July 2021 newsletter

Welcome officially to summer…and Happy Father’s Day to all of you dads!! This year, both events fell on the same day, June 21st. We hope you enjoyed summer solstice celebrating dad. For us, it was pretty relaxing and was enjoyed by having the family around and also Jack and Mary Anne stopped by for a little celebration as well.

The week prior, we were on our trip to Jackson Hole, WY. We had great weather and really loved being in nature. That is truly God’s country. We saw elk, deer, bald eagles, bison, moose, and bears to name a few. Weather ranged from snow flurries to 90-degrees! Whitewater rafting, swimming, hiking, dirt buggying, ropes courses, and Alpine slides to name a few were enjoyed over the week.

The BIG part of this past month was getting to celebrate Thea’s wedding last year with her reception last week. While delayed a year, we had a grand evening at The Scottish Rite Cathedral eating, drinking and dancing the night away, with both a DJ and Greek musicians. It was a LOT of fun and our team was so incredibly excited to finally celebrate with Thea. She even had a fun open house at her ‘new home’ the next day full of Greek food. Congratulations, again, Thea and Michael!!! We are so incredibly happy for you both!

Summer is here and school is out, so social activities are in full swing. Our kids are enjoying spending more time with friends and relaxing. School will be here before we know it and back to the school year grind we go! Ana is already in soccer practice getting ready for the fall season with Guerin. Tali moved up a level in competitive cheer and is practicing throughout the summer. It never seems to stop.

We truly hope you are able to take some time off this summer to relax and enjoy some downtime. That is truly important.

We had another amazing turnout at our June Happy Hour. Thank you to Shellie Law with Wheaton Van Lines (shellie.Law@WheatonMoving.com) for sponsoring this month and also to Scott Hodgin for winning her drawing for an Amazon gift card! We hope you will join us in July on Thursday, July 16th from 5-6:30pm at Matt The Miller’s again. FREE food and drinks! Feel free to bring a friend.

Thank you to everyone who called in for our FUN quarterly prize package, which was laps at the IMS in a race car and a day of fun at SIK. Look for our 3rd quarter prize giveaway in the coming weeks!

Are you or someone you know thinking about buying, selling, or building a new home? Now, more than ever is critically important to talk with a real estate expert who can guide, lead, and protect you in this absolutely CRAZY market. We have proven tactics, systems and processes to help you navigate these dangerous waters. Call us today!

The real estate market continues to be white-hot. Our inventory shrank again and we only have 0.5 months (two weeks) of inventory! We are starting to see listings stay on the market a little longer and many have had price reductions as well. Is this a sign the market is finally showing signs of a shift back to a buyers’ market? Too soon to tell, but most real estate experts are still predicting a strong sellers’ market until 2023. Below are the most recent stats from MIBOR comparing May 2021 to April 2021.

Median Sales Price-UP 7.2% to $255,000
Closed Sales-UP 9.7% to 3,386 units
New Listings-DOWN 4.4% to 3,889 units
Pending Sales-UP 11.5% to 4,061 units
Days on Market-DOWN 16.7% to 15 days
Price per s.f.-UP 4.3% to $146
% of Ask Received-UP 0.9% to 101.5%
Active inventory-DOWN 8.3% to 1,704 units
Absorption Rate-DOWN 16.7% to 0.5 months (2-weeks)

As you can see, our market keeps getting tighter and tighter. We are seeing lumber prices finally coming down, which will hopefully and eventually ease pressure from out-of-control builder pricing. The summer usually sees a bit of a pull-back in buyer demand as buyers take a break from house-hunting and go on vacations. We will see if that holds true this year or not.

Don’t forget to check out this month’s newsletter which has some interesting articles on Hershey, how to protect your pet, what Sesame Street can teach you about public speaking, and some interesting stats on high school seniors. Please tell us what you think and share your thoughts.

Click here to read our July newsletter

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

Click here to read what our clients are saying about us

Click here to download the best real estate app available

Your friends in real estate,

Steve, Kylie, Thea, and Patti

P.S. Please don’t keep us a secret!

June 2021 Newsletter

Summer is just about here! I don’t know about you, but this year has seemed like it has flown by and also crawled along. My family is ready for a little break along with warmer weather. We are going to take a nice trip to Jackson Hole, WY at the beginning of June for a week to get away and enjoy nature. Brigid and I have been there before our girls were born and loved it! We can’t wait!!! We hope you are looking forward to taking a break as well this summer and taking in some new scenery and a little R and R.

Lots of news to share this month!!

First of all, I was totally surprised and greatly honored to be named the 2020 REALTOR of The Year!! Being recognized by my peers for this honor is beyond flattering and amazing, especially given how many other extremely deserving people were considered. It is always my intention to deliver the highest service and ethics for each client every time. Thank you to each of our clients for the privilege to help you and those you care about during such an important time in your lives. This wouldn’t be possible without the absolute BEST team in the biz!!! Kylie, Patti, and Thea are simply amazing and so good at what they do serving our clients. We are honored.

Our May Happy Hour was extremely well attended as we were able to host it outside last week at Matt The Miller’s. Patty Thornberry with Security Home Inspections was our sponsor and our long-time home inspection partner. If you are thinking of buying, selling, or building, give Patty a call at 317-848-1744 and know her team will take outstanding care of you and those you care about.

Our June Happy Hour will be on Thursday, June 17th from 5-6:30pm at Matt The Miller’s again. We hope you will join us and celebrate the official start to summer!

On June 8th at 7pm is our next How to Sell Your House seminar series. If you or someone you know is thinking of selling and has lived in your house for more than 10-years and don’t know where to start or what has changed since you last bought your house, this is the seminar for you. E-mail me at steve@Welcome2Indy.com and I’ll give you more details.

Our 2nd quarterly prize giveaway is this Wednesday, May 26th from 10AM-3PM. Call us at 317-426-6108. You will automatically be entered into the contest. For every referral you give us, we will give you 5 more entries and there is no limit!!! You are playing for an adrenaline prize package. This is co-sponsored by Rojas Roofing-765-543-4540. If you have any roofing needs, please call them. They can be trusted and go great work at a fair price. You will start the day at the storied IMS track and you and a friend will each get to ride in a 2-seater Indy car driven by a professional driver around the track at speeds over 120mph+. You will then head to SIK for you and 3 of your friends to try your racing skills at some go-kart racing. We will have some swag waiting for you as well. You will enjoy a pizza and drinks for lunch and then try your hand at axe trowing followed by mini bowling. This package is valued at over $1,500!!!! So, call us on Wednesday and get your name entered to win the experience of a lifetime!!

We have been getting lots of calls regarding home valuations. Do you know what yours is? Call me at 317-573-1880 to set up a time to discuss how the market is affecting your house and what some options are if you are looking to make a move.

The real estate market continues to be white hot as you can see from the stats below from MIBOR comparing March 2021-April 2021. Unreal!!!

Median Sales Price-UP 4.8% to $237,500

Closed Sales-UP 7.4% to 3,033 units

New Listings-UP 18.7% to 4,025 units

Pending Sales-UP 12.4% to 3,784 units

Days on Market-DOWN 13.6% to 19 days

Price per s.f.-UP 5.3% to $140

% of Ask Received-UP 0.9% to 100.6%<——————this is HUGE!

Active Inventory-UP 12.9% to 1,825 units

Absorption Rate-No change at 0.6 months (about 2-weeks)

Bottom line, our inventory is almost non-existent and virtually everything that is selling is selling with multiple offers above asking price.

We hope you have a great Memorial Day weekend and are able to enjoy some downtime. Please give us a call when we can help you or someone you care about. Honestly, that is how we stay in business!

Enjoy your June newsletter!! It has some fun articles you are sure you love!!

Your friends in real estate,

Steve, Patti, Kylie, Thea

P.S. Please don’t keep us a secret!

Click here to watch an intro video to this month’s newsletter from Steve

Click here to read the June newsletter

Click here to download the most powerful real estate app available

Click here to watch Steve talk about what is trending in real estate right now

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

Click here to see what our clients have to say about us

May 2021 newsletter

Welcome to the month of May! For Indianapolis, that usually means a busy month centered around the IMS. While as of this writing the race will go on, just with limited attendance, we can start to feel a return to some kind of normalcy that so many of us have craved for over a year now. It also means Mother’s Day!!! We hope you have something special planned to celebrate mom next weekend.

COVID has been rough on everyone. I got it in October 2020. It was a mild case, but not fun. Fortunately, my family somehow escaped it, thank goodness. However, many people have not been so lucky. In fact, I have lost two friends due to COVID. Fortunately, I was able to see both of them shortly before they passed, but it really hits home. Brigid and I received our 2nd vaccine over one week ago. Less than one week until we hit the ‘fully vaccinated’ status. We can’t wait! We hope you and your loved ones have been able to get vaccinated so we all can put the worst part of this behind us.

