Are you really ready to buy that home?

When that rent check leaves your hand every month (or, more likely, you click the button on the website), you feel a little lighter in the wallet and a bit more empty inside. Every month, that money goes into your landlord’s pocket, pays down their principal, helps them increase their net worth and you get what? A roof over your head that hasn’t been updated since the Reagan administration and neighbors that seem to not realize that while their band is lovely, 2 am is not the time to crank it up to 11.

No, you’ve had it! It’s time to move.

It’s time to buy your own house. You’re ready to have some control over your own living situation. Aren’t you?

Spend Some Time Soul-Searching Before You Pre-Qualify

There are far too many articles out there that discuss homebuying readiness in terms of dollars and cents, neglecting all the other things that are involved in a truly successful homeownership experience. So, we’re going to assume you’re able to qualify for a loan and just skip that part. You’ve read enough of that by now, that’s old news.

Anyone who tells you that buying and owning a house isn’t a deeply emotional experience is someone who has never done it. People become strangely attached to their homes, they experience deep heartbreak when a contract falls through at the last minute, they feel almost rapturous when they finally sign on the dotted line. The first problem their home develops gives them a sick feeling in their gut. There’s a huge emotional and social component to homeownership, but no one ever talks about it.

What even drives us to buy? Two main things: an urge to increase our social standing and a hope to give ourselves some kind of financial security. Theoretically, right? At the end of the day, that’s what it amounts to. In some economies one or both of those may be on pretty shakey ground, but they’re always beneath it all. Before you get there, let’s do a reality check.

Reality Check: Are You Really Ready?

You’re qualified, you’re flush with cash, but you may or may not be really ready to buy a home. After all, these are untested waters for you. It’s not as if no one has gone this way before, plenty have and even lived to tell the tale. But for you to really get off on a good foot, you should dig deep and make sure you have these items in check:

Wanderlust. Think of buying a house a little like getting a tattoo. It’s not a thing that’s easily undone. Even if you just walk away, you have a foreclosure hanging over your head for years and years, your credit’s damaged, you could even owe some balance from the sale of that house (depending on the local laws). If you have wanderlust left in you, get it out now. Go live in Nepal while you can, because once you buy, you’re going to have to live in it for a while. That’s not to say you can’t visit Nepal, but you can’t stay around for months on end once you have a mortgage that has to be paid.

Emotional Maturity. Living in a neighborhood with people you can’t easily move away from also requires a bit of emotional maturity. The guy across the street may drive you nuts because he loves bright, annoying Christmas lights. Don’t punch him in the face, just hang some blinds. In addition, learn to tame your inner worrier. All houses have problems, every single one, even the brand new ones. So when you notice that the air conditioner’s condensation line is backed up, take a deep breath and get to flushing it or call in a pro. In short, don’t panic, there’s a solution to everything.

Career Security. All jokes aside, it’s really very important that your career is fairly secure before you jump into a mortgage that’s 30 years long. If you hate what you do or you’re not really sure you want to do it over the long term, you may not want to commit to a mortgage just yet. Maybe wait until you get that first year under your belt and see if what you learned in class is anything like what the field really is in practice. If you would need to return to school or move out of state to find a new opportunity, it could be very difficult while trying to maintain a mortgage.

Relationship Security. The thing no one wants to say to you is the thing this blog is going to say right now. Is your relationship really sure enough to be buying a house with that person? No, really. This is on the level of having a child with someone, it’s a huge financial commitment and one that could obliterate you for years and years if things soured quickly. Whether you’re married or not, make sure this person is one you can count on for the rest of the term of that loan, as romantic as that notion may be. You’re in this mortgage together, make sure it’s an equal partnership.

These are really important parts of your life to examine before you decide to buy a house. It also helps to be a good saver and a little handy (or at least brave enough to try to fix the small stuff). Not every problem will be one your can handle on your own, but you should at least be able to stabilize your issue so it doesn’t get worse before you call the experts in!

Homeowner's Insurance...

Whether you’re buying a house or even thinking about it, you’re probably hearing a lot about insurance and how you need it. But there are so many kinds and you’re not really even sure which ones do what and if you actually need them all.

Car insurance was a breeze, there’s only the one kind — it’s either going to fix the car you run into or that car and yours, too (basically), but with home-related insurance, there are a lot of strange specialties, and other things that aren’t quite insurance, but act like insurance.

