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.

Smart Sprinklers

You’re all alone at home when you hear it. Sh-sh-sh-sh-sh-sh-shhhhhhhh… and it seems to be coming from outside. You look around, very puzzled and a little afraid, then it comes again sh-sh-sh-sh-sh-sh-shhhhhhhh.

Oh! It dawns on you suddenly. “Alexa, turn the sprinklers off.”

Smart devices are popping up everywhere, even on your front lawn. And while many seem kind of silly, like voice controlled outlets, others, like smart sprinklers are very likely the smart device you never realized you needed.

The Basics of Smart Sprinklers

Sprinklers have been becoming increasingly smarter over the years, but those standard sprinkler systems still can’t hold a candle to a smart sprinkler. These babies are so efficient that in research studies, they’ve been able to save up to 70 percent of the water a traditional sprinkler will use. That’s not just good for the environment, your driveway and your neighbor’s cat, it’s great for your pocketbook.

Smart and Not As Smart Sprinklers

There are two different types of smart sprinklers on the market right now. The main difference is in how they determine when they need to be running (if you let them do their thing instead of programming them directly). Those are:

Sensor-based. This type of sprinkler relies on one of several types of soil moisture sensors to figure out just how wet the soil is. When it’s wet enough, the sprinkler stops. They can either check the sensor on a schedule, watering or not watering depending on the moisture, or they run automatically when the moisture in the soil is out of a programmed range.

The down side to sensor-based sprinklers is that they can literally only measure the moisture around the sensor. If your lot is uneven or unusual, these may not really do much for you and could end up wasting a lot of water.

Weather-based. Also known as a signal-based or evapotranspiration controller, these controllers are actively scanning for weather reports so they can adjust the amount of water they let loose on your lawn. Some systems also consider historical data for your region, others collect on-site weather information to make the most accurate calculations.

Weather-based smart sprinklers are amazing, there are no two ways about it. But they can also get very expensive very quickly. That being said, over the long term, they’ll save you more money because of the increased precision, but if you’re not willing or able to let the computer take control, these are not for you.

For Extra Bang, Add a Flow Meter

Some smart sprinkler systems can be fitted with an optional flow meter, which can prove to be a huge help down the road. You can use a flow meter to measure the amount of water that your sprinklers are putting out, but generally, your smart sprinkler can also do that. What they can’t do is tell you if the pressure is too high or too low, indicating a problem in the system.

For a lot of systems, the optional flow meter is a less than $50 upgrade. When compared to the water bill a broken sprinkler line could cost you, it’s not much in the way of an investment.

Smart Sprinklers May Be Covered By Utility Rebates

Although they can be a pricey initial purchase, the cost of a smart sprinkler system will often be rebated to you by your water utility. Because of the amount of water saved and the run-off that’s eliminated, more and more utilities and municipalities are issuing rebates for these smart devices.

Check with your utility company and the EPA’s WaterSense site to determine which devices are covered in your area.

When You’re a Little More Indoorsy..

Just log into your HomeKeepr community to find a landscape expert who can help you choose the right smart sprinkler system for your home. You can trust they’re going to do the job right, after all, they’ve been recommended by your Realtor.

Waste less water. Grow more grass. Do it all from a smart device app in your phone!

Fences...

Humans have been enclosing things in fences since there were fences and things to enclose. It’s natural that you’d want to build one eventually. After all, with a good fence you could better defend your property from wiley raccoons and urban foxes or maybe to keep your squirrely goat herd from wandering into the neighbor’s yard. It’s your fence, you have your reasons.

But, building a fence isn’t just a matter of nailing a few boards together. Even though it’s a good project for new homeowners, there are a few things to keep in mind before taking the plunge.

The Before You Build Boogie

If you’ve read any of these blogs, you know that the planning and prep are keys to success with any sort of project, whether that’s repainting your house, sealing your driveway or, in this case, building a fence. The legwork involved in fence building is nearly as involved as the actual fence building, but doing it right means a fence that will last and last.

Do these things before you even start to think about digging the first post hole:

Find Your Neighborhood’s Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions

The Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions dictate what can and cannot be done to property belonging to a particular homeowners’ association. If you have HOA fees or commonly owned property (playgrounds, pools, etc) in your neighborhood, you probably have a CC&R somewhere that you need to read.

