Lawn mowing best practices

Whether you love mowing the lawn or hate it, it’s a job that needs to be done. As with most things, though, there’s a difference between doing it and doing it well. If you find yourself wondering why your neighbors have an amazing lawn while yours looks all the worse for wear, it could be more than just a matter of perspective; it’s possible that the grass really is greener on the other side.

This doesn’t have to be the case, though. Part of the problem might be how you’re caring for your lawn. If you haven’t put much thought into the specifics of yard care, here are a few things to think about. Changing how you think about mowing the lawn can have a big impact on the lawn itself, and your grass will thank you for it.

Prep Your Mower

Too many people approach the beginning of the mowing season the same way that they do the entire rest of the season: they put some gas in the mower and go. This is a good way to damage your lawn and wear out your mower at the same time. Start each season with an oil change and fresh gas, and check your mower blades for cracks, dullness or other signs that they need to be sharpened or replaced. Keep an eye on your grass as you mow; if it’s becoming ragged, this is a sign that your blades are getting dull again. Even a little bit of mower maintenance will make the cut easier on your lawn and keep your mower running in tip-top condition.

Learn Your Lawn

A lot of people think that grass is grass, but there are actually a lot of differences between grass species. Take a little time to find out what sort of grass you have growing in your lawn. If necessary, you can take a sample to your local agricultural extension office to get the job done. Once you know what kind of grass you have, you can learn the seasons when it actively grows, what sort of water and fertilizer needs it has, and even details about how it should be cut. If you need to reseed part of your lawn, knowing the existing grass type will also ensure that you get the right type of seed so that everything matches.

Cut to the Right Height

If your lawn is going to flourish, the grass needs to have enough blade area to absorb sunlight to meet its growing needs. Cutting it too short can damage it, causing the grass to wilt or brown, in some cases even killing off patches. As a general rule you’ll often hear that you should leave around 3 inches of grass when you cut, but this can vary depending on the type of grass you have. If in doubt, you can set the blade height between the 3-inch to 3 ½-inch mark to be safe, but you’ll have much more control over your lawn if you learn the grass type and find the optimal cutting height based on that.

Mind Those Clippings

It’s usually best to leave your clippings on the ground, as they provide much-needed nutrients to the lawn as they decompose. If you don’t like the look of them, consider a mulching blade and guard for your mower to ensure that they get cut into smaller pieces, or make multiple passes over the same area. The main exceptions to this are the first and last cuts of the year; in those instances, your lawn will do better if you bag the clippings instead.

Adapt Throughout the Year

One important thing to keep in mind is that grass is a living thing and grows differently depending on the time of the year and the local weather conditions. During the heat of the summer, make your lawn more drought resistant by adjust your cut height up a little; this gives the grass more blade area to collect dew on. In early spring and into the fall, cut less often to avoid shocking the grass. Even the direction of your cuts is important, especially if it’s been raining a lot; to prevent damaging the grass or compacting the soil too much, change direction every two or three cuts, switching to a cutting pattern around 90 degrees off from what you’ve been doing.

Keep It Under Control

A well-manicured lawn can be a big job. Fortunately, there are professionals out there who can take that burden off your shoulders. If you need to find a lawn service that comes highly recommended, sign up for a free HomeKeepr account today. You’ll be able to find a service based on real recommendations for mowers and landscapers that best match your specific needs.

Construction design trends

Throughout the years, the construction industry, and the trends that it follows, have changed significantly. While some key elements in construction tend to stay more or less the same, in other areas the industry needs to be adaptable to keep up with the changing wants and needs of consumers and other clients. So if you’re considering a change, but aren’t really sure what you want in your home, here are a few of the recent and upcoming construction trends to keep in mind.

Children’s Playrooms

A lot of homeowners with children have come to feel that their kids need a place to play when at home. While children can and will play anywhere, giving them free reign of the house can be nerve-wracking, especially when you have to clean it all up every day. Establishing a dedicated playroom helps to contain the chaos, confining the clutter to a single area within the house. It’s possible to use an existing room as-is for a playroom, but a lot of parents would prefer to do at least a little bit of remodeling to ensure that the room both meets their kids’ needs, and is optimized for safety and storage.

