Monthly Archives: December 2015

News: “Chase Tower struggles to fill vacant space”

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If you have the time, check out this article on the Indianapolis Business Journal about the ups and downs of the Chase Tower over the past few years. It’s an interesting read, especially as it discusses the current state and history of Chase Tower and highlights the effects of the recession and the promise of new tech industry growth in Indianapolis. Plus, it serves as a decent introduction to some of the concerns and metrics of commercial real estate and indicates how normal tenant issues can crop up even in the context of big business.

Holiday house-hunting

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As we march further into December, it seems like it would be a good time to talk about buying and selling a home during the holiday season. Today we’ll share a couple links to some interesting reads on the subject.

First up is an HGTV post on the “Top 10 Tips for Selling Your Home During the Holidays.” Some especially good points: don’t overdo holiday decorations and avoid religious themes to avoid offending a potential buyer, focus on home exterior maintenance so that the house and yard still look great, and price the property to sell. That last one is important. At the end of the day, your agent will list your home at whatever price you tell him to. But you should trust your agent to have an idea of competitive pricing in that market. Pricing high with the intent to drop prices if absolutely necessary in the process of purchase agreement negotiations might seem appealing, but that high pricing is more likely to result in a house that simply sits on the market. Price the house competitively, and it will be more likely to generate interest and sell quicker. This is good advice, as the list points out, for any time of year.

On the flip side of the spectrum is Bankrate’s post: “Buying a home during holiday season.” While the article notes that sellers listing during the holidays are seen as highly motivated, we should note that that’s not always the case, and it is just as true to surmise that many potential buyers actively looking during the holidays are also highly motivated. More interesting is the suggestion that you work with a broker to check out old expired listings and contact homeowners in your ideal neighborhoods, to potentially find a deal even during a low-inventory time of year. And let’s make special note of the concluding advice: “If there is a for-sale sign, it’s a welcome sign.” Don’t be afraid to ask for showings just because of the time of year!

Until the next post, here’s to hoping you’re having a happy holiday season. And if you’re looking to buy or sale during this time of year, we can help.

What’s Upstream?

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We’re pretty late to the party in mentioning this, but there is a new national data entry/data portal system in development for real estate brokers. It’s called Upstream. You can read about it here.

You might notice that the article talks a lot about the promise of Upstream. Upstream is presented almost as an abstract force for change. But it’s not very easy to say exactly what Upstream is, or what it will do. It’s maybe easier to say what it’s not. It’s not an MLS, or an alternative to an MLS. It’s not a consumer real estate portal. It’s not a hub for broker data sharing or communications (but maybe it could be?).

Its primary purpose appears to be the streamlining of data entry. Lots of data that brokers might normally have to enter into multiple systems can easily be input within one system. What exactly will this mean? There still don’t seem to be many specifics. It’s several months after the article linked to above, and yet the whole project still feels rather shadowy. It could be very interesting, though.

Even if the tool itself is not very useful, it is interesting at least in the possibilities it suggests. Could we see this ultimately lead to some sort of national MLS? Maybe, maybe not. But either way, it might be a good idea to keep an eye on Upstream.