June Steve & Jack's Home News

Welcome to summer!!! Whether it is or isn't officially, it certainly feels like it-no rain, 90-degree days, staying light until 9:30PM, kids out of school. It is summer. Our precocious 6-year old, however argues with Brigid every day about it not being summer yet technically. Geez!! Since when did she become Miss Know-It-All? Which leads me to my next topic...


Happy Father's Day!!! As an old friend once told me, 'Being a parent is the toughest job you will ever love'. Boy, was he right on both accounts!! Lately, Ana has been arguing with us on just about anything and everything (see paragraph above), and we have become so tired of her attitude. After talking with friends, we apparently are in good company. However, even with the arguing, I love being a daddy to my two beautiful girls. Sure, it is trying but I always feel a little sad when I drop my girls off to school and am always happy to see them in the afternoon when they return home. Isn't that the way it is supposed to be? I have no idea what my girls will make me for Father's Day, but I know whatever it is, it will be perfect and I will love it! Just seeing how happy they are to have made it is the most important part.


We are very much looking forward a most-needed vacation at the end of the summer taking a cruise with our girls. It should be a lot of fun and will be our major vacation of the year.


As for the market, it has taken off like a rocket!!! There is actually a shortage of good homes out there right now. I am seeing and writing multiple offers on the same property in under a week! Sometimes, they are even selling for above list price! This is becoming more and more common. If you are considering re-financing, good news!! I am also seeing appraisals come in much higher than they have historically. Most people I know who have re-financed are pleasantly surprised with the value.


Closed sales are up 16.1%, median sales price is up 6%, and inventory is down 11.8% for all of MIBOR. Distressed sales are also going down. Bottom line, our market is healing!


Take a quick spin through our Father's Day edition of our newsletter. Try and guess the answer to the trivia question. It is tricky! Enjoy the summer and Happy Father's Day!!!


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May Steve & Jack's Home News

Happy Mother's Day to all of the mom's out there!!! Without them none of us would be here. My mom Mary Anne will be in Italy for Mother's Day, as you will remember from last month's newsletter taking the vacation of a lifetime with Jack for 3-weeks. They are so excited and they were able to secure a tour of the Vatican. Michelle and I are so excited for them and can't wait to see some photos of their trip. If you have ever been to Italy, please e-mail or call Jack as he would love to have some more tips on what to do and NOT do while there. Steve remains exceptionally busy during this spring selling season. This has turned out to be one of the absolute busiest springs we have seen in 6 years! Houses are selling in days with multiple offers for above listing price in many instances. In fact, the numbers are unreal. In Central Indiana,.3% increase in closed sales, a 4.9% increase in median sales price, and an 11.7% decrease in inventory, which is excellent. Our inventory is down to 7.8% from over 13% just over a year ago. Distressed sales make up less than 25% of our total market, too. Anyway you slice it our market has improved 11 of the past 15 months. Interest rates are still at or below record lows at 4%. Looking into our crystal ball, home prices will continue to increase over the next several years, interest rates will have to go up, and we will officially enter a 'sellers' market next year sometime, which is defined as having <6 months of inventory. We have steadily been moving in that direction for months. Bottom line, if you are thinking of moving, do it NOW. On a personal note, Ana is having a great time playing soccer and is the star of the team consistently scoring 5-6 goals/game with multiple assists (technically we don't keep score, but every parent knows how many goals his child scores each week). We are so proud of her and she is truly having fun. Watching Ana play soccer is one of our favorite things to do each week. Brigid is having a great time coaching Ana again this year. Ana has also expressed an interest in joining the Indianapolis Childrens' Choir. Several people have told her she has a good voice and she constantly is singing. In fact, that is one way she memorizes things for school is by making up songs. Pretty clever. Ana still enjoys tumbling at Speed Athletics, too. And she continues to do well at school. Natalia is also doing very well at school and enjoys watching her big sister play soccer. She can dribble a ball better than most of the kids on Ana's team already. So, Ana, watch out!! Natalia is still very much of a bull in a china shop and has no fear of anything. Our one struggle with her right now is potty training. She is past being ready and has made progress, but it is very, very slow. We are frustrated since Ana was fully potty-trained by 18-months. Each child progresses differently, but it is still frustrating... We are open to suggestions... Brigid is still doing well at Merck and enjoys coaching Ana. We are looking forward to the Carmel Farmer's Market as we ride our bikes down there each Saturday morning. This year, Ana will be able to ride on her own as she recently learned to ride without training wheels. For spring break this year, we went to Edisto Beach, SC. It is about an hour SE of Charleston. We stayed in a time-share and were met mid-week by Brigid's family. We had a great time and Steve was even able to see his college roommate John Parker as well a few times. Don't miss out on some very interesting articles this month in the newsletter, such as: • A Good Example Goes A Long Way • May Quiz Question • What Mother's Know • May's Other Days • Charisma Can Be Developed • The Art of The Cheap Road Trip • Gas Waste • Thermogenic Foods Burn Fat • The Importance of Advertising Happy Mother's Day!! Thank you, moms for all of the sacrifices you have made and continue to make for us!!! Click here for a link to our May Newsletter, our blog, and our exclusive discount savings site. Click here to visit our website full of information on real estate and Indy: http://welcome2indy.com/ For the absolute BEST and brand new mobile real estate app in the state, text the following. You will be one of the very first to own this cutting-edge technology: TEXT: HOME21 to 87778

