November Steve & Jack's Home News

Happy Halloween! It is hard to believe it is almost November and the Trick-or-Treaters will be here on Monday. We hope you have had a fun Fall season so far and are looking forward to the upcoming holidays.

Jack and Mary Anne are doing well. Mary Anne just had surgery earlier this week to remove her parathyroid glands. She is recovering well and the doctor feels that she will be pretty much back to normal next week.

Steve's nephew Caleb has had a rough go of it lately with breaking the growth plate in his ankle and having to have surgery. He is home recovering, but will be missing over a week of school as well as soccer. His Aunt Mary arranged to have Indy Eleven player Duke Lacroix visit Caleb at home to lift his spirits. Duke was extremely gracious with his time to Caleb and even brought his jersey signed by the entire team! Thank you, Indy Eleven and Duke for your grace and generosity! What a class organization!

Did you go somewhere for Fall Break? If so, we hope you had fun and were able to relax and enjoy time with family. As many of you know, Jack and Mary Anne take Steve & his family as well as Michelle and her family on a trip each year to one of their timeshares. This year they took Steve & his family to Orlando and spent a week at Disney. Disney is one of our favorite places to go, but it is no relaxing vacation, that is for sure! The crowds weren't bad and the weather was fantastic! This is our favorite time of the year to go due to the mild weather, lower crowds, Food & Wine Festival at EPCOT, and Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party. What a blast!!!

Steve & Brigid also took the Backstage Magic tour for the first time and went behind the scenes at EPCOT, Magic Kingdom, toured the laundry facility (very impressive!), toured the costuming building, went through one of the prop houses as well as the maintenance facility and also walked through some of the Utilidor tunnels (very cool!). We HIGHLY recommend this tour if you have time the next time you visit. Kids are not allowed as secrets are revealed, but that was the favorite part of the trip for Steve & Brigid.

Kylie has exciting news to share in that she just purchased her first home last month & is pregnant and due at the end of March!!! We are so excited for her, but will dearly miss her while she is on maternity leave. We are looking for someone who can fill in for Kylie until her return in May as that is our busy season. If you know of someone who has a real estate license and would be willing to fill in for 8-weeks, please let Steve know-Steve@Welcome2Indy.com.

THANK YOU to everyone who attended our October Happy Hour on the 12th!! We had a record crowd and a lot of fun!!! Thank you to our October sponsor Robert Winiecki and his foundation. We are grateful for your generosity!

Our November Happy Hour will be on Wednesday, November 16th from 5-6:30PM at Matt The Miller's in Carmel. Everyone is invited! Drinks and appetizers are on us!

December we will be taking off for Happy Hours due to the holidays and other events we have planned, but we will pick back up again in January.

Four days later on Sunday, November 20th from 12-2PM is our annual Photos with Santa here at our office at 116th & Meridian. You should have received an Evite earlier this week as well as an invite on Facebook. We will have a professional photographer, cookies and activities for the kids. This has become very popular and we would love to see you. This makes for a great photo for Christmas cards! So we have enough food and drink, please RSVP, if you haven't already to Kylie at Kylie@Welcome2Indy.com and tell her how many adults and kids are attending. Thank you!

Finally, on Saturday, December 3rd is our annual VIP Client Appreciation Event at Hamilton Town Center. You should have received a Save The Date letter in the mail this week. Food and drinks as well as registration start at 8:30AM and the movie starts promptly at 9:30AM. Disney's Moana is our feature this year and will have just been released. Please join us as we celebrate you and those you have referred to us. Please RSVP to Kylie at Kylie@Welcome2Indy.com with the number of adults and number of kids attending so we have enough food and drink for everyone. We hope you can join us!!

October during a presidential election year is always slow for real estate and this year is no different. However, our market is still heavily in a sellers' market. Typically, we have a slow October and then we have a busier-than-usual winter. If you or someone you care about are thinking about moving, please call us, so we can learn more about your situation and offer customized advice to help you make the best, most informed decision possible. Below are some stats from MIBOR comparing September 2016 to 2015:

New Listings-UP 6% to 3,617 houses
Pending Sales-UP 0.1% to 2,695 houses
Closed Sales-UP 14.7% to 3,196 houses
Median Sales Price-UP 8.4% to $159,900
Average Sales Price-UP 9.0% to $197,696
Percent of Original List Price Received at Sale-UP 1.4% to 95.0%
Total Active Listings Available at Month End-DOWN 13.8% to 11,013 houses
Months Supply of Inventory-DOWN 20.8% to 3.8 months (normal is 6-months)

We hope you continue to enjoy Fall and all it has to offer. We hope to see you at Happy Hour, Photos with Santa, and our VIP Client Appreciation Event! Enjoy your November newsletter!

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Your Friends in Real Estate,
Steve, Jack, & Kylie

Partnership in Aging seminar

Come join us for an information-packed older adult seminar with several industry experts on a panel to answer your questions relative to aging and real estate/moving, including yours truly. We would love to see you there!

Your Friends in Real Estate,
Steve & Jack

October 2017 Steve & Jack's Home News

We hope back-to-school went smoothly, if you have kiddos in school. It always seems like a bitter-sweet time for both kiddos and parents, who are ready to get back to their school-year schedules. A break, however is always nice. We hope you have settled back into a routine and school is going well.

Steve & Brigid continue to keep busy chasing Ana and Tali around. Ana is back practicing at Indianapolis Children's choir twice/week, school choir once/week and band every day. Needless to say, she is immersed in music! Tali is still our little gymnast and practices 4 hours/week. She absolutely loves every minute of it!

Mary Anne & Jack are on a vacation now and will be seeing Jack's brother who lives in North Carolina. They always enjoy spending time with him. In October, Steve's family and Jack & Mary Anne will be taking their annual family trip and this year are going to Disney World for the week. They are super-excited and Steve & Brigid are anxious to attend the Behind The Magic tour at Disney, which is an all-day behind the scenes tour. Please let Steve know if you have done this before and what your experience was like.

The real estate market has been on FIRE this fall!!! It is significantly busier than usual, but many houses are selling in hours with multiple offers. There are still some areas and price ranges where houses are much slower to sell, of course.

Thank you to Jamie Ellis, Jason Patch and Brett Breedlove for hosting us at Katz Sapper Miller this week to give a presentation on Everything You Wanted to Know about Real Estate, But Were Afraid to Ask. We had a great group and a lot of fun!! If your company would like to schedule a lunch and learn, please give us a call. We would be happy to talk on myriad real estate topics.

We hope to see you tomorrow at Matt The Miller's for our monthly Happy Hour from 5-6:30PM. Please stop by for a drink and some yummy appetizers. We will have a big group this month. Also, don't forget to mark your calendars for our VIP Client Appreciation Movie on December 3rd. We would love to pack the house again. Look for your invitation in the coming weeks.

Here are some stats for the month of August, courtesy of MIBOR:
New listings +3.6%
Pending sales +2.1%
Closed sales +0.4%
Median sales price is $158,900 +2.5%
Average sales price is $195,481 -0.8%
% of orig. list price received at sale=95.7% +1.2%
Total Active Listings Available at Month End is 11,377 -11.7%
Months’ supply=4.0 -18.4% (healthy market=6 months’ supply)
Who is the next person you know who is thinking of buying, selling, or building a new home? Please call us today with their information so we can consult with them about their options. Thank you, in advance!!

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September Steve & Jack's Home News

Welcome back to school!!! If you have school-age children, like we do, this has most likely been an incredibly busy time of year purchasing supplies for the start of school, finding out who your new teachers are, starting activities and sports back up and getting into the school routine, which probably involves an earlier bedtime than summer. Hopefully, it has been smooth and settling into the routine has been good for the family, albeit busy.

Thank you to all of our clients and referral partners for the best-attended Happy Hour yet this past Wednesday! We had a great time and enjoyed meeting new people and reconnecting with others. Please plan to attend our next Happy Hour on Wednesday, September 21st from 5-6:30PM at Matt The Miller's in Carmel. Food & drinks are on us!

Please save the date for our annual VIP Client Appreciation Event, which will take place on Saturday, December 3rd at 9AM and Hamilton Towne Center. We have a fun, family-friendly movie in store for you that will be just released. Please plan to join us to thank you for your business.

The market still remains strong with extremely low supply and interest rates. We have helped more clients than ever this year with building a new home. If you or someone you know are thinking of building a new home, either production or custom, please give us a call. We can save you time and money and it costs you absolutely nothing.

Here are some market stats from MIBOR (June 2016):
New listings-DOWN 1.0%
Pending sales-UP 8.1%
Closed sales-UP 5.4%
Median sales price-UP 3.2% to $163,000
Average sales price-UP 5.0% to $203,913
% of original list price received at sale-UP 1.2% to 96.0%
Total active listings available at month end-DOWN 13.3%
Month's supply of inventory-DOWN 18.4% to 4.0 months
Enjoy this month's newsletter!!!

