Happy New Year!!! We hope that you enjoyed your holidays spent with family and friends. As I write this, it is the week between Christmas and New Year’s-a time that generally is slower and allows time to be spent with family and friends who have come into town to celebrate together. It is always a nice time to reflect back on the year and look forward to the year ahead. Following this time is the spring market which will typically start a few short weeks from now, so a bit of time to rest and reflect is always welcome. We hope you are able to take some time to do the same as finding quiet and reflective time in this fast-paced world has gotten harder and harder.
This holiday season, Kylie has been able to take a couple of weeks off at the end of the year for a much-needed vacation with her family. Thea has also taken a week off to spend time with her family in Cleveland. Next Christmas and every one thereafter will be MUCH different with a child. It is always so fun to relive the wonder, excitement and joy of Christmas through a child’s eyes.
Steve and Thea had a big day 2 weeks ago when they were sworn in as the Chairman of The Board of Directors and Chairwoman of the Young Professionals Council, respectively of the Westfield Chamber of Commerce! Westfield is the fastest-growing city in the state and one of the fastest-growing in the country and we are thrilled to take the helm together to help our city grow and represent fellow business leaders young and experienced make Westfield the best city around! Please connect with us if you have ideas to help make our community better.
As we start to prepare for the spring selling season, we have received quite a few questions from clients wanting to know what to expect. While no one has a clear crystal ball, this is what we have read, heard and seen from some pretty reputable experts and most of them have been pretty in sync with their predictions. We also tend to agree.
The interest rates the Federal Reserve have increased have absolutely had the effect they were intending and that is to cool an overheated market, including housing. While our housing market is still at an anemic 1.7-months of inventory compared to a balanced market of 6-months, the momentum has absolutely shifted to the buyers’ favor for the first time in almost 3 years.
Interest rates have fallen almost 100 basis points or 1% from their high a few weeks ago, which is great news! We are expecting them to continue to fall to around 5% by June of next year.
There will absolutely be more inventory hitting the market this spring as it always does, but we are still woefully short of what we need.
Builders have slowed building due to the drop off in buyer demand and their profit margins are shrinking quickly as the prices their subs charge are not decreasing, but the prices builders are charging buyers are decreasing and the incentives they are having to offer buyers are increasing. Both of these contribute to shrinking profits.
Due to the above, many, many buyers and sellers have sidelined themselves the past several months contributing to a lot of pent up demand. As interest rates decline these buyers and sellers will enter the market and we are likely to see a busy spring market again, which may include bidding wars.
Our market continues to appreciate even though pending and closed sales are seeing declines just short of 30% year-over-year.
Interest rate buy-downs have become the tool of the market right now allowing buyers to snag a rate around 4.5% for the first year, 5.5% for the second year and 6.5% for the rest of the term. Buyers are banking on the fact that interest rates will decline in the next 2-years and then they will refinance into a permanent, lower rate. While this is a risk, it is unlikely rates will not continue to decline.
Mortgage interest rates are tied to inflation data, which is showing inflation going down. This is why mortgage rates are dropping while the Fed is continuing to increase the Fed Funds rate.
If you are a seller, spring should be your friend. If you are a buyer, NOW is the time to buy before the feeding frenzy picks up again and you have lots more competition. Spring will bring more choices to buyers, however.
Nationwide, we are approximately 5-7 million homes short of what is needed.
As always, please let us know if you have specific questions about your house or buying plans. We are happy to consult with you about your specific situation and how you can make the most out of the market. Due to the crazy swings in the market, the automated valuation sites are more inaccurate than we have seen them in a long time. Your best bet is to have us come out to take a look at your house and give you specific data relative to your house and your specific market. We are happy to do this!
Don’t miss some of our upcoming events for January:
Steve’s Seller Workshop-The Top Ten Dumb Mistakes Smart People Make When Selling Their House. This interactive workshop will take you from house prep to going on the market and everything in-between. Join us on Tuesday, January 10th from 7-8:30pm via Zoom. E-mail steve@Welcome2Indy.com to register.
Thea’s Home Buyer Workshop-Everything You Need to Know to Buy A Home in Today’s Market. Join Thea on Wednesday, January 25th from 5:30-7pm via Zoom to hear the tips and tricks Thea teaches her clients to succeed in today’s market. E-mail thea@Welcome2Indy.com to register.
Our first Happy Hour of the year will be on the 4th Thursday of January due to a scheduling conflict on our usual 3rd Thursday. Join us from 5-6:30pm at Matt The Miller’s in Carmel as we toast in the new year and catch up with each other and hear about holiday festivities. E-mail kylie@Welcome2Indy.com to register.
From our family to yours, we wish you a happy and prosperous New Year. As always, if your plans for 2023 include a change in housing, give us a call. We would love to help!
Click here to read our January newsletter
Your Friends in Real Estate,
Steve, Kylie, Thea, and Mark
P.S. Please don’t keep us a secret!
Friday, December 30, 2022
Sunday, December 04, 2022
December 2022 Newsletter
Happy Holidays! From our family to yours, we hope this finds you thankful for all of your blessings you celebrated with family and friends over Thanksgiving and looking forward to the holiday season full of excitement and anticipation. It is hard to believe yet another holiday season is upon us as we look back at 2022 and wonder where the year went. For the real estate market, this year has been the proverbial roller coaster, to be sure. More on that below.
The most exciting news by far for our team is that our Senior Buyer Specialist Thea Snelly and her husband Michael are expecting their first child in May of next year!!! We couldn’t be more excited for them to welcome this new life into the world. They will be amazing parents. If you have ever worked with Thea, you know first-hand just how caring and compassionate she is. Thea will be coming back to the team after taking several weeks off for maternity leave, however in the meantime, we are looking for someone to either fill in for Thea while she is spending time with her baby or perhaps even add a 2nd buyer’s agent. If you know someone who would be good, please e-mail me at Steve@Welcome2Indy.com. We would love to talk with them!
Kylie is looking forward to taking a couple of weeks off to spend with her family for the Christmas holiday mid-December. Thea and I will be holding down the fort for her as she enjoys a much-needed and well-deserved break.
My family will be staying here in Indy during Christmas as Brigid’s parents visit from Florida as well as her brother and his family from Boston. We are looking forward to spending time with them. We continue to wait for news from colleges for Ana, but having a couple of acceptance letters in hand makes the wait a little more tolerable. Tali is into her competitive cheer season and is fresh off her first competition where the two teams she is on earned 4 first place trophies and Grand Champion. We are so proud of her and all of the many hours of hard work she puts in at the gym.
This has been an extremely busy 3-weeks for our team! On November 19th, we welcomed almost 500 people into our office to get their professional photos taken with Santa. We hope you enjoyed the day and appreciate you making us part of your holiday traditions!
On November 22nd, we had our 3rd annual Thanksgiving Pie Giveaway. We gave away almost 100 pies to our clients and referral partners and donated pies to Student Impact of Westfield. We also supported a local bakery No Label at The Table, which makes gluten and dairy-free pies that are made by young people on the autism spectrum. Thank you for making us part of your Thanksgiving meal!
On December 1st we had two events. The first was an extremely special presentation featuring Holocaust survivor Frank Grunwald. We are honored to have invited Frank to speak to The Westfield Chamber of Commerce and were the title sponsor. Frank gave an incredibly moving and haunting account of his time spent in 4 concentration camps complete with original photos. Over 230 people from the community came to hear Frank speak including 62 high school kids from Guerin Catholic, Westfield High and Corum Deo Latin school. We were honored to have sponsored several student tables as well so they could hear first-hand what they have been learning in school about the Holocaust. We welcomed over 30 of our clients and were honored to provide tickets for 20 of them to hear this amazing story about Frank’s experiences. If you were able to attend, thank you! It was truly a moving, powerful and thought-provoking experience for everyone.
We finished the day with a more light-hearted event as we welcomed many of you to our final Happy Hour of the year at Matt The Miller’s. Thank you to Walla Painting for sponsoring again this year!! If you need any painting done, give Jonathan a call-317-999-8124. He is the exclusive painter for our team. Tell him we sent you!
We have our final Seller Workshop of the year on Tuesday, December 13th from 7-8:30pm via Zoom. E-mail steve@Welcome2Indy.com if you or someone you know is thinking about selling in the next 12-months or so. This workshop is interactive and you will learn the Top Ten Dumb Mistakes Smart People Make When Selling Their House (and how to avoid them). These mistakes have been know to cost people thousands of dollars. We will also talk about the market and give more info on where we have been, where we are now, and where we believe we will go next year.
In January, Thea will be hosting a Buyer Workshop via Zoom. More info will be coming later. Tons of great info about this crazy market will be discussed and how you can take advantage of it.
From the spring market being the hottest on record in terms of price appreciation at a national average of 22.3% to the Fall seeing that number dip to 9.8%, interest rates climbed an unprecedented 4%+/- in a matter of months, the fastest ever recorded and buyer demand went from a white hot record to some of the lowest ever recorded in the shortest time ever measured. Over 43% of houses on the market now have made a price adjustment, something we haven’t really seen for 3-years. Inventory is up from 2 weeks to 1.6-months in the span of 9-months. It is important to note that inventory is rising very slowly compared to other parts of the country, which is good.
We have enjoyed talking with many of you asking for clarity on this market and what to expect next year as you plan to buy, sell and/or build a new home. The good news is that every economist I have read, including the most accurate mortgage rate economist Barry Habib states interest rates that were once around 7.5%, are expected to continue to decline at least into summer 2023. They have already dropped ~1% from their highs to ~6.5%. They are expected to drop to around 5% by Q2 2023. So, this is good news! If you or someone you know is thinking about buying, selling, or building next year, pay attention to what I say next.
If the overwhelming majority of the predictions are even close to what happens in the market next year, we could be in for another crazy spring market. Here’s why. Many sellers and buyers have stayed on the sidelines due to interest rates and the market volatility. There is substantial pent-up demand as a result. If interest rates decline, we are going to see a lot of houses hit the market (this is a good thing!), but also even more buyers enter the market and we will be in another bidding war situation.
The good news is that there are tools specifically designed for this exact situation. One of the most popular is the 2/1 rate buy-down. Basically, the seller pays to buy your rate down to around 3.75% for 2-years. You re-finance into a more permanent rate next spring when rates are lower. Any of the unused money for the rate buy-down is applied to your principal mortgage balance and your monthly payment stays low for the term of your loan. If you do this now before the spring market heats up and you are back into a competitive situation thus paying a lot more for the same house you could buy today, you stand to save potentially tens of thousands of dollars over the term of your loan. If this sounds interesting to you, please send me an e-mail at steve@Welcome2Indy.com or call me at 317-339-7698. I would be happy to walk you through this and connect you with one of our preferred loan partners to run specific numbers for your unique situation.
Here are some stats from MIBOR comparing October 2022 numbers to September 2022:
Median Sales Price-DOWN 1.8% to $280,000
Closed Sales-DOWN 16.4% to 2,726 units
New Listings-DOWN 11.1% to 3,044 units
Pending Sales-DOWN 0.1% to 2,703 units
Days on Market-UP 7.1% to 30 days
Price per s.f.-UP 0.6% to $163
% of Ask Received-DOWN 0.4% to 98.3%
Active Inventory-UP 3.1% to 4,491 units
Absorption Rate-UP 23.1% to 1.6 months
You can see that all of these numbers are showing a slowing of the market, just like the Fed has worked hard to do. It is working!!! However, we are NOT in a buyer’s market or in a market that is poised for a contraction with housing values going down. We are slowing down and getting back to a more manageable pace that is normal and healthy. You have questions. We have answers!!! Call us-317-339-7698. We are happy to help answer questions and provide clarity for YOUR specific situation so you can make an informed decision.
We hope you enjoyed the calendar we sent you in November for 2023. As mentioned last month, this will be the last calendar we send. Due to technology replacing the need for paper wall calendars and the significantly increasing costs to send them to our growing list of clients, we made the hard decision to pull the plug on them after almost 50-years. We have also decided to not duplicate the monthly newsletter we send you and just send it electronically…at least for the time-being. If you prefer the paper copy, please send me an e-mail at Steve@Welcome2Indy.com. If enough people want the paper one, we may bring it back sometime next year. We will still send the postcards you have come to enjoy twice/month.
Thank you for reading this far!! May you and those you love enjoy this magical time of the year and know that our family is grateful for you and the blessings you bring to us. Always feel comfortable calling us when you or someone you care about needs help with real estate. We are always here for you!
Your Personal Real Estate Consultants…for Life!
Steve, Kylie, Thea and Mark
Click here to read our December newsletter
P.S. Please don’t keep us a secret!
The most exciting news by far for our team is that our Senior Buyer Specialist Thea Snelly and her husband Michael are expecting their first child in May of next year!!! We couldn’t be more excited for them to welcome this new life into the world. They will be amazing parents. If you have ever worked with Thea, you know first-hand just how caring and compassionate she is. Thea will be coming back to the team after taking several weeks off for maternity leave, however in the meantime, we are looking for someone to either fill in for Thea while she is spending time with her baby or perhaps even add a 2nd buyer’s agent. If you know someone who would be good, please e-mail me at Steve@Welcome2Indy.com. We would love to talk with them!
Kylie is looking forward to taking a couple of weeks off to spend with her family for the Christmas holiday mid-December. Thea and I will be holding down the fort for her as she enjoys a much-needed and well-deserved break.
My family will be staying here in Indy during Christmas as Brigid’s parents visit from Florida as well as her brother and his family from Boston. We are looking forward to spending time with them. We continue to wait for news from colleges for Ana, but having a couple of acceptance letters in hand makes the wait a little more tolerable. Tali is into her competitive cheer season and is fresh off her first competition where the two teams she is on earned 4 first place trophies and Grand Champion. We are so proud of her and all of the many hours of hard work she puts in at the gym.
This has been an extremely busy 3-weeks for our team! On November 19th, we welcomed almost 500 people into our office to get their professional photos taken with Santa. We hope you enjoyed the day and appreciate you making us part of your holiday traditions!
On November 22nd, we had our 3rd annual Thanksgiving Pie Giveaway. We gave away almost 100 pies to our clients and referral partners and donated pies to Student Impact of Westfield. We also supported a local bakery No Label at The Table, which makes gluten and dairy-free pies that are made by young people on the autism spectrum. Thank you for making us part of your Thanksgiving meal!
On December 1st we had two events. The first was an extremely special presentation featuring Holocaust survivor Frank Grunwald. We are honored to have invited Frank to speak to The Westfield Chamber of Commerce and were the title sponsor. Frank gave an incredibly moving and haunting account of his time spent in 4 concentration camps complete with original photos. Over 230 people from the community came to hear Frank speak including 62 high school kids from Guerin Catholic, Westfield High and Corum Deo Latin school. We were honored to have sponsored several student tables as well so they could hear first-hand what they have been learning in school about the Holocaust. We welcomed over 30 of our clients and were honored to provide tickets for 20 of them to hear this amazing story about Frank’s experiences. If you were able to attend, thank you! It was truly a moving, powerful and thought-provoking experience for everyone.
We finished the day with a more light-hearted event as we welcomed many of you to our final Happy Hour of the year at Matt The Miller’s. Thank you to Walla Painting for sponsoring again this year!! If you need any painting done, give Jonathan a call-317-999-8124. He is the exclusive painter for our team. Tell him we sent you!
We have our final Seller Workshop of the year on Tuesday, December 13th from 7-8:30pm via Zoom. E-mail steve@Welcome2Indy.com if you or someone you know is thinking about selling in the next 12-months or so. This workshop is interactive and you will learn the Top Ten Dumb Mistakes Smart People Make When Selling Their House (and how to avoid them). These mistakes have been know to cost people thousands of dollars. We will also talk about the market and give more info on where we have been, where we are now, and where we believe we will go next year.
In January, Thea will be hosting a Buyer Workshop via Zoom. More info will be coming later. Tons of great info about this crazy market will be discussed and how you can take advantage of it.
