June 2023 Newsletter

Welcome to the unofficial start of summer!! School is out and grad and pool parties abound. Speaking of those, we are hosting a grad party for our daughter Ana next week. She graduated from Guerin Catholic and will be attending IU Kelley School of Business in the Fall. While she is excited to start a new chapter, we sure will miss having her here with us. We have absolutely loved watching her grow up from a little girl to a beautiful, confident, smart young woman with so many opportunities ahead of her. We are looking forward to heading down to B-Town for football tailgating, basketball games, and just to take her to dinner. If you have kids who have already gone down this road, you know both how excited we are as well as heartbroken.

The other HUGE news we have to share is that Thea and Michael welcomed Parks Jordan into this world on May 11th. They are all home and getting used to the new life they have together. We have seen photos of Parks and he is such a handsome baby with lots of hair. Thea and Michael are really enjoying being parents. Thea plans to return to the team mid-July. We have an agent from our office who was gracious enough to fill in for Thea while she is on maternity leave. Helena Hoen has been so helpful in working with Thea’s clients to ensure we don’t miss a step.

Tali finished her competition cheer season with a #10 and #2 in the world finishes at All-Star Worlds in Orlando last month. We are so proud of both teams as they worked so hard this year. They already have their new teams and have started practicing for 2024 Worlds!! It never stops!

Kylie is excited for the summer as her kids are out of school and the pool is open. Kylie loves her sun and soaking up all of that Vitamin D. She has been so amazing at helping Helena get acclimated to the team while Thea is out. She does a great job of keeping us all in line!

The spring real estate market has been unusually slower than in past years, especially recently. This is due to several factors, but chief among them is higher mortgage interest rates and record-high home prices. Along with those, low inventory is making it hard for buyers to find homes and sellers to feel comfortable putting theirs on the market. We do expect to see mortgage interest rates start tracking down and get to around a 5.5% rate by Fall. Every economist I have read and heard has said don’t expect to see mortgage interest rates dip below 5% again in our lifetimes.

With the low supply, we aren’t going to see home values decline here in Indy. Did you know that 2/3 of all people who purchased homes in the past 3-years have buyer’s remorse due to buying too quickly, paying too much and making too many concessions? Frankly, if you wanted to buy a home over the past 3-years, you had to be okay with all of those. Once we see mortgage rates tick below 6%, we expect to see more inventory become available. We will also see more buyers enter the market.

Here are some stats from MIBOR for the Greater Indianapolis area and its 16-county service area comparing April 2023 to March 2023:

Median Sales Price-$290,000 UP 5.5%
Closed Sales-2,447 units DOWN 8.3%
New Listings-2,919 units DOWN 1.9%
Pending Sales-2,997 units UP 4.6%
Days on Market-51 days UP 6.3%
Price per s.f.-$153 UP 2.0%
% of Ask Received-98.9% UP 0.8%
Active Inventory-2,778 units DOWN 15.7%
Absorption Rate-1.1 months DOWN 8.3%

We are seeing some of the spring seasonality come into play here, although not as strong as usual. We do expect to see a busy summer and fall if mortgage interest rates continue to fall.

There is a LOT of misinformation out there. If you or someone you care about are thinking of buying, selling, building or investing in real estate, please give us a call-317-573-1880. We would be happy to share relevant, factual, and accurate information about the housing market that is specific to you/them.

We hope you will join us for our June Happy Hour from 5-6:30pm on Thursday, June 15th at Matt The Miller’s in Carmel. We will likely be out on the patio if the weather cooperates. Please RSVP to kylie@Welcome2Indy.com

Also, my Seller Workshop is from 7-8:30pm on Tuesday, June 13th via Zoom. Please e-mail steve@Welcome2Indy.com for a link. This is GREAT for anyone thinking about selling in the next year or so. No pressure or selling, just good info as you prepare to get your house on the market.

We hope you enjoy reading this month's newsletter!!! Click here.

Happy Summer!!!

Your Friends in Real Estate,

Steve, Kylie, Thea, Mark and Helena

P.S. Please don’t keep us a secret!

March 2021 Home News

March 2021 Newsletter

Welcome to March and, hopefully MUCH better weather than February!! Hopefully, you survived ‘snowmageddon’ a couple of weeks ago. Brigid and Tali had to drive through that snow storm all the way from a cheer competition in Wisconsin and Brigid said that was the most difficult and nerve-wracking trip she has taken in her life. Hope you stayed safe and warm and are glad that is behind us now.

Along those lines, we had to cancel our February Happy Hour due to Matt The Miller’s not having any heat for several days. We are looking forward to welcoming you all back in March on Thursday, March 18th from 5-6:30pm. Maybe we will still be wearing some green from St. Patrick’s Day! :-)

Hope you were able to participate in our first Quarterly Prize Drawing last month. We had a TON of people call in. Congratulations to Debbie Golan for being our winner! She won an overnight stay at the brand new Autograph Collection Hotel Carmichael in Carmel. She stayed in the Presidential Suite, was greeted with champagne, chocolate-covered strawberries, cupcakes, balloons, banners, streamers, bath bombs, a charcuterie board, a gift card to Vivante (their French fine-dining restaurant) and top-notch service. Debbie celebrated her birthday and her daughter’s last weekend and had a blast!!! Our next drawing will be in May, so be sure and follow us on social media and watch your e-mail for your next chance to call in and win.

Congratulations to Tali for winning her cheer competition last weekend!! Their team came in first place and they are so excited. They have been invited to Nationals in April and will be traveling to Gatlinburg, TN this weekend for their final regular-season competition. Our entire family will be going to cheer her on. Go, Tali!!

Brigid has been in her new job at Merck for over two months now and absolutely loves it! She is busier than ever, but is enjoying doing something different and learning something new every day.

Ana finished her 2nd trimester at Guerin last week and got almost all A’s. She is starting to train for soccer next season, so she is ready to go. She just recorded her next concert for Indianapolis Children’s Choir and we are looking forward to seeing it soon. We can’t wait to be able to watch them live.

Jack and Mary Anne received their 2nd shot of the COVID vaccine about 3 weeks ago and promptly left to visit friends in Florida. They had a great time and are glad to be home again, but enjoyed finally being able to leave their house.