Your friends in real estate,

Steve, Jack, & Kylie

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August Steve & Jack's Home News

Can you believe we just have a few more weeks before school starts back up? We hope you have been enjoying a fun, relaxing, and safe summer. This seems to be the time when so many of us take fun vacations and spend some quality time with family. As you may remember from last month's newsletter Jack and Mary Anne returned from their trip to Italy, Germany, & Switzerland and had a fantastic time!!!

Steve, Brigid, Ana, & Tali enjoyed a 'bucket-list' trip to Norway and just returned last week. They spent a couple of weeks enjoying Flam, Myrdal, Geiranger, Alesund, Trondheim, Bergen, & Oslo. The fjords were absolutely breathtaking! If you have never been, we highly recommend you get to Norway at some point in your life. The experience and scenery is amazing! Here is a link to one of our views from a hotel:
Norway photo

The 'midnight sun' is very much present with the sun never really setting in the summer, but rather just getting to twilight. That makes it hard to get kiddos to sleep!

Here are some MIBOR stats showing how strong our market still is (May 2016 vs. May 2015)
1) New listings DOWN 1.9%
2) Pending sales UP 5.7%
3) Closed sales UP 18.6%
4) Median sales price UP 3.9% to $159,000
5) Average sales price up 2.1% to $190,769
6) Percent of original list price received at sale UP 1.3% to 95.7%
7) Total active listings available at month end DOWN 11.4%
8) Months supply of inventory DOWN 18.8% to 3.9 months!

Here are a few upcoming events that you may find interesting to attend:
1) A financial planner friend of mine is hosting 3 seminars:
Griffin Capital Essential Asset REIT II-Wednesday, July 20th at 6PM at Sullivan's Steakhouse
Griffin-American Healthcare REIT-Wednesday, August 3rd at 6PM at Sullivan's Steakhouse
Griffin Institutional Access Real Estate Fund-Wednesday August 17th at 6PM at Sullivan's Steakhouse
RSVP to Dave Karandos at DaveKarandos@DLGWM.com

2) Steve is on the board of directors for the Westfield-Washington Chamber of Commerce and they are selling 50/50 raffle tickets to be drawn at their annual Lantern Awards ceremony in September. You do not need to be present to win. Tickets are only $20 each and a maximum of 250 will be sold for a maximum prize of $2,500. Please contact Steve if you would like to purchase one. The proceeds go toward providing college scholarships to graduating seniors of Westfield High School.

3) Steve's long-time networking/master mind group is hosting an open house/social next Tuesday, July 26th from 5:30-7:30PM at North End Barbecue & Moonshine in Nora located at 1250 E. 86th Street. It is FREE to attend and food and drinks will be provided along with great networking and socializing. Come join us!!! RSVP to Kylie@Welcome2Indy.com

4) Finally, don't forget about our monthly Happy Hour THIS Wednesday, July 20th from 5-6:30PM at Langton's Irish Pub in Carmel on Rangeline Road. We already have a good crowd and would love if you would join us. Just show up, even if only for a few minutes.

Click here to read our August newsletter

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Your friends in real estate,

Steve & Jack Rupp

July 2016 Steve & Jack's Home News

Happy Summer!! We hope your start to the summer has been a good one and that if you have younger children, you have managed to avoid the "I'm bored" comments.

The Rupp/Schofield Family has had an eventful start to the summer. Both Ana & Tali have their favorite and long-time sitter staying with them this summer and they couldn't be happier. Being an English teacher, Kayla ensures they spend at least an hour a day working on school work and then they can have fun. Kayla does an amazing job!!

Jack & Mary Anne returned a couple of weeks ago from a trip to Europe where they spent time in Italy, Germany, & Switzerland. They had an amazing time, but had to dodge quite a few rain drops while there. Upon their return, Mary Anne was admitted for emergency surgery to repair a hernia, which has been bothering her for months. She is safely recovering at home now and is so thankful she didn't have to have surgery in Germany!

Steve Schofield has started his RN job at St. Vincent's and loves it!! He is so much happier and has quite a bit more time than when he was an athletic trainer.

Steve, Brigid, Ana, & Tali leave for a 'bucket-list' trip to Norway on Friday and will be gone for a couple of weeks. They are so excited to finally see the Fjords and the 21-hours of daylight!

Kylie & Jack will be holding down the fort during Steve's absence so all of our current clients are in great hands! Kylie has been an absolute life-saver for Steve & Jack and has become an invaluable part of the team.

Real estate continues to be white hot in most price ranges and areas. There are certainly notable exceptions (especially luxury homes), but overall the market is still a strong sellers' market with very low inventory. See the May 2016 vs. May 2015 stats below:

New Listings-Down 1.9%
Pending Sales-Up 5.7%
Closed Sales-Up 18.6%
Median Sales Price-Up 3.9%
Average Sales Price-Up 2.1%
% of Original List Price Received at Sale-Up 1.3%
Total Active Listings Available at Month End-Down 11.4%
Months' Supply of Inventory-Down 18.8% to 3.9 months

THANK YOU to all of our clients who braved the terrible storms last week to attend our monthly Happy Hour!!! We had a great time!! Please come join us next month on Wednesday, July 20th from 5-6:30PM at Langton's Irish Pub in Carmel. Drinks & food are on us!!!

Finally, a friend of Steve's owns The File Depot in Westfield and is giving away a full YEAR of FREE storage of files. If you or someone you know needs to find a good place to store all of those boxes and/or shred old files, let Steve know. He has ONE certificate left to give out. First come, first served!

Enjoy the summer and July 4th Holiday!!

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Your friends in real estate,

Steve, Jack, & Kylie

June 2016 Steve & Jack's Home News

We hope you are enjoying a long holiday weekend and are taking some time to reflect upon why we have it in the first place. We are grateful and appreciative of the sacrifices that so many men and women and their families have made in order for us to live free. So, to all of our friends, clients and referral partners who have served or whose family has served-THANK YOU! We are grateful for you!

On a much lighter note, we hope you enjoyed the race festivities yesterday. Whether you attended the parade and/or race in person or watched on TV, it was certainly a sight to behold and really showcased Indianapolis to the world. Well-done, IMS!!

Jack & Mary Anne are enjoying a much-deserved dream vacation in Italy, Germany, & Switzerland. They will have many pictures and stories to tell upon their return, I am sure!

We are in the final week of school for our girls. Next year is 1st grade and 6th grade. We have been so blessed by having some of the absolute BEST teachers anyone in our family has ever had. Thank you to Christina Crask (Tali's teacher) and Mary Robison, Lisa Crist, & Kelly Franz (Ana's triad teachers). We cannot put into words how grateful we are to each of them for consistently going above and beyond for our kids and truly inspiring them to want to learn and go to school each and every day. Our family will absolutely miss them and their zest for unique lesson plans and entrancing our kids with learning. Thank you, ladies!!

Real estate is as HOT as ever in many areas and price points of Indy. Some of our listings are selling BEFORE they even go on the market! If you are thinking of selling NOW is the time. Give us a call so we can consult with you about strategies on maximizing value in this sellers' market. Here are some stats you will find interesting from MIBOR (April 2016 vs. April 2015):

New listings -3.8%
Pending sales +5.4%
Closed sales +12.4%
Median sales price +1.4% to $150,000
Average sales price +1.0% to $184,732
Percent of original list price received at sale +0.9% to 94.8%
Total active listings available at month end -10.4% to 10,809
Months supply of inventory -16.9% to 3.9 months

Come to our next Happy Hour on June 15th from 5-6:30PM at Langton's Irish Pub in Carmel. Food & drinks are on us!!!

Enjoy the June newsletter!

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Steve & Jack Rupp

May 2016 Steve & Jack's Home News

Welcome to May!!! If you live in Indy, this is one of the busiest months for our city with the festivities of the 500. Whether you ran the Mini today, are going to the 100th running of the Indianapolis 500, or one of the other myriad events in between, we hope you have some fun celebrating this festive month! College graduations are also taking place this weekend and next, so if you have a recent college graduate, congratulations!!!

We are in the thick of the busy spring season for both our family and business. Brigid has been extremely busy with work, Natalia has been busy with kindergarten & gymnastics where she has moved up to team. Ana was recently featured in the local paper for her activities on top of school such as being a lead in her school play Cinderella (she is one of the evil step-sisters) with performances this week, travel soccer with the Indy Fire Juniors, and singing with the Indianapolis Children's Choir where they just had their 30th Anniversary Tapestry of Song performance at Clowe's Hall last week. It was spectacular!!

We are so happy to report that our brother-in-law Steve Schofield passed his nursing boards and accepted a position as an orthopedic nurse at St. Vincent where he is currently employed as the head athletic trainer for Carmel High School.

Real estate is BLAZING hot right now for many areas and price points of Indy. Here are some stats (courtesy of MIBOR's March 2016 report comparing March 2016 to March 2015:
New listings UP 8.9%
Pending sales UP 16.5%
Closed sales UP 9.2%
Median Sales price UP 6.3% to $148,750
Average Sales price UP 3.4% to $182,023
Percent of original list price received at sale UP 1.1% to 93.9%
Total active listings available at month end DOWN 7.6% to 10,490
Months supply of inventory DOWN 14.3% to 3.8 months
As you can see, we need listings, so if you or someone you know is thinking about selling, please give us a call so we can consult with them about their options to see if selling right now makes sense. We promise to take great care of them!!