Two weeks ago, our family was finally able to take a much needed vacation. Like most of us, being cooped up for the past year has taken a toll on us. Brigid and Tali went to Miami, FL for a few days to see some former neighbors as Tali and their daughter are still best friends. They had a blast! Ana was finishing school that week, so she and I stayed home and joined them on Friday where we all drove to Marco Island for several days and spent time with Brigid’s parents, laid by the pool and played on the beach. Absolutely, medicine for the soul! We finished with five days at Universal Studios. We had never been, so it was a real treat. Brigid found an amazing deal allowing us to stay on property, get admission tickets to the park AND get the Unlimited Express Pass as well!! Let me tell you, that was AMAZING. We stood in line no more than 10-minutes the entire time and rode some coasters as many as eight times! Harry Potter World is unbelievable and the kids absolutely LOVED every minute of it. If you have kids and like thrill rides and/or Harry Potter, we highly recommend going, especially during this time of reduced capacity.

Last week was extremely busy for our team. We hope you were able to take advantage of some/all of our events we hosted to celebrate you. We brought back our smashingly successful Shred/Recycle Day on Earth Day last Thursday. We had over 200 cars come through. Hope you were able to stop by. Later that day we hosted our monthly Happy Hour at Matt The Miller’s. We had a great group of clients and referral partners and we are grateful for Rojas Roofing for sponsoring this month. Finally, on Saturday, we hosted about 80 clients at our annual Spring Client Appreciation event at Sundown Gardens in Westfield. We had workshops and gave away free flowers and everyone got a discount on everything in the store!! Hope you were able to join us!

Upcoming events for May-lots going on!!! On Tuesday, May 11th from 7-8:30pm, I am hosting the next step in our 3-part series on How to Best Prepare Your Home for Sale. This is specifically geared to sellers who have lived in their home a long time and don’t know where to start. Regardless of your situation, come and join us. Send me an e-mail to RSVP by May 10th-Events@Welcome2Indy.com.

On Thursday, May 20th from 5-6:30pm is our next Happy Hour at Matt The Miller’s again. Come join us!! Free food and drink! RSVP to Events@Welcome2Indy.com.

On Wednesday, May 26th, we are hosting our Quarterly Prize Giveaway. Call in from 10AM-3PM that day to register to win an amazing racing-themed prize package. Call 317-426-6108. You are playing for laps around the IMS in a 2-seater IndyCar with a professional race car driver, a Karting racing experience at Sarah Fisher’s SIK facility, axe throwing games, mini-bowling games, and lots of swag. If you like speed and adrenaline, you do NOT want to miss this prize package…and right before the Indy 500!! Join us for our May Happy Hour on Thursday, May 20th from 5-6:30pm at Matt The Miller’s in Carmel. Please RSVP by 5pm on May 18th to Events@Welcome2Indy.com. Drinks/food provided and guests are welcome!

You are going to start noticing information we are sending out regarding our ‘What’s Your Home Worth’ campaign. We are getting quite a few calls from clients asking what their home is worth now in this crazy market. The on-line home values like Zillow, etc. are not remotely accurate-some values are super high and others super low. Use this link to schedule a quick 15-minute call with me to find out what your house is truly worth right now https://calendly.com/steverupp/15min. There is a short form to complete and provide some basic info so we can be prepared for our conversation.

What is YOUR number??? If I were to show up on your door step with a cash buyer who wanted to buy your house, what number would have to be on the offer to make YOU move? Send me an e-mail (or schedule a meeting-see link above) and tell me what your ‘make me move’ number is. We will make a note of it and tell our many buyers that if they are interested in your house, the conversation starts at that number. We already have many clients in our database who have given us their number. E-mail me today at steve@Welcome2Indy.com to give me yours!

Check out our new video series Raw and Real where I talk about commonly-asked questions and relevant real estate topics in a short and fun video. Check out our first one here. I discuss what fair market value is and how it directly impacts our market and the price of your house.

Finally, our market update for March compared to February 2021. Our market is WHITE HOT. Inventory continues to shrink and builders can’t keep up with demand. Some builders sold ALL of their 2021 inventory in January!!! There are still more homes selling than are coming on the market, even though there were more than 1,100 additional homes that came on the market in March versus February, so that is good. Below are the numbers from MIBOR comparing March 2021 to February 2021:

Median Sales Price-$226,500-UP 1.6%
Closed Sales-2,775 units-UP 21.7%
New Listings-3,351-UP 52.0%
Pending Sales-3,509 units-UP 42.1%
Days on Market-23 days-DOWN 25.8%
Price per s.f.-$133-UP 2.3%
% of Ask Received-99.7%-UP 0.9%
Active Inventory-1,562 units-DOWN 1.5%
Absorption Rate-0.6 months-DOWN 14.3%

As you can see, inventory is getting worse, not better. Interest rates are helping to keep housing affordable still at around 13%. This means 13% of people’s gross monthly income is going toward their mortgage payment. This is still the 2nd lowest of all time. As long as interest rates stay low, we will continue to see this hot market. I do not see a contraction for some time. Most experts agree that 2023 is the earliest we will start to see a contraction. On average, homeowners have seen a 12% increase in their appreciation YTD. This is unprecedented. If you have ever given ANY thought to moving, NOW is your window to CASH OUT on the equity in your house. We have some effective options/strategies many of our clients have successfully used regarding their next home, so give us a call TODAY to talk through your options to see if NOW is a good time for you to take advantage of this historic housing market-317-573-1880.

Happy Mother’s Day to all moms! We hope you are loved on and pampered on your special day. We truly appreciate you and everything you do for us!!!

Click below to read our fun May newsletter as well as some other fun links:

Click here to watch a short video from Steve discussing events this month

Click here to read our May newsletter

Click here to read what clients have to say about us

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

Click here to download the most powerful real estate app available to search any home anywhere

Your Friends in Real Estate,

Steve, Kylie, Thea, and Patti

P.S. Please don’t keep us a secret!! Who is the next person you care about who needs our help? Give us a call TODAY at 317-573-1880 so we can get in touch with them and consult with them about their options. Thank you!

April 2021 Newsletter

Welcome, Spring!!!! Well, not officially, but it sure feels like it! Regardless what the calendar says, we will take it! We hope you are enjoying some absolutely beautiful weather and are getting outside for some ‘vitamin D therapy’. We all can use some outside time after this past winter. Spring Break is just around the corner for most school systems. Unfortunately, Ana and Tali don’t have the same weeks off. Tali starts next Friday and Ana starts the following Friday. Brigid is taking Tali to Miami a week from Tuesday to see a neighbor who moved down there last year. Ana and I head down to Florida Friday of that week. We are headed for a few days to Marco Island and then on to Universal Studios to enjoy some much-needed R and R.

If you celebrate Easter, we are fast-approaching the most important holiday for many religions. We hope that you are able to enjoy Easter services this year with family, if you are able to do so safely. Hopefully, it will be beautiful weather to be out and about and have some fun Easter egg hunts-always my favorite!

Do you follow NCAA basketball? If so, did you fill out a bracket? If you did, my guess is it got busted faster that ever this year…at least mine did!!! There were more upsets this year than I can remember. Heck, my Xavier Musketeers didn’t even make the tournament this year, and that is rare. Only one Indiana team made it and that didn’t even go too well. At least Indianapolis is able to play host to every team and see some life back in downtown Indy. I am sure the hotels, restaurants and event venues are ecstatic!!!

Speaking of downtown Indy, Tali had two cheer competitions downtown over the past few weeks. It was nice to see people down there again, but boy, is Circle Centre Mall a shadow of itself. It is so sad to see 75% of the stores gone and the mall so empty. I remember vividly when it was THE place to go. Very sad. Tali had her last competition a couple of weeks ago in Sevierville, TN. They did very well and had a great time around Gatlinburg and the water park where we stayed. The season is over, but they are already preparing for next season.

Ana is already starting pre-season weight training for soccer at Guerin this fall. Both girls are doing extremely well in school and working hard. Ana is also working toward getting confirmed in the Catholic Church in May and is excited about that. She is also working on her driver’s ed course, too. Where did time go???

Patti has been working hard on some brand new marketing programs we have as well as a Relocation Guide for people moving to Indy. They look amazing and full of great content. If you or someone you know could use one, please let us know. We can e-mail or snail mail you a package.

Kylie continues to work hard improving our systems and processing our transactions. She is consistently THE go-to person in our office of over 275 people for systems/transaction/organization questions. She is what keeps our high level of service consistent!

Thea has been enjoying her puppy Ella and is going CRAZY with buyers in this HOT sellers’ market. There are FAR too many buyers chasing FAR too few houses for sale. Some builders have closed entire communities because they sold an ENTIRE year’s worth of inventory in JANUARY!!! Can you believe that? Never in my over two-decade career have I seen anything close to this.

Like so many of us (me included), we are watching our house value climb each month really making us think hard about whether we should sell in this unprecedented HOT market with super-low interest rates (around 3% as of this writing). Are you or someone you know tossing around the idea of selling? Fact-we have more buyers right now than we care of think about actively looking for homes. Could YOURS be a good fit for one of our many buyers? What is your ‘Make Me Move’ number? C’mon, just think about it. If I were to come to your house this week with a signed purchase agreement to buy your house and a check, what number would have to be on that check for you to say, ‘SOLD!’? Let us worry about where you are going next. We have some options for you that are working VERY well in this market. Seriously consider what YOUR number is and let us know. We are keeping a spreadsheet for all of our clients and when we have a buyer that matches your criteria, we will tell them the conversation starts at your ‘Make Me Move’ number. You save BIG money on commission and selling expenses and make your DREAM number you thought you could never get, and you don’t even have to put your house on the market and deal with a bunch of strangers roaming through your house. It is a win-win for everyone. Call me TODAY at 317-573-1880 and tell me YOUR number and we will see if any of our many buyers match your criteria and if not, we will make a note of it for the many future buyers we have coming to us for the beginning of the busy spring market.

