The Internet of Things...

Cruising the aisles of your favorite home improvement store, you spot it. Its tall, curvy profile is unmistakable, the glamorous shine of its polished chrome beckons you. The enormous touchscreen asks you if you’d like to order groceries — wait a second…

If you’ve been paying any attention at all, you know that smart home devices are popping up everywhere. From smart refrigerators like the Samsung Family Hub line to connected electric toothbrushes, you can get just about anything you want in a version that’ll report back to your smartphone or network. Heck, there’s even a connected water bottle!

Smart Home Devices and the Internet of Things

All those items that live in your house and report back to your smartphone or your hub or maybe even work with your voice assistant, when you consider them together, they make up a part of the Internet of Things. Everything connected to the Internet one way or the other that’s not a desktop, laptop, tablet or smartphone is part of the Internet of Things.

So, your swank SmartTV, your bluetooth-enabled dishwasher, that self-closing garage door, maybe even your security system, they’re all things that are part of the Internet of Things. It’s important to make this differentiation because unlike the other Internet, the Internet of Things has a big problem that is only just now emerging. Security has become a bit of an issue, with smart home devices turning into backdoors into home and business networks.

Older Internet of Things products are the most vulnerable, since it was uncommon for security to be considered in their design. After all, who’s going to hack a coffee maker? It’s not really the coffee pot that’s the end goal, as it turns out, it’s access. Access to a network that can be used against another entity, often without the owner’s knowledge at all. You could be happily percolating a pot of beans while your coffee pot is participating in a denial of service attack against AT&T and never be the wiser. It’s nefarious.

Is a Smart Home Worth the Risk?

Just because your smart home may be at risk right now doesn’t mean it’s not worth having. That would be just like saying your car is at risk of being hit in a parking lot, so you should never go to the market or maybe even never own a car. Smart home technology can improve and enrich lives when applied strategically, but that’s kind of the crux of the issue here. Having a bluetooth-enabled coffee pot is maybe not a strategic smart home item (but then again, maybe it is, you do you).

When you’re looking at smart home devices, there are a few things you should consider:

What is the brand’s commitment to security? If your product is designed to automatically accept new software when it’s available and allows you to change the password at your leisure, these are good signs that the manufacturer is trying to keep their Internet of Things products secure. Since these updates will be one of your primary defenses, they should be given a high level of consideration during a purchase.

Is this a product that should be connected? Sometimes, brands connect items that maybe don’t need to be connected, like that smart toothbrush, or maybe you don’t need them connected, like the smart coffee pot. It’s ok to not buy a connected item when you have a smart home. In fact, if you strategically purchase bluetooth connected items, you’ll minimize your security risk.

Can I secure this device? This may sound silly, but you should take security of these items very seriously. If you don’t feel that you’re capable of securing your new connected products, then arrange for a tech-savvy person to configure your Internet of Things network before you even turn that new buy on.

Tips for Better Internet of Things Security

So, you have that shiny new connected refrigerator and you’re ready to hook it up to the world. Before you do, it’s time to brush up your Internet of Things security! Here are some tips from us.

1. Set up a separate network for your Internet of Things devices. Known as network segmentation, having a separate, dedicated network for your devices will shield your computers and other more traditional hardware from any risk that your smart home could create. It’s always a good move to have a secondary network, anyway, then when visitors come you can give them the password to your guest network instead of your main network.

2. Always, always use a firewall and WPA2 wireless security with your router. Together, the two will give you extra layers of padding from the outside world. If a hacker does get through, it’s not for lack of armor on your side.

3. Use good passwords. A good password is one that doesn’t relate to you in any way, it’s not your birthday or your kid’s name or your dog’s anniversary. It’s numbers, letters, special characters arranged in some way that you can remember, but not so obvious that someone else could guess. Also, make sure you choose a different password for each device on your network. A password vault can help to keep track of all of these names and numbers, in case you ever need to use them again.

Inspecting Your Roof After A Storm...

Depending on where you live, the end of winter means different things. Maybe it’s the anticipation of an explosion of colorful wildflowers, or maybe it’s just a break from all the heavy, wet snow on absolutely everything. Either way, those warming days when winter starts to turn to spring are ideal for checking your roof for damage from the past season’s storms.

You don’t have to be a roofer to do a simple roof inspection on your own home. There are a few common symptoms of a sick roof that can tip you off that you need to get a set of professional eyes on the job.

Safety First: Looking Up or Climbing Up?

Before we go any further, it’s important to stress the safety considerations involved in roof inspections. Walking around on a roof is dangerous business, even if you’re an experienced roofer. This is why roofers often wear harnesses and other types of safety gear. For the purposes of the style of homeowner roof inspections we’re discussing, you’re not going to set foot on the roof — period. No ifs, ands or buts. Instead, you’ll use no more than two handy tools: a pair of binoculars and a tall ladder.

All roof inspections should start on the ground with your eyes and binoculars, you’ll want to be certain that the fascia is intact and in good shape all around your home before you lean an extension ladder against it. If it isn’t, a six foot stepladder is called for. As always, when using any kind of ladder, make sure someone is nearby to help you stabilize it and to call for an ambulance if you were to fall. Ladder work should be considered potentially dangerous, so proceed with care. Use your binoculars whenever possible, save the ladder work for those hard to get to spots.

Sign of Trouble Up North

Now that we have the disclosures out of the way, let’s get to the meat of the thing. Since about 80 percent of the roofs on North American homes are asphalt shingles, that’s what we’re going to focus this roof inspection on. Follow this checklist as you go around your house, completing one whole side before moving to the next.

Ground Check

– Fascia. Begin at the beginning. Check the fascia for signs of rot or water damage, including soft spots, green algae or places where the board is starting to come apart. If the fascia is pulling off of your house, dig deeper and look for rot or damage before proceeding. This may call for expert help.

– Soffit. Your soffit keeps critters out and lets just enough air in for proper ventilation. If screens are torn or vents are blocked, this is a good time to clean them out. If you’ve got other problems, it might be time to replace these work horses.

– Gutters. They’re not really part of the roof, but they’re roof accessories, so make sure your gutters are also looking good while you’re checking the roof. Sagging or signs of separation will warrant further examination.

– Drip Edge. In the space where your shingles stop and the open air begin, there’s a thin strip of metal called the drip edge. It literally does what it says, it moves drips and drops of water from the shingles and away from the fascia. If you have gutters, you may not be able to see this from the ground, but if you can see it, just check that it’s not rusted, bent or broken.

– Shingles. Shingles are pretty cut and dry when it comes to aging and damage. Either they’re torn off, curling up, missing grit or growing moss or they’re more or less ok. The black streaky stuff on your lighter colored roof isn’t anything to worry about, especially if there are big trees over your home. This is just a harmless variety of algae that grows on shingles that aren’t algae-resistant.

– Flashing. Anywhere that your roof joins something else, like a chimney or even creates a valley, there may be metal flashing to protect against leaks. Check that it’s not rusted or oxidizing and that any tar looks like it’s still healthy, not dried out. Rust is rust colored, irregular and almost stone-like, oxidation is white and powdery.

– Vents. There’s not much to know about vents, except that having plenty is great, and fewer isn’t as awesome. However, if you can see them well from the ground, check that they’re not too dented and if they’re the type that rotate, they’re functioning. Dents indicate they’re hail storm survivors and your roof may need to be checked by your insurance company for hail damage.

– Chimney. Since you have your binoculars out, go ahead and check any masonry chimneys you have. Just make sure all the chinking (the filling, if you will, between the bricks) is intact and the bricks are whole and where they should be. If any brick faces are breaking off or the chinking is crumbling, this is cause for concern and a call to a brick mason sooner rather than later.

From the ladder, pretty much everything on the ground list applies in the same fashion. You’ll just be closer and possibly have an easier time discerning the details. Although there are some people who will tell you that you must walk the roof (or at least climb the ladder), the International Association of Certified Home Inspectors seems to think it’s perfectly fine to inspect a roof from the ground to determine if it needs further examination by a roofing expert.

How Often Should You Inspect Your Roof?

If your roof is less than five years old, a quick look now and again, along with a longer exam after a severe storm or high winds, should suffice. Roofs between five and ten years old should definitely be inspected yearly, though more often is obviously better. Any roof older than ten years should be inspected quarterly, along with a professional inspection from a roofing contractor once a year.

It may seem like a lot of hassle, but a compromised roof can damage a lot of other things, too. Along with the insulation in your attic, the sheetrock in your ceiling, your attic-mounted furnace and even the lumber holding that roof over your head could be at risk. It’s a small investment of your time to ensure that your home remains safe and mold-free.

The Debt-to-Income Ratio Explained

As a functioning adult, you know there’s something about debt that you’re supposed to understand at this point in your life, right? Something about not having too much, or maybe not too much in relation to something else… but frankly, this stuff is kind of confusing and some days you’d just rather take your Visa, buy a pizza, have a massage and then take a nap.

