Top States where people are leaving and Moving to

 Top 10 States people are moving to for 2024:                           

1. Arkansas                   Up 30%

2. Rhode Island            Up 30%

3. D.C.                          Up 26%

4. Idaho                        Up 26%

5. North Carolina         Up 26%

6. Tennessee                Up 24%

7. Maine                      Up 20%

8. Connecticut             Up 16%

9. Washington             Up 16%

10. Alabama                Up 14%

Top 5 States people are Leaving:

1. Louisiana                Down 26%

2. California                Down 20%

3. South Dakota          Down 14%

4. Illinois                     Down 14%

5. New York                Down 12%

30. Indiana                Down 2%

 

Selling Our Home Poem

 

My wife wants to sell, she said, “let’s get the house ready.”

Interest rates are good and the market’s holding steady.

We’ll start cleaning the house and painting the walls.

Clean the basement and vacuum the halls.

 

Wash the windows, fix the fence.

My wife is stressed and it’s getting tense.

The kids are helping by cleaning their room.

It’s been  over a week, I hope they’re done soon!

 

My kids are fighting; my wife is yelling.

The neighbors at the door, wondering why we are selling.

I rushed to the fridge to get me a beer.

Never too late for some Holiday cheer.

 

My wife has a list of things to be done.

I looked at the list, and none of them looked fun.

Shampoo the carpet, polish the floors.

Fix the crack in the ceiling and paint all the doors.

 

Our homes been for sale for over a week.

You’d think some buyers, would take a peek.

But no buyers are coming, the market seems slow.

Even though the price, seems really low. 

 

I know the buyers will soon come around,

Because my wife buried St Joseph, upside down in the ground.

Our home finally sold, it’s Pending they say.

Our closing is set for after New Years Day

 

This Home has provided so much love & laughter.

Now it’s time to move on and start a new chapter.

Thinking of Selling? Call Cathy, because she’s very nice.

And she’ll sell your home for the best possible price!

New Listing in the Gates of St. John:

New Listing in the Gates of St. John

4 bedrooms, 2,5 baths. 3370 sq ft.

:

          https://www.mccolly.com/single-family/gni/831604/9163-w-103rd-street-st.-john-in-46373

Watch out for this Fraud

 It is National Cybersecurity Awareness Month – a great opportunity to strengthen your defenses against fraud. Fraud is growing more sophisticated every day, and scammers are targeting both individuals and businesses. Last year alone, nearly 1 in 3 people experienced checking, savings or debit fraud.¹ The good news? With the right steps, you can make sure you’re not next.

 

Here are common fraud schemes to look for — and how to stay ahead of them.

 

Social Engineering

What it is: We've seen a rise in impersonation scams where fraudsters create convincing websites that mimic legitimate ones, urging you to log in and share one-time passcodes. These are messages delivered via emails, calls or texts appearing to come from your bank, a government agency or a trusted company. They often ask for personal details or try to entice you to click a link that might install malware on your device to get personal information.

How to protect yourself: Don’t trust links, numbers or emails provided in a suspicious message. Verify requests using a trusted phone number or website.

 

Account Takeovers

What it is: Hackers use stolen online banking credentials to access accounts and make unauthorized transactions. They also know most people reuse account / password combinations and leverage previous breach information to see if they’re able to gain access to your online accounts.

How to protect yourself: Use strong, unique passwords, enable multifactor authentication and avoid reusing login details across accounts.

 

Payment Scams

What it is: Scammers pose as friends, family or trusted businesses to trick you into sending money, often with urgent or emotional requests.

How to protect yourself: Confirm payment requests directly with the person or business before sending funds. Once money leaves your account in a scam, it’s often difficult to recover.

 

A Holloween Story

 Question: You show a lot of spooky looking houses. Did you ever think any of them were haunted?

Answer: I was sitting in the driveway of an early 20^th century farmhouse, waiting for my buyers to arrive. It was a mid-November afternoon, and dusk was rapidly approaching. As I sat in my car, I noticed that a light came on in an upper-level bedroom. The home information sheet said the home was vacant. I was a little disturbed by this as the spooky Autumn evening made my mind wander to places it should not have gone.

 

A few minutes later a light came on in a main level room. I was starting to feel very uneasy about going into this home. When my clients finally arrived, I said nothing to them about what I saw, and they followed me to the front door. The note on the front door said: "Use caution, power is off."

 

Now my heart is pounding. I know I saw lights in two rooms go on. We went into the house with flashlights and viewed the main level. As we walked by the staircase to the upper level, we all noticed a light go on. We all read what the sign said, so we were a bit startled. The male buyer who had to be 6 ft, 250 pounds said he was going upstairs, despite the mysterious light. Within a minute, he came back down and said we needed to leave. His facial expression indicated he was very disturbed. We asked him what he saw, and he said he saw nothing, but felt an enormous presence in that upper-level room.

 

When I returned to the office, I called the listing agent and explained what happened. I thought he was going to laugh at my paranoia, but he said I was the second agent to report this. I asked how many views this newly listed home had. He replied, “two.”

 

I noticed after a few days the house was taken off the market, no reason was given, but something strange was going on there and I was not interested in finding out what it was!

Happy Halloween!

 

Market conditions as of 10-16-25

 We are transitioning from a sellers market to more of a neutral market.

Homes are selling, but we don't see many multiple offer situations.

The Sharp and updated homes still sell really well.

The average condition homes will take longer to sell, but if these sellers remember that this isn't 2022, when almost every home sold for record prices, market time will improve.

Days on the market are longer. Showings are fewer, thanks to the massive government spending of 2020-2024, which caused high inflation and mortgage interest rates that became unaffordable to many buyers.

Sellers are hesitant to give up their 2.75% interest rate.

Late 1st quarter 2026 (March and after), would be a great time to sell. All the buyers who have been hibernating will come out and boost the selling market.

Interest rates should be lower. This will also create more buyers.

The big question will be how many homes will hit the market?

Call us for an estimate on the value of your home and what you need to do to get it into selling condition without breaking the bank!