Okay, now for some fun stuff!! You know we love to LOVE on our clients! :-) Here are THREE April events you don’t want to miss:

1) April Happy Hour. Due to spring break, we are pushing it back a week from usual. Come join us Thursday April 22 from 5-6:30pm at Matt The Miller’s in Carmel. RSVP to patti@Welcome2Indy.com. Food and drink provided. Thank you to Lisa Orecchio with 2-10 Home Warranty for sponsoring our March Happy Hour. We had a great turnout and lots of fun!! Our April Happy Hour is sponsored by Rojas Roofing. Chris Rojas is the owner and also a client of ours. They do an awesome job for our clients and you can TRUST them. Call me at 317-573-1880 if you would like their contact info.

2) SHRED Day-Also on Thursday, April 22. Back by popular demand, SHRED Day returns from 10AM-12PM in our office parking lot. Bring any documents you want securely destroyed as you wait and any electronic equipment you no longer need and we will safely and responsibly recycle it. Absolutely FREE to you!!! Spring Client Appreciation Event-Saturday, April 24 from 10AM-12PM at Sundown Gardens in Westfield. Come and get your spring plants and flowers and get an exclusive Zulu Group discount on all purchases as well a free gifts and prizes and refreshments. Landscape architects and Garden Center experts will be on hand to answer questions and provide FREE workshops on how to get the most out of your yard this season.

3) THANK YOU for being our client and/or trusted referral partner! We truly appreciate you and we know we couldn’t do what we love without your trust and support. Please call us anytime we can help you or someone you care about to get the absolute BEST service and knowledge of anyone in the city. We are proud to be serving the 3rd generation of some of our clients!

Below you will find the February 2021 vs. January 2021 real estate stats for Indy courtesy of MIBOR:

Median Sales Price-UP 5.4% to $223,500
Closed Sales-UP 8.2% to 2,243 units
New Listings-DOWN 8.9% to 2,178 units
Pending Sales-DOWN 6.8% to 2,584 units
Days on Market-DOWN 13.2% to 33 days
Price/s.f. Received-UP 3.2% to $130/s.f.
% of Ask received-UP 0.6% to 98.8%
Active Inventory-DOWN 17.8% to 1,577 units
Absorption Rate-DOWN 22.2% to 0.7 months
Your friends in real estate,

Steve, Kylie, Patti, Thea

P.S. Please don’t keep us a secret

Click here to watch an intro video to this months’ newsletter by Steve

Click here to read this month’s newsletter

Click here to download the most powerful real estate app available

Click here to read what our clients have to say about us

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

March 2021 Home News

March 2021 Newsletter

Welcome to March and, hopefully MUCH better weather than February!! Hopefully, you survived ‘snowmageddon’ a couple of weeks ago. Brigid and Tali had to drive through that snow storm all the way from a cheer competition in Wisconsin and Brigid said that was the most difficult and nerve-wracking trip she has taken in her life. Hope you stayed safe and warm and are glad that is behind us now.

Along those lines, we had to cancel our February Happy Hour due to Matt The Miller’s not having any heat for several days. We are looking forward to welcoming you all back in March on Thursday, March 18th from 5-6:30pm. Maybe we will still be wearing some green from St. Patrick’s Day! :-)

Hope you were able to participate in our first Quarterly Prize Drawing last month. We had a TON of people call in. Congratulations to Debbie Golan for being our winner! She won an overnight stay at the brand new Autograph Collection Hotel Carmichael in Carmel. She stayed in the Presidential Suite, was greeted with champagne, chocolate-covered strawberries, cupcakes, balloons, banners, streamers, bath bombs, a charcuterie board, a gift card to Vivante (their French fine-dining restaurant) and top-notch service. Debbie celebrated her birthday and her daughter’s last weekend and had a blast!!! Our next drawing will be in May, so be sure and follow us on social media and watch your e-mail for your next chance to call in and win.

Congratulations to Tali for winning her cheer competition last weekend!! Their team came in first place and they are so excited. They have been invited to Nationals in April and will be traveling to Gatlinburg, TN this weekend for their final regular-season competition. Our entire family will be going to cheer her on. Go, Tali!!

Brigid has been in her new job at Merck for over two months now and absolutely loves it! She is busier than ever, but is enjoying doing something different and learning something new every day.

Ana finished her 2nd trimester at Guerin last week and got almost all A’s. She is starting to train for soccer next season, so she is ready to go. She just recorded her next concert for Indianapolis Children’s Choir and we are looking forward to seeing it soon. We can’t wait to be able to watch them live.

Jack and Mary Anne received their 2nd shot of the COVID vaccine about 3 weeks ago and promptly left to visit friends in Florida. They had a great time and are glad to be home again, but enjoyed finally being able to leave their house.

Patti is doing an amazing job continuing to market our team and coming up with creative ideas to better market our clients. She is becoming known as the social media and video queen around the office.

Kylie is hard at work keeping us organized and processing the seemingly endless paperwork that exists in our industry. She is regularly sought after by office staff for how to do something or organize something. Her son Jackson is in pre-school for the first time and loving it and her older son Trey is enjoying still being live at his school.

Thea is keeping very busy with all of the buyers she is working with and when not helping them find the perfect home is in the middle of training her new dog Ella.

Do you or someone you know have plans to sell your house this year or next? Come join Steve as he breaks down the selling process and shares pro-tips and secrets on how to best plan and prepare your house to go on the market in these crazy times. His next presentation is on Tuesday, April 13th at 7pm. Thea will be the presenter that evening. E-mail us and let us know if you can join us at steve@Welcome2Indy.com.

The real estate market is beyond crazy right now. Indy is seeing record-low inventory levels of fewer than 4 weeks and Hamilton County is fewer than 2 weeks! Some builders are so busy that they are no longer taking contracts in some neighborhoods. In my 21+ years in real estate, I have never seen anything like this! Suffice it to say, sellers are getting record prices for their houses right now. The biggest issue sellers have is not knowing where they are going to go. We do have some proven strategies that work in this market. If you or someone you care about would like to know what your house is worth, give us a call-317-573-1880. I guarantee you the online value estimators are not accurate and can’t begin to keep up with this market and they certainly don’t know the condition of your house. We would be happy to give you an up-to-the minute valuation on your house that is accurate and professional and interpret this market and how it specifically affects YOU and YOUR unique situation and how to best leverage your advantages. With interest rates around 3% right now, you are in an historically good time to sell.

Here are the latest stats from MIBOR comparing January 2021 to December 2020. Look at the number of pending sales compared to new listings. This is an indictor that our market is going to continue to shrink, however we ARE seeing more houses coming on the market really starting on Thursday of last week.

Median sales price-DOWN 4.5% to $212,000
Closed sales-DOWN 39.7% to 2,042 units
New listings-UP 13.7% to 2,362 units
Pending sales-UP 26.6% to 2,886 units
Days on market-UP 15.2% to 38 days
Price per s.f.-DOWN 1.6% to $126
% of ask received-DOWN 0.2% to 98.2%
Active inventory-DOWN 20.6% to 1,908 units
Absorption rate-UP 28.6% to 0.9 months
Happy St. Patrick’s Day!!

Your friends in real estate,

Steve, Kylie, Patti, and Thea

P.S. Please don’t keep us a secret!

Click here to watch Steve’s intro video to the March newsletter

Click here to read our March newsletter

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

Click here for a 1-minute market update

Click here to read what others have to say about us and our service

Click here for the most advanced real estate app available

February Zulu Group Home News

Welcome to 2021! We hope you enjoyed some time with your friends and family as best you could during this difficult time. We sincerely hope that 2021 is much healthier and happier for everyone! We also hope that you are able to get out and about again to see more friends and family and also to travel. I know our family is extremely eager to get back to traveling and exploring again.

Happy Valentine’s Day as well!! Keep reading for an amazing prize package we are giving away that can be used as a super-cool Valentine’s Day present or any other day you choose. Entering is as simple as a phone call! Here is how it works-on Monday, February 1st from 1-4pm, simply call 317-426-6108. One of our team (Steve, Kylie, Patti, or Thea) will answer and we will get you registered. If you get our voice mail, we will call you right back. Everyone can enter one time by calling. If you want to increase your odds of winning significantly, give us the name and contact information of someone you care about whom we can help buy, sell, or build a new home. You will receive FIVE additional entries for EACH referral you give us when you call on February 1st. There is no limit!

The prize package is an overnight stay at the brand new 5-star Hotel Carmichael in Carmel in one of their luxury suites. It also includes a gift card for dinner for two at Vivante-the French fine dining restaurant on property. Additionally, you will be welcomed with champagne and chocolate-covered strawberries in your suite along with several other surprises upon your arrival. This price package is worth over $500!!! Call 317-426-6108 on February 1st between 1-4pm to enter and don’t forget to include a referral to earn five additional entries for EACH referral you include. Good luck!!

