Happy Spring!!! We hope this newsletter finds you excited that we are now officially in spring and looking forward to all of the activities that brings. The kids are counting down the days until the end of school and for those of us with school-aged kids, spring break is here. Summer break follows shortly thereafter. Lots of memories to be created!
Speaking of memories created, we are celebrating our team since we are all moving forward to exciting times with our lives. Thea is looking forward to spending more time with her son, however she will still be working with a few clients this year. Kylie is looking forward to helping our office in an administrative role while she continues working on launching her healthcare company. Mark who is our virtual assistant will take a bit of a break and then work with other real estate clients to help them like he did with us. Mark was a whiz at editing our intro video and newsletter. You will see some changes starting next month as we transition over to our new team and communications. I will still record my video, but the paper newsletters will go away and you will be receiving an electronic version. We hope you like the new one!!!
We had a great time at our March Happy Hour!!! Loved seeing everyone and so many new faces!!! Don’t worry, we will be continuing the Happy Hours so you can look forward to attending those and if you haven’t been to one yet, come on out as our next one will be on Thursday, April 18th from 5-6:30pm at Matt The Miller’s. Hope to see you there!!! FYI-I will be in Orlando at All-Star Worlds Cheerleading competition with Brigid and Tali as Tali defends their world champion title. Will let you know how she does. Lots more teams are competing so the competition will be fierce!
Lots of talk about the commission settlement! I talk about this in my video, so hope you will take some time to watch it. Bottom line, starting July 1st, it is law that before a buyer’s agent can show you a house, you must have an Exclusive Buyer Agency Agreement approved. This is a huge change. Also, buyers are responsible for paying their agent now, however they can ask the seller to cover this cost in an offer. I suspect many sellers will still see the benefit in offering compensation to a buyer’s agent and will still do so, but it will be done slightly differently. Contrary to what President Biden said, this will have ZERO impact to real estate prices. Those are continuing to go up and will do so for the foreseeable future. Interest rates are not projected to be below 6.4% now vs. 5.8% as predicted earlier this year. Lots of changes and LOTS of misinformation. If you have questions about any of this, please call me-317-339-7698. Happy to get into more details and answer any questions you have.
As for me, again I am not retiring!!! Please call me with any real estate needs. I still have a great team to help you or anyone you care about. I will also be doing some coaching and training and am very excited about that. If you know of an agent struggling with all of these changes, send them my way. Would love to help them navigate these new rules and become more successful!
Here are some stats from MIBOR on the 17 counties is tracks comparing February 2024 to January 2024:
Median Sales Price-$280,000-no change
Closed Sales-1,883 units-UP 17.8%
New Listings-2,450 units-UP 18.8%
Pending Sales-2,436 units-UP 10.7%
Median Days on Market-16 days-DOWN 46.7%
Average Days on Market-48 days-DOWN 15.4%
Price per s.f.-$151-UP 2.0%
% of List Price Received-97.4%-UP 0.2%
Active Inventory-3,247 units-DOWN 13.7%
Months Supply of Inventory-1.7 months-DOWN 26.7%
These numbers are all trending toward an even tighter seller’s market and I expect it will only get worse as spring continues. Call me if you or someone you care about needs help navigating these turbulent real estate waters!!!
Click here to read our April newsletter.
Your Friends in Real Estate,
Steve, Kylie, Thea, and Mark
P.S. Please don’t keep us a secret!!
Friday, March 22, 2024
Saturday, February 24, 2024
March 2024 Newsletter
Welcome to March and Happy St. Patrick’s Day!!! We wish you the ‘luck o’ the Irish’ and hope you are looking forward, like us, to some spring weather!
As you should have heard via our video we sent out a couple weeks ago, the social media announcement and the letter we mailed about a week ago, there are some BIG changes coming to our team. We are extremely excited for some new opportunities for each of us that change is bringing. Thank you to everyone who has reached out via social media, text, phone call, e-mail, or in-person for the extremely supportive words of encouragement. One thing I want to be absolutely clear on and that is I am not retiring! In case you missed our big news, here is a breakdown.
Thea, as most of you know had her first child last May and has decided that staying home to raise her son is what she is being called to do. We are so excited for her and her family and know that she will love spending more time with Parks. Thea will continue to work with our buyers currently under contract and buyers currently looking for homes. We will ensure all of our buyers continue to receive the same outstanding service they have become accustomed to receiving!
Kylie is going to start a health company. This has been a dream of hers for over 10-years and we are excited she is following that dream and wish her all the best in her next chapter. If you have worked with our team in the past 10-years, you have experienced Kylie’s work and know just how detailed and systematized she truly is. She has been such an amazing asset to our clients for the past 10-years.