How will you know which you really need to protect your home and which are just a waste of your hard-earned cash? Let us walk you through it.

Insurance for Your House and Your Stuff: Homeowner’s Policies 101

If you rented a house before you bought, you may have had a watered-down version of this policy, often called a renter’s policy. These are meant to cover your things, should the house burn down or a tornado carry it off into the sunset. Renter’s policies are relatively inexpensive, running about $15 a month in most areas, so more landlords are making them mandatory parts of rental agreements. You’ll see a few similarities between your renter’s policies of the past and a homeowner’s policy.

A homeowner’s policy is designed to protect you, your family, your dwelling and your personal property from damage, both physical and financial, to some extent. Most policies are essentially the same, containing these components:

Dwelling coverage. Your lender will require that if your property is severely damaged, it’s able to recover the amount of the loan you’ve borrowed. This is what dwelling coverage is for, when it comes down to it. In the case that your house were a total loss, you’d have the option to either rebuild with those insurance funds or give them to the bank and own the lot free and clear (then you could rebuild with cash or sell the lot off).

Oh, but it gets better! Dwelling coverage will also cover major damage to your home, like when a bad wind or hail storm comes through and causes your roof to spring a leak. You will likely have a deductible around $1,000 or higher to deter you from making too many claims, but it is handy to have when big issues crop up.

It’s extremely important to note that while many acts of nature (tornadoes, fires, wind storms, etc.) are covered by your dwelling coverage, most policies specifically exclude floods, earthquakes and sinkholes. Check your policy carefully and ask your agent about additional coverage if you’re in a flood-, quake- or sinkhole-prone area.

Other structure coverage. Other structure coverage does exactly what it says it does: covers other structures. There’s usually a dollar cap, which is a percentage of the value of your home, but it can be applied to major damage to sheds, detached garages, fences, greenhouses and any other permanent structure you have on your property.

Personal property coverage. This is the part of the insurance policy that’s just exactly like renter’s insurance. If your property is damaged during a storm, stolen during a robbery or severely damaged by something out of your control, you can file a claim and possibly have some kind of reimbursement. Replacement cost coverage provides the amount necessary to replace your items, so if this is an option, choose it. Again, though, there is probably not coverage for flooding, earthquakes or sinkholes, so be ready to ask about it.

Personal liability coverage. If the neighbor pops by to bring you a pie and accidentally slips and is injured, you don’t have to worry about how much her hospital bills are going to be. Your insurance will cover it (to a specified amount). The same applies if your tree drops a limb on the neighbor’s roof and they sue you for the costs. Accidents happen, that’s what insurance is for.

Other things that are covered by this part of the policy may include dog bites that occur on your property, if you were honest with the agent and your dog wasn’t on a prohibited dog list (some insurance companies won’t insure homes with “pitbull” type dogs, German shepherd, rottweilers, and others). It’s essentially a general liability policy tied to your home, so if you can imagine an accident stemming from your family, it’ll probably cover it.

Loss of use coverage. Many homeowner policies will also pay for you to live elsewhere while your home is being repaired after major damage. This is the loss of use coverage portion of the policy. It, of course, comes with a cap, so don’t get too cozy at the Ritz. Your dollars — and days — are limited.

Additional Coverage. You can choose from a number of additional coverages, from extra coverage for valuable collectables to coverage for identity fraud, at an additional cost. Most of these extra coverages won’t apply to most buyers, but there’s one that you may want to consider if you’re buying a house with a basement or in an area with a high water table.

That’s the “Water Backup and Sump Pump Discharge or Overflow” coverage. Now, this still won’t cover flooding, but it will cover any water that’s forced back into your house through the sewer system due to excessive ground- or wastewater causing backflow in the sewage system. So, it’s not for flood waters that enter your house the normal way, but if they come in through the sump pump, you’re gold.

If you’re in an area where this is a possibility and the coverage isn’t much extra, definitely get this. The sheer nightmare that is water backup from a basement drain due to oversaturation is unspeakable and the smell unforgettable. You’re going to be happy to leave that one to the pros.

Flood Insurance: What’s That All About?