From the spring market being the hottest on record in terms of price appreciation at a national average of 22.3% to the Fall seeing that number dip to 9.8%, interest rates climbed an unprecedented 4%+/- in a matter of months, the fastest ever recorded and buyer demand went from a white hot record to some of the lowest ever recorded in the shortest time ever measured. Over 43% of houses on the market now have made a price adjustment, something we haven’t really seen for 3-years. Inventory is up from 2 weeks to 1.6-months in the span of 9-months. It is important to note that inventory is rising very slowly compared to other parts of the country, which is good.
We have enjoyed talking with many of you asking for clarity on this market and what to expect next year as you plan to buy, sell and/or build a new home. The good news is that every economist I have read, including the most accurate mortgage rate economist Barry Habib states interest rates that were once around 7.5%, are expected to continue to decline at least into summer 2023. They have already dropped ~1% from their highs to ~6.5%. They are expected to drop to around 5% by Q2 2023. So, this is good news! If you or someone you know is thinking about buying, selling, or building next year, pay attention to what I say next.
If the overwhelming majority of the predictions are even close to what happens in the market next year, we could be in for another crazy spring market. Here’s why. Many sellers and buyers have stayed on the sidelines due to interest rates and the market volatility. There is substantial pent-up demand as a result. If interest rates decline, we are going to see a lot of houses hit the market (this is a good thing!), but also even more buyers enter the market and we will be in another bidding war situation.
The good news is that there are tools specifically designed for this exact situation. One of the most popular is the 2/1 rate buy-down. Basically, the seller pays to buy your rate down to around 3.75% for 2-years. You re-finance into a more permanent rate next spring when rates are lower. Any of the unused money for the rate buy-down is applied to your principal mortgage balance and your monthly payment stays low for the term of your loan. If you do this now before the spring market heats up and you are back into a competitive situation thus paying a lot more for the same house you could buy today, you stand to save potentially tens of thousands of dollars over the term of your loan. If this sounds interesting to you, please send me an e-mail at steve@Welcome2Indy.com or call me at 317-339-7698. I would be happy to walk you through this and connect you with one of our preferred loan partners to run specific numbers for your unique situation.
Here are some stats from MIBOR comparing October 2022 numbers to September 2022:
Median Sales Price-DOWN 1.8% to $280,000
Closed Sales-DOWN 16.4% to 2,726 units
New Listings-DOWN 11.1% to 3,044 units
Pending Sales-DOWN 0.1% to 2,703 units
Days on Market-UP 7.1% to 30 days
Price per s.f.-UP 0.6% to $163
% of Ask Received-DOWN 0.4% to 98.3%
Active Inventory-UP 3.1% to 4,491 units
Absorption Rate-UP 23.1% to 1.6 months
You can see that all of these numbers are showing a slowing of the market, just like the Fed has worked hard to do. It is working!!! However, we are NOT in a buyer’s market or in a market that is poised for a contraction with housing values going down. We are slowing down and getting back to a more manageable pace that is normal and healthy. You have questions. We have answers!!! Call us-317-339-7698. We are happy to help answer questions and provide clarity for YOUR specific situation so you can make an informed decision.
We hope you enjoyed the calendar we sent you in November for 2023. As mentioned last month, this will be the last calendar we send. Due to technology replacing the need for paper wall calendars and the significantly increasing costs to send them to our growing list of clients, we made the hard decision to pull the plug on them after almost 50-years. We have also decided to not duplicate the monthly newsletter we send you and just send it electronically…at least for the time-being. If you prefer the paper copy, please send me an e-mail at Steve@Welcome2Indy.com. If enough people want the paper one, we may bring it back sometime next year. We will still send the postcards you have come to enjoy twice/month.
Thank you for reading this far!! May you and those you love enjoy this magical time of the year and know that our family is grateful for you and the blessings you bring to us. Always feel comfortable calling us when you or someone you care about needs help with real estate. We are always here for you!
Your Personal Real Estate Consultants…for Life!
Steve, Kylie, Thea and Mark
Click here to read our December newsletter
P.S. Please don’t keep us a secret!
Monday, October 31, 2022
November 2022 Newsletter
Happy Thanksgiving!! From our family to yours, we hope that you are able to take some time this holiday season to pause and reflect on all of the positive things in your life. Too often, we let ourselves focus and dwell on the negative. Here is an interesting fact: We can’t control the first thought that comes to our mind, but we CAN control the second thought. Our wish for you is for peace, gratitude, comfort, and thankfulness this holiday season. We sure do appreciate you!! If you are reading this newsletter, it is because you are an important part of our lives either as a client or a referral partner. We are grateful to be part of your life and we appreciate you!!
A few updates from our team:
Steve and his family returned a couple of weeks ago from a bucket-list vacation to Italy and Switzerland. We visited Milan (took a fashion tour, saw the Last Supper painting and toured the Duomo), Bologna (we saw the Ferrari and Lamborghini factories and museums), headed to Lake Como and took a boat ride around the lake and saw George Clooney’s house as well the house where a James Bond movie was filmed as well as a Star Wars movie. Then, we took the Bernina Express to St. Moritz in Switzerland and toured the city center as well as took a couple of funiculars and a gondola to the top of the mountain for some amazing views during lunch. Long travel time to and from Milan, but worth it for some amazing memories.
Ana has been accepted to Ole Miss and IU and is waiting on more letters from colleges over the next couple of months. Fingers crossed for more acceptance letters (as well as scholarships!).
Tali just ended her school cheer season. She enjoyed cheering on the sideline as well as the competition team, which placed 2nd in state on Saturday! They are so excited! Now, she focuses on her club team ICE, which starts competing in 2-weeks. No rest for the weary!!!
Thea and Michael are looking forward to a fun vacation to enjoy some downtime starting Thursday. They will be gone a little over a week. I am on duty for all buyers while Thea is gone, so if you or someone you care about needs anything, give me a call. Happy to help!
Kylie celebrated a birthday a couple weeks ago and took a long weekend to celebrate. Thea and I treated her to a birthday lunch upon her return. She is looking forward to Trick-Or-Treating with her youngest Jax.
Thank you to everyone who attended our October Happy Hour. We had a great time and Shellie Law was the lucky winner of the gift card drawing. Thank you to our sponsor 360 Tours who is our real estate photography company for sponsoring this month! Please note, due to Thanksgiving, the November Happy Hour will be December 1st from 5-6:30pm at Matt The Miller’s. This will be the last Happy Hour of the year. We hope you can join us!! Check your e-mail to register.
Don’t miss Steve’s Home Seller Workshop on Tuesday, November 8th from 7-8pm. This is an awesome, low-pressure workshop for you or someone you care about thinking about selling in the next year. We talk about the market, common mistakes we see sellers make, and offer FREE Staging tips and tricks to get the highest price out of your house. E-mail steve@Welcome2Indy.com to register.
Photos with Santa is Saturday, November 19th from 12-3pm at our office. Don’t forget to register with kylie@Welcome2Indy.com Your kiddo can tell Santa what they would like for Christmas, write a letter to Santa (Santa WILL write back), enjoy treats, and get a professional photo with Santa to use for your holiday cards.
Annual Thanksgiving Pie Giveaway is scheduled for Tuesday, November 22nd from 11AM-6pm at our office. Please let kylie@Welcome2Indy.com know what type and flavor of pie you would like. You can order gluten-free cherry or Steve and Mark’s Perfectly Peach pie or a regular pie and those flavors are apple, cherry, or pumpkin. Our gluten-free pies are coming again from No Label at The Table here in Carmel. That is a small, family-owned bakery that employs young men and women on the autism spectrum. We love to support them and all of the good they do! We hope to see you!!! Thank you to Mark Kuchik and CrossCountry Mortgage for partnering with us!!
Finally, on the event front, I hope you saw the e-mail I sent a few days ago about the Holocaust Survivor presentation featuring Frank Grunwald. Frank is a friend of my father Jack. He survived 3 concentration camps and is the subject of a documentary about his experience as well as having several artifacts in the National Holocaust Museum in Washington DC. We have arranged for Frank to speak at Westfield Intermediate School and Guerin Catholic High School last year. This year, we have arranged from him to speak to the Westfield Chamber at a special presentation. I have the honor of being the Title Sponsor for the event and have purchased 2 tables for clients and a 3rd table for Guerin Catholic students. Frank is a master story-teller and will move you when you hear his story and see his photos. This event is open to the public and will sell out. If you are interested in hearing Frank’s chilling story, please register for this event here
Please join us on Thursday, December 1st from 11AM-1PM at IMMI in Westfield to hear this amazing man and his incredible story of survival. It is powerful, moving, and incredible to hear.
This market has been nutty lately, hasn’t it? Interest rates are above 7% and housing has certainly taking a break from the crazy pace of the past 3-years. This isn’t a bad thing. We will be talking more about this at my Home Seller Workshop, so sign up to get more details then. We do expect interest rates to start falling starting in November. Expectations are that they will be back in the 5% range within 6-months. Time will tell. If that happens, there will be another crazy spring market as buyers and sellers rush to take advantage of the lower interest rates. If you or someone you care about is thinking or buying, selling, or building a new home in the next 12-months, give us a call. We are happy to consult with you/them about your options.
Here is the latest housing data comparing August to September in Metro Indy courtesy of MIBOR:
Median Sales Price-$285,000-No change
Closed Sales-3,216 units-DOWN 8.6%
New Listings-3,407 units-DOWN 10.1%
Pending Sales-2,940 units-DOWN 9.4%
Days on Market-28 days-UP 27.3%
Price per s.f.-$162-DOWN 2.4%
% of Asking Price Received-98.7%-DOWN 0.5%
Active Inventory-4,357 units-UP 8.8%
Absorption Rate-1.4 months-UP 27.3%
You can quickly see effect of the mortgage rates more than doubling in 6-months. Housing has certainly slowed, however we are NOT expecting house prices to depreciate. We do expect them to appreciate at a slower pace of 3-5%, which is normal for our market. Housing inventory is still extremely low with a balanced market being 6-months of inventory and we are at 1.4 months! Bottom line, if you are thinking of selling, there is still very little competition and there is still buyer demand.
If you are a buyer, use a 2/1 rate buy-down until interest rates come down next year and then re-finance. Don’t wait until the spring rush with lower interest rates when you will have a ton of competition again like this spring. Buyer have more leverage now than they have had in 3-years. Take advantage of it while you can!
Click here to read our November newsletter.
Happy Thanksgiving!!
Steve, Kylie, Thea, and Mark
P.S. Please don’t keep us a secret!!
P.P.S. Don’t forget to register for all of our upcoming events we have planned for you!
A few updates from our team:
Steve and his family returned a couple of weeks ago from a bucket-list vacation to Italy and Switzerland. We visited Milan (took a fashion tour, saw the Last Supper painting and toured the Duomo), Bologna (we saw the Ferrari and Lamborghini factories and museums), headed to Lake Como and took a boat ride around the lake and saw George Clooney’s house as well the house where a James Bond movie was filmed as well as a Star Wars movie. Then, we took the Bernina Express to St. Moritz in Switzerland and toured the city center as well as took a couple of funiculars and a gondola to the top of the mountain for some amazing views during lunch. Long travel time to and from Milan, but worth it for some amazing memories.
Ana has been accepted to Ole Miss and IU and is waiting on more letters from colleges over the next couple of months. Fingers crossed for more acceptance letters (as well as scholarships!).
Tali just ended her school cheer season. She enjoyed cheering on the sideline as well as the competition team, which placed 2nd in state on Saturday! They are so excited! Now, she focuses on her club team ICE, which starts competing in 2-weeks. No rest for the weary!!!
Thea and Michael are looking forward to a fun vacation to enjoy some downtime starting Thursday. They will be gone a little over a week. I am on duty for all buyers while Thea is gone, so if you or someone you care about needs anything, give me a call. Happy to help!
Kylie celebrated a birthday a couple weeks ago and took a long weekend to celebrate. Thea and I treated her to a birthday lunch upon her return. She is looking forward to Trick-Or-Treating with her youngest Jax.
Thank you to everyone who attended our October Happy Hour. We had a great time and Shellie Law was the lucky winner of the gift card drawing. Thank you to our sponsor 360 Tours who is our real estate photography company for sponsoring this month! Please note, due to Thanksgiving, the November Happy Hour will be December 1st from 5-6:30pm at Matt The Miller’s. This will be the last Happy Hour of the year. We hope you can join us!! Check your e-mail to register.
Don’t miss Steve’s Home Seller Workshop on Tuesday, November 8th from 7-8pm. This is an awesome, low-pressure workshop for you or someone you care about thinking about selling in the next year. We talk about the market, common mistakes we see sellers make, and offer FREE Staging tips and tricks to get the highest price out of your house. E-mail steve@Welcome2Indy.com to register.
Photos with Santa is Saturday, November 19th from 12-3pm at our office. Don’t forget to register with kylie@Welcome2Indy.com Your kiddo can tell Santa what they would like for Christmas, write a letter to Santa (Santa WILL write back), enjoy treats, and get a professional photo with Santa to use for your holiday cards.
Annual Thanksgiving Pie Giveaway is scheduled for Tuesday, November 22nd from 11AM-6pm at our office. Please let kylie@Welcome2Indy.com know what type and flavor of pie you would like. You can order gluten-free cherry or Steve and Mark’s Perfectly Peach pie or a regular pie and those flavors are apple, cherry, or pumpkin. Our gluten-free pies are coming again from No Label at The Table here in Carmel. That is a small, family-owned bakery that employs young men and women on the autism spectrum. We love to support them and all of the good they do! We hope to see you!!! Thank you to Mark Kuchik and CrossCountry Mortgage for partnering with us!!
Finally, on the event front, I hope you saw the e-mail I sent a few days ago about the Holocaust Survivor presentation featuring Frank Grunwald. Frank is a friend of my father Jack. He survived 3 concentration camps and is the subject of a documentary about his experience as well as having several artifacts in the National Holocaust Museum in Washington DC. We have arranged for Frank to speak at Westfield Intermediate School and Guerin Catholic High School last year. This year, we have arranged from him to speak to the Westfield Chamber at a special presentation. I have the honor of being the Title Sponsor for the event and have purchased 2 tables for clients and a 3rd table for Guerin Catholic students. Frank is a master story-teller and will move you when you hear his story and see his photos. This event is open to the public and will sell out. If you are interested in hearing Frank’s chilling story, please register for this event here
Please join us on Thursday, December 1st from 11AM-1PM at IMMI in Westfield to hear this amazing man and his incredible story of survival. It is powerful, moving, and incredible to hear.
This market has been nutty lately, hasn’t it? Interest rates are above 7% and housing has certainly taking a break from the crazy pace of the past 3-years. This isn’t a bad thing. We will be talking more about this at my Home Seller Workshop, so sign up to get more details then. We do expect interest rates to start falling starting in November. Expectations are that they will be back in the 5% range within 6-months. Time will tell. If that happens, there will be another crazy spring market as buyers and sellers rush to take advantage of the lower interest rates. If you or someone you care about is thinking or buying, selling, or building a new home in the next 12-months, give us a call. We are happy to consult with you/them about your options.
Here is the latest housing data comparing August to September in Metro Indy courtesy of MIBOR:
Median Sales Price-$285,000-No change
Closed Sales-3,216 units-DOWN 8.6%
New Listings-3,407 units-DOWN 10.1%
Pending Sales-2,940 units-DOWN 9.4%
Days on Market-28 days-UP 27.3%
Price per s.f.-$162-DOWN 2.4%
% of Asking Price Received-98.7%-DOWN 0.5%
Active Inventory-4,357 units-UP 8.8%
Absorption Rate-1.4 months-UP 27.3%
You can quickly see effect of the mortgage rates more than doubling in 6-months. Housing has certainly slowed, however we are NOT expecting house prices to depreciate. We do expect them to appreciate at a slower pace of 3-5%, which is normal for our market. Housing inventory is still extremely low with a balanced market being 6-months of inventory and we are at 1.4 months! Bottom line, if you are thinking of selling, there is still very little competition and there is still buyer demand.
If you are a buyer, use a 2/1 rate buy-down until interest rates come down next year and then re-finance. Don’t wait until the spring rush with lower interest rates when you will have a ton of competition again like this spring. Buyer have more leverage now than they have had in 3-years. Take advantage of it while you can!
Click here to read our November newsletter.
Happy Thanksgiving!!
Steve, Kylie, Thea, and Mark
P.S. Please don’t keep us a secret!!
