August 2018 Newsletter

Well...sadly summer is about over for many kids around Indianapolis with school starting within the next two weeks. If this is your situation, we hope that you have enjoyed some down-time with your family and could enjoy some time together. For us, this meant flying over 4,500 miles to see Ana sing in Europe.

You may recall from past newsletters, that Ana was accepted into the International Choir for Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp located north of Grand Haven, MI. She has been rehearsing on her own, with a vocal coach, and via several trips up to camp to practice with her group. This all culminated in a final intensive week of practice in June, a send-off concert at the end of the week for the families and then off to Europe for 3-weeks.

Ana returned about 3 weeks ago and this weekend we returned to camp one final time for a Homecoming concert and a final goodbye to Blue Lake and her choir. Ana had an absolutely AMAZING time touring France, Germany, Italy, & Belgium over 3-weeks and 7 stops with local host families. We met her in a small town about an hour east of Brussels named Genk. She stayed with us for 3-days and we were able to see one of her local concerts. The kids sound really, really good! Check out the following two links for a couple of their favorite songs they performed in Genk, Belgium. Click here to hear a spiritual. The soloist is nothing short of unbelievable. Click here to hear a selection from the musical Dear Evan Hansen. Here is a photo at Versailles for their Summer Spectacular with some guests wearing period closing in preparation for a costumed ball starting at midnight in the Palace. Here is a photo of Tali and Brigid in the gardens of Versailles. We stayed a week in Paris and then headed to Belgium with a day trip to Cologne, Germany. Absolutely beautiful weather our entire trip. The only negative was the train strike, but we were mostly able to avoid major disruptions.

During our trip to see Ana, Kylie and Julia were here working their butts off. Really, I couldn't ask for more from our team. They make me so proud!!! We work so well together. Their commitment to our clients and extremely high-quality work is unrivaled. I receive compliments weekly about them. If you are one of the sources of compliments-THANK YOU!! They love being recognized for going above and beyond.

If you haven't been to Europe, we highly recommend making plans to go there. So much history, architecture, & culture there. It gives Americans a different perspective, to be sure. Have you been to Europe? What was your favorite trip and why? We would love to hear about it and see some of your favorite photos.

Jack & Mary Anne are settling into their new home in Fishers and are still working their way through unpacking boxes. It seems to be an unending chore! They would love to show you their new home if you are ever in the neighborhood. Having a much smaller house and yard for which to care has been a real blessing.

The real estate market continues to sizzle. Inventory continues to be our biggest issue and the big reason why some people are talking about a recession. We need more houses to satisfy the demand. Employers need more qualified employees to fill literally millions of open jobs. Here are the latest stats that are available from MIBOR comparing June 2018 to June 2017

New Listings-UP 0.9% to 4,761 units
Pending Sales-UP 8.5% to 3,811 units
Closed Sales-DOWN 2.5%
Median Sales Price-UP 8.6%
Average Sales Price-UP 7.6%
Percent of Original List Price Received at Sale-UP 0.8% to 97.5%
Total Active Listings Available at Month End-DOWN 21.5%
Months Supply of Inventory-DOWN 22.6% to 2.4 months

It is interesting to note that all of the numbers here are shrinking from prior months. In other words, the gaps are narrowing, indicating that the economy is cooling a bit. So, if you haven't put your house on the market yet and are thinking about it, stop procrastinating as your unprecedented seller advantage may be coming to an end.

Enjoy your final weeks of summer and, as always feel comfortable contacting us whenever we can help you or someone you care about.

Click here to read our August newsletter full of fun and interesting articles and information.

Click here to watch our builder-series videos on how a home is built.

Click here for coupons & discounts at stores you shop every day.

Click here for the most powerful real estate app available.

Click here for a quick 60-second market update.

Click here to read what some of our clients have to say about us.

Click here to read about our Senior Advantage Program.

Your Friends in Real Estate,

Steve, Jack, Kylie, & Julia

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

Buying Land with A Mortgage

Sure, owning a house is pretty cool, but sometimes you feel like you could do better. Take your hall closet, for example. It’s small, there’s no place to put linens and barely enough room for heavy winter coats. What’s it even good for? Your house has served you well, but you had no idea how awkward the little (and almost impossible to fix) things, like that closet, could be.

Maybe it’s time to consider buying some land and starting over.

Borrowing Money for a Land Purchase

Strictly speaking, buying land is rarely done with a traditional mortgage. Instead, a commercial loan, in one of many forms, is utilized. From where you’re sitting, though, the two will look nearly identical. It all depends on what kind of land you’re buying and what it is that you intend to do with it. The kind of land that homeowners tend to choose will likely fall into one of these categories:

Raw land, that is, land without any major improvements like electricity, water, sewer or gas lines, is the most difficult to borrow against. The reason is simple: it’s generally pretty easy to walk away from this kind of property if you get tired of making payments or suddenly develop a serious allergy to oak trees. The bank’s left with a parcel of land that may take years to resell. It’s a big bummer for them.

Improved land has many or most of those above-listed improvements already installed on it. There may even be a potential building site already prepped and ready to go. It’s important to note that land that has a mobile home without a permanent foundation is also considered “improved.” Because mobile homes are considered personal property, that specific land configuration is still just a land transaction.

Home on an acreage. A permanent, safe and liveable home on an acreage is treated like a home sale, so you could theoretically buy a reasonable sized home on a small acreage using an FHA loan or a mansion on a hundred acres with a jumbo. It’s basically just a house with a really big yard. This is only the case for private homes, not for farms. That’s a whole other blog.

Examples of Loans Based on Land Usage

Again, the type of loan you may be able to secure depends heavily on the type of land and what you plan to do with it. Here are a couple of examples:

Example 1. You’re an avid bird watcher and want to buy an extremely rural, 40ish acre parcel to turn into your own personal campground and bird paradise. You don’t plan to add any utilities to the raw land.

This is the hardest of situations, which is why we started with it. Because an undeveloped piece of land like this is likely to have a smaller purchase point, your local bank may be willing to write a 10 or 15 year portfolio loan for for the buy, with the land as at least part of the collateral. You may need to bring as much as 50 percent down, however, to mitigate the risk you represent. Qualifying won’t be a cake walk, but if you have ample income and seem like a good risk, a local bank will loan to you at their own discretion. Same song applies to a credit union you may belong to.

Other options for financing your bird paradise include asking the owner to finance it (you’ll still need a downpayment, usually 10 percent is plenty) or borrowing against something else you have that has enough value. This might mean you’re taking out a home equity loan or borrowing against your retirement plan.

Example 2. That hall closet has finally driven you far enough out of your mind that you’re hatching a plan to build your own home, with the help of a professional contractor. As soon as the land is acquired, you’re going to start on the construction phase of your life.

This is the kind of land transaction that lenders like. Using the plans for that future home, the value of homes like it nearby and detailed information about the materials you want to use, your bank can determine a reasonable final value for your construction project. This is where they start when determining how much to loan out.

Usually, you have to bring 10 to 20 percent to the table at closing, but these types of land loans are considerably easier to get than a raw land loan. This type of loan usually starts out as a construction loan that you or your contractor can treat like a credit line, taking out money for specific parts of the project as you go. When it comes time to lay the tile in the house, you or the contractor need only request the funds that it takes to cover supplies and the bank will cut you a check.

Once the house is totally done and a certificate of occupancy (where applicable) is issued, your bank will convert the loan into a true mortgage, per the terms you discussed when you applied for it in the first place. You won’t see most of this stuff happening, but it’s definitely going on in the background. With a loan of this sort, it’s good to understand what’s happening when that much money is at stake.

Do You Know a General Contractor…?

If you’ve decided to build a house, the relationship you have with your general contractor is really important. You don’t want someone that’s hard to get along with or can’t be counted on to complete work on time. That’s why your HomeKeepr community only recommends the best of the best.

Did you know you can find both a building contractor and a loan officer within the HomeKeepr system? It’s true! Your Realtor has really set you up for success with their recommendations — maybe you should send them a muffin basket…

Mortgage Brokers vs. Mortgage Bankers

You’re just swinging in your hammock on a sunny summer day when an ad pops up on YouTube for home equity loans. It sounds like a pretty good deal and you have been wanting to put a pool in for years, but it’s a bank you’ve never heard of, and a quick message to your group chat reveals that no one you know has, either.

What you might have witnessed was an advertisement for a mortgage broker. Like a mortgage banker, a mortgage broker can find a mortgage loan for your situation, but that’s where the two start to diverge.

Brokers and Bankers and Mortgages, Oh My!

Let’s start with some simple explanations just so we’re all on the same page.

Mortgage Bankers are people who work for a specific bank, like Main Street Bank USA, and help customers of the bank (and potential customers) apply for mortgages that Main Street Bank USA funds. They only write loans for their employer, except in a few special cases. They’re typically paid a salary by the bank they work for, whether your loan is $50k or $500k.

Mortgage Brokers, on the other hand, have permission to sell loans from a portfolio of wholesale investing clients. These may be traditional banks like Big Bank USA (these are fake banks, just so we’re clear), or they may be investment groups like In It For The Interest, LLC. There’s nothing inherently wrong with this, but because a broker makes their money solely on commission, unscrupulous ones may be tempted to put their own interests above yours. Always vet any type of lender, for peace of mind, if nothing else.

