December Steve & Jack's Home News

Happy Holidays!!

We hope that you had a fun and restful Thanksgiving spent with friends and family and are looking forward to more time with friends and family this Christmas season. While this can be a hectic and stressful time, to be sure, it also can be one of time spent reconnecting with friends and family and, hopefully, enjoying some much-needed time away from work.

Hopefully, you received our calendar in the mail over the past week or two and will enjoy it throughout 2019. If you didn't receive one and would like to be on our list for next year, please let us know and we will add you to our list.

For Thanksgiving this year, Steve and his family had Jack and Mary Anne over for dinner and they enjoyed being able to relax and Mary Anne enjoyed not having to cook a big dinner. Michelle and her family enjoyed Thanksgiving at family in Louisville. Kylie and Julia both enjoyed Thanksgiving with family here in Indy. We hope you were able to enjoy some time with family and friends as well.

Our family will be staying in Indy for Christmas and Brigid's family will be coming into to town to celebrate with us. Ana & Tali are looking forward to seeing everyone and taking a break from studying for a few weeks. Tali starts her gymnastics competition season mid-December and will be competing a level up from last week. We are anxious to see how this year goes competing at a higher level. Ana is in her busy season with performances with her school's show choir and many performances with The Indianapolis Children's Choir. If you haven't ever attended their Angels' Sing performance, consider making time to attend. It is nothing short of remarkable and will absolutely put you in the spirit of the season!

Due to the holidays, don't forget that we will NOT be having a December Happy Hour. We will pick back up again in January on the 16th from 5-6:30PM at Matt The Miller's. Look for your evite to confirm your attendance. If you aren't on our evite list, please let us know and we would be happy to add you!

Finally, we hope we will see you TOMORROW for our 6th Annual VIP Client Appreciation Event at the movies. We have rented a theater at Hamilton Town Center again and will be showing Wreck It Ralph 2. We have a FEW seats remaining, so if you would like to attend, please e-mail Kylie at Kylie@Welcome2Indy.com. The fun starts at 8:30AM and the movie starts promptly at 9:30AM. We will have a photo op stop, a caricature artist, food, and fun. We hope to see you there!!!

As for the market, it has definitely cooled off from a few months ago. It is still very strong, but houses are sitting on the market much longer, some for more than 90-days due to very weak buyer activity. We expect the market to pick back up again in the spring (around March 1st or so) for another strong year. Here are some recent housing stats from MIBOR comparing October 2018 to October 2017:

New listings-UP 13.4% to 3,707 units
Pending sales-UP 9.4% to 3,017 units
Closed sales-UP 1.7% to 3,196 units
Median sales price-UP 6.4% to $174,500
Average sales price-UP 2.7% to $206,681
Percent of original list price received at sale-UP 0.3% to 95.4%
Total active listings available at month end-DOWN 8.0% to 8,339 units
Months supply of inventory-DOWN 10.0% to 2.7 months

Please enjoy this month's newsletter, which can be found here

Click here to watch a 1-minute video on a real estate update

Click here to read a few testimonials from happy clients

Click here to download the most powerful real estate app available

Click here for coupons and discount at places you shop every day. Why not save a few $$$?

We are honored to announce that we were recently profiled in Top Agent Magazine! You can read the article here.

Steve, Jack, Kylie, & Julia all say 'thank you!' for inviting us to help you and those about whom you care! Without you, we couldn't do what we love. We look forward to helping you again next year! Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays!!

Your friends in real estate,

Steve, Jack, Kylie, & Julia

7 Things to Do to Your Home Before Winter

Along with the provocative spending and lavish feasts that are hallmarks of the holiday season also comes the cold, the ice and the snow. Like those extra three helpings of stuffing at Aunt Linda’s have just derailed your diet, the coming weather is capable of causing significant damage (and swelling) to your home if you aren’t prepared.

Winterizing means a lot of different things to people in different locations. For example, in New Jersey, you really need to go full bore and ensure anything that might be holding water is emptied, heated or insulated. In Texas, though, you might not even realize winter has come. With that in mind, take a long look at these seven things and check them all before the first freeze comes (or do it right now if it’s already freezing!)

The Big Seven Winter-Ready Checkboxes

Winter comes with a myriad of hazards, from black ice and deep snow to blowing winds in the negative digits. Please make sure that you’re wearing proper winter weather gear before you attempt to get your house ready for the cold. After all, you’re not going to be able to get through the list if you freeze to the ground.

#1. Protect Plants, Trim Trees and Empty Sprinklers

Even if your plants are hearty as they can be, it’s nice for them to have a fresh pile of mulch to hunker down in during the cold season. Apply two to four inches of an organic mulch over the roots and at the base of any plants that are still above ground, then pull it slightly away from the plants themselves so there’s a little moat in between. Herbaceous plants that die back and the pop up in the spring should be covered with just as much mulch to keep them from freezing.

While you’re out there, trim any overhanging branches from your trees so that accumulating ice and strong winds won’t bring them down onto your house, car or garage. If you have a sprinkler system and haven’t emptied it yet, now is the time to disconnect the water and blow it out according to your system’s design.