P.P.S. Don’t forget to register for all of our upcoming events we have planned for you!
Wednesday, September 28, 2022
October 2022 Newsletter
Happy Fall!!! Like it or not, pumpkin spice lattes, football, Fall festivals, and hot apple cider are here!! Fall is also usually a time for the real estate market to make its final push before winter. More on that later…
We hope that you are enjoying the cooler temps and watching football again after a long break. It is hard to believe that soccer is almost over and sectionals are only a couple of weeks away. Ana is looking forward to the end of this season and having more time for pursuing other interests. Tali only has two more football games for which to cheer the first week of October and then that season is over. Her school competition cheer team had their first competition a couple of weeks ago and they placed first! The next one coming up will be MUCH harder!
Brigid just got back from a business trip to Philly and then leaves again for another trip to Denver in a week. She will be able to see her aunt and uncle and maybe cousins who live out there now and is looking forward to that.
As a family, we are looking forward to Fall Break next month. We have been anxiously awaiting this trip for 3 years since we had to cancel it due to the pandemic. We are headed to Italy! We have never been before and are SO excited! We will be touring Milan, Lake Cuomo, as well as part of Switzerland and the Alps. If you have traveled to any of these places and have some must-do experiences, please let me know.
Thea is staying extremely busy helping buyers in this shifting marketing. Making sure you have an extremely strong advocate who is knowledgeable about not only the market, but also the mortgage environment is crucial right now.
Kylie is keeping very busy with keeping up with the team paperwork and reports as well as marketing (with Thea’s help as well). She is doing a great job, as always keeping everything organized so we and our clients don’t miss a beat!
Lots happening for our clients over the next few months!!! Thank you to everyone who attended our September Happy Hour. We had a great turnout and really enjoyed hearing from our sponsor Sarah Snarr with Journey Injection Lounge-309-621-5797. If you have thought about cosmetic injections or need to address joint pain, give Sarah a call. She is a Nurse Practitioner who puts her clients first and achieves great results.
Our October Happy Hour is being moved back one week due to Fall Break. Please join us on Thursday, October 27th from 5-6:30pm at Matt The Miller’s in Carmel. Our sponsor this month is Susie Chamberlin with 360-Tour Design. They do all of our photo and video shoots for our listings and do an amazing job!! As always, we will cover the food and drinks. Come relax, meet some new friends and maybe some old ones and share a smile with us. You are welcome to bring a friend as well!
I hope you were able to join us for Thea’s Home Buyer Workshop on the 28th. She covers what is going on in the market right now as well as what the home buying process looks like and how to position yourself to be successful. She also answers all of your questions. If you or someone you care about are thinking of buying a home in the next year, please sign up for this awesome workshop. Guarantee you will learn something new! You can text Thea at 440-862-1118 to register for the October workshop on the 26th.
Thank you to those who attended my Home Seller Workshop on the 13th of September. We covered the Top Ten Dumb Mistakes Smart People Make When Selling Their House. We also covered the current shifting market, what specifically that means for each participant, what the future is likely to hold (our crystal balls are a little cloudy right now as well!) and how you can make your house stand out in this market when homes are not typically selling in a day anymore. The next workshop will be on October 11th from 7-8:30pm via Zoom. Contact Steve at 317-339-7698 to get registered.
Mark your calendars now for November 22nd for our annual Thanksgiving Day Pie Pick-up. We will again be supporting No Label at The Table this year and provide gluten-free pies AND we will also be providing regular pies for those who prefer those. You will have several flavors from which to choose and we will have your pie ready to pick up on the 22nd. Look for more info in the mail and e-mail soon!
Also, mark your calendars for our annual Photos with Santa on Saturday, November 19th at our office from 11AM-3PM. The first hour is for sensory-sensitive children only. It will be on the 4th floor of our building this year. Photos will be sent to you within a week so you can include them on holiday cards whether they are printed or digital. We will have a Santa’s workshop and your children can write a letter to Santa and he will be responding to each one!!!
Due to Thanksgiving, we are moving our November Happy Hour back two weeks to December 1st from 5-6:30pm. We hope you will join us for our last Happy Hour of the year!!
Also, a bit of sad news to report. Your calendars for 2023 will be the LAST ones you will receive from us. We have provided calendars for our clients for over 40-years!!! Sadly, like so many print materials, they have become obsolete for so many of our clients. After talking with many of you, we made the decision to make 2023 the final year. As you can imagine, they are very expensive for us to send and have only gotten more expensive over the years. With so many people (including our families) only using electronic calendars to keep track of everything, we felt this was the right decision. Thank you for understanding!
Finally, the real estate market. It. Has. Shifted. Houses are not selling in hours. Most houses aren’t even selling in days. Most houses are taking weeks to sell now and 41% of houses have needed a price reduction in order to sell. Builders are offering nice incentives again, such as $20,000 Design Center credits and $10,000 toward closing costs. Things have drastically changed in 6-months, however we are still extremely short of housing supply. It is trending up, but we are a long way away from being in a balanced market defined as approximately 6-months of inventory. We have 1-month of inventory right now! Interest rates continue to climb to the high 6% range, which is still below the 40-year average of around 8%. We do expect them to come back down next year. If you are thinking of buying/selling/building/investing in a house, give us a call TODAY so we can walk you through your options as you have many right now. Below are some stats from MIBOR comparing August 2022 to July 2022:
Median Sales Price-DOWN 3.1% to $285,000
Closed Sales-UP 1.0% to 3,461 units
New Listings-DOWN 8.4% to 3,761 units
Pending Sales-UP 2.0% to 3,486 units
Days on Market-UP 35.3% to 23 days
Price per s.f.-DOWN 1.2% to $166
% of Ask Received-DOWN 1.4% to 99.3%
Active Inventory-UP 3.9% to 4,010 units
Absorption Rate-9.1% to 1.2 months
Happy Fall!!! See you soon at an upcoming event!!
Enjoy the October newsletter (click here) and let us know what you think!
Your Friends in Real Estate,
Steve, Kylie, Thea, and Mark
P.S. Please don’t keep us a secret!
We hope that you are enjoying the cooler temps and watching football again after a long break. It is hard to believe that soccer is almost over and sectionals are only a couple of weeks away. Ana is looking forward to the end of this season and having more time for pursuing other interests. Tali only has two more football games for which to cheer the first week of October and then that season is over. Her school competition cheer team had their first competition a couple of weeks ago and they placed first! The next one coming up will be MUCH harder!
Brigid just got back from a business trip to Philly and then leaves again for another trip to Denver in a week. She will be able to see her aunt and uncle and maybe cousins who live out there now and is looking forward to that.
As a family, we are looking forward to Fall Break next month. We have been anxiously awaiting this trip for 3 years since we had to cancel it due to the pandemic. We are headed to Italy! We have never been before and are SO excited! We will be touring Milan, Lake Cuomo, as well as part of Switzerland and the Alps. If you have traveled to any of these places and have some must-do experiences, please let me know.
Thea is staying extremely busy helping buyers in this shifting marketing. Making sure you have an extremely strong advocate who is knowledgeable about not only the market, but also the mortgage environment is crucial right now.
Kylie is keeping very busy with keeping up with the team paperwork and reports as well as marketing (with Thea’s help as well). She is doing a great job, as always keeping everything organized so we and our clients don’t miss a beat!
Lots happening for our clients over the next few months!!! Thank you to everyone who attended our September Happy Hour. We had a great turnout and really enjoyed hearing from our sponsor Sarah Snarr with Journey Injection Lounge-309-621-5797. If you have thought about cosmetic injections or need to address joint pain, give Sarah a call. She is a Nurse Practitioner who puts her clients first and achieves great results.
Our October Happy Hour is being moved back one week due to Fall Break. Please join us on Thursday, October 27th from 5-6:30pm at Matt The Miller’s in Carmel. Our sponsor this month is Susie Chamberlin with 360-Tour Design. They do all of our photo and video shoots for our listings and do an amazing job!! As always, we will cover the food and drinks. Come relax, meet some new friends and maybe some old ones and share a smile with us. You are welcome to bring a friend as well!
I hope you were able to join us for Thea’s Home Buyer Workshop on the 28th. She covers what is going on in the market right now as well as what the home buying process looks like and how to position yourself to be successful. She also answers all of your questions. If you or someone you care about are thinking of buying a home in the next year, please sign up for this awesome workshop. Guarantee you will learn something new! You can text Thea at 440-862-1118 to register for the October workshop on the 26th.
Thank you to those who attended my Home Seller Workshop on the 13th of September. We covered the Top Ten Dumb Mistakes Smart People Make When Selling Their House. We also covered the current shifting market, what specifically that means for each participant, what the future is likely to hold (our crystal balls are a little cloudy right now as well!) and how you can make your house stand out in this market when homes are not typically selling in a day anymore. The next workshop will be on October 11th from 7-8:30pm via Zoom. Contact Steve at 317-339-7698 to get registered.
Mark your calendars now for November 22nd for our annual Thanksgiving Day Pie Pick-up. We will again be supporting No Label at The Table this year and provide gluten-free pies AND we will also be providing regular pies for those who prefer those. You will have several flavors from which to choose and we will have your pie ready to pick up on the 22nd. Look for more info in the mail and e-mail soon!
Also, mark your calendars for our annual Photos with Santa on Saturday, November 19th at our office from 11AM-3PM. The first hour is for sensory-sensitive children only. It will be on the 4th floor of our building this year. Photos will be sent to you within a week so you can include them on holiday cards whether they are printed or digital. We will have a Santa’s workshop and your children can write a letter to Santa and he will be responding to each one!!!
Due to Thanksgiving, we are moving our November Happy Hour back two weeks to December 1st from 5-6:30pm. We hope you will join us for our last Happy Hour of the year!!
Also, a bit of sad news to report. Your calendars for 2023 will be the LAST ones you will receive from us. We have provided calendars for our clients for over 40-years!!! Sadly, like so many print materials, they have become obsolete for so many of our clients. After talking with many of you, we made the decision to make 2023 the final year. As you can imagine, they are very expensive for us to send and have only gotten more expensive over the years. With so many people (including our families) only using electronic calendars to keep track of everything, we felt this was the right decision. Thank you for understanding!
Finally, the real estate market. It. Has. Shifted. Houses are not selling in hours. Most houses aren’t even selling in days. Most houses are taking weeks to sell now and 41% of houses have needed a price reduction in order to sell. Builders are offering nice incentives again, such as $20,000 Design Center credits and $10,000 toward closing costs. Things have drastically changed in 6-months, however we are still extremely short of housing supply. It is trending up, but we are a long way away from being in a balanced market defined as approximately 6-months of inventory. We have 1-month of inventory right now! Interest rates continue to climb to the high 6% range, which is still below the 40-year average of around 8%. We do expect them to come back down next year. If you are thinking of buying/selling/building/investing in a house, give us a call TODAY so we can walk you through your options as you have many right now. Below are some stats from MIBOR comparing August 2022 to July 2022:
Median Sales Price-DOWN 3.1% to $285,000
Closed Sales-UP 1.0% to 3,461 units
New Listings-DOWN 8.4% to 3,761 units
Pending Sales-UP 2.0% to 3,486 units
Days on Market-UP 35.3% to 23 days
Price per s.f.-DOWN 1.2% to $166
% of Ask Received-DOWN 1.4% to 99.3%
Active Inventory-UP 3.9% to 4,010 units
Absorption Rate-9.1% to 1.2 months
Happy Fall!!! See you soon at an upcoming event!!
Enjoy the October newsletter (click here) and let us know what you think!
Your Friends in Real Estate,
Steve, Kylie, Thea, and Mark
P.S. Please don’t keep us a secret!
Saturday, September 03, 2022
September 2022 Newsletter
The end of another summer and the start of another school year. Why does it seem like the older we get, the shorter time seems to be? Ana is in her senior year at Guerin Catholic and we are finishing up applications for colleges. Clemson is still her #1 choice, by far. She is making the most of her senior year by being involved in a lot around school from Deca to school choir to managing the varsity women’s soccer team, to attending football games on Friday nights. Time is going so fast and before we know it, we will be posting move-in photos for college next year!!
Natalia is in 7th grade at Westfield Middle School and is heavily involved in competitive cheer. She is still cheering at ICE, which is her All-Star cheer team as well as her school sideline cheer team for football games and her school competition team. The school cheer teams are new for her and so far she really enjoys them. Many of her ICE teammates are also on the school team, so she knows many of them already.
Brigid is still rocking it at Merck and is taking on more and more responsibility as they roll up a division under her. She is much busier than she was as a field rep, but loves every minute of it. So very proud of her!!!
My biggest news is that I turned 50 a couple of weeks ago! While it is just a number and another day, it IS quite the milestone and the alternative isn’t too appealing! Brigid threw me a nice party (it wasn’t a surprise party) and it was so nice to see so many friends and neighbors.
Thea has been enjoying this shifting market and having more than 5-minutes in order to see and write an offer on houses for her buyers!! She has been keeping busy with not only quite a few buyers, but also working at Greekfest and she is the Council Chairwoman for the Westfield Young Professionals who are organizing an amazing Young Professionals Leadership Conference on September 8th. We are also a sponsor. If you or someone you know is under the age of 40, we would LOVE to have you attend and there are a few tickets still remaining. E-mail Thea at thea@Welcome2Indy.com and she will get you registered.
Kylie has been focused on getting her kiddos back in school over the past couple of weeks. Trey is a freshman at Carmel High School. That is always a significant transition from elementary school, but he is doing well. Jax is starting kindergarten this year, which is also a huge transition and he has been so excited!! On top of this, Kylie organized our first Broker Progressive Open House for a builder we represent, Olthof Homes and she just knocked it out of the park!
We hope you were able to make our Party in The Park a couple of weeks ago. We had a great time with some amazing live music courtesy of The Beatless, Kona Ice truck, photo booth, caricature artist, magician, and games, food, and drink. If you missed it, we hope to see you at an upcoming event soon!!
Speaking of upcoming events, join us for our Happy Hours! They are always the 3rd Thursday of each month from 5-6:30pm at Matt The Miller’s in Carmel. Food and drinks are always on us! Thank you to our sponsor last month Jonathan Walla with Walla Painting. They are our go-to painter for not only all of our clients, but also personally. They do an amazing job, are trustworthy and very competitive on price. If you are considering a painting job soon, give Jonathan a call at 317-999-8124. Tell him I sent you. Join us for our next Happy Hour on Thursday, September 15th. RSVP to events@Welcome2Indy.com by September 13th.
Thea and I are hosting virtual Buyer and Seller Workshops monthly. If you or someone you know is thinking of buying, selling, or building in the next year, please join us. We will be talking about what the process looks like, the most common mistakes we see people make and how to avoid them and answer any questions you have. This is a laid-back, conversational hour of learning. Steve’s next Seller Workshop is at 7pm on September 13th and Thea’s next Buyer Workshop is at 5:30pm on September 28th. RSVP via the Eventbrite link you should have received or just e-mail us and we will get you signed up. steve@Welcome2Indy.com or thea@Welcome2Indy.com
Based on the feedback, we know you want an all-expense paid vacation!!! Our next $5,000 vacation giveaway is coming up in 2-weeks!! Call us from 11:30AM-5:30pm on Tuesday, September 13th and we will get you registered for the $5,000. If you give us a referral, we will add 5 entries PER REFERRAL! The phone number to call is 317-975-1511. We hope to hear from you!
There has been a LOT of talk lately about the economy and especially real estate. Interest rates have gone up for the moment, but are still below the 40-year average of 8%. Also, housing inventory is creeping back up again and that is a welcome change from the 2-week inventory we have had for the past year! We are still only at 1-month of supply and we should be around 6 months +/-.
We are expecting mortgage interest rates to fall starting Q4 of this year as we have entered an official recession and history has shown us that interest rates have fallen in every one of the past 6 recessions. None of the economists or industry leaders I have heard believe this will be a long or deep recession and we should pull out of it by summer 2023. Time will tell if they are correct or not.
Is our market overvalued?? Recent news stories would have you believe so, however consider this-the average appreciation rate for the US over the past 40-years is ~4%. If you set a trend line of 4% over those 40-years and extend it to today, we are right where we should be! This takes into account The Great Recession as well as our recent boom. Will some markets around the US depreciate slightly?? Most likely yes. I do not believe Indianapolis will be one of them and neither do any of the economists with whom I have spoken.