Ditching the Dining Room

Big formal dining rooms have been popular for a long time, though that popularity has waxed and waned over the years. These days, many households aren’t using their dining rooms nearly as much as they did in past decades. As a result, more homeowners are looking for other things to do with that space other than using it to hold a table and chairs. This has led to surge in remodeling to make better use of that dining room area, with homeowners opting instead to create nooks or other smaller dining spaces that can be used much more efficiently at mealtime.

Smart Home Construction

Once a thing of science fiction, smart home technology and home automation are increasingly popular options for homeowners. A lot of smart home automation tech is designed to be plug-and-play, with smart lights, smart thermostats and various sensors being available as aftermarket purchases. For new construction, though, more people are opting for integrated technology. Built-in smart sensors to track things like water leaks, open windows and various aspects of security are all popular. Other construction options such as built-in Ethernet and design that avoids Wi-Fi dead spots are also being requested more and more frequently.

Home Office Spaces

As people work from home more often, they need a dedicated area to do their work in. In some cases, this is as simple as moving a computer into a spare bedroom, but many home workers require more customization for their home office space. This can come in the form of additional storage or custom work areas, improved soundproofing or electrical work such as improved lighting and added outlets. Other home workers may want a custom outbuilding to serve as a “shedquarters” so that they have a work area that’s at home but separate from the house itself.

Smaller Room Designs

While open room designs have been popular for years, there has been a shift recently to smaller and more distinct rooms within the home. This doesn’t apply to every room, of course; for living rooms and some other spaces within the house, bigger and more open continues to be popular. And having other rooms with a more compact design can make these seem bigger by comparison, even when you don’t have a huge amount of floor space to spend on big open areas.

Keeping Up with the Trends

Trends change over time… if they didn’t, they wouldn’t be trends. HomeKeepr can help you keep up with the Joneses and stay on top of the latest trends. Sign up for a free account today and see just how well it can connect you with the pros you need to stay on top.

Things to consider before you add on to your house

Even if you absolutely love your house and the area you live in, sometimes you’ll find that you just don’t have enough room for your family and all your stuff. This can be a major inconvenience, especially if you need some extra room for things like a new addition to the family or an office so you can work from home. Regardless of why you need the extra room, adding a new story to your home is one way to get it.

Is adding a new story a good idea, though? In some cases, it can be exactly what you need. Other times, though, the process of adding a new story is more trouble than it’s worth. Is a new story right for you and your home? Here are a few things to consider to help you make up your mind.

Calculating the Cost

It goes without saying that adding a new story to your house isn’t going to be cheap, but there are costs that you might not have considered. You’ll need to consult a structural engineer, add at least one staircase, get additional inspections to ensure that the property complies with code, and more. That’s not even getting into the actual costs of materials and labor, or any upgrades you might need such as ensuring your HVAC system can service the new story. Make sure that you cover all your bases when calculating a budget, then add a little bit of extra padding for unexpected costs.

Will There Be Enough Space?

When adding a new story, your options are limited by what the house beneath the new story can support. Depending on the home you live in, this may mean that your new addition can only cover a portion of the structure’s total square footage. Make sure that the amount of available space is enough to meet your needs, or you might find yourself adding a new story and still not having enough room.

The Realities of Construction

Adding a new story isn’t like adding on a new room to your ground floor. Some or all of the roof will have to be torn off, and utilities like electricity and gas will need to be shut off to tie in the new story to the existing system. The entire process can take several months just to get started. Once construction is a go, you’ll very likely need to move out until the new story is complete, and you might even have to move a lot of your belongings out of the house to protect them from accidental weather damage. The end result might be worth it, but you definitely need to consider everything you’ll have to go through to get there.

Is Moving an Option?

There are a lot of good reasons for wanting to stay where you are. Maybe you like the school district, or perhaps your home has a lot of sentimental value to your family. It might be conveniently located near an area that you frequent. It could even be that you simply like the house. You don’t need to justify wanting to stay in your home, but it’s at least worth considering whether moving would better meet your needs. This is especially worth considering if your primary reason for adding on is simply the need for more space; moving could easily fill this need without some of the other costs and inconveniences associated with building upward.

Adding a New Story

If you’ve thought it over and still think a new story is what you need, you’ll need a contractor who can get the job done quickly and at a reasonable cost. HomeKeepr is just what you need to find the right contractor for the job. Sign up for free today and see just how easy HomeKeepr can make your expansion project!