Patti is doing an amazing job continuing to market our team and coming up with creative ideas to better market our clients. She is becoming known as the social media and video queen around the office.

Kylie is hard at work keeping us organized and processing the seemingly endless paperwork that exists in our industry. She is regularly sought after by office staff for how to do something or organize something. Her son Jackson is in pre-school for the first time and loving it and her older son Trey is enjoying still being live at his school.

Thea is keeping very busy with all of the buyers she is working with and when not helping them find the perfect home is in the middle of training her new dog Ella.

Do you or someone you know have plans to sell your house this year or next? Come join Steve as he breaks down the selling process and shares pro-tips and secrets on how to best plan and prepare your house to go on the market in these crazy times. His next presentation is on Tuesday, April 13th at 7pm. Thea will be the presenter that evening. E-mail us and let us know if you can join us at steve@Welcome2Indy.com.

The real estate market is beyond crazy right now. Indy is seeing record-low inventory levels of fewer than 4 weeks and Hamilton County is fewer than 2 weeks! Some builders are so busy that they are no longer taking contracts in some neighborhoods. In my 21+ years in real estate, I have never seen anything like this! Suffice it to say, sellers are getting record prices for their houses right now. The biggest issue sellers have is not knowing where they are going to go. We do have some proven strategies that work in this market. If you or someone you care about would like to know what your house is worth, give us a call-317-573-1880. I guarantee you the online value estimators are not accurate and can’t begin to keep up with this market and they certainly don’t know the condition of your house. We would be happy to give you an up-to-the minute valuation on your house that is accurate and professional and interpret this market and how it specifically affects YOU and YOUR unique situation and how to best leverage your advantages. With interest rates around 3% right now, you are in an historically good time to sell.

Here are the latest stats from MIBOR comparing January 2021 to December 2020. Look at the number of pending sales compared to new listings. This is an indictor that our market is going to continue to shrink, however we ARE seeing more houses coming on the market really starting on Thursday of last week.

Median sales price-DOWN 4.5% to $212,000
Closed sales-DOWN 39.7% to 2,042 units
New listings-UP 13.7% to 2,362 units
Pending sales-UP 26.6% to 2,886 units
Days on market-UP 15.2% to 38 days
Price per s.f.-DOWN 1.6% to $126
% of ask received-DOWN 0.2% to 98.2%
Active inventory-DOWN 20.6% to 1,908 units
Absorption rate-UP 28.6% to 0.9 months
Happy St. Patrick’s Day!!

Your friends in real estate,

Steve, Kylie, Patti, and Thea

P.S. Please don’t keep us a secret!

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2021 Colors of The Year

Everything has its season, and for paint, winter is that time. Year after year, paint companies release their chosen Color(s) of the Year, which are meant to be reflections on trends that are coming to interior design near you. If you’ve been considering repainting a bedroom or your whole house, knowing what’s in can help you narrow down the impressively huge list of paint options available. Bold Tones Are Where It’s At 2021 continues the trend that’s been taking us far from the subdued hues that have been so popular in the past. Instead of neutral palettes, homeowners are going big or going home. That doesn’t mean the paint scheme in every house has to be glam, but it does mean that it’s ok to put a little personality out there. Pops of color are glorious when done properly and no longer the sale killer they may have once been. But it’s not exactly a revisit to the 1950s. Color should be used more strategically to create a big impact, highlight features in your home, and influence the atmosphere in living, dining, and sleeping spaces. Search Drumroll Please…. Most of the major paint companies have announced their colors for this year, though a few are still waiting for 2021 to roll around. Of those that have made it official, you’ll notice a big trend in color themes. Blues, pinks, and grays rule the day, though they’re not your grandma’s retro flavors. Pantone: Ultimate Gray and Illuminating One of the top names in color has come up with one of the top color combos for 2021. It’s a whole mood, really, and sums up 2020 pretty well. Ultimate Gray is a light neutral gray color that would be at home in almost any space. Illuminating, however, is a bright, determined yellow that should be used in small doses. As Pantone’s executive director, Leatrice Eiseman, wrote in a press release about the decision, “The union of an enduring Ultimate Gray with the vibrant yellow Illuminating expresses a message of positivity supported by fortitude.” It’s also way eye-catching. Rust-Oleum: Satin Paprika Do you dream of the desert southwest? Or maybe you already live there and want to bring a bit more pop indoors? Satin Paprika may be the answer. This coral red, spicy earth tone is the anchor for three distinct color palettes that Rust-Oleum has developed for 2021. It’s gorgeous in a variety of spaces, works with many different colors, and, frankly, it brings to mind the red stone that’s so common in the desert. Your succulents will feel right at home. Glidden: Aqua Fiesta Glidden zigged this year when a lot of the other paint brands zagged, and named Aqua Fiesta its Accent Color of the Year. It’s a bold, but not overly bright, aqua color that goes great with both light neutral browns and grays, allowing it to dress up all kinds of spaces. You might feel like taking an island vacation or dream of mermaids after painting this one on, though. Benjamin Moore: Aegean Teal Benjamin Moore was also feeling a bit blue when choosing 2021’s color of the year, but more blue than green, which resulted in a gorgeous dark robin egg-esque color. The gray undertones make it a great accompaniment to the popular gray neutrals, and the more strict blue gives it a bit of a grown-up feel. It’s a super calming color in any room and will even pair well with yellows. HGTV Home by Sherwin-Williams: Passionate Blue isn’t everybody’s thing, and clearly HGTV Home by Sherwin-Williams agrees. It chose Passionate for its 2021 Color of the Year. This is a deep carnation, but not quite red, sort of color that looks awesome with earth tones and tans. It’s the kind of color that you may have never expected to like, let alone paint in your home, until you see it in action. Accent it with other bold tones and your humdrum room will absolutely be transformed. Sherwin-Williams: Urbane Bronze Looking for deep, rich color that won’t leave anyone guessing about your intention for your space? Urbane Bronze is a color that will define a space without regrets. It’s a warm gray-brown that goes well with a range of flooring and lighting, but stands up on its own without the need for a lot of fanfare. You might not want to use this on every wall, as it may have a way of making your space feel a bit small, but your accent walls and accent pieces will absolutely thank you. Valspar: Hues of the Year Valspar couldn’t pick just one, so instead went with a whole range of colors for the year. It chose 12 muted colors; these are colors that could be considered “barely there,” just a hint of bold for a room that isn’t ready to go all in. These subtle choices range from misty blue to a warm apricot, with buttercream, green, beige, and gray also on the menu. Use this palette together to create a wholly harmonious space. Learn More Ready to Get Painting? Choosing your colors is only the first step to getting that big paint job done. If you need some help finding a painter who will knock it out of the park, don’t hesitate to ask your HomeKeepr family for a recommendation. After all, it’s an awfully good feeling knowing that someone you believe in trusts the painter that’s going to make your dreams come true.