This is still a great time to buy or sell. You have never been able to get as high of a price for your house as you will today. If you are a buyer, you DO have more time and inventory from which to choose. As the adage goes, Marry the house and date the rate! Want more info or info specific to YOUR situation, please e-mail me at Steve@Welcome2Indy.com.
Below are some market stats courtesy of MIBOR comparing July 2022 to June 2022:
Median Sales Price-DOWN 1.8% to $294,500
Closed Sales-DOWN 9.8% to 3,404 units
New Listings-DOWN 17.8% to 4,087 units
Pending Sales-DOWN 0.7% to 3,585 units
Days on Market-UP 28.6% to 18 days
Price per s.f.-DOWN 0.6% to $168
% of Ask Received-DOWN 1.2% to 100.7%
Active Inventory-UP 12.8% to 3,866 units
Absorption Rate-UP 22.2% to 1.1 months
Have a great Fall and we hope to see you at some of our upcoming events!!!
Your Friends in Real Estate,
Steve, Kylie, Thea, and Mark
P.S. Please don’t keep us a secret!
Click here to read our September newsletter
Natalia is in 7th grade at Westfield Middle School and is heavily involved in competitive cheer. She is still cheering at ICE, which is her All-Star cheer team as well as her school sideline cheer team for football games and her school competition team. The school cheer teams are new for her and so far she really enjoys them. Many of her ICE teammates are also on the school team, so she knows many of them already.
Brigid is still rocking it at Merck and is taking on more and more responsibility as they roll up a division under her. She is much busier than she was as a field rep, but loves every minute of it. So very proud of her!!!
My biggest news is that I turned 50 a couple of weeks ago! While it is just a number and another day, it IS quite the milestone and the alternative isn’t too appealing! Brigid threw me a nice party (it wasn’t a surprise party) and it was so nice to see so many friends and neighbors.
Thea has been enjoying this shifting market and having more than 5-minutes in order to see and write an offer on houses for her buyers!! She has been keeping busy with not only quite a few buyers, but also working at Greekfest and she is the Council Chairwoman for the Westfield Young Professionals who are organizing an amazing Young Professionals Leadership Conference on September 8th. We are also a sponsor. If you or someone you know is under the age of 40, we would LOVE to have you attend and there are a few tickets still remaining. E-mail Thea at thea@Welcome2Indy.com and she will get you registered.
Kylie has been focused on getting her kiddos back in school over the past couple of weeks. Trey is a freshman at Carmel High School. That is always a significant transition from elementary school, but he is doing well. Jax is starting kindergarten this year, which is also a huge transition and he has been so excited!! On top of this, Kylie organized our first Broker Progressive Open House for a builder we represent, Olthof Homes and she just knocked it out of the park!
We hope you were able to make our Party in The Park a couple of weeks ago. We had a great time with some amazing live music courtesy of The Beatless, Kona Ice truck, photo booth, caricature artist, magician, and games, food, and drink. If you missed it, we hope to see you at an upcoming event soon!!
Speaking of upcoming events, join us for our Happy Hours! They are always the 3rd Thursday of each month from 5-6:30pm at Matt The Miller’s in Carmel. Food and drinks are always on us! Thank you to our sponsor last month Jonathan Walla with Walla Painting. They are our go-to painter for not only all of our clients, but also personally. They do an amazing job, are trustworthy and very competitive on price. If you are considering a painting job soon, give Jonathan a call at 317-999-8124. Tell him I sent you. Join us for our next Happy Hour on Thursday, September 15th. RSVP to events@Welcome2Indy.com by September 13th.
Thea and I are hosting virtual Buyer and Seller Workshops monthly. If you or someone you know is thinking of buying, selling, or building in the next year, please join us. We will be talking about what the process looks like, the most common mistakes we see people make and how to avoid them and answer any questions you have. This is a laid-back, conversational hour of learning. Steve’s next Seller Workshop is at 7pm on September 13th and Thea’s next Buyer Workshop is at 5:30pm on September 28th. RSVP via the Eventbrite link you should have received or just e-mail us and we will get you signed up. steve@Welcome2Indy.com or thea@Welcome2Indy.com
Based on the feedback, we know you want an all-expense paid vacation!!! Our next $5,000 vacation giveaway is coming up in 2-weeks!! Call us from 11:30AM-5:30pm on Tuesday, September 13th and we will get you registered for the $5,000. If you give us a referral, we will add 5 entries PER REFERRAL! The phone number to call is 317-975-1511. We hope to hear from you!
There has been a LOT of talk lately about the economy and especially real estate. Interest rates have gone up for the moment, but are still below the 40-year average of 8%. Also, housing inventory is creeping back up again and that is a welcome change from the 2-week inventory we have had for the past year! We are still only at 1-month of supply and we should be around 6 months +/-.
We are expecting mortgage interest rates to fall starting Q4 of this year as we have entered an official recession and history has shown us that interest rates have fallen in every one of the past 6 recessions. None of the economists or industry leaders I have heard believe this will be a long or deep recession and we should pull out of it by summer 2023. Time will tell if they are correct or not.
Is our market overvalued?? Recent news stories would have you believe so, however consider this-the average appreciation rate for the US over the past 40-years is ~4%. If you set a trend line of 4% over those 40-years and extend it to today, we are right where we should be! This takes into account The Great Recession as well as our recent boom. Will some markets around the US depreciate slightly?? Most likely yes. I do not believe Indianapolis will be one of them and neither do any of the economists with whom I have spoken.
This is still a great time to buy or sell. You have never been able to get as high of a price for your house as you will today. If you are a buyer, you DO have more time and inventory from which to choose. As the adage goes, Marry the house and date the rate! Want more info or info specific to YOUR situation, please e-mail me at Steve@Welcome2Indy.com.
Below are some market stats courtesy of MIBOR comparing July 2022 to June 2022:
Median Sales Price-DOWN 1.8% to $294,500
Closed Sales-DOWN 9.8% to 3,404 units
New Listings-DOWN 17.8% to 4,087 units
Pending Sales-DOWN 0.7% to 3,585 units
Days on Market-UP 28.6% to 18 days
Price per s.f.-DOWN 0.6% to $168
% of Ask Received-DOWN 1.2% to 100.7%
Active Inventory-UP 12.8% to 3,866 units
Absorption Rate-UP 22.2% to 1.1 months
Have a great Fall and we hope to see you at some of our upcoming events!!!
Your Friends in Real Estate,
Steve, Kylie, Thea, and Mark
P.S. Please don’t keep us a secret!
Click here to read our September newsletter
Sunday, July 24, 2022
August 2022 Real Estate Update
Back to school time is just about here again. How does it seem like summer just flies by each year? We hope you and those you care about are having an amazing summer and are creating some fun summer memories. Keep reading for a BRAND NEW event we have created that will do just that!!!
Probably the biggest news (at least for me!) is that I turn 50-years old on August 6th! How is this possible? I certainly don’t FEEL 50, but the numbers don’t lie. Ugh! At least my family were kind enough to ask if I wanted a party or not. I said, ‘Why not?’ Everyone needs a reason to throw a good party!! So, a party it will be and since August 6th falls on a Saturday, it should be even more fun!! I can celebrate officially being old enough to be a full member of AARP!
Ana is starting her senior at Guerin Catholic this year. Instead of playing on the soccer team, she chose to be the team manager as she has had one too many concussions. She loves it and enjoys being with all of her friends on the team. The college admissions applications are ready to be sent on August 1st when they open and she is gunning for Clemson. She has visited campus twice and absolutely loves it and feels at home there. We will see what the admissions gods have to say and will keep you posted.
Tali is working on her choreography for her cheer team as I write this. Since she moved up a level and is the strongest base on the team, there is a lot of weight on her shoulders, literally and figuratively. She absolutely loves it and the gym owner decided to coach her team this year and has made their routine harder than ever before. She wants to WIN. As long as Tali is having fun, we are good with it. They should be a formidable force this year.
Brigid is working harder than ever after being promoted and hiring her team. It seems she is on conference calls all day with a never-ending list of To-Dos. She loves what she does, so that is all that matters.
For those of you who knew Patti on our team, she was our Marketing Director. She decided to pursue a different direction in her life suddenly and we wished her well about a month ago. We hope she is happy with this new chapter and will miss having her coordinate all of our marketing for our clients and team.
Kylie has taken up Patti’s responsibilities, so she is busier than ever. She is doing well and she does have help in that we hired a Virtual Assistant about 4 months ago. His name is Mark and he has been an absolute delight to have on the team helping us from the other side of the world. He has taken a lot of the pressure off of Kylie until we find a new Marketing Director. If you know of someone who would make an outstanding team member for us, please let me know. We are going to hold off on hiring for the immediate future, but will do so before too long.
Thea has been busting her butt all year long and is just getting busier and busier. She is handling the extra work like a champ and getting offers accepted for our buyers left and right. With the market softening, our buyers are finding their offers are getting a little more attention than before and that is especially helpful for our first-time buyers. She also hosted a very successful first-time buyer workshop on July 12th and will be hosting another one in August. Please contact her to be added to the list. It is Zoom only. thea@Welcome2Indy.com
I hosted a seller workshop also on July 12th and we had a great time learning about the Top 10 Mistakes Smart People Make When Selling Their House. Our next one is on August 9th at 7pm. Please contact me if you would like to attend. steve@Welcome2Indy.com
Thank you to everyone who attended our July Happy Hour!!! We had a great group and a lot of fun! If you haven’t ever attended (or even if you have), please consider joining us at our August Happy Hour on August 18th from 5-6:30pm at Matt The Miller’s in Carmel. As always, drinks and food are on us!!!
HUGE ANNOUNCEMENT!!!
For the first time ever, we are hosting a Party in The Park on Sunday, August 12th from 1-4pm. Thank you to our lender partner Mark Kuchik with CrossCountry Mortgage for co-sponsoring this event. You do NOT want to miss this!!! You should have received e-mails and a postcard already. Please RSVP for this by August 10th. Links are in the e-mails and postcard, but if you would like to attend and can’t find the link, please e-mail kylie@Welcome2Indy.com with the number of tickets you would like and we will register you. Check out what we have in store for the afternoon:
Live Band-The Beatless
Magician
Caricature artist
Kona Ice truck
Photo Booth
Games
Food
Drinks
We hope you will join us!!!
As mentioned earlier, our market has absolutely softened in the past few months. This does NOT mean we are seeing a ‘bubble bursting’. There is a big difference between ‘depreciation’ and ‘deceleration’. We are seeing the latter. In the first quarter of this year, home price appreciation hit the highest on record at 20.3%!!! That is simply not sustainable. Since then, mortgage rates have risen, but so have home prices…just at a much slower pace. We expect the year to end at around 5-7% annualized appreciation. This is still much higher than our average of 3%/year. This is a great time to buy/sell a house. There is less buyer competition, but people are still getting record prices for their houses. Interest rates are expected to fall next year, so if that is the case and you have a higher interest rate, you can re-finance for a modest fee. As the saying goes, ‘Marry the house and date the rate.’
Here are some stats from MIBOR comparing June 2022 to May 2022:
Median Sales Price-UP 3.8% to $300,000 (another record!)
Closed Sales-UP 9.2% to 3,711 units
New Listings-UP 15.9% to 4,925 units (this is a good thing!)
Pending Sales-UP 1.1% to 3,842 units (more houses are coming on the market than are being sold. This is helping our inventory shortage)
Days on Market-UP 7.7% to 14 days
Price per s.f.-UP 0.6% to $169
% of Ask Received-DOWN 0.5% to 101.9% (still an amazing number, but trending down showing weakening competition from buyers)
Active Inventory-UP 47.3% to 3,414 units (this number is HUGE!!!!)
Absorption Rate-UP 28.6% to 0.9 months (still anemic, but getting longer)
Bottom line, you can see the market shifting in just ONE month. Pay attention to these numbers. They are still excellent, but shift your expectations. Dave Ramsey says this year will be probably one of the best years to buy/sell in history. Listen to one of his latest podcasts and he will explain why he believes this, but suffice it to say, if you are even thinking of buying or selling, give us a call. We will walk you through your options and set realistic expectations with you, so you can make an informed decision. It’s what we do…Guide, Lead, and Protect our clients.
Have a great rest of the summer!!! If you see me, please go easy on the 50th birthday jokes…
Your Friends in Real Estate,
Steve, Kylie, Thea, and Mark
P.S. Please don’t keep us a secret!
Click here to read our August newsletter
Probably the biggest news (at least for me!) is that I turn 50-years old on August 6th! How is this possible? I certainly don’t FEEL 50, but the numbers don’t lie. Ugh! At least my family were kind enough to ask if I wanted a party or not. I said, ‘Why not?’ Everyone needs a reason to throw a good party!! So, a party it will be and since August 6th falls on a Saturday, it should be even more fun!! I can celebrate officially being old enough to be a full member of AARP!
Ana is starting her senior at Guerin Catholic this year. Instead of playing on the soccer team, she chose to be the team manager as she has had one too many concussions. She loves it and enjoys being with all of her friends on the team. The college admissions applications are ready to be sent on August 1st when they open and she is gunning for Clemson. She has visited campus twice and absolutely loves it and feels at home there. We will see what the admissions gods have to say and will keep you posted.
Tali is working on her choreography for her cheer team as I write this. Since she moved up a level and is the strongest base on the team, there is a lot of weight on her shoulders, literally and figuratively. She absolutely loves it and the gym owner decided to coach her team this year and has made their routine harder than ever before. She wants to WIN. As long as Tali is having fun, we are good with it. They should be a formidable force this year.
Brigid is working harder than ever after being promoted and hiring her team. It seems she is on conference calls all day with a never-ending list of To-Dos. She loves what she does, so that is all that matters.
For those of you who knew Patti on our team, she was our Marketing Director. She decided to pursue a different direction in her life suddenly and we wished her well about a month ago. We hope she is happy with this new chapter and will miss having her coordinate all of our marketing for our clients and team.
Kylie has taken up Patti’s responsibilities, so she is busier than ever. She is doing well and she does have help in that we hired a Virtual Assistant about 4 months ago. His name is Mark and he has been an absolute delight to have on the team helping us from the other side of the world. He has taken a lot of the pressure off of Kylie until we find a new Marketing Director. If you know of someone who would make an outstanding team member for us, please let me know. We are going to hold off on hiring for the immediate future, but will do so before too long.
Thea has been busting her butt all year long and is just getting busier and busier. She is handling the extra work like a champ and getting offers accepted for our buyers left and right. With the market softening, our buyers are finding their offers are getting a little more attention than before and that is especially helpful for our first-time buyers. She also hosted a very successful first-time buyer workshop on July 12th and will be hosting another one in August. Please contact her to be added to the list. It is Zoom only. thea@Welcome2Indy.com
I hosted a seller workshop also on July 12th and we had a great time learning about the Top 10 Mistakes Smart People Make When Selling Their House. Our next one is on August 9th at 7pm. Please contact me if you would like to attend. steve@Welcome2Indy.com
Thank you to everyone who attended our July Happy Hour!!! We had a great group and a lot of fun! If you haven’t ever attended (or even if you have), please consider joining us at our August Happy Hour on August 18th from 5-6:30pm at Matt The Miller’s in Carmel. As always, drinks and food are on us!!!
HUGE ANNOUNCEMENT!!!
For the first time ever, we are hosting a Party in The Park on Sunday, August 12th from 1-4pm. Thank you to our lender partner Mark Kuchik with CrossCountry Mortgage for co-sponsoring this event. You do NOT want to miss this!!! You should have received e-mails and a postcard already. Please RSVP for this by August 10th. Links are in the e-mails and postcard, but if you would like to attend and can’t find the link, please e-mail kylie@Welcome2Indy.com with the number of tickets you would like and we will register you. Check out what we have in store for the afternoon:
Live Band-The Beatless
Magician
Caricature artist
Kona Ice truck
Photo Booth
Games
Food
Drinks
We hope you will join us!!!