Tips for bringing a contractor into your home

While everyone is home trying to stay healthy, there are a lot of people who have taken to trying to do things around the house on their own. This has helped homeowners keep busy when they have little else to do. Unfortunately, there are some jobs that are just too big for a DIY; for these jobs, you’ll need to bring someone in to tackle the issue.
This can be anxiety-inducing if you’re still trying to practice proper social distancing and avoiding contact with others. Fortunately, there are ways to reduce your risks when bringing someone into your home. Not only will these steps keep you safe, but they will also protect the worker who has to come in to do the job.

Schedule and Screen

When scheduling a service call, don’t be afraid to ask whether anyone at the company has been sick recently. While it won’t guarantee that the service person isn’t ill, knowing whether there have been sick employees in recent weeks can give you at least an idea of how well the company is managing social distancing and keeping its employees safe. There’s a good chance that you’ll have to answer similar questions, so the company shouldn’t have any problems with the questions that you ask.

Open Everything

Before the service call arrives, open any doors, cabinets or other barriers between the worker and what they’ll be working on. If there’s a wall panel or other basic covering that needs to be removed, go ahead and take that off too, provided that you can do so safely. The goal is to eliminate as many possible points of contact that the service person would otherwise have to touch or open. Once they arrive, explain what you’ve done and ask them to let you close everything back up. This will let them come in, do the job and leave without touching every door, panel or similar objects in your house.

Keep Your Distance

Social distancing is very important when someone new is coming into the home. Maintain a distance of at least 6 feet between yourself and the worker, and try to avoid being in the same room once they’ve started their work. Greet them and see if they have any questions once they arrive, then find ways to busy yourself elsewhere. You can check in periodically to make sure that they don’t need anything, but be sure to do so from a distance. It may be helpful to wear a mask while they’re in the home as well, which they should be doing already.

No-Contact Payment

If possible, opt for a no-contact payment option or request that an invoice be mailed to you. If you’re able to pay online, this is likely your best option; you can make a payment from your computer or smart device without having to hand anyone your credit or debit card. If online payments aren’t an option, you may be able to pay over the phone or through some other no-contact method.

If you aren’t able to use a card for your payment, there are still no-contact options available. If you’re paying with cash, put the money in an envelope and place it somewhere that the person making the service call can easily pick it up. The ideal way to do this is to have part of the envelope hanging over the edge of a table or other piece of furniture so that they can pick it up without actually touching your furniture. This is also a situation where writing a check can come in handy, as you can simply fill it out and then leave it to be collected without having to bother with an envelope.

Clean Before and After

Before the service worker arrives, take the time to wipe down the area they’ll be working in with sanitizing wipes. This will present a clean, safe environment for them to work in that they will surely appreciate. Once the work is finished and they’re gone, go over everything again and clean up to remove any germs that might have traveled in with them.

Stay Calm

While this is a stressful time, it’s important to reassure yourself that it’s possible to have a service call while also staying safe. Keeping your distance and reducing possible points of contact will go a long way toward keeping yourself and your family healthy. You wouldn’t be calling in someone if it weren’t necessary right now, so treat the situation with the respect that it deserves, and you should be fine.

May Steve & Jack's Home News

Dear Steve & Brigid,

Happy May! All of us sincerely hope that you and your family and friends are staying safe, healthy, & happy during this unusual time. We hope that you have found some positive things that have come out of all of this, such as spending more time with family and hobbies that were put to the side for far too long. By now, you should have received the May newsletter via USPS, if you are on our mailing list. If you didn't and you would like to receive a paper copy, please e-mail me and we will happily add you to the list.

We have been asked many times, 'How is real estate?' and 'How are you doing during all of this?' To be honest, it hasn't been easy. The number of real estate transactions has plummeted, however it is important to note that every day new listings are coming on the market, offers are being accepted and transactions are closing. At the lowest, showing activity was down 38% from a year ago and now it is only down 8% from a year ago. With fewer people feeling comfortable listing and buying houses, we have had to work harder and longer hours. This is to be expected in a down market. However, we have been very fortunate with clients still listing and buying and we have sold ALL of our listing inventory!