Today, though, you’re on a quest. You’ve decided it’s time to stop renting and become a homeowner. You came here to get some really good information on how to do just that… so, let’s put the credit card away and talk about your debt to income ratio and why it matters to your future mortgage.

What is My Debt to Income Ratio?

If you’re not familiar with the term, don’t be shy, it’s one of the most common questions that first time homebuyers have when applying for a mortgage. That’s because there aren’t a lot of places where it’s obvious that your debt to income ratio is being used to determine your ability to get credit. It’s sort of figured out behind the scenes and you’re none the wiser.

At a very basic level, your debt to income ratio is simply what it sounds like, all your long term, semi-permanent debt compared to your current income. Usually your mortgage lender will do this as a monthly comparison to make it easy, but the ratio’s the same whether you compare month to month or year to year. If you have $1,200 a month in debt and $5,000 a month in income, that’s the same as if you had $14,400 in yearly debt and $60,000 in yearly income. Both come out to 24 percent, which is a pretty good debt to income ratio.

But, of course, it can’t be that easy, can it.

What’s Included in a Debt to Income Ratio?

Things that are included in your debt to income ratio are secured loans like a car loan or a boat loan, which are sort of guaranteed by the property that you’ve borrowed the money to purchase; unsecured loans like credit cards and lines of credit; student loans and any debt you’ve co-signed.

Let me repeat that last thing. Any debt you’ve cosigned is part of this figure. So, if you agreed to cosign a loan for your sister 20 years ago and she’s still paying on it, that’s still going to count against you, even though you’ve totally forgotten about it. If you’re on a joint account with your ex-husband, you’re still on the hook when it comes to debt to income.

Things that aren’t included, that are almost always assumed to be, are items like your car insurance, your utility bills, your cable bills, subscriptions and so forth. Basically, if you can cancel the payment at will (whether or not there are serious consequences like having no lights or being able to watch Game of Thrones), it’s probably not going to be included on your credit report unless you fail to pay as agreed. While you’re at it, it might be a good idea to go ahead and get yourself a credit report from a reputable site like MyFICO.com, the Fair Isaac website, just so you can see what is actually reporting.

Adding It All Up

Figuring your debt to income ratio is pretty easy, the hardest part is figuring out what counts and what doesn’t. Just add up your monthly expenses and divide by your monthly gross income, before any taxes, insurance, 401k withdrawal and the like come out. There you go. That’s your debt to income ratio. Now we can do some stuff with it!

There are three major programs that most home buyers utilize across most of the United States. These are the FHA, VA and Conventional mortgages. Each has its own requirements and debt to income ratio ceilings. Some are more complicated than others.

FHA and Front End and Back End Ratios

For FHA, there are two kinds of debt to income ratios to keep in mind. One is called the front-end ratio, the other is, unoriginally, named the back-end ratio. The front-end ratio is only your potential future housing debt; the back-end ratio includes all your debts. With that in mind, the chart below shows how you’d look to an FHA lender as of the writing of this blog.

The first number in the column labeled “Maximum Qualifying Ratios (%)” is the front-end ratio, the second is the back-end ratio. Compensating factors can be thought of as other things you bring to the table to make you into a really awesome borrower. Since you have little to no experience at this mortgage thing, your FHA lender is understandably afraid of your eventually missing a payment in the 30 years you’re going to have a relationship, so they want evidence to show that you’re a stand-up kind of person.



FHA loan debt-to-income guidelines. Source: HUD Handbook 4000.1

Fannie Mae and DTI

Conventional loans are a bit easier. Fannie Mae is the principal agency that guarantees what’s known as a “conventional” or “conforming” loan. Fannie has siblings like Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae, but they’re at the movies right now and we’re not going to involve them in the conversation. For our purposes, conventional loans are all about Fannie Mae.

In general, conventional loans tend to be more difficult to land, in part because they have more rigid income to debt requirements. For borrowers with credit scores of 680 or better and less than a 25 percent down payment, Fannie won’t allow more than a 36 percent debt to income ratio (but she only uses the one number, so at least it’s not more complicated than that). If your credit score is above 700 and your down payment is less than 25 of the home’s price, she’ll allow a 45 percent debt to income ratio.

When it comes to Fannie, bringing more money to the table will absolutely catch her eye. She believes firmly that all things that glitter are definitely gold. That magic number is 25 percent of the sales price of your home. So, if you’re floating in cash, but have a higher debt to income ratio or a little bit lower credit score, you could win brownie points this way.

Veterans Get More Leeway

If you’re a military vet and you’ve not used your VA mortgage benefits, you may be wondering about cashing in that particular chip. When it comes to the debt to income question, it’s a harder one to answer. Generally speaking, the VA wants to see a debt to income ratio below 41 percent, but like with other qualifiers under VA, the rules aren’t really all that hard and fast.

VA loans tend to be a lot more flexible in general, and debt to income ratios are no exception. Although all the loans mentioned in this blog can be manually underwritten, the guidelines only allow for so much deviation outside the rules. VAs give a lot more wiggle room, so if you’re at a 45 percent debt to income ratio, for example, it might not be out of the question if everything else is in line.

Time to Go Apply What You’ve Learned

Figuring out your debt to income ratio is just one of the very first steps you should take on your path to getting a mortgage. Once you can see how much each of your debts affects your ability to get a home loan, you can either refinance those debts into loans with better terms or work extra hard to pay them down before approaching a mortgage lender.

Video Doorbells

Everywhere you look, new smart home technology seems to be popping up. Security cameras that can tell friend from foe and UPS delivery man from the neighbor’s dog, door locks that only need a smartphone to unlock them and thermostats that can adjust themselves to keep you comfortable all day and night are just a few of the most popular offerings in this segment, but there’s another piece of tech that’s gaining in popularity: the video doorbell.

But what good is a video doorbell when you can peek out through the front blinds, really?

Video Doorbells Are More Than Just a Ding Dong

Forget everything you know about doorbells and prepare to be amazed. Well, at least, prepare to be informed and maybe you can remember a few things you knew about doorbells and we’ll just keep that between us. A video doorbell does do all the things that an old-fashioned doorbell does, but it goes well beyond just giving guests a convenient way to ring your bells to announce their arrival.

In fact, you can configure your video doorbell to not ring at all. This is especially helpful if you have small children or especially anxious dogs, both of which will begin their own alarming at the sound of the old door chime. With a video doorbell, your smartphone can be the chime box, buzzing, beeping or lighting up when someone arrives and presses the button. But beyond this point is where it gets very un-doorbell-like.

Video doorbells combine the concepts of doorbell, intercom and security camera. So, when someone does buzz your smartphone, you can have a two-way conversation with them, even if you’re not home. Delivery guy show up early? Just tell him to leave the box on the porch and you’ll be there soon. Neighbor kids running around ringing doorbells after dark? You’ve got ‘em on video, now you can help the Neighborhood Watch figure out which parents to confront.

3 Reasons You Need This Tech

Anyone who’s dipping a toe into the world of smart homes needs to look into a video doorbell early into their adventure. Unlike, say, a smart light bulb, it’s a one-and-done piece of tech that is immediately useful and it’s a pretty simple install, giving you a huge confidence boost if you’re going to DIY it. There are lots of reasons to go for the video doorbell, here are a few of our top picks:

1. You’ll always know who’s coming and going. Anyone with kids, especially tweens and teens, knows the pain of having people running in and out of the house constantly. It’s bad enough when you’re home, but who’s coming and going when you’re not home? Sure, your daughter said that she was studying with Jessica tonight while you’re working late, but did she really invite Tommy over instead? Now you’ll know, and have a video record, of who’s been knocking at the door.

2. No more running to the door for false alarms. Whether you have overly-enthusiastic pets or are simply waiting for party guests while grilling on your back deck, running back and forth to the front door is exhausting. Stop doing that. A video doorbell lets you relax in the knowledge that your actual, real guests will chime in when they’ve arrived, so you can tell them to come around back or that you’re coming and will be at the door soon. You can give Fido the night off, if he’ll take it.

3. Less stress in those “just in case” moments. Everybody’s had one of those days when they’re running a bit late to meet someone at home, be it a salesperson, a friend or a family member. They’re left standing on the porch, wondering what to do next while you’re driving frantically in the hopes you’ll reach home before they leave. Save yourself and the other drivers on the road — the video doorbell will give you a way to let your visitor (or child who forgot their keys again) know that you’re on your way and will be there very soon. Remember, safety first.