As mentioned earlier, our market has absolutely softened in the past few months. This does NOT mean we are seeing a ‘bubble bursting’. There is a big difference between ‘depreciation’ and ‘deceleration’. We are seeing the latter. In the first quarter of this year, home price appreciation hit the highest on record at 20.3%!!! That is simply not sustainable. Since then, mortgage rates have risen, but so have home prices…just at a much slower pace. We expect the year to end at around 5-7% annualized appreciation. This is still much higher than our average of 3%/year. This is a great time to buy/sell a house. There is less buyer competition, but people are still getting record prices for their houses. Interest rates are expected to fall next year, so if that is the case and you have a higher interest rate, you can re-finance for a modest fee. As the saying goes, ‘Marry the house and date the rate.’
Here are some stats from MIBOR comparing June 2022 to May 2022:
Median Sales Price-UP 3.8% to $300,000 (another record!)
Closed Sales-UP 9.2% to 3,711 units
New Listings-UP 15.9% to 4,925 units (this is a good thing!)
Pending Sales-UP 1.1% to 3,842 units (more houses are coming on the market than are being sold. This is helping our inventory shortage)
Days on Market-UP 7.7% to 14 days
Price per s.f.-UP 0.6% to $169
% of Ask Received-DOWN 0.5% to 101.9% (still an amazing number, but trending down showing weakening competition from buyers)
Active Inventory-UP 47.3% to 3,414 units (this number is HUGE!!!!)
Absorption Rate-UP 28.6% to 0.9 months (still anemic, but getting longer)
Bottom line, you can see the market shifting in just ONE month. Pay attention to these numbers. They are still excellent, but shift your expectations. Dave Ramsey says this year will be probably one of the best years to buy/sell in history. Listen to one of his latest podcasts and he will explain why he believes this, but suffice it to say, if you are even thinking of buying or selling, give us a call. We will walk you through your options and set realistic expectations with you, so you can make an informed decision. It’s what we do…Guide, Lead, and Protect our clients.
Have a great rest of the summer!!! If you see me, please go easy on the 50th birthday jokes…
Your Friends in Real Estate,
Steve, Kylie, Thea, and Mark
P.S. Please don’t keep us a secret!
Click here to read our August newsletter
Saturday, June 25, 2022
July 2022 Real Estate Update
Welcome (officially) to summer!! We hope you are enjoying this more relaxed time of year with warmer temperatures, kids out of school, summer concerts, vacations, sports, and the longer daylight hours. While it certainly poses its unique challenges, we hope you are able to spend some fun times making memories with those you care about.
We have some sad news to report in that Patti who was our Director of Marketing resigned abruptly a couple of weeks ago. She will be missed and we wish her nothing but success as she turns a new page in her next chapter. In case you didn’t know, we hired a Virtual Assistant name Mark to help Patti with marketing. She did a great job training him and he will be taking over most of her responsibilities. We will be looking for a replacement for Patti in the coming months, so if you know of a ROCKSTAR person who would make a great Director of Marketing for a high-producing team who is extremely adept at social media and video editing, please send them my way: Steve@Welcome2Indy.com.
Steve is getting ready to leave on a family vacation with Brigid’s family from July 3-10. They will be taking a Norwegian cruise from NYC to Bermuda. Should be a fun time to unwind. Ana is continuing to look at colleges and took a 2nd tour of Clemson in June. She still loves it and it is her #1 choice so far. She toured Auburn at the end of June and it is her #2. She also took a Teen Driving Safety Course at the BMW Performance Center in Greer, SC while looking at Clemson an absolutely loved it!!! If you have a teen driver, we highly recommend this (or similar course). It just may save someone’s life!!!
Brigid has hired her first two employees since being promoted to an Assistant Director position. She loves what she does and that she can work from home. Tali is neck deep in cheer after making the next level team as well as her school cheer team and then also their competition cheer team. She will have 3 cheer teams for which she is cheering. That is a LOT of cheer, but she wouldn’t have it any other way!
Thea is keeping extremely busy with buyers at the moment and is enjoying the summer months. She is the Chair of the Young Professionals Group of Westfield and is busy planning events for the rest of the year, including a parade and a Young Professionals Summit this Fall.
Kylie is keeping busy with her family and two kids trying to keep them busy with summer camps and activities. She really is enjoying the pool and taking the kids to play there.
This real estate market has brought an onslaught of phone calls, texts and e-mails. Know that we constantly stay up-to-date with the latest information so we can pass that along to our clients. Besides reading white papers from Lawrence Yun who is the Chief Economist for NAR, Shelley Specchio who is the CEO of MIBOR, we have recently listened to Steve Lains who is the CEO of BAGI (Builder’s Association of Greater Indianapolis) and Dr. Elliot Eisenberg who is an internationally-acclaimed economist who specializes in real estate.
Along with our own research, every one of these industry experts have steadfastly said there is no real estate bubble. Period. We have the soundest real estate financial fundamentals in history right now and the tightest supply with incredible demand in history. We have an inflation problem. Dr. Eisenberg said we are about at the apex of inflation and should start to see is tick downward soon. A recession will happen, likely next year and will not be bad, but a typical 8-10 month inflation period (which we need). Our recovery will be slow, but steady. We are already seeing goods start to rebound from their trough of supply, but labor is a continued problem. Quite a few people are re-entering the labor market after retiring due to the stock market falling. This should help.
Interest rates have dropped from their peak of around 6.3875% to around 6%. We hope and expect them to continue to fall during the course of the rest of the year. Housing prices will NOT depreciate, but rather decelerate the appreciation we have seen the past few years. We expect to see appreciation rates in the 7-8% range this year, which is down from the 18% we saw last year, but that was not sustainable.
Fun news!!! We hope everyone enjoyed our July Happy Hour at Matt The Miller’s this pas month. Thank you to Keith Pemberton with Pemberton Insurance for sponsoring it!!! We hope to see you at our July Happy Hour on Thursday, July 21st from 5-6:30pm at Matt The Miller’s.
Don’t miss two really great workshops coming up!!! Thea’s Homebuyer workshop is from 5:30-6:30pm on July 12th and she will answer all of your questions about buying a home in this shifting market. It is Zoom only. contact her for log-in info at: Thea@Welcome2Indy.com. Our second workshop is for home sellers and it is also on July 12th from 7-8pm hosted by me. We will be discussing the Top 10 Dumbest Mistakes Smart People Make When Preparing Their House for Sale along with market updates and what to expect in this shifting market. This is live only. Contact me for more info: steve@Welcome2Indy.com
Finally, mark your calendars for our first ever Party in The Park!!! It will be on Sunday, August 14th from 1-4pm at Cool Creek Park in Westfield. You do not want to miss this FREE event! We will have snacks, beverages, a LIVE band, magician, face painting, photo booth, caricature drawings, games, Kona Ice truck and professional photographer and MUCH more!! Look for your invitation in the mail and register via the Eventbrite link to make sure you are on the list. There is limited space, so RSVP early to ensure you get a spot!!! We are grateful to our co-sponsors Mark Kuchik with CrossCountry Mortgage!!!!
Enjoy your July and remember to keep us in mind for people you care about considering making a move. We would love to help them!!!
Here are the market stats from MIBOR comparing May 2022 to May 2021:
Median Sales Price-UP 12.8% to $287,625
Closed Sales-DOWN 2.9% to 3,336 units
New Listings-UP 6.1% to 4,217 units
Pending Sales-UP 2.4% to 3,960 units
Days on Market-DOWN 13.3% to 13 days
Price per s.f.-UP 15.9% to $168
% of Ask Received-UP 0.8% to 102.4%
Active Inventory-UP 29.8% to 2,295 units
Absorption Rate-UP 40.0% to 0.7 months
You will notice that the median sales price is the highest on record. We expect this to keep climbing, but inventory will as well as days on market.
Have a great July!!!
Your Friends in Real Estate,
Steve, Kylie, and Thea
P.S. Please don’t keep us a secret! Click here to read our July newsletter
We have some sad news to report in that Patti who was our Director of Marketing resigned abruptly a couple of weeks ago. She will be missed and we wish her nothing but success as she turns a new page in her next chapter. In case you didn’t know, we hired a Virtual Assistant name Mark to help Patti with marketing. She did a great job training him and he will be taking over most of her responsibilities. We will be looking for a replacement for Patti in the coming months, so if you know of a ROCKSTAR person who would make a great Director of Marketing for a high-producing team who is extremely adept at social media and video editing, please send them my way: Steve@Welcome2Indy.com.
Steve is getting ready to leave on a family vacation with Brigid’s family from July 3-10. They will be taking a Norwegian cruise from NYC to Bermuda. Should be a fun time to unwind. Ana is continuing to look at colleges and took a 2nd tour of Clemson in June. She still loves it and it is her #1 choice so far. She toured Auburn at the end of June and it is her #2. She also took a Teen Driving Safety Course at the BMW Performance Center in Greer, SC while looking at Clemson an absolutely loved it!!! If you have a teen driver, we highly recommend this (or similar course). It just may save someone’s life!!!
Brigid has hired her first two employees since being promoted to an Assistant Director position. She loves what she does and that she can work from home. Tali is neck deep in cheer after making the next level team as well as her school cheer team and then also their competition cheer team. She will have 3 cheer teams for which she is cheering. That is a LOT of cheer, but she wouldn’t have it any other way!
Thea is keeping extremely busy with buyers at the moment and is enjoying the summer months. She is the Chair of the Young Professionals Group of Westfield and is busy planning events for the rest of the year, including a parade and a Young Professionals Summit this Fall.
Kylie is keeping busy with her family and two kids trying to keep them busy with summer camps and activities. She really is enjoying the pool and taking the kids to play there.
This real estate market has brought an onslaught of phone calls, texts and e-mails. Know that we constantly stay up-to-date with the latest information so we can pass that along to our clients. Besides reading white papers from Lawrence Yun who is the Chief Economist for NAR, Shelley Specchio who is the CEO of MIBOR, we have recently listened to Steve Lains who is the CEO of BAGI (Builder’s Association of Greater Indianapolis) and Dr. Elliot Eisenberg who is an internationally-acclaimed economist who specializes in real estate.
Along with our own research, every one of these industry experts have steadfastly said there is no real estate bubble. Period. We have the soundest real estate financial fundamentals in history right now and the tightest supply with incredible demand in history. We have an inflation problem. Dr. Eisenberg said we are about at the apex of inflation and should start to see is tick downward soon. A recession will happen, likely next year and will not be bad, but a typical 8-10 month inflation period (which we need). Our recovery will be slow, but steady. We are already seeing goods start to rebound from their trough of supply, but labor is a continued problem. Quite a few people are re-entering the labor market after retiring due to the stock market falling. This should help.
Interest rates have dropped from their peak of around 6.3875% to around 6%. We hope and expect them to continue to fall during the course of the rest of the year. Housing prices will NOT depreciate, but rather decelerate the appreciation we have seen the past few years. We expect to see appreciation rates in the 7-8% range this year, which is down from the 18% we saw last year, but that was not sustainable.
Fun news!!! We hope everyone enjoyed our July Happy Hour at Matt The Miller’s this pas month. Thank you to Keith Pemberton with Pemberton Insurance for sponsoring it!!! We hope to see you at our July Happy Hour on Thursday, July 21st from 5-6:30pm at Matt The Miller’s.
Don’t miss two really great workshops coming up!!! Thea’s Homebuyer workshop is from 5:30-6:30pm on July 12th and she will answer all of your questions about buying a home in this shifting market. It is Zoom only. contact her for log-in info at: Thea@Welcome2Indy.com. Our second workshop is for home sellers and it is also on July 12th from 7-8pm hosted by me. We will be discussing the Top 10 Dumbest Mistakes Smart People Make When Preparing Their House for Sale along with market updates and what to expect in this shifting market. This is live only. Contact me for more info: steve@Welcome2Indy.com
Finally, mark your calendars for our first ever Party in The Park!!! It will be on Sunday, August 14th from 1-4pm at Cool Creek Park in Westfield. You do not want to miss this FREE event! We will have snacks, beverages, a LIVE band, magician, face painting, photo booth, caricature drawings, games, Kona Ice truck and professional photographer and MUCH more!! Look for your invitation in the mail and register via the Eventbrite link to make sure you are on the list. There is limited space, so RSVP early to ensure you get a spot!!! We are grateful to our co-sponsors Mark Kuchik with CrossCountry Mortgage!!!!
Enjoy your July and remember to keep us in mind for people you care about considering making a move. We would love to help them!!!
Here are the market stats from MIBOR comparing May 2022 to May 2021:
Median Sales Price-UP 12.8% to $287,625
Closed Sales-DOWN 2.9% to 3,336 units
New Listings-UP 6.1% to 4,217 units
Pending Sales-UP 2.4% to 3,960 units
Days on Market-DOWN 13.3% to 13 days
Price per s.f.-UP 15.9% to $168
% of Ask Received-UP 0.8% to 102.4%
Active Inventory-UP 29.8% to 2,295 units
Absorption Rate-UP 40.0% to 0.7 months
You will notice that the median sales price is the highest on record. We expect this to keep climbing, but inventory will as well as days on market.
Have a great July!!!
Your Friends in Real Estate,
Steve, Kylie, and Thea
P.S. Please don’t keep us a secret! Click here to read our July newsletter
Friday, June 03, 2022
June 2022 Home News
Happy summer!!! We made it!! As I write this, my youngest Natalia has been out of school for a week and is now a 7th grader. My oldest Anastasia just finished her last final today and is now a senior at Guerin. Where did the time go?? We truly hope that you are able to create some fun memories this summer and make up for some missed ones over the past few years.
Along with finishing yet another school year, our family has had some exciting happenings. Ana was hit by an inattentive driver a few weeks ago. Everyone is okay, but her car did sustain some damage. The other driver fully admitted fault, so we are good there, but body shops are booked up for MONTHS. It is crazy. So, if you see her driving around with a damaged door, that wasn’t her fault!!! :-)
Natalia made the next level up for her competitive cheer team and she is so excited! She also made the school cheer team and competitive cheer team, so she will be doing a LOT of cheering this next year, but she absolutely loves it!!!
Brigid is still enjoying her promotion at work and has made her first two hires of her career and now will be a manager for the first time ever. She is excited and can’t wait to have some help as she has been doing the job of three people lately.
I am so excited that I get to take Ana next week to a second campus visit to Clemson. That is her #1 school by far. After that I am taking her to the BMW Performance Center where I went in February and she is taking a 2-day Teen Driving School course. We have heard nothing but rave reviews about it and Ana couldn’t be any more excited!!!
Kylie is enjoying her favorite pastime in the summer of laying out by the pool. She loves the sun and her kids love the water. They are also doing some remodeling of their house and she can’t wait until that is finished.
Patti took a vacation last week and knocked out many items on her To Do list. She enjoyed the time off to relax and unwind before our busy summer.
Thea continues to keep busy with her buyers and is doing such a great job getting offers accepted in this HOT market. If you or someone you know is thinking about buying, you need to talk with Thea as she is the best in the biz!
Thank you to everyone who attended our May Happy Hour!! We had a great turnout and a lot of fun as usual!!! Please plan to attend our June Happy Hour on June 16th from 5-6:30pm at Matt The Miller’s. As always, drinks and appetizers are included. You bring the smiles!
Check our website and social media channels for our Father’s Day giveaway. We have some very cool gifts for dad, including a huge gift basket full of beer, grilling equipment, gift cards to 18|8 men’s salon and from a med spa for fixing hair loss, or wrinkles. This prize package is worth $500!!! You don’t have to call in. Just like and follow our social media channels and/or give us a great review on Google and we will enter you into the contest. We will give a review for each new follow/review.
Save the date for a brand new event called A Day in The Park. We are finalizing details now, but look for your invite. We will have food, drinks, prizes, a magician, caricature artist, Kona Ice, games, and a live band!! It is going to be so much fun!!! Reserve August 14th so you can join us!!
I was honored as the Chair-elect of the Westfield Chamber of Commerce and sponsor of one of three scholarships the chamber awards each year to present at the Westfield High School Scholarship and Awards Night. Three Westfield High School students won an essay contest we promote as to what new business you think would be a good addition to the Westfield community and why. It is always so amazing to see what these kiddos have accomplished at such a young age.