How Mortgage Bankers Work

Mortgage bankers may have a more limited product line they can use to finance your home-related loan, but they have a great deal more control over them because all the underwriting is done within the bank itself. Your local branch might not originate loans, but there’s someone nearby that your banker can call to check status and collaborate with to solve problems like a loan that you’re all by a hair’s width from being able to qualify for.

When a banker takes your application, they may literally forward it to the next room, where local people get to work to verify your income, length of employment and so forth. If you have your checking account with the same bank, you can often skip the tedious submission of income document after income document, since they can pull a lot of information from that checking account.

When the underwriter is comfortable that you’re able to qualify for the loan you’re seeking, they call the title company that you (or you and the seller, in the case of a purchase) agreed to use. They probably already have a relationship with this company since it’s nearby. When they send documents over, the title company doesn’t wonder what to expect from your closing.

How Mortgage Brokers Work

Mortgage Brokers take your application up front, then shop their lenders to see who can make you the best loan based on your credit history, income and desired loan amount. Often, brokers can do things that bankers can’t, even though a banker knows the loan originator by their first name. For example, helping people with troublesome credit is sometimes an area of specialization for brokers. They have access to all sorts of unusual loans that can turn a hopeful into a homeowner, or at least a pool owner.

This is both bad and good. On one hand, you got a loan — woohoo! — but on the other, you’re going to pay for it. These kinds of loans are rarely cheap because the broker’s fees have to be figured into the equation somewhere. Remember, they get paid on commission, not on salary. A normal broker fee can be as much as two percent of your loan amount.

When a mortgage broker pulls off a miracle you were really counting on, though, that two percent seems pretty cheap. Really, it’s all relative to your needs and what’s realistic for your financial situation. Before you choose a broker, make sure that you’ve really vetted them because each company and broker can be as wildly varied as the portfolios they have to sell. Ask around, check online reviews, ask your Realtor their opinion. Chances are good that someone knows a reputable broker that they can set you up with rather than letting you jump in blind.

Which to Choose… and Where to Find Them?

If you’ve decided that you’re absolutely committed to putting in that pool this summer, you’ll need a reputable lender to help you finance all the cement and whatnot. Luckily, both mortgage bankers and mortgage brokers are members of the HomeKeepr community! Log in to see who your Realtor recommends and then give them a call. You’ll save time in lender meet and greets, letting you trade that hammock in for a pizza slice shaped raft sooner.

Is A Home Warranty Worth It?

Whether you’ve recently purchased a home or are considering renewing the home warranty that came with your home, chances are good that you’ve got questions. Big ones. You’ve probably heard a lot of different things about home warranty programs, ranging from really awful to crazy and near lifesaving. Like anything that remotely resembles an insurance program, there’s a lot of nuance behind individual experiences.

What is a Home Warranty?

You can think of your home warranty as a type of insurance if that makes it easier to understand. It’s technically a service agreement, kind of like what you’d get with a new car. Individual warranty programs have contracts with individual service providers who will come out and diagnose your problem, arrange for parts and then return ready to fix it. The quality of any single home warranty program, then, is only as good as the contracts that the company has with its service providers.

The yearly costs involved range widely, with very basic plans with limited coverage starting around $300 and comprehensive plans that include things like pool repair pushing the $1,000 mark. There’s also typically a service call charge and there can be an upper limit on the costs the warranty will cover.

Depending on the age, size and complexity of your home, that $1,000 plan still may look pretty good next to actually making needed repairs out of pocket. It’s all a matter of perspective.

How Does a Home Warranty Work?

It cannot be stressed hard enough that you should read the entire document before agreeing to a particular home warranty. Although they may seem the same, what one company will cover may be completely excluded by another. Your Realtor should be able to guide you toward a product that they have had a good experience with and consistently delivers good results. If they can’t, call the Better Business Bureau and read reviews online to be certain the company you choose will deliver the goods.

Working with a reputable warranty company is a simple process. It goes something like this:

You notice that the sink is backed up unexpectedly. Running the disposal doesn’t help and you’re not a plumber. You don’t even play one on TV.
You call the number to your warranty company.
An operator answers and asks for identifying information, along with a brief description of the problem.
You explain that your sink is full of water and you’re worried you may soon drown if someone doesn’t come to help.
Your operator collects all the necessary information, triages the case as either emergency or not, and does one of two things: gives you the number to a service provider OR promises to contact one on your behalf.
No more than a day later (depending on your urgency level), the provider calls you to arrange an appointment.
The appointment is set, the service provider comes out and figures out what the problem is. If it’s an easy fix, they may deal with it right then. If it’s a costly repair, they’ll need to go back to the warranty company and try to figure out how much is your responsibility and how much the company will cover.
You authorize a costly repair, it’s made, you pay your part and go on with your life. Or you decline it, kick the dirt and call the warranty company back for a second opinion, then go through the steps above again.
Warranty programs can be hit and miss, there’s no doubt about it. Sometimes the things they cover versus the things they don’t seem completely arbitrary. But, there’s plenty of competition in this arena that will allow you to get into a program you can afford and will be able to use if need be.

The Biggest Warranty Program Con

This has already been touched on, but bears repeating. The biggest drawback to a home warranty is the very thing that leads some people to believe that they’re cons: they don’t cover everything. Again, this is highly dependent on the program and service level you select, but you have to remember that a home warranty is not the same as homeowner’s insurance.

Acts of Nature, shifting foundations, broken sewer lines and broken windows are among the biggest pain points for home warranty users. These items are often not included because of the massive expense they represent, as well as the fact that many are already covered under your homeowner’s policy.

There’s absolutely every reason to read your warranty paperwork thoroughly so you know what will be and won’t be covered. That way you’ll be armed to fight a refusal to pay thoughtfully and efficiently should it occur in error.

Intangible Benefits Come With Warranties

There are a few people who end up winning the lottery with their home warranties. They move in and everything they touch just starts breaking. These are items that showed no sign of serious wear and were installed correctly, their breakdowns were wholly unexpected. But suddenly, that homeowner has a new furnace and air conditioner, the pool pump’s been replaced and so on. This really does happen, and even at $800 a year and $75 a piece for service calls, it represents an incredible savings.

However, most people don’t get that lucky and if they use their warranty at all, they only need it once or twice during their ownership. This is why it’s important to consider the intangibles with these programs. Sure, your breaker box seems fine today, but would you know what to do if it started malfunctioning? That’s where the home warranty really provides a powerful value.

People don’t buy home warranties to save money on home repairs. They do it to control their repair costs over the long term. Usually, they will spend a lot more on the home warranty than they would just hiring their own contractors, but these same people admittedly don’t know who to call or how to vet a potential service provider.

Service provider vetting is a service that the warranty company provides with their yearly fee. Peace of mind, at a cost, is the thing that many home warranty buyers end up choosing. For the highly risk averse, it’s a total win — these people can go on with life and not have to give home repair another thought.

What If You Could Find Vetted Service Providers and Still Save Money?

If you’d rather have a relationship with your plumber, roofer or other service provider rather than have one with a call center, a home warranty might not be right for you. Instead, you should connect with a referral community like HomeKeepr where you can get to know your people on a personal level, thanks to your Realtor’s recommendations.

There’s just something about telling your friends that “my electrician Greg came right over and fixed the faulty wiring,” rather than “I called the warranty company and some guy showed up” that can give you a huge feeling of security in homeownership, whether these are your first steps or you’re well on your way to your next address.

12 Pool Maintenance Tips

When the sun is high in the sky and the wind feels like a blow dryer on your face, there’s nothing like the blessed cool blue of your private pool. If you’ve only just recently become a pool owner, you may be weighing your options: should you hire someone to juggle your pool chores or can you do this one yourself? Taking care of a pool isn’t hard, provided you’ve got a checklist to follow (just so you don’t miss a step).

Your Pool Maintenance Attack Plan

Most pools don’t require a lot of care, but if you don’t keep up with a regular maintenance schedule those tiny jobs can easily snowball into a giant one — or a big pile of broken pool equipment. Neither one is an awesome future prospect.

Instead of a looming disaster, you can look forward to plenty of happy years floating without a care in the world while drinking pink lemonade on your unicorn raft with a simple checklist that looks like this:

Daily Chores

Scoop out floating debris. Grab that long-handled glorified fish net and scoop out anything that’s floating in your pool without authorization. That may include leaves, tree bark, insects or your neighbor’s menacing little YorkiPoo.
Check water level. Pool water isn’t special, it evaporates in the heat just like other water. If it’s been raining a lot your water level might be too high for your equipment to run properly. Either way, a quick visual can help you tell if the water’s in the right place. Adjust as needed.
Clean out the basket. You can’t just sweep all the pool debris into the basket and hope no one notices. When the basket is full, your water circulation is limited, just like when a filter is dirty. So, grab it, shake it out, spray it clean, stick it back in. Bada-boom, bada-bing.