Our virtual assistant Mark helps Kylie behind the scenes working on reports, social media posts, video editing, website work and communications. He has been given the opportunity to get into management at his company. Mark has been such a great addition to our team and we are so fortunate to have been able to work with him for the past 3-years.
So, that leaves me! I have been called to coaching and training. It is something I have wanted to do for the past 3-years and many people have encouraged me to be a coach. I developed a curriculum that doesn’t exist anywhere that will help real estate agents provide a higher level of service to their clients, while making quite a bit more money; clients get a much better experience; and the vendor partners involved in the transaction get more work and provide a higher level of service as well being a part of this program. It is truly a triple win! I am excited to teach this on a national level!
So, our team is going to partner with The James Embry Team and combine forces. I will be a Senior Partner. You will still hear from me regularly and I will still be available to answer questions, provide insight on the market, and be involved in real estate. I just won’t be directly selling. Again, I am NOT retiring! I have known James for over 20-years as he and I worked at my dad’s company CENTURY 21 Realty Group I and then at Keller Williams. James and his team are outstanding and are the #1 team in our office. We have shared the high expectations our clients have become accustomed to and they are committed to ensuring those are met.
Our official transition date is April 1st. Like Thea, I will continue to work with our pending transactions as well as sellers who are active and going on the market before April 1st. I will also be helping a few sellers with whom I have been helping prepare to go on the market. We have been planning this transition for over 3-months to ensure it is as smooth as possible.
I will still be sending out our monthly newsletter and video and will look forward to celebrating your birthdays and anniversaries with you as well! You know those are my favorite calls to make! I will share how things are going in our new ventures in those monthly communications.
The one thing I am happiest about most is that all of us are following our dreams. Truly, I wish that for everyone. Every single person deserves to follow their dreams. We absolutely adore our clients and are so protective of them…some for 3 generations! When you, or someone you care about is thinking about buying a new home, selling your current one, building a home, investing in real estate or need to find an excellent agent outside of Indianapolis, please call me!! We will continue to take great care of you/them.
Please do call and stay in touch-317-339-7698. I always love hearing from you!!!
Finally, we sure hope you will come to our March Happy Hour sponsored by Walla Painting. We are moving it up a week this month to the 2nd Thursday of March, the 14th from 5-6:30pm due to March Madness starting on March 21st. Please RSVP to Kylie@Welcome2Indy.com. This will be an opportunity to say farewell to Kylie and Thea and we hope you will stop by. I will still be hosting our Happy Hours and will look forward to seeing you the rest of the year!
As always, here are the MIBOR stats for the 16 counties around Indy comparing January 2024 to December 2023:
Median Sales Price=$280,000 UP 0.4%
Closed Sales=1,589 units DOWN 23.6%
New Listings=2,052 units UP 30.5%
Pending Sales=2,343 units UP 38.6%
Median Days on Market=31 days DOWN 1.6%
Average Days on Market=57 UP 4.6%
Price per s.f.=$148 NO CHANGE
% of List Price Received=97.2% DOWN 0.2%
Active Inventory=3,325 units DOWN 21.2%
Months Supply of Inventory= 2.1 months UP 3.1%
These numbers are all indicating that our market is heating back up from winter and we are already seeing some very big numbers in new listings, showings and multiple offers. The biggest wild card is The Fed and if they will hold steady on the rates or if they will start cutting them as was expected a couple of months ago. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are predicting 30-year fixed conforming mortgage rates will hit 5.8% by the end of this year. We will see if that plays out. Hold on tight as this spring is gearing up to be very busy!!
Click here to read our St. Patrick's Day edition of our newsletter.
Happy St. Patrick’s Day!!
Your Friends in Real Estate,
Steve, Kylie, Thea, and Mark
P.S. Please continue not keeping us a secret!!!
As you should have heard via our video we sent out a couple weeks ago, the social media announcement and the letter we mailed about a week ago, there are some BIG changes coming to our team. We are extremely excited for some new opportunities for each of us that change is bringing. Thank you to everyone who has reached out via social media, text, phone call, e-mail, or in-person for the extremely supportive words of encouragement. One thing I want to be absolutely clear on and that is I am not retiring! In case you missed our big news, here is a breakdown.
Thea, as most of you know had her first child last May and has decided that staying home to raise her son is what she is being called to do. We are so excited for her and her family and know that she will love spending more time with Parks. Thea will continue to work with our buyers currently under contract and buyers currently looking for homes. We will ensure all of our buyers continue to receive the same outstanding service they have become accustomed to receiving!