So You Wanna Buy a Video Doorbell

There are currently several big names in video doorbells on the market, as well as some that are still in pre-order, but are heavily anticipated. The models listed here are just a few of the offerings available, just to give you an idea of what to expect when you go shopping for video doorbells. It’s not meant to be comprehensive by any means. But if you wanna buy a video doorbell, you have to start somewhere, right? Take a look at these three doorbells before you head out to Best Buy or log on to Amazon:

Nest – Hello Smart Wi-Fi Video Doorbell. $229.99. Currently in pre-order, this is the first Nest-native video doorbell, meant to mesh seamlessly with the new Nest security suite and the Nest Learning Thermostats. It utilizes the Nest IQ software to identify friends and family, records all day and all night long in high definition and has a 160 degree diagonal field of view. You’ll have to have an existing doorbell to power this model, however.

Ring – Video Doorbell Pro. $246.99. Ring has several doorbells on offer, this is one of the latest and trimmest in the line. Set custom motion zones to trigger motion alerts to your smartphone, with live video options day or night. It also offers a 160 degree view of your porch, records in HD and requires existing doorbell wiring to function.

Skybell HD – Wi-Fi Video Doorbell. $199.00. If you prefer your doorbells a little more circular and futuristic, then Skybell already fits your aesthetic. Much like the other doorbells mentioned, it records in HD, 24 hours a day, features a motion sensor that will alert you to activity on your porch and lets you speak to your guests, even if you’re in another country. It also offers color night vision, as well as a theft guarantee, so if someone comes and steals your doorbell, the company will replace it for free. Also like the other doorbells listed, you’ll need existing doorbell wiring for success with the Skybell.

If you read all of those descriptions and were disappointed because you don’t have doorbell wiring, don’t despair. An innovative, battery-powered video doorbell meant to rival those bells above is coming soon, according to the manufacturer. Blink will run on batteries where necessary, so you’ll soon have that option.

Want a Smart Doorbell, But DIY Not Your Jam?

Video doorbells are more than a convenience, they can literally prevent theft, protect your family and even help improve your productivity if you’re one of the millions of people who work from home.

Gardening 101

Just because you were dreaming of a white Christmas doesn’t mean that once January rolls around, you’re not totally over winter already. Don’t worry, spring is just around the corner and the closer it gets, the less time you have to plan and worry and fiddle with your current or potential garden spots. Whether you’re thinking about planting edibles, ornamentals or a little bit of both, planning ahead will ensure that your gardens and landscaping come together beautifully.

Start With Compatible Plants

Many first time gardeners end up disappointed and frustrated because they find some kind of plant at the nursery or outside the market and decide they want to put it in a particular spot in their garden. But no matter what they do, that plant won’t thrive and eventually, it just dies. What went wrong? A plant’s a plant, right?

That’s the problem. When you think about plants, you probably think about them as being a homogenous group, like goats or crocodiles or June bugs. The reality is that you should be thinking of them on a much larger scale. Taxonomically, that is to say, when it comes to the organizational level like “species” or “genus,” “Plantae” is at the Kingdom level. That’s the same level that “Animalia” falls.

When you think of plants, you should be thinking of them as being as diverse as all the animals there are on the planet. You’d never take a frog and keep him at near freezing temperatures — it’s simply incompatible with his biology — even though polar bears would be thrilled with that treatment.

In the same way, different types of plants have different needs and requirements. For the home gardener, the biggest things to keep in mind when choosing plants are light, water and outdoor temperature. Everything else you can work around. But if it’s too wet, too bright or too cold, there’s just not much hope.

The first thing you should do is learn what your USDA Hardiness Zone is by clicking here. Next, you can check the National Weather Service’s Climate Prediction Center’s Climate Maps to learn more about your area’s rainfall patterns to determine if you’re on the dry side, in which case you’ll need to irrigate, or pretty rainy, which will require you figure out how to keep many of your plants from getting too wet.

On the other hand, if you’re looking for beautiful landscaping that you don’t really need to touch again, native plants are seeing a huge resurgence across the country. They’re stubborn, sturdy and need very little upkeep. And because they’re native to your location, they’ve evolved to withstand whatever it is that your climate can throw at them. The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center maintains a list of businesses that sell native plants and seeds here.

Just how many of these plants do you need? Well, to answer that, we’ll need to draw a garden plan. Let’s play with it a bit.

Basic Garden Planning

Although there are apps for garden planning, one of the easiest ways to do this efficiently is to go back to the old fashioned paper and pencil method. It’s simple, you don’t need a lot of tools and it’ll give you a very good visual idea of how your plants will fit together when they’re fully mature.

What You’ll Need:

– Tape Measure
– Grid Paper
– Pencil
1. Measure the areas you intend to turn into garden or landscaped spaces. Don’t stress too much if your measurements aren’t perfect, as long as you’re within about six inches, you should be ok.

2. Assign a value to each square on your grid paper. One square foot to one grid square is an easy one to remember and makes it easy for others to interpret your drawing.

3. Draw your garden plot on the grid paper, noting anything that might influence plant growth such as partial shade conditions caused by nearby trees, large rocks that make an area unplantable and so forth. This will be important when it comes to choosing plants later. Don’t forget to note the locations of walls or other major structures.

4. Lightly sketch in the plants you want to include, at their fully grown size. So, for example, if you’re planting Buddleia, otherwise known as butterfly bush, and the one you have in mind right now is about a foot tall and maybe six inches wide, you need to imagine it grown. That bush will grow up to about six feet wide and tall. Even if it looks a little empty now, don’t be tempted to overcrowd your garden, that’ll only invite serious fungal and bacterial disease.

5. Set the drawing aside for a day or two. When you come back to it, make sure you’re really happy with it. Look it over and ensure you didn’t accidentally place a taller plant where it’ll block much-needed sunlight from a smaller plant or even blackout a window in your home.

Caution: Before you run off and buy plants or seeds, make sure that you’ve tested your soil and amended it with organic materials as needed. We’ll cover that in an upcoming blog. A drawing is only a map, it’s the first step to creating a successful garden plot.

My First Garden: Edible or Ornamental?

Home gardening is experiencing a huge comeback, as younger gardeners realize the potential benefits of gardening that extend far beyond being able to grow their own food. It’s a great way to get a little outside exercise, it lowers your stress level, and it can get the whole family involved in an activity that promises big rewards. But often, first time gardeners are overwhelmed by choice. There are so many plants, so many catalogs, so many types of gardens!

It’s ok. Take a breath and get away from Pinterest for a minute.

Both edible and ornamental gardens can be delightful and easy to manage, if you choose compatible plants and focus on their individual needs. Some plants are much more disease and trouble-prone than others, and some are simply nigh-on impossible to grow in some areas. You really don’t have to choose between edibles and ornamentals, though. Plenty of ornamentals and edibles are highly compatible, a classic example is tomatoes and French marigolds.

There aren’t really any rules when it comes to what you put in your garden. Just make sure you space each plant far enough apart that they don’t have to compete for water or nutrients and you can easily work between rows or clumps. A plan is a great place to start, though, so you know just how many plants or seeds to buy.

Is There Lower Maintenance Gardening?

If you’re looking for landscaping that’s even less maintenance than a native plant garden, you’re looking for one that’s cared for by a professional landscaper. They can help you choose plants, even ones that are harder to maintain, and they’ll do all the work for you no matter what the weather’s like.

February 2018 Steve & Jack's Home News

Happy New Year!!! We hope you enjoyed a fun and safe New Year's celebration, or if you are like us stayed home with your kids and enjoyed the festivities from the comfort of your living room. We actually have a tradition of planning the next year's trips and vacations that night, which ends up being quite an expensive New Year's Eve! Did you set any New Year's resolutions? Ours is to be healthier and, as such we have made a commitment to plan specific healthy meals, buy food and prepare it over the weekend for easier meal prep during the week. What is your resolution?

Steve's mom Mary Anne, after a delay last year, had a successful knee replacement surgery last Monday. She went home on Tuesday and has been religiously doing her exercises. It has been painful, but she is pushing forward. She has a long road ahead of her, but is taking things one day at a time. We hope this will eventually provide her the pain relief and mobility she desperately needs. Jack is doing a superb job of waiting on her hand and foot to ensure she has everything she needs. Continued prayers would be appreciated for a speedy recovery.

Steve's family is doing well and is back into the swing of things after many school cancellations and delays. Ana continues to practice for her next Indianapolis Children's Choir concert as well as 15 new songs for her international trip with Blue Lake Fine Arts International, which leaves in June for 3 weeks to France, Germany, Italy, & Belgium. We will be spending about 12 days in Paris and then Brugge, Belgium to see her perform and can't wait! Tali had her second gymnastics meet yesterday and scored a first place on uneven bars, a 3rd on vault, and 4th of floor. We are so proud of her!

Kylie enjoyed a nice long break during the holidays and enjoyed time with her family, all of whom are doing great. Having her back certainly is a relief!!

THANK YOU to all of our friends and clients who attended our first Happy Hour of 2018! We had a big turnout and a lot of fun and connections. Please join us for our next Happy Hour in February on Wednesday, February 21st from 5-6:30PM at Matt The Miller's.