A friend of Steve's Scott Rush just opened a new business in Westfield called The File Depot. They securely store files in a climate-controlled environment, provide on-line file organization for your stored files, & shredding. Their prices are extremely reasonable and their service is outstanding. If you or your company have a file storage need, Scott has generously offered ONE certificate for 1-year of FREE storage for up to 128 boxes (a $600 value!). The first person who e-mails Steve (Steve@Welcome2Indy.com) will claim this prize.

Thank you to all of our friends and clients for coming out to our monthly Happy Hour again last month! Please come to our May Happy Hour on May 18th from 5-6:30PM at Langton's Irish Pub in Carmel. We would love to see you!!!

Finally, Happy Mother's Day to all moms out there!!! We hope you get all of the spoiling that you so richly deserve. Thank you for everything you do for all of us!!

Your Personal Real Estate Consultants...for Life!
Steve & Jack

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April 2016 Steve & Jack's Home News

Welcome April!!! We hope the beginning of spring has been a good one for you and if you celebrate Easter, that you had a good one with family. It was one of the earliest Easters possible.

'Tis the season for spring break. Steve, Brigid, Ana, & Tali are in St. Petersburg, FL visiting Brigid's parents who just moved from Tampa, FL. Hopefully, their weather is a bit better than what they left in Indy! If you are on spring break this week, we hope you have a fun, safe, and relaxing time with your family.

A HUGE CONGRATULATIONS to Steve Schofield on passing his nursing boards on Wednesday!!!! This has been a grueling 3-year journey for him and his family and they look forward to closing this chapter and opening a new one. Well-done, Steve!

Thank you to all of our clients who joined us for our pre-St. Patrick's Day Happy Hour at Langton's Pub in Carmel last month! We had a great group and hope to see you at our April Happy Hour on the 20th from 5-6:30PM at Langton's again. Huge props to Marti Babb of HWA Home Warranty for sponsoring our Happy Hours!! Thank you, Marti!!!

We have a busy month for public speaking in April! We hope to see you at one of these events, if you are available. We will be the keynote speaker for the annual Heritage Place breakfast on April 28th presenting 3 of the Top 10 Mistakes Sellers Make. Later that day, we will have a table and be an expert table leader at the Caring for The Caregiving conference in Carmel. If you work at Butler University, please join us as we return for another Lunch & Learn on April 14th for an open Q&A on anything real estate. Bring your questions! Ask Steve how to register for any of these events.

We hope you received our 2 postcards we sent over the past month relative to the Top Ten Things You Need to Know BEFORE You Build A New Home. Hopefully, you found it helpful if you or someone you care about are thinking about building either production or custom. We are one of only a few agents in the city who have earned the coveted Certified New Home Specialist designation and have built our own homes and helped over 100 clients build their dream home. We have relationships with just about every builder in the city and know most of the new neighborhoods. The best part is that there is no cost to you as the builder pays our fee and many times we can get you a better deal than you could get yourself. Be sure and give our name to the builder when visiting for the first time so we can exclusively represent you and your interests as well as walk you through the process from beginning to end.

Did you know we have 4 speciality programs for our clients?

VIP Builder Concierge Program-Designed specifically for our builder-partners, this program assists you with buyers who do not have an agent with selling a buyer's house that is contingent upon building their new one. This dovetails with our next program.
Contingent Home Sale Program-Specifically tailored to help our clients who have a home to sell, and want to build new. 93% of our homes sell in the first listing period 27% faster and for 1.3% more than the MIBOR average.
Senior Advantage Program-For our older adult clients, this program is customized to help them downsize as smoothly as possible. Alternatively, for family members who need to sell a deceased parent's home, we are specially trained on making this as easy and painless as possible. We are one of only a few agents in the city who have earned the Seniors Real Estate Specialist designation and are experts in helping seniors and their families.
White Glove Luxury Portfolio-Designed for our luxury clients who are looking to buy, sell, or build a home that is $500,000+. Our proven luxury program is effective and thorough.
Ask us about any one of these unique and special programs and how they can help you or someone you care about.

This market has been on FIRE with historically low inventory and some houses selling in hours of going on the market. Three of our recent listings enjoyed this! Here are some stats from MIBOR you might find interesting:

New Listings +10.5%
Pending Sales +14.0%
Closed Sales +9.6%
Median Sales Price +2.7%
Average Sales Price +2.2%
Percent of Original List Price Received at Sale +1.2%
Total Active Listings Available at Month End -6.0%
Months Supply of Inventory -13.1% to 3.8 months
Check our our fun April newsletter and don't forget to download our powerful real estate app. Even if you aren't in the market for a new home, everyone likes to know for what their neighbors' house is selling or sold. Download our FREE app to find out about any house.

Click here to read our April newsletter.

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Your Friends in Real Estate,

Steve & Jack

March Steve & Jack's Home News

The signs of spring approaching are all around. Unused flex days for school mean 3-day weekends, Peyton Manning won the Super Bowl and we wait for another 6-months for football to return, Valentine's Day has come and gone, we are in the middle of Lent and St. Patrick's Day is the next holiday. This also means...the spring real estate selling season is upon us! More on that in a bit.

We hope you had a great Valentine's Day and are enjoying the fantastic and unseasonably warm weather this weekend. The big news is that Mary Anne (Steve's mom), had her gall bladder removed successfully and without incident a few weeks ago. It is amazing at how minimally invasive so many surgeries are nowadays. Mary Anne is recovering very well and we hope she is more comfortable as a result. Jack & Mary Anne look forward to traveling to Florida for a vacation in the coming weeks and will enjoy some much-needed warmth & sunshine. Steve, Brigid, Ana, & Tali are staying home until spring break at which time they will drive to Florida to visit Brigid's parents again.

The spring selling season is here in force! The biggest challenge is lack of inventory. MIBOR has reported that the 3.9 months of inventory in the 9-county area it tracks is the lowest on record. In fact, in some areas, such as Carmel, they are down to 1.3 months of inventory! This is causing a downward spiral with sellers not putting their houses on the market due to lack of inventory exciting them to want to move. Builders are filling this void as much as possible, but they, quite frankly just don't have the capacity to meet demand. What does this all mean? Simply put, houses are appreciating faster than any time in recent memory at 6.1% for the MIBOR area. Great news for sellers! However, this also means houses are getting more expensive to buy pricing some buyers out of the market or not letting them purchase the house they would like. Builders are also not having to give 'deals' like they used to and they are taking price increases monthly in many developments.

Look for a postcard in the mail from us in the next couple of weeks talking about the Top Ten Tips You Need to Know BEFORE You Build A New Home. We also have it posted to our blog (see link below). Building is becoming more complicated with so many more options available and new builders coming to our market in brand new neighborhoods. If you or someone you care about is thinking about building, read our Top Ten Builder Tips and then give us a call. We have helped almost 100 clients successfully build their new home-both production and custom-have built several of our own homes, and are one of only a select few agents in the city who have earned the Certified New Home Specialist (CNHS) designation, which provides us with unique expertise on navigating our clients who are building a new home through the lengthy process. Best of all-all of this expertise and experience costs you absolutely NOTHING! The builders pay our fee. Contrary to popular belief, you will not get a better deal by not having an agent represent you when building. In fact, we usually end up SAVING our clients money! Our fee comes out of the marketing budget of the builders. Depending on the builder, 75-92% of their buyers have an agent representing them. Shouldn't you?

Thank you to the great crowd we had at our Happy Hour last week! We had a GREAT time! Enjoy the warmer weather and come visit us at our next Happy Hour which is on Wednesday, March 16th from 5-6:30PM. In the spirit of St. Patrick's Day we are going to be next door to our usual Matt The Miller's and check out Langton's Irish Pub, which is immediately south and adjacent to Matt The Miller's located at 710 S. Rangeline Road in Carmel. They have set us up upstairs in our own area with our own bar! Come join us and be sure and RSVP to the Evite invitation when you receive it so we know how many people for whom to plan.

Click here to read our March newsletter

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Your Personal Real Estate Consultants...for Life!

Steve & Jack

Top Ten Things to Know BEFORE You Build

There has been a lot of press lately about the extremely low inventory of housing across the country, but especially in & around Indy. We are at an all-time low of 3.9 months of inventory and, in some markets are as low as 1.3 months! 6-months is deemed to be a balanced market. As a result, many people are seriously considering building a new home. If you or someone you care about is considering building, here are some things to keep in mind before you first step into a model.

1. Have a clear understanding of how long the builder will take to complete the neighborhood…and then add 1-2 years to be safe. New neighborhoods are nice, but do have lots of construction equipment, noise, & traffic as a result. There will be very few, if any mature trees unless they were saved during initial development & vegetation will take time to mature.

