August Newsletter

School is back in session for many kids and will be back in session soon for others-including ours. This has been a very fast summer for us and we are left wondering where all of the time went. It seems the older we get, the faster time goes. Doesn't it?

In our July newsletter, I mentioned the wonderful 10-year wedding anniversary trip Brigid and I took to Jamaica. Unfortunately, we had a rather negative surprise happen on our way home. Here is what happened after we landed in Orlando to make our connection to Indy.

We had about 2-1/2 hours after we landed in Orlando to make our connection, so we had plenty of time. The flight was scheduled to leave at 7:30PM. We board the plane a few minutes past when we would normally board. There was a mechanic on the plane repairing one of the seats in coach-no problem. Then, the captain announces over the PA that we are not only waiting for the mechanic to fix the seat, but also one doing something under the plane. Again, no biggie...yet.

We finally pull away from the gate about 30-minutes past our scheduled departure time and the pilot who LOVES the movie, Star Wars, tells us that Luke Skywalker (him), Han Solo (the First Officer) and Chewy (the mechanic who worked on the underbelly of the plane) would try to engage the hyper-drive and use light speed to get us back to Indy in just a few minutes. If the hyper-drive wouldn't work, it would take about 2 hours, 20-minutes. Cute.

About ten minutes into the flight as we are still climbing quickly, Brigid turns to me and asks if I smell smoke. I calmly tell her no and suggest she is just imagining things or smelling burnt coffee or something. A few minutes after her question, we notice the flight attendant in the forward galley open up the first overhead storage compartment and retrieve a fire extinguisher. What? Now, THAT caught our eye! She didn't use it, but calmly and deliberately focused her attention in the galley with the other flight attendant. We don't break eye contact with the galley at this point.

Shortly thereafter, the flight attendant picks up the intercom and says something frantically and quickly puts it back down. About 20-seconds later, the flight attendant working the back of the plane comes running up the aisle past us with a second fire extinguisher. It has not been discharged and neither has the first one. They all talk softly and then turn off all of the switches in the galley and then get on the intercom with the captain.

The captain comes on the intercom and states that we need to turn around and land back at Orlando as a precaution only and that everything is okay, but they just want to be safe. Brigid starts to really worry now and I told her that as long as there are no emergency vehicles on the runway, we are fine.

As we approach our runway, of course we notice emergency vehicles with all of their lights on and the runway has been shut down, we are told for just us. After we land, we stop in the middle of the runway while the emergency vehicles light the plane up with their spotlights looking for smoke. We are finally cleared to park at the gate and are told to de-plane-no smoke noticed, apparently.

After about an hour of waiting at our gate, the captain tells us they have been looking for another plane as ours has been placed out of service due to smoking wires in the galley electrical panel. Our three flight attendants decided to not work anymore due to 'extreme emotional stress' and went home leaving us stranded at the airport (a very subjective perk that a good lawyer wrote into their collective contracts, no doubt). The captain was NOT happy about their decision and commandeered another flight crew who just arrived to fly back with us to Indy on the plane on which they just flew in. Now, THAT flight crew was NOT happy either.

We finally re-board the new plane with our captain and first-officer from our original flight and the new flight attendants who were visibly unhappy about working (I can't blame them). The time is now 10:50PM. We arrive uneventfully back in Indy at 1:20AM, however due to our frightening experience and delay, AirTran gives each passenger on our flight a FREE round-trip ticket anywhere they fly to be used in the next 12-months. Wow!!! Chalk one up for great customer service!

We finally arrive home around 2:30AM and four hours later have the privilege of getting up and going to work. Ugh! Not the end of the world, but a LONG day at work, to say the least. The positive is that we are still alive and didn't make national or even local news and we have 2 round-trip tickets.

We hope your air travels have NOT been as eventful as our most recent one was, but some of you travel quite a bit and we would LOVE to hear of any eventful flights you may have encountered (to make us feel better!).

Enjoy the rest of your summer and we hope you are able to make it out to the State Fair this year. Thanks again for your continued support and trust as we strive to make our clients' experiences as UNeventful as possible!

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July 2013 Steve & Jack's Home News

We hope your summer has been going well. You have probably heard and/or read by now that the real estate market is RED HOT! We have certainly seen that to be true on the north side of Indy as well, which is why we have been slow in getting our July newsletter out. Due to increased demand and very low supply, some houses are selling in HOURS. There are many factors influencing which houses sell that quickly while others do not, but if you or someone you care about are curious about the housing market, please give us a call so we can consult about your options.

In July, Brigid and I took a vacation we had been planning for 3 years to celebrate our 10-year wedding anniversary. Jack & Mary Anne watched Ana & Talia so we could truly relax. Thank you, mom & dad!!! We chose to spend 5 days and 4 nights in Montego Bay, Jamaica at a Hilton all-inclusive resort-using HHonors points we had been saving. While I had visited Jamaica long ago as a kid, we went to a totally different area of the island and Brigid had never been before. Neither of us had been to an all-inclusive resort before, either.

Needless to say, it was a fantastic time and we had amazing weather! We enjoyed the pools, live bands at night, laying out on the beach, and I read my first 'enjoyable' book for the first time in years. We ate dinner at 8:30-9:00PM each night and dined al fresco. The stars were amazing and the water crashing onto the beach was therapeutic-so was the couples massage in which we indulged ourselves one day. The staff at the hotel were absolutely amazing and all were very intent on making sure we were having a great time.

I surprised Brigid with a 10-year anniversary ring, which she absolutely loves. My plans to re-propose to her on the beach were washed away with the high tide, so the beach chair had to suffice. We would highly recommend going if you get the chance.

