I've been working with a client with very specific wants for a couple weeks now and they just can't find "the one".  As we stood in the driveway of yet another "not quite right" home this past weekend, they asked me what I anticipated the market doing over the next couple of weeks.  Usually I would say the market always picks up in the Spring and we should take our times because the right house was out there and would be coming on the market soon.  Unfortunately, in these unprecedented times I just couldn't give a straight answer.  This one is going to be a little darker than usual, so here's a picture of the beach for a quick pick me up before you dive in. I tried and failed. For the past several months we've had a lot of people interested in buying a new home but not a lot of people selling.  We've had what we call a seller's market, because houses have been moving quickly and bringing a pretty good price. With the current situa

I see so many people looking for ways to fill the time during the quarantine, so I've created a virtual scavenger hunt! The first three people to complete the scavenger hunt will get a free Competitive Market Analysis (CMA) of your home once the threat of COVID-19 has passed. If you're interested in listing your home in the future, this will help you know where your home stands and what you can do to add value. If you're not interested in listing, it's still fun to know. Plus, I've done these for people who ended up using it to get a BIG cut in their property taxes! If you're not local, I can still do a virtual CMA, but it's less likely to hold up in a tax dispute. If you're interested in that service, I can connect you with an agent who's local to you, so still play along! And if you're not currently a home owner and a CMA can't help you, there are plenty of other services I provide, so still play and we'll find a great

We're all looking for things to do and ways to keep busy right now, so why not make the best of it and keep working on that Spring maintenance? Yard Things are turning green so make sure your grass has every chance to do the same.  Rake the dead leaves, grass and other stuff out of your yard so it doesn't inhibit new growth.  The raking will also loosen grass that got matted from rain and snow so it greens up more quickly.  It's not quite warm enough to spread grass seed yet (Fall and late Spring are best for that) but  aerating and/or dethatching  can help ensure your soil is ready when it's time. This is also a good time to spread a pre-emergent herbicide.  It won't do anything to kill weeds that are already growing but will prevent weeds that haven't come up yet, so timing is everything.  Make sure to  educate yourself  so it has the best chance at working properly. Deck/patio This one is pretty simple.  Weed in and around your deck or patio, p

Disclaimer: if you're a first time home buyer, do not read this!  Even those of us who LOVE homeownership, homebuying, homeselling, homes, homes, homes (!!) need to vent every now and then.  If you do chose to read, don't let it scare you.  Stuff happens. Friday morning I woke up intending to throw in a load of laundry before getting started for the day.  I gathered up my hamper and baskets and headed downstairs, only to stop dead in my tracks.  I saw water.  And not just a little moisture like you'd expect in a 50 year old home when you've had this much rain.  Standing water.  I headed back upstairs, dropped my laundry and pulled on my boots and went to the basement to assess the damage. Yes, that is the reflection of my overhead light on the rug.  How, you ask, does a rug reflect light so perfectly?  When it's covered in an inch of water, that's how. I spent most of the rest of the day getting everything off the floor and trying to figure out why my fl

Having lived in small town Indiana my whole life, I'm used to the only delivery options being pizza places.  Imagine my delight when Batesville ToGo opened and we can now get Skyline, Izzy's at Hillcrest, The Sherman and...wait for it... Big Four Cafe delivered! Admittedly, in this time of social distancing, I have not yet talked to the owner but I can't imagine they would mind a little free promotion.  Unfortunately this means that my information and my pictures are a both lacking, but I did get a little background when I talked to the owners of Big Four Cafe. Batesville ToGo is owned by the same family that owns The Cell Guy.  Arriving home from work particularly late one night, The Cell Guy had no desire to cook, but also no interest in the delivery options available at that time (hello, pizza).  He realized that Batesville had a lot of wonderful restaurant options, but no way to get those options delivered to his home, and the idea for Batesville ToGo was bo

In these times of uncertainty and social distancing, my usual lighthearted tone feels a little flip and disrespectful.  That said, we're hearing about Coronavirus everywhere  and I don't need to be one more person reminding you to wash your hands.  What I will do, though, is take this opportunity to talk about community. Real Estate is a social industry.  We bring in business by getting our name out there, building relationships and earning trust.  Our clients become friends, our friends become family and everyone becomes a potential client.  We go to local businesses.  We forge partnerships.  We blog about those businesses and they share our blog for a type of cross promotion.  We have a deep respect for small businesses, because we are one. I have been working with Susan Knabe of Haus & Home , an online magazine, for several weeks now to get my Feature Friday posts published with their magazine.  It has been a long, educational and actually really fun process and yest