September Steve & Jack's Home News

It is August, right?? As I write this month’s article, I am watching the Indy 500 live! What? While I am glad to be able to watch it live on TV, it certainly is weird, especially since this is the first time in history to be run in August…and with no fans in the stands. Very strange indeed.

We did it!!! Welcome to the end of summer and our kiddos are still alive!!! This has seemed like both the longest and shortest summers ever. Both of our girls are back at school. Ana who is a sophomore at Guerin High School is back live full-time. Tali who is in 5th grade at Westfield Intermediate is back utilizing a hybrid model, where she is live two days a week and virtual 3 days a week. So far, both girls are enjoying being back with their friends and back into a routine, although it means earlier mornings. Ana is playing on the soccer team and they won their first game of the season. This is the hardest she has ever worked, and we are proud of her for sticking it out. Tali is still having a great time with competitive cheer. Last weekend, she practiced for 21 out of 48-hours! She was tired, but loved every minute of it. We are anxious to see how the competition season goes this fall/winter. If you have kiddos in sports, how have they adjusted to being back?

Brigid is still stuck at home with her work. Merck will not let her do live sales calls still and it is driving her nuts! Stuck in conference and Zoom call purgatory is not fun and she is itching to get outside. Last Sunday, we celebrated our 17-year wedding anniversary and went to Ruth’s Chris at The Ironworks building. Although quite pricey, it was a lovely dinner with a great atmosphere and excellent service. Highly recommend…but be prepared to pay for it!

Steve completed a couple of more designations and certifications this month. One is the Pricing Strategy Advisor (PSA), which provided specialized training in home valuations and working with appraisers. This is crucial in this crazy market right now to get the price right the first time. The second is the Certified Luxury Home Marketing Specialist (CLHMS) designation. This is the most exclusive designation for marketing luxury property. It teaches agents how luxury property is different from other properties and how to work with luxury sellers and market their homes differently to an affluent buyer. Both were excellent courses and a lot of new information was learned and we are ready to implement it. These mark the 12th and 13th designations/certifications Steve has earned continuing to make him the most formally educated residential real estate agent in the world. This unparalleled training and expertise is used to empower and educate their clients while buying and selling.

Thea has been super-busy lately working with a lot of buyers and successfully negotiating accepted offers during a highly competitive market. She consistently receives top marks and praise from her buyers she helps through the toughest market in history for them. If you or someone you know are thinking about buying or selling right now, give us a call and we will put our unparalleled experience and tactics to work for you to ensure the absolute best experience possible.

Patti officially received her real estate license after passing her exam last month! We are excited to have all members of our team fully licensed to provide an even higher level of service to our clients and referral partners.

Kylie has continued to work hard to be so efficient in tracking everything so we know where we stand during this very strange year. She also processes all paperwork so quickly, she draws high praise not only from our office staff, but also other agents with whom we work. She is the absolute best at what she does and we are lucky to have her on our team.

Jack and Mary Anne were in Branson a few weeks ago and really enjoyed getting away. Social distancing practices were in full force while they took in a few shows. Currently, they are in their timeshare in Fairfield Glade in Tennessee for the week.

A huge thank you to all of our clients and referral partners who attended our first live Happy Hour since March!!! We had a great group (bigger than expected) and we all enjoyed the beautiful weather on the patio at Matt The Miller’s. It was so good to see everyone again. If you feel comfortable, please join us for our next Happy Hour on Thursday, September 17th from 5-6:30pm at Matt The Miller’s. We will return to the patio assuming weather is cooperating since it was so well-received. September will be sponsored by our referral partner Bill Maki with Kaveri Group. Bill specializes in video marketing and testimonials. You can see some of his work on our website (www.Welcome2Indy.com). The videos and testimonials are his work. Bill will have a few minutes to share what he does and how he can help someone you care about looking for some exposure on-line.

SHRED Day is back!!! Our 3rd Shred Day is going to be on September 11th from 10AM-12PM in our office parking lot. The past two have seen over 400 cars participate!!! We have contracted TWO trucks this month to make it more efficient and faster. We will also still have our electronics recycling truck there. So, come on by and safely have your documents destroyed and electronics recycled. This is absolutely FREE to you as our valued clients/referral partners.

Our real estate market is as hot as the temperature!!! Inventory went down again to 0.8 months, which is equivalent to about 3 weeks. Never before in history have we seen inventory this low. Prices have appreciated 11.9% from last year. Bottom line, if you or someone you care about are thinking about selling, NOW is the time. If you are concerned about not being able to find a home because you know your current home will sell too fast, we have a strategy to help. Call us today and we can share with you strategies that work-317-573-1880. Check out the latest stats from MIBOR comparing July 2020 to June 2020:

Median Sales Price-UP 2.3% to $225,000
Closed Sales-UP 9.9% to 3,969 units
New Listings-UP 7.4% to 4,161 units
Pending Sales-UP 2.7% to 4,155 units
Days on Market-DOWN 8.6% to 32 days
Price/s.f.-UP 2.4% to $128
% of Ask Received-UP 0.4% to 98.8%
Active Inventory-UP 1.3% to 3,246 units
Absorption Rate-DOWN 11.1% to 0.8 months

Check out Steve’s September intro video here

Read our September newsletter here

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Watch a 1-minute market update video here

Thank you for all of your support and trust over the years! We couldn’t do what we love without you!!!