April Steve & Jack's Home News

Dear Steve & Brigid, Happy April Fools' Day!!! More importantly, Happy Spring! We hope this spring brings with it a renewed energy and optimism for the year ahead. I have already gotten my first sunburn of the year working in the yard this past weekend! With spring also comes Spring Break. What are your plans? We are driving to Charleston, SC to meet up with an old college roommate of Steve's and then off to Edisto Beach to spend some time with Brigid's family for part of the week. Jack and Mary Anne are taking a life-long dream trip to Italy in May. They are extremely excited and will have lots of pictures and stories to share upon their return. Have you ever been to Italy? Do you have any suggestions? Please e-mail them to Jack. This warm spring has brought out a recovering real estate market as well. Inman News-the pre-eminent real estate news source states that 2012 will be the best year for real estate in 5 years!! Pending home sales and closed sales are up double digits and inventory is nearing a 'balanced market'-something we have seen for years!!! Click here to read our April edition of our newsletter as well as to view exclusive coupons and discounts at places you shop every day! Enjoy the beautiful weather and safe travels to those traveling on Spring Break!

Indianapolis Housing Market EXPLODING!

With all of the warm weather, we can almost 'taste' Spring. This has been especially true of the real estate market with activity we haven't seen in years! I'll get to some great stats in a moment. Ash Wednesday was yesterday and 'Fat Tuesday' was the day before. For Catholics, that means Lent is here. I noticed quite a few 'good' Catholics with the ubiquitous crosses on their foreheads yesterday. Unlike the wind and the type of religion one practices, real estate seems to be very visible all of the time. It is nice to be able to report some good news. Click here to read our March 2012 newsletter and access our VIP Savings Site. The Indy real estate market, as mentioned earlier is quickly heating up, seeing gains we haven't seen in years. Our Months Supply of Inventory is down to 7.6 months (down 12.8% from last year). Active listings are down 10.4%, which is great as we need to reduce our oversupply of housing inventory. Median sales price is up 4.7%. Closed sales are up 28%!! Pending sales are up 18.3% and new listings are down 8.8%, which is also good as we need to reduce inventory more. Distressed sales are <20% of the overall housing marketing for the first time in years. Bottom line-the housing market is markedly improving!