Weekly Chores

Vacuum the pool bottom. Remember that debris you were supposed to scoop out most every day (and may have neglected a bit)? Well, you get one more chance at it today. Pick one day a week to really clean your pool with the pool vacuum. It’ll help prevent staining and keep your water cleaner.
Swab the deck. The grime and dirt on your pool deck isn’t magic dust that just stays on land. Oh no, it’ll end up in your pool, in your pool filter and in your fruity drinks if it’s just left to its own devices. Keep your deck clean!
Check pool chemistries. Your pool is a complicated stew of H, O and lots of impurities. Some of these are not awesome for you and your health, others are just really not great for your equipment. Regular chemistries can tell you the situation when it comes to pH, total chlorine, alkalinity, calcium and cyanuric acid. Don’t forget to figure in the saturation index (or grab an app that can do it for you).
Shock the pool. Just like Peter Gabriel had to Shock the Monkey, you need to shock your pool water on the regular. Since it’s not an actual free-flowing water source like a stream or even a lake, it’s easy for algae, bacteria and other microscopic critters to grow. Raising the chlorine level to 5 or 10 ppm will kill off what ails you. A DPD test kit can help detect levels of combined chlorine — you can break it up by shocking the water to a level 10 times the tested level when combined chlorine exceeds 0.3 ppm.

Monthly Chores

Look for tears in the liner. A torn liner is not a great time for a pool owner. You’ll be leaking water if you don’t fix it up straight away. Vinyl pools can be a great option for many homeowners, but they come with a hidden cost — the effort it takes to patch them and keep ahead of any holes that may appear.
Clean your filter. This may need to be done more often than once a month, but cleaning that pool filter is everything. When your pressure gauge is 5 to 10 psi higher than normal, it’s time to improve the water flow by getting all the debris out of the filter. How you clean it will depend on the type of filter you have.
Clean the pump room. Your pump room is where all the real action takes place. Whether it’s part of a pool house, a kitchy cabana or under a plain little cover, keep it clean and free of debris in case you have to take the pump or other equipment apart in a hurry.
Clean your skimmer. Using a scrubbing sponge and soap, clean the scum and dirt out of the skimmer’s throat and well. Keeping the skimmer sparkling clean means your pool’s water line will stay cleaner, too.
Check all pump seals and safety equipment. Your pump, filter and safety equipment like ladders and railings all need to be in good working order all the time. Check each item, tightening bolts or replacing parts when wear begins to show. While you’re at it, make sure your pool gate latches properly to avoid potential future issues.

Would You Rather Be Using the Pool or Cleaning It?

Some people are cleaners and some people are floating around in the pool-ers. If you’ve tried to keep up with pool maintenance and simply can’t, or just don’t want to use your limited leisure time scooping dead bugs out of your glistening waters, stop by for a visit with your HomeKeepr community. Your Realtor knows a pool guy — and he’s awesome! All you have to do is let him know you need a hand.

5 Secrets to Success with Your First Rental

You’ve been a homeowner for a while now and overall, everything’s gone pretty well. Your home is a comforting, safe place that has given more than it has taken — you’re pretty happy with how that purchase has gone, really.

That’s why when your friend was talking about the frightening amount of rent he’s paying for his place, the wheels started to turn. Owning a rental or two just might be a great way to bring in some extra income without having to really work for it. Plus, there’s all the equity you’ll gain as those renters pay down your note. What could be better?

The Road to Rental Success is Paved With Good Intentions

There’s nothing ethically wrong with being a landlord and there’s nothing wrong with not being a landlord, but either way, you should go in with your eyes totally open. Rentals are hard work, even if you only have one or two single family homes. Before you buy your first rental, take some time to ponder these finer points of landlordship:

1. New tenants should always be considered carefully. Even your closest pal might have some really negative feelings about how a rental and the landlord attached deserve to be treated. You’re obviously not going to make a million bucks on your one house, but it would be good to cash flow. Always do a background check and ask probing questions to learn more about the people who will be living in your house. Bad renters can be enough to sink your entire rental empire before it’s really taken off. If you have to gut the house and start over between tenants, there’s no way you’re going to win at landlording.

2. Think about rent collection now. How do you plan to actually get your money? Now is the time to think about this, before you have a tenant that can’t or won’t comply with your wishes. In this day and age, it’s not unusual for a landlord to require electronic payments. They’re simple to set up using one of many systems available online, depending on just how large you hope your rental empire becomes, and easy for tenants to use. When it’s electronic, there’s no question about that check that’s in the mail. One click and it’s done.

3. Get comfy with the legal stuff. Do you know what your obligation is to your tenants were your rental to be made uninhabitable through no fault of their own? Does your state allow them to withhold rent with no penalty if you don’t get that property fixed up fast enough? Can they crash in a hotel and charge it all to you during said repairs? There’s a lot of legal stuff to cover, it definitely helps to have a real estate attorney in your corner. Real estate attorneys can also help you draft a rental agreement that protects both you and your renter.

4. Planning repairs and upgrades. Repairs and upgrades are best made before anyone moves in, that way you have full access to the property and can move a lot faster not having to remove furniture and personal objects. Repairs of a rented unit sometimes can’t be helped, so have a plan for how to handle them. Calling a home pro in can speed up the service and ensure the problem is fixed right the first time. Always check that your pros offer 24 hour service, in case of an emergency — otherwise you’ll be the one called in at 2 am to fix that busted pipe.

Upgrades also require plenty of forethought. Choose materials that are going to be easy to take care of and durable, even if they cost a little more. If you keep this rental house over the long term, making those choices early will mean not having to replace things like carpet every time a tenant moves out. Unlike your personal home, this house is an investment, so set it up in such a way that you get the most for your money across your entire anticipated ownership.

5. Dealing with eviction. This is a worst-case scenario scenario, but have you considered what you’d do if a renter stopped paying rent? Do you allow one missed payment, then start the eviction process? More importantly, can you stomach the idea of eviction? Even the best renter can turn into a financial drain when there’s been a death in the family, they’ve gotten laid off or new debt is making it harder for them to make ends meet. If you can’t see yourself evicting a family whose breadwinner died, making it too hard to keep up with the rental payments, rentals might not be for you. A workable compromise could be to immediately hire a property manager to deal with the dirty details.

Ready to Become a Landlord?

Being a landlord has its ups and downs and it requires a lot of general knowledge that’s hard for any one person to really maintain. That’s why HomeKeepr is such a handy community for new landlords like yourself. You can meet home pros with every kind of skill you might need, from legal to property management. Just log in and you’ll be given a list of recommended pros in your area that are ready to help!

Four Mortgage Programs to Consider

Whether you’re thinking about buying your first home or you’ve been contemplating an upgrade, you probably already know that there are several different kinds of home mortgages, some that seem pretty much alike at face value. FHA, VA, USDA — what does it all mean?! We’re about to take all the stress out of choosing the mortgage that’s right for you and your family (even if that family is just you and Spot the cat).

Mortgage Basics in a Nutshell

There are a few different elements of a mortgage that are important to understand before we move forward in this process. You already know stuff like interest rates and what your payment and interest payments are, but there are other things that might not be quite so well settled in your mind. Most homeowners have questions about the following mortgage related definitions:

Loan features. When you get a mortgage, it often has other stuff that comes with it. After all, this isn’t the same as borrowing money from your mom, banks have fancy lawyers who make sure they earn their keep. You may notice features like “assumability” and “prepayment penalty” listed on your initial loan form.

Assumable loans are loans that you can literally transfer to another person when they buy your house. This is useful when interest rates are climbing, sometimes people will pay more for a lower interest rate mortgage they can take over.

Prepayment penalties are very bad and you don’t want this. Basically, you’re punished for paying your loan off early. Typically, they’re part of subprime lending, but you never know when one might pop up elsewhere. Since “prepayment” includes the payoff from selling your home, there’s no winning with this one.

Mortgage insurance. There’s been a lot of talk about mortgage insurance, both for better and worse. To put it simply, mortgage insurance makes it possible for you to bring a downpayment as little as about three percent to closing with FHA or conventional type mortgages. It’s a type of insurance that you pay for in case you were to default on the loan. If you do, the insurance company pays out your coverage to your bank, reducing the amount you may be responsible for if the house can’t bring enough at the foreclosure sale to cover your remaining note.

Down payment. Down payments are your initial investment in your home. Many times, home buyers are surprised to see that they have to bring both closing costs and a down payment, having assumed the two were the same. The down payment goes to the bank as proof of your commitment. We’ll get to closing costs.

Closing costs. Closing costs are the bane of buyers everywhere. They can seriously mount as things like appraisals, title insurance, fees to the bank (separate from your down payment) and prepaid items like taxes and homeowner’s insurance add up. Some programs will allow you to ask the seller to pay these on your behalf, but the amount you can ask for is limited to a percentage of the sales price and based on the program you’re using. For many homeowners, closing costs will be similar in price to their down payment, which is where the confusion typically starts.

Pick Your Poison: The Four Basic Home Mortgage Types

Understand that these are not the only mortgages out there, but they are the ones that you’re most likely to use in order to buy a home. Each has its own set of benefits and drawbacks, which we’ll discuss briefly.