Understand that you are legally obligated to this agreement since you signed what amounts to a contract to abide by the rules at closing. They can literally dictate anything, from how tall the fence can be to what type of materials are allowed (or required). If you can’t find your copy in your closing documents, call your closing company, they can get you a new copy.

Go Visit Planning and Zoning

Your city’s Planning & Zoning department makes lots of rules about things you’d never imagine there needed to be a rule made about. Things like sign setbacks, minimum sizes for new homes and minimum required green space per residential lot are a few that drive real estate pros up the wall.

The P&Z rules that will get you are going to be related to the height of your fencing, how far it has to be off of the road and, like in your CC&R, the materials the fence is made of. In areas with high winds or other regularly destructive forces, there may be specific requirements for construction style in order to minimize the chances your fence becomes a weapon in the next big disaster.

Get Your Permit!

Not every municipality will require that you have a permit to build a fence, especially if you’re just replacing an existing fence with a new one, but some do. This is not something to take a chance on, just go to the city and apply for one. The chances are great that you’ll be granted an approval, but an inspector will still come by to make sure your fence is sturdy and sound. This is good in the longer term, don’t be confused. If you built the fence wrong, you’re really just wasting your money on a structure that won’t last.

Invite a Surveyor Over

Surveyors have a tough job. They know where the property lines are supposed to be, and too often, they’re forced to have to tell a homeowner that the lines aren’t exactly where they thought they should be. Breaking the bad news is basically their job, so along with having great working knowledge of surveying, they also have to be good at telling people they’ve been wrong all this time.

Now, this may not be the case for you, but before you even think about putting in a fence, have a survey. You don’t want your neighbor to sue you because the fence was put in the wrong place, forcing you to do it all over again, or buy them out of the land that should have not been fenced in.

Actual, Factual Fence Construction

Now that you’ve managed the details, you can start thinking about your fence. It’s ok. Do it. You know what materials are allowed and which aren’t, plus the heights and setback requirements. You are a fully loaded fence-building machine now.

When you choose those fencing materials, you’ll have a few important choices to make. It’s important at this stage of the game to figure out the purpose for your fence. Do you like having company over and don’t want to disturb the neighbors? Are you putting in a pool? Does your dog need a place to romp?

Although all three can be serviced by a fairly generic fence type, there might be more specific advantages to particular fence styles whether you’re trying to keep the noise level down or want to make sure neighborhood kids don’t sneak into your pool at night. The pool is better protected by a sturdy wooden fence or tall metal fence, where your noisy parties can be dampened with a lower maintenance PVC or vinyl fence. Focusing on your intent makes it easier to narrow the huge field of fencing materials and styles.

Once you know what you’re going to use to make that fence, the rest is a piece of cake. It goes something like this:

1. Plan your post positions ahead of time so you don’t end up with some weird little section of fence at the end. Recommended spacing of posts will depend on your fence style, height and materials.
2. With the posts planned, it’s time to dig. Depending on your location, holes as deep as 30 inches are recommended. You’ll want to backfill the hole with cement or crushed angular gravel until it’s tightly packed. Leave the posts a day or two for your material of choice to set and settle in place.
3. Run your horizontal rails across the fence posts, either on your side of the fence (so you have the nice side of the fence facing you) or on your neighbor’s side (so the nice side is facing them). Generally speaking, it’s a good idea to have wooden fence pickets face an area you will always have access to in case any need to be replaced or treated.
4. Once you’ve chosen a side and installed the rails, you can put on the pickets. At this point, you’re done, save sealing wooden fences. You should wait a few days after installation for sealing.

Fences are Time Consuming Projects

Now that you know the basics of building a fence, you may be rethinking your plan for isolation. Don’t panic, there are plenty of experts in the HomeKeepr community that can help you turn your backyard into an island of solitude.

Maybe fence building isn’t your thing, but that doesn’t mean you have to give up having a glorious fence of your very own. Just reach out to a pro that your Realtor has already given the thumbs up to and you’re ready for breezy evening entertaining or long games of fetch with Fido’s favorite ball.