Flood insurance primarily comes up when you’re looking to buy a house sitting on a piece of land that has even a tiny corner poking into a floodplain. The fact that most homeowners don’t know they can buy flood insurance no matter where they live is a serious disservice to all of them, especially considering how many homes have been flooded in recent years without being located in flood plains. The issue usually comes up when your bank requires a flood insurance certification to process your home loan for a house in a flood plain, otherwise, figuring flood insurance out is in your court — and most people would rather skip the additional $600ish dollars a year.

That’s right. For $50 a month, your $250k home can be insured against flood damage. Or thereabouts, the price varies with your risk. Some homes are less, some are a bit more. This is the coverage that fills in the flood gap that your homeowner’s leaves totally open. It only pays on flood damage, and there are plenty of exclusions, including anything located in a basement or other room that’s below the level of the ground, but it’s a lot better than the nothing you’ll have otherwise. Ask your agent about optional flood insurance while you’re discussing homeowner’s.

The Seller Provided a Home Warranty, How Does This Figure In?

Getting a home warranty at closing is a good move. Although the companies behind them can sometimes be slow to get the wheels moving, they can protect you from major repair expenses in your early homeownership years. But, they can also be a little confusing because they sort of work like insurance, even though they aren’t technically insurance.

Home warranties help you cover the cost of repairs for common small household issues, like leaky plumbing, air conditioning hiccups and electrical shenanigans. You pay a portion of the cost of the service call, depending on what level of plan was purchased, and the warranty company pays the rest.

In this way, it behaves a bit like health insurance. Everyone pays into one big pot and the money is used where it’s needed. Not everyone will need to use their home warranty, but those people who do need it may require a considerably larger chunk than they contribute. Everybody understands that’s the deal when they sign up, though. They know they may not actually use the coverage, so it’s all on the up-and-up.



Wrap Your Home in a Warm Layer of Insurance Bubble Wrap

A lot of home buyers and homeowners think that insurance is a waste of money. After all, it’s designed so that you never use it. While that may be true, the fact remains that if you do need it, you’re really going to need it and there’s no take-backs. You can’t change your mind and load up on coverage after that giant tree has fallen through your bathroom ceiling.

For the relatively small cost (when compared to your house payment) of the right insurance coverages, it’s nice to be able to sleep at night without having to worry about what you’ll do if water comes in under the front door from the storm that’s brewing. Getting good insurance is a snap, too.

Cost vs. Value

You’ve lived in your home a little while and you think you sort of understand how it should flow. You’re starting to see the warts and little bits of rough that people tend to gloss over when the neighbors pop by to borrow the lawnmower. It’s not that these things make your home flawed — all homes are flawed, they’re made from flawed materials, after all — it’s just that your home could be better and like a skilled craftsman, you’re starting to see places where you could bring out greater potential.

But, which projects make the most sense to do first? Will any of them actually pay for themselves in gained home equity, or are these changes things you’ll have to consider sunk costs in your home and investments strictly in your own enjoyment? And furthermore, are there even changes you can make yourself that will be worth the bother? (Check out our downloadable guide for help in determining which projects are best left to the pros!)

Say Hello to Renovation Magazine’s Cost Vs. Value Report

For the past 31 years, Renovation Magazine has been trying to answer these and other questions by performing a national survey about home renovations and the resell values that tended to accompany them. It comes out early in the new year, giving everyone in the industry something to look forward to after the holiday season. The 2018 report was no less exciting than any other year has been, though there were few surprises.

For example, the top returns in 2016 and 2017 came from midrange fiberglass attic insulation, at 116.9 percent and 107.7 percent, respectively. This year, the number one spot went to another small project: upscale garage door replacements, recouping 98.3 percent of the job cost. In fact, this year’s Top 10 is almost entirely made up of smaller, more simple projects, just like the last two years have been, many of them the same projects, just in different slots.

There’s a helpful chart below to show what I mean.

What does this mean? Well, it means two things, especially if you dig deeper into the data. As a national average, the same projects have been worth making the investment in for the last few years and secondly, there are very few things you can do to your home and get the full cost back out.

Your home is like a piggy bank, but it has some sort of containment issue. You put in a dollar, it only manages to hold on to 90 cents. But, you can think of that loss as the price you pay for getting to use all that cool new stuff while you’re there. Maybe that’ll soften the blow a bit.

Ok, So What Bigger Projects Will Help My Home’s Value?