#2. Check Your Gutters (Again).

When the autumn leaves finished falling, you cleaned your gutters out (you did, right?), but as really frigid weather settles in, you need to check them one last time. Gutters are one of the big causes of ice dams, which can cause water to back up into your attic. This is all bad stuff if it happens over and over, so to be safe, check those gutters again and clean out anything you missed or that has accumulated since your last round of cleaning.

#3. Cover Your Outside Faucets

Pop into the nearest home improvement store and grab a styrofoam cover for each of your outdoor faucets, even if they’re frost free. You should have already removed any hoses as soon as the nighttime temperatures started to dip, so now it’s just a matter of putting a little hat on them. Some people wrap their faucets with pipe insulation, but for the long run, the styrofoam caps can’t be beat. They’re easy to install, hold tight all winter and are easy to store until the next year.

#4. Wrap Your Pipes

Homes with crawl spaces are especially susceptible to frozen pipes during the winter. First, make sure your foundation vents are closed to keep cold wind from blowing into the space, then get a little more hands on with the pipes. Anything on an outside wall should be wrapped with pipe insulation (the more popular types look like small diameter pool noodles), pipes with chronic freezing problems should have heat tape installed. Frozen pipes are no fun for you from a convenience angle, but when they go a bit further and burst it’s kind of a big deal.

#5. Caulk and Weatherstrip Doors and Windows

Go around your windows and doors with a caulk knife and remove any caulk that’s loose or dried up, then grab the caulk gun and go like mad, making sure to push the new caulk into the opening as you dispense it. You should angle the tip so you can move across a section of trim with a single motion to create an uninterrupted bead.

This is also the right time to check your weatherstripping. Whether it’s between a door and the jamb or helping the windows to seal properly, these are major entry points for cold air and drafty drafts. When you’re replacing weatherstripping, take a sample of the type you need with you to the hardware store because the options are pretty impressive.

#6. Have You Had That Chimney Checked?

Some websites will advocate for you to check your own chimney before using it in the fall or winter, but that’s not the kind of advice to give to a person. Sure, you can do your own chimney inspection. You can also do your own root canals, but it’s really a bad idea. A quick check by a chimney sweep is an affordable alternative to a chimney fire. The thing is that what you can see from the hearth isn’t much, a lot of chimney fires start further up — you might not even know you’ve had one.

If you have a wood stove with a double or triple walled flue, you may have better access to the entire length of the chimney, but don’t ever take a chance on anything that burns as hot as a wood stove or fireplace. This is one item in your house that can have disastrous results if you don’t treat it with respect.

#7. Your Second Home

If you own another house, even if it’s in a warmer climate, this is a good time to give it a lot of thought. It’s going to need similar care — location appropriate, of course. Winterizing the plumbing in a house is a DIY trick you can pull yourself, or you can hire it done and know that you didn’t forget to do something important. When DIYing, make sure to test all the shut-off valves as you go. This is a good time to replace them since you’ll also be turning the water off at the main.

Winter is Coming….

It doesn’t matter if you’re not ready for winter, it’s coming anyway. So this weekend, get out there and prep your property for the cold, sharp winds, sheets of ice that seem to come out of nowhere and all the snow. Then again, you can also call a home pro or two in to help out with your winter laundry list — just log into HomeKeepr and you’ll find chimney sweeps, plumbers, landscapers and plenty of other experts ready and willing to help. Your Realtor recommended them just for you, so you know they have to be good!

Table saw safety tips

Interestingly enough, if you’re looking for images of table saws in any of the places where you get that sort of thing, you’ll see a lot of things that scream “hold my beer!” Although some are certainly stock photos being stock photos, there are people every day making the same kind of mistakes as the people in these stock photos. Here’s an example:


Almost certainly, plenty of corresponding people in real life have said one of these two things: “I’ve done it like this for the last 20 years and never had an issue.” or “OUCH! There went my finger.”

For your own safety, and the safety of those around you, it’s time for a talk about table saws and how to use them correctly. They can be really dangerous, they can be really useful — you just have to know what you’re doing and how to do it safely.

What is a Table Saw Made For?

Beginning DIYers often assume that a saw is a saw and a hammer is a hammer. The truth is a little less simple. Sure, you can cut anything you want with a table saw, but you may not like the results. Or, you may be ok with the results, but your methodology is going to earn you a nickname like “Stubs.” And, Stubs, that’s not a thing you want.

Table saws are at their best when they’re ripping or crosscutting.


Ripping is when you take a board and you feed it through the saw the long way, so that you get a board with a custom width. For example, you have a two-by-four and want it to be more of a one-and-a-half-by-four. You’d set the fence, set the blade height, turn on the saw and slowly and carefully feed the lumber through until you reached the end. (Please note, always feed material into a table saw using a push stick or other device that will keep your hands as far away from danger as possible)

Crosscutting means taking that same board, but cutting the length down (feed it in the short way). You’ll want to use a miter gauge for this move. In this situation, you’re removing two feet from an eight foot long stud, or what have you. It’s really tempting to push these through by hand, but don’t do it!! The aftermath could be pretty horrifying.