Kylie is going to start a health company. This has been a dream of hers for over 10-years and we are excited she is following that dream and wish her all the best in her next chapter. If you have worked with our team in the past 10-years, you have experienced Kylie’s work and know just how detailed and systematized she truly is. She has been such an amazing asset to our clients for the past 10-years.
Our virtual assistant Mark helps Kylie behind the scenes working on reports, social media posts, video editing, website work and communications. He has been given the opportunity to get into management at his company. Mark has been such a great addition to our team and we are so fortunate to have been able to work with him for the past 3-years.
So, that leaves me! I have been called to coaching and training. It is something I have wanted to do for the past 3-years and many people have encouraged me to be a coach. I developed a curriculum that doesn’t exist anywhere that will help real estate agents provide a higher level of service to their clients, while making quite a bit more money; clients get a much better experience; and the vendor partners involved in the transaction get more work and provide a higher level of service as well being a part of this program. It is truly a triple win! I am excited to teach this on a national level!
So, our team is going to partner with The James Embry Team and combine forces. I will be a Senior Partner. You will still hear from me regularly and I will still be available to answer questions, provide insight on the market, and be involved in real estate. I just won’t be directly selling. Again, I am NOT retiring! I have known James for over 20-years as he and I worked at my dad’s company CENTURY 21 Realty Group I and then at Keller Williams. James and his team are outstanding and are the #1 team in our office. We have shared the high expectations our clients have become accustomed to and they are committed to ensuring those are met.
Our official transition date is April 1st. Like Thea, I will continue to work with our pending transactions as well as sellers who are active and going on the market before April 1st. I will also be helping a few sellers with whom I have been helping prepare to go on the market. We have been planning this transition for over 3-months to ensure it is as smooth as possible.
I will still be sending out our monthly newsletter and video and will look forward to celebrating your birthdays and anniversaries with you as well! You know those are my favorite calls to make! I will share how things are going in our new ventures in those monthly communications.
The one thing I am happiest about most is that all of us are following our dreams. Truly, I wish that for everyone. Every single person deserves to follow their dreams. We absolutely adore our clients and are so protective of them…some for 3 generations! When you, or someone you care about is thinking about buying a new home, selling your current one, building a home, investing in real estate or need to find an excellent agent outside of Indianapolis, please call me!! We will continue to take great care of you/them.
Please do call and stay in touch-317-339-7698. I always love hearing from you!!!
Finally, we sure hope you will come to our March Happy Hour sponsored by Walla Painting. We are moving it up a week this month to the 2nd Thursday of March, the 14th from 5-6:30pm due to March Madness starting on March 21st. Please RSVP to Kylie@Welcome2Indy.com. This will be an opportunity to say farewell to Kylie and Thea and we hope you will stop by. I will still be hosting our Happy Hours and will look forward to seeing you the rest of the year!
As always, here are the MIBOR stats for the 16 counties around Indy comparing January 2024 to December 2023:
Median Sales Price=$280,000 UP 0.4%
Closed Sales=1,589 units DOWN 23.6%
New Listings=2,052 units UP 30.5%
Pending Sales=2,343 units UP 38.6%
Median Days on Market=31 days DOWN 1.6%
Average Days on Market=57 UP 4.6%
Price per s.f.=$148 NO CHANGE
% of List Price Received=97.2% DOWN 0.2%
Active Inventory=3,325 units DOWN 21.2%
Months Supply of Inventory= 2.1 months UP 3.1%
These numbers are all indicating that our market is heating back up from winter and we are already seeing some very big numbers in new listings, showings and multiple offers. The biggest wild card is The Fed and if they will hold steady on the rates or if they will start cutting them as was expected a couple of months ago. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are predicting 30-year fixed conforming mortgage rates will hit 5.8% by the end of this year. We will see if that plays out. Hold on tight as this spring is gearing up to be very busy!!
Click here to read our St. Patrick's Day edition of our newsletter.
Happy St. Patrick’s Day!!
Your Friends in Real Estate,
Steve, Kylie, Thea, and Mark
P.S. Please continue not keeping us a secret!!!
Saturday, January 27, 2024
February 2024 Newsletter
Happy Valentine’s Day!!! We hope that you are able to spend some quality time with those you love. This is always such an exciting time of the year between NFL Playoffs, signs of coming out of winter and spring break around the corner and the crazy spring selling season!
Lots happening with our team and the real estate market, so we hope you will read on to find out more.