2. Take time to research available lots & choose the best one available. Many people will try and save money on the lot premium, but spend it on upgraded spindles, trim, deck, appliances, etc. Your lot is the one thing you cannot ever change. Pay the premium for the best lot (cul-de-sac, lake, tree-line, nature persevere, etc.) and upgrade other features later, if you need to.

3. Be willing to take time to choose your structural & design center options carefully & stay involved in the building process. Building a new home takes much more time than existing, however you can get exactly what you want. From contract signing to final home delivery, it can take 6-12 months, depending on whether you are building production or custom. Be patient. Be willing to stick with the builder and visit your house during construction at least once/week. Visit the design center several times before making a final decision to ensure you are happy with your choices. Maintain an open communication channel with your builder and ensure you are receiving updates at least 1x/week.

4. New homes are closer to ‘perfect’ than existing, but there is no such thing as a ‘perfect home’. Most likely, your budget will not allow you to get everything you want. Know that is okay and very common. Choose wisely on your options. Know that your builder wants to exceed your expectations, but they are human and mistakes will occur. Good communication will go a long way-so will the occasional snacks & drinks brought to the job site! :-)

5. Pay for a 3-phase new construction independent inspection. Many people make the mistake of not hiring their own inspector who is familiar with the building process to ensure high quality. Builders have a quality control process & the municipalities have mandatory code inspections, but neither are a replacement for having your own independent inspection. Budget $800-$1,000 & make sure your builder knows of your intention to have one so he/she can make accommodations for your inspector.

6. Understand the structural & home warranties. Most builders purchase a 3rd party, 10-year structural home warranty for their clients. This is for structural issues only & the deductible can be $500 or more depending on the type of claim. Builders are required by law to provide a 1-year ‘bumper to bumper’ warranty on their homes, but some provide 2-year warranties. This includes anything mechanical as well as drywall cracks & nail pops. Ensure you schedule a 1-year walk-thru prior to expiration of your warranty to have your builder address any concerns & keep a list of those as they occur throughout the year so you don’t forget any. Many components of your house have their own warranties that last longer, such as furnace, roof, windows, water heater, appliances, etc.

7. Know the HERS (Home Energy Rating System) score. Every year, new technology & building practices improve & homes are more & more energy efficient. You can literally save hundreds of dollars each month in energy costs with a new home versus an older one. When deciding on new or existing, factor this into your budget as it can have a significant impact on your monthly expenses.

8. Take time to research floor plans you like & don’t like & visit builder models. Builder models are a treasure-trove of information. Take time to walk through several and note what you like and don’t like. New homes are designed & built to the needs of today’s consumer (think open floor plans, hearth rooms, outdoor living, etc.) and flow much better than many older homes. If you buy an older home, will you have to make any significant improvements out-of-pocket that you could get included by building new?

9. HGTV is not real! HGTV is great to watch and you can get a lot of good ideas, but it is sensationalized and fictionalized. You only see what the producer wants you to see. There is far more to the story that what you see. Please don’t set your expectations according to what you see on TV.

10. Professional representation does not cost you more. Having an experienced agent who is well-versed in building is a huge asset. They can help guide you through all of the above & assist in making wise decisions as well as take a lot of pressure & stress off your shoulders. Contrary to popular belief, builders do NOT charge less if a real estate agent is not involved. In fact, in many cases, agents can help you get a better deal than not having one involved. Real estate agents are involved in new home builds between 75-92% of the time, depending on the builder. Our fees come out of their marketing budget & have nothing to do with the price you pay for your new home. The best time to involve a real estate agent is at the very beginning of the process before you set foot in your first model home. Builders are very happy to work with experienced agents, but they need to know you are working with an agent at the very beginning of the process & it is best if they accompany you to the model for the first time. All builders have registration forms they will ask you to complete. Make sure you write the name of your agent on this form and your relationship with your agent will be protected. We have built our own homes as well as almost 100 production & custom homes for our clients over the years and have earned the Certified New Home Specialist designation (along with 10 other certifications & designations) held by the top 3% of agents specializing in new construction. We have saved our clients tens of thousands of dollars & countless headaches.

If you or someone you care about are even considering building, give us a call today so we can sit down and consult with you about your options and help you make a truly informed decision, including which area/neighborhood is best for you, which builder is the best fit, lot choices, upgrades/options, & an overview of the entire building process from beginning to end. We specialize in selling homes that are contingent on selling before your new home is built. This is one of the biggest concerns people have when deciding to build. Let us walk you through some solutions and see which one best fits your needs.

We are honored to have earned the Angie’s List Super Service Award for 2015 & are a 5-time recipient of the 5-Star Real Estate Agent award, both recognizing exceptional commitment to client service. Finally, come join us at an upcoming Happy Hour! They take place the 3rd Wednesday of each month from 5-6:30PM at Matt The Miller’s in Carmel. Food & drinks are on us!!

Call us today to schedule your private, no-obligation new construction consultation!

Your Personal Real Estate Consultants…for Life!
Steve & Jack Rupp
Keller Williams Realty
www.Welcome2Indy.com
317-573-1880
Steve@Welcome2Indy.com

February 2016 Steve & Jack's Home News

Happy New Year!!!

We hope the holidays treated you well and you are back into a routine again, with the exception of maybe some positive resolution changes. Having clear goals, someone to hold you accountable to those goals and enforceable consequences for not meeting those goals are critical to achieving them. We are curious, what resolutions or goals do you have for 2016? We would love to hear from you and help hold you accountable!

Steve & Brigid stayed in Indy for this Christmas holiday instead of traveling to Tampa, FL to see Brigid's parents. They came to us this year and we were able to celebrate with the entire family, including Brigid's brother Jim who lives in Boston. It was a very nice time to enjoy time together-something we don't get to do often.

Natalia turns 6 on Tuesday and will be having a birthday party at InterActive Academy. We love this as they take care of everything, including entertaining the kids and they love it! Tali is still very active in gymnastics and is getting quite good, so we are excited to see where this leads.

Ana continues to do well in school and sings in the choir and just got a lead part in her first musical-Cinderella! She is super-excited and so are we...until we remembered practices are at 7AM 2x/week for the rest of the school year. Ugh!! She also sings in Indianapolis Childrens' Choir (ICC) and really enjoyed being on TV for the Angels Sing concert broadcast on Channel 13 around Christmas. If you haven't heard ICC before, we encourage you to attend an upcoming concert. They are truly outstanding and are recognized as one of the best youth choirs in the US.

Jack & Mary Anne continue to do well and are looking forward to a European trip this summer. They are so excited and can't wait to go. We will be sure and share some highlights upon their return. Mary Anne had her gall bladder removed last week and is recovering well. It is amazing they can perform this surgery laparoscopically. We hope she is able to feel much better after she heals.

As for the market, we are woefully short of inventory still. The spring market has already started heating up. There are a LOT of builders trying to satisfy demand, but they can't keep up. Multiple real estate experts including Lawrence Yun with NAR and Gary Keller with Keller Williams are predicting a real estate market contraction beginning the end of this year or beginning of next. We are NOT expecting to see anything as severe as 6-years ago, but we are expecting to see one. The stock market and oil are tanking and there is concern over the health of the global economy with China stealing the spotlight at present. What does this mean to you and those you care about? If you are planning to sell your house this year, we recommend you do it NOW. You are going to see a downward shift in the market, most likely in the next 12-months, which WILL affect house prices and values. Interest rates are still very low. If you or someone you care about are thinking about selling this year or next, take out your phone and give us a call so we can consult with you/them about your/their options. As always, it is no-obligation, no-pressure and full of information you can use to make an informed decision.

If you are thinking about building, call us. We have worked with just about every major builder in the city and have established relationships and detailed information to help you BEFORE you set foot in a model. We get asked a lot about whether you will pay more when you invite us to represent you. The answer is a resounding NO. Builders pay our fee out of their marketing budget. It has nothing to do with your sales price and you will NOT get a better price if you don't have professional representation. In fact, in many cases, we were able to SAVE our clients money by zealously representing them and negotiating a better deal with the builder than they would have been able to do themselves. We certainly helped make the process much smoother and easier. Builders in the Indy area work with buyers who have a real estate agent representing them anywhere from 78-97% of the time, according to estimates from most area production builders. They welcome working with real estate agents as we help make the process go smoother. Steve has built 2 of his own homes and also holds a Certified New Home Specialist designation held by less than 1/2% of 1% of agents nationwide. We have helped over 100 clients build their own homes as well-both production and custom.

If you are curious or just want some more information, take out your phone and give us a call. We would love to talk further and see how we can help. Remember, if you are out and about and drop into a model spur-of-the-moment, the sales rep will ask you to complete a registration form. Feel free to fill that out and make sure you put us down as your agents as that will protect our relationship and allow us to professionally represent you and negotiate like a pit bull for your best interest. We absolutely LOVE helping clients build their dream home and would love to help you or someone you care about as well. So, give us a call if you are thinking about building in the near future.