Additional tools can be added to a table saw to allow it to cut different kinds of joints and angles, like what you might need for crown molding, but there are also more specific and less dangerous tools that can do the same job. Bottom line? A table saw is not to be trusted, else it nips off your fingernails.

Safety First with Table Saws

The most common injuries caused by table saws, a whopping 85 percent, according to researchers supported by the National Institutes of Health, are to the fingers and thumbs. Most frequently, those are cuts, but 10 to 15 percent of the sampled population had digits amputated by their favorite tool. That blade rotates at around 4,000 RPM, it would go through a finger like a hot knife through butter.

Now, that being said, safety, safety, safety. Below are tips you should not ignore:

1. The safety guard is there for your safety. It’s not a perfect solution and it won’t protect you if you feed your hand straight into the blade, but the safety guard is there to help minimize the danger to you from your table saw. Many, many, many homeowners take the blade guard off because it’s easy to get a lot of dust up inside of it, making it hard to see what’s going on at the blade level. Instead of taking it off and leaving it off, though, remove the blade guard and clean it when you’re done using the machine. If it’s plastic (which most are), just hose it out and leave it to dry for your next project.

2. Goggles can save your eyeballs. Although less common injuries than those to fingers, hands and arms, your table saw can hurt your eyes, too. Always wear goggles when using a table saw, even if it has a dust collector attached. You never know when wood will do something squirrely and end up being sort of flung into your eye. You’re closer to the blade than you think.

3. Always use push sticks and other material feeding tools. Collect up your push sticks and miter gauges now and know where they are at all times. Never ever feed material into the blade with your bare hands (or even gloved ones, really). This makes it far too easy for the blade to cut the board and the the operator, which would be you. This is why the photo at the top of this article is so incredibly dangerous. Stubs didn’t think it was a big deal, though. Not until after, anyway.

4. Watch for kickbacks. Material fed improperly into a table saw will kick like a mule. A great big angry one. If you’re standing directly behind the blade and the material when that happens, it’s not going to be a great day for you. Instead, stand just off to one side of the material and feed it into an already turning blade, advancing slowly. Cutting boards isn’t a race, except on reality TV.

Oh, and Don’t Forget…

Whether you need your table saw repaired or simply are seeking the help of an expert for a very special project, the pros you need are only a few clicks away in your HomeKeepr community. Open it up, check it out and find recommended pros in your area. They can help you buy the tools to build your dreams or just do the building part while you sit in a lawn chair, sipping iced tea. Recommendations are better than reviews. Find out why at HomeKeepr.

Home Security Cameras

Once upon a time having a security system or even just some video cameras meant that you either lived in a dodgy neighborhood or you had something really awesome to steal. Today, home security devices are common, inexpensive and can be used for all sorts of things, from watching your dog run around like a maniac while you’re at work to checking in to make sure the kids made it safely home from school.

Thanks to the magic of WiFi, you can even keep an eye on vacation homes or empty rentals if you’re willing to invest a little bit extra to keep the internet going or to upgrade to camera that can connect to your cellular account. Basically, if there’s something you want to see on the regular, a modern smart security camera can handle the job!

What Kind of Smart Cameras Are Available?

There are several major players in the smart security camera space, from easily recognized names like Nest and Ring to lesser known companies like Vimtag. The brands of the cameras don’t matter as much as you might think, but their features sure do. Let’s break it down.

Type of Security Camera

First and foremost, there are several types of cameras lumped in under the security camera header. Those are:

Webcams. These are cameras that you can check in with, but won’t necessarily alert you to movements or unusual sounds. They literally just give you a live feed of whatever you’re pointing them at.

Video Doorbells. Offering a decent view of the porch area, a video doorbell is a great solution if you receive a lot of packages or simply don’t want to get up to answer the door only to be surprised by solicitors. You can interact with people who ring the bell and when placed properly, the camera can alert and record quite a bit of activity within its field of vision.

Indoor Security. True security cameras have a great deal of customization so users can set them up to their exact needs. Some are able to be moved back and forth or up and down based on user input, even remotely. This can give you a better idea of what’s going on in the room.

Outdoor Security. Outdoor security cameras are much like the indoor ones, except that they have more durable housing and may be powered using things like solar panels to keep the maintenance to a minimum. Attach it, point it and forget it until it wakes you up at 2 am because someone is walking their dog down the street in front of your house.

Important Points to Ponder

Choosing a camera type is just the beginning. There are several features bundled with cameras that you may find incredibly valuable. Before you buy, check off these important points:

Power Source and Connectivity. Does your camera need a power plug? Can it draw power from existing wiring or will you need to upgrade to make it work? Furthermore, can it connect to the Internet using your WiFI or does it run on your cellular network?

What’s the App Like? Each camera company will have an app that’s slightly different. Check them out in your Android or Apple store before choosing a camera. It’s important that you can use the software without a lot of headaches.