Again, according to the data provided by Remodeling Magazine’s well-respected survey, bigger projects that should get you some attention (and recoup decently on their own costs) this year include:

#4. Adding on a wooden deck. (82.8 percent)
#5. A minor midrange kitchen remodel. (81.1 percent)
#7. Replacing your windows with vinyl thermopanes. (74.3 percent)
#8. Upgrading your bathroom to a universal design. (70.6 percent)
#9. Just upgrading your bathroom, period. (70.1 percent)

You may notice a trend here. Kitchens and bathrooms are a big deal. They’re always a big deal. In fact, for most houses, it’s the kitchen and the bathroom that really sell the house. You can have the best curb appeal possible, but if your bathroom is difficult to use or your kitchen has no cabinets or non-functional work spaces, you put your money in the wrong places.

Curb appeal does matter, otherwise, that garage door and the stone veneer wouldn’t appear in the chart above so many times. People want to buy a nice looking home, which is what your home values are really based on. An appraisal is nothing more than a complicated calculation that determines what an average buyer would give for your house in its current condition in the current market, after all.

When you’re thinking about putting money into your home to increase the equity you hold or to improve its value for a sale down the line, just ask yourself if the thing you’re about to do is something that a random person off the street could appreciate. For example, do not paint your ceiling blood red. No matter what HDTV says. Do paint an accent wall red if you really need to paint something.

How Do I Get Started on Bigger Projects?

If you’ve never been part of a larger remodeling project, you will most definitely need the guidance of a pro, at minimum. There’s a lot of planning and a whole box of tools (both literal and metaphorical) that it takes to put together an effort like that. After all, you want your project to look like it does in your mind’s eye, don’t you?

The New Personal Assistant...

Having a personal assistant is great. You have someone to set your appointments, find directions to your next meeting, even order a pizza for you. If you have the right kind of assistant, they’ll even turn on your television, open the shades, adjust the thermostat and turn on the lights. Once in a while they may think you’re asking for “pickled gallows” when you’re trying to have them add “pico de gallo” to your shopping list, but all and all, they’re pretty helpful.

There are at least nine ways that a smart assistant can make your life easier — we know because we put that many in our freebie companion download. Check it out while you’re here.

Personal assistants are so helpful that, according to our friends at Pew Research, 46 percent of Americans today take advantage of digital voice assistants like Alexa, Google Assistant and Siri. And why not? They work cheap, they don’t ask for bathroom breaks and they can make life a whole lot easier one little voice command at a time.

But which is the one to have? Who is properly suited to your smart home configuration?

Breaking It Down: Alexa, Google Assistant and Siri

The best minds of tech and business have put Alexa, Google Assistant and Siri head-to-head and each came back with the same results. There is no clear winner in the digital assistant world. There are some things that Alexa does phenomenally that Siri can’t and vice versa. Often, the best digital assistant is the one you like the most or that fits into your budget best.

So, instead of wasting your time with yet another face-off, let’s just talk about what each brings to the table so you can decide for yourself what you really want your digital assistant to do. Sound fair?

Alexa: Great for Shopping, Smart Home, Helping Out

Alexa wasn’t the first voice assistant, but she was the first to have smart home capability in mind, so it’s no surprise that she’s a big winner when it comes to integration with everything from light bulbs to home security systems and even those smart ovens and refrigerators. Alexa has 15,000 skills that you can enable, giving her the ability to do just about anything you can imagine.

Since she’s linked to Amazon’s massive shopping database, she’s also great at helping you find deals on items you may be interested in, reordering supplies you buy on the regular and keeping track of your shopping lists. A few clicks in the Alexa app gives her access to your Google calendar, allowing her to add or recite the day’s events.

As an added bonus, the standard Amazon Echo is a solid speaker for music or audio books. There’s even a second generation model available with a device hub already integrated to make connecting smart home devices easier. The price point on these two devices ranges from $99.99 to $149.99.

Google Assistant: Full of Answers, Gets Your Pizza Right

Google Assistant will work with some of the most popular smart home devices, with more being added all the time, but this isn’t really its bag. Like its parent, Google, Google Assistant is all about finding answers to everything and anything. If that’s the kind of assistant you need, then this is the one you want. Reviewers have proclaimed, hands down, that Google Assistant has the best voice recognition overall (and I can believe this because sometimes I wonder if Alexa needs her hearing checked), which leads to a lot less frustration in general.