Finally, THANK YOU once again for nominating us as a 5-Star Real Estate Agent and also a Super Service Award winner on Angie's List! We are super-excited and grateful for all of our clients who were surveyed and gave us high marks. These two recognitions put us in the Top 5% in our industry and we couldn't have done it without you. You can feel comfortable introducing us to people you care about since you will know they are getting the absolute BEST experience and service possible and we will keep you in the loop along the way so you know what is going on. We are so fortunate to have so many outstanding clients!!

Enjoy the rest of your January!!

Steve & Jack

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Angie's List 2015 Super Service Award Winner

The Zulu Group, P.C. Earns Esteemed 2015 Angie’s List Super Service Award
Award reflects company’s consistently high level of customer service

The Zulu Group, P.C has earned the service industry’s coveted Angie’s List Super Service Award, reflecting an exemplary year of service provided to members of the local services marketplace and consumer review site in 2015.

“We are honored to accept Angie’s List 2015 Super Service Award. We would like to thank all of our clients for nominating us for such a prestigious award.”

“Only about 5 percent of the Real Estate companies in Central Indiana have performed so consistently well enough to earn our Super Service Award,” said Angie’s List Founder Angie Hicks. “It’s a really high standard.”

Angie’s List Super Service Award 2015 winners have met strict eligibility requirements, which include an “A” rating in overall grade, recent grade, and review period grade; the company must be in good standing with Angie’s List, pass a background check and abide by Angie’s List operational guidelines.

Service company ratings are updated daily on Angie’s List. Companies are graded on an A through F scale in areas ranging from price to professionalism to punctuality.

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Angie's List helps facilitate happy transactions between more than three million consumers nationwide and its collection of highly rated service providers in more than 720 categories of service, ranging from home improvement to health care. Built on a foundation of more than 10 million verified reviews of local service, Angie's List connects consumers directly to its online marketplace of services from member-reviewed providers, and offers unique tools and support designed to improve the local service experience for both consumers and service professionals.

January 2016 Steve & Jack's Home News Newsletter

Merry Christmas & Happy 2016!!!

We hope you are ready for Christmas (if you celebrate it) and are planning to celebrate with family and friends. We are hosting Brigid's parents and brother and his family at our house for about one week, so we will have a full house! Christmas Eve we spend with Jack & Mary Anne with a nice dinner, Christmas Eve services, and opening presents with my sister Michelle and her family. Christmas Day is spent at home with our family and then Christmas afternoon we go to Brigid's Aunt & Uncle's for a huge dinner with her family. Fortunately, everyone is local so that makes traveling much easier. We hope you enjoy your celebrations wherever they take you.

We have a LOT of THANK YOUs, so please read on...

THANK YOU to all of our clients for attending our 3rd Annual VIP Client Appreciation Event at the movies a couple of weeks ago!! We had a huge turnout and loved seeing everyone. The movie was fantastic and we highly recommend The Good Dinosaur if you haven't seen it already. If you weren't able to make it this year, please know we missed you and hope you will plan to join us next year for our 4th Annual event!

THANK YOU also to all of our clients who have attended a Happy Hour in 2015. This as something new we decided to do this year and boy, has it been a big hit. We love seeing you in a relaxed and fun environment and catching up on what has been going on in your lives. We even provide FREE food and drinks! These are held the 3rd Wednesday of every month from 5-6:30PM and have been at Matt The Miller's in Carmel. **Please note a change in location for January. We will be meeting at The Stacked Pickle located at the NE corner of 116th & Allisonville Road in Fishers. This is a family-friendly restaurant, so feel free to bring your kids. Since we usually host our monthly Happy Hours in the bar area of Matt The Miller's, we thought we would try a family-friendly location and see how you like it. Your comments and opinions are welcome and encouraged and will determine our February location.

THANK YOU to everyone who has played our FunDay Monday contests!!! This is also something new for 2015 and it has been a BIG hit. It is always fun to see answers and the occasional comment to the monthly quizzes. If you have played, thank you and we hope you will continue to do so. If you haven't, please consider playing with us in 2016. The winner receives a FREE Amazon gift card each month.

THANK YOU to our amazing clients, especially those of you who have submitted a great review of us! Because of your efforts and stellar grades, you have earned us our first-ever Angie's List Super Service Award for 2015!!! We are SO excited about this honor. Only 5% of agents on Angie's List earn this award. We just found out yesterday and couldn't be happier. Thank you so much!! We have a lot of new plans in place for an even higher level of service to our clients next year as we strive to repeat this honor. Please do keep us in mind for the next person you know who is thinking about buying, selling, or building a new home and needs our help. We promise to deliver 'raving fan' service and show them why we earned the Super Service award. Your referrals are what keep us in business!

THANK YOU to all of our clients for 2015!! Because of you, we were able to help more clients than ever before. We continue to be amazed at how loyal our clients are and we are grateful to you for inviting us to help you and those you care about. We would love to help even more clients in 2016 and with your help, we will!

Steve, Brigid, Ana, & Tali returned from a dream vacation to Germany & Austria a couple weeks ago. It was simply amazing and we loved spending time in Bavaria. We saw lots of castles including Neuschwanstein, and Linderhof, stood at the top of the highest point in all of Germany in the Alps-the Zugspitze, visited over one dozen Christmas markets, and safely navigated the twisting countryside roads with the 'crazy' German drivers. They drive FAST!! The beer is cheap and very good and so is the food! We have attached a few photos, if you would like to see some of the sights.

Due to the unseasonably warm winter as well as dangerously low inventory and rising interest rates, we are seeing unusually active real estate right now. Don't get me wrong, there aren't a TON of buyers in the market around the holidays, but the ones that ARE, are very serious and houses are selling. If you or someone you care about is thinking of moving, please give us a call today so we can share specifics with you so you can make an informed decision about your options. Home prices are going up, inventory is going down and the list price-to-sale price ratio continues to increase. Distressed sales now are lower than 2006 levels! This is all good news for homeowners.

From our family to yours, we wish you a very Merry Christmas and a very prosperous 2016!

Your Personal Real Estate Consultants...for Life!
Steve & Jack Rupp

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December 2015 Steve & Jack's Home News

Happy Thanksgiving & Merry Christmas!!

We hope you are preparing to enjoy some time away from work and the hustle and bustle of life to spend with family and friends and truly be thankful for what we have. After some horrifying events around the world, it can become difficult to be grateful and thankful for what you have. Here are a few things for which we are thankful and will not take for granted:

Our health
Our family
Our faith
Our friends
Our country
Our clients
We are curious, for what are you most thankful?

Thank you to all of our clients for attending our final Happy Hour of 2015 last Wednesday at Matt The Miller's!! We had another great turnout and it was so nice to see so many clients & referral partners. We are grateful for the trust you have placed in us and for our friendship. See you in January!!

Thank you to so many of our clients for attending our Pictures with Santa on Saturday!! Santa was so happy to see so many smiles and hear all of the presents the kids asked him to bring. We will be sending you the photos from that afternoon in the next couple of days as we know many of you are waiting on them for Christmas cards. If you didn't get a chance to join us this year, please plan to attend next year. It is always a great time!

You should have received an invitation to our annual VIP Client Appreciation Event on December 12th from 8:30-11AM at Hamilton Towne Center movie theater. We already have a big group attending and look forward to seeing you there. We will have food and drinks and then show the soon-to-be-released movie The Good Dinosaur. It has received excellent reviews and know kids and adults alike will enjoy it. Please come and join us as we say Thank You for everything you have done for us. Parents, children, grandparents, grandchildren are all welcome. Please RSVP by December 1st to Kylie Zajac @ Kylie@Welcome2Indy.com with the number of adults & children in your party. Thank you for letting us 'love' on you!!

Our family had our Thanksgiving a little early this year and celebrated it yesterday with Brigid's parents who were up from Florida. Brigid did another amazing job cooking and Mary Anne and Michelle helped with bringing delicious desserts. No one walked away hungry!!

The reason we celebrated Thanksgiving a little early was Steve & Brigid are crossing off a 'bucket list' item and are flying to Germany & Austria on Wednesday for 12-days. Ana & Tali are coming along and are very excited about being out of the country for the first time aside from some cruises. We fly from Chicago to Berlin and then on to Salzburg. We plan to stay in Bavaria the entire time and enjoy the Christmas Markets, sled down the Alps, play in a thermal spring-fed water park, see Neuschwanstein castle, and much more!! This will be Steve's 3rd trip to the area and Brigid's 2nd, but our first trip to Europe since Brigid was 7-months' pregnant with Ana 10-years' ago!! Although recent events are in the back of our minds, we refuse to cancel our dream vacation. We are looking forward to getting away and showing our girls other cultures so they have more of an appreciation of how people can be different from us, but that doesn't make their way of life wrong or ours better. This is going to be a trip experiencing other cultures and traditions and one of tolerance and understanding. We can only hope that people in other countries and throughout the US adopt that same mentality as our world would be a much better and peaceful place for us our and children to live. Please say a prayer for our safe travels as we confront some obvious fears.

