Eagle Point Capital

With a population of almost 800,000 people, Indianapolis ranks as the 12th largest city in the U.S., and is the capital of Indiana. It has a variety of cultural activities and an assortment of entertainment choices. Indianapolis is an ideal place to live, and is a great place to invest in real estate. With its low cost of living, Indianapolis was ranked the #1 most affordable place to own real estate by Forbes Magazine.

Indianapolis has a rich variety of areas and neighborhoods. The most popular ones include:

• Meridian-Kessler
• Broad Ripple Village
• Lockerbie Square
• Butler-Tarkington

For more information on the neighborhoods of Indianapolis, visit Indyindiana.com.

Indianapolis also has an assortment of entertainment choices and venues:

Sports

Indianapolis is filled with loyal sports fans. No matter what sport you follow, there is a team for you to cheer on!

• Go see the Colts play in the beautiful new Lucas Oil Stadium.
• For the baseball lovers out there, Victory Field is a fun, family-oriented place to watch the Indians. Spread out on the lawn with a blanket and a picnic, and watch the game from the outfield.
• Indiana is known for being crazy about basketball, so of course we have the Indianapolis Pacers to see at Conseco Fieldhouse.
• Indianapolis is the Racing Capital of the World, and is home to the annual Indianapolis 500, held at the Motor Speedway.

Concerts

Going to concerts and seeing live music is one of my favorite things to do. There are a variety of places to go see live music, plays, performances, and musicals.

• The Lawn at White River State Park
• Verizon Wireless Music Center
• Murat Theater
• Beer Garden at The Rathskeller
• The Vogue in Broad Ripple Village

In addition to the endless venues for sports and music, you will find a variety of bars/restaurants, comedy clubs, and shops. Mass Ave is a great street with lots of culture, art, and places to eat.

Indianapolis: The "Crossroads of America"

Being in the heart of the Midwest, Indianapolis carries the nickname "Crossroads of America." It has one of the best highway systems in the nation. The average commute time in the metro area is no more than 30 min. It is also an ideal city for those who love to travel; Chicago, Cincinnati, Columbus, Louisville, St. Louis, and Cleveland, are at most a 5 hour drive away.

For investors: multiple exit strategies!

In addition to the low cost and abundance of homes available in Indianapolis, investors can enjoy multiple exit strategies when purchasing an investment home. If you buy in bulk, you can break up the package and wholesale to homeowners or other investors. You can also re-sell the entire package. If you like fix and flips, there are plenty of rehab houses and foreclosures to go around. Buying a home to occupy yourself is always an option as well. Read about the different neighborhoods and pick one that best suits you!

The easiest option is to buy and hold. Renting is very common in Indianapolis, with about 38% of homes being rented. Especially near Broad Ripple Village and the Butler University campus, you can easily find young college students and grads looking to rent.

We Love Indy!

Indianapolis is a great place to live, and also to invest. It is the lowest-risk market in the Midwest, and one of the best markets to buy in the nation. With the ideal cost of living and the multitude of cultural activities around the city, Indianapolis is a desirable place to own real estate. We do!

Facebook launched the popularity of social networking sites. While a growing number of companies use Facebook, among other social websites, it started out as a college-only network.

For Play:
In the beginning, signing up on Facebook required a university-issued email address. Students could interact with their friends from home, or even with their friends down the hallway in their own dorm. It was used for fun, to post photos of weekend parties, update everyone on what you were doing (A friend of mine would post in her "status" that she was studying at the library. In reality, she was napping in her dorm room and didn't want people bothering her.), and write funny comments on other people's "wall." It soon became addicting, and was a fun way to spend your study breaks.

The instant popularity was evident. My friends in sororities were ordered to De-activate their Facebook account during recruitment, I guess so that whatever was posted on their profiles wouldn't influence the new girls trying to join. That indicated the social presence of Facebook, and the mass majority of students that had joined. It was just assumed that you were on Facebook.

It was soon opened to high-school students as well, and shortly after that, anyone was able to join. Even teachers and parents began to join the Facebook craze.

The Shift:
People began to realize that posting pictures of themselves out partying with their friends may not be the image they want to put out there for future employers. Companies began using Facebook to their advantage, probably for the first time, by looking at profiles of their job applicants. (I've heard stories of companies not hiring a candidate after seeing their crazy party habits on Facebook). Students were advised not to post incriminating photos of themselves out drinking, or to take off their profiles all-together when it was time to send out their resumes. (Make sure you have the right privacy settings, and this shouldn't be too much of a problem.)

Many companies have banned access to Facebook on office computers; they see it as a waist of time and productivity. Yes, it can be used for personal use, but they are not recognizing it as a valuable communication tool. Read this article on "How to Address Facebook in the Workplace."

For Work:
Some companies and industries, however, have utilized Facebook and other social networks as a communication tool. An increasing amount of websites I've visited have included links to their Facebook profiles, or ask me to "follow" them on Twitter. The real estate industry especially, seems to have jumped on board using online social networks; in addition to Facebook there are handfuls of online networks specifically used to share real estate information.

With all the sites available, real estate professionals can connect to millions of real estate buyers, sellers, Realtors, investors, property managers, etc. Facebook now has multiple real estate groups to join. While Facebook isn't specific to real estate, it probably has the broadest audience, and can be used to reach those that might not think to join a real estate network.

No matter what industry you're in, you can create a company page to provide info about your company, complete with an event calendar, videos, photos, discussion boards, and more.

Work AND Play:
It is pretty clear that Facebook can now be used for both work AND play. Companies are using Facebook, along with other social networking sites, to their advantage to communicate and get the word out about what they do and what they can offer their online audience. Sharing info online is fast and convenient, and I don't think it's a trend.

If you haven't joined yet, visit Facebook now and create your profile!