Your friends in real estate,

Steve, Kylie, Thea, & Patti

P.S. Please don’t keep us a secret!

August 2020 Steve & Jack's Home News

Happy end of summer!! For many of us, it means back-to-school for our kiddos, but that looks a little different this year than past years. Also, for many parents with school-aged children, we have been with our kiddos since mid-March. Yikes! If you are fortunate enough to be able to send your kiddos back to school, congratulations! If not, we commiserate with you.

This year has been tough on all of us, but especially parents with school-aged children who are forced to play full-time, all-day, all-week caregiver, teacher, nurse, entertainer, and food service worker. If you also work, good luck! We hope you navigate the back-to-school storm (whatever that looks like for you) as smoothly as possible and stay happy and healthy.

Steve and his family just returned from their first vacation since last October. They went to the Poconos and stayed in a condo and had an adjoining unit for Brigid’s brother and his family, his wife’s sister and husband and her mom. They also each brought their dogs. It turned out to be a great week, very relaxing with amazing weather, swimming, a white water rafting trip, 26-mile bike ride, kayaking, hiking, tennis, soccer games, and for the adults late-night Euchre games (Steve and his partner waxed everyone else!) :-) It was so nice (and needed) to get away and get a change of scenery. We hope that you have been able to take a trip this summer to just get a break as well. Those are so needed right now.

Jack and Mary Anne continue to do well and stay healthy. They are doing a reasonably good job at social distancing, but they did just return from Branson and saw some shows. Some were good at social distancing and some not so much, but they had a good time and enjoyed getting away.

Steve’s sister Michelle had a delayed graduation party for her oldest Caleb and it was nice to see some people we haven’t seen in many years. We wish Caleb good luck next Fall at IUPUI.

On our team, Patti had a HUGE accomplishment in passing her real estate exam and is applying for her license. This is especially big since she had to drive to Cincinnati to take the exam and finished her class in March. That gap made it really difficult, but she made it and we are so happy for her. Every member of our team will be licensed by next week.

Kylie was able to take some time off and spend with her family going to the zoo, pool, Wolf Park and relaxing at home. She needed a bit of a break since we have been working so much lately.

Speaking of working a lot, Thea has been rocking it lately helping 6 clients just in the past few weeks secure a home. This market has been brutal for buyers and buyer agents and she is has been doing such a great job working so hard for our clients winning multiple offer situations repeatedly.

Thank you to the over 400 of you who came for our FREE Shred Day a few weeks ago. We filled an entire truck as well as electronic recycling truck. We are planning another one for September, so stay tuned for the date.

Happy Hours are attempting to be re-started this month. We have August 20th on the books. Please come if you feel comfortable. Matt The Miller’s from 5-7pm. We would LOVE to see you again!!!!!

The market is the hottest on record. We are down below 1-month of inventory right now, which is insane and down over 30% from last month alone! Mortgage rates have hit all-time lows as well with rates for many of our clients in the low to mid-2%! Home prices are going up faster than ever and inventory keeps shrinking. If you or someone you care about is remotely thinking of buying, selling, or building, please call us. We would be happy to share all of the facts and data that are relevant to your specific situation so you can make an informed decision. If you are not as worried about selling your house as you are with finding a new one, we have a program designed specifically for you to address that very concern. Our 3-day, Free Look Marketing Program has netted sellers more money in a faster time with fewer hassles than any other marketing program out there. Give Steve a call at 317-573-1880 to learn about both of these programs and how we are addressing our clients’ concerns during this challenging market.

Here are some MIBOR stats showing the changes from May 2020 to June 2020. They are remarkable:

Median Sales Price-$219,000-UP 1.9%

Closed Sales-3,518 units-UP 28.2%

New Listings-3,848 units-UP 2.2%

Pending Sales-4,269 units-UP 10.5%

Days on Market-35-DOWN 7.9%

Price per s.f.-$125-UP 3.3%

% of Ask Received-98.4%-UP 0.5%

Active Inventory-3,210 units-DOWN 10.2%

Absorption Rate-0.9 months-DOWN 30.8%

Look at the how the pending sales is more than new listings. This is an indicator of what to expect next month-even lower inventory levels. Sellers are getting over 98% of asking price! That is crazy! Active inventory is down over 10% and the absorption rate (how long it will take all of the current listings to sell with the current buyer demand) is down over 30% to less than one month. Are you kidding me?? These numbers are nuts and we have never seen anything like it before. The election MAY cause a real estate contraction. We don’t know for sure, but every economist I have heard lately has been warning of that, so if you are thinking of selling, NOW is the time!

Thank you for reading and for your continued trust and loyalty. We couldn’t do what we do without you.

Enjoy this month’s newsletter!

Read the August newsletter here

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Your friends in real estate, Steve, Kylie, Thea, Patti

July Steve & Jack's Home News

Happy Independence Day weekend!

Welcome to the July edition of Steve & Jack’s Home News!

We truly hope this video message finds you staying safe and healthy and enjoying the summer weather. We hope you stay safe this weekend and enjoy the holiday.

The biggest news is our Team Buyer Specialist Thea Charnas got married on July 20th in Cleveland followed by a honeymoon to Charleston, SC. Her married name is Thea Snelly. She and her husband Michael are excited to start the next chapter of their lives as husband and wife. Please join me in congratulating Thea!

Our Team Marketing Director Patti Bruns is in final preparations to take her real estate exam in a few weeks in Cincinnati after having to reschedule her test in March due to the pandemic. This test is not easy and comes after 120-hours in the classroom. Patti would appreciate your positive thoughts as she prepares for this test. We know she will do great!

Kylie, after being bitten badly by her puppy is all recovered and we are happy she has healed and is back to 100%.

Our entire team is finally back together in the office after 2.5 months working from our homes.

Steve’s family is excited to drive to The Poconos at the end of this month to spend the week with Brigid’s brother and his family. This will be the first trip we take our dog Duke with us, so we are anxious to see how he does with a 10-hour car ride! This trip is the ‘consolation trip’ for our missed trips for spring break to Universal Studios and our summer trip to Italy. We hope to get back to both next year.