June 2018 Newsletter

Happy Friday! We hope you are enjoying this unseasonably warm weather lately, just on the heels of unseasonably cold weather a few short weeks ago. For many of us parents, today is the last day of school. While our kids are excited for some much-deserved downtime, it puts a strain on us parents to find activities to keep our kids entertained. We hope you are prepared and ready for another fun summer. It is an absolute shame and frankly, beyond ridiculous that yet another school shooting took place this morning-this time in Noblesville-at the middle school. For most of us, Hamilton County, we thought was immune from these senseless acts of violence. Clearly, we are not. We hope and pray that the injured heal and that everyone affected by this act of violence recover mentally, emotionally, and physically. Our kids (and everyone for that matter) should NOT have to deal with this...EVER. While we don't have the solution, one needs to be found before more of our precious kids and their teachers are injured.

It is equally disturbing that this happened on the last day of school and on the eve of Memorial Day weekend. For all those brave men and women who have given the ultimate sacrifice, we remember you, we thank you, and we are eternally grateful for the sacrifice you gave to all of us for our freedom. That is a debt we can never repay, but we remain grateful nonetheless. We hope that you will take some time out of this holiday weekend to remember those brave men and women and pray for those active service members to remain safe.

On a more upbeat note, what summer plans do you have? In just a few short weeks, we leave for Michigan to drop Ana off at Blue Lake Fine Arts camp for a final intensive week of practice prior to leaving for her 3-week international choral tour. She will be visiting France, Germany, Belgium, and Italy. We are so excited for and proud of her! This will be an experience of a lifetime and we can't wait to hear all about her experiences. We will be going over there to see her perform in Belgium and then also visit Paris again. Tali will be coming with us and will enjoy time with just mom and dad, but make no bones about it, she will miss her big sister.

We are also super-proud of Ana for being just a handful of kids selected from her school to be trained by the Joseph Maley Foundation to produce and perform puppet shows at area schools talking about and celebrating the differences each child has, including physical, emotional, and social. This teaches acceptance and inclusion-something that could have been used today at Noblesville...

Ana and I are also taking our adult/child First Aid/CPR/AED class on Tuesday to become certified/re-certified (in my case). Ana is starting to babysit and along with her completion of her SafeSitter course, we wanted her to be as prepared as possible for most any situation that comes her way. If you need a good babysitter, Ana would be happy to help! :-)

The market continues to be white-hot and we have too little inventory available and that is affecting the housing market with fewer sales reported, as a result. While the inventory ticked up 0.1% from the prior month, it is down over 33% from this time last year. We need more people to put their houses on the market. If you have been thinking about it, NOW is the time. Give us a call-317-573-1880.

Finally, there are still a few more spots left for the Heritage Place Golf outing taking place at Broadmoor Country Club on June 28th. Let me know if you would like to attend and play on this beautiful, private course while supporting a very noble not-for-profit helping seniors.

Here are the April 2018 vs. April 2017 real estate stats, as reported by MIBOR:

New Listings-UP 3.6% to 4,348 units
Pending Sales-UP 15.9% to 3,920 units
Closed Sales-UP 3.0% to 3,212 units
Median Sales Price-UP 9.4% to $175,000
Average Sales Price-UP 9.6% to $213,715
Percent of Original List Price Received at Sale-UP 1.4% to 97%
Total Active Listings Available at Month End-DOWN 32% to 6,046 units
Months Supply of Inventory-DOWN 33.3% to 2.0 months

Enjoy the June newsletter and have a safe and restful holiday weekend!!!

Click here to read our June newsletter

Click here to watch a cool video about the real estate market

Click here to watch some videos about the new construction process

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Click here to read some recent client testimonials. We love happy clients!!

Your Friends in Real Estate,

Steve, Jack, Kylie, & Julia

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

December Steve & Jack's Home News

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

We hope you are able to take some time off to spend with friends and family and reflect on everything for which we have to be thankful. It is easy to complain about what we don't have instead of being grateful for what we DO have.