Conventional Conforming

If you’ve heard of Sallie Mae or Freddie Mac, you know the family of conventional loans. These loans are written by a wide range of banks, from your hometown locally owned to the fanciest mortgage broker. “Conforming” loans meet Sallie and Freddie’s high requirements, including maximum sales price.

Pros: Generally, you’ll get a better deal on mortgage insurance that automatically drops off (meaning you no longer have to pay it) once your home reaches a 78 percent loan to value ratio. Also, you’ll pay less in closing costs and your debt to income ratio can be somewhat flexible as long as look really good on paper.

Cons: These are generally the hardest loans to qualify for. Even though there are now three to five percent down payment options, your credit score will need to be around 700 (better is better) and your other ducks should be lined up nice and straight. Consistent employment, savings that can be designated as “reserve funds” and few to no scabs on your credit report are helpful.

Federal Housing Authority

The FHA started insuring loans after the Great Depression as a way of helping people get back into owned property. It basically created the 30 year fixed interest mortgage and continues to carefully oversee which homes can and cannot be purchased in its name.

Pros: Good option for first time buyers because of low down payment and credit requirements. FHA will accept “soft” credit lines for people who haven’t established credit yet or have very little, so keep that utility bill paid on time. The program allows up to six percent of your closing costs to be financed into your loan, as “seller paid items,” which can help reduce the actual cash you need to close.

Cons: FHA requires a lot more in closing costs because of the additional upfront mortgage insurance deposit. In addition, if you have less than a 10 percent down payment, under the current programs you’ll be forced to keep paying mortgage insurance for the life of the loan, giving you no options but to refinance or sell down the line if you want rid of it (it’s costly, you want rid of it). Not every banker wants to deal with FHA loans because they can be time consuming to write, so you may have to shop a bit to find a good bank.

Veterans Administration

As part of the benefits that active military members and veterans receive from the government, VA loans are built on a merit-based system. Career military and those honorably discharged early are generally eligible, but short-term members or Reserves may have to meet additional requirements. Anyone who can get this loan will need to bring a Certificate of Eligibility in order to get the ball rolling with an approved lender.

Pros: Favorable interest rates, extremely flexible guidelines and absolutely nothing required as a downpayment (often little to nothing required at closing!) There’s no mortgage insurance, just a one time “funding fee” that varies with your service type, downpayment and times you’ve used your Eligibility.

Cons: Really, there aren’t any. You can’t get this if you’re not military, though, so that could be a con if you really wanted this most excellent loan type.

US Department of Agriculture

In rural areas, the US Department of Agriculture will offer mortgage lending as a way of helping to keep the local economy flowing. Homes don’t have to be on an acreage, but they do need to be located in communities with under 35,000 inhabitants.

Pros: Like VA, USDA are fairly easy to qualify for as the buyer. They can also be zero down loans, though the more you can bring to closing the better. Payment assistance and other types of help are sometimes available for very low income borrowers.

Cons: The house you’re buying will undergo significant scrutiny in order to be approved for the program. In all loan programs, your house has to qualify, but the hurdles USDA puts in front of the building are much larger than most other programs. This is good for you, because it means you’re getting a great house, but it makes the process take a lot longer and can be scary for sellers. In addition, there’s a cap on income for potential borrowers.

Need a Mortgage? Who Ya Gonna Call?

HomeKeepr! Wait, that’s a different thing. But, seriously, whether you’re looking for more answers to your burning lending questions, need a plumber to fix your leaky faucet or a party planner to celebrate your finally closing on that loan, your HomeKeepr community has contact information for them all. Just log in and check out all the specialties your HomeKeepr family has to offer — they’re recommended by your Realtor, so you know you can count on these experts.

Should You Jump into The Real Estate Market?

Deciding you’re ready to buy a house is a big moment in your life, whether it’s a first time purchase or you’re snatching up yet another investment property. The home buying process is fraught with dangers, both real and imagined, as well as very real financial risks.

That’s why there are so many pieces of advice about when to buy a house. The truth is that there’s no one answer for anyone. Because market conditions can vary dramatically, there’s no way to safely predict if or when the neighborhood you’re looking at will be ripe for the picking. These are the times when having a really knowledgeable Realtor comes in handy.

Today’s Real Estate Market: An Overview

You should have some idea of what you’re walking into before you jump in the real estate market. Sometimes, there’s way too much supply (too many houses for sale) and not enough buyers — this is a “buyer’s market,” and that’s who has the upper hand in negotiations. Sometimes there are too many buyers and not enough supply — a “seller’s market.” Often, there are roughly balanced parts supply and buyers, which makes for a very healthy and predictable market.

We’re not in a healthy and predictable market at the national level. There are currently way too many buyers who want to buy at any price and not nearly enough new homes being built, nor are there enough existing homes to meet demand. Generally, this would push prices up. However, since interest rates are increasing, some buyers are starting to get squeezed out of the market entirely, which should be pushing prices back down, but doesn’t seem to be.

What we seem to have right now, as of the writing of this blog, is a market that’s sort of stalling. Normally, the summer is the craziest time of the year for Realtors — no one wants to pull their kid out of school mid-year to move across the city. And although many Realtors are reporting that they have plenty of potential, well-qualified buyers, they’re fighting over scraps as the supply continues to shrink.

Should You Be Trying to Buy Right Now?

Depending on who you are and where you are in your life journey, the competitive, weirdly stalled market we have this year may be as good a time as any for you to buy. Below is a brief breakdown of major buyer types and how the market could affect them if they were to buy today:

First time homebuyers. Jumping into the real estate market as a first timer is always a little terrifying, but the current market may give you a serious complex. If you’re buying a house to live in, not one that you expect will make you a bundle down the road, and your life is fairly settled, there’s no time like the present to go down the home purchase road. Just bear in mind that you will probably have to write several offers before you land that starter home — give yourself plenty of time for houses that will get away.

Maturing family. When you’re looking for that last house, the one you’re going to send your kids away to college from, the most important thing is finding a house that’s suitable for your family. There’s no time that’s better or worse for this purchase, especially if your plan is to hold it indefinitely. Sure, you may end up paying a little bit more now than you would have a couple of years ago, but the value you get from living in the house, as well as natural appreciation, generally ensure you come out a little bit ahead. It beats renting, anyway.

Empty nester. Aging in place is the thing these days, and for good reason. That just creates one big problem: not enough inventory that will accommodate mobility equipment like walkers and wheelchairs that you may ultimately need. Housing starts are really rising, though, so you might as well visit a few Open Houses to see if there’s a builder out there that you can picture building the home where you’ll retire. Although existing homes can work for your needs, new construction gives you the option to create an age in place friendly universal design from the foundation up.

Investor. Investors! You are literally the only group on this list that should be seriously concerned about the timing of your purchases. Since owner-occupied homes tend to be held for the long term, the risk to those buyers is minimal, but you’re looking to buy and almost immediately start making money.

Finding a good price on a listed home may be tricky right now, but switching gears to the building of new homes will introduce a lot of competition. Buying and holding properties as rentals could pay off, but only if you really buy them right. Now may not be a great time for you to buy if you have investments that are already paying for themselves. It would, however, be a pretty good time to unload properties that you’ve fully depreciated or those that just really don’t fit in with your portfolio.

When it comes down to it, the biggest factor you should be considering when purchasing real estate that you intend to occupy is whether or not you’re really ready for homeownership. A close second, of course, is whether or not you can really afford a house, but your Realtor and mortgage lender will help you with that part.

You’ll have to decide for yourself if today is a good day to buy, there’s no way to know what the market will look like in five to 10 years when you may want to buy again.

Let Your Realtor Be Your Guide…

Just like the HomeKeepr community helps you find home pros that can fix just about any problem you might have related to your current or future home, your Realtor is the best person to go to when it comes to the question of timing your real estate purchase. If they tell you to punch it, then all systems go.

Don’t forget your HomeKeepr family as you move through the various buying stages, from securing your mortgage to having your home inspected and appraised. Finding the experts you need is as simple as logging in to HomeKeepr!

Outdoor Kitchens

Your new house has an awesome outdoor kitchen, or maybe you just had one installed, either way you’re all set to grill outside all summer (and maybe into the fall and winter, too). Have you stopped to consider all the things that it takes to keep an outdoor kitchen running smoothly? Remember there’s live electricity, gas lines, appliances and other things that are going to require regular effort.

An outdoor kitchen can be the best investment you’ve ever made, but you definitely should be considering how an outdoor kitchen is different from an indoor kitchen.

Outdoor Versus Indoor Kitchens: The Big Differences

There’s nothing wrong with an outdoor kitchen, they’re not inherently dangerous or troublesome, they’re just different than an indoor kitchen. Heck, some of the early pioneers had outdoor kitchens before it was cool. At the end of the day, though, the two are fairly different, so let’s take a look at the biggest stuff.

Exposure to the Elements

Your indoor kitchen is around 72 degrees Fahrenheit or so all the time, day in and day out. Depending on where you live, your outdoor kitchen could be exposed to some really extreme weather, swinging from below freezing in the winter to above 100 degrees F in the summer. It’s a lot for gaskets, plumbing and wiring to bear.

Maintenance and regular health checks are vital for your outdoor kitchen, otherwise you could have catastrophic failures without warning. In addition, ensure that all your outdoor kitchen components are approved for outdoor usage — if anything is not, replace it right away or plan for it to have a shortened lifespan.