February Steve & Jack's Home News

Happy Valentine's Day!!! Enjoy some fun and light reading in our February edition of our newsletter. Click here to read it along with links to our VIP Client Savings Site and our other blog entries. The Indy real estate market is heating up and the Spring Market has already started. We are seeing multiple showings/day on listings and, can you believe it, multiple offers as well!!! Inventory in down, buyers are up, sales price is up, and distressed sales are the lowest in years. Don't forget those historically low interest rates, too!!! This is a great time to buy or sell a house. Don't take my word for it, just Google real estate and you will find article after article extolling the virtues of this market, how it has hit bottom in many markets and is on its way back. No one can predict the future, but this sure is a good start!!!

January 2012 Steve & Jack's Home News

Happy 2012!! Click here for a link to our first newsletter of the new year as well as a link to our Indy-area real estate blog, & VIP savings site. Enjoy!!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to all of our loyal clients, friends, and colleagues who have been so supportive this past year!!! While many agents have struggled, we continue to have a strong business and it is because of you. May your 2012 be exciting, prosperous, and fun and feel comfortable knowing we are always here for you and those you care about for your real estate needs. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!

December Steve & Jack's Home News

Click here for our latest newsletter full of fun articles and entertaining articles, learn about little-known facts and take a quiz. Also, take a look at the coupons and discounts you can use at places you shop every day! Enjoy!!!

Housing Numbers Up in Hamilton County

The following article appeared in the Current Newspaper on November 8, 2011 in an interview of Steve Rupp by the editor Jordan Fischer: According to the MIBOR third quarter report, the number of closed sales in Hamilton County increased by 27.7% compared to 2010. Steve Rupp, REALTOR for Prudential Indiana Realty Group spoke with Jordan Fischer from The Current Newspaper about these figures. “The third quarter is turning out to be the best quarter of the year so far,” Rupp said. “new listings are down, and that’s excellent. We need those numbers to come down. And part of that is that foreclosures are down.” The monthly supply of housing inventory for Hamilton County dropped 3.5% in September to 8.3 months. That’s lower, Rupp said, than MIBOR’s average inventory, which is hovering around 9.5 months. The median sales price did drop 3.9% compared to this period last year, however, which Rupp said is a sign homeowners are still having to negotiate “pretty hard” to sell their homes (homeowners on average received 90.4% of their original list price sale in September). Rupp said he was optimistic MIBOR numbers were signs of an upward trend for the market. “It will be interesting to see where we are in February-March-April of next year, relative to 2011. My guess...is that we’re going to continue the trend of pretty good numbers. If you couple that with still significantly-lower than historical average interest rates, you’re going to have some pretty strong numbers...and you’re not going to have anything holding it back.” In fact, November's numbers just came in and they are even better!! Now is a great time to buy a home, especially in Hamilton County!!

November Steve & Jack's Home News Newsletter

Check out our November edition of Steve & Jack's Home News with some fun articles about curses, princes, employee surveys, 9/11, cleaning your phone before discarding it, and some common abbreviations. Also, some notable (and good) housing numbers just in for the Indy Metro Area: *Closed sales are up 24.1% *Median Sales Price is up 4.1% *Housing inventory is down 7.7% to 9.5 months *Interest rates are still low at around 4.25% Click here for our November Newsletter. Enjoy!!!

Sub-4% Interest Rates? Really?

Yes! Really!! On Friday of last week, we saw for the first time in decades interest rates below 4%!! This is for 30-year fixed, conventional, conforming mortgages. One client recently remarked, 'That is almost like free money!'. Unfortunately, due to the weak global economy and the significant action the Fed is taking on monetary policy, mortgage interest rates continue to drop. How low can they go, you say? No one knows, but if you are in the market for a house, rates like this literally can't get much better. Take some time to talk with a reputable and local mortgage consultant to show you know much more house you can buy with these low rates. Of course, I am not encouraging you to buy a bigger house than you need, but if you have been dreaming about a bigger/nicer/better location house, this might be THE time to seriously look into it.

September 2011 Steve & Jack's Home News

Check out the latest edition of our fun and informative newsletter. The link will also take you to our VIP discount site and a first-ever video introduction!! Let us know what you think!!! Enjoy!!

http://bit.ly/oFxDDy

Half Price Indiana State Fair Tickets!