THANK YOU to all of our clients who wrote such amazing reviews for us on Angie's List!! We are so excited to announce that for the 3rd year in a row, we are among the top 3% of real estate agents on Angie's List who earned the Super Service Award for 2017. We couldn't be more grateful and thankful! Please keep those great reviews coming!

December numbers have not been released yet, but we will send those in our next newsletter. Suffice it to say, our market is hotter than ever. Inventory is the lowest on record, appreciation is outstanding, mortgage rates are low, and the economy is strong (see the link below to This Month in Real Estate). Many articles and economists have indicated that 2018 will be just as strong as 2017, but they are warning that the window MAY be closing and to get into the market now before it does close. If you, or anyone you care about are thinking about selling, please take out your phone, look up our number and call us right away. We would love to learn more about your situation and consult with you about your options, so you can make an informed decision.

Please enjoy our special Valentine's Day edition of our newsletter and let us know how you like it. Happy Valentine's Day!

Click here to read our February newsletter.

Click here to access coupons and discounts at places you shop every day.

Click here to get the most powerful real estate app around.

Click here to view This Month in Real Estate for December.

Your Friends in Real Estate,

Steve, Jack, & Kylie

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

Wi-fi Security

Every morning, you ask your digital assistant for the news and weather while you’re getting ready for work. From there, you check the traffic with your smartphone, strap on your smartwatch, set some mood music for your pet for the day, have your digital assistant set your home’s thermostat to “away” mode and head out to the garage. You open your smart garage door before you realize you forgot to turn on your security system — but that’s not a problem, you have an app for that.

All of this technology touch seems perfectly normal these days. Absolutely everyone has a WiFi network at home to feed all of these neat tools that we collectively call the Internet of Things (IoT). Unfortunately, not everyone has a very secure WiFi network, which opens up IoT devices, computers and the network itself to attacks by nefarious types who would use them for tasks you probably didn’t have in mind.

Before you catch Alexa trying to order a DIY rocket kit from Acme without your authorization, let’s go through some basics of WiFi security to keep your home network and IoT devices protected.

Types of WiFI Security

There are basically four types of security you’ll find in a wireless router, some are much better at protecting you and your devices than others. As with anything to do with technology, the more modern protocols are going to be better at protecting you than older ones, so if your router is more than a couple of years old it might be time to consider an upgrade. Check this list to see if it has an appropriately secure protocol available first, though:

WEP. Wired Equivalent Privacy is a protocol reaching back to 1999. It was essentially the first wireless security type, so if this is the only option you’ve got available on your router, get yourself to Best Buy. This router cannot deal with modern challenges, bottom line. You might as well not have any internet security.

WPA. WiFi Protected Access was created in 2003 as a response to the many problems with WEP. A new security standard known as Temporal Key Integrity Protocol was developed that was much stronger than the encryption used with WEP, but it still used a similar implementation, so was problematic.

WPA2. WPA2 is an upgrade to WPA that was introduced in 2004. This upgraded version of WPA switched to a security protocol based on the US Government’s preferred choice of encryption known as the Advanced Encryption Standard. WPA2 is still the gold standard for home WiFi security, though older computers may not be able to utilize it. If your system or router is rated for 802.11g or less, you should consider an upgrade.

WPS. WiFi Protected Setup was supposed to make adding a device to a WPA2 network easier by granting people in physical proximity to the router the ability to just push a button and enter an 8-digit PIN to connect. Unfortunately, a well-known hack has been developed and distributed widely in the recent past, turning WPS into a very vulnerable convenience.

As of the writing of this article, most experts recommend that your router be secured using WPA2 with WPS disabled. This combination will give you the most bang for your security buck, keeping as many problems at bay as is possible with WiFi security protocols alone.

More Ways to Secure Your Network

Using the right security protocol is just the first step to protecting your WiFi network. There are lots of practical ways to keep yourself safe, too. Here are a few of our favorites:

1. Change the name of your router. Your router came with a unique name called the Service Set Identifier (SSID). It might be random numbers and letters, or it might be something more readable like “Bob’s Network.” Your job is to name it something that doesn’t give away your location, but is also memorable so you know which network is yours. For example, if you’re a DC comic fan, you might name yours “SpiderLan.”

2. Also, change that router password. Never leave the default password on your router, especially if that password is blank! All anyone would need to do to access the settings is park close to your house and point their phone at it, then you’re in big trouble. Again, choose a password that’s secure, but memorable. Use numbers, letters and special characters. Short sentences can be good if you’ve got a poor memory, “N33d_M0ar_B33s!” is a surprisingly secure choice.

3. Remember to check for updates to your router’s software. Occasionally, your router’s manufacturer will push updates to the software that controls your hardware. Update this device as often as possible, it’ll give you the best security available.

4. Setup a secondary network. A lot of modern routers allow for a secondary network with a different SSID and password than the main network. This is a great way to give guests access to your network without compromising your data, as well as the ideal solution to IoT devices that may be less secure. When Alexa is on her own network, hackers can’t ask her how much money is in your bank account or where the nearest ATM for your bank is located.

5. Remember, no one is giving away free money. Last, but not least, remember that Nigerian princes and foreign lotteries just begging to give you cash are, sadly, just dreams we all wish were true. Get to know what scammy emails look like, never click on email attachments that seem a little weird and always ask yourself “Do I know this person and would they send me a thing like this?” You can lock your network down as hard as you want, but if you let a hacker in your front door, all your effort will be for nothing.

Secure Your WiFi Network to Protect Your Smart Home

There’s no feeling like knowing you’re doing all you can to keep your home safe. After all, you’d never post a giant sign saying “thieves, there’s gold in here!” and then leave your front door unlocked. Your smart home is no different when it comes to digital criminals. There’s lots of valuable data to be had that could result in identity theft, or even old-fashioned theft, so the stakes are quite high.

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

What Is a FICO Score Anyway?

Stand and Be Measured: What is a FICO Score Anyway?


Another month, another rent payment that’s helping your landlord pay off the house or apartment where you’re living. Another month, another rent day spent pondering just how much equity you could have paid down on your own house by now. So, why not you? Why not now? Sure, buying a house can be complicated and intimidating, but your mortgage professional and Realtor will be there every step to help.

Wait, let’s take a step back. Before you even call them, it’s important to fill in some informational blanks. For example, do you know what a FICO score is or how it affects your ability to get a mortgage? A lot of first time homebuyers will need to do some work on their credit accounts, so it’s a good idea to start looking into this stuff six months to a year before you bite the bullet and make a loan application.

Today, we’re going as basic as it gets with the FICO score.

Fair Isaac Really Isn’t Judging You, Mostly

So, back in the 1950s, getting credit was a whole different kind of thing. Rates and down payments or securities were high, terms were short and credit was not nearly as widespread as it is today. Then two fellows named Bill Fair and Earl Isaac came along. They believed that there had to be a better way to make business decisions using data and computer algorithms (a bit ahead of their time, eh?), successfully completing the first credit scoring system in 1958.

By 1970, the Fair Isaac Company was delivering scoring systems for bank credit cards, then in 1981, it developed the credit bureau risk score — similar to the one your bank will be using to determine if you’re going to get a mortgage. The secret proprietary algorithm has been updated throughout the years in a quest to develop the most accurate picture possible of potential borrowers based on their past behavior.

Your FICO score isn’t a judgement of your character, of your job or anything like that. It’s simply a number that tells lenders how likely you are to be willing and able to pay back credit over the long run. If you’ve never had credit or not had much credit experience, expect your number to be lower simply because there’s no data on you. If you’ve had some credit, maybe a student loan or a car loan, and always paid on time, you’re probably golden.

A score of 620 is serviceable, a 650 is generally enough to get a mortgage.

What’s in a FICO Score?

A lot of people are confused about what exactly gets figured into a FICO score. FICO is just an algorithm, remember, so there’s nothing that it can calculate without being fed data. So, the score is based on the information from whatever credit bureau that you’re using to request a FICO score. Nothing else. Things like your on-time utility payments or car insurance, for example, don’t tend to report, so they won’t be added into the calculation.

When shopping for a pre-mortgage score, it’s best to look for a tri-merge report, or a product that gives you scores from all three bureaus: TransUnion, Experian and Equifax. This is exactly what your bank will do to qualify you. MyFICO.com offers this service and you’ll get scores directly from the horse’s mouth, but feel free to use whatever tool works for you. There are plenty of legit sources out there that can approximate your FICO score.

The main factors that influence that score are probably exactly what you’d expect. They’re bits and pieces that are telling about your credit usage and ability to repay. FICO’s own site lists these as the primary components and weights of an average borrower’s score:

Payment History (35 percent). If you don’t make your payments on time, the credit bureaus report that and FICO makes a note. Non-payments, late payments and the like don’t report until they’re 30 days past due, but it’s still good practice to pay on or before the due date. If you’ve had late pays in the past, just keep paying on time now. The more space you put between today and those late pays, the less they’ll affect you.