I am so thankful to live in a region that experiences all four seasons.  Fall has always been my favorite, and I love snow and cold weather but Spring brings its own beauty and a reawakening you just can't get in other parts of the country or world.  That said, these gloomy transition days, especially when we get multiple icky days in a row, have me dreaming of warmer climates and thinking back to our recent vacation. Hubs and I spent 8 days in Riviera Maya, Mexico a few weeks back.  It was a much needed get away that allowed us both to relax, reconnect and still get some work done.  That's right, I worked from the beach! My view from the office our first day While there are 14 restaurants at the resort we stayed in, we ate at the brunch buffet nearly every day.  Hubs and I always take turns going up to a buffet so someone is watching bags, drinks, etc., so this gave us both a chance to check emails and see if anything needed addressed that day while the other went up to

Eating local doesn't only apply to restaurants.  Today I got to meet a fellow Girl Scout at Amack's Well in the Batesville Shopping Village and they proved that having a great place to drink (coffee!) local is also a valuable part of our community. In the 1830s Teunis and Nancy Amack, two of the first settlers of Batesville, dug a well that served the early settlers of the town, as well as providing water to the railroad, putting the community on the map.  Like the name suggest, Amack's Well is still a place for friends and neighbors to gather for a drink.  And the water is still free. The coffee shop brews Deeper Roots coffee beans, which I like for two reasons.  First, Deeper Roots is not only ethically sourced, they call themselves relationally sourced.  Check out their website for more information, but the bottom line is they focus on people and communities and not just the bottom line.  Second, Deeper Roots is actually roasted very close to home, in Cincinnati

Last week we talked indoor Spring prep, so let's move outside the house.  Don't worry, we'll get to the yard next week! Gutters and downspouts You know we're about to get the Spring rains, so cleaning your gutters is probably a no brainer, but here's something to consider, too.  If your gutters and downspouts aren't draining properly, it can cause the wood at your eaves to rot.  Leave the rot unattended long enough and you get holes.  Meaning critters getting into your attic.  Cleaning your gutters is not a fun job, but it really is important to do multiple times a year. Roof and chimney No, I am NOT suggesting that you jump up on your roof and take a walk around!  But you can see a lot from ground level.  Even without getting on a ladder you can look for lose or missing shingles, popped nails and evidence of bowing or sagging and other common problems .  If you see those things, call a professional to see if you need repairs before it gets to the point of

Growing up in Dearborn County, I heard tales of these amazing, almost implausible pastry treat a few towns over.  But in my 30-ahem years living less than half an hour from Batesville, I never actually tasted a Cherry Thing-a-Ling. What, you ask, is a Cherry Thing-a-Ling?  According to the  Schmidt Bakery website , " A Cherry Thing-a-ling is a fritter type donut that has cherries in it, instead of the typical, Apple or Blueberry (which we also make). It is fried to perfection and then topped off with a cherry glaze!"  which is served warm for 5 days only, during President's Day weekend.  The tradition started as a one day treat in the 1970s and has grown to a 5 day Batesville holiday! Thankfully my allergies are mild enough that I can sometimes splurge, and fritters are definitely worth it to me.  We missed Cherry Thing-a-Ling days because of a poorly timed vacation, so you can imagine my delight when I stopped in the other day for blueberry fritters and saw this:

Can you believe Spring is just around the corner?  In Southeast Indiana you never really know when Spring weather will arrive, but the first day of Spring is March 19, just over 2 weeks away! That means it's time to get your house ready for Spring and all that it brings.  This has the potential to be a LONG post, so I'm going to break it up into several editions.  Since its been so rainy, let's start inside the home and give it a little time to dry up before heading outside next week. Foundation and basement Look for signs of moisture coming into your basement.  With all the rain we've had, this should be a fairly easy task, but please do take it seriously.  After all, the foundation is literally your house's home!  Moisture can be high humidity, cracks and even standing water in older homes.  Cracks tend to start from the bottom up, so look there first for signs of moisture.  While some settling is normal, cracks that look dark usually get that look from moist