Feed Type. There are generally two types of feeds that come with smart home security cameras: live or triggered. The live feeds are going to always show you what’s happening when you decide you want to take a peek. Triggered feeds record based on detected movement or sound, only giving you a picture of what was happening during that time. Many devices offer both, but if your eye is on a camera with a single option, choose the one you think you’ll use more.

Storage / Subscription Offerings. Your new camera probably comes with the option to use some amount of the company’s cloud storage for your video. Generally, packages are set up based on the length of time a video is saved, with options like 24 hours, a week, two weeks and a month being quite common. There’s no set price point between different companies, so be sure you’re comfortable with what they’re charging before buying the camera since you can’t use them on platforms other than the one owned by the parent company.

Smarter Features. Cameras like the Nest IQ series have advanced features that teach them the people who come and go from your home regularly. Instead of getting a generic alert that someone is on the property, you’ll be told that your friend Bob is there. Features like this save a lot of time spent guessing who might be lurking around your home.

Some of the smarter cameras are also Alexa, Google Home or Apple HomeKit enabled. If you’re already using smart home products, make sure the camera you choose matches the smart home devices you have in place.

Help! These Smart Cameras Have Outsmarted Me!

Having smart cameras around the house that you use regularly can be a whole different experience from installing them. In fact, often the install is the hardest part, though most are meant to be able to be integrated by the adventurous homeowner.

If you need a little hand, don’t fret, just check out your HomeKeepr community! With professionals in hundreds of fields, you can be sure there’s a smart home pro out there just waiting for your call. And since your Realtor and other members of your network have recommended them, you’ll be confident that they can wrangle the smart devices in your home once and for all.

5 Worst Home Renovations for Their Resale Value

There are a whole boatload of articles on the Internet about the home renovations that offer the best return on your hard-earned cash, but not so many about the ones that are literally just black holes that suck said cash out of your pocket and never, ever tell you where it went.

That changes today. Everybody talks about the good, let’s talk about the bad and the ugly!

First and Foremost: Personalization Has Limits

When you bought your house, there were probably some very specific things about it that you promised yourself you’d change as soon as possible. From dated light fixtures to unbearably pink carpet, there’s always something. Hold on to that thought for a moment.

Now, pretend that you’re the person looking at this same house after you pulled out the pink carpet and changed those fixtures. Is this a house that now has wide appeal, or does the fact that you hung floral wallpaper on the ceiling create a whole new level of problems?

Of course you want to make your house your own, but if you think you’ll be selling in the near future to relocate, upgrade or downsize, maybe don’t go too nuts. Keep in mind that most buyers will accept some level of personalization, provided you don’t push it. You don’t have to live in a bland cracker box, but there’s something between that and a 1970’s disco inferno.

Renovation Loss Leaders By the Numbers

It’s really important that you consider future owners when you go to the trouble to make a major upgrade to your home. But sometimes, even the most thoughtful and beautiful renovation can cost a lot more than it will ever be worth (and often, the most beautiful are the most susceptible to this).

It’s a good thing, then, that Remodeling Magazine has been tracking the average costs of the 21 most popular projects since 2002 and the value they retained at sale. If someone told you that adding eccentric details like green shag carpet can be a big punch to the checkbook, it probably wouldn’t shock you. But you might be surprised at these projects Remodeling Magazine turned up as the worst investments, based on national averages:

5. Upscale Bathroom Remodel. Cost: $61,662. Return: $34,633 (56.2%)

There isn’t a person in this country who hasn’t dreamed of a bathtub the size of a swimming pool, glass tile surfaces everywhere and a shower with five or six different shower heads. And although this will be an absolutely amazing experience while you own your home, you can’t take that stuff with you. It also won’t return anywhere near what you’ve invested in it.

If you’re thinking about a bathroom remodel, consider sticking to the midrange. They cost about $19,134 on average and return $13,422, or about 70 percent of your investment.

4. Upscale Bathroom Addition. Cost: $83,869. Return: $45,752 (54.6%)

Adding a bathroom on to a house was a big return bust in 2018. Not only did the upscale bathroom addition return just 54.6%, even the midrange bathroom add-on, where returns tend to be a bit better, returned just under 60%. That midrange bathroom remodel is looking better all the time.

3. Upscale Major Kitchen Remodel. Cost: $125,721. Return: $67,212 (53.5%)

Despite the fact that a midrange minor kitchen remodel will return about 81 percent of its value, an upscale major remodel doesn’t even come close. This is probably because of budget-consuming components like new cabinets, new granite or marble slab counters, floor tile and high end appliances from manufacturers like Viking. Honestly, if you’ve done this kind of remodel, why are you even moving? Seems you’ve found your perfect house already.

2. Upscale Master Suite Addition. Cost: $256,229. Return: $123,797 (48.3%)

Downgrading to a midrange master suite addition won’t help you get much more out of your dollar, it only changes the return from 48.3% to 56.6%. A new master suite is one of those things that you may find you use extensively, but shelling out hundreds of thousands of dollars for one may be a sign you’re not ready to give up on your existing home after all.