Amounts Owed (30 percent). Are your credit cards maxed out? … like, every month…? Well, this is something you need to get a handle on. This metric looks at not only how much you owe, but how much you owe in relation to how much credit you have. The magic number for utilization is a meager 30 percent. If you’re trying to establish credit, it can be a tricky thing to keep your usage under 30 percent, but above zero to prove you can maintain payments long term.

Length of Credit History (15 percent). The age of your credit accounts, as well as the average age is considered under this metric. FICO looks at both opened dates and the date of last utilization to figure out your risk here. To even be in the running for a bronze medal, you need an average credit line age of over two years, but people with extremely good credit scores may have credit histories of 25 years or more.

New Credit (10 percent). FICO wants to see if you’ve recently acquired a bunch of new credit, maybe in anticipation of charging everything up and fleeing to Canada. Experience has told them that suddenly opening several new accounts in a flurry means that you’re a big time risk for default.

Credit Mix (10 percent). Do you only have store credit cards, or do you also have a car loan and a student loan? The better the variety in your credit history, generally the better risk you represent. Don’t run out and get a bunch of different loans just to see how it shakes out, but if you just have a car loan, it won’t hurt to get a small credit card through your bank just for emergencies.

Improving Your Credit for Beginners

Now that you know what the FICO algorithm considers when it calculates your score, you can use this information to improve your credit score before you apply for a mortgage. Be patient, though, it takes time to see these kinds of changes manifest.

Start by going to AnnualCreditReport.com and requesting your free credit reports (you’re entitled to a set of free credit reports from this site once a year). Check them thoroughly for errors of any sort. Dispute, dispute, dispute. Many credit files have some kind of errors on them.

While the credit bureaus are working on your disputes, you can start to pay off any judgements that appear on your credit reports, as well as developing a plan to pay each and every future payment on time. If your checks come on a regular schedule, autopay isn’t a totally bad option, but if you’re part of the gig economy, of course, that’s probably not going to help.

With each payment, your credit will start to improve. Leave those credit cards alone. Just put one payment in front of the other, and before you know it, you’ll have beautiful credit. Super extraordinary stuff. There’s no real secret to it, it’s all just perseverance.

If you think you might need some help doing the research or coming up with a plan to take care of any credit issues you discover, there are some very reputable credit repair companies out there.

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

Four Ways to Destroy Your Home's Value

Going Down: 4 Ways to Destroy Your Home’s Value


You’re a homeowner now, you can kiss bland uniformity goodbye the moment you turn your apartment keys over to your now former landlord. The world is your canvas — at least, that part of the world that you now are obligated to pay a monthly mortgage payment on — and you’re the artist that’ll mold it into a shape that tantalizes and delights the senses.

You may have big dreams for that new home, but cool your jets. This is a time for careful consideration, not for hastily scribbled modern design notes on cocktail napkins. Although there are certainly changes you can make that will update or upgrade your new home, there are others that can potentially devastate its value. This is no small thing.

If you thought that ugly entryway light fixture was a real turn-off, just read on to learn about things potential buyers will find extremely unappealing down the road.

There’s Good, There’s Bad and There’s Ugly

Every homeowner will leave a mark on the homes they own, this is an inevitable fact of life. The only question you need to ask yourself is if your mark will be a good one. Will you be the homeowner who planted the gorgeous maple tree that eventually turns into a beloved climbing tree or are you the one that glued neon green shag carpet to the hardwood floors?

We’ve made a short list of some of the most dramatic ways to destroy your home’s value without even trying all that hard so you can, hopefully, avoid these problems when you go to sell. Now, this is an important point to note: if you’re in your forever home, go hog wild. If you don’t need to sell that puppy ever, feel free to do whatever thrills you. Just be aware that your outlandish choices could prevent things like refinances and even reverse mortgages down the road.

Having made those disclosures, let’s talk about home value destroying projects!

4 Things That Can Lower Your Home’s Resell Value

Now that you own a house, people will be giving you all sorts of weird advice. You’re going to have to learn to tune it out, because generally, random people don’t know. Most people own two or three homes in their lives, which doesn’t give them a whole lot of experience with market values and making upgrades that will make a house really pop.

Realtors, general contractors and other home pros, on the other hand, make it their business to know what’s just in vogue and what’s a classic, evergreen sort of modification that will stand the test of time. These are the people to ask when you really need a second set of eyes.

But, before you even get that far, let’s count down some of the worst ideas for your new home.

#4 Really Personalizing the Place

Look, we know you’re eager to make your house your own. But step away from the lime green wallpaper and the orange tiles. Just for a minute. Think this through. Some buyers can see past over-personalization, others simply cannot. There’s a reason Realtors used to advise sellers to paint everything beige, it creates a blank pallet for a buyer to start from.

If you want to use quirky wallpaper, choose something that’s easy to remove when you go to sell. You may want to choose a tile that is mostly neutral and scatter those orange ones in just here and there like confetti. In short, tone it down a bit. However, feel free to paint to your heart’s desire — just plan to repaint before you put the house on the market.

When a buyer walks into your home, the first impression they have informs every other thought they have as they walk through. They’re simultaneously calculating two things in their heads: “How much can I afford to pay for this house?” and “How much will I have to pay to fix this place?” Each intolerable thing they encounter, like that orange tile, is another thing that goes in the repair budget. As it grows, the price they’re willing to pay shrinks.

Oh, you left the flamingo wallpaper in your bedroom? The repair budget’s getting pretty heavy. And these are just the immediately visible things, they haven’t yet gotten to the inspection period. The point here is: do you, but do it in a way that can be reversed before anyone shows the house.

#3. Converting the Garage to Anything Else

There’s a difference between using your garage as a gym and making it a gym permanently. When it’s a permanent gym, you can’t push some stuff out of the way and pull the car in real quick to get it out of the rain. In fact, you probably don’t even have a garage door anymore!

Many people have made this hasty decision, turning their garages into master suites, home gyms, playrooms and home offices, not considering the long term ramifications. Then, after dumping thousands of dollars into the project, they find out that it’s extremely difficult to resell their home.

No matter how professionally the conversion was done (and some are done very well), the buyer says to themselves, “Where am I going to stash my lawnmower?” Even if the yard’s a postage stamp, it’s a valid question.

Buyers come into a transaction with a certain set of expectations and, frankly, when they’re looking at houses in certain areas or certain prices that typically come with garages, it sort of breaks their brains to find one that doesn’t quite fit the model. That’s the beginning of the price chopping spiral. Eventually you’ll discount the house much more than you ever intended or just give up on selling and rent it out or not move at all.

#2. Tearing Down (Some) Walls

This one is actually not a hard and fast rule. There are sometimes walls that should come out. But don’t make this call without consulting with an architect or a general contractor because there are several things to consider, including the structural integrity and flow of the home.

The walls that you definitely should never tear out are the ones that reduce bathroom or bedroom number, unless you have something like five or more beds and three or more baths. At that point, you have a little wiggle room. As long as you maintain the American standard of a three bedroom, two bath home (or whatever is standard in your neighborhood), you’re probably ok.

However, turning a three bedroom home into a two bedroom home because you wanted to expand a bedroom is a value killer. If you think about it from a market perspective, it might make a bit more sense. A larger, or more mature, family is most likely to buy a three bedroom home. They’re going to have a bigger budget because there are two incomes, they need more partitioned spaces because there are possibly teenagers involved.

The same house with the same square footage, but with two bedrooms, is more likely to be shown to young families with small children, possibly only one income while one parent stays home to raise the toddlers, or even single people. Their budgets are smaller, which means that the two bedroom market simply doesn’t support the higher prices of the three bedroom market.

When your home is appraised, your appraiser will be pulling comparable homes based on things like neighborhood, square footage and numbers of bedrooms and baths. So, if the other two bedroom homes are selling for $30k less than three bedrooms, that means yours is going to appraise somewhere well below where you might expect, maybe even below what you paid for it.

Bottom line: Don’t knock out walls without professional consultations with your Realtor and an architect or general contractor at minimum so you can understand the full impact of this decision.

#1. Unprofessional DIY Repairs

There are two kinds of DIYers: those with significant trade experience and those without. If your main qualifications involve eighth grade shop class, you probably should not try to handle any big jobs on your own. Start small and work your way up, watch lots of YouTube videos, practice on test materials that don’t affect your home and for the sake of your house and your financial future, recognize and accept when you’re in over your head.

A home pro is often less expensive than you might imagine if you just call them in first. When they’re asked to clean up a bad repair and still make the original correction, it can cost a lot extra.

Finding these sorts of obvious DIY repairs in a home is a terrifying prospect for potential buyers. When they see them, they wonder what else you’ve tried to repair on your own. Did you rewire the electrical box? Is the house going to burn down in the night because you did something to the HVAC?