The inventory is at an all-time low and is unhealthy. There isn't enough out there to satisfy demand. This has pushed home prices to an all-time high, appreciation is also at an all-time high of 12.8%/year and houses are selling in a record 6 days for 100% of asking price as recently as May 13th! So, if you or someone you know is thinking about selling, NOW is the time to do it! The market is begging for your house right now and will reward you handsomely. Call us today (317-573-1880) to schedule an appointment (in-person or Zoom) to learn more about your specific situation and how you can take advantage of these historic home prices...and interest rates, which are currently ~3.23% for a 30-year fixed rate conventional mortgage!

Our families and our team are all staying safe and healthy and we continue to work remote as so many of you do as well. Daily team meetings keep us connected and updated so that we don't miss a beat. Indeed, we are fortunate.

Speaking of fortunate, we are so honored and grateful to be featured on the cover of Indy Real Producers Magazine for the month of May. We were chosen out of over 8,500 agents in Indianapolis to be their featured story focused on our guiding principles of 'Guide, Lead, and Protect'. You can see the cover here. Thank you to all of our clients, friends, and referral partners for making this happen!! We are extremely grateful!

We hope you had a wonderful, albeit different Mother's Day this year. Hopefully, all of the moms were spoiled and shown just how much they are loved and cherished by family and friends. As many of you know, our daughters Ana and Tali have been making us Sunday dinners for the past several weeks. Everything is scratch-made and is absolutely delicious! Here is a photo of a recent main course. They wanted a break last Sunday, so we ordered burgers from Bub's in Carmel, which were sinfully delicious. This was at Brigid's request and we were happy to support a local business. This was only the second time we ordered out since quarantine, so it was especially welcomed!

Thank you to everyone who participated in our spring client appreciation contest! Steve's Chatard High School classmate and client Brian Allen was this year's Grand Prize winner!! You can see his certificate here as well as his prize package, which was valued at over $500 from Sundown Gardens in Westfield. Congratulations, Brian!!! Thank you to everyone for entering!

Don't forget our FREE Shred Day coming up on Thursday, May 28th from 10-12 at our office. See the full flyer here for what is accepted and what isn't. You don't even have to get out of your car! We will remove all items for you. This is absolutely FREE and another way for us to say thank you for everything you do for us. Hope to see you on May 28th!

We had a great time at our inaugural virtual Happy Hour last month! Congratulations to Bill Maki for winning best dressed/best background and to Rachel Bristow for winning best drink. Both won a $25 Amazon gift card. We will be doing the same giveaway in May so plan now for your best drink and best outfit/background and win a $25 Amazon gift card. Our next Happy Hour is this Thursday, May 21st from 5-6:30pm. You should have received an Evite already with log-in details. If you didn't receive one, please e-mail me and we will get it out to you. Hope to see you there!

During this uncertain time, we find it optimal to analyze every single expense and scrutinize its necessity. We have found hundreds of dollars of savings! If you would like a guide to walk you through how to do this exercise yourself, please e-mail me at Steve@Welcome2Indy.com and I will gladly send you a worksheet to help you through this process. It is amazing to see how many expenses are no longer necessary or even duplicative. See how much money you can actually save each month and then let me know your monthly savings. We will give a prize to the person to has the highest monthly savings! You must respond with your monthly amount by June 1st to be entered.

Have you downloaded our NEW and IMPROVED real estate app?? If not, download it here. It is the most powerful real estate app in the country. Try it for yourself and let us know what you think. It is super-easy and intuitive.

As mentioned above, our real estate market, while not grinding to a halt, has slowed considerably. In the past two weeks, we have seen increased activity again, which is welcomed. Experts have placed Indy in the Top 10 Cities nationwide to come back the fastest from the pandemic for real estate. This is due, in part to our record-low inventory, strong state financial condition, being the most affordable housing market relative to income in the nation, and strong buyer demand. Here are the latest MIBOR stats comparing April 2020 to March 2020:

Median Sales Price-$210,000-UP 0.7%
Closed Sales-2,522-DOWN 14.9%
New Listings-2,782-DOWN 23.9%
Pending Sales-2,866-DOWN 9.1%
Days on Market-38 days-No change
Price/s.f.-$120-UP 1.7%
Percent of Ask Received-98.3%-UP 0.4%
Active Inventory-3,967 units-DOWN 1.7%
Absorption Rate-1.6 months-UP 14.3%

Keep in mind, these numbers are comparing April 2020 to March 2020. Usually, we show numbers comparing April 2020 to April 2019, but to show the impact COVID-19 has had in our market recently, we chose to use month over month numbers. Note that daily numbers are changing and will result in different numbers, such as the 6-days on market average on 5/13/20.

