Indianapolis Real Estate podcast with Paula Henry

Our Buyer's Guide to Indiana Real Estate

paula@hometoindy.com (Paula Henry) — Thu, 28 Jan 2016 15:57:00 -0800

There are a variety of opportunities in the Indianapolis real estate market for both buyers and sellers. If you're a prospective buyer click here for a full home search, or if you're considering placing your home on the market, get a free home value report, right here.

We’ve put together the Ultimate Guide to Buying a House. We want buyers to have their questions answered in one place. It’s a great starting point, especially for those still on the fence about buying. In this guide, we discuss home inspections and property tax rates in Indiana. We want to bring valuable resources to people like you.

We want buyers to have their questions answered in one place

We’re always here to answer your questions and address any concerns. If you’re interested in this guide, please reach out to us by phone or email. We’d love to be your Indiana real estate resource!

You Might Be Paying too Much in Indianapolis Property Taxes

paula@hometoindy.com (Paula Henry) — Thu, 10 Dec 2015 12:16:00 -0800

Today we are going to talk about the homestead exemption and what it means to you and your tax bill. A homestead exemption is a tax break that you get on your primary residence, but we’ve found that many people don’t have it filed with the state. A few weeks ago we visited with a client who was looking to sell their home and we found that they were paying an extra $1,200 dollars in taxes over the last three years because they didn’t file their homestead exemption.

A homestead exemption is a tax break that you get on your primary residence.

There are a few reasons this could have happened to you. The most likely cause is that in 2012, a little pink slip was sent out to homeowners by the state, and if you didn’t fill it out and return it, your homestead exemption was removed.

If you’re not sure if your homestead exemption is filed or not or if you’ve noticed your taxes have gone up at all in the past few years without explanation, you have until December 31st to file your homestead exemption for 2016.

You can go here to enter your home’s information and check that you have your homestead exemption filed. If you don’t, the clock is ticking!

Let’s head into the new year with everyone getting as much as they can out of their homestead exemption. If you have any questions, feel free to give us a call or send us an email. We look forward to hearing from you!

Is It Possible to Sell Your Home in Winter?

paula@hometoindy.com (Paula Henry) — Wed, 11 Nov 2015 14:45:00 -0800

Are you considering selling your home soon? Many people get nervous selling their home around the holidays and during winter, so I want to share what I know about the market at this time.

Recently, I ran some data to see how the winter market compares to the spring market. Last spring, we sold about 12,000 from March 1 to the end of June; last winter, from Nov 1 to February, there 8,900 homes sold. While fewer homes sell in the colder months here in Indianapolis, it's clear that A LOT of homes still sell during that time.

The winter really isn't a bad time to sell your home!

The holidays can be a bit more difficult to sell because of time constraints, family events, and decorations, but there are ways to work around these things. The great thing about selling in the winter is there are more serious buyers in the marketplace. Buyers just don't go out looking in the cold unless they are looking to move soon!

If you have any questions about selling in the winter months, or if you would like real estate assistance of any kind, please don't hesitate to reach out to us. We would love to hear from you!

What Can You Do to Prepare Your Home for Winter?

paula@hometoindy.com (Paula Henry) — Thu, 22 Oct 2015 13:13:00 -0700

The cold weather is coming - is your home prepared? If not, you've come to the right place.

Before the cold weather sets in, we recommend turning off your water spigots and draining the lines. This will protect your home from bursting pipes and costly water damage.

Next, you want to check your outside lights. The days are getting shorter, meaning the early mornings and early evenings are darker. Make sure your outside lights are working properly before the cold weather comes along.

It's crucial to prepare your home for the winter.

Another thing you want to do before temperatures drop is check your furnace. You want to make sure it's working properly now so that you can call someone out to fix it before everyone else does.

If you would like a few more tips on how you can winterize your home, please don't hesitate to reach out to us. We would love to help you in any way possible.

How to Organize Your Home Before a Showing

paula@hometoindy.com (Paula Henry) — Wed, 5 Aug 2015 07:34:00 -0700

I recently found a good video on HGTV that I thought would be helpful to you if you're preparing to sell your home. It's essential that when you show your home to buyers, it's clean, organized, and decluttered. You'll want to empty out your closets, or at the very least, get them organized.

One thing you can do to get organized is put up shoe hangers in your doors, and store everyday items inside them such as cleaning supplies, utensils, or anything else that you can fit in them.

Another way to cut down on clutter is to use labels, or pick up storage bins to keep items like cords or wires in.

A tip for organizing your closet is to divide your clothes into four different sections: hang, sell, donate, keep, and fold. Once you have something marked out for every category, you can then organize your closet in any way you see fit. Here's an extra tip: you can use belt hangers to hang your necklaces and other jewelry.

Buyers like to see clean, organized and decluttered properties.