Because they don’t know you or your level of competency, they just see that one botched repair and hyperfocus on it until they either run away or submit an offer significantly lower than what you were expecting.

Protecting Your Home’s Value is Simple

It’s really quite simple to protect your home’s value, despite how this blog may make it sound. Just ask yourself two simple questions: “Can I really do this myself?” and “Is this decision one that will stand the test of time? If not, is it easy to undo?” When you’re not sure, just open HomeKeepr and find a pro who can help.

It’s always better to go into projects with your eyes wide open, even if the answer you get isn’t one you like. One simple click could save you tens of thousands of dollars down the line by preventing you from making a terrible decision that would have hurt your home’s value for years, or decades, to come.

Your Friends in Real Estate,

Steve, Jack & Kylie

January 2018 Steve & Jack's Home News

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!

We hope this newsletter finds you well and enjoying or about to enjoy a much-needed break for the holidays with friends and family. Although this time of year can be especially stressful for parents with young children scurrying around trying to find last-minute presents, we hope you are able to take a breath and enjoy the magic of the season.

Speaking of magic, our family took the driving tour through the lights at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. It was fantastic!! With over 2 million lights on display, it is another spectacle in racing! On Saturday, we will participate in a Candlelight Dinner and Candlelight Walk at Conner Prairie with Brigid's parents who are visiting from St. Pete, FL. Our Christmas Eve will be spent at my sister Michelle's house and then to church. Christmas Day dinner is always spent with Brigid's extended family at her aunt and uncle's house here in Indy where we will have about 30 people exchanging presents and sharing a meal. It is quite the event!!

What are some of your holiday traditions??

As for our girls, Ana just finished her most intensive week with the Indianapolis Children's Choir and their holiday performances at St. Luke's church. She practiced or performed all but one day last week. The concert was nothing short of stunning and we invite you to watch it around noon on Christmas Day on WTHR Channel 13. The program is The Angels' Sing. You won't be disappointed. We are grateful to be able to participate in this annual tradition especially knowing all of the hard work that went into it. Those kiddos work incredibly hard for months for that performance. It definitely shows. Let us know what you think of it.

Tali had her first gymnastics meet of the season last weekend as well. It was her best one yet as she placed first on floor and 3rd overall. She was so excited to be on the podium!

Mary Anne just was cleared by the doctor to have her knee replacement surgery in January, so please say a prayer or two for her for a successful operation and recovery. We very much look forward to her being more mobile and not in pain.

Kylie is looking forward to her first Christmas with her baby Jackson and his big brother Trey as well as some much-deserved time off!

As for the real estate market, it is at an all-time low for inventory and this has been one of our busiest Decembers in memory. Check out the stats from MIBOR below comparing November 2017 to November 2016:

New listings: DOWN 5.5% to 2,593 units
Pending sales: UP 12% to 2,378 units
Closed sales: UP 6.3% to 2,817 units
Median sales price: UP 8.5% to $164,900
Average sales price: UP 4.5% to $200,658
Percent of original price received at sale: UP 0.4% to 94.8%
Total active listings available at month end: DOWN 18.9% to 8,311 units
Months supply of inventory/absorption rate: DOWN 22.9% to 2.7 months

As you can see, we are less than 50% of a balanced market of 6 months for housing inventory. It will likely get worse before it gets better. So, if you are a homeowner, it is very likely you are experiencing some very nice appreciation right now. :-)

Enjoy the January newsletter with some fun new factoids and articles here.

Click here for a new addition, which is the market data and recap. Very cool!

Click here if you want to save money on products and services you use every day.

Click here to get the most powerful real estate app available.

We hope you will join us for our next Happy Hour at Matt The Miller's on Wednesday, January 17th from 5-6:30PM.

From our family to yours, we sincerely wish you a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

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

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

November Steve & Jack's Home News

Happy Thanksgiving!!! It is hard to believe the holidays are almost here and summer is a distant memory. We hope you have some plans to spend time with friends and family during this time of the year. It is a perfect time to give thanks for the many blessings we have been given.

Steve, Brigid, Ana, and Tali just returned from a week-long trip during Fall Break to Ireland to see Steve's friends Phil and Jason. We successfully avoided Hurricane Ophelia and stayed any extra day on the east coast in Dublin visiting with Jason and his family. Touring Guinness Brewery, seeing a traditional Irish music and dance dinner show, and taking a bus tour of the city were all great ways to spend time. We then drove to the west coast to stay in a castle in Kilkenny. We toured Bunratty Castle and enjoyed a traditional medieval dinner with actors and all. We then drove to see Steve's friend Phil in Ennis, County Claire and enjoyed time with them as well as the Cliffs of Moher. We also took a tour of The Ring of Kerry and toured downtown Ennis. The land was beautiful and the people as friendly as can be. This wasn't our first trip to Ireland and it certainly won't be our last!!! If you haven't been, we hope you can find time to go. You won't be sorry!

Jack, Mary Anne, and Steve's sister Michelle and her family just returned from Fall Break on a trip to enjoy the sun in Florida. They spent most of their time on the beach and loved every minute of it!!

Kylie did fantastic while Steve was gone and is enjoying a little time off to recover!

Home sales are still robust for Fall. While it isn't the overheated Spring market, houses are still selling and inventory is exceptionally low. Here are some updated market stats from MIBOR comparing September 2017 to September 2016:

New listings-DOWN 0.9% to 3,586 units
Pending sales-UP 4.1% to 2,805 units
Closed sales-UP 0.9% to 3,226 units
Median sales price-UP 3.2% to $164,992
Average sales price-UP 0.7% to $198,986
Percent of original list price received at sale-UP 0.4% to 95.4%
Total active listings available at month-end-DOWN 12.9% to 9,589 units
Months supply of inventory-DOWN 15.8% to 3.2 months (a balanced market is 6-months of inventory)

Have you registered for our Annual Photos with Santa yet? If not, please e-mail Kylie at Kylie@Welcome2Indy.com. It is held at our office at 11550 N. Meridian Street on Sunday, November 19th from 12-2PM with a separate Quiet time with Santa for children with special needs from 11-11:45AM (this is new this year). Anyone and everyone is welcome!!

Have you RSVP'd to Kylie for our annual VIP Client Appreciation Event on Saturday, December 2nd from 8:30AM-11AM at Hamilton Towne Center for our private screening of the Disney movie Coco? If not, please do so. We would love to see you!

Thank you for being such great clients and referral partners! We are truly grateful to you and the trust you place in us. Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Click here for a special Thanksgiving holiday edition of our newsletter.

Click here to access exclusive coupons and discounts on stores all over the city.

Click here for the most powerful real estate app available.

Your friends in real estate,

Steve, Jack, & Kylie

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

October 2017 Steve & Jack's Home News

Happy Fall! Football season and school are in full-swing and we hope you have enjoyed the mild temperatures that made it seem we went from spring straight to fall. Speaking of football, we hope you received your football schedule magnets so you don't miss a game. Enjoy!

Our thoughts/prayers are with the people who have lost so much in the wake of the hurricanes with more coming. We hope you have been able to help in whatever way you are able. Keller Williams has donated millions of dollars, several semis full of food and water, and tens of thousands of volunteer hours to help where we can. If everyone pitches in, it will go a long way toward helping these people who have lost everything.

Unfortunately, updated statistics from MIBOR haven't been released yet, so we don't have any updated info to report since last month. Next month, we will be sure and send the updated stats.

Big news from Steve & Brigid in that Ana was selected as one of 200 people out of over 2,500 applicants to travel to Europe next summer with her Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp International Program with the performance choir! We are so excited for her, but at the same time anxious about her being away for an entire month. She has practice up at the camp in Michigan for 3 weekends between now and April and then goes up again in June for an intensive training week at camp before flying out for the next three weeks. She will be visiting Germany, Belgium, & Italy and staying with host families in each country. Obviously, the opportunity is once-in-a-lifetime and we couldn't say no, if Ana wanted to do it. She is very excited and we know she will remember this experience for the rest of her life and are so proud of her for earning this opportunity. We are curious, do you have a child, grandchild, or friend who has taken this trip or one similar to it? Any advice? We would love to hear it...

Tali is preparing for her gymnastic competition season, which starts in November. She is working on her apparatuses and routines and loves every minute of it!

We leave October 13th for Fall Break to return to Ireland again and see Steve's good friend Phil Miesle and his family who live there. They will also meet up with another good friend Jason Sprague who lives in Bristol, England. It should be an amazing adventure with beautiful scenery and complete with a stay in a 200+ year-old castle that may or may not be haunted! We will let you know!

Mary Anne had a successful hernia surgery a couple of weeks ago and is recovering nicely. Her next procedure is a total knee replacement in November. Any advice/suggestions would be greatly appreciated along with a prayer or two.