Our family is traveling to Williamsburg, VA to meet up with Brigid's family to celebrate Thanksgiving. This will be the first time we have all been together for Thanksgiving in many years and Williamsburg is a central location for everyone. It is so beautiful for Christmas and we are looking forward to visiting Colonial Williamsburg again. Jack & Mary Anne will be staying in Indy with Michelle and her family and will celebrate together.

THANK YOU to all of our clients who came out yesterday to enjoy Photos with Santa!! We had a great turnout and almost everyone enjoyed sitting with Santa and sharing with him their Christmas list. A couple kiddos weren't quite sure about Santa yet! For those of you who attended, we will be sending out those photos via e-mail later this week. We hope you can join us again next year.

Have you RSVP'd to Kylie (Kylie@Welcome2Indy.com) for our 5th Annual VIP Client Appreciation Movie on Saturday, December 2nd? If not, please do so today with the number of adults and number of children in your group so we can plan accordingly for our food. The fun starts at 8:30AM with registration and continental breakfast. The movie will start promptly at 9:30AM and we should conclude around 11AM. We are back up at the Hamilton 16 IMAX theater at Hamilton Town Center. The movie this year will be the just-released Disney film Coco. Check out the trailer here.

Due to our Photos with Santa and Client Appreciation event as well as the holidays, we will not be hosting our monthly Happy Hour for November or December. We will pick back up again in January on the 17th from 5-6:30PM at Matt The Miller's. The official e-vite will be sent out again next month. We hope you can join us!

Housing numbers for October haven't been released yet, so we will send those out with next month's newsletter. Generally, however inventory is still extremely low and activity in the under $300,000 price range is still brisk, relatively speaking. Historically, our market slows down a bit for the holidays and then picks back up for spring the weekend after Super Bowl (mid-February). There are still quite a few buyers out there looking for houses, so if you are on the market, we are recommending staying on the market over the holidays due solely to higher-than normal demand in a market with historically-low inventory. Call us if you have any questions at all.

Finally, we just launched the first installment of 10 in our New Construction video series. We interviewed 10 different builders from all price ranges and broke down the building process into 10 easy-to-follow interviews (steps) in the building process. We will be adding a new video approximately every month. Feel comfortable sharing these with people you care about who are thinking about building a new home and aren't sure where to begin or how the process works. As always, we are happy to answer any questions at any time. Here is a link to the first video in the series. Please let us know what you think!

Check out December's newsletter here. There are some very interesting and entertaining stories in store for you this month, including one about Warren Buffett. Don't miss out!

Want to see an interactive market data report complete with a summary video? Click here to check out our new market update video for October.

Want to save money at places you shop every day? Click here.

Want the most powerful real estate app available? Click here.

From our family to yours, we wish you a very Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Steve, Jack & Kylie

Negotiating with Builders

OK, we have all heard that builders are hurting right now and that isn't far from the truth. Some are hurting more than others, to be sure. What are your options if you are looking to build a new home or are considering buying a "spec" home (one that is already built or is about finished)? First of all, enlist the help of a knowledgeable real estate agent who is familiar with the building process and builders in the area. There are many nuances with each builder and knowing these could save you (or cost you) a lot of money.

First of all, find out whent the fiscal year of the builder ends, or when their sales quarter ends. They will be under more pressure to sell a home at these times than any other. Enlisting the help of an agent will show the builder you are serious and won't cost you any more. The commission the agent makes comes out of the builer's marketing budget and has nothing to do with the price of the home you are purchasing. You will NOT be able to save more money by bypassing the real estate agent.

Be willing to close quickly. Time is money for builders. A quick close is extremely important to builders. Equally important to builders is buyers NOT making the purchase of their next home contingent upon the sale of their existing home. If you can swing these items you are ahead already.

Most builders will pay your closing costs, but ONLY if you use their lender and title company. Be prepared for some road bumps by using their lender, however this can save you several thousands of dollars.

Next, no matter what the sales rep says, make an offer lower than the price of the home. They will have to take it to the VP of Sales, but he/she will take a look at their bottom-line and tell you whether or not they can accept your terms.

The worst that can happen is they will say no, but this is what we can do. Either way, you are ahead.

Check out our website at www.Welcome2Indy.com for other resources or contact me with any questions. Gook luck!!