I just thought this video would be useful for organizing your home, whether you're selling or if you just want to tidy up a bit.

If you need any assistance with staging, decluttering, or selling, please don't hesitate to contact me!

How Can You Stage on a Budget?

paula@hometoindy.com (Paula Henry) — Wed, 15 Jul 2015 12:09:00 -0700

If you are looking to sell your home, your goal is to get the most money possible in the shortest amount of time. One of the best ways to add value and appeal to your home is through home staging. You have a lot of options for how you want to go about it. You could hire a professional staging company, but that comes with a hefty price tag. Most of the time, a few simple fixes is all it takes to transform a living room.

Today we are going to go through some of our most favorite, inexpensive home staging tips or you. We hope these will help you save both time and money when it comes time to sell your home.

A fresh coat of paint is always a good idea. Neutral, warm colors work best for highlighting the natural light in your home. This will make it easier to punch up the room with some colorful accessories and pull everything together.

A common design problem facing many homeowners is that they have no real entry way, as their front door opens up to the living room. To fix this, you can add a table, some lighting, and a rug to "fake a foyer" and make it feel like the living room and entryway are two different spaces.

A patterned rug, some pillows, or bright curtains add a ton of texture and an eclectic layer to the space, which is essential to a well-designed room.

In some cases, a "make-under" is just what you need. In the case of most fireplaces, taking some accessories and clutter away enhances the look and feel of the room greatly.

Add thousands in value by spending hundreds of dollars.

You could spend well over a few thousand dollars with a staging company, or you could do these fixes yourself for around $500. That's a small investment considering the value that you add to your home by adding those pieces.

If you have any questions of us about staging your home or anything else real estate related, give us a call or send over a quick email. We are always here to help, and would love to hear from you!

6 Tips to Prepare Your Home For Sale

paula@hometoindy.com (Paula Henry) — Tue, 12 May 2015 16:45:00 -0700

The market is heating up in Indianapolis, and if you're thinking of selling your property this spring or summer, you will need to have it looking like a brand new home. Today we're going to discuss some things that you must do if you expect to sell for top dollar.

Clean your home: It's just a fact that dirty homes do not sell. Clean your home in places that you've never thought to clean before. If you need to, hire a professional cleaner to come in and make your home shine.
Declutter: This is an important step, but also a difficult one because most homeowners don't realize how many belongings they have in their homes. Try to get rid of anything that you don't need to sell your home. If you need to, you can get a storage space to put all of your belongings inside.
Depersonalize: This ties in with the decluttering step. It's important that potential buyers are able to imagine themselves living inside of your home. When your home is filled with your stuff, the buyer will be distracted by it. You want potential buyers to be looking at your home, not your belongings. This may even require repainting parts of your home, because neutrality is important.
Curb Appeal: You want your home to appeal to buyers, and one way to draw them inside is to focus on your curb appeal. If your home looks nice on the outside, buyers will be inclined to look inside. This involves sprucing up your lawn, trimming hedges, planting flowers, cleaning windows, painting your door, and even power washing your home. Just make sure your outdoor space looks attractive.
Repairs: Make sure to make any repairs before you list your home for sale, because you're not going to want to make them during your sale. Home buyers will also want to make sure that you've made repairs before they purchase the home, so make sure a certified contractor has been making them. This will give confidence to the buyer that your home is in good condition.
Staging: It's a fact that homes that are staged sell for more money. We can come out and look at your home to help you present it in a more attractive way. We even have a staging service, so if you're trying to sell for top dollar, this might be a good option for you.

Hopefully all of these tips have been helpful to you, and if you would like to know more about our process and how we sell Indianapolis homes for top dollar, please don't hesitate to contact us.

How Is the Indianapolis Market Shaping Up?

paula@hometoindy.com (Paula Henry) — Tue, 21 Apr 2015 14:23:00 -0700

The spring season is here, and with that comes one of the busiest times of year for real estate. Today we are going to look at the spring market and how it's shaping up for 2015 as we continue into the busy selling season.

It has been a fast-paced spring so far and home buyers are out there looking for homes and making offers. One way we measure activity is through the absorption rate, which is a measure of inventory in our market. As a whole in our MLS, there is around a 4.5-5 month supply right now, which puts us in a neutral market.

However, every neighborhood is different. Even though as a whole we are in a balanced market, certain price points are selling more quickly than others.

For example, right now in the $200,000 and $300,000 price range, we have 114 homes for sale, with 40 homes being sold last month. This gives us a 2.8 month supply of inventory of these homes, putting them in demand in a strong seller's market.

To give you an idea of what's going on in Fishers, right now there are 424 homes for sale, with 133 being sold last month. This puts Fishers at an inventory level of just over 3 months.

We hope this helps you out when you are thinking about buying or selling in Indianapolis this spring. If you have any questions, be sure to give us a call or send us an email.. We'd be happy to answer them!