Kylie is still doing great and enjoying Jackson getting a little older. She has been a trooper during this busy summer season.

We hope to see you at our September Happy Hour THIS Wednesday at Matt The Miller's in Carmel from 5-6:30PM. We had a great turnout last month and look forward to another great turnout this month. Please stop by for a drink and some appetizers! Sponsorship opportunities are still available, so if you would like to sponsor an upcoming Happy Hour, let Steve know. It is a great opportunity to get your name in front of over 500 people.

Speaking of Happy Hour, due to Fall Break falling on the 3rd Wednesday next month, our October Happy Hour will take place on the 2nd Wednesday (October 11th) from 5-6:30PM at Matt The Miller's. Please make a note now of the change in date for October only. November will be on the 15th and December we take off due to the holidays and our VIP Client Appreciation Party on the 2nd.

Finally, don't forget about our VIP Client Appreciation Party on Saturday, December 2nd at Hamilton Town Center. You should have received a Save The Date postcard already. A formal invitation will be following shortly. We hope you can make it as this is our favorite event of the entire year!!! Photos with Santa should also be taking place again this year. A date/time has yet to be set, but details will be sent as soon as we have them.

Lots going on, for sure and we hope to see you at one or all of these fun events!! Thank you for being such amazing clients and referral partners!!!

Click here to visit our real estate website.

Click here for the most powerful real estate app available.

Click here to read our October newsletter.

Click here to access coupons and discounts at places you already shop. Why not save a little money?

Your friends in real estate,

Steve, Jack, & Kylie

P.S. Who is the next person you know who is thinking of moving? Call us today (317-573-1880) with their name and number so we can consult with them about their options.

September 2017 Steve & Jack's Home News

Can you believe school is back in session and summer has unofficially ended for our kiddos? It seems the older we get, the faster summer goes. Of course, for some parents, the first day of school can't get here soon enough! We hope you had fun this summer and enjoyed some outdoor activities. With our mild weather, it made it much more comfortable.

Did you watch the solar eclipse? Were you able to find some glasses? We stayed in Indy and our kids watched it at school. While the whole eclipse is fascinating, frankly I found it pretty boring. Unless you were in the total eclipse area where it turned dark in the middle of the day, it just didn't do much for me. Our kids felt the same way. Seven years and we will get to see a total eclipse here in Indy.

Jack and Mary Anne are back from their 16-day European adventure!! They had a great time and enjoyed Paris, Normandy and their Seine River cruise. They saw so much countryside and Mary Anne enjoyed speaking French with the locals. A trip-of-a-lifetime, to be sure. Mary Anne received some bad news lately that she has to have yet another surgery to repair another hernia as well as needing a full knee replacement on the left knee. This has been a rough 12-months for her and we pray it will be easier after this knee procedure.

Kylie is still doing amazing at work and so are both of her kids. Her infant Jackson is crawling now, so she has to keep an even closer eye on him. Childcare has been going well, too.

Steve & Brigid are trying to settle back into the school routine. Ana is in 7th grade, which means she started at the Middle School this year. It has been a tough transition, but she is handling it well. She will be continuing to play trumpet in the band and they have a trip to St. Louis in the spring along with other performances. Couple this with her Indianapolis Children's Choir and their many performances and practice schedule and she is a busy young lady! She will find out soon if she is selected to travel to Europe and sing for 4-weeks with her choir from Blue Lake where she went for 12-days this summer. 2,500 kids applied and only 200 are chosen, so the competition is fierce. Unfortunately, that is at the same time as her tour to Canada with the Indianapolis Children's Choir, so choices will have to be made, but I think Europe will win out, if she is chosen. Tali is doing very well in 2nd grade and she loves her teacher. She is still doing gymnastics 3-days/week 2 hours/day and is preparing for competition season. She loves every minute of it!!

As for the real estate market, it has definitely cooled since the 4th of July. It is still a great market, but houses are not selling quite as fast as they used to. Median sales price is down a tad from last month, new listings are down from last month and % of list price to sales price is trending down a bit as well. Inventory has ticked up 0.1% each of the last 3 months, but we are still extremely low at 3.2 months.

If you are planning to sell, NOW is the time to do it. The market is still good and the interest rates are down below 4% again. See below from MIBOR comparing July 2017 to July 2016 numbers:

New Listings-DOWN 2.6% to 4,143 units
Pending Sales-UP 5.7% to 3,014 units
Closed Sales-DOWN 0.9% to 3,461 units
Median Sales Price-UP 6.7% to $169,500
Average Sales Price-UP 7.9% to $209,227
% of Original List Price Received at Sale-UP 0.6% to 96.3%
Total Active Listings Available at Month End-DOWN 15.4% to 9,625 units
Months Supply of Inventory/Absorption Rate-DOWN 20.0% to 3.2 months

As you can see, we are still looking good, but expect to see the market continue to soften, as it usually does around this time of the year. We usually see pretty good activity until around November 1st or shortly thereafter, depending on weather.

Enjoy this month's newsletter! It contains some words of wisdom from the Oracle of Omaha, Warren Buffett.

Click here for the September newsletter.

Click here to access coupons and discounts for places your shop every day.

Click here for the most powerful real estate app available.

Your friends in real estate,

Steve, Jack, & Kylie

August 2017 Steve & Jack's Home News

Welcome, hot, humid, and rainy summer! This must be nearing August. We hope you have had some fun times with family/friends this summer. It is bittersweet that it is quickly coming to a close with school starting in just a few short weeks. Our kids are looking forward to going back and getting into a schedule and seeing all of their friends, but that means early mornings and crazy schedules!!

Every summer, our family always goes on a vacation with Jack and Mary Anne and this summer we chose Avon, CO, which is a few minutes away from Beaver Creek and Vail. It is a lovely resort and we enjoyed swimming in the pool and the largest fireworks show in the west with the Houston Symphony orchestra providing the music. We attended a huge Farmer's Market in Vail Village, went on a pretty long hike across Vail mountain (the girls weren't as enamored as we were with the 3,500 foot elevation change), ATV rides up and down the mountain, horseback riding, zip line tour of the ski slopes of Vail, Bungee trampoline jumping, tube sledding down the mountain, Alpine sledding and attending an authentic rodeo at a ranch. If you have never been to the Vail area in the summer, we highly recommend going. It is absolutely stunning!

Kylie and her baby Jackson are doing great and her older son Trey is being a great big brother. Kylie has been extremely busy helping clients as well. We are so thankful to have her on our team!

Thank you to our friends, clients, and referral partners for attending our July Happy Hour last week. We realized at the Happy Hour that our evite never went out. Our apologies and we'll ensure it goes out this month. Save the date for the August Happy Hour on Wednesday, August 16th from 5-6:30PM at Matt The Millers again. We would love for you to join us!!!

Speaking of saving the date, we are finalizing plans for our 5th Annual Client Appreciation Event this year. Tentatively, we are planning on Saturday morning, December 2nd at Hamilton Town Center and showing the new Pixar movie Coco, which will be released the week before. Check out the trailer here. We hope you will join us again to say thank you for being such amazing clients and introducing us to so many people you care about who need our help.

Last month, we were recognized as having the shortest days on market for our listings in 2017 of the Top 500 agents in the city (out of over 7,500 agents). Our average days on market was only 19!!! We work so hard for our clients to market their houses for a quick sale to net them the highest price the market will bear with the fewest amount of hassles and are thrilled to be recognized. If there is someone you care about who needs our help selling, please introduce us so we can help them as well!

It should be noted that our market has definitely slowed from the white hot market conditions we experienced as recently as last month. Some houses are selling extremely quickly, but most are seeing more 'normal' time on the market and it might take a few weeks or months to sell now, especially in the higher price ranges (above $400,000). This is not uncommon, but is extremely difficult to predict. If you or someone you care about has a house on the market and it isn't selling as quickly as you expected, don't freak out. Our inventory is still extremely low and the market is still very good. Just understand our market has changed since the end of June and having realistic expectations is important.

Here are the June stats from MIBOR comparing June 2017 to June 2016 housing data:

New listings-UP 2.5% to 4,717 units
Pending sales-UP 10.1% to 3,511 units
Closed sales-UP 6.9% to 4,168 units
Median sales price-UP 6.4% to $173,355
Average sales price-UP 4.4% to $212,914
Percent of original list price received at sale-UP 0.7% to 96.7%
Total active listings available at month end-DOWN 16.5% to 9,314
Months supply of inventor/absorption rate-DOWN 22.5% to 3.1 months

As you can see, our market is still very hot with numbers we have not seen before. If you have any questions, please feel comfortable contacting us.

Enjoy the August edition of the newsletter...and the rest of your summer!

Click here to read the August newsletter.

Click here to access coupons and discount at stores you shop every day.

Click here for the most powerful real estate app available.