Steve’s daughter Natalia turned 14 years old on January 26th and had a fun birthday party at an escape room. Nothing like a house full of teenage girls when you and the dog are the only guys around. ;-) Tali had a great time with her friends and enjoyed her birthday. Her big surprise was her older sister Ana who is a freshman at IU came up to surprise her and take her out to spend time with her. That was probably the best present she could ask for! Us, too!!! Tali’s cheer team also won Grand Champion last week at their cheer competition in French Lick and earned a fully paid bid to Worlds in Orlando in May. They are so excited!!!
Ana is doing great at IU and got good grades for her first semester. She also just finished rush and is now a pledge for her first choice sorority Chi O. She has quickly made friends and loves being part of a new group and we couldn’t be more excited for her.
Brigid is still doing great at Merck and is interviewing for a new position. She is excited at new opportunities this will bring her and is one step closer to getting promoted.
Kylie is still doing well and is keeping us organized with a slew of new listings we are putting on the market already. The spring market is heating up early this year!
Thea is doing great and so are Michael and Parks (their baby). She has been busy early this year working with buyers trying to beat the spring rush and rapidly-escalating prices expected in the next month or two.
Thank you to everyone who joined us for Happy Hour last month and to Rhoda Israelov with Say It for You (www.SayItforYou.net). We had a good crowd and lots of fun!! If you would like to sponsor a Happy Hour this year and get your business in front of hundreds of people, e-mail me at Steve@Welcome2Indy.com. We only have a few spots left. We hope you will join us for our next Happy Hour on Thursday, February 15th from 5-6:30pm at Matt The Miller’s in Carmel. Drinks and food are on us!!!
We have been getting lots of questions about what to expect with the real estate market in 2024…and for good reason. It has been in the news almost daily. The biggest issue is lack of affordability, which is comprised in part due to lack of supply, higher interest rates, price appreciation being more rapid than wage growth. There is even a movement to endorse long-term renting over owning. The argument is: 1) lower monthly payments, 2) much lower acquisition cost, 3) low to no maintenance costs, 4) easier and less expensive disposition. While this is all true, what it doesn’t mention is the absolutely best form of leverage and net worth growth available to anyone. Where else can you purchase a, say $600,000 asset for $30,000 and use someone else’s money for the rest…and take advantage of tax savings…and pocket all of the accrued equity you build? Speaking of equity, this is huge! The average net worth of a renter is $9,700 and the average net worth of a homeowner is $396,300!!! Real estate appreciation is like compound interest…you can never catch up to someone who started before you did. It is also the greatest form of wealth for most people and over 70% of millionaires and billionaires owe the majority of their wealth to real estate.
While I will never advocate owning real estate is for everyone, it should be a goal for most as it is the #1 generator of generational wealth in the US, period…and is a significant source of retirement income for many.
We are expecting to see 15-18% growth in 2024 in real estate sales, which would take us back to 2018/2019 levels, which were very good. Consumer confidence is very high right now for the economy and most experts are predicting we will either avoid a recession altogether or have a very mild one. Fannie and Freddie are expecting mortgage interest rates to sink into the high 5% range by Q3 2024. We are short 30% of needed housing inventory and 25,000 houses in Indiana alone! Bottom line, housing values aren’t going down anytime soon. The longer people wait, the more expensive housing will become. The key is to get into the game as soon as possible and lock in the price and start taking advantage of the appreciation.
Here are some stats from MIBOR coming December 2023 to November 2023:
Median Sales Price-$278,000-DOWN 4.1%
Closed Sales-2,055 units-DOWN 7.7%
New Listings-1,558 units-DOWN 29.7%
Pending Sales-1,790 units-DOWN 4.7%
Median Days on Market-31 days-UP 40.9%
Average Days on Market-54 days-UP 33.6%
Price per s.f.-$148-DOWN 2.0%
% of List Price Received-97.4%-DOWN 0.1%
Active Inventory-2,926 units-DOWN 41.5%
Months Supply of Inventory-1.4 months-DOWN 36.6%
While these numbers look pretty bad, keep in mind downward trends in December are normal, maybe not to this extent, but our expectation is that these numbers will only improve as the year progresses. If you have questions about your home’s value or the real estate market in general, please contact us as we would be happy to answer questions and provide guidance.
Stay tuned!!! We have a HUGE announcement next month that will be coming out separately. This is the biggest news we have ever shared with our clients in 51-years in real estate, so you do not want to miss this announcement.
Happy Valentine’s Day!
Click here to read our February newsletter.
Your Friends in Real Estate,
Steve, Kylie, Thea, and Mark
P.S. Please don’t keep us a secret!
Lots happening with our team and the real estate market, so we hope you will read on to find out more.