Levels of Cleanliness

Look, no one is judging you here, but your outdoor kitchen is a lot dirtier than your indoor one. It’s partially because your indoor kitchen is inside, protected from blowing pollen, dust and the various types of insects and animals that happen to run around at night in your backyard. But, there’s also the fact that you neglect to clean your grill as often as you should and you leave the grease catch full.

You can’t keep an outdoor kitchen squeaky clean, but you should always, always, always clean that grill from top to bottom. Not only does grease left in the catcher underneath attract mammals that you’d not normally invite into your kitchen, but the dirtier the grill is, the worse it will perform when it’s time to cook.

Counters and Floors

Inside kitchens are pretty easy to maintain. You clean the tile, vinyl or hardwoods with a regular household floor cleaner and wipe the counters with a wet sponge. No problem! Your outside kitchen, as you may have guessed, is a bit more complicated. So many outside kitchens use stone like granite for counters because of this material’s ability to withstand heat and, of course, because they look amazing next to the pool. The “floor” of that kitchen is often concrete or stone. Not exactly the kind of thing you just mop and go with.

First, make sure your granite counters are sealed every three to five years to protect them from the worst the sun can deal out. Next, make sure you always sweep your patio clear of grass clippings, blown dirt and other plant materials to prevent weeds from popping up where they can find footing. Lastly, make sure to power wash that patio at least once a year to remove stains, grease and mildew.

Winterizing

Obviously, your indoor kitchen should need little to no winterizing since it’s both serviced by a modern heating system and protected from the cold by at least one wall and the insulation therein. Even in a very old house, the most you might need to do is turn on heat tape that’s wrapped around plumbing to prevent frozen pipes. Your outdoor kitchen, though, will need a lot of care ahead of the cold.

Remember to disconnect all your appliances from their various services. Turn the gas off to the grill, empty and disconnect the fridge, drain and winterize the water lines running to the sink. Cover your patio furniture or bring it inside. Cover the grill and other appliances, too, if your outdoor kitchen lacks a permanent roof (a sail or solar cloth isn’t the same thing). If you’re lucky enough to live in a place that only freezes once in a while, you can wait to disconnect everything until just before the storm comes, provided you’re still using the kitchen regularly.

Having an Outdoor Kitchen is Amazing…

…until something breaks or is severely damaged because of a lack of maintenance, that is. Keeping these items in mind can help extend your period of trouble-free enjoyment, but even the best kitchen will need to have a thorough professional inspection every now and again to remain reliable.

When that time comes, just log into your HomeKeepr community. Plumbers, electricians, patio-builders and even pest control experts are at your fingertips, just waiting for a call from their HomeKeepr family. Your Realtor recommended them, so you know you can trust that they know their stuff.

Five Features of A Fantastic Flip

Now that you’ve bought a home of your own, you might be thinking that you’re kind of good at handywork and you want to give flipping a go. It’s certainly one way to make money in today’s somewhat volatile market, provided you know what to look for in an optimally flippable property. Of course, the house that flips best in downtown Newark probably won’t be the same one that flips amazingly in Dallas, but there are some general things you can look for in a fantastically flippable house.

Five Focal Features of a Flippable Find

Buying a flip should be a numbers game. You’re not buying your own place to make memories, you don’t have to live there, so the house that you have in mind for your first flip should be one that’s not needing too much repair work, but is seriously undervalued.

This happens frequently when an older person goes into a medical facility long-term or they pass away. It’s much more common for children that inherit a property to want to move it as quickly as they can, rather than fight over who gets to live in mom’s house. That’s why you’ll often see several promising properties in neighborhoods that are more than 30 years old — many of those owners bought when they were early to mid-career, all at the same time, and, well, time makes fools of us all.

Your ideal flip looks something like this:

It’s structurally sound. Unless you are absolutely stealing this property, there’s no substitution for structural soundness. You can’t flip a house that’s on a crumbling foundation. You can do a preliminary assessment yourself by carefully looking at the roofline. If it’s straight and sharp, the chances are good that the rest is, too, but don’t skip a professional structural inspection. If the roofline is wavy, the roof itself is cupped or it’s doing anything except being a good and proper roof, keep on looking.

The systems are solid. You can drop some serious money on updating or replacing electrical, HVAC, plumbing and roofing, so make sure that your flip has most of these in good, working order with long life expectancies. Your home inspector can give you an idea about how much time each should have remaining. Most flips can absorb one of these items, so don’t pass on a great deal just because it needs an electrical update — unless, of course, there are other big issues.

The house just doesn’t look like much. Even when the market is highly competitive, small changes can make all the difference. The plain little house tucked behind that bushy tree is not going to be on anybody’s short list, unless they’re looking to flip. Get a tree crew in there to groom or remove that monster, add some shutters in a contrasting color, dress up the landscaping with perennials and bam! Instant (almost) curb appeal.

There are a lot of memorable cosmetic items. If you look at a house and your brain keeps trying to sort out what it is that you’re seeing, you might be in a fantastically flippable property. Bright green carpet, fuschia backsplashes, mirrors on the bathroom walls? Nailed it! These are often the real gems, provided that the cosmetic stuff is what’s scaring buyers away. That cosmetic stuff is a serious turn-off for so many people who can’t see beyond the ugly to that potential house under the surface. Obviously, that homeowner cared about their place or they’d not have added so many personal touches, so chances are good that you’ll find most everything that costs a lot to be in good working order.

It’s a fine representative of the overall neighborhood. Ok, so the walnut paneling and the bright orange carpet have to go, but in terms of the architectural style, size, age and general upkeep, a good flip is the one that looks like it fits into the neighborhood. Not too big, not too small, not too weird. Especially not too weird.

Ready to Start Flipping Houses? You’re Gonna Need Some Pros…

Even the best flippers — especially the best flippers — have a team of experts at their disposal. Whether you’re acting as a general contractor or just directing the person who is, your main role is to pick out materials and coordinate the repairs to come. But don’t worry, you already have access to the best network of home pros in your area in your HomeKeepr community. Connect with the experts you need, any time, and make your first flip a total success.

Assumable Mortgages

It’s the little things that really matter sometimes. The cherry on top of a sundae, the light scent of gardenia on a warm spring breeze and a mortgage that’s assumable are each all about the details, and are sometimes overlooked by people who are in a hurry to get from Point A to Point B. But that assumable mortgage may make your home more competitive if you’re a seller or save you a bundle if you’re a buyer.

What is an Assumable Mortgage?

All mortgages are structured uniquely, such that the majority of any payment made before about halfway through the loan is interest (depending on your down payment and rate), so it would naturally follow that some people would want to shortcut this early period and get on to paying on the meat of the loan. The buyer would then take over the payments from the seller, without the loan changing terms at all. This is, in essence, how an assumable mortgage works. The buyer will also have to bring some amount of money to closing, either in the form of cash or a secondary mortgage loan, to compensate the seller for the remaining value not covered by the assumed loan.

Assumable mortgages can be of any variety, depending on the age of the loan, but the ones you’re most likely to see today are FHA, USDA or VA-type mortgages. To qualify, a buyer still has to meet all the same requirements that the seller had to meet in order to get their mortgage. This wasn’t always the case, but is today.

And although rates are still fairly low right now, in the 4.5 to 5 percent rage, over the next few years several rate increases are anticipated. That means that your mortgage terms themselves might be worth something when you go to sell your home. Provided your buyer can qualify for your loan and come up with the cash it takes to make the total meet your home’s value at the point of sale, you could find yourself with a more than full price offer, or even multiples, just by making it known that your loan is assumable and you’re ok with letting someone take advantage of this feature.

Why Would a Buyer Want an Assumption?

This is a bit of a trickier question, which will require a chart. Let’s say that your mortgage rate is 3 percent on a 30 year fixed note. You’ve had this loan for five years, but it’s time to move on to a bigger home, you had no idea you were going to have triplets when you chose this house! A buyer comes along when rates are at 4.75 percent and wants to assume your mortgage and pay you a total of $250,000 for your place. So far, so good.

This is what the picture looks like for the buyer:



Assuming the buyer’s first payment on the assumed note is number 61, they’ll immediately pay almost $500 of the principle down. If they had taken out their own note, totally ignoring the additional mortgage insurance and upfront mortgage insurance that an FHA would require, they’d only pay down about $400 at this same point (which is five years down the road, remember). They’d also pay almost $350 more in interest.

Keep in mind that the payment at 4.75 percent interest is also higher, but when the higher payment is paying less of the note off each month, there’s nothing about that that makes it a good financial move. If the buyer did manage to pay their note all the way off, they’ll find that they paid $68,552.79 more in interest alone by choosing to get a new loan.

Provided the additional funding required to secure this home wasn’t cost prohibitive, it just makes good sense for a buyer to want to assume a loan. Beyond the savings mapped out above, their closing fees will be considerably smaller, making the net gain even larger.

Of course, both buyer and seller should discuss this with your lender or financial planner to be sure that it’s the right decision for them and their financial pictures.

