds me. From those I’m closest to in The Group, My Clients, my fellow Keller Williams agents and the people I have met during my journey…I am so blessed  to have them all in my life.

Who inspires you?  Do you live your life as an inspiration to others?  Click here to see a great MSN slide show on the women who inspire them…who would be on your list?

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Vicki Reed

Why do we “Spring Forward”?

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It’s that time again…time to “spring forward”!  I grew up in Madison, Indiana in the days when the majority of Indiana didn’t change time!  Remember, this is during the dark days when living in the country meant whatever television channels you could pick up on the antenna, in our house, it was NBC and CBS, (that’s right, I never saw Happy Days or Laverne and Shirley until I went to college!) both out of Louisville and when time changed, prime time programming started at 7:00 p.m.!  And scheduling doctor appointments in Louisville was challenging because you had to schedule on “fast time” when you lived on “slow time”, heck, there is a bridge in Madison so socializing and working between the states is common…wedding invitations even used the terms, imagine, getting a wedding invitation that said 5:30 p.m. (slow time)!

So why do we do this?  Daylight saving time starts on the second Sunday in March and ends on the second Sunday in November throughout most of the United States and Canada. This is supposed to provide more daylight hours in the evening during the summer months.

There are a lot of stories about who proposed the time change and why, first up…In 1895, a postal clerk and entomology hobbyist in New Zealand named George Vernon Hudson was the first to propose a daylight saving time schedule so he could have more time after his shift to catch insects. Then a Londoner named William Willet proposed a daylight saving time schedule in 1905 so that he would have more time to play golf during the summer. While both of the proposals gained attention, neither led to the adoption of a daylight saving time practice.

According to history, the first time daylight saving time was put into practice was in 1916 by Germany and their allies during World War I as a means to save coal for the war effort. The rest of Europe quickly followed with  Russia being the last to implement in 1917, after the abdication of Czar Nicholas II.  The United States adopted daylight savings in 1918 after becoming heavily involved in the war effort.

In the United States, following the war, the practice of daylight saving time was left up to state and local governments (boy was that a mistake!) and quickly led to chaos as neighboring communities often had different daylight saving time start and end dates, while other communities decided not to observe daylight saving time at all. The mass confusion led to the Uniform Time Act of 1966. The act standardized the daylight saving time practice, but allowed for state’s and local governments to petition for exemption.

You know why I like it right?  As a Realtor, showing Buyer’s homes in the daylight allows us to see the curb appeal, the neighborhood of the homes for sale…My Seller’s like it for that reason too!  Seller’s work hard to make their home attractive inside and out, it’s better if Buyer’s can see it!  The market is moving quickly, I’m hearing stories every day from agents in our office that homes are selling within days of going on the market! Call, email or text me if you are ready to make a move!

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Vicki Reed