Steve’s 10-year old daughter Natalia has made the decision to quit competitive gymnastics after 4 years and transfer her skills to competitive cheer with her ICE cheer team. She will be traveling around the country competing and is so excited! She also completed a 2-week horse camp in Zionsville a few weeks ago and absolutely loved it!

Steve’s 14-year old daughter Anastasia graduated from The Indianapolis Children’s Choir last month after 6-years and will be moving up to their Master Chorale for 10-12 graders. She also will be playing soccer for Guerin High School and has already started practicing with the team. She has quickly learned that high school sports are much harder than grade school! Ana continues to amaze us with her cooking skills with an entirely scratch-made dinner every Sunday. Sometimes her sister helps as her Sous Chef. We have been so very impressed with her skill and dedication. Our favorite so far has been Bavarian pretzels and a marinated steak with grilled peaches smothered in melted butter and brown sugar finished with home made peppermint patties. Yum!

We have been asked about the real estate market a LOT lately. Bottom line: we are in the strongest sellers’ market in history. There is only 1.3 months of inventory right now, which is almost like saying our unemployment rate is 1/2%. A balanced market is 6-months of inventory. We need more listings…badly. There are TONS of buyers begging for houses to buy. Interest rates are at historic lows of 2.875% for a 30-year fixed conventional mortgage. Homes are selling faster than ever before for more than ever before. There has NEVER been a better time to sell your house than right now. Period. If you are staying put for awhile and you have a mortgage and you haven’t recently looked into refinancing, please call or e-mail me for some names of some great local lenders who will tell you if refinancing makes sense for you or not. We have seen client save hundreds of dollars/month by doing so.

Here are some stats from MIBOR comparing May 2020 to April 2020:
Median Sales Price-$215,000-UP 2.4%
Closed Sales-2,703 units-UP 5.1%
New Listings-3,744 units-UP 32.7%
Pending Sales-4,054 units-UP 46.2%
Days on Market-38 days-UP 2.7%
Price/s.f.-$121-UP 0.8%
% of Ask Received-97.9%-DOWN 0.4%
Active Inventory-3,563 units-DOWN 10.8%
Absorption Rate-1.3 months-DOWN 18.8%

Look at the new listings and pending numbers. Those are HUGE!! You can see we are recovering from the pandemic VERY fast and we expect this to continue into the fall months. Please call us at 317-573-1880 or e-mail at Steve@Welcome2Indy.com to see what your house is worth today. We will be happy to provide you with a market valuation specific to your house and help you navigate this crazy market to craft a personalized plan to get you from where you are to where you want to go.

We are so excited to go back to live Happy Hours in July!!! Please join us on Thursday, July 16th from 5-6:30pm at Matt The Miller’s in Carmel. As always, drinks and appetizers are on us. You bring the conversation and fun!!! Bring a friend or significant other!

Also on Thursday, July 16th, we are bringing back our FREE Shred Day. Our last one was more successful than we ever dreamed with over 400 cars coming through!!! Come by our office from 10AM-noon. Bring any documents you want safely and securely shredded or electronics you want recycled. Trucks will be there to safely handle those items on-site. You don’t even have to get out of your car. We come to you and take what you have from your car and you drive off. This is a small way for us to say thank you to our valued clients and referral partners.

If you made it this far, thank you for reading!! Know we are grateful to you for your trust and loyalty. Please continue to introduce us to the next person you know who is thinking about buying, selling, or building a new home. We would love to help them!

Happy Independence Day weekend!!!

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Your Friends in Real Estate,

Steve, Kylie, Thea, & Patti

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

June Steve & Jack's Home News

Welcome to June and the official start to summer. This has been more than a strange spring. From a global pandemic, to protests and riots, to killer hornets, locusts in Africa, and the 7-year cycle for some species of Cicadas, it can seem rather biblical. We certainly hope this e-mail finds you and your loved ones safe, healthy and happy. Those can seem rather elusive right now. If there is something you need that we can help support you or your business, please let us know. We are absolutely happy to help however we can to support you.

On the health front, as of right now COVID-19 has significantly subsided with most hospitals reporting very few, if any COVID-19 patients. We certainly hope that the numbers continue to drop and that we are at the predicted zero cases by July 1st and by July 4th we are able to safely get back to our 'new' normal, which may even include a parade and fireworks, if we are lucky.

As for our family, Tali has been out of school for 3-weeks now and Ana just finished a week ago. Tali will be a 5th grader and Ana a sophomore at Guerin. It is hard to believe! Ana has to take PE and health this summer since she started Guerin in the 2nd trimester and missed the first trimester of it. While she isn't looking forward to it, it will be good to get her moving in the mornings as she is like a typical teenager and can sleep until noon, if you let her. She is going to play soccer for Guerin this fall and will be practicing all summer as well and will also sing in one of Guerin's choirs and will be going back to Indianapolis Children's Choir Master Chorale since she graduated from the youth program this year. She has also been doing such a great job as Chef Ana cooking Sunday dinners all from scratch. They are so absolutely delicious and we love enjoying her cooking.

Tali is going to horse camp in Zionsville for a few weeks and absolutely loves it! On top of that, she decided to quit competitive gymnastics after four years and is instead doing competitive cheer at ICE and has already started practices, which are kicking her butt!

Brigid is still at home as Merck will not allow any reps to go out for a few more weeks. The good news is that she still has a job, full pay and benefits, so we are extremely grateful there.

Steve's parents Jack and Mary Anne are getting back out again, but did cancel their trip to Branson last week, per the urging of Steve and Michelle. They are enjoying seeing some of their friends and family again and we enjoyed having them over last week for a belated Mother's Day celebration.

Kylie's big news is that Carmel finally took them off of well water and hooked them up to city water. She has been waiting for this for over a year as their well was going out. Her dog ripped a big gash in her hands and she is recovering from that now.

Patti is enjoying getting jobs done around the house and now that Ron is retired, he is able to do work during the week.

Thea is in final preparations for her wedding to Michael on June 20th in Cleveland. Her plans for a wedding here in Indy have been cancelled due to COVID-19 and will instead have a small wedding with family and then have a delayed reception next summer here in Indy. We can't wait!