Finally, the housing market continues to be good. We are getting asked this question quite a bit. Inventory is extremely low and in some areas near 1-month-very unhealthy. First-time buyers only make up approximately 30% of the overall buyers and normally, they comprise 40%. We need first-time buyers to start the domino chain and we need people to put their houses on the market. Prices continue to rise and so will interest rates, so now is the time to sell, even though the holidays traditionally see lower traffic. With so few houses with which to compete, your chances are pretty good with each showing you get. Call us today if you or someone you care about is thinking about selling in the next 6-months. We would love to consult with you about your options and share facts and data so you can make an informed decision.

Happy Thanksgiving and Merry Christmas to you and your family!!! We hope to see you at the movie on December 12th!!

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Steve & Jack Rupp

November Steve & Jack's Home News

Happy November! We hope that you had an enjoyable Halloween whether you handed out treats, accompanied your little one(s) Trick-or-Treating (as we did) or went downtown to see the Pacers' game. The weather couldn't have been better and certainly beat last year!

Steve & his family joined Jack & Mary Anne on their annual family vacation and this year we drove to Stowe, VT and stayed at Smuggler's Notch Resort. Being there at the end of October, the colors were absolutely beautiful and so was the terrain. We visited a Sugar House and saw how they made maple syrup, Lake Champlain Chocolates to see how they make their yummy goodies, Cabot Creamery to see how they make their world-renown cheese, & Ben & Jerry's to see how they make their sinfully good ice cream. We also walked around the Von Trapp Lodge where they lived and still own. Very neat! Ana took one of her soccer teammates for the week, so that was fun as well (we attached a photo of the girls at the Von Trapp Lodge).

Bucket list item-Steve & Brigid are taking our girls to Germany & Austria over Thanksgiving this year! Brigid and Steve have been to Germany before, but this will be the girls' first experience overseas. We are so excited and plan to Skype with Ana's entire 5th grade class and interview an Austrian family in the bed & breakfast where we are staying. We plan to visit Salzburg, Vienna, Munich, Berlin, and some small mountain towns, see some of the famous Christmas Marts, sled down the Alps, and stay at a thermal spring-fed water park! We can't wait and will share our experience next month upon our return.

This is always a great month focused on giving and being thankful. Although it is always good to give and be thankful throughout the year, this month is a nice time to laser-focus on that. For what are you thankful? What do you do to give back? Something we have learned is that you get back what you give. Coming from a spirit of gratitude is so important and so is not judging your insides by other peoples' outsides, yet it is so easy to do, isn't it?

We want take this opportunity to model this behavior and publicly thank a few people for helping us and always being there. First and foremost, our families-Mary Anne, Michelle, Steve, Caleb, Abbey, Claire & Brigid, Ana, & Tali. Although we try as much as possible to keep 'regular' work hours, that isn't always possible and our business takes time away from you. Thank you for understanding and 'sharing' us with our amazing clients we so love to help. Also, thank you to our unbelievably talented Director of Marketing & Client Services Kylie Zajac. Without you, we wouldn't be able to deliver the high level of service we promise to our clients. You always make us look good and constantly take fantastic care of our clients.

Finally, thank you to YOU! There are too many clients and referral partners to list, but you know who you are. Thank you for entrusting us with one of the most important times in your life and one of the largest financial transactions of your life. We know how important it is to you and your family and are grateful you continually invite us to help you as we know you want and deserve the absolute BEST experience and service possible for you and those about whom you care. Thank you for continuing to introduce us to your friends, family, & co-workers as we promise to always take excellent care of them and provide them a 'magical' level of service. Kylie starts real estate classes on Monday for the next month so she can become licensed and help us even more. Way to go, Kylie!!

Now, onto the giving part...As you know, we try and do many extra things for our clients, including Santa Night, our Happy Hours, VIP Client Appreciation Event, Fun Day Monday contests, gifts, movie tickets and celebrating happy occasions and milestones with you and your loved ones. Thank you for allowing us to 'love' on you. We enjoy doing it and giving back to you for your generosity to us and those about whom you care.

Speaking of these events, we have some reminders to share. You should have received an Evite for all of these events as well as paper invites for the VIP Client Appreciation event. We hope you will consider joining us at one or more of these events so we can show you our appreciation in person.

1) Special Client Appreciation Event-This was held this PAST Wednesday, November 4th at Stone Creek Dining in Zionsville. This was a one-time event as an additional thank you to our clients and co-hosted by a couple of friends of Steve's. Thank you to those of you who attended!! We had a great time. We will let you know if another one is planned in the future.

2) November Happy Hour-This is our monthly Happy Hour at Matt The Miller's the third Wednesday of every month from 5-7PM. This month, it will be held on November 18th. We hope you will attend & enjoy a drink or two along with some yummy appetizers as we say thank you for your support. Please RSVP through Evite, but know you are always welcome to drop in even if you didn't RSVP. We would just love to see you!! **Please note that there will be no Happy Hour in December due to the holidays. We will start back up again in January.

3) Pictures with Santa-We have been hosting this for over 10 years now and it has become a family tradition for many of our clients. If you attended last year, you know that Santa and Mrs. Claus look EXACTLY like Santa & Mrs. Claus. Don't miss out and join us. Please RSVP through Evite or Kylie@Welcome2Indy.com. This year, we are hosting this event a little early due to the holidays on Saturday, November 21st from 12PM-2PM at our office. Santa is looking forward to seeing you there!

4) VIP Client Appreciation Event-Saturday, December 12th from 8:30AM-11AM at Hamilton Towne Center. Another family favorite and annual tradition, we invite you to enjoy a donut, fruit, juice, & coffee bar, photo shoot, and then the soon-to-be-released Pixar movie The Good Dinosaur. It has received excellent reviews and is perfect for the entire family. Friends and family are both invited. Bring grandparents, grandkids and enjoy fun, family entertainment. Please RSVP to Kylie@Welcome2Indy.com with the number of adults & children so we can let the theater properly prepare for our arrival.

We hope your Thanksgiving holiday is a fun one spent with friends and family and reflecting on things for which you are thankful. Thank YOU, again for being such a big part of our real estate family! Enjoy this month's special November edition of our newsletter and please let us know what you think of it.

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Your Personal Real Estate Consultants...for Life!

Steve & Jack

October Steve & Jack's Home News

Welcome Fall!! We hope you have enjoyed your summer and are ready for some cooler Fall temperatures, which also brings with it football season! After last night's Colts' performance, we could be in for a very long season.

Our family is looking forward to a very short trip to North Carolina to see our youngest cousin finally get married. He has been living in Japan for several years, so we haven't even met his fiancee, so we are excited to see him again and have the entire family together for the first time in about 20-years!

Since Fall Break is an entire week for the first time for us this year, we are heading to Vermont with Jack & Mary Anne for our annual family trip together. Should be the perfect time to see the leaves changing and just relax for several days with no real plans.

Soccer, gymnastics, & Indianapolis Children's Choir are back in full swing again and the kids are keeping us extremely busy, but they love it! Tali's kindergarten experience has been terrific and we couldn't be happier with her teacher who is also a neighbor of ours. Ana has had a great experience in Intermediate School. It is so much bigger than Elementary School, but her teachers are unbelievable and she looks forward to going to school each day. Very thankful we are!

Thank you to everyone who attended the September Happy Hour at Matt The Miller's last week! Please note that due to Fall Break, we will be hosting October's Happy Hour on the second Wednesday of the month-October 14th from 5-6:30PM. Please join us if you can make it, even if only for a few minutes.

We hope you are saving the date for our VIP Client Appreciation Event again this year. Due to scheduling conflicts it is being moved back a week to Saturday, December 12th. You will be receiving Save The Date cards and invitations soon. Please do RSVP, so we have an accurate headcount for food, drinks and to ensure there are enough seats for everyone. As always, the entire family is welcome!!! We are waiting on a final confirmation from the theater to announce the movie, but it will be a good one!

The market has been good overall, but showing activity has been sluggish with the end of summer and back-to-school. Here are the latest statistics:

New Listings-UP 4.7%
Pending Sales-UP 4.7%
Closed Sales-UP 3.9%
Median Sales Price-UP 2.7% to $150,000
Average Sales Price-UP 2.8% to $188,604
Percent of Original List Price Received at Sale-UP 0.8% to 94.5%
Total Active Listings Available at Month End-DOWN 6.1% to 13,074
Months Supply of Inventory-DOWN 15.1% to 4.9 months

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Your Personal Real Estate Consultants...for Life!
Steve & Jack Rupp

September Steve & Jack's Home News

Welcome to the beginning of the 2015-16 school year! If you are like us, your Facebook feed has been blowing up with back-to-school photos for all of your friends' children and grandchildren. This is always a hectic and anxiety-ridden time for many families as they adjust to new schedules, schools, teachers, and friends. We hope your loved ones have survived the start of school whether it was at the end of July (boy, that sure seems early) or was today. Whatever happened to starting school after Labor Day?