The real estate market has been making headlines yet again. Let me cut to the chase. THERE IS NO REAL ESTATE BUBBLE. There is 6-7 years supply shortage right now and too much demand. Inflation and rising interest rates have certainly tempered the market to an extent, but we are still seeing multiple offers above listing price on most houses going on the market. If you or someone you care about are thinking about selling, buying, or building, PLEASE call me-317-573-1880. I would love to talk with you and learn more about your situation so you can be armed with the most relevant and specific information tailored to your situation. I cannot stress this enough. Also, come to my next workshop on June 14th at 7pm titled, ‘The Top 10 Dumbest Mistakes Smart People Make When Selling Their House And How to Avoid Them’. Call/e-mail/text me and I will register you and give you more details. It is a great way to get all of your questions answered in a fun and relaxed environment.
Here are the latest stats from MIBOR comparing March 2022 to April 2022 for the entire Indy Metro area in all price points:
Median Sales Price-$275,000-UP 3.8%
Closed Sales-2,987 units-UP 5.6%
New Listings-3,870 units-UP 7.0%
Pending Sales-3,580 units-UP 4.6%
Days on Market-15 days-DOWN 21.1%
Price per s.f.-$162-UP 4.5%
% of Ask Received-102.1%-UP 0.9%
Active Inventory-1,979 units-UP 23.5%
Absorption Rate-0.7 months-UP 16.7%
Pay close attention to the last two lines. Inventory is UP almost 25%! That is HUGE. Yes, prices continue to increase, but so do closed sales, new listings, and pending sales. Call me if you would like to discuss what these numbers mean to you and your specific situation.
We hope that you enjoy the summer weather and are able to get out and have some fun!! Thank you for being our client and referral partners. We truly appreciate you and couldn’t do what we love without you!!!
Your Friends in Real Estate,
Steve, Kylie, Thea, and Patti
Click here to read our June newsletter.
P. S. Please don’t keep us a secret.
Along with finishing yet another school year, our family has had some exciting happenings. Ana was hit by an inattentive driver a few weeks ago. Everyone is okay, but her car did sustain some damage. The other driver fully admitted fault, so we are good there, but body shops are booked up for MONTHS. It is crazy. So, if you see her driving around with a damaged door, that wasn’t her fault!!! :-)
Natalia made the next level up for her competitive cheer team and she is so excited! She also made the school cheer team and competitive cheer team, so she will be doing a LOT of cheering this next year, but she absolutely loves it!!!
Brigid is still enjoying her promotion at work and has made her first two hires of her career and now will be a manager for the first time ever. She is excited and can’t wait to have some help as she has been doing the job of three people lately.
I am so excited that I get to take Ana next week to a second campus visit to Clemson. That is her #1 school by far. After that I am taking her to the BMW Performance Center where I went in February and she is taking a 2-day Teen Driving School course. We have heard nothing but rave reviews about it and Ana couldn’t be any more excited!!!
Kylie is enjoying her favorite pastime in the summer of laying out by the pool. She loves the sun and her kids love the water. They are also doing some remodeling of their house and she can’t wait until that is finished.
Patti took a vacation last week and knocked out many items on her To Do list. She enjoyed the time off to relax and unwind before our busy summer.
Thea continues to keep busy with her buyers and is doing such a great job getting offers accepted in this HOT market. If you or someone you know is thinking about buying, you need to talk with Thea as she is the best in the biz!
Thank you to everyone who attended our May Happy Hour!! We had a great turnout and a lot of fun as usual!!! Please plan to attend our June Happy Hour on June 16th from 5-6:30pm at Matt The Miller’s. As always, drinks and appetizers are included. You bring the smiles!
Check our website and social media channels for our Father’s Day giveaway. We have some very cool gifts for dad, including a huge gift basket full of beer, grilling equipment, gift cards to 18|8 men’s salon and from a med spa for fixing hair loss, or wrinkles. This prize package is worth $500!!! You don’t have to call in. Just like and follow our social media channels and/or give us a great review on Google and we will enter you into the contest. We will give a review for each new follow/review.
Save the date for a brand new event called A Day in The Park. We are finalizing details now, but look for your invite. We will have food, drinks, prizes, a magician, caricature artist, Kona Ice, games, and a live band!! It is going to be so much fun!!! Reserve August 14th so you can join us!!
I was honored as the Chair-elect of the Westfield Chamber of Commerce and sponsor of one of three scholarships the chamber awards each year to present at the Westfield High School Scholarship and Awards Night. Three Westfield High School students won an essay contest we promote as to what new business you think would be a good addition to the Westfield community and why. It is always so amazing to see what these kiddos have accomplished at such a young age.
The real estate market has been making headlines yet again. Let me cut to the chase. THERE IS NO REAL ESTATE BUBBLE. There is 6-7 years supply shortage right now and too much demand. Inflation and rising interest rates have certainly tempered the market to an extent, but we are still seeing multiple offers above listing price on most houses going on the market. If you or someone you care about are thinking about selling, buying, or building, PLEASE call me-317-573-1880. I would love to talk with you and learn more about your situation so you can be armed with the most relevant and specific information tailored to your situation. I cannot stress this enough. Also, come to my next workshop on June 14th at 7pm titled, ‘The Top 10 Dumbest Mistakes Smart People Make When Selling Their House And How to Avoid Them’. Call/e-mail/text me and I will register you and give you more details. It is a great way to get all of your questions answered in a fun and relaxed environment.
Here are the latest stats from MIBOR comparing March 2022 to April 2022 for the entire Indy Metro area in all price points:
Median Sales Price-$275,000-UP 3.8%
Closed Sales-2,987 units-UP 5.6%
New Listings-3,870 units-UP 7.0%
Pending Sales-3,580 units-UP 4.6%
Days on Market-15 days-DOWN 21.1%
Price per s.f.-$162-UP 4.5%
% of Ask Received-102.1%-UP 0.9%
Active Inventory-1,979 units-UP 23.5%
Absorption Rate-0.7 months-UP 16.7%
Pay close attention to the last two lines. Inventory is UP almost 25%! That is HUGE. Yes, prices continue to increase, but so do closed sales, new listings, and pending sales. Call me if you would like to discuss what these numbers mean to you and your specific situation.
We hope that you enjoy the summer weather and are able to get out and have some fun!! Thank you for being our client and referral partners. We truly appreciate you and couldn’t do what we love without you!!!
Your Friends in Real Estate,
Steve, Kylie, Thea, and Patti
Click here to read our June newsletter.
P. S. Please don’t keep us a secret.
Saturday, April 30, 2022
May Home News
Happy spring!!! We made it! Grass-cutting season is officially upon us along with seasonal allergies…however that also means warmer weather, long daylight in the evenings, schools are getting close to ending for the school year and summer activities are drawing near. The housing market is also in full swing!!!
Happy Mother’s Day to all moms!! Thank you for everything you do for your family!!! We hope you enjoy your special day.
We hope this month’s newsletter finds you well and looking forward to the spring season. For many of us, we have returned recently from spring break, which usually means going somewhere warm. Brigid and I made a promise to Ana and Tali several years ago that we would take them to Hawaii before Ana goes to college and we are running out of time!! So, we went to Kona on the Big Island for spring break and had a great time. So beautiful out there…but so far! Don’t have any plans to go back anytime soon, but we enjoyed our week there.
Last week, Brigid, Tali and I traveled to Orlando for a few days as Tali’s competitive cheer team made it to Worlds. This was their first time and they did great, accomplishing all three of their goals they set for themselves. Practicing for next season has already begun and Tali couldn’t be happier. Tali is also cheering for her Middle School in Westfield this year and hopes to also make their competitive cheer team.
Ana has prom on April 30th with Guerin. She has been looking forward to this for years and is excited to get all dressed up. She is going with a group of 18 friends-9 couples. We are excited for her and the opportunity to take some beautiful photos before their big evening.
So proud of Brigid for getting a promotion at Merck! She has been working hard for this for 2-years now and is excited at this new opportunity. We are very happy for her.
On a not-so-good note, my dad Jack who has managed to evade COVID for two years finally caught it. While he is not feeling great, he is starting to get better and is taking the new medicine to reduce the symptoms and severity of it. Hopefully, my mom Mary Anne will be able to avoid getting it and stay healthy. We sure do hope those you love are staying healthy and keep those we have lost in our prayers.
Kylie has been kept very busy with all of the spring listings we have put on the market. Her family is doing well and her kids are looking forward to the end of the school year and enjoying some time off for summer break.
Thea has been keeping very busy with buyers in this crazy market and is doing a great job in getting offers accepted in the most competitive sellers’ market in history. She is managing to enjoy some down time and loved having her family in town for Easter.
Patti has been working very hard on all of our activities and events we have had and are looking forward to this spring. They are looking forward to a vacation later this year to relax and not focus on events for a week!!
Speaking of events, we have had quite a few lately. Our April Happy Hour was a huge success and we so enjoyed seeing so many of you as we celebrated spring. We hope you will join us for our May Happy Hour on Thursday, May 19th from 5-6:30pm at Matt The Miller’s again. As always, we provide the drinks and appetizers and you bring the conversation. Always a good time!
Thank you to everyone who stopped by our FREE Shred Day last Friday (Earth Day). We securely shredded thousands of pounds of documents and responsibly recycled hundreds of pounds of electronics. Look for information on our next Shred Day this summer.
We sure hope you have your calendars marked for this Tuesday, May 3rd from 10:30am-3:30pm for our Mother’s Day Giveaway!!! Call us during these hours at 317-426-6108. We are giving away a prize package of pampering worth over $800, including a massage, mani-pedi, dinner for two, prize gift basket, flowers, and much more!!! Thank you to JW Restore for co-sponsoring this with us!! The winner will be announced at 4pm via Facebook Live. For every person who calls in, they get one entry and if you call in with a referral, you get FIVE additional entries with no limit on the number of referrals you can give us. We look forward to hearing from you!
The real estate market continues to be super hot, however we are seeing signs of a shift upon us. Buyer traffic is down, number of offers received is down, amount of offer price above asking price is down and units sold is down from this time last year. Bottom line, we are in a shift. We expect a recession to follow. We do not expect it to be more than 6-9 months, nor will it be nearly as bad as the Great Recession. There is just too much of an imbalance of supply and demand for that to happen. If you are remotely considering selling your house, do it now. Interest rates are around 5-5.25%. Give us a call at 317-573-1880 so we can give you data specific to your situation and help you make an informed decision. It is our job to Guide, Lead, and Protect you through this uncertain time right now. Call us today!
Below are stats from MIBOR comparing March 2022 to February 2022. Note that these stats are trailing indicators and are from all areas MIBOR services, which is 16 counties.
Median Sales Price-UP 5.2% to $265,000
Closed Sales-UP 21.1% to 2,780 units
New Listings-UP 43.9% to 3,577 units
Pending Sales-UP 38.5% to 3,609 units
Day on Market-DOWN 13.0% to 20 days
Price per s.f.-UP 2.0% to $155
% of Ask Received-UP 1.1% to 101.2%
Active Inventory-UP 2.4% to 1,560 units
Absorption Rate-DOWN 14.3% to 0.6 months
Keep in mind this is coming off of the winter market, so we do expect to see these numbers accelerate from February. January was the best January in history for MIBOR in terms of units sold.
Thank you for being great clients and referral partners! We couldn’t do what we love to do without you!!!
Happy Mother’s Day!!
Click here to read our May newsletter
Your Friends in Real Estate,
Steve, Kylie, Patti, Thea
P.S. Please don’t keep us a secret.
Happy Mother’s Day to all moms!! Thank you for everything you do for your family!!! We hope you enjoy your special day.
We hope this month’s newsletter finds you well and looking forward to the spring season. For many of us, we have returned recently from spring break, which usually means going somewhere warm. Brigid and I made a promise to Ana and Tali several years ago that we would take them to Hawaii before Ana goes to college and we are running out of time!! So, we went to Kona on the Big Island for spring break and had a great time. So beautiful out there…but so far! Don’t have any plans to go back anytime soon, but we enjoyed our week there.
Last week, Brigid, Tali and I traveled to Orlando for a few days as Tali’s competitive cheer team made it to Worlds. This was their first time and they did great, accomplishing all three of their goals they set for themselves. Practicing for next season has already begun and Tali couldn’t be happier. Tali is also cheering for her Middle School in Westfield this year and hopes to also make their competitive cheer team.
Ana has prom on April 30th with Guerin. She has been looking forward to this for years and is excited to get all dressed up. She is going with a group of 18 friends-9 couples. We are excited for her and the opportunity to take some beautiful photos before their big evening.
So proud of Brigid for getting a promotion at Merck! She has been working hard for this for 2-years now and is excited at this new opportunity. We are very happy for her.
On a not-so-good note, my dad Jack who has managed to evade COVID for two years finally caught it. While he is not feeling great, he is starting to get better and is taking the new medicine to reduce the symptoms and severity of it. Hopefully, my mom Mary Anne will be able to avoid getting it and stay healthy. We sure do hope those you love are staying healthy and keep those we have lost in our prayers.
Kylie has been kept very busy with all of the spring listings we have put on the market. Her family is doing well and her kids are looking forward to the end of the school year and enjoying some time off for summer break.
Thea has been keeping very busy with buyers in this crazy market and is doing a great job in getting offers accepted in the most competitive sellers’ market in history. She is managing to enjoy some down time and loved having her family in town for Easter.
Patti has been working very hard on all of our activities and events we have had and are looking forward to this spring. They are looking forward to a vacation later this year to relax and not focus on events for a week!!
Speaking of events, we have had quite a few lately. Our April Happy Hour was a huge success and we so enjoyed seeing so many of you as we celebrated spring. We hope you will join us for our May Happy Hour on Thursday, May 19th from 5-6:30pm at Matt The Miller’s again. As always, we provide the drinks and appetizers and you bring the conversation. Always a good time!
Thank you to everyone who stopped by our FREE Shred Day last Friday (Earth Day). We securely shredded thousands of pounds of documents and responsibly recycled hundreds of pounds of electronics. Look for information on our next Shred Day this summer.
We sure hope you have your calendars marked for this Tuesday, May 3rd from 10:30am-3:30pm for our Mother’s Day Giveaway!!! Call us during these hours at 317-426-6108. We are giving away a prize package of pampering worth over $800, including a massage, mani-pedi, dinner for two, prize gift basket, flowers, and much more!!! Thank you to JW Restore for co-sponsoring this with us!! The winner will be announced at 4pm via Facebook Live. For every person who calls in, they get one entry and if you call in with a referral, you get FIVE additional entries with no limit on the number of referrals you can give us. We look forward to hearing from you!
The real estate market continues to be super hot, however we are seeing signs of a shift upon us. Buyer traffic is down, number of offers received is down, amount of offer price above asking price is down and units sold is down from this time last year. Bottom line, we are in a shift. We expect a recession to follow. We do not expect it to be more than 6-9 months, nor will it be nearly as bad as the Great Recession. There is just too much of an imbalance of supply and demand for that to happen. If you are remotely considering selling your house, do it now. Interest rates are around 5-5.25%. Give us a call at 317-573-1880 so we can give you data specific to your situation and help you make an informed decision. It is our job to Guide, Lead, and Protect you through this uncertain time right now. Call us today!
Below are stats from MIBOR comparing March 2022 to February 2022. Note that these stats are trailing indicators and are from all areas MIBOR services, which is 16 counties.
Median Sales Price-UP 5.2% to $265,000
Closed Sales-UP 21.1% to 2,780 units
New Listings-UP 43.9% to 3,577 units
Pending Sales-UP 38.5% to 3,609 units
Day on Market-DOWN 13.0% to 20 days
Price per s.f.-UP 2.0% to $155
% of Ask Received-UP 1.1% to 101.2%
Active Inventory-UP 2.4% to 1,560 units
Absorption Rate-DOWN 14.3% to 0.6 months
Keep in mind this is coming off of the winter market, so we do expect to see these numbers accelerate from February. January was the best January in history for MIBOR in terms of units sold.
Thank you for being great clients and referral partners! We couldn’t do what we love to do without you!!!
Happy Mother’s Day!!
Click here to read our May newsletter
Your Friends in Real Estate,
Steve, Kylie, Patti, Thea
P.S. Please don’t keep us a secret.