Ordering food is a breeze with Google Assistant, provided it supports the food app you’re trying to use. Again, the third party support isn’t as huge as it is for Alexa, but Alexa had a two-year headstart, so in time there may literally be very little difference between the two as far as expandability goes. Google Assistant has a lot of the same features as Alexa, including a morning news briefing.

If you’re all about Google stuff and don’t mind to wait for Google Assistant to catch up to Alexa, the full size speaker has good sound quality and, of course, access to the Google Play store plus streaming services like Spotify for those spur of the moment dance parties. Priced around $129.99 for the standard Google Home speaker, you’ll be able to grow with the Google ecosystem.

Siri: The New Kid on the Block

Siri’s just now moving into the Apple HomePod, so what she’ll be capable of is anyone’s guess. She was finally freed from the confines of the smartphone on February 9, 2018. Now, you need only hand over $349 to Apple and you can have your very own speaker version. Like Google Assistant, Siri can do some smart home stuff, but she’s limited to Apple Homekit compatible devices. Because she grew up inside a telephone, though, she’s still pretty great at connecting you to friends and family, making her an awesome tool for hands-free calling from anywhere in your home.

Apple HomePod does a few things that no other voice assistant enabled speaker can do. First, it requires almost no setup, since it auto-detects where it is in the room by sending out audio blasts and listening for them to bounce back. That’s a pretty slick trick and ideal for anyone who struggles with technology.

Secondly, the folks at Apple have given a lot of thought to security and decided their best response was to untangle your searches from your account. Instead of associating your data with your name, Apple HomePod associates your data with random numbers, then deletes the associated data every six months. That way if the government were to request your data for some reason (like they think you’re the Scranton Strangler), Apple can honestly say they don’t know what data is yours and refuse to comply. This has roots in an old dispute with the federal government over the creation of a backdoor into the iPhone for surveillance purposes.

Make Your Home Smarter, Any Way You Can

Hey, it doesn’t matter which digital home assistant you choose in the end. They’re all going to make your life a lot easier in the end. (Did you download the article about how to get more out of these devices yet?)

Choose the one with the features you’re going to use the most. If you’re an Apple person, go with the HomePod, if you’re all in on Google, Google Assistant is going to just get smarter and better. If you’re a fan of all things Amazon, Alexa’s already pretty mature and has lots to offer a busy person who can’t always make it to the store.

When you’re ready to expand your smart home offerings to include things like security cameras, thermostats or that smart refrigerator, just open up HomeKeepr and you’ll find the right professional to help. They all come recommended, so you know you can trust that they’ll set you up with the right smart home equipment for the job you want to do.

Steve & Jack's March Home News

We are one month closer to spring!!! Apparently, the real estate market has gotten wind of this and has started 2018 with a BANG! We hope you are staying well, which this year, it seems is more of a challenge than ever!

Thank you to all of our friends, clients, and referral partners for attending our monthly Happy Hour last night at Matt The Miller's. We had a great time and always enjoy seeing you. Please join us for our next Happy Hour on March 21st from 5-6:30PM. We are looking for some sponsors this year as well, so if you are looking to get some additional exposure for your business at a very low cost, please let us know. We are filling spots now.

Our biggest and most exciting news is that we have an addition to our family! We are proud to announce that Julia Hayes has joined our team as a buyer/seller specialist. Julia has helped us several times when we have been out of town and has worked in our office for some time. She worked previously for a builder, so she is acutely aware of the building process and will be a great asset to our clients. Julia grew up in Carmel and swam for their record-setting State Championship Girls Swim Team and then also was a scholarship swimmer for IUPUI. Julia brings so much talent to our team and we are excited to have her helping us deliver an even higher level of service to our clients. Julia lives in Fishers and has two children. Please welcome Julia as you connect with her. Her e-mail is Julia@Welcome2Indy.com.

Kylie is simply amazing and keeps our team running so smoothly. She is the most organized person I know and our clients love how she keeps things on track. She is doing well and so are both of her boys, who keep her busy while not at work.

Jack and Mary Anne are doing great and we are so proud to announce that Mary Anne's knee replacement surgery was a complete success! She is recovering well and has exceeded all of her PT goals. She is walking around pain-free, but still has more work to do on healing before she is back to 100%. She would appreciate any continued thoughts and prayers.