1. Midrange Backyard Patio. Cost: $54,130. Return: $25,769 (47.6%)

Generally speaking, outdoor-facing projects tend to return better because they increase the overall curb appeal of a home. And even though midrange wooden deck additions return 82.8% and midrange composite deck additions return 63.6%, the backyard patio is the single worst return on your home renovation dollars in 2018. This may be due, in part, to the fact that it adds nothing to curb appeal and is almost assumed to be the norm in most markets.

When It Comes to Home Renovation Projects, Think Small

The key to better returns on home renovation is to think small. Replace that ugly light fixture in your foyer, swap the vinyl flooring in your entry for tile. A home that is neat, clean and well-lit will always sell better than one that has something a bit quirky about it, no matter how much it cost to install.

When you need to update your home, but DIY just isn’t your thing, drop in on your HomeKeepr family. The community can recommend talented and affordable painters, carpenters, handymen and more! Since they come so highly recommended, you can be sure that you’re getting the best craftsmen in your area.

Helpful home heating tips for winter

It’s been a busy year. It almost feels like we completely skipped over spring, summer and fall and found ourselves barreling head first into winter like a kid on an out of control snow sled. With those cold days just around the corner, now is the time to make sure all your heating equipment is safe to operate and ready to go when you need it. After all, you don’t want to learn that your furnace needs to be repaired by spending a freezing night regretting not having found out sooner.

Keeping the Home Fires Burning

There’s nothing like a toasty fire roaring in the fireplace, except maybe for forced air heating that distributes heat evenly throughout the house. Hey, old fashioned fireplaces are romantic, but they’re not the most efficient heat sources out there — that’s why forced air heating was invented and is subsequently the best thing imaginable when there’s snow on the ground.

Most of the time, the furnace and blower are the kinds of things people really pay zero attention to. You just set the thermostat and magic heat comes out of the vents magically. You may have never even given a second thought to any sort of maintenance plan for this equipment at all.

While that’s not unusual, you’ll be a lot happier if you adopt one this year.

Getting your furnace ready for the big chill isn’t all that difficult and takes just a little time. All you need to stay warm all winter are these three simple (not so secret) steps:

1. Remember the little things, they matter a lot. Check your furnace filter! Whether it’s just a little dirty or has three inches of dust on it, give it a toss. This is a good time to consider investing in an electrostatic filter that allows you to clean and reuse it again and again. Depending on the size of your furnace filter, they start around $30 and go up from there. An electrostatic filter can be washed often, keeping the air cleaner and making it easier for the furnace to do its thing.

While you’re at it, don’t forget your condensation line. If you just said, “My what?” take a look around the furnace until you find a tube or plastic pipe that goes from it to a pump or drain. That neato little tube tends to accumulate algae and other build-up, until it plugs entirely. Running vinegar through it once a month will help keep it flowing freely and your furnace performing at its best by moving any condensation away from the system. This is especially important if you’re using a heat pump, since it’s essentially an air conditioner with a valve that can go either forward or reverse, depending on your desired results.

Last, check all accessible ducts for air loss. Sure, you like your crawlspace and attic, but maybe not enough to share your heat with them. The tighter your ducts, the more air pressure in your system and the less heat loss you’ll experience. This is by far the most difficult part of basic furnace prep for winter.

2. Call your favorite HVAC professional for a cleaning and inspection. Yes, you cleaned the filter, but there are a lot of parts inside your furnace where dirt and dust collect over the years. If you’ve never had your furnace professionally serviced, now is the time. A pro will look over your air handler and heating elements to ensure they’re safe to use this winter. A cracked heat exchanger is no joke. This is how people die from carbon monoxide poisoning.

While you’re at it, maybe consider asking for a recommendation for a CO detector.

3. Put together your heating backup plan. This goes double if you live somewhere very cold, like Maine. If you live somewhere that’s not really cold at all, like Texas, your plan could be buying a coat. In Maine, or even New Jersey, you’ll want to choose an alternative heating source in case your furnace goes out. Even with a thorough inspection, you could have a small, but important, part go bad, throwing your furnace all out of whack.

Some good options (no, the fireplace sans blower is still a bad option) include infrared heaters or electric oil-filled radiators with safety shut-offs in case they tip. Combustion heaters should never be used indoors without proper ventilation. If you’re planning for a short-term heating solution, just until your furnace is fixed, they can be a lot more trouble than they’re worth. However, if you really want the warmth of wood heat, pellet stoves and catalytic wood stoves can make safe and energy efficient alternatives.

Who You Gonna Call When You Need a Furnace Inspection?

If you don’t already have a favorite HVAC pro, it’s high time you found one. You could ask your neighbors, but why not start with your HomeKeepr community? After all, this group of home pros and homeowners can tell you a lot more about the people they personally recommend (and stake their reputations on) than your neighbor can about the guy that comes by once a year. A quick visit with your network and you’ll have the names of pros you know you can trust to get the job done.
HEATING & AIR CONDITIONING

HEATING & AIR

The Breakfast Nook...