Sunday, March 27, 2022
April Home News
Welcome spring and longer daylight hours in the evening! As I write this, I am looking out the window at some white stuff that closely resembles snow, but can’t believe it since we were hitting golf balls in a short sleeve shirt at the driving range last weekend! Gotta love Indiana weather!! For our friends and clients who chose to move to warmer climates, congrats!!! You are welcome to say as many, ‘I told you so’ statements as you wish!
While it might be frozen outside, the real estate market is anything but frozen. Our spring market is in full swing and Hamilton County is only seeing a scant 7-days of inventory right now!!! Considering a balanced market is 6-months, this doesn’t even qualify as anemic. We are on life support, people!
The Indy-area market is one of the hottest in the country right now. So many people from high-priced markets are choosing to move here keeping our inventory low. Consequently, our prices keep going up. Last year, we averaged 17.3% appreciation!!! Nuts! If you or anyone you know is considering buying, selling, or building, please give us a call-317-573-1880. We are expert advisors who will lay out all of your options in the most competitive market in history so you can make an informed decision.
We do have some really cool programs to help you or those you introduce to us who need our help. Below are just a few of the programs we offer. Call us for more information.
Concierge Program-at no additional cost and depending on your price point, we will pay for and project manage (limits and exclusions apply) any repairs needed to get your house in ‘show-ready’ condition, including: painting, carpet cleaning, house cleaner, Stager and moving services. There is no other agent in the city offering this type of Concierge Service that we do! Call us today to learn more-317-573-1880.
Keller Concierge-this is an interest-free loan for up to 12-months up to $75,000 to get your house ready for sale. As a Keller Certified Agent, we will walk you through the process and you can take advantage of this ‘best in class’ program to fix up/improve your house to maximize your sales price and put more money in your pocket at closing…without spending a dime of your own money.
Keller Offers-this is a ‘best in class’ i-buyer program that is not for everyone, however if you have a house that you need to sell quickly without doing any repairs, no one walking through your house, no showings and a quick close with cash, this may be worth considering. Call us to learn more-317-573-1880.
Be careful!!! There are a LOT of new programs/companies and ‘shiny objects’ trying to get to your equity. Read below a TRUE story from a colleague of mine that shared this with me to help future homeowners not fall into this all-too-common trap. We are ALL getting bombarded with these calls/letters/texts daily.
This is what “the new way to sell your home” does....
Mr. Homeowner decided to sell his home “instantly” when he received a call/text/email/advertisement about “saving” on listing commission. Mr. Homeowner fired his traditional Realtor and sold to the "instant" offer buyer. FAST FORWARD A FEW DAYS.... the home is back on the market (for the whole world to see, available to all buyers to buy). It's listed for $110,000 more than what he sold it for. No improvements, it's in the exact same condition. The deal is done and they’ll never get that money back, but the company who purchased their home has announced they’re now asking for highest and best offers because they have received multiple offers at/above the current list price (again $110,000 more)….
If you are considering an "instant" offer PLEASE contact a Realtor to ask what your market value is a.k.a what amount of money you would be leaving behind. This is a real situation that just happened in Fishers.
The moral of the story? Do your research. Ask us to help you with that research and know we will be up front, honest and transparent with you about ALL of your options. There is just too much money at stake to fall for this common trap. These companies are laughing all the way to the bank. It is disgusting and makes my stomach turn.
On a brighter note, thank you to everyone who came out to our special St. Patrick’s Day Happy Hour this month!! We had so much fun!!! Everyone left with a huge smile on their face and one lucky winner left with a $25 Amazon gift card. Please join us for our April Happy Hour. Please note that due to Spring Break and vacations, are moving Happy Hour up one week to the 2nd Thursday of April, on April 14th from 5-6:30pm at Matt The Miller’s in Carmel. We will resume our usual 3rd Thursday of the month in May. The weather is getting better and that means we can enjoy the patio, so come join us for free food and drink. We would love to see you!
Mark your calendars for our first Shred Day of 2022! Friday, April 22nd from 10AM-12PM in our office parking lot, we will again be hosting our extremely popular Shred Day. Bring any documents you want securely shredded or electronics you want responsibly recycled and we will happily take them out of your car for you so you don’t even have you get out of your car. As a client/referral partner of ours, this event is absolutely FREE to you!
Thank you to everyone who called in for our $5,000 giveaway earlier this month!!! We had a record number of calls and gave a $5,000 gift card to the lucky winner. Didn’t win? Don’t worry, we have more contests coming, so watch your e-mail, social media and/or our website for your chance to win the next big prize around Mother’s Day.
Quick team news! Steve and his family are looking forward to fulfilling a promise made 10 years ago to Ana and Tali and are headed to Hawaii for spring break!!! We haven’t been back there since our honeymoon almost 19-years ago! We are very much looking forward to going back!
I have been asked to be an expert on a couple of podcasts recently as well as on an appraisal panel and yet another panel for running a successful team to our region. Extremely honored to share experiences and what I’ve learned over the years. Our team is one of only 3% of agents nationwide who have earned the Luxury designation from Keller Williams. This means, we have been recognized for our experience and high level of service in the luxury real estate market and are certified to use the Luxury logo and designation for our marketing. To be clear, we don’t only focus on luxury clients. We help luxury, first-time buyer/sellers and everyone in between.
Thea has been running like crazy finding the perfect home for her buyers in this ultra-competitive market. We are still looking for several clients, but have found homes for most of our buyers. She was able to take a long weekend to spend time with friends in New Orleans last week and enjoyed getting away for a short time.
Patti has been working her tail off with marketing for all of our clients. She has some vacations scheduled later this year and will be excited to take a well-deserved break.
Kylie is in the same boat as Patti and has been working overtime helping our clients. She also has some vacations planned later this year and is very much looking forward to some time off.
If you or someone you know is thinking of buying/selling/building a new home, please call Steve at 317-573-1880. Steve hosts a seller workshop each month on the second Tuesday at 7pm. Give us a call and we can give you more details. Thea hosts a virtual buyer workshop every other month on the odd months (January, March, May, July, September, November). These both are extremely informative, interactive and very low-pressure to educate you on what to expect and how best to prepare for this ultra-competitive real estate market.
If you have read this far, thank you!!! So much info this month, that we are going to skip the market stats. Suffice it to say, we are in the most competitive market in history with appreciation still in the high teens, inventory at about a week, and interest rates around 5%.
We appreciate you and everything you do for us!!! As a result of your continued trust and support, we were the #1 team in our office for 2021, a Top 5 team in the entire Region for 2021 and Steve was named 2021 REALTOR of The Year! On top of this, we were once again named an Angie’s List Super Service Award winner!! We are honored and grateful for your support, confidence and business!!
Happy Spring!
Your Friends in Real Estate,
Steve, Kylie, Patti, and Thea
P.S. Please don’t keep us a secret!
Click here to read our April newsletter
While it might be frozen outside, the real estate market is anything but frozen. Our spring market is in full swing and Hamilton County is only seeing a scant 7-days of inventory right now!!! Considering a balanced market is 6-months, this doesn’t even qualify as anemic. We are on life support, people!
The Indy-area market is one of the hottest in the country right now. So many people from high-priced markets are choosing to move here keeping our inventory low. Consequently, our prices keep going up. Last year, we averaged 17.3% appreciation!!! Nuts! If you or anyone you know is considering buying, selling, or building, please give us a call-317-573-1880. We are expert advisors who will lay out all of your options in the most competitive market in history so you can make an informed decision.
We do have some really cool programs to help you or those you introduce to us who need our help. Below are just a few of the programs we offer. Call us for more information.
Concierge Program-at no additional cost and depending on your price point, we will pay for and project manage (limits and exclusions apply) any repairs needed to get your house in ‘show-ready’ condition, including: painting, carpet cleaning, house cleaner, Stager and moving services. There is no other agent in the city offering this type of Concierge Service that we do! Call us today to learn more-317-573-1880.
Keller Concierge-this is an interest-free loan for up to 12-months up to $75,000 to get your house ready for sale. As a Keller Certified Agent, we will walk you through the process and you can take advantage of this ‘best in class’ program to fix up/improve your house to maximize your sales price and put more money in your pocket at closing…without spending a dime of your own money.
Keller Offers-this is a ‘best in class’ i-buyer program that is not for everyone, however if you have a house that you need to sell quickly without doing any repairs, no one walking through your house, no showings and a quick close with cash, this may be worth considering. Call us to learn more-317-573-1880.
Be careful!!! There are a LOT of new programs/companies and ‘shiny objects’ trying to get to your equity. Read below a TRUE story from a colleague of mine that shared this with me to help future homeowners not fall into this all-too-common trap. We are ALL getting bombarded with these calls/letters/texts daily.
This is what “the new way to sell your home” does....
Mr. Homeowner decided to sell his home “instantly” when he received a call/text/email/advertisement about “saving” on listing commission. Mr. Homeowner fired his traditional Realtor and sold to the "instant" offer buyer. FAST FORWARD A FEW DAYS.... the home is back on the market (for the whole world to see, available to all buyers to buy). It's listed for $110,000 more than what he sold it for. No improvements, it's in the exact same condition. The deal is done and they’ll never get that money back, but the company who purchased their home has announced they’re now asking for highest and best offers because they have received multiple offers at/above the current list price (again $110,000 more)….
If you are considering an "instant" offer PLEASE contact a Realtor to ask what your market value is a.k.a what amount of money you would be leaving behind. This is a real situation that just happened in Fishers.
The moral of the story? Do your research. Ask us to help you with that research and know we will be up front, honest and transparent with you about ALL of your options. There is just too much money at stake to fall for this common trap. These companies are laughing all the way to the bank. It is disgusting and makes my stomach turn.
On a brighter note, thank you to everyone who came out to our special St. Patrick’s Day Happy Hour this month!! We had so much fun!!! Everyone left with a huge smile on their face and one lucky winner left with a $25 Amazon gift card. Please join us for our April Happy Hour. Please note that due to Spring Break and vacations, are moving Happy Hour up one week to the 2nd Thursday of April, on April 14th from 5-6:30pm at Matt The Miller’s in Carmel. We will resume our usual 3rd Thursday of the month in May. The weather is getting better and that means we can enjoy the patio, so come join us for free food and drink. We would love to see you!
Mark your calendars for our first Shred Day of 2022! Friday, April 22nd from 10AM-12PM in our office parking lot, we will again be hosting our extremely popular Shred Day. Bring any documents you want securely shredded or electronics you want responsibly recycled and we will happily take them out of your car for you so you don’t even have you get out of your car. As a client/referral partner of ours, this event is absolutely FREE to you!
Thank you to everyone who called in for our $5,000 giveaway earlier this month!!! We had a record number of calls and gave a $5,000 gift card to the lucky winner. Didn’t win? Don’t worry, we have more contests coming, so watch your e-mail, social media and/or our website for your chance to win the next big prize around Mother’s Day.
Quick team news! Steve and his family are looking forward to fulfilling a promise made 10 years ago to Ana and Tali and are headed to Hawaii for spring break!!! We haven’t been back there since our honeymoon almost 19-years ago! We are very much looking forward to going back!
I have been asked to be an expert on a couple of podcasts recently as well as on an appraisal panel and yet another panel for running a successful team to our region. Extremely honored to share experiences and what I’ve learned over the years. Our team is one of only 3% of agents nationwide who have earned the Luxury designation from Keller Williams. This means, we have been recognized for our experience and high level of service in the luxury real estate market and are certified to use the Luxury logo and designation for our marketing. To be clear, we don’t only focus on luxury clients. We help luxury, first-time buyer/sellers and everyone in between.
Thea has been running like crazy finding the perfect home for her buyers in this ultra-competitive market. We are still looking for several clients, but have found homes for most of our buyers. She was able to take a long weekend to spend time with friends in New Orleans last week and enjoyed getting away for a short time.
Patti has been working her tail off with marketing for all of our clients. She has some vacations scheduled later this year and will be excited to take a well-deserved break.
Kylie is in the same boat as Patti and has been working overtime helping our clients. She also has some vacations planned later this year and is very much looking forward to some time off.
If you or someone you know is thinking of buying/selling/building a new home, please call Steve at 317-573-1880. Steve hosts a seller workshop each month on the second Tuesday at 7pm. Give us a call and we can give you more details. Thea hosts a virtual buyer workshop every other month on the odd months (January, March, May, July, September, November). These both are extremely informative, interactive and very low-pressure to educate you on what to expect and how best to prepare for this ultra-competitive real estate market.
If you have read this far, thank you!!! So much info this month, that we are going to skip the market stats. Suffice it to say, we are in the most competitive market in history with appreciation still in the high teens, inventory at about a week, and interest rates around 5%.
We appreciate you and everything you do for us!!! As a result of your continued trust and support, we were the #1 team in our office for 2021, a Top 5 team in the entire Region for 2021 and Steve was named 2021 REALTOR of The Year! On top of this, we were once again named an Angie’s List Super Service Award winner!! We are honored and grateful for your support, confidence and business!!
Happy Spring!
Your Friends in Real Estate,
Steve, Kylie, Patti, and Thea
P.S. Please don’t keep us a secret!
Click here to read our April newsletter
Thursday, February 24, 2022
March 2022 Newsletter
March is here and spring is just around the corner. I don’t know about you, but I am ready for spring…longer daylight hours, warmer temps, leaves on trees, and closer to some vacation time!!! We hope this month’s newsletter finds you happy and healthy and ready to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day!
I just returned from sunny Orlando for Keller Williams’ annual convention called Family Reunion. There were 9,000 agents from all over the world there to network and learn how to better help their clients. So much information and fun!! The overarching sentiment was that we will continue to see this strong real estate market for quite some time as we are 7-years behind in inventory with no reduction in buyer demand in sight.
Greer, SC is my next stop for a 2-day, adrenaline-pumping experience at BMW’s M School. We race BMW M-series cars around their racetrack under the watchful instruction of professional drivers under many different scenarios. At the end of the weekend, we will have logged over 13-hours of driving and having become much better and more responsive drivers. I take Ana in June for a similar course-the Teen Driving School. She shares her dad’s passion for cars and can’t wait to go!!
Speaking of Ana, she is finishing her final exams this week and is looking forward to winter formal, which has been postponed twice due to COVID. While I will miss seeing her due to my M School, she is really looking forward to going with a group of her friends. Ana has only been driving since December and has done really well!! We are so proud of how responsible she is.
Tali is still in competition season for cheer. We head to Chicago next weekend for a 2-day competition. Her team did really well a couple of weekends ago and earned a bid to Nationals later this year. She is so excited!!!
Patti had a very unfortunate event take place in her house with her ceiling falling in!!! She finally got back into her house after about 2-weeks with contractors cleaning up the mess and giving her new ceiling, floors, and walls. Patti also has a new virtual assistant to help her with marketing. Please welcome MK to our team!!! He just started this week and we look forward to having him help us!
Kylie is glad to be back with us after having COVID for a couple of weeks. We certainly missed her and are happy she is feeling much better!
Thea continues to be super-busy helping all of our buyers find homes. She has seen quite a bit of success beating out other buyers so if you have been thinking about jumping into the market, please call us. She is really good at finding the right home for our clients!
Thank you to everyone who attended our February Happy Hour sponsored by Chris Odle. Chris is a financial advisor who helps people protect their money and grow it for retirement. He is really good at what he does and we highly recommend him!!! Give him a call at 214-213-5112. Please plan to attend our March Happy Hour on St. Patrick’s Day, March 17th from 5-6:30pm at Matt The Miller’s in Carmel. We would love to share the luck o’ the Irish with you!!!
We had a great call-in for our most recent contest and congratulations, again to Ellen Milburn for winning a jam-packed weekend at French Lick!! Enjoy!!!!
Our next contest is our BIGGEST yet and you do not want to miss this!! Call us at 317-426-6108 on Tuesday, March 8th from 11AM-4PM for your chance to win a $5,000 gift card for a dream vacation!!! If you call us with a referral, we will add 3 more entries for you. If you have a spouse or significant other, both of you can call in. Just call us to get entered.