Steve’s daughter Natalia turned 14 years old on January 26th and had a fun birthday party at an escape room. Nothing like a house full of teenage girls when you and the dog are the only guys around. ;-) Tali had a great time with her friends and enjoyed her birthday. Her big surprise was her older sister Ana who is a freshman at IU came up to surprise her and take her out to spend time with her. That was probably the best present she could ask for! Us, too!!! Tali’s cheer team also won Grand Champion last week at their cheer competition in French Lick and earned a fully paid bid to Worlds in Orlando in May. They are so excited!!!
Ana is doing great at IU and got good grades for her first semester. She also just finished rush and is now a pledge for her first choice sorority Chi O. She has quickly made friends and loves being part of a new group and we couldn’t be more excited for her.
Brigid is still doing great at Merck and is interviewing for a new position. She is excited at new opportunities this will bring her and is one step closer to getting promoted.
Kylie is still doing well and is keeping us organized with a slew of new listings we are putting on the market already. The spring market is heating up early this year!
Thea is doing great and so are Michael and Parks (their baby). She has been busy early this year working with buyers trying to beat the spring rush and rapidly-escalating prices expected in the next month or two.
Thank you to everyone who joined us for Happy Hour last month and to Rhoda Israelov with Say It for You (www.SayItforYou.net). We had a good crowd and lots of fun!! If you would like to sponsor a Happy Hour this year and get your business in front of hundreds of people, e-mail me at Steve@Welcome2Indy.com. We only have a few spots left. We hope you will join us for our next Happy Hour on Thursday, February 15th from 5-6:30pm at Matt The Miller’s in Carmel. Drinks and food are on us!!!
We have been getting lots of questions about what to expect with the real estate market in 2024…and for good reason. It has been in the news almost daily. The biggest issue is lack of affordability, which is comprised in part due to lack of supply, higher interest rates, price appreciation being more rapid than wage growth. There is even a movement to endorse long-term renting over owning. The argument is: 1) lower monthly payments, 2) much lower acquisition cost, 3) low to no maintenance costs, 4) easier and less expensive disposition. While this is all true, what it doesn’t mention is the absolutely best form of leverage and net worth growth available to anyone. Where else can you purchase a, say $600,000 asset for $30,000 and use someone else’s money for the rest…and take advantage of tax savings…and pocket all of the accrued equity you build? Speaking of equity, this is huge! The average net worth of a renter is $9,700 and the average net worth of a homeowner is $396,300!!! Real estate appreciation is like compound interest…you can never catch up to someone who started before you did. It is also the greatest form of wealth for most people and over 70% of millionaires and billionaires owe the majority of their wealth to real estate.
While I will never advocate owning real estate is for everyone, it should be a goal for most as it is the #1 generator of generational wealth in the US, period…and is a significant source of retirement income for many.
We are expecting to see 15-18% growth in 2024 in real estate sales, which would take us back to 2018/2019 levels, which were very good. Consumer confidence is very high right now for the economy and most experts are predicting we will either avoid a recession altogether or have a very mild one. Fannie and Freddie are expecting mortgage interest rates to sink into the high 5% range by Q3 2024. We are short 30% of needed housing inventory and 25,000 houses in Indiana alone! Bottom line, housing values aren’t going down anytime soon. The longer people wait, the more expensive housing will become. The key is to get into the game as soon as possible and lock in the price and start taking advantage of the appreciation.
Here are some stats from MIBOR coming December 2023 to November 2023:
Median Sales Price-$278,000-DOWN 4.1%
Closed Sales-2,055 units-DOWN 7.7%
New Listings-1,558 units-DOWN 29.7%
Pending Sales-1,790 units-DOWN 4.7%
Median Days on Market-31 days-UP 40.9%
Average Days on Market-54 days-UP 33.6%
Price per s.f.-$148-DOWN 2.0%
% of List Price Received-97.4%-DOWN 0.1%
Active Inventory-2,926 units-DOWN 41.5%
Months Supply of Inventory-1.4 months-DOWN 36.6%
While these numbers look pretty bad, keep in mind downward trends in December are normal, maybe not to this extent, but our expectation is that these numbers will only improve as the year progresses. If you have questions about your home’s value or the real estate market in general, please contact us as we would be happy to answer questions and provide guidance.
Stay tuned!!! We have a HUGE announcement next month that will be coming out separately. This is the biggest news we have ever shared with our clients in 51-years in real estate, so you do not want to miss this announcement.
Happy Valentine’s Day!
Click here to read our February newsletter.
Your Friends in Real Estate,
Steve, Kylie, Thea, and Mark
P.S. Please don’t keep us a secret!
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