It’s the most important meal of the day, so why are you spending your mornings eating over the sink on your rush to get ready for work? For many homeowners there’s a perfectly cozy and wonderful alternative in their home that they might not even be using: the breakfast nook.

From Formal Dining to Chaotic Meals in the Open

Many people have long ago converted their formal dining rooms into home offices, instead opting for kitchen bars or dropping a dining set close to the kitchen in their open floor plan homes. These options are ok if all the chaos of eating in a non-space doesn’t put you off your feed.


For those who need a little more privacy, a quiet place to drink their morning coffee and contemplate life for a few minutes, the breakfast nook cannot be matched.

It’s simple enough. Take a house, add a little space off of the kitchen that’s just big enough for a dining set. Upgrade with a killer view. Insert your table and chairs. Nothing could be easier.

Styling Your Breakfast Nook


The word “nook” would imply a very informal space, or a dark and tight room. The word, certainly originally used to make the concept feel even more quant, is incredibly misleading. Although breakfast nooks are usually small, they’re not dark and they aren’t uncomfortable.

They’re often the best seats in the house!

Nooks are a flexible space that can do a lot.


There’s no wrong way to nook, work with the space and view that you have and the rest will follow. You don’t even need a traditional dining set! Plenty of breakfast nooks are outfitted with booths permanently affixed to the wall.

Who needs beaches when you can have a view of the neighbor’s garden?


Other contemporary nooks mix and match chairs and booths in order to get as much useful seating as possible in the small, but amazing space. Watching the sun rise over the morning head lines from your breakfast nook is an unmatched experience, even if your nook doesn’t have a dramatic overlook.

But some like to keep dining a formal activity, even in their nooks.


These people aren’t nooking wrong, they’re just serious about their space. That’s ok, nooks are for everybody, casual or formal. In fact, some formal nooks manage to gush with luxury in scale.

Here’s a Nook, There’s a Nook… Where’s Your Nook?

If you’ve been dreaming about a breakfast nook, but haven’t been sure about where to start with hiring a building contractor or talking to a banker, today is your lucky day. All you need to do to put your breakfast goals into motion is to log into your HomeKeepr community. Your Realtor can recommend contractors, bankers, interior designers and anyone else you may need to help you with your project. Since these pros have already been vetted and tested, you know they’ve got to be good!

Thinking of Buying Land? Read This First...

Land can be a good investment, whether you intend to build a house or business on a particular lot or simply want a place where you can stretch your legs and breathe a bit more deeply. After all, they’re not making any more of it (ok, technically this isn’t true, but you’d need to be volcano adjacent to get dibs on brand new land).

Buying land can be tricky, though, even after you secure a mortgage for it. There are several important real estate concepts you’re going to want to familiarize yourself with.

Lessons in Land Buying

Unlike purchasing a house in an established neighborhood, where everything is pretty obvious and cut and dry, land can throw a lot of weird wrenches into the works. Let’s take a look at the most important aspects to keep in mind before and during your land acquisition.

1.Title Restrictions

Before you even set foot on a piece of property you’re interested in purchasing, ask about title restrictions. These are conditions that, when met, could go as far as to revoke your ownership or punish you in other serious ways. For example, if you’re interested in land for farm and you come across a lovely place that happens to border on public forest, you may be restricted from owning sheep because of the danger they pose to the unique neighboring trees.

Another more common example would be that the title restricts your subdividing the land. If you just want to get away from neighbors, that probably won’t be an issue for you, but if you had planned to build some houses on that land and splitting off the parts you don’t want to keep, you’re in trouble.

Always check the title restrictions because many will run with the land (that means they’re enforceable as long as the land exists). Don’t assume that because they’re 50 or 60 years old they’re unenforceable. They are.

2. Easements

Easements are a very specific type of property ownership where the legal use of your land is granted to another person or company. A good example of this is the utility easement that often runs along one edge of a home’s lot. That easement gives the utility company the right to go in and perform necessary upgrades and repairs without having to beg and plead with homeowners for permission.

Before you make an offer on any piece of land, it’s important to know what easements, if any, apply. There almost certainly is a utility easement somewhere, but there can also be private easements granted by any former owner that could remain with the property. It’s much better to know what it is that you’re buying and how much of that land is usable. If you don’t understand the maps that show these easements, ask your Realtor to explain them to you.

3. Landlocked Property

In the United States, there is no such thing as a landlocked property. That being said, there are properties that appear to be landlocked because there’s no way to access them from the road. In these situations, a right-of-way easement is created to allow unencumbered access to the landlocked property.

If you’re the one buying the “landlocked” property, these easements are generally not a point of concern. However, as a seller, right-of-way easements can hurt the value of your land and create an additional expense maintaining that strip of Earth you can’t use for other purposes.

4. Surveys

Buying a house in a subdivision is easy because the land has already been surveyed and small metal pins placed at the corners of the lots. Even if your bank wanted some sort of survey done for a single family home purchase, all the surveyor has to do is find those pins and mark them. Ultimately, they’ll record your property as something like “Lot 12, Smith’s Addition, Your Town, State.”