Like to visit the Indiana State Fair, see all of the animals, interesting people, ride the fun rides, and eat that yummy food? What is better than that? How about getting in for HALF PRICE? Click the following link for a half price coupon courtesy of your Indiana BMV.

http://bit.ly/pvfjTT

Buy Your First Home from Your Bridal Registry? Yes!!!

Newlyweds say “I DO” to FHA Bridal Registry Gift Funds

Are you planning to get married and buy a home in Colorado, but wonder
where your down payment funds will come from?
FHA has a Bridal Registry program where the money you receive as a wedding
present can be used towards your down payment. Just like registering at a specialty or department store, the FHA Bridal Registry program allows you to register with a lender. Then your friends and family are able to make gift payments into an interest bearing account on your behalf.
It's a win win! Not only can your gifts earn interest, but they can be used as a down payment towards an FHA Loan.

Bridal Registry Guidelines

Bridal Registry Accounts were originally introduced in 1996, but still remain a little known fact when it comes to down payment assistance. The
misunderstanding of how this program works might be the fact that it was
originally only allowed by banks. Soon after, FHA modified the program and
offered new flexible options and the opportunity for the newlywed to set up the account at any bank. Plus, newlyweds are now able to make deposits on their own from the gifts they receive.

Here's how it works in 3 simple steps:
• You will open a savings account at your bank prior to the wedding
• Friends and family will be given the banking information where the gifts will be deposited
• All of the gift funds can go towards the FHA required 3.5% down payment
• Anyone with an interest in the purchase cannot be party to the gift funds (i.e. realtor)
• There is no requirement that you be married prior to closing on your new home

Another huge advantage is that there are no gift letters or other documentation required other than proof of your savings account
named "bridal registry account." It's that simple!
AGENTS: Marketing Ideas to Spread the Word in Your State
• Explain it on your website
• Blog about it
• Let your “to-be-married couples” know about it
• Send an email to past clients
• Attend wedding fairs & distribute brochures
• Mention it at your homebuyer seminars

The great news about this program is it is available Nationwide!

To learn more: Check out our FREE Top 20 Homebuyer Secrets that can save you thousands of dollars! Plus browse our Home Buying Resources section and fill-out a free no-obligation secure online application or call us in Colorado Springs, Colorado at 719.387.1368 with any questions.

Bad credit or No credit? Check out our Credit Repair Program and get started on the path to homeownership today!

Overcome loan application stage fright by reading my Simple Steps to a Complete FHA Loan Application
Newlyweds say "I DO" to FHA Bridal Registry Gift Funds was written by Rebekah Radice.

Activity is UP!

Wow!! The number of listings in Indy has dropped 24.4% per MIBOR since March and I am seeing it in the low inventory available to show my buyer clients. What I have found is that there are fewer homes in good condition at market-acceptable prices than in the recent past. This is making it more frustrating for buyers to see a number of feasible options when house-hunting, however it is having a positive effect on sellers in that the average sales price is increasing-a simple law of supply and demand.

If you or someone you know is thinking of selling their home, please talk with your real estate agent to see how the market has changed and how you might benefit from the low inventory. In many cases and areas, inventory is below 3 months right now, which is indicative of a strong SELLERS market.

The $250,000-$350,000 Vacuum

Do you or someone you care about have a house valued between $250,000 and $350,000 on the north side of Indianapolis? If so, ever thought of selling it? It just so happens the north side of Indy right now has a depleted inventory of homes in this price range and there are a lot of buyers wanting homes in this price range. What does this mean to you?

Many homes in this price range are selling in days, with multiple offers, for above asking price. It is a simple supply and demand problem. If you would like to know specifically how homes in your neighborhood are moving in this price range, shoot me an e-mail and we can talk specifics.

Spring Is Here!