Your friends in real estate,

Steve, Jack, & Kylie

July Steve & Jack's Home News

Happy Summer!!! We hope yours is off to a good start and that you have some fun plans ahead. We hope all of the dads had a great Father's Day with family and friends celebrating you and all you do for us.

Do you have some items that can be recycled, but didn't know what to do with them or maybe you have some files/old bills/check books/receipts/prescription bottles that need shredded. Please come by our Community Shred/Recycling Day THIS Saturday, July 8th from 10AM-12PM. It will take place in our Carmel office parking lot-11550 N. Meridian Street. It is absolutely FREE!

Steve & Brigid traveled to NYC earlier this month to see Ana perform at Carnegie Hall with The Indianapolis Children's Choir. To say we were proud to see our daughter perform on one of the biggest stages in the world would be an understatement. What an incredible experience our entire family will never forget. We also saw the 9/11 Memorial, Ellis Island, Statue of Liberty, Rockefeller Center and took an NBC Studios tour, which was really cool. It was fleet week and our hotel was right on Times Square, so crazy! We can only imagine what Times Square is like at New Years!

This coming week, we are taking our annual family vacation with Jack and Mary Anne to Colorado. We are so excited to see the beautiful views and do some hiking and spend quality time with family.

Kylie and her baby Jackson are doing well and have settled into a routine. Steve is so incredibly happy to have her back and helping clients again!

The real estate market is still white hot in many areas of the city and price ranges. Most of our listings have sold and we are putting more on the market. We are proud to announce that we just were recognized as selling our listings faster than any of the top 500 real estate agents in the city with an average listing time of only 19 days! We have also earned again the Five Star Real Estate Agent award and the Super Service Award from Angie's List for being in the Top 5% of agents in our market relative to customer service. We are proud of our accomplishments, but we couldn't have done it without you!! So, THANK YOU for allowing us to help you and those you care about. We are grateful and humbled! Please call us the next time you hear someone talking about buying/selling/building a new home. We would love to help!!

Did you know that Indy was just recognized as having some of the LOWEST closing costs of any city in the country? We are also the most AFFORDABLE housing market in the country, relative to income. Carmel, Fishers, Noblesville, & Westfield have been recognized as one of the best places to live in the nation as well.

Here are some of the latest statistics on home sales from MIBOR comparing May 2016 to May 2017. We are woefully short on inventory-about 50% of a balanced or healthy market:

New Listings-DOWN 0.4% to 4,433 units
Pending Sales-UP 6.0% to 3,462 units
Closed Sales-DOWN 2.1% to 3,673
Median Sales Price-UP 5.7% to $168,000
Average Sales Price-UP 6.4% to $202,984
Percent of Original List Price Received at Sale-UP 0.6% to 96.3%
Total Active Listings Available at Month End-DOWN 17.6% to 9,015
Months Supply of Inventory/Absorption Rate-DOWN 23.1% to 3.0 months

Enjoy this month's newsletter!!! Let us know what you think!!!

Click here to read the July Steve & Jack's Home news

Click here for the most powerful real estate app available

Click here for FREE coupons and discounts at places you shop every day

Your Friends in Real Estate,

Steve, Jack, & Kylie

June Steve & Jack's Home News

Happy Summer...almost! As school winds down, we hope you are enjoying this busy time of the year and enjoying the warmer weather. The end of the school year is always hectic. We hope your family is keeping up and looking forward to a fun summer.

First and foremost-Kylie is back! She returned from maternity leave a couple of weeks ago and Steve couldn't be any happier. She is such an asset to our team and clients. She is doing great and so is her baby Jackson.

Jack & Mary Anne are in Fairfield Glade, TN this week enjoying some down time.

Ana leaves on Wednesday for NYC with the Indianapolis Children's Choir to sign in Carnegie Hall. She will see the other major sights as well including the 9/11 Memorial and Ellis Island. In addition, she will see Wicked on Broadway and then will get an afternoon workshop with a Broadway Troupe. She is so excited!!

Brigid, Tali, & I leave the following day to watch Ana perform and then see the sights and catch a show. Her parents and brother will join us as well and then her parents will take the girls and their cousin back to St. Pete, FL for the week while we go to Jamaica to relax. We are very much looking forward to this much-deserved time away!

Thank you to everyone who attended our Happy Hour last week as well! We had a great group and a LOT of fun! Please join us next month on June 21st from 5-6:30PM at Matt The Miller's in Carmel.

The housing market remains extremely tight. Sometimes, finding a home can seem downright frustrating. If you or someone you know is thinking about getting into the housing market, please do give us a call so we can consult with you about your options. We would love to help make the process as easy as possible. If you have a house to sell, NOW is the time to do it. We are woefully short on inventory and interest rates are going up. We would be happy to talk with you more about this, if you have been thinking about it to see if a move makes sense.

Check out the following statistics from MIBOR comparing April 2017 to April 2016:

New Listings-4,198 units-DOWN 7.7%
Pending Sales-UP 4.6%
Closed Sales-3,117 units-UP 1.5%
Median Sales Price-$160,000-UP 6.7%
Average Sales Price-$194,993-UP 5.6%
Percent of Original List Price Received at Sale-95.7%-UP 0.9%
Total Active Listings Available at Month End-8,888 units-DOWN 17.8%
Months Supply of Inventory/Absorption Rate-3.0%-DOWN 23.1%

Enjoy the newsletter and Happy Father's Day to all of the dads!!!

Click here to read our June newsletter

Click here for our coupons and discounts

Click here to download the most powerful real estate app available

Your Friends in Real Estate,

Steve, Jack, & Kylie

May 2017 Steve & Jack's Home News

Happy Spring!! Hopefully, you have enjoyed the beautiful weather lately and have been able to get outside. If you have school-aged children and participated in the annual pilgrimage to somewhere warmer, we hope your travels were fun, relaxing, and most of all, safe. If you celebrated Easter or Passover this past week, we hope your celebrations were fun and filled with family and friends.

Brigid and the girls visited their grandparents who live in St. Pete, FL for spring break. Steve stayed home due to being busy with work, Kylie being out on maternity leave, and finally and sadly, his Uncle Dick passed away. This was Jack's only sibling, which made it especially hard. We all drove out to Boone, NC to meet up with family to celebrate Uncle Dick's life. Although a short time together, it was nice seeing everyone again and saying a final goodbye to the patriarch of our family.

Unfortunately, Brigid and the girls got caught up in the Delta debacle and were supposed to be home on Thursday, but didn't make it in until Sunday...thanks to Southwest and flying into Chicago where Steve had to pick them up! Delta wasn't able to get them home until Tuesday at the earliest, which wasn't an option as Brigid had to work and the girls had school. A few extra days in St. Pete aren't the end of the world, but not the way you want to end your vacation. We are curious, did you experience any travel delays/glitches???

Jack & Mary Anne are doing well, all things considered. We were happy to spend Easter with them as well as Brigid's parents, her brother/his wife, Steve's sister and her family.

Steve is anxiously awaiting Kylie's return from maternity leave next Wednesday. Spending time with your newborn is so important, but having her gone is tough as she does so much for Steve & Jack and their clients. She is truly amazing and always leaves a huge void when she is taking time off.

This continues to be an extremely busy spring market with prices continuing to increase and houses selling in hours with multiple offers above list price. Interest rates also continue to rise, so if you or someone you care about is thinking of moving this year, now is the time to do it as the price of money is getting more expensive and so is the price of housing.

Thank you to Butler University for inviting us back, once again to share a presentation on The Top Ten Things That Suck The Value from Your House. We had a great group and excellent questions. If you have a company/group that would like to do a lunch and learn, please let us know. We have a considerable library of topics on which we can present. It is fun, interactive, and educational.

Take a look below at the most recent market stats courtesy of MIBOR comparing February 2017 to February 2016.

New Listings-3,120-DOWN 0.8%
Pending Sales-2,550-UP 4.3%
Closed Sales-1,984-No change
Median Sales Price-$152,000-UP 12.6%
Average Sales Price-$187,893-UP 10.4%
Percent of Original List Price Received at Sale-94%-UP 1.2%
Total Active Listings Available at Month End-8,489-DOWN 17.2%
Months Supply of Inventory/Absorption Rate-2.9 months-DOWN 23.7%

**This is one of the lowest levels of inventory we have ever seen. We need more listings to offset some of the demand. Know of anyone we could help??? Thinking of building or know someone who is?? Give us a call so we can help you/them through the maze of decisions to make things as easy as possible. As always, the builder pays our fee!

Don't forget about our monthly Happy Hour tomorrow from 5-6:30PM at Matt The Miller's in Carmel. We have a good group planning on attending. Please join us!!!

Click here to read the May newsletter.

Click here to get coupons & discounts at places you shop every day.

Click here to download the most powerful real estate app available.

Enjoy your spring!!!

Your Friends in Real Estate,

Steve, Jack, & Kylie