When it comes to land, the story is very different. First, a surveyor has to do a bit of research beforehand to figure out where the parcel’s boundaries should be. Land is one of those things that can stay in families for decades, or even longer. Depending on where you live, that empty property could reasonably still be held by the original family to take title. It creates a significant challenge for surveyors.

Regardless, you need that survey to ensure that the land you’re buying is the land you think you’re buying. The surveyor can also verify the easements you’ve been told exist. Once that’s established and everyone is in agreement, you can go to Closing with confidence.

5. Adverse Possession

There’s nothing in the real estate sphere as confusing and infuriating as adverse possession. This is a situation where someone, often a neighbor, has managed to somehow use your land without your permission over a long period of time. Through a series of events, they then become the legal owner. And you won’t see one red cent ever.

This sometimes happens in urban and suburban neighborhoods when a homeowner installs a fence, for example. They may not even realize they’ve crossed the lot line. It’s nowhere near the same issue as it is when you’re buying land. Acreages can see significant shrinkage if a fence is even a few feet over the line. If the lot line is 300 feet long and the neighbor is intruding by two feet, that’s 600 square feet that you no longer control and may be at risk of losing.

Fortunately, if you catch the problem early, you can take actions to reclaim your land and rid yourself of your accidental squatter (because, let’s face it, most of the time it is an accident).

Step 1: Ask the neighbor nicely to move their fence. Show them your survey so they can see where the fence should be.
Step 2: Post “No:Trespassing” signs that are visible to the neighbor. This removes the “hostile claim” condition of a successful adverse possession claim. “Hostile” in this situation means that they’re using your land against your will.
Step 3: If the neighbor needs to continue to use the land for some reason, have them sign a land lease and demand a small rental fee. Again, this will remove the hostile claim condition, but in a much more concrete way.
Step 4: Lawyer up because it’s time to take this thing to court. Although the time that a squatter must occupy property to take it as their own varies, the sooner these issues are addressed, the better. The court can force your neighbor the squatter to move his fence to where it belongs.

No one wants to take their neighbors to court, so try everything else first. If you and the neighbor can come to an amicable agreement about the fence placement, you’ll be in a much better place to have a harmonious long term relationship with them.

Are You Ready to Own Your Own Bit of Earth?

Buying land can be a scary proposition. The upkeep and planning for its future alone can be overwhelming. Don’t panic! Your HomeKeepr family is just waiting for you to put them to work keeping the grass cut, drawing up plans for your future home or business and bringing it all to life. Just ask your Realtor for recommendations from the community and wait to be connected to the best of the best in your area!

November Steve & Jack's Home News

Happy Thanksgiving!! We hope this finds you looking forward to this holiday reserved for family and friends and have plans to spend time with both. We also find ourselves reflecting back on the year and feel extremely grateful.

First, we are grateful for our families that allow us to spend so much time doing what we love and helping our clients. Without them and their support, we could never do what we do.

Second, we are thankful for our clients and referral partners. Without you, we couldn't do what we love. Thank you for inviting us to help you and those about whom you care. We are grateful for you and your trust and will always work hard to maintain it.

If you had Fall Break, we hope you were able to do something fun and relaxing. Westfield has an entire week, which we love. We used it to take a Caribbean cruise on Norwegian. We absolutely loved it! It was our first time on Norwegian and we would definitely go back. Our best memory was the bartenders taking a liking to Tali and letting her decorate all of the mudslides guests ordered and then they showed her how to make them! It was a hoot and something we will never forget. So much fun!

For Thanksgiving, we will be staying home and Brigid's family will be coming to us, so we will have both families there to celebrate together and are looking forward to hosting this year.

We hope to see you at some upcoming events:

1) November Happy Hour-Wednesday, November 14th from 5-6:30PM. We moved it up a week due to Thanksgiving. We had a great group in October and hope you will join us for the last one of the year as there is no Happy Hour in December.

2) 6th Annual VIP Client Appreciation Event-Saturday, December 1st from 8:30-11AM at Hamilton Towne Center. You should have received a couple of invitations in the mail. Please do RSVP by November 26th to Kylie@Welcome2Indy.com. We will be showing the brand new Disney movie Wreck It Ralph 2: Ralph Breaks The Internet.

Real estate has slowed down quite a bit for the holidays now, but there is still quite a bit of activity out there, especially in the lower price ranges (<$250,000). Here are the September 2018 vs. 2017 stats from MIBOR: New listings-UP 3.1% to 3,697 units Pending sales-UP 8.5% to 3,043 units Closed sales-DOWN 2.5% to 3,144 units Median sales price-UP 9.0% to $179,900 Average sales price-UP 6.5% to $211,920 Percent of original list price received at sale-UP 0.5% to 95.9% Total active listings available at month end-DOWN 13.6% Months supply of inventory-DOWN 15.6% to 2.7 months Enjoy this month's newsletter and Happy Thanksgiving from our family to yours! Click here to read the November newsletter

Click here to access coupons and discounts at places you shop every day

Click here to read some client testimonials

Click here to watch a short video about what is happening in the market this month

Click here to download the most powerful real estate app available

Your friends in real estate,

Steve, Jack, Kylie, & Julia

P.S. Please don't keep us a secret.