The Seller’s Side of the Assumption Equation

For a seller, the picture is a little different. Although it doesn’t cost you anything to start the assumption process, it can get ugly if a seller doesn’t know to protect themselves and a buyer ends up defaulting on their assumed loan. You must make certain that you’ve signed and received back a fully executed (all parties have signed it) copy of a release from liability form. Remember, the bank has to also agree to these terms.

Beyond that, it can be a good deal for you as the seller, too. You’ll get a big chunk of cash, you’ll be free of your mortgage so you can buy something a bit roomier or closer to work. Assumptions can be tricky to close, but the more that are closed in the coming years (and there are likely to be a few), the easier they’ll get because everyone will be on the same page.

Note: If you’re a veteran with a VA note that you’re trying to sell to a buyer who wants to assume, the mortgage will retain your entitlement. This is why it’s important to only sell with an assumption to another veteran. With another vet in the equation, the bank can exchange your entitlement for that of the new borrower, allowing you to buy again using a VA loan.

Assuming I Want to Assume, Who Do I Call?

If you’re interested in talking more about assumable loans, as a buyer or a seller, just log into your HomeKeepr community. The lenders and financial planners in our little family come highly recommended by your Realtor and they know their assumptions.

July Newsletter

Welcome to the first official day of summer! Hopefully, your summer is off to a great start!

Jack and Mary Anne successfully closed on their old house of almost 40-years on Brookview Lane as well as their new house in Fishers. This has been quite the ordeal for them, as you can imagine-so much stuff to trash, donate, or move. They have been great about everything and after all is settled, think they will really enjoy having a new home with so much less maintenance and stress. Boxes are pretty much everywhere, so it will take some time. Currently, they are enjoying some stress-relief at Branson and will return renewed to tackle the moving boxes!

Our oldest daughter Ana made it to France and FaceTimed us a few days ago. She was extremely tired from over 24 straight hours of traveling, but was enjoying her first host family located in the French Alps. The scenery was stunning!! She is in the Italian Alps now with her second host family and appears to be having an absolute blast! We are SO excited and happy for her to have this life-changing experience...all at the tender age of 12-years old! While she is the youngest in her choir of 75-kids she has the most international travel experience, so that has been reassuring.

Brigid, Tali and I head to Paris tomorrow where we will spend a week across from the Eiffel Tower in an AirBnB. We will be visiting all of the sights and then head to Belgium for a week where we will have Ana stay with us for a few days and catch a few of her concerts. We are so excited and ready to enjoy Paris. This will be the first time I have been back in almost 20-years.

Real estate has been booming with record-low inventory and lots of buyers. So many buyers are extremely frustrated due to lack of inventory and losing houses time and again in bidding wars. We have never seen a market quite like this. Housing numbers don't come out until Monday, so no specific numbers to share there, but suffice it to say, inventory is down more, sales prices are up and the low inventory is hurting even more sales from happening. If you or someone you care about are even remotely thinking of selling, NOW is the time to seriously talk about it. Give us a call to see if your situation makes sense to sell or not-317-573-1880.

I would be remiss to not give HUGE kudos to Kylie and Julia. They have been busting their tails taking care of clients in this crazy market. They are so good at what they do and I couldn't be more grateful. Our clients are lucky to have them on their side. If you have worked with them, you know what I mean. They will be holding down the fort while we are gone.

Thank you to all of our clients who attended our monthly Happy Hour last night! We had a great time and hope you will join us for our July Happy Hour on July 18th from 5-6:30PM at Matt The Miller's.

We hope you have a wonderful summer and are able to enjoy some time with family and friends and take some time off.

Click here to read your July newsletter full of interesting and fun stories.

Click here to watch a very short video market update.

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

Click here to watch some informative videos about building a new home.

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

Click here to read what clients are saying about us.

Click here to read about our Senior Advantage real estate program.

Your friends in real estate,

Steve, Jack, Kylie, Julia

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

The Truth Behind Zillow Zestimates

Do you know how much your home is worth? No, really, do you?

Homeowners and buyers across the country often answer this question by turning to a figure known as a Zestimate, produced by Zillow.com. Zillow’s intention is to create an accurate value estimate for the over 100 million homes indexed by the site. Although it won’t give you a figure that’s right on the nose, it can provide a price range to start with during your real estate negotiation.

Wait, What’s a Zestimate?

A Zestimate is Zillow’s attempt to use algorithms and publicly available data points that influence housing prices to estimate a home’s value at any given time. While this is a good idea, in concept, it’s important for buyers and sellers to realize that there’s a bit more to predicting prices than the cold, hard facts.

Often, real estate becomes a very personal and emotional buy. Two houses with the same floor plan, but different shades of brick or different trees in the front yard can have different values to the person doing the buying. That’s really what matters. Ultimately, a home is only worth what the market will bear and what a buyer will give.

The Perception Versus the Reality of Zestimates

Zestimates became popular because outside of an appraisal or comparative market analysis generated by an experienced Realtor, it can be really hard to judge whether your home is gaining or losing value. After all, no one wants to bet on a losing horse, even if they live inside that horse and it provides them with shelter from the elements and a place to make memories (must be a Trojan horse).

Unfortunately, the Zestimate has been responsible for a great deal of confusion since Zillow started using the original algorithm in 2006. Even though the algorithm has been upgraded several times since its inception, it’s not perfect. Unfortunately, people deeply enveloped in the stressful process that is buying a house sometimes become ultra focused on the numbers that Zestimates provide, treating them more as an absolute than a flexible guide.

Because most people don’t really know what goes into valuing a home, this issue of getting married to a valuation that’s not quite on the dot isn’t new. Even before Zillow, many homeowners believed that their home was worth so many dollars due to tax assessments that were often based on outdated information, collected during the initial construction of their home and updated based on average inflation.

Why Have a Zestimate, Then?

Zestimates aren’t the most accurate way to assess the value of a home because they aren’t able to pick up on the harder to quantify items that go into determining the value of a home. They can’t tell a freshly remodeled 1960’s ranch home from one that’s still got the original shag carpet, for example. They aren’t appraisals. For many homes, though, a Zestimate will get you in the ballpark.

Zestimates work best in areas of high turnover, in neighborhoods with fairly similar homes. Because a Zestimate relies on public data like tax assessments and homeowner corrections of the basics, including the number of bathrooms and bedrooms, it can make a fine starting point for the potential home buyer or seller.

Since you don’t buy and sell real estate constantly, having an overview of the neighborhood’s stats is helpful when you do–but you have to allow for wiggle room. Just because a listed house on Maple Drive has a Zestimate of $203,000 and it’s almost identical to your house next door, it doesn’t mean you won’t get more (or less) when you go to sell.

Taking Your Zestimate to the Next Level

Zestimates can give you a very general idea about the value of your home or a home you’re considering buying, but they aren’t appraisals. The only way to know what a home’s actual value is in the moment (because this can change rapidly in some markets) is to reach out to a home pro for their formal opinion.

If you’ve reached that point where you’re ready to buy or sell a home and want a highly accurate price point to start from, contact your Realtor for a comparative market analysis. Once you have a contract in hand, a professional appraiser will take it from there and give you an exact dollar figure based on hundreds of factors that are a bit too nebulous for the technology we currently have available to reliably assess.

And hey, if you need help finding an appraiser or any other home pro that can speed your real estate transaction along, just ask your HomeKeepr family for a recommendation!

Painting hacks

Owning a house can be a mixed blessing. On one hand, you have a place to sleep and eat and collect weird knick-knacks you bought off of eBay. On the other, you sometimes have to take on projects that are simple, but overwhelming. Repainting your house, for example, is a big, messy job, though the techniques don’t necessarily require years to master.

House Painting Hacks

The word “hack” is kind of loaded. To some, it means cheating your way to success, to others it can be code for “low quality work or unadvisable actions.” Since you don’t really need either of those things to have really good results from your paint job, replace the word “hack” in your head with “tip.” After all, you should listen to tips, they’re helpful.

Without further ado, five tips for your big paint job this summer:

Prepwork: The Biggest Hack of All

“But wait, prepping isn’t painting,” you just shouted at the screen. It’s true that your prep isn’t actual painting, but the fact is that prepwork is everything. Without good prep, you might as well not bother with the painting because the lack of non-painting work will show. Depending on which area of your house you’re painting, these are a few prep items to get you started:

Outside
* Go over all the painted areas, even on windows, with a metal putty knife or 5-in-1 tool to get rid of all loose paint chips. If you’re dealing with lots of layers and they’re flaking randomly, use a pressure washer set around 2,500 PSI to blast the paint away.
* Remove and repair any rotted window sills or siding now, before you paint. Make sure to apply a coat of primer to them once they’ve been put in place.
* Paint stripper can be useful to get paint off of finely detailed trim pieces that you risk damaging by power washing.

Inside
* Paint a test area on popcorn ceilings before doing a whole room. Sometimes, they’ll slough off, leaving you with a mess–better to know before you’re in elbow deep.
* It’s not enough to just patch holes, you also must sand them. If drywall seams are bothering you, the same rule applies after you’ve skim coated them with additional joint compound.
* Clean walls thoroughly. A once-over with a broom followed up by a pass with an electrostatic cloth mop will grab all the dirt, helping you create the perfect paint job.