Steve & Brigid have been adjusting to another school year with Ana attending 5th grade and a new school in Westfield Intermediate (5th & 6th grades) and Tali attending Kindergarten-still at Maple Glen Elementary in Westfield. Both have had oustanding experiences so far and absolutely LOVE their teachers. We hope this continues throughout the year. Ana's bus arrives at 7:15AM (ugh!), but Tali's school doesn't start until 9:10AM, so we get quite a bit done in between the two starts, but drop off Tali early to BAC (before & after school care). Tali is now doing gymnastics twice/week and Ana is still playing soccer and practices 3x/week at Grand Park with at least 1 game on the weekend. She is also doing Indianapolis Children's Choir this year, which is another practice during the week and her school choir, so things are very busy.

Last month, we took our summer family vacation to Bar Harbour, Maine (or as the locals say, Bah Habah). It was a fantastic experience and absolutely gorgeous views. We spent time in Acadia National Park and took a few boat tours seeing lighthouses and the sea life. Brigid booked cabins for us (we went with her brother and his family), and although they had hot water, showers, toilets, and beds all in the cabins, she felt it was roughing it too much for her and prefers her Hiltons. Being an Eagle Scout, I had a good laugh as I thought it was pretty posh! We look forward to spending a week in Vermont with Jack & Mary Anne over Fall Break in October for our annual grandparent vacation.

The market has been pretty hot, but has been spotty at times, especially with the varied start times of school this year. Any way you slice it, generally this has been an exceptionally good year for real estate. See the below stats from MIBOR's latest report (comparing June 2015 to June 2014):

*New listings-UP 3.7%
*Pending sales-UP 8.1%
*Closed sales-UP 17.6%
*Median sales price-UP 5.3% to $158,000
*Average sales price-UP 3.1% to $194,259
*Percent of original list price received at sale-UP 0.6% to 94.9%
*Total active listings available at month end-DOWN 5.9% to 12,857
*Months supply of inventory-DOWN 12.3% to 4.9 months (strong sellers' market)

As you can see, every single metric tracked is a good sign for homeowners. All houses are different, however and just because the market is hot doesn't necessarily mean all segments and areas are. If you find yourself contemplating a move, do yourself a favor and give us a call-317-339-7698 so that we can provide data specifically tailored to YOUR house and how it impacts YOUR bottom line.

Finally, a few fun and FREE things. Thank you to everyone who has played our Fun Day Monday contests!! We get more and more entries every month and love giving the winner a $25 Amazon gift card. If you haven't played yet, why are you waiting? Join in on the fun and maybe you will be our next winner!

Have you sent Kylie-Kylie@Welcome2Indy.com your entry for two absolutely FREE tickets to the Colts vs. Bengals game on September 3rd? They are really good seats and are absolutely FREE. If you haven't sent Kylie your e-mail entry, do it NOW. You only have until 4PM on August 19th, which is THIS Wednesday to get your entry in. We would love to draw your name and send you to the game.

Next, have you sent Steve your picture of your football schedule calendar magnet hanging up at home or work? If not, do it NOW-Steve@Welcome2Indy.com or 317-339-7698. E-mail or text. We would love to enter you into a drawing for a $50 gift card to BW-3s to watch your favorite team. You have until midnight on August 23rd, which is this coming Sunday night to enter. The drawing will take place on Monday, August 24th.

And, for our final FREE opportunity, come join us at our next Happy Hour this Wednesday, August 19th from 5-6:30PM at Matt The Miller's in Carmel. We would love to see you and your first two drinks and appetizers are on US. We have a nice group and have a lot of fun. Hope to see you there!!

Steve & Jack Rupp

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August 2015 Newsletter

Happy August and the impending end of summer. We hope you have enjoyed some time away and maybe were able to take a vacation or two.

Thank you to everyone who attended our Happy Hour last week at Matt The Miller's!! We had a great turnout and everyone had a good time-free drinks and food certainly didn't hurt! If you haven't been able to attend, please make plans now as we would love to see you. The next Happy Hour is Wednesday, August 19th from 5-6:30PM at Matt The Miller's in Carmel. Look for your Evite soon!

We have had a fantastic registration for the Colts' tickets! As many of you noticed, there was a typo on the postcard in the e-mail address to register. The correct e-mail is Kylie@Welcome2Indy.com. If you haven't registered yet, you still have time, so don't delay and do it today! The tickets are fantastic seats, so be sure and register for your chance to win!

Steve, Brigid, Ana, & Tali took their summer trip to Acadia National Park in July along with Brigid's brother Jim and his wife and daugher. We had an amazing time! Acadia National Park is located on Desert Island in Bar Harbour, Maine. We stayed in cabins that were only 1-year old with a toilet, sink, and shower with hot water. For this Eagle Scout, that is not really camping, but 'glamping', as I call it. For Brigid, it was seriously roughing it! She did great and cooked her first meal over a fire. We enjoyed riding our bikes and hiking in the park, walking around downtown Bar Harbour, going on a lobster/seal cruise, sea life cruise, and whale watching cruise. The water was a cool 55-degrees, so we didn't swim, but it was worth it.

We stopped by Penn State where Ana wants to go to school as they have the best broadcast meteorology program in the nation; the flagship LL Bean store, which was massive and most impressive; and then also Kennebunk, Maine for a couple of days, which is adjacent to Kennebunkport, where the Bushes live. We rode by their impressive compound and saw Bush senior was there and watched the fireworks on the beach. While not a warm, beach vacation, we would highly recommend going as we saw some amazing vistas and wildlife.

The real estate market has been hot in some areas and slow in others. It just depends on area and price range. Here are some stats:

New listings-UP 3.7%
Pending sales-UP 8.1%
Closed sales-UP 17.6%
Median sales price-UP 5.3% to $158,000
Average sales price-UP 3.1% to $194,259
% of original list price received at sale-UP 0.6% to 94.9%
Total active listing available at month-end-DOWN 5.9%
Months' supply of inventor-DOWN 12.3% to 4.9 months

As you can see, our market, as a whole is very strong and in a sellers' market. If you know of anyone thinking about selling their house, please give us a call with their contact info, so we can consult with them about their options.

Have a great rest of the summer and good luck in the Colts' ticket drawing!

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Steve & Jack Rupp

July Steve & Jack's Home News

Welcome to summer and the end of another school year! We hope you have some fun summer vacation plans as well as spending time with family. While there are a lot of varied opinions over Daylight Saving Time and I could argue for either side, personally I love still having daylight at 9:30 at night. We work in the yard quite a bit or one of us will take the dog for a walk after the kids go to bed and have light in which to do those activities is so nice.

We have been missing Ana the last week as she has been enjoying an amazing trip with her grandparents on an Alaskan cruise. Tali has been especially sad to see her sister's room empty and our dog Duke even takes a winter glove of Ana's out of the basket and sleeps next to it. They both miss their big sis. Fortunately, she has been able to call us a few times and says she is having a blast! We would love to go as a family sometime and have it on our bucket list. Have you ever been to Alaska? What was your experience like?

Jack and Mary Anne are in Branson this week enjoying the scenery and taking in several shows. They have a time-share there and love going back each year.

The market has continued to be really strong in most areas and price points. Here are some recent figures (MIBOR monthly data report comparing April 2015 to April 2014):
*New listings are UP 6.3%
*Pending sales are UP 13.5%
*Closed sales are UP 12.8%
* Median sales price is UP 8.8% to $148,000
*Average sales price is UP 6.2% to $ 182,931
*% of Original List Price Received at Sale is UP 0.3% to 94%
*Total Active Listings Available at Month's End is DOWN 2.6%
*Months Supply of Inventory is DOWN 6.1% to 4.7 months (a balanced market is ~6 months, so we are in a seller's market)

If you or someone you care about are thinking of moving, please give us a call so we can consult with you about your options and maximize your house's value while reducing many of the hassles of buying and selling.

**Have you RSVP'd yet for our Happy Hour THIS Wednesday, June 17th from 5-6:30PM at Matt The Miller's in Carmel? If not, please do so. We have a big crowd coming and we would love to see you there as well. Drinks and appetizers are on us!! Whether you can only stay for a few minutes or the entire time, we would love to see you. Don't forget to pick up your poker chips at the hostess stand. Those are your drink tickets for the evening. See you there!!!

Your Personal Real Estate Consultants...for Life!
Steve & Jack Rupp

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June Steve & Jack's Home News

Welcome summer!!! As I write this, today is the last day for Westfield-Washington schools and most schools around our area are finishing this week for summer. Are you ready? If you are a parent, it brings mixed emotions. On the one hand, you are happy another year is over along with many things that go along with school, namely homework, school activities, early bedtimes, your kids are excited, etc. On the other hand, you know your kids are one year closer to fleeing the nest (which could be a happy thing as well), and you have to find something for them to do-camps, nanny, relative, stay home, etc., which causes a whole new set of planning issues.

I am looking forward to attending the 4th grade graduation and cookout later today followed by a parent-teacher kickball game. I haven't played that since grade school, but what fun!!!