FHA Loan Update

While you’re dreaming about your Starter Home, don’t forget that you’re going to need a Starter Mortgage to pay for it. The mortgage programs offered through the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Federal Housing Authority can be easy ways for borrowers with limited or lightly bruised credit to enter the housing market with confidence.

Of course, like with any mortgage, FHA loans aren’t for everybody. But they are really good for many people. Let’s get to know the loan most people are talking about when they say they need an “FHA loan,” the FHA Basic Home Mortgage Loan 203(b) (what a mouthful!).

Who Is This Loan For?

Before you waste your time by reading this whole blog just to learn that you’re not a good candidate for this loan, let’s get it all out upfront, shall we? FHA mortgages are good for a wide range of people, especially those with credit scores in the mid- to upper 600s with minimal downpayments.

FHA is forgiving of some sins, including unpaid medical bills, but is less tolerant of monthly payments for things like revolving loans and secured loans (know as your “debt-to-income ratio”). Where Fannie Mae’s conventional loans may let you have upward of about 45 percent of your income going to monthly debts and housing, FHA mortgages are much more selective. Your housing debt can’t exceed 31 percent as of the writing of this blog; your overall debt has to be below 43 percent at this moment.

Looking at that in a more concrete way, it breaks down like this if you make $50,000 annually:

– Your monthly income: $4,166.67
– FHA housing debt allowed: $1,291.67
– FHA total debt allowed (includes housing) : $1,791.67
– Conventional debt allowance: $1,875

It might not seem like a big difference overall, but the FHA restricts your mortgage to about a third of your income, even though in some markets that’s a difficult, if not impossible, house to find. Your conventional loan doesn’t discriminate, so if you have no credit card debt, you might be able to buy more house.

But that’s not to say that the FHA loan is a bad mortgage. It’s a really decent one, it just has a lot of rules designed to ensure you succeed at homeownership.

The FHA Downpayment Conundrum

FHA mortgages maintain one of the lowest downpayment requirements of any mainstream mortgage offering. At just 3.5 percent, this financing type makes it easy to get into a home. That $200,000 house you’ve got your eye on? You just need $7k for a downpayment (closing costs are separate)! That’s $3k less than the conventional loan can offer.

However, there’s a pretty big catch with that low downpayment. The mortgage insurance that makes it possible for you to put down such a small amount of money is going to stick with you for the life of the loan. That’s the case, in fact, unless you’ve scraped together at least 10 percent of the sales price for a downpayment.

Theoretically, you could refinance your low downpayment FHA loan when you’ve paid down about 20 percent of the total value to shake the mortgage insurance, but there are no guarantees that you’ll end up in a better place. Rising interest rates, additional costs to close a new loan and even a new appraisal can eat into those cost-savings.

Some lenders offer a streamline refinance, which can save you a bundle when you’re ready to refinance the note you already have. Check with yours to see if the mortgage you’re signing will be eligible. You have some options, let’s make sure you’re taking advantage of them.

Oh, That Thing About Student Loans…

FHA is picky about your debt, that may have been mentioned. One thing that it is almost cruelly strict on is student loan debt. Unlike Fannie Mae, which only figures your actual payment into your debt-to-income ratio, FHA uses a formula that often ends up in a rejection for otherwise really well-qualified borrowers.

As of the writing of this article, FHA figures your monthly payment as one percent of your debt. Say, for example, you have $68,000 in student loan debt because you triple majored in everything, but you happen to be working in a field that won’t support a payment anywhere near what that debt requires to be repaid. Your federal student loan is enrolled in an Income Based Repayment program, with a payment of under $20 a month.

A conventional loan would verify that $20 and that would be all that would go into your DTI from your student loans. FHA, on the other hand, would add $680 to their calculation. Which, considering you’re on an IBR, will almost certainly make it impossible for you to qualify for anything.

TL;DR: FHA Ups and Downs

FHA has some nice features:

– Great for people with lower credit scores or small credit blemishes
– Allows for a smaller downpayment vs. other mortgages
– As a federally regulated loan, closing costs are often lower

But it also holds many buyers back with:

– Low DTI allowances
– High student loan payment calculations
– Lifetime mortgage insurance

If your overall debt is low, you don’t have a student loan to deal with (or you have a very small one) and you’re planning on selling in five or seven years, FHA loans can absolutely get you into the real estate market faster with less money out of pocket. The extra time spent putting monthly payments toward equity rather than rent can help you become more financially secure earlier.

I Want the FHA! Who Do I Call?

An FHA mortgage can be a great solution, but you need a good lender to help you get through all the paperwork that’s involved in applying for this loan. Sure, you can ask your friends who to talk to, but wouldn’t you rather hear from other professionals in the field? Your HomeKeepr community is full of people who work with bankers every day. — your Realtor will be happy to recommend your new lender, just log in and ask for the details!