As for the real estate market, we are getting asked daily how it is doing right now. Fortunately, it is recovering very nicely. We have been ranked as a Top 10 city to recover fastest from the pandemic and we are seeing that. Activity has picked up a lot and is getting close to where it usually is for the spring. We are hoping the spring market will shift into the summer and fall. We are in dire need of inventory right now. We are near an all-time low of 1.6 months right now. A balanced market is around 6 months. We have lots of buyers, but no homes to show them. If you know of someone thinking of selling, please give us a call. We would love to consult with them about their options, which include selling at the highest prices in history in the shortest amount of time.

Here are some numbers from MIBOR for April 2020 vs. April 2019. May numbers will come out in a week.
Median Sales Price-$210,000-UP 0.7%
Closed Sales-2,522 units-DOWN 14.9%
New Listings-2,782 units-DOWN 23.9%
Pending Sales-2,866 units-DOWN 9.1%
Days on Market-38 days-No change
Price per s.f.-$120-UP 1.7%
% of Ask Received-98.3%-UP 0.4%
Active Inventory-3,967 units-DOWN 1.7%
Absorption Rate-1.6 months-UP 14.3%

It will be interesting to see where May's numbers come in, but these could have been MUCH worse, as you can imagine.

We truly hope that you stay safe and healthy, especially now. We also hope that you will take time to celebrate all of the wonderful dads out there for Father's Day this month. We wouldn't be who we are without you!

A few updates and reminders:
Thank you to everyone who attended our May virtual Happy Hour! We had a great time and gave out some fun prizes for best dressed (Rhoda Israelov) and winner of our May trivia challenge on our call (Gene Ziobron). Please join us next week for our June virtual Happy Hour on Thursday, June 18th from 5-6:30pm. Bring your favorite drink and come ready for some fun trivia questions and your chance to win some prizes. Here is the link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/9756645504. We hope this is the last virtual Happy Hour and we can go back to seeing you all in-person in July. Stay tuned for updates.

Wow!!!! We had over 400 cars for our Shred Day a couple of weeks ago!!! This was an all-time record...by a LOT! We filled up one entire truck and had to call a second one! The recycling truck was also full. This was so popular that we are going to do another one in July. Mark your calendars for Thursday, July 16th from 10AM-12pm at our office again. Anything you want shredded or electronics to be recycled can be disposed of. This is absolutely FREE for our clients and referral partners.

A lot of people have asked us for our preferred contractors as so many people are getting house projects completed. Please call or e-mail us any time and we are happy to get you some names of great contractors you can trust to handle all of your projects...big or small.
If you have a mortgage and you haven't checked to see if you should re-finance, you may want to take some time to look into it. Rates are at or near all-time lows and if you have a 30-year fixed conventional mortgage, for example the rate is around 3.25%. Call or e-mail us today for our preferred loan partner who will be happy to help you figure out if it makes sense to refinance or not.
So, what did you think of our video intro last month? Did you like it? We would love your feedback on how we can improve. Let us know.

Click here for our June video

Click here for our June newsletter

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

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Enjoy summer!!!

Your Friends in Real Estate,

Steve, Kylie, Thea, & Patti

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

Virtual Staging questions answered

Virtual home tours and showings are increasingly popular in real estate. They allow prospective home buyers to view the property on their own time, reducing unnecessary contact and helping them to avoid homes that they aren’t really interested in. A greater focus on virtual viewings can be a double-edged sword, however; still photos and walkthrough videos don’t always capture the heart of a property the way that being there in person can.

Proper staging can go a long way toward fixing this problem. The rules of staging are a bit different when planning for virtual visitors than they would be if you were prepping for an open house or other in-person tour, though. Here are a few things to keep in mind when staging your home for a virtual tour to help ensure that online home shoppers are suitably wowed by your property.

Start at the Door

When a potential buyer comes to your property for a tour or an open house, the first thing they’ll see is the door and front of the home. Start your virtual tour the same way. Touch up the paint on your door, make sure that any flowers or other decorations are well cared for, and clean up any messes that might be in the front yard. Starting at the front provides a bit of familiarity and gives viewers the same first impression that they and their visitors will see if they do decide to buy the house.

Accent With Art

For the most part, you want to remove as many personal effects as possible when staging a home so that potential home buyers can see the potential of the space as something they can make over. With virtual tours and online showings, though, this just comes across as bare walls. You should still remove family photos and personal effects so that viewers don’t feel like they’re peeking in on someone else’s life. Replace them with pieces of art or other items that break up the monotony of bare walls or empty floors. A wall-mounted TV, modular fireplace or other accents can also work well for this purpose.

Cut the Clutter

Decluttering is important when showing a house. When viewing in person, potential buyers tend to overlook if your home is still being lived in. But because things come across differently in still photos and video tours, clutter usually makes a home look less appealing online. Even if you have to rearrange things between photos and move certain items off camera, do everything you can to provide a clean, clutter-free view of your home.

Use Positioning to Your Advantage

Angles are important when taking photos or making videos for online showings. Showcase the space available in your home by placing tables or other large pieces of furniture in one corner of the shot, letting the photo show off how open the dining room is or how much area there really is in the living room. You can also show off your favorite views from within the house by taking pictures from the same angle you’d be sitting at, letting viewers see the home in the same ways that you enjoy.

Let Viewers in on the Secret

Do you have any hidden, obscure or otherwise “secret” areas in your home? If so, be sure to include them in your virtual staging plans. You might provide just a peek at a hidden closet or a special play-space in your flower garden, or you could choose to elaborate on the secret and give viewers a great view of everything it has to offer. Regardless of how you do it, showing off the secrets in your home will help to give it more personality and get potential buyers that much more interested.

Ask for Help

Staging a home can be a big job. Don’t be afraid to ask for help if you need it. HomeKeepr can connect you with seasoned pros who can help you in staging your home perfectly for both online and in-person showings. Sign up for a free account today to get a jump start on your staging.

How will a recession affect my purchase?

It’s well known that the housing market is heavily influenced by the economy — especially local economies. When the economy is strong, people have more money for large purchases and investments in real estate. When things are tighter, though, a lot of prospective homeowners may start to ask whether they’re really ready to take on such a potentially large debt.