Steve & Brigid are keeping busy, as usual. Brigid is very busy with work, not only doing pharmaceutical sales, but also is her region data analyst for her regional manager, which takes her out of town more often and adds quite a bit to her workload. She enjoys it and the opportunities it is providing. Ana and Tali are both doing great in school. Ana is enjoying singing in the Indianapolis Children's Choir and preparing for their next concert in March. She is also preparing for her 3-week European Tour this summer and has to learn 17-songs on which she is diligently working! Tali has continued to excel in gymnastics with several first-place finishes and is looking forward to going to her first out-of-town meet next weekend. We are all looking forward to a short vacation to Disney leaving today. A little sun and fun will go a long way!

The market is white hot right now with inventory at an all-time low. If you or someone you care about are thinking about moving, please call us. There is a lot of information we can share to educate you about your options, so you make the best decision possible. Check out the January stats from MIBOR comparing January 2018 to January 2017:

New Listings-2,483 units-DOWN 3.8%
Pending Sales-2,216 units-UP 3.1%
Closed Sales-1,901 units-UP 5.3%
Median Sales Price-$158,000-UP 10%
Average Sales Price-$192,732-UP 5.6%
Percent of Original List Price Received at Sale-94.7%-UP 1.3%
Total Active Listings Available at Month End-7,070 units-DOWN 18.4%!!!
Months Supply of Inventory/Absorption Rate-2.3 months-DOWN 20.7%!!!

Look at those last two lines above. Those are HUGE declines in inventory. We need more! Now is the time to sell before interest rates continue to go up. They have increased 50-basis points since January to 4.687%, the fastest increase since January 2006.

Thank you to all of our clients for your reviews on Angie's List!!! We have once again been honored for the 3rd consecutive year as a Super Service Award winner. We have also been honored for the 5th consecutive year as a 5-Star Real Estate Agent. Those are both the Top 5% of agents in the city. Thank you for your reviews and your trust and confidence in us. We will continue to work hard to earn it! Be on the lookout for a new referral-reward program for some cool new prizes!! So, send in those referrals. :-)

Do you like to golf? We are Corporate Partners with Heritage Place, which is a not-for-profit organization that services seniors through education and activities. We have been on the planning committee for the golf outing for 3-years now and sponsor a hole as well. We need more golfers! It is at Broadmoor Country Club on Thursday, June 28th and the fun begins at 9:30AM. It is a scramble, so more fun than serious. This is a private course, so if you have wanted to play, now is the time. Please contact me if you would like more information.

Please enjoy this month's newsletter and check out our next Builder Video Series video. Good info!

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Your Friends in Real Estate,

Steve, Jack, Kylie, & Julia

Flooring options...

Your new house is pretty awesome, otherwise you would never have considered buying it. But, there are some things about it that are a lot more awesome than others. Take, for example, that kitchen floor. You wouldn’t say it’s ugly, but you’ve seen better design harmony in a restaurant trash bin.

It’s gotta go.

Your bedroom carpet is pretty hairy, too, but your agent assured you that these things are fairly easy to deal with, especially if you have the flooring replaced before you start moving in. And it’s true, replacing flooring is easy. Choosing the new flooring, well, that’s tough.

Your Flooring Options: A Journey Underfoot

Whether you’ve owned your house for a day, a year or a decade, picking the flooring you’re going to have to live with for a while can be stressful. There are so many materials available and within those, a huge array of colors and designs. It’s the paradox of choice at work, you have so many options you may literally freeze. That’s why we’re going to break it down for you, in hopes that the overwhelm is minimized when your time comes.

Next time you’re in the mood to look at flooring patterns online or in your home improvement stores, here are some things to consider about the most common flooring options available.

Carpet

The fuzzy stand-by for living areas and bedrooms, wall-to-wall carpet has been a popular flooring choice for a century. The materials may have changed, but the basic configuration is the same. All carpets are just a series of fibers woven onto a flexible grid, topping a uniformly thick padding.

When choosing a carpet, look for one with a face weight of at least 30 ounces. These are just above builder grade and should last six to 12 years. Always choose the best mid-grade carpet you can afford, you can’t go wrong that way. It’s where value and durability meet. Don’t skimp on carpet pad, either. Let the carpet shop match a pad to the carpet you’ve chosen so that you get the most life out of them both.