We hope you enjoyed the 99th running of the Indy 500. More importantly, we hope you took some time to reflect on the reason we had a 3-day weekend. The sacrifices that have been made for us so that we can enjoy our freedom is unfathomable for most of us. Hopefully, you were able to take the time to say thank you to a veteran. If you are a veteran, THANK YOU! Here is a challenge for you, the next time you see a veteran, do something nice for them that they aren't expecting and don't look to take any credit for the kind gesture. Pay for their meal, drink, ticket to a game, tank of gas, whatever. Leave a note or a message with a server/attendant to tell them this was a small thank you from a grateful American. You will not only make their day, but yours as well. Please let us know what you did and how it made you and/or the deserving veteran feel. We absolutely LOVE hearing these stories. Thank you, in advance for sharing and for 'paying it forward'.

Jack and Mary Anne just got back from a trip to Mexico and loved it! No one got Montezuma's revenge and they loved the resort where they stayed. They would go back again in a second. They are looking froward to going to Vermont with us later this summer for our annual family vacation together.

The market has been absolutely NUTS lately. This is the busiest I have ever seen it. Closings are being delayed due to such heavy volume that lenders and underwriters can't keep up, even working 18-hours days!!! Houses are still selling in hours, sometimes. August 1st brings new closing requirements that will bring delays, frustrations, and headaches. We are recommending anything with a closing date on or after August 1st to plan on at least 45-days from contract to close. This is 50% longer than the typical 30-days to which we have grown accustomed. Lenders are scrambling to understand the new rules and implement them, so if you or someone you know is looking to buy or sell on or after August1st, be prepared and forewarned. You WILL have issues and will need to be flexible. These are federal government-mandated changes, the likes of which we haven't seen in our lifetime. There will be problems, but we will work through them. Just know you will not be able to close in 2-weeks anymore, unless you are paying cash. If you have any questions, please feel comfortable calling us. We are happy to answer any questions you have.

Please plan to join us for our next Happy Hour at Matt The Miller's in Carmel from 5-6:30PM on Wednesday, June 15th. Food and drinks are on me!!! This is just a fun and relaxing way to re-connect with our wonderful clients and referral partners, so please plan to join us. We will always be there the 3rd Wednesday of each month. Same time and place, so if you can't join us in June, please stop by in upcoming months. We would love to see you!!!

Enjoy the summer and please let us know if there is anything extra we can do for you or someone you care about. We love to help!!

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Steve & Jack Rupp

May Steve & Jack's Home News

Happy Mother's Day to all moms!!!! Thank you for everything you do for us!! We hope that you are able to do something special for the moms in your life and give them some extra and much-deserved pampering. We are planning on having a family brunch on Sunday at a local restaurant and then off to the soccer fields for Ana's game.

Speaking of soccer, the season is in full swing! We have been having up to 4 games each weekend lately with tournaments!! This is all on top of 3 practices/week, making up to 7 times/week we are playing soccer. Ugh! Ana's team has really improved and came in 2nd last weekend with Ana scoring several goals. We are so proud of them! Ana heads to Corydon, IN for her 4th grade overnight field trip to our original Indiana State Capitol. School is out on May 29th, after which time, Brigid's parents are taking her on a trip of a lifetime-a 10-day cruise to Alaska!!! How exciting!

Tali is still swimming and doing gymnastics and loves both!

Brigid loves her new position at Merck. It is much more challenging, but extremely rewarding for her.

Jack & Mary Anne are looking forward to heading out to New England with with this summer for our family vacation. They are doing well and enjoying lots of volunteering along with vacations.

The most exciting news is that we have a new team member!!! Kylie Zajac is taking over Bob's position and started last Thursday. Bob accepted a pharmaceutical sales position and has been helping to train Kylie. She is picking things up so fast and will be a great addition to our team!!! Please introduce yourself if your paths cross. She would love to meet you!!!

The spring market is HOT!! Many houses are selling in hours with multiple offers. If you or someone you care about are thinking about selling, give us a call as we would love to consult with you about your options.

Enjoy this month's newsletter!

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Steve & Jack Rupp

April 2015 Steve & Jack's Home News

Happy Spring!!! Isn't it typical Indiana weather that we get snow during the first week of spring? For those of you reading this on spring break, enjoy your time off. We hope you are somewhere warm getting a head start on the warmer weather, which will eventually head our way.

Brigid and Steve are heading to Tampa the first week of April to see her parents. A day at Disney, a few at the beach and the pool will do us some good. Ana & Tali can't wait to see their grandparents again! Brigid started a new position at Merck and absolutely loves it!! It brings a new challenge to her and she is excited for the opportunities it will bring. Ana is getting back in the full-swing of spring soccer season with the Indiana Fire Juniors. Practicing 3 days/week and at least one or two games every weekend is in our foreseeable future, but Ana loves it. Tali is still our little swimmer and gymnast.

Jack & Mary Anne thoroughly enjoyed their trip to Costa Rica. They brought back amazing photos of the rainforest and animals we have never seen before. It looks gorgeous!!! Going with friends was a lot of fun and an incredible learning experience. They highly recommend it!

Check out some of the housing stats from the MIBOR February Monthly Housing Report:
New Listings-2,846-UP 13.4% from February 2014
Closed Sales-1,810-UP 12.6% from February 2014
Average Days on Market-66 Days
Average Sales Price-$166,384-UP 8.4%
Average 30-year fixed mortgage-3.97%
Number of Active Listings in BLC-12,018
FYI-Mortgage interest rates are expected to start increasing in June of this year. If you know of someone on the fence about making a housing change, now is the time to do it and potentially save tens of thousands of dollars. Please have them call us so we can consult with them about their options.

On a final note, we are hiring! If you know of someone who is looking for an Executive Administrative Assistant position, we would love to review their resume. The ideal candidate will be exceptionally strong with administrative tasks and is very detail-oriented. The position is full-time in our office in Carmel. We are looking to hire immediately. We have found that the best candidates come from people who know us. Who is the first person who came to mind just now? We would love to talk with them!

Enjoy this month's edition of the newsletter and please let us know when we can help you or someone you care about with real estate needs. Thank you for all of your past and future support! We are truly grateful!

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Your Personal Real Estate Consultants...for Life!

Steve & Jack Rupp

March 2015 Newsletter

We hope you had a great Valentine's Day with your loved ones last week. Although one could easily argue its origins as being purely commercial in nature, which may very well be true, it is still a nice opportunity to show those about whom you care a little extra tangible 'something', the most important of which is your time and 'being present'.

With technology as prolific as it is today, the gift of our time and presence is appreciated now more than ever when freely given to those we love most. I think back to dinners with Ana & Tali and how Brigid and I have to intentionally put down our phones and interact with them. It truly is sad, but in a world with constant distractions and smart phones increasingly more powerful and small, always clamoring for our immediate attention with their seemingly incessant ringing and dinging it is no wonder we live in an attention-deficit world. However, I would submit that those closest to us deserve our uninterrupted attention much more so than the unknown caller on the other side of that ringing and dinging phone-now more than ever. What would your life be like if you put your phone on Do Not Disturb when your family could predictably count on you to do so and you were just present with them sharing nothing more than your presence and undivided attention? Would that have a positive impact on you and your most precious relationships? I challenge you to give it a shot and commit to doing it for a week and see what happens. You just may be amazed at what happens next...

Jack & Mary Anne just returned from a 2-week trip to Costa Rica last weekend. They went with another couple and had an amazing time!! It was an organized tour through the Rhodes Scholar program (formerly called Elder Hostel). They spent time in the extremely humid rain forest and saw the most beautiful animals, including Macaws, sloths, tree frogs, and myriad other creatures we don't have here in Indiana. The poverty they encountered was moving and humbling. They really enjoyed their trip and are glad they went. Have you traveled to Costa Rica? If so, what was your favorite memory?

As for our real estate market, it is quickly heating up. We are officially in the 'spring market', believe it or not. Many houses are selling very quickly (clearly not all of them!). If you are thinking of entering the market, NOW is the time to get moving. Here is a recap of December 2014 courtesy of MIBOR Monthly Indicators Report (compares December 2013 to December 2014):

*New Listings-UP 13.1%
*Pending Sales-UP 16.6%
*Closed Sales-UP 13.0%
*Median Sales Price-UP 0.1% to $135,000
*Average Sales Price-DOWN 0.6% to $175,522
*Percent of Original List Price Received at Sale-UP 1.2% to 92.4%
*Total Active Listings Available at Month End-DOWN 3.1%
*Months Supply of Inventory-DOWN 0.7% to 4.5 months

Bottom line, 2014 was another year of recovery, albeit not as dramatic as 2013. Our market is approaching equilibrium after being drastically undersupplied. We are being told that this summer, we will see interest rates rise, although we have already seen them increase 0.25% over the past 2-weeks. Student loan debt, sluggish wage growth, and a lack of sufficient mortgage liquidity remain hurdles to a greater recovery.

We hope you enjoyed your Valentine's Day. After a quiet dinner out, Brigid and I saw the new movie Kingsman. If you like James Bond, The Matrix, & X-Men, you will absolutely LOVE Kingsman. It is highly rated in reviews and I would echo those. Very enjoyable movie!!!

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Your Personal Real Estate Consultants...for Life!

Steve & Jack Rupp