Painting on the Dark Side

Painting your house is important maintenance, but it can also be a difficult one in the summertime. When you’re ready to paint, really ready, start on the dark side of the house. As the sun shifts, so should you. This will give you the most time to work with wet paint, helping you to avoid dried-on drips and visible brush strokes. Treat your primer just like your paint and circle the house with the sun when applying.

Improve Trim Appearance By Reducing Strokes

Painting trim should be a challenge to see just how little you can touch it. The end result will be a smoother finish with fewer brush strokes. Work in small sections, no more than about 18 inches long. Start your paint work by loading the brush on the heavy side, then wipe as much paint onto the trim as possible. Level the blob with just one or two strokes that fill into the previously painted section.

Paint Brush Storage

Whether you’re going to lunch or just taking a break to heed Nature’s call, there are going to be times that you really don’t want to bother to clean your brush just to stick it back in the same color paint again. Desperate times call for desperate measures. There are various tricks for this, these are our favorites:

* When you paint, wear disposable gloves. If you need to pause, just grab the brush bristles with one hand and turn the glove inside out until it covers. A quick knot will keep that brush ready to go again.
* Ziptop bags are great for taking a lunch, but they can also be used to keep brushes wet. Just snip one corner open to the width of the handle, slip the brush in, burp the bag and zip it up. Problem solved.
* Between coats, you can drop brushes into water that reaches to the handles or higher (don’t mix colors, that’ll make a mess). When you’re ready for the next round of painting, swish the brush around in the water to get most of the thin, wet paint out and then use a paint brush and roller spinner to spin out the water. Do the spinning outside or deep in a tall bucket to avoid getting paint water everywhere.

Catalog Those Paints!

Hey, this may not sound like a useful thing, but will you really remember the color you used on the trim work on your house in five years? Be honest here. Cataloging the paint you’re using, including manufacturer, formula, name and a photo of what the finished result looked like fresh will help you immensely should you need to touch the paint up before the next big repainting job. If you used the paint in more than one place, note what areas were painted, as well.

Some pro painters make custom labels for the can they leave behind for touch-ups that contains excess paint. These labels includes detailed information about the paint color, sheen and so forth. You have a computer, you could do the same if you really want to keep it organized.

Ready To Paint?

When you’re ready to get on that painting project, be safe and have fun. Even a bad paint job is better than a day at work, isn’t that how the saying goes? If you find that the prospect of painting your house on your own is just too much to handle, set that stress aside and log in to HomeKeepr. The marriage of tools, tech and the best pros in their field make it easy to get the painter you need on the job fast.

Garage Door Care

You pull into and out of your garage hundreds of time a year, ever expecting your door to reliably open and close at your whim. Going up and down so much can be pretty taxing, which is why after being neglected for months or years, garage doors rightfully start to complain loudly.

If your door sounds more like a train’s “clack-clack” as it runs down the track, you’ve definitely let things go way too far. Fortunately, garage doors tend to be pretty foolproof and tolerate neglect more than other important parts in your home. But you’re not going to be neglectful, you’re going to do regular inspections and maintenance so it’ll last even longer, right?

Parts of a Garage Door

This may come as some surprise, but a garage door is more than a door. It’s a system of moving parts that we conveniently label as a “door.” Modern garage door systems include important pieces like:

* Opener. You know this one, it’s that big box in the center of the garage ceiling. The opener is designed with a shuttle that moved the door up and down with the help of a chain, screw or belt-driven motor. You can even get Smart Garage door openers now.
* Springs and cables. Your door might feel light if you manually lift it while it’s hung, but this is because of a highly tensioned giant spring (or two) mounted above your door and the cables that are attached. Always treat these with the respect required, they can be very dangerous to work on directly (call a pro!).
* Sensors. If you look closely near the bottom of each garage door track, you’ll see sensors that resemble tiny cameras. As a team they maintain an almost invisible laser beam that causes the door to reverse if something suddenly breaks it during door decent.

Of course, there are other bits and pieces we could talk about, but this is about taking care of your door, not examining its anatomy. We’ll do that another time. Just understand that these three systems are vital to the door’s function and without all of them in working order, the door becomes very unsafe and unreliable

Taking Care of Your Home’s Biggest Front Door

If you can’t remember the last time you did anything with your garage door, now is the time to get on this. The weather’s perfect and you could stand to get outside anyway. There are a few tasks that you should absolutely not attempt without help or considerable experience, like replacing a broken spring, but for the most part, garage door maintenance is a snap.

Run down this checklist and your door will be ready to roll again!

* Tighten all screws and bolts. That rattling sound isn’t just for ambience, your garage door vibrates as it moves up and down, slowly backing screws and bolts out. Start at the bottom and work your way up, tightening all fasteners and replacing any that seem to be missing or broken. Don’t forget to check the hinges between door panels!

* Pull the manual garage door release. With the garage door closed, pull that handle hanging down from your opener. With the opener’s shuttle unlocked, check your door’s balance by opening the door about half way. If it stays where you put it, you’re gold. If not, call a pro to help — rebalancing a door can be difficult and dangerous. Don’t forget to push the door open all the way to re-engage the opener’s shuttle.

* Check the safety reversal system. Grab a scrap 2×4, cement block or something of similar size and shape and place it directly in the path of the garage door. Make sure that the object isn’t breaking the beam, since this is testing a different part of your system. Now, shut the door using the garage door opener.

If the door stops as soon as contact is made, your safety reversal system is set properly. If not, you’ll need to find your manual and look up which knob or button is used to decrease the force required to stop the door. This is one of those things you’ll test way more often than you’ll have to adjust.

* Break the beam. Check that the indicator lights on your infrared sensors are showing that the eyes are adjusted properly. Once they’re looking deeply into each other’s eye, close the garage door. Before it reaches the ground, pass a broom between the sensors. The door should stop, otherwise your sensors may need to be cleaned or replaced.

* Grease some squeaky wheels. You’ve tightened hardware, tested the door’s safety features and you’re ready to go nap in your hammock. But wait! There’s one more thing. It’s time to lube the beast. You won’t actually be lubricating a lot of the system, you’ll be cleaning it, but it’ll run more smoothly and that’s the point.

Start with the track itself, cleaning it with carburetor or brake cleaner and a cloth. Next, using a silicone based garage door lubricant, spray between the pin and wheel on each roller, wiping off any excess (lubricant doesn’t belong on the track). If your rollers are nylon, take extra special care because they slip easily.

You can also use the same lubricant to coat the outside of your torsion spring (the one above the door itself). Again watch for drips.

Are You Feeling a Bit More TGIF Than DIY?

Not everyone wants to take their garage door into their own hands. Even people who do sometimes hit problems that they simply don’t have the expertise to handle. That’s ok, that’s why the HomeKeepr community is such a thriving resource — everyone you could ever need to call is participating! Just log in and check out the overhead door experts that your Realtor has already recommended. They can come out and give your door a quick one-over, then set up inexpensive regular maintenance, saving you thousands of dollars in major repairs.

Concrete Painting...

Concrete has been used by humans for thousands of years, with some of the oldest examples of wells and houses made with the stuff dating back to 6500 BC. Although the ingredients have been refined over time, it’s still basically the same material that those ancient people valued so highly.

Even though concrete’s a really useful substance, it’s not particularly interesting. The endless gray of any random basement or garage is almost enough to make a person go mad. That’s probably why so many homeowners try to paint their concrete floors without considering how concrete is different from other types of building materials. Too often, they end up with the wrong materials or improper preparation, guaranteeing the coating will fail miserably.

Painting Concrete Isn’t Like Painting Your House

Concrete is a tricky substance. Unlike wood that is relatively non-porous, concrete literally breathes and wicks water constantly. This is why you’ll see older homes with miserable paint jobs on their patios, in the basement, or anywhere there’s a lot of concrete. That paint didn’t stand a chance of bonding to the concrete without a lot of help.

But your paint job will be different, that’s why you’re here! Removing old paint from a concrete slab can be a challenging job, but the end result is a glorious floor that twinkles in the sunlight. How about some tips for doing the job right?

#1. Choose concrete stain or dye. One of the main reasons that house paint peels off of concrete is because it doesn’t breathe like the concrete surface. This leads to moisture build-up below the paint, causing adherence to be lost entirely. Concrete stains and concrete dyes are different — they breathe just like the concrete. Stains are made of a blend of acrylic polymers and pigments that react chemically with the concrete surface; dyes, on the other hand, are nonreactive and color the cement when the very small particles penetrate into the surface.

#2. Epoxy garage floor paint is another option. Although it’s much more challenging to apply correctly, if you really want to “paint” the floor, an epoxy-based garage floor paint can be applied to your cleaned and prepped concrete surface. Bear in mind that epoxy takes time to dry and then has to have an additional curing period to harden properly. If you’re dealing with an interior space, you’ll also need lots of ventilation, otherwise the fumes could be your downfall.

#3. Take the time to prep the floor right. This may mean removing old paint with chemical paint remover, power washing the surface or even renting a grinder and roughing up the floor while eliminating old paint. When you’re prepping a concrete floor for painting, it should be just slightly rough, similar in texture to 120 grit sandpaper. Take your time and don’t settle for “good enough.”