If you’ve been thinking of buying a home, you might be wondering about this yourself. How will economic problems, or even a recession, affect your home purchase? Will the local housing market all but grind to a halt? While it’s good to keep questions in mind so that you aren’t taken by surprise, the chance of a recession or other economic downturn having a profound effect on your home purchase is relatively low.

What Is a Recession?

First things first: just what is a recession? It’s a term that’s been tossed around a lot in the last decade or so, but there usually isn’t a whole lot of explanation provided with it. Essentially, a recession is a downturn in the economy that lasts for at least six months. Typically during a recession you’ll see both trade and industry take a hit, and the gross domestic product (the value of the goods and services produced over a period of time, usually called the GDP) fall for at least two quarters in a row.

A recession can last for quite a while and can result in a significant slump in the economy that takes months or even years to recover from. An example of this would be the Great Recession which lasted from 2007 to 2009; its fallout lasted for years in some places and caused a number of significant problems for several sectors of the economy.

The Economy and the Housing Market

The economy and the housing market are pretty strongly connected. When the economy is in a slump, this can drive the housing market down. While this generally applies at the national level, this is especially true at the local level. When business is booming and the economy is doing well, the housing market usually gets a boost as well. This can run the other way, too; problems in the housing market can drag the economy down with it, while a strong housing market can help to lift up an otherwise shaky economy. Issues with the housing market contributed to the Great Recession and led to economic problems in other countries around the world.

Will the Housing Market Collapse?

Just because there is a link between the housing market and the economy at large doesn’t mean that a recession will bring the housing market down, however. A downturn in the economy might slow housing sales in some areas, especially early on as both buyers and sellers wait to see whether the economic turmoil is going to last long-term. In most cases, though, this slowdown will only be temporary and will not affect all parts of the country equally. In some cases, it can even result in unmatched opportunities for buyers who are willing to act.

Inform Your Decisions

Any time there’s economic uncertainty, it’s always a good idea to consult professionals who will help you find options to protect your investment and avoid paying more than you have to for a home. Fortunately, HomeKeepr is here to help. Sign up for a free account today to connect with the pros that can help you achieve your dreams of home ownership even in uncertain economic times.

Lawn mowing best practices

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

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

Prep Your Mower

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

Learn Your Lawn

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

Cut to the Right Height

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

Mind Those Clippings

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

Adapt Throughout the Year

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

Keep It Under Control

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

Construction design trends

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

Children’s Playrooms

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

Ditching the Dining Room

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

Smart Home Construction

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

Home Office Spaces

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

Smaller Room Designs

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

Keeping Up with the Trends

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

Things to consider before you add on to your house

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

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

Calculating the Cost

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

Will There Be Enough Space?

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

The Realities of Construction

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

Is Moving an Option?

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

Adding a New Story

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

Tips for bringing a contractor into your home

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

Schedule and Screen

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

Open Everything

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

Keep Your Distance

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

No-Contact Payment

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

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

Clean Before and After

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

Stay Calm

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

May Steve & Jack's Home News

Dear Steve & Brigid,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Your Friends in Real Estate,

Steve, Kylie, Thea, & Patti

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

Supporting 'non-essential' businesses

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

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

Remote and Limited Services

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

Advanced Scheduling

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

Gift Certificates and Prepayments

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

Word of Mouth

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

Support Local Professionals

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

Is not a good time to buy a home?

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

The answer may be surprising.

It’s a Buyer’s Market

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

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

Demand Is Staying Low

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

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

Market Recovery

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

Buying Safe

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

New Social Distancing Guidelines for Showing Houses

Buying or selling a home can be stressful even under ordinary circumstances. Unfortunately, the current state of the world is far from ordinary. The housing market is feeling the crunch, as fewer buyers want to get out and shop for a home, and fewer sellers want to take a risk with selling. This isn’t to say that nobody’s buying and selling, of course; the market is just going through some changes.

One of the biggest changes revolves around how buyers and sellers are handling social isolation and social distancing. If you’re thinking of selling, or are in the market to buy, here are a few new “rules” to keep in mind when entering the real estate fray in the era of self-isolation.

Increasing Online Presence

One of the big changes to the real estate process is an increased dependence on online resources instead of in-person shopping. This includes lots of pictures and videos of properties being posted online, but many sellers are taking things even further than this. Recorded virtual tours, online conferences to allow buyers to ask questions about the property, and even livestream walkthroughs with a seller or agent showing the property are all increasingly popular options to supplement or even replace in-person showings and conferences.

Fewer Open Houses

Open houses are a popular way to show off a property to many potential buyers, but in the current crisis these events are a big no-no. In many locales, open houses aren’t even allowed under state and federal guidance. In states where they haven’t been specifically banned, many sellers are still hesitant to hold an event that would bring multiple people into close contact with each other. Online “virtual open house” conferences are popping up as one option to adapt to this, letting multiple potential buyers come together on Zoom or a similar video conference service at the same time to get a better feel for the property that’s being sold.

More One-on-One Time

As convenient as online access and virtual tours are during the current isolation period, few if any buyers would sign on the dotted line without getting a chance to see a property in person. To accommodate this, many sellers and agents are meeting with potential buyers by appointment only. This lets a potential buyer get a good look at the property in question while also restricting the size of the meeting as much as possible. Many of these appointments are made with the understanding that if any participant feels the least bit under the weather on the day of the meet-up, then it will need to be rescheduled for another time.

Respecting Social Distancing

Even when buyers and sellers do meet up, the process is usually a little different than it used to be. Social distancing rules are usually respected, meaning that everyone involved should stay at least six feet apart at all times to prevent potential infection. Discussions about the property and general Q&As are more likely to occur outdoors in the open air, and any greetings or introductions skip out on traditional handshakes. Masks, gloves, shoe covers and hand sanitizer are commonly available on site, and many sellers go through and open all of the doors and windows to both maximize airflow and to allow interested buyers access to the entire house without having to touch doorknobs or other surfaces in order to see inside.