Spring has sprung (optimistic thinking, I know), but unofficially the spring real estate market in Indianapolis begins the weekend after the Superbowl. The recent harsh weather has tempered activity, but if you are thinking of taking advantage of the spring selling season during which 72% of all homes in Indy are sold (February-June), then NOW is the time to make your preparations to get it show ready. Interest rates are creeping up (currently at 5.125% for a 30-year fixed conventional mortgage with a 740+ credit score), but that is still a really good rate given the 40-year average for a 30-year fixed conventional interest rate is 7.875%.

Start preparing your house by decluttering, depersonalizing, and pre-packing items you don't use on an everyday basis. A fresh coat of paint goes a long way and is probably the best investment in preparing your home for sale you can make. Paint over any bold colors with earth tones and for heavens sakes if you have wallpaper, please, please, please remove it.

A good, thorough, deep cleaning goes without saying paying particular attention to the kitchen and bathrooms. Your house should pass the 'white glove' test. If your carpet is clearly worn, please replace it. If it just needs to be cleaned, hire a professional carpet cleaner who will breathe new life into them. Any dirty grout should also be cleaned by a professional grout cleaning company.

When the weather warms, plant some colorful flowers and plants outside your house and make sure the front door is clean and welcoming. Cleaning the windows will allow more light into your home, too.

These are just a few tips and tricks. Feel free to contact us for more ideas and suggestions. Happy staging!!!!

Indianapolis One of Best Cities to Move

Did you see this article? CNBC posted an article explaining why Indianapolis is one of the 10 best cities in the US to move to right now. Read the full article here:

http://realestate.yahoo.com/promo/best-cities-to-move-to-in-america.html

This is just another example of why Indianapolis is still one of the best places to live in the US. We have very high quality of life, a vibrant city, low cost of living, a highly educated worforce, a stable economy, and the most affordable housing in the country.

FHA Increased Fees

Did you know that on October 4th, FHA increased its annual (monthly) mortgage insurance premiums? For loans with 5% down or less the monthly premium went from .55 to .90. It also decreased its upfront insurance premiums from 2.25% to 1%. This is for 30-year loan products. For a LTV less than 95% the monthly premium is slightly reduced at .85.

What does this mean to you? While the closing costs will be less, your monthly payment will slightly increase. On a house with a $200,000 loan, it could mean a monthly increase of your mortgage payment of around $42. At the current interest rates, this means that the average buyer will be able to afford $7,000-$8,000 less house than last week. Pleast note that these are very rough numbers and are used for a basic illustration only. Please talk with a mortgage lender to find out how these changes specifically reduce your buying power. But know that your buying power just went down no matter how you slice it.

For some great tools for buyers including a great mortgage calculator and nationwide listing search visit http://www.welcome2indy.com.

Interest rates--How low can you go?

3.99% fixed rate conventional 30-year mortgage with no points. Seriously? Yes, I saw one of my lenders offering that last week. Crazy!! It is unlikely that they will go much, if any lower, but then we thought that was the case at 4.375% last month. The effects of the housing tax credit expiring are being felt in the Indy market and throughout the country. As an example, here are some stats from July 2010 compared to July 2009:
29% decrease in homes closed
23% decrease in pending home sales
9% increase in average sales price-yea!
1% increase in price/s.f.
6.6% increase in homes currently available for sale
11.26 months of inventory currently on the market vs. 7.48 months in July 2009

Aside from values increasing, we are seeing some sobering numbers come in. The best markets as far as lowest months of available inventory is, believe it or not Decatur Township with 7.47 months of inventory and Carmel Clay Township with 7.88 months of inventory. The worst is downtown Indy with 24.73 months of inventory!!!

What does all of this mean? Well, with such low interest rates and higher inventory and a trend of increasing housing values, this is a great time to buy a house!! Not to sound too salesy here, but we are seeing values recover, but super-low interest rates and lots of choices. If you are thinking your window of opportunity has closed, think again. Conversely, if you already own your home and you have a 30-year interest rate of 5% or more, do yourself a favor and talk with a reputable lender about whether or not it makes financial sense to take advantage of these crazy low interest rates and save some money. E-mail me if you would like some names of good lenders in the area.