12 Reasons to Sell your Home NOW

Thinking of Selling your Home in the Winter Months...YOU SHOULD

Here's a few good reasons:

1. There is less competition for buyers.
2. Winter prospects are more serious buyers.
3. Your home looks better during the holidays.
4. One of the highest percentages of “listings sold” to “listings taken” occurs during this time of year.
5. You may receive more money for your home now –because you have less competition.
6. Throughout the holiday season, you MAY restrict showings during your personal family events.
7. Buyers have more time to look at homes during the holidays, especially during vacations.
8. January is traditionally the biggest transfer month and you must be on the market to capture the market!
9. By selling now you can have a delayed closing or extended occupancy until the beginning of the following year, if you so desire.
10. When you sell during the winter, you have an opportunity to buy during the spring, when many homes are on the market.
11. You may have fewer actual showings, but MORE qualified and motivated prospects.
12. Corporate transferees, who need to buy a home now, can’t wait until spring.

What are you waiting for??? I have always had a great Nov.-Feb. in Real Estate for all of these reasons. The buyers that are looking are usually very serious about writing offers!!!

Let's get that home decorated for the holidays, put it on the Market, and put a SOLD sign in the yard for 2011!!!

Economics...Your Realtor's POV

As a graduate of the Kelley School of Business, I took my share of Economics Courses which I actually enjoyed. (They were far more interesting than accounting or HTML programming, yuck!) Anyway, I have been recently thinking about the very basics of Economics...Supply and Demand, Law of Supply/Demand, Excess Supply/Demand, and Consumer choices & costs..etc. etc., and how it related to my industry and my business, Real Estate. I THINK there is certainly a demand for housing...its a great time to BUY, rates are at ALL time lows. People WANT to buy a house if they are currently in the rental market (can pay less on a Mortgage than rent), and there is a group of people that are either in a MOVE-UP or MOVE-Down Market....sooo, what are the issues:

1. The Lending Environment is still rather hostile.
2. Sellers who want or need to move owe more than they can sell for.
3. Even though the Rental Market is favorable, lenders make it difficult to "rent" out your current home so you can buy another (in a Move-up Situation) EVEN if you qualify w/ required debt-to-income ratios.

AND, the Supply is still rather high in Most Areas...

but, really its all relative to what neighborhood you are looking at & living in...

I live/work in the Zionsville, Carmel, Indy Northside...although, sales have been down, prices actually improved in Hamilton & Boone Counties.

Its really a good idea, if you have any inclination of Selling your home or buying a new one, consult a REALTOR, like me, to tell you what is going on in YOUR neighborhood. TRY NOT TO LISTEN TOO MUCH TO THE MEDIA--usually the statistics they give are on a National or Regional level, and things may actually be different in your backyard. Also, websites such as trulia.com & zillow.com often have dated and inaccurate info as well.

FOR MORE INFO ON YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD, give me a call or email : sshoup@taktotucker.com or 317-339-6141 cell/text.

Sometimes I think that the media has invented the "double dip recession concept".

"Stacy Shoup" the Brand

According to my online easy reference guide, wikipedia, the definition of brand is "the identity of a specific product, service or business" and currently, I'm facing an identity crisis. I have been in the Real Estate Industry for the past 8 years and I have no Idea who I am....this is a problem.

Not that I haven't been successful in the past, and not that i didn't have a good logo, ...I used to drive around in a white VW bug w/ my logo blasted all over it --OK, so I didn't actually drive it all that much but, my loan office protege (who needed reliable transportation) drove it until I found out it was parked on Broad Ripple Ave at 4am...Wait, I think we did a Refi for a bouncer at Landsharks from that....Anyway, I feel like I have never created an effective brand that is highly recognizable by a specific, targeted group of people. Soooo, that is what I seek to do. Brainstorming has been done, working on a timeline, and looking forward to a launch date. I've been blessed with a good year in a down market...but, with the efforts that I'm about to put into my brand. I'm looking to really take my business to the next level and be one of the top players in the game.

Indiana State Fair Year of the Pig

In case you didn’t know, the Indiana State Fair is going on NOW until Aug 22 and this year is the Year of the Pig. The featured fair food is the “Garbage Burger” created by Shoup’s Country Foods, started my late uncle Tom Shoup and currently ran by his two daughters Cindy Shoup Cacy and Amy Shoup Mennen, located in Frankfort, Indiana. The Garbage Burger consists of a Hog-Burger (similar to a hamburger, but with ground pork) w/ pulled pork bar-b-q on top. I love both the hog burger and a pulled pork sandwich BUT the combo??? IS AMAZING!!

The State Fair has something for everyone. I have been twice already—there is a fascinating exhibit about Indiana ties to Japan, especially in the Automotive Arena—there are at least 3 Japanese Auto manufacturing plants located in Indiana. I saw Indiana’s largest Pig, a veterinarian surgery, a replica of one of Indiana’s first Pharmacy’s, and even a couple of Mullet Hairstyles.

As your Preferred Realtor, I like to share the things I love about Boone County and the Indy Metro Area..the State Fair is high on my list --- it’s a MUST attend every year!!

For more info on Local Real Estate or the Best State Fair Food contact me: sshoup@callcarpenter.com