We hope you enjoy playing our Fun Day Monday quiz contest each month. Thank you to everyone who has played and congratulations to Veronica M. for being selected as this month’s winner!! Be sure and play next month for your chance to win a $25 Amazon gift card.

Thank you to everyone who attended our socially-distanced Happy Hour at Matt The Miller’s last Thursday. We had a great group and a lot of fun. We appreciate everyone for wearing masks and following the social distance guidelines. Our winner for a gift card this month in our Happy Hour drawing was Bill B. Congrats, Bill!! We also want to thank Johna Cripe with Harmony Relocation for sponsoring Happy Hour and our drawing this month. Johna owns Harmony Relocation. They specialize in helping seniors move from their home to their next residence. They also provide Staging services for all of our clients. Johna has helped many of our clients in the past and they have been extremely happy with the results! Give her a call at 317-201-5193 to schedule a consultation.

Please consider joining our socially-distanced Happy Hour for February on Thursday, February 18th from 5-6:30pm at Matt The Miller’s. We will be upstairs again to allow for social distancing. Feel comfortable bringing a significant other or friend. We would love to meet them! Our sponsor for February is Jonathan Walla with Walla Painting. Jonathan has been our go-to painter for several years and they do both interior/exterior work. They have painted for countless clients of ours as well as my personal residence. Jonathan has over 500 A-reviews on Angie’s List and does an outstanding job. As such, he books up fast, so give him a call today to reserve your spot on his schedule before the spring painting season arrives in a few short weeks-317-999-8124.

After taking its usual ‘breather’ for the holidays, our spring market is already starting to heat up! As you will see below, our inventory has once again shrunk to its lowest level in history at 0.7 months or 3-weeks! 6-months is considered a balanced/normal market. House appreciation was the highest on record in Indy at 17.3% last year! Prices are continuing to surpass all-time highs and interest rates are at all-time lows. Even with the high prices, the historic low interest rates, high appreciation, low inventory and tax advantages, this is perhaps the best time to buy a new home. Call us today at 317-573-1880 to discuss your specific situation and how we can help. Our goal is to guide, lead, and protect by helping 92 families this year and we are counting on our friends and clients to help us get there. :-) Who is the next person you know who is thinking about buying/selling/building a new home? Contact us today!

Below are numbers from MIBOR comparing November 2020 to December 2020.

Dr. Elliot Eisenberg, an internationally acclaimed economist and public speaker says, “Looking into 2021, despite job growth stalling, household spending sliding, and Covid-19 spreading, I believe that economically speaking, 2021 is shaping up well. Exceptionally expansive fiscal policy is and will be critical, as will the unprecedented promise of low rates for much longer from the Fed. We should see the economy take off once Sars-Cov-2 is defeated. I expect to see total 2021 GDP growth in the vicinity of 4.25%, after what will probably be a pretty weak 21Q1. Moreover, firms are adopting new technologies, which will boost productivity, keeping inflation away, while unemployment should end 2021 at about 5%.”

Median Sales Price-DOWN 0.6% to $222,900
Closed Sales-UP 2.6% to 3,333 units
New Listings-DOWN 24.4% to 2,062 units
Pending Sales-DOWN 17.1% to 2,438 units
Days on Market-UP 9.7% to 34 days
Price per s.f.-no change at $128
% of Ask Received-DOWN 0.1% to 98.4%
Active Inventory-DOWN 16.6% to 2,396 units
Absorption Rate-DOWN 22.2% to 0.7 months

Check out Steve’s video introduction to this month’s newsletter here

Watch a short video from Steve introducing our first prize package giveaway here

Read the February newsletter here

Get exclusive access to coupons and discounts at places you shop every day here

Watch a short 1-minute market update video here

Read and watch what our clients have to say about working with us here

Your Friends in Real Estate,

Steve, Kylie, Thea, Patti

January 2021 Steve & Jack's Home News

Welcome to 2021! For many, if not most of us, we are happy to get 2020 in our rearview mirror, especially since a vaccine is here and being rolled out across the globe. Time will tell how effective it is, but it is a great start and a light at the end of a very long, dark tunnel. We mourn those we have lost, including loved ones, friends, neighbors, businesses, and non-profit organizations. No one seemed to be immune, however we have to believe that we will rise stronger than ever and fresh new opportunities will arise as a result of the struggles and pain we have endured. We truly hope and pray this is true and that 2021 will start to return to our 'new normal'.

We hope you are able to enjoy some downtime safely with family for the holidays and recharge for the coming year. Our family is staying home this year. Usually, we go see Brigid's family in St. Pete, FL or they come here, but with COVID they are staying put and so are we. Jack and Mary Anne are coming over for Christmas Eve dinner and then present opening from each other. Christmas morning will be a Zoom call with them as well as Brigid's parents watching the girls open their presents. While not ideal, we will make it work and enjoy time together, even if it is virtual. We hope you are able to include family virtually as well this year to continue your traditions, even if they look a little different.

Thea & Michael are traveling back home to Cleveland for Christmas and enjoying time with family.

Patti & Ron are staying home as well with Ron enjoying his newly-found retirement. Patti took last week off to finish getting things ready for Christmas and spend time with Ron.

Kylie and her family will spend Christmas together as well and enjoy some much-deserved downtime with her taking the last two weeks of the year off.

The housing market has continued to get tighter and tighter with prices climbing every month. In fact, they climbed 19.6% since last November, which is an all-time record. Indianapolis has been identified as one of the top ten major metros in the US to have weathered and continue to weather the COVID and post-COVID markets the best. We are expecting a super-busy 2021 with home sales. If you are thinking about making a move, give us a call! We would love to hear about your goals and plans and how we can help make them a reality.

Here are some stats comparing November 2020 to October 2020, per MIBOR for the 16 counties it serves:

Median sales price-UP 1.8% to $224,900

Closed sales-DOWN 15% to 3,191 units

New listings-DOWN 28.2% to 2,707 units

Pending sales-DOWN 11.6% to 3,057 units

Days on market-UP 24% to 31 days

Price per s.f.-DOWN 0.8% to $128

% of ask received-DOWN 0.2% to 98.6%

Active inventory-DOWN 12.4% to 2,870 units

Absorption rate-FLAT at 0.9 months

As you can see, activity has dropped, but that is expected at this time of the year. We expect activity to pick up again as we approach spring.

May you enjoy the holidays with your family and take some downtime. We are grateful you are part of our tribe and look forward to continue serving you into 2021.

If you are thinking of selling your house, come to our Home Seller Workshop on 1/12/21 at 7pm. We would love to have you. It is a small group and socially-distanced. We will be providing tips and tricks on how to best prepare your house to sell and maximize your value. RSVP to me at 317-339-7698 or Steve@Welcome2Indy.com. We would love to have you!!!

Also, if safe, we will having our first Happy Hour of 2021 on Thursday, January 21st from 5-6:30pm. Check your e-mail in the coming weeks for more info and updates.

Check out our January newsletter below along with links to other resources. Happy New Year!!