Closing Remotely

Remote closing negotiations are becoming much more common, taking advantage of video conferencing to bring everyone together without actually having to be in the same room. There may be some instances where people have to meet up to actually sign paperwork, but digital signing is more common because it removes that point of contact. Even when people do come together for closing and signing, it’s much more likely that everyone will utilize social distancing and that both parties will use their own pens instead of sharing.

Raised Bed Gardening-DIY

Even though everything seems to have ground to a halt, it’s important to think about things a bit further down the line. This not only helps you to prepare for when things start back up again, but it can also make you a bit more self-sufficient in the future. This is where planning out a garden can be a great idea; it helps to keep you occupied now and yields a variety of healthy vegetables and other foods later in the year.

Maybe you don’t have a lot of space, though, or perhaps the soil in your yard isn’t the greatest. Neither of these prevents you from having a garden, though. There are a few different options available to address these concerns, but you might find that a raised bed garden is exactly what you’re looking for.

What Is a Raised Bed Garden?

First thing’s first: What exactly is a raised bed garden? Essentially, it’s a garden that has a box or other physical container around its border that allows you to add more soil to plant your vegetables and other crops in. In some cases, this can be a few added inches of topsoil. In other cases, you’ll need to add a substantial amount of new soil, and some raised beds have so much added topsoil that the plants never actually touch the “real” soil. Regardless of whether you add a little soil or a lot, the growing medium is still raised at least slightly from the ground level thanks to the garden box that surrounds it.

Building the Garden Box

There are a number of options available to you when it comes to building a garden box. You can use landscaping timber, bricks, 2x4s, wooden planks or even concrete. Decide on a height that works for you and pick a material that you’re comfortable working with or have easy access to. You can design a perfectly sized garden box, or you can make one that has gaps in the corners where your material doesn’t quite line up. It doesn’t actually matter what the box looks like, just so long as it is solid enough to contain your soil and is connected to itself or other supports to keep the sides from falling apart.

Just keep in mind that some materials such as pressure-treated wood contain chemicals that could leak out into the soil over time. If you have concerns about this or are using materials that you know present a chemical hazard, be sure to stain or seal your materials before use to keep water from penetrating and leaching the chemicals out.

Filling It In

Once you have a workable garden box, it’s time to add some soil. Ideally, you should till the ground soil before adding any additional soil to the box. Add a layer of garden soil or topsoil, then use a rake or hoe to blend the garden soil and your additive soil a bit. From there you can continue adding soil, mixing it together periodically, until you’ve reached the level you want in your garden box. In some cases, you’ll have room left within the box; in others, the soil will go all the way to the top. After it’s filled, you might want to water it well to let the soil settle a bit before you start planting.

Planting and Garden Care

With the box built and filled with soil, you’re ready to get your plants in the ground. Planting is largely the same as you’d do if you were planting directly into the ground, though your newly filled garden bed likely has softer soil than your yard. Water your garden a little more often than you normally would, as raised beds offer more of a chance for water to leak out or evaporate than ground soil does. Feed your plants as needed, remove weeds or grass when it appears, and do your best to keep pests out of the garden. The raised bed itself may deter some pests, and a small chicken wire fence around the edge of the bed can help as well.

There’s a decent chance that your raised bed garden will grow better than an in-soil garden thanks to the quality of its soil and the added control that you have over your garden environment. With proper care, you should be able to enjoy a bountiful harvest in just a few months.

Spring cleaning tips and things you may be missing...

As self-isolation and social distancing stretches on, you may find yourself a bit bored just staying at home. Since there’s a big difference between choosing to stay at home and having to stay at home, even those who enjoy spending time at home may be struggling. This is why many people are starting to look for things that need to be done around the house – if you’re going to be stuck at home every day, you might as well be productive.

Fortunately, there are a number of spring-cleaning tasks that can keep you busy for a while. Don’t just dust, vacuum and call it a day, though. Consider tackling the following jobs as well to reduce your future maintenance needs and ensure that you’re ready to face the summer.

Clean the Windows (And the Screens)

Cleaning the windows is a classic spring-cleaning task, but it’s one of those tasks that’s all too easy to only do halfway. When you clean your windows, be sure to clean both the inside and the outside with a quality glass cleaner. You should also remove the window screens and clean them as well, especially if any of them have dirt or other icky stuff stuck in them after the winter.

Pressure Washing

Dirt, mold, mildew and moss can all degrade the materials of your home over time. That’s why it’s a good idea to break out the pressure washer and give your home a good ol’ scrubdown at least once a year. Spring is a good time to do this since it’s usually still a bit too cool for things that grow on your house to get out of hand. While you’ve got the pressure washer out, you should also look to see if there’s anything else around the house that could use a good deep clean. Check out picnic tables, fences and any other spots where dirt and other contaminants might accumulate.

Gutter Cleaning

A lot of people view gutter cleaning as a fall task, associating full gutters with fallen leaves. There are a lot of things that can clog up your gutters, though, including debris that gets washed off your roof by spring rain and melting snow. To reduce wear and tear on your gutters and make cleaning them easier overall, make cleaning your gutters into a task that you do at least twice a year, in the spring and fall.

Check Out the AC

As things start to warm up, a lot of people prefer to open their windows instead of cranking the air conditioning. You should at least give it a test run to make sure that it’s working properly, though. Clean your AC as best as you can, let it run for a while to make sure that it’s able to maintain the air temperature, and change any filters that need to be changed. If there’s a problem, it’s better to find out now and fix it than discover it in a few months when temperatures peak.

Don’t Forget the Furniture

A lot of dusting goes on in the spring, but it’s easy to forget that dust and dirt accumulate on furniture too. Break out the vacuum or a steam cleaner to give your furniture a good cleaning as a part of your spring-cleaning routine. Not only will this keep your furniture looking good and in good shape for longer, but it can also reduce allergies and other health issues within your home.

Test Those Smoke Detectors

It’s easy to forget smoke detectors if they aren’t beeping randomly in the middle of the night because they have a low battery. To keep your home safe, though, you should test your smoke detectors and replace their batteries every six months. Spring cleaning time is a great time to do this (and then do it again in the fall when you start preparing your home for winter). Don’t settle for just replacing batteries, either; if a smoke detector doesn’t work or seems to have a larger problem than just dead batteries, replace the entire unit.