We hope you continue to stay safe, healthy, and happy. Please let us know if there is anything extra we can do to help support you. As the saying goes, 'We are all in this together'. Let's pray for more positive progress over the next month.

Click here for the May newsletter
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Click here to watch an intro video about our team

Click here to watch a 1-minute video about this month in real estate

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Your Friends in Real Estate,

Steve, Kylie, Thea, & Patti

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

Supporting 'non-essential' businesses

There has been a lot of focus in recent weeks on “essential” workers in our economy. In most places, this includes at least portions of the construction industry as well as a few other types of home pros. Unfortunately, this can leave some of our favorite professionals temporarily shut down due to local restrictions. This is a scary time for some of these pros, as the extended shutdown puts significant strain on both their personal livelihoods and their businesses.

Fortunately, there are ways that you can help support those home pros who don’t meet the criteria for being “essential” service providers. Bear in mind that these are just a few suggestions, and there may be other options available depending on where you live. Additional options may become available as well as areas begin rolling out their reopening plans.

Remote and Limited Services

While it’s not applicable for all professionals, some non-essential pros may still be able to offer remote or no-contact limited services. This typically won’t include all the services that those professionals offered, but it does give customers a way to continue supporting the business even during the shutdown. Even professionals who do not currently offer remote or limited services may begin offering such options as states move toward reopening, so if your favorite pros don’t offer these services yet they may soon.

Advanced Scheduling

Even if your favorite non-essential pros aren’t open for business yet, you can still make plans for reopening. Contact your favorite pros and see if they have advanced scheduling options available. This can let you beat the rush and set a date to start or resume using their services as soon as possible after reopening. Even if you can’t schedule a date just yet, you may be able to find out when scheduling will resume so that you can get a jump start on booking them.

Gift Certificates and Prepayments

An option to support your favorite pros that provides them with much-needed funding during the shutdown while letting you prepare for reopening is gift certificates or other prepayments. By buying gift certificates now, you can use them at your leisure once things are reopened. And since you can give gift certificates to others, this also makes a great way to offer your favorite services to friends, family and others. If your favorite pros don’t offer gift certificates, they may be able to provide you with options to prepay for specific services.

Word of Mouth

Even if you aren’t able to schedule services in advance or buy gift certificates, there are still ways for you to help your favorite professionals. Follow them on social media and share their updates about their reopening, tell others about the services that they offer, and otherwise work to provide important word-of-mouth advertising. This will help to ensure that the pros have plenty of business waiting for them once they are able to reopen. If they begin providing limited or other services as part of a gradual rollout, your word of mouth can help to spread the word about this rollout plan so that their reopening goes smoothly.

Support Local Professionals

As you can see, there are a number of options available when it comes to supporting professionals in your community who aren’t able to open up just yet. This sort of support is essential not only for the professionals themselves but also for your community in general. Supporting local businesses is an important part of helping your local economy recover after the shutdown. Do your best to keep up with the options that are available to you for supporting various professionals, helping the pros in your community prepare for reopening and rebuild their business. This will help to ensure that they are able to recover and thrive in the days and months ahead.

DIY Painting Tips

There are a lot of people tackling DIY projects at the moment. Some of these are necessary projects that people are doing themselves to avoid bringing strangers into their homes. Others are simply a way to pass the time and shake off some boredom. Regardless of the reason, you might find yourself considering some interior painting.
This can be a great idea, especially if you find yourself going a bit stir-crazy while you wait for everything to reopen. That said, it’s important that you don’t rush into a DIY painting project since that can lead to results that are less than optimal. Here are a few things to think about to help ensure that your painting project turns out well.

Measure First

A can of paint only goes so far, so it’s important to know just how much paint you need before you buy it. Since most paint colors are mixed, there’s no guarantee that paint mixed at different times will look exactly the same even if it’s all supposed to be the same color. A can of paint covers an average of 400 square feet, though this can differ based on the paint type and other factors. To begin, measure the width and height of each wall and multiply to get their area. Be sure add the area of any ceilings if you’re painting them as well. Once you know exactly how much surface area you need to cover, you can check the coverage of the specific paint you’re getting and buy accordingly.