Best places for carpet in your home:
– Bedrooms
– Living rooms (excluding the traffic zones)
– Offices
– Formal living rooms
– Dens
Tile

Today’s tile comes in a huge range of colors, shapes, sizes and materials, but it all shares one thing in common: it’s nearly indestructible when installed properly and should be considered a permanent decision. It’s not that you can’t untile your entryway, but it’s going to be a difficult job, so take this decision carefully and skip the trendy stuff.

There are several grades of tile, but in general, they’re divided into two camps: wall tile and floor tile. While you can use floor tile on the wall with the right adhesive and a lot of patience, you should never use wall tile on the floor. It’s simply not hard enough and will end up cracking or otherwise failing.

The other major consideration is your floor. Is it a perfectly smooth, flat floor, or does it have some minor bumps and ridges? Even minor settling needs to be kept in mind when you’re choosing a tile size. Small tiles are far more forgiving of uneven floors than huge tiles. When a tile doesn’t make full contact with the mortar bed, it will come loose, then others will follow.

Popping tiles can become a major problem in older homes that are built on crawl spaces or basements, and although there’s a certain amount of compensation offered by cement board, it’s just better to hedge your bets by choosing smaller tiles.

Best places for tile in your home:
– High traffic areas
– Kitchens
– Bathrooms
– Dining rooms
– Mudrooms
– Laundry rooms
– Sunrooms
Wood

Wood floors are timeless and sturdy, and these days, come in both solid wood and engineered formats. Solid wood floors will give you a floor that’s more or less just like those floors of yesteryear, completely seamless and total class all the way. Many people choose prefinished wood floors to make installation easier, but unfinished wood floors are still available and make a vibrant, albeit expensive, statement.

Engineered wood floors, on the other hand, are made from layers of wood and plywood. They look just like finished solid wood floors, but are not as durable overall. Most people won’t be able to tell the difference, however, and engineered wood floors can perform better than solid wood floors in wet places, so you’ll just have to strike a balance between your needs and the materials that are available.

Best places for wood flooring in your home:
– Living room
– Bedroom
– Dining room
– Staircases
– Entryways
– Offices
– Kitchens (engineered, with proper precautions)
Laminate

Laminate flooring is a very durable, flexible and affordable hard surface for all sorts of homes and situations. Like engineered wood flooring, it consists of several layers of material, including a clear wear layer, a design layer that can simulate wood, stone and a variety of other patterns, an inner core that provides the majority of the structural stability of the product and a backing layer that helps to protect from warpage.

Unlike a wood floor, laminate floors are installed without glue or nails, which is why some people still refer to them as “floating floors.” They don’t actually float, but walking on one for the first time can be interesting if you’re very sensitive to that sort of thing (many of them are also very slick, just something to keep in mind). Because the material is designed as tongue and groove boards, everything fits tightly as your jigsaw puzzle of a floor is constructed. When it’s done, all that’s required to hold it in place is properly installed trim.

It’s an easy floor. In fact, this is one flooring option you might even want to DIY if you’re the handy type.

Best places for laminate flooring in your home:
– Living room
– Bedrooms
– Bathrooms (choose one that’s water resistant)
– Kitchen
– Foyer
– Office
– Pretty much anywhere
Vinyl

It wasn’t that long ago that vinyl flooring meant tired patterns on reliable, but boring sheet material that had to be painstakingly glued to the floor. One bubble, one wrong cut, and the whole install might be ruined. Today’s vinyl is anything but fussy, with sturdier and more attractive tiles, planks and glue-free sheet goods. Vinyl is also an affordable solution that can be DIYed fairly easily.

It’s naturally water-resistant, making it a great match for basements and places that get damp. Unlike many other types of non-carpet floorings, however, vinyl can be fairly soft, so if you’re putting it in an area like a dining room, you’ll have to take a lot of care not to gouge it when you’re moving chairs under the table. Overall, vinyl provides a good bang for your buck, and since it’s time-tested, you know exactly what you can expect from it: a long, useful life provided you give it the minimal care it needs.

Best places for vinyl flooring in your home:
– Kitchen
– Laundry room
– Basement
– Mudroom
– Foyer
Time to Get Your Flooring On!

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.

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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