#4. Always wash the bared floor thoroughly. With all that old paint gone and traces of various chemicals left behind, it’s definitely time to wash the concrete. Not only does this remove any stray material that might have been missed, you’ll ensure that no unplanned chemical reactions occur (you’re not going to blow up the house, but your paint may fail to adhere). Let it dry thoroughly, for days if possible.

#5. Test for moisture penetration. You’ve cleaned your concrete slab and you’re ready to paint! Except you’re not. You still need to check out the level of moisture penetration coming through the slab. Remember how you can’t use wall paint on concrete floors because it needs to breathe? It’s still breathing. The question now is just how much.

You can test this by covering a three foot by three foot area of the floor with heavy clear plastic sheeting. Tape it down completely and just walk away. Check in with it in a couple of days. If there’s no moisture collecting under the plastic, you’re golden. If there is, you may need to apply a masonry sealer first and retest before applying the final color (ask your paint monger what solution works best in your area).

#6. Priming is vital to success. You’ve probably painted walls and other things without applying a proper primer and it worked just fine, but we’re comparing apples to space ships here. Concrete not only is expected to take a lot harder beating than any random wall, it has all that complicated breathing going on. Skip the primer and you might as well just not do the project at all because you’ll just have to redo it in a few weeks or months.

Concrete Painting Giving You the Jitters?

It’s ok, if you’re not ready for a project like this you certainly don’t have to go it alone. Just log into your friendly HomeKeepr community and you’ll have no trouble finding a concrete contractor who can create the cement floor you’ve been dreaming about. Since they’re been recommended by your Realtor, you know they’re experienced and can be trusted. You dream up the concrete floors you want, HomeKeepr’s home pros will bring them to life.

What's The Value of A Green Home?

Green homes are becoming a really big deal these days. Whether that means that an older home is being retrofitted with energy-saving equipment or a brand spanking new one is growing up green, it is apparently much easier to be green than we’ve been led to believe.

The Numbers Are Coming In

A long-term study of homes in the Austin-Round Rock, Texas, area found that homes built between 2008 and 2016 got a significant value boost from their efforts. Homes that held the gold standard Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification were worth, on average, eight percent more than traditionally built homes.

That might not sound like a lot, but when you consider the average new home in that market sells for $311,000, and eight percent of that is $24,888, it’s kind of a big deal. Even homes built to a more generic “green” standard saw a six percent price boost. That’s a lot of green for being green.

Elements of a LEED-Certified Green Home

So great, green houses are worth a lot more than their counterparts. What does it even mean to be “green?” This is a great question that has been asked again and again. Green homes are more than skin-deep. When you’re talking about new construction, these are homes that were designed from the ground up to be the least disruptive to the environment and very energy efficient.

These six items are necessities for any green housing certification:

* Site planning and development. Although we don’t really consider it much, we’re major disruptions to native plant and animal life, what with all of our house-building and whatnot. Site planning starts with a site that’s not located near protected spaces like wetlands. Then the house is placed on the plan with an orientation such that it can take maximum advantage of green technology like solar panels and wind turbines.
* Material origin and longevity. Your green home is made of materials that were each carefully considered and chosen for a particular reason (and not because they were the cheapest!). Factors that are taken into account include the manufacturing process, distance to transport the materials and even what the material is made of. The goal is to increase durability so you don’t have to replace anything soon and reduce overall resource consumption.
* Smart water use. Not only are green buildings designed to waste as little water as possible, with low-flow faucets, shower heads and toilets, they should even be built to help prevent runoff. Gray water is often rerouted to landscape and rainwater is collected and either sent into the ground through a trench, pit or well to prevent erosion around the house or it’s used to water landscape.
* A high level of energy efficiency. Each and every item in a green home is meant to keep the entire system as efficient as possible. This means high R-rated insulation, highly efficient HVAC systems, low energy use light bulbs and even those solar panels or wind turbines that were taken into consideration in the site plan.
* Excellent indoor air quality. Hey, it’s not all about saving money, green homes are also homes that are easier to live in. When your house vents combusting appliances properly, has minimal off-gassing from Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) and plenty of ventilation to purge any fumes that may linger, you can be sure you’re breathing crystal-clear air in a greener home.
* Proper operation and maintenance. When the home is built and sold, the real challenge begins. How a homeowner maintains and runs their equipment has a huge impact on how green their home truly is. By leaving a breadcrumb trail of tools like smart thermostats, water-saving fixtures and highly efficient appliances, a green builder is doing what they can to ensure homeowners stick to the plan.

Even if you own an older home, you can bring it up to LEED standards with a great deal of effort. Adding green elements bit by bit is less of an overwhelming process, which is why so many people are green remodeling these days.

That could mean anything from installing a new HVAC system and vents that better disburse that highly efficient climate control to adding solar panels to help with electricity usage or just working on one conservation effort at a time, like water consumption. It doesn’t have to be an all or nothing situation.

Greening Up My Home Is Too Overwhelming…

It’s ok, that’s why you have your HomeKeepr community! Just search the home pros your Realtor has recommended and you’ll quickly find an expert that can get started turning your home into a lean, green machine. Whether it’s a Jolly Green Giant of a job or a little sprig, you’ll find the green and LEED-certified experts you need inside.

Native plants and their advantages to the homeowner

Every morning when you look out of the window of your breakfast nook into your front yard, you’re met with the same green carpet, devoid of anything remotely interesting or different. It’s not that you hate plants, it’s just that they can be a huge maintenance headache and, frankly, you don’t have time to pamper them to keep them alive just so you have something new to look at while you drink your coffee.

There’s another option. Native plants are not only trendy, they require little maintenance once established and they’re great for the environment.

What’s the Difference Between Native Plants and Weeds?

Although native plants can sometimes get a little hairy, they’re not weeds by definition. The last word on this matter, the United States Department of Agriculture, says that weeds are “any plant that poses a major threat to agriculture and/or natural ecosystems within the United States.” The USDA also defines another class of weed, the noxious weed. These are the worst of the worst weeds, almost like the FBI’s Most Wanted, but for plants.

Native plants are something entirely different. Some are a little wild and funky, but that’s also part of their charm. Native plants are plants that have evolved in a particular location and ecosystem over hundreds or thousands of years. For a plant to be considered native by the USDA, it must have been growing in the ecosystem before European settlers came to the Americas.

How to Care for Native Plants

If you want an ornamental garden without all the fuss, native plants are for you. Caring for them is simple once they’re established (usually after the first year for perennials and shrubs), but not much more difficult when they’re just starting out. Your particular area may have native plants that need different conditions, so be sure to ask nursery personnel before committing. Below you’ll find recommended care for native plants in general:

Light. The amount of light your plants will need is dependent on where they come from. Woodland edge plants like violets prefer part sun to part shade, where desert favorites like barrel cactus prefer full sun.
Soil. Your plants are native to your area. In a perfect world, this means that they like the soil that you happen to have around. If you’ve got a low spot where water tends to gather in an area that’s otherwise pretty dry, you need to check the plant’s ability to tolerate the moisture in that small area before planting. If it’s not water-tolerant, you can amend the soil with organic material like peat to increase the rate at which it drains.
Water. For the first year or so, you will need to water your baby plants. Summer is generally when these little guys dry out and die, so take a walk through the landscape in the morning and give them all a good hosing. You can also set up drip irrigation to continue your low maintenance theme.
Mulch. Every plant that you don’t want to turn in a weedy mess needs mulch. Dress your natives with two to four inches of organic mulch, but do not install a geotextile. Garden fabric will prevent the plants from spreading.
Feeding. If your natives are truly well-suited to your yard, you won’t need to feed them much at all. In fact, feeding them could kill them. Always soil test before feeding natives — with these plants, a little dab of nutrition will do it.
Other Care. Yearly, add more mulch. You can also deadhead flowers that have dried up to make the plants look nicer. Otherwise, if the plants you choose are good matches for your conditions, you can expect high disease and insect tolerance and low input on your part.

Other Advantages to Native Plants

Besides being super easy to care for, native plants offer a slew of other benefits. Most importantly, they’re native, filling a unique spot in the local ecosystem. That means birds, butterflies and wildlife may take shelter under your bigger natives or use them as a food source. Since your landscape will accept the water that nature provides, you’ll also not need to water as much, or at all. That’s a huge savings in both cash and resources.

Oh, and your native plant garden may help to keep other native plant populations going, especially if your neighbors also get on the native plant bandwagon. Your plants could literally be seeding the next generation down the street with the help of some bee or passing moth. It’s the circle of life.

But most importantly, when you’re looking out over your coffee cup in the morning, you’ll be greeted by a living painting that changes with the seasons and you didn’t have to do much to make happen. That’s really the ultimate reason to plant natives.

Digging Natives, But Not Ready to Dig In?

If you’re ready to paint the lawn yellow, white, orange and red but don’t think you have the time or ability to do it yourself, you’re in luck! Your HomeKeepr community has personally recommended landscapers and gardeners that can help you turn your vision into a reality. From building new beds to really set those plants off to caring for them until they’re ready to go out on their own, you’ll find the ideal candidate for the job inside.