Watch Steve's January video intro here

Read our January newsletter here

Download the most powerful real estate app here

Grab coupons and discount at places you shop every day here

Read and watch what our clients have to say about our service here

Watch a 1-minute video about the real estate market here

Your friends in real estate,

Steve, Kylie, Patti, Thea

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

2021 Colors of The Year

Everything has its season, and for paint, winter is that time. Year after year, paint companies release their chosen Color(s) of the Year, which are meant to be reflections on trends that are coming to interior design near you. If you’ve been considering repainting a bedroom or your whole house, knowing what’s in can help you narrow down the impressively huge list of paint options available. Bold Tones Are Where It’s At 2021 continues the trend that’s been taking us far from the subdued hues that have been so popular in the past. Instead of neutral palettes, homeowners are going big or going home. That doesn’t mean the paint scheme in every house has to be glam, but it does mean that it’s ok to put a little personality out there. Pops of color are glorious when done properly and no longer the sale killer they may have once been. But it’s not exactly a revisit to the 1950s. Color should be used more strategically to create a big impact, highlight features in your home, and influence the atmosphere in living, dining, and sleeping spaces. Search Drumroll Please…. Most of the major paint companies have announced their colors for this year, though a few are still waiting for 2021 to roll around. Of those that have made it official, you’ll notice a big trend in color themes. Blues, pinks, and grays rule the day, though they’re not your grandma’s retro flavors. Pantone: Ultimate Gray and Illuminating One of the top names in color has come up with one of the top color combos for 2021. It’s a whole mood, really, and sums up 2020 pretty well. Ultimate Gray is a light neutral gray color that would be at home in almost any space. Illuminating, however, is a bright, determined yellow that should be used in small doses. As Pantone’s executive director, Leatrice Eiseman, wrote in a press release about the decision, “The union of an enduring Ultimate Gray with the vibrant yellow Illuminating expresses a message of positivity supported by fortitude.” It’s also way eye-catching. Rust-Oleum: Satin Paprika Do you dream of the desert southwest? Or maybe you already live there and want to bring a bit more pop indoors? Satin Paprika may be the answer. This coral red, spicy earth tone is the anchor for three distinct color palettes that Rust-Oleum has developed for 2021. It’s gorgeous in a variety of spaces, works with many different colors, and, frankly, it brings to mind the red stone that’s so common in the desert. Your succulents will feel right at home. Glidden: Aqua Fiesta Glidden zigged this year when a lot of the other paint brands zagged, and named Aqua Fiesta its Accent Color of the Year. It’s a bold, but not overly bright, aqua color that goes great with both light neutral browns and grays, allowing it to dress up all kinds of spaces. You might feel like taking an island vacation or dream of mermaids after painting this one on, though. Benjamin Moore: Aegean Teal Benjamin Moore was also feeling a bit blue when choosing 2021’s color of the year, but more blue than green, which resulted in a gorgeous dark robin egg-esque color. The gray undertones make it a great accompaniment to the popular gray neutrals, and the more strict blue gives it a bit of a grown-up feel. It’s a super calming color in any room and will even pair well with yellows. HGTV Home by Sherwin-Williams: Passionate Blue isn’t everybody’s thing, and clearly HGTV Home by Sherwin-Williams agrees. It chose Passionate for its 2021 Color of the Year. This is a deep carnation, but not quite red, sort of color that looks awesome with earth tones and tans. It’s the kind of color that you may have never expected to like, let alone paint in your home, until you see it in action. Accent it with other bold tones and your humdrum room will absolutely be transformed. Sherwin-Williams: Urbane Bronze Looking for deep, rich color that won’t leave anyone guessing about your intention for your space? Urbane Bronze is a color that will define a space without regrets. It’s a warm gray-brown that goes well with a range of flooring and lighting, but stands up on its own without the need for a lot of fanfare. You might not want to use this on every wall, as it may have a way of making your space feel a bit small, but your accent walls and accent pieces will absolutely thank you. Valspar: Hues of the Year Valspar couldn’t pick just one, so instead went with a whole range of colors for the year. It chose 12 muted colors; these are colors that could be considered “barely there,” just a hint of bold for a room that isn’t ready to go all in. These subtle choices range from misty blue to a warm apricot, with buttercream, green, beige, and gray also on the menu. Use this palette together to create a wholly harmonious space. Learn More Ready to Get Painting? Choosing your colors is only the first step to getting that big paint job done. If you need some help finding a painter who will knock it out of the park, don’t hesitate to ask your HomeKeepr family for a recommendation. After all, it’s an awfully good feeling knowing that someone you believe in trusts the painter that’s going to make your dreams come true.

Should You DIY Your Holiday Lights?

A good holiday light display can be awe-inspiring, leaving neighbors talking and prompting people from all over town to drive by just to see it. Unfortunately, some of these displays can be difficult to install, and may even require some technical know-how if you want the display to sync to music or have multiple parts working together. There are services that can help with this, putting in the work to set up your lights, regardless of whether you want a modest display or something that would make Clark Griswold green with envy. Are they right for you, though? Here are a few things to consider. Display Complexity One thing that can influence your decision of whether to DIY your holiday lighting is the complexity of the display you want to create. There might not be much of a need for you to hire someone if you are doing basic decorations or have all the equipment you need to get your lights in place. If you want a large elaborate display, or don’t already have everything that you need to reach and mount lights everywhere you want them, you might be better off hiring someone to get the decorations done. Available Free Time Putting up lights around the holidays can take a lot of time, especially for larger displays. This is why a lot of people make decorating into a weekend project when there’s more time available to put into it. Between work, family time, and other responsibilities, though, you may not have large blocks of time available to put into your decorations. This can lead to holiday decorating being stretched out across days or even weeks of small bursts of activity, so if you’re in that situation you might consider paying to have it done instead. Search Necessary Equipment Hanging lights might seem like a simple task, but it becomes a lot harder if you don’t have the necessary equipment on hand. While you can get light mounting hooks and other supplies pretty cheaply, you’re looking at bigger expenses if you find that you need to buy a ladder or other equipment just to get to the areas where you want the lights to go. If you don’t already have everything you need, hiring someone who does may be the cheaper and easier option. Technical Configuration Some lighting displays are really impressive, using computers and other specialized hardware to sync multiple display pieces, and in some cases even operate projectors or broadcast music that can be picked up on the FM band. If you’re not very technologically savvy, setting up a display like this might be more of a job than you can realistically handle alone. Bringing in someone with experience setting up these more technology-driven displays can save you some serious time. It may save you money as well, as they’ll make sure that you don’t buy anything that you don’t actually need to get your display working. Other Services When trying to decide whether you can do your decorating yourself or if you need to bring someone else in, consider whether there’s anything else that you need help doing. Some holiday decorating services offer assistance with multiple parts of decorating, including setting up trees or displays inside the house. Some may even offer custom decorations or consulting services to make sure that everything ties together and matches the existing themes of your home. These are all things that you can typically do yourself, of course. Still, if you have a certain look in mind, it’s worth remembering that you may be able to get some help bringing it to life this holiday season. Finding the Right Installer Finding a light installer you can trust isn’t always easy, but HomeKeepr is here to help. Sign up for a free account today and connect with workers who can get the job done right the first time.

December 2020 Steve & Jack's Home News

December is finally here and we are in full swing of the holidays. Regardless of what holiday you celebrate, we hope this time is full of hope, excitement and new beginnings! We could all use a little of that right now! I don’t know about you, but I have seen holiday lights up earlier than ever before this year. Could it be because people are ready for some holiday spirit to brighten this strange and in many cases difficult year? I would like to think so. Our lights were put up a couple of weeks ago when the weather was over 70-degrees. It was glorious!

Where do I start?? We have had so many client events this past month and are grateful to each of you who took part as we have loved seeing you and saying thank you!! Happy Hour last week was extremely well-attended and looked a little different than usual with social distancing guidelines in place for safety. Thank you, again to our sponsor Jeff Lazar with Lazar Insurance-317-867-1303. We appreciate the support. If you are thinking about making a change of insurance or just want a second opinion, we can’t recommend Jeff and his team highly enough!! They do a great job and really take care of their clients. If you would like to sponsor an upcoming Happy Hour next year, please give Patti a call at 463-999-3949. We are looking for May and later right now. No Happy Hour in December, but we will pick back up again in January on the 21st.

Our very first North Pole Experience at our office was a huge hit! Thank you to so many families who attended and received their ‘Nice List’ certificate, some pre-wrapped treats, a goodie bag, writing letters to Santa (a response should be coming in the next couple of weeks or so) and the amazing family photos (we will send those to you when we receive them from the professional photographer, hopefully next week). We hope you had as good of a time as we did seeing you!

Finally, another first-our Thanksgiving Pie pick-up exceeded even our most optimistic expectations!!! Over 115 of you ordered a pie from No Label at The Table and hopefully you have enjoyed it with family by now. No Label at The Table is a very small, family-owned bakery in Carmel that employs young adults on the autism spectrum and teaches them job and life skills. They also sell items via several micro businesses in the store and are a gluten- and dairy-free company. They were SO grateful of the support during this really difficult time. Please visit them for future needs and they are so easy to work with and also are grateful for your support. We also donated 45 pies to Student Impact of Westfield so 45 families could enjoy a Thanksgiving meal that they otherwise would’t have had. This was a success on so many levels and we certainly hope you felt the love. Thank you for participating and we hope to see you again next year!!!

Patti did such an amazing job organizing all three of these events that happened in six short days!! We are grateful for everything she did to pull these events off. Look for more fun events next year!!! Patti, enjoy some much-deserved down-time!

Thea and Michael will be headed to Cleveland to be with family this holiday and are loving their new home. We look forward to her hosting our team holiday party in December and enjoy her amazing cooking!

Kylie is staying near home to spend time with family as well and is in the middle of some house projects, too.

Steve and his family are staying home for the holidays. Thanksgiving dinner will be made by Brigid and driven to Jack and Mary Anne as well as his sister Michelle and then back home so they can eat dinner together via Zoom. Christmas will be at home as well this year and they will enjoy some relaxation.

Make no mistake, however that our team IS working through the holidays, so if you or someone you care about are thinking of making a move, give us a call and we are happy to help. Holidays can be a busy time for us and our clients for real estate, so don’t feel shy about calling.

As for the housing market, it is still hot. We need inventory BADLY! We are still at less than a month of supply and things aren’t going to get better any time soon. With record-low interest rates well below 3% and house prices higher than ever, this is a great time to buy/sell/build a new home. Here are some stats from MIBOR comparing October 2020 to September 2020:

Median sales price-DOWN 1.8% to $221,000

Closed sales-DOWN 0.7% to 3,689 units

New listings-DOWN 9.6% to 3,746 units

Pending sales-DOWN 1.5% to 3,638 units

Days on market-no change at 25 days

Price per s.f.-no change at $129

% of asking price received-DOWN 0.2% to 98.8%

Active inventory-UP 2.7% to 3,259 units

Absorption rate-no change at 0.9 months

As you can see the market is softening a LITTLE bit, but this is expected prior to a presidential election and going into winter. We expect the market to tighten up again as we get past the election and head toward spring. NAR is predicting 2021 to be even stronger than 2020, so buckle up and get ready for another wild ride!!!