Make a Single Trip

Even though some areas are opening things up again, that doesn’t mean you can stop respecting social distancing rules. Figure out exactly what you need and make a list so that you can buy it in a single trip. Wear a mask, avoid getting too close to anyone else and go get your supplies at a time when the store isn’t crowded.

Prep Your Rooms

Don’t underestimate the importance of prepping your rooms. Fill any holes, sand rough surfaces and take the time to clean everything. If possible, wash the surfaces you’re going to paint with soap and water a day or two before you plan to start painting. Even if you aren’t painting them, you should also clean the ceiling, baseboards and any other surfaces so that any cobwebs, dust and dirt on them doesn’t mess up your freshly painted surfaces. Remove any outlet covers, light switch panels and anything else that’s attached to the walls. Once the room is ready, be sure and use an appropriate primer to coat everything you’re going to paint before you start painting.

Paint in the Proper Order

You might be tempted to jump right in and start working on the walls. Doing so can actually make things more difficult in the long run, though. If you’re painting your baseboards, start with them first. Move on to window and door frames, then the ceiling. Once these are all painted, give them plenty of time to dry, then put easy-release painter’s tape over the painted surfaces. After everything is taped up, you can then paint the walls and not have to worry about getting paint on those areas you’ve already painted. Any paint that got on the walls while you were painting your trim and ceilings will be painted over with your wall paint.

Working With Tape

Putting down painter’s tape is easy but pulling it up can be very frustrating. A lot of people don’t think about the fact that paint from the walls will overlap onto the tape, so pulling the tape off can take paint with it, leaving an uneven edge on the paint. Before pulling, take a utility knife and cut the paint right at the edge of your trim or taped surface. Pull the tape at a 45-degree angle behind where you’re cutting, ensuring a nice crisp edge to your painting. Just make sure that the paint has dried for at least a day so that it’s not still soft or gummy.

Give Yourself Time

When you start painting, allow yourself at least a few days per room. You’ll need time to prep the surfaces you’re going to paint, time for the primer to dry and then additional time for the paint itself to dry. If you’re doing multiple coats, that time will be even longer. It will all pay off in the end, though, with the extra time resulting in a more professional look with even coverage and nice clean edges. Once everything’s dried you can start replacing anything you removed, but give yourself at least a few more days before trying to clean the newly-painted surfaces.

Social distancing in public spaces

It goes without saying that no one expected 2020 to turn out the way that it has. The last several weeks have been especially difficult, with businesses shutting down and people needing to stay at home. Though the measures seemed extreme, they were necessary as a way for people to protect both themselves and others in their community.

This isolation is finally starting to wind down, with many areas either reopening businesses or releasing a roadmap for reopening. This doesn’t mean that everything is immediately going back to normal, however. There are still some risks associated with going out in public, especially in certain parts of the country. Here are some things to keep in mind to help you stay safe even as restrictions are lifted.

Social Distancing Is Still a Thing

One big thing to be aware of is that just because more places are opening doesn’t mean you can ignore social distancing guidelines. When out in public areas, you still want at least six feet between you and those around you. To help you navigate this, many stores and other places open to the public are placing tape, stickers or signs out to show you how far six feet is. Even if those indicators are not present, you can estimate six feet by picturing how much room you take up holding your arms out to your sides; if you’re close enough that you could touch another person’s hand or arm if you both had your arms stretched out, then you’re a bit too close.

Avoid Crowded Public Spaces

Just because a place is open for business doesn’t mean that you have to visit it right now. Many businesses or other public venues that were previously closed will have a sudden rush of people who have been waiting to visit. This can be bad, as crowds make it difficult to maintain proper social distancing. Wait for things to clear out a bit or choose a time early in the morning to avoid the crowds and keep yourself and others safe.

Use Curbside Purchasing

You may have already used some curbside pickup options while buying supplies during the lockdown period. As more stores open, many of them will offer curbside options as well. Most will use curbside pickup for online purchases, but some places such as pharmacies, vets and specialty stores may let you call in orders directly from the parking lot. The rules for curbside pickup vary based on the specific store you’re visiting, but for the most part you simply pull into a specially marked space and give the store a call. Let them know that you’re there to pick up an order and give both the identifier for the space you’re parked in and your name or order number. They’ll deliver the order to you with minimal contact.