As mentioned earlier, the real estate market continues to be white hot!!! Interest rates continue to rise and so do house values. If you are thinking of buying/selling/building this year or know someone who is, please all us-317-573-1880. We would love to have a conversation with you about what your plans are and how we can best help you achieve your real estate goals. Below are some numbers from MIBOR comparing December 2021 with January 2022. It should be noted that January median sales price is the highest on record, despite dropping a bit from December.
Median sales price=$246,000 DOWN 3.5%
Closed sales=2,161 units DOWN 35.8%
New listings=2,495 units UP 13.6%
Pending sales=2,849 units UP 17.7%
Days on market=29 days UP 20.8%
Price per s.f.=$149 DOWN 1.3%
% of ask received=99.4% DOWN 0.6%
Active inventory=1,738 units DOWN 16.2%
Absorption rate=0.8 months UP 33.3%
There is a LOT of information swirling around about the real estate market. If you would like to know accurate info about YOUR house, give me a call-317-573-1880. We will perform an equity analysis to see how much equity you have in your house and what an accurate market valuation is. This is absolutely FREE to you as a client/referral partner of ours. As a certified Pricing Strategy Advisor, I have been specifically trained on how to properly value residential real estate. Put my training and experience to work for you!
We hope you enjoy this month’s newsletter!! Let us know what you think. Also, check out our website and our YouTube Channel for LOTS more real estate resources, including videos, guides, and articles.
Happy St. Patrick’s Day!!
Your Friends in Real Estate,
Steve, Kylie, Patti, and Thea
I just returned from sunny Orlando for Keller Williams’ annual convention called Family Reunion. There were 9,000 agents from all over the world there to network and learn how to better help their clients. So much information and fun!! The overarching sentiment was that we will continue to see this strong real estate market for quite some time as we are 7-years behind in inventory with no reduction in buyer demand in sight.
Greer, SC is my next stop for a 2-day, adrenaline-pumping experience at BMW’s M School. We race BMW M-series cars around their racetrack under the watchful instruction of professional drivers under many different scenarios. At the end of the weekend, we will have logged over 13-hours of driving and having become much better and more responsive drivers. I take Ana in June for a similar course-the Teen Driving School. She shares her dad’s passion for cars and can’t wait to go!!
Speaking of Ana, she is finishing her final exams this week and is looking forward to winter formal, which has been postponed twice due to COVID. While I will miss seeing her due to my M School, she is really looking forward to going with a group of her friends. Ana has only been driving since December and has done really well!! We are so proud of how responsible she is.
Tali is still in competition season for cheer. We head to Chicago next weekend for a 2-day competition. Her team did really well a couple of weekends ago and earned a bid to Nationals later this year. She is so excited!!!
Patti had a very unfortunate event take place in her house with her ceiling falling in!!! She finally got back into her house after about 2-weeks with contractors cleaning up the mess and giving her new ceiling, floors, and walls. Patti also has a new virtual assistant to help her with marketing. Please welcome MK to our team!!! He just started this week and we look forward to having him help us!
Kylie is glad to be back with us after having COVID for a couple of weeks. We certainly missed her and are happy she is feeling much better!
Thea continues to be super-busy helping all of our buyers find homes. She has seen quite a bit of success beating out other buyers so if you have been thinking about jumping into the market, please call us. She is really good at finding the right home for our clients!
Thank you to everyone who attended our February Happy Hour sponsored by Chris Odle. Chris is a financial advisor who helps people protect their money and grow it for retirement. He is really good at what he does and we highly recommend him!!! Give him a call at 214-213-5112. Please plan to attend our March Happy Hour on St. Patrick’s Day, March 17th from 5-6:30pm at Matt The Miller’s in Carmel. We would love to share the luck o’ the Irish with you!!!
We had a great call-in for our most recent contest and congratulations, again to Ellen Milburn for winning a jam-packed weekend at French Lick!! Enjoy!!!!
Our next contest is our BIGGEST yet and you do not want to miss this!! Call us at 317-426-6108 on Tuesday, March 8th from 11AM-4PM for your chance to win a $5,000 gift card for a dream vacation!!! If you call us with a referral, we will add 3 more entries for you. If you have a spouse or significant other, both of you can call in. Just call us to get entered.
As mentioned earlier, the real estate market continues to be white hot!!! Interest rates continue to rise and so do house values. If you are thinking of buying/selling/building this year or know someone who is, please all us-317-573-1880. We would love to have a conversation with you about what your plans are and how we can best help you achieve your real estate goals. Below are some numbers from MIBOR comparing December 2021 with January 2022. It should be noted that January median sales price is the highest on record, despite dropping a bit from December.
Median sales price=$246,000 DOWN 3.5%
Closed sales=2,161 units DOWN 35.8%
New listings=2,495 units UP 13.6%
Pending sales=2,849 units UP 17.7%
Days on market=29 days UP 20.8%
Price per s.f.=$149 DOWN 1.3%
% of ask received=99.4% DOWN 0.6%
Active inventory=1,738 units DOWN 16.2%
Absorption rate=0.8 months UP 33.3%
There is a LOT of information swirling around about the real estate market. If you would like to know accurate info about YOUR house, give me a call-317-573-1880. We will perform an equity analysis to see how much equity you have in your house and what an accurate market valuation is. This is absolutely FREE to you as a client/referral partner of ours. As a certified Pricing Strategy Advisor, I have been specifically trained on how to properly value residential real estate. Put my training and experience to work for you!
We hope you enjoy this month’s newsletter!! Let us know what you think. Also, check out our website and our YouTube Channel for LOTS more real estate resources, including videos, guides, and articles.
Happy St. Patrick’s Day!!
Your Friends in Real Estate,
Steve, Kylie, Patti, and Thea
Monday, January 31, 2022
February Real Estate Update
Happy Valentine’s Day! We hope that 2022 is off to a good start and that this finds you happy and healthy. I think we are all hoping that 2022 is much healthier that 2020 and 2021 and we can finally start to move past this pandemic. Only time will tell…
The spring market arrived early this year and is in full swing already! Sellers are enjoying crazy good offers and buyers are seeing the continuation of a very competitive market. According to a report by REALTOR.com, Indianapolis is ranked #2 behind Seattle as expecting the biggest increase in sales from 2021 at 14.8%!! Seattle being 15.3%. While we do not know when this wild seller’s market will come to an end, we do know we are closer every year. My prediction is that we will see a noticeable slow-down in 2023, but will still move at a good clip for the next 3 years or so. Builders have increased production to the highest amount of new builds since 2008, but even with that, the National Association of Home Builders states we are still about 5-7 years away from being able to satisfy demand!
With all of this being said, knowing your home’s equity in a reliable manner (Zillow is NOT reliable) is more important now than ever before. You should have received an e-mail from me and a post card within the past couple of weeks encouraging you to schedule a quick 30-minute Equity Analysis. Many clients have taken us up on our offer. There is still time to schedule a quick Zoom consultation by clicking: https://calendly.com/steverupp/30min
Steve and his family are doing well and Tali is in the middle of cheer competition season and having a great time at competitions. Ana is preparing for her next Indianapolis Children’s Choir concert and keeping up with her studies and getting ready for her first ACT and SAT exams. She is enjoying driving her new car and the freedom that comes with it (and so are we!) Steve is looking forward to attending Keller Williams’ annual convention called Family Reunion in Orlando in the middle of February and then heads to Greer, SC to participate in a 2-day BMW M-School where he will be taking a course on racing BMWs. He takes Ana to a 2-day Teen Driving School at the same track in June.
Thea is keeping extremely busy with helping lots of buyers right now win competitive offers. She is enjoying driving a new car for the first time in many years and is putting lots of miles on it already!
Kylie, along with her family has avoided getting COVID…until last week. She has been working on getting better and we are anxious to have her back in the office again.
Patti has been working extra hard while Kylie has been out and finalizing our marketing calendar for the year as well as brand new client guides that incorporate all of the changes our industry has seen in just the past 2-years.
Speaking of changes, you have likely received calls/texts/e-mails/mailings regarding ‘instant offers’. They have even made it to TV commercials. While there is certainly a demographic that can benefit from these types of programs, on average after repair costs, fees (yes, they have some stiff fees) and a profit margin, people are leaving about 15% equity on the table by using these services just to avoid a day or two of showings. Know that if this is an option you would like to explore, we have a program called Keller Offers that is a competitor to these other instant offer services. It is very transparent and efficient and we can get you an offer within 48-hours of viewing your house and you can stay in your house for up to 6-months. This is not the best option if you are trying to maximize your cash at closing, but it is an option if you need to sell very quickly and don’t want to make any preparations for sale or have any showings.
We also have a new product called Keller Concierge. Simply put, this is a short-term (up to 12-months) loan based on your credit that advances you money in order to prepare your house for sale, so you don’t have to use any money out of pocket or liquidate any investments. The terms are VERY attractive. The loan is repaid when you close your house. This is perfect for people who want to make some repairs/updates to their house in order to maximize their sales price, but don’t have or want to spend their own money. Call us if you are interested in either of these programs and we can give/send you more info so you can see if they are a good fit for you.
Thank you to everyone who attended Happy Hour in January! We had a great turnout and lots of laughter and smiles were found throughout the evening. Thank you to 2-10 Home Warranty for sponsoring the evening! Please join us Thursday, February 17th from 5-6:30pm at Matt The Miller’s again for FREE drinks and appetizers. Thank you to Chris Odle with JLK Financial for sponsoring this month’s Happy Hour. Chris is a client and an experienced financial advisor.
Hope you have seen some info lately on our very first Quarterly Prize Giveaway of 2022 taking place on Tuesday, February 1st from 10am-4pm. All you have to do is call us at 317-426-6108. We will ask you a few questions and that is it!!! If you have someone that is thinking of buying, selling, or building a new home soon, give us their name/number and we will give you FIVE more entries. You are entering to win a luxury weekend at French Lick worth over $1,500!!! Thank you to Rojas Roofing and Walla Painting for co-sponsoring this amazing prize package!! You do NOT want to miss this contest!
We have mentioned how competitive the housing market continues to be and here are some stats from MIBOR comparing December 2021 to November 2021:
Median Sales Price=$255,000 >UP 1.2%
Closed Sales=3,323 units >DOWN 4.3%
New Listings=2,162 units >DOWN 29.6%
Pending Sales=2,510 units >DOWN 19.3%
Days on Market=26 days >UP 23.8%
Price per s.f.=$151 >UP 1.3%
% of Ask Received=100.0% >no change
Active Inventory=2,094 units >DOWN 13.7%
Absorption Rate=0.6 months >DOWN 14.3%
Keep in mind, these numbers are for the slower winter market. Expect to see inventory and sales increase dramatically as we transition into the spring market.
Finally, watch your e-mail and social media for a SPECIAL surprise on February 9th. This is something we have never done before and are SO excited to announce it. Be prepared to call us as soon as you see the e-mail/social media post at 317-426-6108.
Thank you for reading!!! We have so many fun events and contests planned for this year and love seeing you!! Hope to see you at one of them soon!!!
Your friends in real estate,
Steve, Kylie, Thea, and Patti
P.S. Please don’t keep us a secret!
Click here to read out February newsletter
The spring market arrived early this year and is in full swing already! Sellers are enjoying crazy good offers and buyers are seeing the continuation of a very competitive market. According to a report by REALTOR.com, Indianapolis is ranked #2 behind Seattle as expecting the biggest increase in sales from 2021 at 14.8%!! Seattle being 15.3%. While we do not know when this wild seller’s market will come to an end, we do know we are closer every year. My prediction is that we will see a noticeable slow-down in 2023, but will still move at a good clip for the next 3 years or so. Builders have increased production to the highest amount of new builds since 2008, but even with that, the National Association of Home Builders states we are still about 5-7 years away from being able to satisfy demand!
With all of this being said, knowing your home’s equity in a reliable manner (Zillow is NOT reliable) is more important now than ever before. You should have received an e-mail from me and a post card within the past couple of weeks encouraging you to schedule a quick 30-minute Equity Analysis. Many clients have taken us up on our offer. There is still time to schedule a quick Zoom consultation by clicking: https://calendly.com/steverupp/30min
Steve and his family are doing well and Tali is in the middle of cheer competition season and having a great time at competitions. Ana is preparing for her next Indianapolis Children’s Choir concert and keeping up with her studies and getting ready for her first ACT and SAT exams. She is enjoying driving her new car and the freedom that comes with it (and so are we!) Steve is looking forward to attending Keller Williams’ annual convention called Family Reunion in Orlando in the middle of February and then heads to Greer, SC to participate in a 2-day BMW M-School where he will be taking a course on racing BMWs. He takes Ana to a 2-day Teen Driving School at the same track in June.
Thea is keeping extremely busy with helping lots of buyers right now win competitive offers. She is enjoying driving a new car for the first time in many years and is putting lots of miles on it already!
Kylie, along with her family has avoided getting COVID…until last week. She has been working on getting better and we are anxious to have her back in the office again.
Patti has been working extra hard while Kylie has been out and finalizing our marketing calendar for the year as well as brand new client guides that incorporate all of the changes our industry has seen in just the past 2-years.
Speaking of changes, you have likely received calls/texts/e-mails/mailings regarding ‘instant offers’. They have even made it to TV commercials. While there is certainly a demographic that can benefit from these types of programs, on average after repair costs, fees (yes, they have some stiff fees) and a profit margin, people are leaving about 15% equity on the table by using these services just to avoid a day or two of showings. Know that if this is an option you would like to explore, we have a program called Keller Offers that is a competitor to these other instant offer services. It is very transparent and efficient and we can get you an offer within 48-hours of viewing your house and you can stay in your house for up to 6-months. This is not the best option if you are trying to maximize your cash at closing, but it is an option if you need to sell very quickly and don’t want to make any preparations for sale or have any showings.
We also have a new product called Keller Concierge. Simply put, this is a short-term (up to 12-months) loan based on your credit that advances you money in order to prepare your house for sale, so you don’t have to use any money out of pocket or liquidate any investments. The terms are VERY attractive. The loan is repaid when you close your house. This is perfect for people who want to make some repairs/updates to their house in order to maximize their sales price, but don’t have or want to spend their own money. Call us if you are interested in either of these programs and we can give/send you more info so you can see if they are a good fit for you.
Thank you to everyone who attended Happy Hour in January! We had a great turnout and lots of laughter and smiles were found throughout the evening. Thank you to 2-10 Home Warranty for sponsoring the evening! Please join us Thursday, February 17th from 5-6:30pm at Matt The Miller’s again for FREE drinks and appetizers. Thank you to Chris Odle with JLK Financial for sponsoring this month’s Happy Hour. Chris is a client and an experienced financial advisor.
Hope you have seen some info lately on our very first Quarterly Prize Giveaway of 2022 taking place on Tuesday, February 1st from 10am-4pm. All you have to do is call us at 317-426-6108. We will ask you a few questions and that is it!!! If you have someone that is thinking of buying, selling, or building a new home soon, give us their name/number and we will give you FIVE more entries. You are entering to win a luxury weekend at French Lick worth over $1,500!!! Thank you to Rojas Roofing and Walla Painting for co-sponsoring this amazing prize package!! You do NOT want to miss this contest!
We have mentioned how competitive the housing market continues to be and here are some stats from MIBOR comparing December 2021 to November 2021:
Median Sales Price=$255,000 >UP 1.2%
Closed Sales=3,323 units >DOWN 4.3%
New Listings=2,162 units >DOWN 29.6%
Pending Sales=2,510 units >DOWN 19.3%
Days on Market=26 days >UP 23.8%
Price per s.f.=$151 >UP 1.3%
% of Ask Received=100.0% >no change
Active Inventory=2,094 units >DOWN 13.7%
Absorption Rate=0.6 months >DOWN 14.3%
Keep in mind, these numbers are for the slower winter market. Expect to see inventory and sales increase dramatically as we transition into the spring market.
Finally, watch your e-mail and social media for a SPECIAL surprise on February 9th. This is something we have never done before and are SO excited to announce it. Be prepared to call us as soon as you see the e-mail/social media post at 317-426-6108.
Thank you for reading!!! We have so many fun events and contests planned for this year and love seeing you!! Hope to see you at one of them soon!!!
Your friends in real estate,
Steve, Kylie, Thea, and Patti
P.S. Please don’t keep us a secret!
Click here to read out February newsletter
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