Happy Thanksgiving, Merry Christmas, and Happy Holidays from our family to yours. Thank you for being such an important part of our lives. We appreciate you!!!

Click here to watch an intro video from Steve

Click here to read the December newsletter

Click here to download the most powerful real estate app available

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

Click here to watch a 1-minute video about this month in real estate

Click here to see what our clients have to say about us

Your friends in real estate, Steve, Kylie, Thea, and Patti

P.S. Please don’t keep us a secret.

November Steve & Jack's Home News

Welcome, fall! We have certainly seen the temperatures cool and the leaves change. While this is a beautiful time of the year, allergy sufferers and those not enjoying the cold weather that follows aren’t quite as happy. We certainly hope you are able to take some time to enjoy the fall colors as well as football. I write this month’s newsletter sitting in the Tampa airport at the end of Fall Break. We took a very short trip to St. Pete to visit Brigid’s parents whom we haven’t seen in almost a year. It was nice to get away and enjoy some sun, pool time, and just relax and get a change of scenery. It definitely is good medicine after this year!

Ana continues to do well at Guerin, but misses soccer. Her varsity team made it to the State Championship and they play on Halloween. Tali is preparing for her first competitive cheer competition in a couple of weeks. We are anxious to experience our first cheer competition as parents. Brigid has finally been able to get out of the house and start making her calls again. She is happy to be able to get out again!

Jack and Mary Anne are staying home for the next several months and are enjoying relaxing and having the girls over to visit. Kylie is actively working on remodeling her house and dealing with the disruption that entails. She also celebrated a birthday this past week and our team enjoyed spoiling her for the day. Patti celebrated her 1-year wedding anniversary last week and spent the weekend enjoying some fun activities with Ron. Thea and her husband Michael are getting settled into their new home and welcomed their parents to visit this past weekend.

Thank you to everyone for attending our October Happy Hour! We had another great turnout and enjoyed re-connecting with so many friends and clients. Thank you to Genan Kirby at Indiana Members Credit Union for sponsoring the October Happy Hour. If you are looking for a change in your financial services provider, give Genan a call. You will enjoy outstanding service!! Her number is 317-508-4264. We hope you can join us for our November Happy Hour on Thursday, November 19th from 5-6:30pm at Matt The Miller’s again. We would love to see you!!! Our sponsor for November is Lazar Insurance. They have been one of our top VIP Insurance Partners for many years and we highly recommend them. Their coverage is top-notch and so is their service. Their premiums are very competitive. Give Jeff a call at 317-867-1303 and tell him I sent you.

Many of you participate in our Annual Cookies with Santa. Due to COVID, we aren’t able to do that this year, however we will be doing a ‘visit’ to the North Pole at our office on Sunday, November 22nd from 11AM-3PM. Watch your inbox and mailbox for more details on how to register. We hope you can make it!!

You should have received a Save The Date card in the mail by now for Tuesday, November 24th. Unfortunately, due to the current health situation, we are not able to continue our movie event, so we have created a new event that we hope you will enjoy. You will like what we have planned…and it will also benefit those less fortunate as well as a small, family-owned local business. We thought long and hard on what to do this year and believe we found a great event to say ‘Thank You!’ for inviting us to help you as well as giving back to the community. Watch your mailbox and e-mail for more details in the next week.

Real estate has slowed just a bit ahead of this contentious election, which was to be expected. It is still HOT and many houses are still flying off the market, but many are not selling quite as fast as they used to. While this year is anything but normal and we don’t know what tomorrow will bring, let alone this winter, if the real estate market follows the typical post-presidential election pattern, we will see a busier-than-usual winter real estate market. Interest rates for a 30-year fixed conventional mortgage are still under 3%. If you are not moving anytime soon and haven’t looked into refinancing, give us a call. We have some awesome lenders who will be happy to help guide you in the right direction and advise you if it makes sense to re-finance or not. If you are considering moving, give us a call. We would be happy to consult with you about your options.

If you are interested in attending a short class on preparing your house for sale, send me an e-mail at steve@Welcome2Indy.com and we will get you registered. It is on Tuesday, November 10th from 7-8pm. You will learn tips, tricks, and hacks to maximize your resale value.
Our housing inventory is still exceedingly low, although it ticked up 1/10th of a point to 0.9 months. Here are some stats comparing September 2020 to August 2020.

Median Sales Price DOWN 1.3% to $225,000

Closed Sales DOWN 2.4% to 3,650 units

New Listings UP 7.2% to 4,117 units

Pending Sales DOWN 0.1% to 3,896 units

Days on Market DOWN 3.6% to 27 days

Price per s.f.-No change-$129

% of Ask Received-No change-99%

Active Inventory UP 7.4% to 3,165 units

Absorption Rate UP 12.5% to 0.9 months

As you can see, the market is starting to soften just a tad, but we are still in a super-strong sellers’ market. If you are thinking of selling, this is still an amazing time to sell with record-high sales prices and record-low interest rates.

Click here to watch an intro video from Steve about real estate and events happening this month

Click here to read our November newsletter

Click here to download the most powerful real estate app available

Click here to watch a 1-minute market update video

Click here to watch/read what our clients have to say about us

Click here to access coupons and discounts at stores you shop every day (who doesn't like to save money?)

We hope you have a great November and are able to spend Thanksgiving with some friends and family. Thank you for making us part of yours!

Your friends in real estate,

Steve, Kylie, Thea, and Patti

P.S. Please don’t keep us a secret!

October 2020 Steve and Jack's Home News

Welcome to Fall! For some weird reason, this year has flown by in some respects, but creeped along in others. It truly has been a strange year that no one will ever forget. We hope this note finds you happy and healthy and enjoying the first few days of Fall. While things look a little different this year, we hope you can enjoy some of what makes Fall fun.

Thank you to everyone who attended Happy Hour a couple of weeks ago! We had another big turnout and enjoyed the weather outside on the patio at Matt the Miller’s. Thank you to Bill Maki of The Kaveri Group for sponsoring it this month. Bill does video work and has done all of ours. You can see samples on our website. He is very good at what he does and if you have a need for some good video work, Bill is your guy. You can reach Bill at WHMaki@gmail.com. We hope you will join us at our October Happy Hour on Thursday, October 15th from 5-6:30pm at Matt The Miller’s. It is sponsored by Genan Kirby with Indiana Members Credit Union. Genan specializes in investment services, but is happy to talk about all of their financial services at our next Happy Hour. I have known Genan for many years and she is one of the most ethical, hard-working, and caring people I know. She is a great person to know!!!

Our last Shred Day went great and we had over 150 cars drop off items to be shredded or recycled. We hope that you have been one of over 1,000 cars that have been able to take advantage of the last 3 Shred Days. If not, we will have more!! We are not sure if we will offer another one yet this year, or wait until spring of next year, but we will have another one and we will communicate the next one to you when known.

I am proud to announce that I have earned another two designations to provide an even higher level of service to our clients, bringing the total designations/certifications to 13, the most of any real estate agent in the world. The Pricing Strategies Advisor (PSA) designation teaches agents advanced skills in properly pricing houses for sale, helping buyers evaluate what price to offer for a house and how best to work with appraisers in this crazy market. The second designation is the Certified Luxury Home Marketing Specialist (CLHMS) designation. It digs deep in how to best help clients who are looking to buy or sell luxury property whether it is their primary residence or a second home. If you or someone you know is thinking about buying/selling/building a luxury home, give us a call. We specialize in helping that market segment and have an entire Concierge Program designed to cater to their every need and make the process as simple and easy as possible.

Lately, I have been asked frequently about people thinking about a career in real estate. If you have been considering it, please give me a call. I would be very happy to sit down and talk with you or someone you care about and answer questions as well as provide a behind-the-scenes look at what you need to know/do/learn to be successful.

Speaking of agents, if you or someone you know is thinking about moving out-of-state, please call me. We have multiple networks of the top 3% of agents in the world to whom we can refer. We do this regularly and can assure you an outstanding experience. If we don’t personally know an agent in an area already, we use our network to find several and interview them and match you with the best agent to suit your needs. Call us today to help you!

Thank you to everyone who has written great reviews on our service! We are once again up to earn the coveted Angie’s List Super Service Award and 5-Star Real Estate Professional award. Both of these recognize the top 7% of agents in the market for superior client service. We are honored to receive these each year!!

Do you have a need for a painter, carpet cleaner, handyman, CPA, financial advisor, inspector, window cleaner, de-clutterer, mover, etc.? Give us a call!!! We have 17 VIP Vendor Partners who are committed to providing outstanding service and the best prices to our clients. We are happy to connect you with them to ensure you receive an outstanding experience!

Thank you to everyone who attended our first of three in a series of home prep workshops with the Westfield Washington Township Trustee’s office. If you or someone you know is thinking of selling soon or down the road, these are excellent workshops to learn the best tips and tricks to ensure you are ready for the market and sell the fastest for the most money and the least amount of hassle. The next one is on Tuesday, October 13th from 7-8:30pm. You can sign up via their website here: https://www.westfieldwashingtontwp.us/101/OWWN-Guide. Best of all, it is FREE!