Real Estate Concerns

The real estate market has been hit by the COVID-19 outbreak, with many buyers and sellers being hesitant to physically interact with each other. As things open back up and the economy starts to improve, we’ll likely see more open houses and showings. Care should still be taken to ensure that social distancing guidelines are followed at all times. Doors, windows and any other barriers should be opened by the homeowner beforehand to reduce or eliminate the need for contact with surfaces inside of the home.

Home Improvement Options

While everything was in lockdown, a lot of people put off home improvements and other non-essential activities that might bring new people into the home. Many turned instead to DIY projects, and they’re still a great idea even as things start to return to something closer to normal. With that said, you might be ready to bring in a contractor for your home improvement project. Just make sure to maintain distance away from any workers and check with the contractor to make sure that everyone will wear a mask or other facial covering while in your home.

Getting Out of the House

While we may not be out of the woods yet, this doesn’t mean that you can’t get out of the house if you do so safely. To help prevent the spread of disease while outside, wear a mask and maintain your distance from others. It’s ok if things still feel a bit weird, and you’re more than welcome to ease back into things at a pace that you’re comfortable with. Just remember that there are a lot of outdoor activities in parks and other public areas that let you stay away from crowds while still getting out of the house. Even if it’s just a brief trip, you might be amazed at how much good getting out can do after weeks of seeing the same four walls.

Is not a good time to buy a home?

With social distancing being an important part of life at the moment and so many parts of the economy suffering the effects of state lockdowns, some are worried about how all of this will affect the housing market. This is especially a concern for those who were hoping to buy a new home and have seen their plans potentially derailed by the pandemic. Is this a good time to consider buying a new home, assuming that it’s even safe to do so?

The answer may be surprising.

It’s a Buyer’s Market

With the current state of the world, the demand for real estate has dropped significantly. This has left those who have already listed homes for sale or who were planning to list over the summer in a position where there are far fewer people looking at their properties. For some sellers, this isn’t much of an issue; they can simply wait it out and stick to their previous plans. A lot of sellers don’t have that luxury, though. This creates a buyer’s market where a lot of sellers are willing to consider offers that they wouldn’t have in the past, giving potential buyers a lot more control in the home-buying process.

As the name suggests, it’s always good to buy in a buyer’s market. It isn’t necessarily a great time to list a home for sale, of course, since you’d likely have to settle for a lower offer than you were expecting if you want to move the property. This usually helps to balance out the market, with listing rates slowing down to meet demand until things pick back up again. This particular buyer’s market is a bit different than a lot of past ones, though.

Demand Is Staying Low

Most of the time, a buyer’s market is caused by shifts in the economy that have people trying to save money; an example of this would be a recession. These economic shifts temporarily reduce the number of people who are willing to take on large debts, creating a glut of sellers trying to entice a smaller pool of buyers. The buyer’s market typically fizzles out once the number of sellers shrinks or the economy stabilizes.

In the current buyer’s market, the economy certainly plays a factor. There is an external factor at play here as well, however: The physical distancing that COVID-19 requires has added additional worry about open houses and other forms of interpersonal contact that are traditional when buying or selling a house. There’s still a lot of uncertainty surrounding the pandemic, including how long it will last, so with this external factor and the currently stunted economy we could see demand stay low for longer than you would expect in a buyer’s market situation.

Market Recovery

This isn’t to say that the market won’t recover, of course. Some states have already started reopening non-essential businesses and other parts of the economy, and other states have plans to start reopening soon. The economy will likely stay sluggish for a while, but reopening is the first part of recovery. Even the pandemic is becoming something less of a factor as people continue to practice social caution and science continues to work toward treatment and vaccine options. While market recovery may take longer than in the past, a recovery will happen, and the good deals that buyers can find now will become less common as things move forward.

Buying Safe

If you do decide to shop for a home in the current market, make sure that you’re smart about it and stay safe. Maintain all physical distancing practices while looking at homes, even if there is only a seller or agent present. Ask whether no-contact options such as virtual tours or virtual closing with digital signage are options, and if touring the property request that any doors or other barriers be opened before you arrive to reduce contact. Wear a mask, bring hand sanitizer and take the same precautions that you would in any other social situation. This may seem excessive for viewing a home, but keep in mind that these practices not only protect you, but also protect the seller and agent as well.