As for our team, my family is doing well and I am staying busy with real estate. Brigid has been stuck at home since mid-March, but is finally able to get out again next week for her job and she is so excited! Tali is doing great with her competitive cheer through ICE and is looking forward to her first competition next month. Ana has finished her soccer season at Guerin as of tomorrow. Unfortunately, in her game on Monday she suffered a bad shoulder sprain in a collision with another player and missed the final 3 games of the season. She will heal, but will miss being with her team. She has loved playing soccer again! She starts singing with The Indianapolis Children’s Choir again next month as well.

My parents Jack and Mary Anne are in the Smokies enjoying the Fall colors and beautiful scenery. This will be their last trip until February and they are looking forward to staying home for awhile.

Patti enjoyed a well-deserved vacation to South Carolina with her husband Ron and some friends last week. While the weather didn’t cooperate, they still enjoyed the down time and being together.

Kylie is managing virtual learning with her family and works from home some days and at the office others. She is doing a great job juggling a busy family with lots of scheduling commitments.

Thea is so excited to close on her new home with her husband Michael this month!!! She has been working almost every day with tons of buyers trying to find homes to buy in this super-tight market. It isn’t easy…but she is doing a great job winning multiple offer bidding wars for our clients. Thinking of buying soon? Give us a call. We can help!

Speaking of markets, we find ourselves in the tightest sellers’ market in history right now. With only 3 weeks of inventory (6-months is a balanced market), there are very few homes on the market right now and what is on the market typically sells immediately. Interest rates are at all-time lows of around 2.5% for a 30-year mortgage!!!! We have never seen rates this low before. If you are thinking about moving, take advantage of these rates. If you aren’t thinking about moving, look into re-financing (give us a call as we can introduce you to an excellent lender who can help). It might save you thousands of dollars/year in interest.

Here are some market stats from MIBOR comparing August 2020 to July 2020 as well as a quote from nationally-recognized economist Dr. Elliott Eisenberg: “The Indianapolis real estate market re-wrote the record book again in August. The median sales price rose 14.6% to $228,000, the highest price on record. For all of 2020, year-over-year price appreciation has averaged 11.2%, and the only time in the past decade that we saw anything that exceeded this year-over-year grain was the 14.8% we saw in April 2010.” He continues, “Your home prices have basically doubled over the last ten years, while corresponding inflation rose only 20 percent!”

Median Sales Price-$228,000-UP 1.3%
Closed Sales-3,676 units-DOWN 9.3%
New Listings-3,816 units-DOWN 8.8%
Pending Sales-4,082 units-UP 3.7%
Days on Market-29 days-DOWN 6.5%
Price per Square Foot-$129-UP 0.8%
% of Ask Received-99.1%-UP 0.3%
Active Inventory-2,937 units-DOWN 9.8%
Absorption Rate-0.8 months-No change

As you can see, our market is white hot!!! Give us a call today if you are thinking about making a change. We would be happy to consult with you about your options so you can make an informed decision.

Enjoy this Fall weather and we hope to see you at our Happy Hour on the 15th!!

Your Friends in Real Estate, Steve, Kylie, Thea, and Patti

P.S. Please don’t keep us a secret!

Click here to read our October newsletter

September Steve & Jack's Home News

It is August, right?? As I write this month’s article, I am watching the Indy 500 live! What? While I am glad to be able to watch it live on TV, it certainly is weird, especially since this is the first time in history to be run in August…and with no fans in the stands. Very strange indeed.

We did it!!! Welcome to the end of summer and our kiddos are still alive!!! This has seemed like both the longest and shortest summers ever. Both of our girls are back at school. Ana who is a sophomore at Guerin High School is back live full-time. Tali who is in 5th grade at Westfield Intermediate is back utilizing a hybrid model, where she is live two days a week and virtual 3 days a week. So far, both girls are enjoying being back with their friends and back into a routine, although it means earlier mornings. Ana is playing on the soccer team and they won their first game of the season. This is the hardest she has ever worked, and we are proud of her for sticking it out. Tali is still having a great time with competitive cheer. Last weekend, she practiced for 21 out of 48-hours! She was tired, but loved every minute of it. We are anxious to see how the competition season goes this fall/winter. If you have kiddos in sports, how have they adjusted to being back?

Brigid is still stuck at home with her work. Merck will not let her do live sales calls still and it is driving her nuts! Stuck in conference and Zoom call purgatory is not fun and she is itching to get outside. Last Sunday, we celebrated our 17-year wedding anniversary and went to Ruth’s Chris at The Ironworks building. Although quite pricey, it was a lovely dinner with a great atmosphere and excellent service. Highly recommend…but be prepared to pay for it!

Steve completed a couple of more designations and certifications this month. One is the Pricing Strategy Advisor (PSA), which provided specialized training in home valuations and working with appraisers. This is crucial in this crazy market right now to get the price right the first time. The second is the Certified Luxury Home Marketing Specialist (CLHMS) designation. This is the most exclusive designation for marketing luxury property. It teaches agents how luxury property is different from other properties and how to work with luxury sellers and market their homes differently to an affluent buyer. Both were excellent courses and a lot of new information was learned and we are ready to implement it. These mark the 12th and 13th designations/certifications Steve has earned continuing to make him the most formally educated residential real estate agent in the world. This unparalleled training and expertise is used to empower and educate their clients while buying and selling.

Thea has been super-busy lately working with a lot of buyers and successfully negotiating accepted offers during a highly competitive market. She consistently receives top marks and praise from her buyers she helps through the toughest market in history for them. If you or someone you know are thinking about buying or selling right now, give us a call and we will put our unparalleled experience and tactics to work for you to ensure the absolute best experience possible.

Patti officially received her real estate license after passing her exam last month! We are excited to have all members of our team fully licensed to provide an even higher level of service to our clients and referral partners.

Kylie has continued to work hard to be so efficient in tracking everything so we know where we stand during this very strange year. She also processes all paperwork so quickly, she draws high praise not only from our office staff, but also other agents with whom we work. She is the absolute best at what she does and we are lucky to have her on our team.

Jack and Mary Anne were in Branson a few weeks ago and really enjoyed getting away. Social distancing practices were in full force while they took in a few shows. Currently, they are in their timeshare in Fairfield Glade in Tennessee for the week.

A huge thank you to all of our clients and referral partners who attended our first live Happy Hour since March!!! We had a great group (bigger than expected) and we all enjoyed the beautiful weather on the patio at Matt The Miller’s. It was so good to see everyone again. If you feel comfortable, please join us for our next Happy Hour on Thursday, September 17th from 5-6:30pm at Matt The Miller’s. We will return to the patio assuming weather is cooperating since it was so well-received. September will be sponsored by our referral partner Bill Maki with Kaveri Group. Bill specializes in video marketing and testimonials. You can see some of his work on our website (www.Welcome2Indy.com). The videos and testimonials are his work. Bill will have a few minutes to share what he does and how he can help someone you care about looking for some exposure on-line.

SHRED Day is back!!! Our 3rd Shred Day is going to be on September 11th from 10AM-12PM in our office parking lot. The past two have seen over 400 cars participate!!! We have contracted TWO trucks this month to make it more efficient and faster. We will also still have our electronics recycling truck there. So, come on by and safely have your documents destroyed and electronics recycled. This is absolutely FREE to you as our valued clients/referral partners.

Our real estate market is as hot as the temperature!!! Inventory went down again to 0.8 months, which is equivalent to about 3 weeks. Never before in history have we seen inventory this low. Prices have appreciated 11.9% from last year. Bottom line, if you or someone you care about are thinking about selling, NOW is the time. If you are concerned about not being able to find a home because you know your current home will sell too fast, we have a strategy to help. Call us today and we can share with you strategies that work-317-573-1880. Check out the latest stats from MIBOR comparing July 2020 to June 2020:

Median Sales Price-UP 2.3% to $225,000
Closed Sales-UP 9.9% to 3,969 units
New Listings-UP 7.4% to 4,161 units
Pending Sales-UP 2.7% to 4,155 units
Days on Market-DOWN 8.6% to 32 days
Price/s.f.-UP 2.4% to $128
% of Ask Received-UP 0.4% to 98.8%
Active Inventory-UP 1.3% to 3,246 units
Absorption Rate-DOWN 11.1% to 0.8 months

Check out Steve’s September intro video here

Read our September newsletter here

Want to read what other clients have to say about us? Watch some videos here

Want to download the most powerful real estate app available? Download it here

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

Watch a 1-minute market update video here

Thank you for all of your support and trust over the years! We couldn’t do what we love without you!!!

Your friends in real estate,

Steve, Kylie, Thea, & Patti

P.S. Please don’t keep us a secret!

August 2020 Steve & Jack's Home News

Happy end of summer!! For many of us, it means back-to-school for our kiddos, but that looks a little different this year than past years. Also, for many parents with school-aged children, we have been with our kiddos since mid-March. Yikes! If you are fortunate enough to be able to send your kiddos back to school, congratulations! If not, we commiserate with you.

This year has been tough on all of us, but especially parents with school-aged children who are forced to play full-time, all-day, all-week caregiver, teacher, nurse, entertainer, and food service worker. If you also work, good luck! We hope you navigate the back-to-school storm (whatever that looks like for you) as smoothly as possible and stay happy and healthy.

Steve and his family just returned from their first vacation since last October. They went to the Poconos and stayed in a condo and had an adjoining unit for Brigid’s brother and his family, his wife’s sister and husband and her mom. They also each brought their dogs. It turned out to be a great week, very relaxing with amazing weather, swimming, a white water rafting trip, 26-mile bike ride, kayaking, hiking, tennis, soccer games, and for the adults late-night Euchre games (Steve and his partner waxed everyone else!) :-) It was so nice (and needed) to get away and get a change of scenery. We hope that you have been able to take a trip this summer to just get a break as well. Those are so needed right now.

Jack and Mary Anne continue to do well and stay healthy. They are doing a reasonably good job at social distancing, but they did just return from Branson and saw some shows. Some were good at social distancing and some not so much, but they had a good time and enjoyed getting away.

Steve’s sister Michelle had a delayed graduation party for her oldest Caleb and it was nice to see some people we haven’t seen in many years. We wish Caleb good luck next Fall at IUPUI.

On our team, Patti had a HUGE accomplishment in passing her real estate exam and is applying for her license. This is especially big since she had to drive to Cincinnati to take the exam and finished her class in March. That gap made it really difficult, but she made it and we are so happy for her. Every member of our team will be licensed by next week.

Kylie was able to take some time off and spend with her family going to the zoo, pool, Wolf Park and relaxing at home. She needed a bit of a break since we have been working so much lately.

Speaking of working a lot, Thea has been rocking it lately helping 6 clients just in the past few weeks secure a home. This market has been brutal for buyers and buyer agents and she is has been doing such a great job working so hard for our clients winning multiple offer situations repeatedly.

Thank you to the over 400 of you who came for our FREE Shred Day a few weeks ago. We filled an entire truck as well as electronic recycling truck. We are planning another one for September, so stay tuned for the date.

Happy Hours are attempting to be re-started this month. We have August 20th on the books. Please come if you feel comfortable. Matt The Miller’s from 5-7pm. We would LOVE to see you again!!!!!

The market is the hottest on record. We are down below 1-month of inventory right now, which is insane and down over 30% from last month alone! Mortgage rates have hit all-time lows as well with rates for many of our clients in the low to mid-2%! Home prices are going up faster than ever and inventory keeps shrinking. If you or someone you care about is remotely thinking of buying, selling, or building, please call us. We would be happy to share all of the facts and data that are relevant to your specific situation so you can make an informed decision. If you are not as worried about selling your house as you are with finding a new one, we have a program designed specifically for you to address that very concern. Our 3-day, Free Look Marketing Program has netted sellers more money in a faster time with fewer hassles than any other marketing program out there. Give Steve a call at 317-573-1880 to learn about both of these programs and how we are addressing our clients’ concerns during this challenging market.

Here are some MIBOR stats showing the changes from May 2020 to June 2020. They are remarkable:

Median Sales Price-$219,000-UP 1.9%

Closed Sales-3,518 units-UP 28.2%

New Listings-3,848 units-UP 2.2%

Pending Sales-4,269 units-UP 10.5%

Days on Market-35-DOWN 7.9%

Price per s.f.-$125-UP 3.3%

% of Ask Received-98.4%-UP 0.5%

Active Inventory-3,210 units-DOWN 10.2%

Absorption Rate-0.9 months-DOWN 30.8%

Look at the how the pending sales is more than new listings. This is an indicator of what to expect next month-even lower inventory levels. Sellers are getting over 98% of asking price! That is crazy! Active inventory is down over 10% and the absorption rate (how long it will take all of the current listings to sell with the current buyer demand) is down over 30% to less than one month. Are you kidding me?? These numbers are nuts and we have never seen anything like it before. The election MAY cause a real estate contraction. We don’t know for sure, but every economist I have heard lately has been warning of that, so if you are thinking of selling, NOW is the time!

Thank you for reading and for your continued trust and loyalty. We couldn’t do what we do without you.

Enjoy this month’s newsletter!

Read the August newsletter here

Download the most powerful real estate app here

Watch a quick video discussing the real estate market in 1-minute here

Read what our clients have to say about us here

Watch an intro video of our team here

Your friends in real estate, Steve, Kylie, Thea, Patti

July Steve & Jack's Home News

Happy Independence Day weekend!

Welcome to the July edition of Steve & Jack’s Home News!

We truly hope this video message finds you staying safe and healthy and enjoying the summer weather. We hope you stay safe this weekend and enjoy the holiday.

The biggest news is our Team Buyer Specialist Thea Charnas got married on July 20th in Cleveland followed by a honeymoon to Charleston, SC. Her married name is Thea Snelly. She and her husband Michael are excited to start the next chapter of their lives as husband and wife. Please join me in congratulating Thea!

Our Team Marketing Director Patti Bruns is in final preparations to take her real estate exam in a few weeks in Cincinnati after having to reschedule her test in March due to the pandemic. This test is not easy and comes after 120-hours in the classroom. Patti would appreciate your positive thoughts as she prepares for this test. We know she will do great!

Kylie, after being bitten badly by her puppy is all recovered and we are happy she has healed and is back to 100%.

Our entire team is finally back together in the office after 2.5 months working from our homes.

Steve’s family is excited to drive to The Poconos at the end of this month to spend the week with Brigid’s brother and his family. This will be the first trip we take our dog Duke with us, so we are anxious to see how he does with a 10-hour car ride! This trip is the ‘consolation trip’ for our missed trips for spring break to Universal Studios and our summer trip to Italy. We hope to get back to both next year.

Steve’s 10-year old daughter Natalia has made the decision to quit competitive gymnastics after 4 years and transfer her skills to competitive cheer with her ICE cheer team. She will be traveling around the country competing and is so excited! She also completed a 2-week horse camp in Zionsville a few weeks ago and absolutely loved it!

Steve’s 14-year old daughter Anastasia graduated from The Indianapolis Children’s Choir last month after 6-years and will be moving up to their Master Chorale for 10-12 graders. She also will be playing soccer for Guerin High School and has already started practicing with the team. She has quickly learned that high school sports are much harder than grade school! Ana continues to amaze us with her cooking skills with an entirely scratch-made dinner every Sunday. Sometimes her sister helps as her Sous Chef. We have been so very impressed with her skill and dedication. Our favorite so far has been Bavarian pretzels and a marinated steak with grilled peaches smothered in melted butter and brown sugar finished with home made peppermint patties. Yum!

We have been asked about the real estate market a LOT lately. Bottom line: we are in the strongest sellers’ market in history. There is only 1.3 months of inventory right now, which is almost like saying our unemployment rate is 1/2%. A balanced market is 6-months of inventory. We need more listings…badly. There are TONS of buyers begging for houses to buy. Interest rates are at historic lows of 2.875% for a 30-year fixed conventional mortgage. Homes are selling faster than ever before for more than ever before. There has NEVER been a better time to sell your house than right now. Period. If you are staying put for awhile and you have a mortgage and you haven’t recently looked into refinancing, please call or e-mail me for some names of some great local lenders who will tell you if refinancing makes sense for you or not. We have seen client save hundreds of dollars/month by doing so.

Here are some stats from MIBOR comparing May 2020 to April 2020:
Median Sales Price-$215,000-UP 2.4%
Closed Sales-2,703 units-UP 5.1%
New Listings-3,744 units-UP 32.7%
Pending Sales-4,054 units-UP 46.2%
Days on Market-38 days-UP 2.7%
Price/s.f.-$121-UP 0.8%
% of Ask Received-97.9%-DOWN 0.4%
Active Inventory-3,563 units-DOWN 10.8%
Absorption Rate-1.3 months-DOWN 18.8%

Look at the new listings and pending numbers. Those are HUGE!! You can see we are recovering from the pandemic VERY fast and we expect this to continue into the fall months. Please call us at 317-573-1880 or e-mail at Steve@Welcome2Indy.com to see what your house is worth today. We will be happy to provide you with a market valuation specific to your house and help you navigate this crazy market to craft a personalized plan to get you from where you are to where you want to go.

We are so excited to go back to live Happy Hours in July!!! Please join us on Thursday, July 16th from 5-6:30pm at Matt The Miller’s in Carmel. As always, drinks and appetizers are on us. You bring the conversation and fun!!! Bring a friend or significant other!

Also on Thursday, July 16th, we are bringing back our FREE Shred Day. Our last one was more successful than we ever dreamed with over 400 cars coming through!!! Come by our office from 10AM-noon. Bring any documents you want safely and securely shredded or electronics you want recycled. Trucks will be there to safely handle those items on-site. You don’t even have to get out of your car. We come to you and take what you have from your car and you drive off. This is a small way for us to say thank you to our valued clients and referral partners.

If you made it this far, thank you for reading!! Know we are grateful to you for your trust and loyalty. Please continue to introduce us to the next person you know who is thinking about buying, selling, or building a new home. We would love to help them!

Happy Independence Day weekend!!!

Click here to watch a video message from Steve
Click here to read our July newsletter
Click here to download our brand new real estate app...the most powerful on the market
Click here to access coupons and discount at places you shop and eat every day
Click here to watch a 1-minute video market update
Click here to see what our clients are saying about us

Your Friends in Real Estate,

Steve, Kylie, Thea, & Patti

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