I'm curious, what all-inclusive resorts have you visited and would you go again? Please let me know as we would love to go again down the road.

In next month's newsletter, I will share our very scary return home-something we have never before experienced and hope to never experience again...

Enjoy the rest of the summer, cool though it may be, and THANK YOU for your continued business and loyalty. We are truly grateful!

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June 2013 Steve & Jack's Home News Newsletter

Happy Father's Day to all of the dads out there! We hope your special day affords you a day spent enjoying what you most like to do. My Father's Day will involve traveling home from our annual summer family vacation. This year, we are going back to Disney where we will see Brigid's parents for a couple of days and then off to the park where we will see her brother and her family. We can't wait to see the new Fantasyland. Brigid has already set up all of our dining reservations and we are excited to go on the river cruise for the first time for dinner and see the fireworks.

We will also see an old Xavier roommate who lives in Orlando now along with his family. We have been told that this first week of June shouldn't be as crowded, but time will tell.

A very special trip to which Brigid and I are looking forward is our 10-year wedding anniversary trip for 5-days to Jamaica in July. The kids are staying at home with their grandparents and Brigid and I get to enjoy an all-inclusive resort and just relax. We have never been to an all-inclusive resort before, but have heard they are really nice. I will report back on how it went in our August newsletter.

School is out for us on June 7th and the girls are looking forward to playing with their friends and not having to go to school for several weeks. Is it just me, or does summer seem much shorter now than it did when we grew up?

Great news for the market!!! Check out our blog to read about the increase in building permits and a decrease in foreclosures. For the Indy-area, closed sales are up 21.8%. Median sales price is up 0.8%. Inventory is down 16.4% making our month's supply of houses to be 5.5. In Hamilton County, we are down to 4.2 months of inventory!!

Enjoy the warmer weather and the start to the summer season. THANK YOU again for all of your continued support and business. We are having our best year yet and we couldn't have done it without YOU! Truly, we are grateful!

Check out this month's edition of our June newsletter, which contains some very interesting stories, including:
• History of Father's Day
• History of shaving
• How reflective paint works
• Why dogs live short lives
• How to spend less at restaurants

Click here for our May newsletter

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Building Permits Rise-Foreclosures Drop

Steve & Jack's Home News for May 2013

Welcome spring and all of the weather (good & bad) that comes with it! We hope you survived the storms last night. We spent part of the night in the basement with our girls. Both are so used to it now that waking them up in the middle of the night doesn't even phase them! Our hearts & prayers go out to the victims of the Oklahoma tornado. What terrible devestation!

On a lighter note, if you are a subscriber to the Indianapolis Monthly magazine, please look for us as one of the top real estate agents in the city for providing outstanding client service. We are honored and humbled at the reviews YOU submitted on our behalf. We are a multi-year award winner and are in the top 7% of agents in the city our of over 6,000 agents. THANK YOU! We wouldn't be able to do what we do without such amazing clients like you. Truly, we are grateful. Please feel comfortable introducing us to those you care about needing outstanding service and advice on buying, selling, or building a new home. That is how we stay in business.

As for the housing market, it has posted some more great numbers. Inventory is down again to 5.5 months in Indy (4.2 months in Hamilton County), sales prices are up 2%, closed sales are up 18.7%, pending sales are up 22.8%, and new listings are up 9.2%. This is all excellent news!!!

We are grateful to Butler University for inviting us, once again to present to their faculty and staff earlier this month on the Top Ten Mistakes Buyers and Sellers Make as well as a market update. If you have a group or your company does Brown Bag lunches, please feel comfortable contacting us about doing a presentation for your group as well. We are proficient on myriad topics relating to real estate, marketing, client service, Staging, and financing. Give us a call!

Enjoy the warmer weather and thanks again for inviting us to a part of your family!

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Enjoy!!!

Good News for Buyers AND Sellers!

Best Bang for Your Buck Home Improvements

Increased Housing Starts...

April Steve & Jack's Home News

Welcome spring and the April showers that come with it--in some cases a LOT of water. We hope this e-mail finds you well...and dry.

Our big news is that Natalia had a tonsillectomy on Friday. She was the last in our family with tonsils, so we are grateful to be finished with that and Natalia is healing extremely well. We truly hope you never have a need for a good ENT, but if you do, we can highly recommend Dr. Hackett. He is simply outstanding!! Jack and Mary Anne have been very helpful with watching Talia this week for us while she recovers.

Anastasia is preparing for her First Communion in two weeks. This has been a 2-year preparation process and she is so excited! We are hosting quite a bit of family that weekend and are looking forward to seeing everyone again.

The housing market is on FIRE! Overally, we are down to 5.2 months of inventory, however in many parts of Hamilton County, we have only a few weeks of supply creating an extreme sellers' market. Some agents are knocking on people's doors asking if they would consider selling. We have five buyers right now who are having a very difficult time finding a home that meets their needs. If you are even remotely considering selling this year, please call us as we would love to consult with you about your options.

Enjoy your spring and warmer weather and thank you for your continued trust and confidence!

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Your Personal Real Estate Consultants...for Life!

Steve & Jack Rupp

Housing Myth vs. Fact

Indianapolis Housing Market Update

Existing-home sales market surging 15 percent across Indiana
Associated Press
April 9, 2013
Nissa Ricafort and her husband figured their ranch-style home in northeast Indianapolis would take two to three months to sell, but the weekend it hit the market the couple had 17 showings and accepted an offer for the full $185,000 asking price.

"It was the most insane thing I ever experienced," said Ricafort, a family law attorney. "But a good insane. I closed on the sale of one home, then closed on the other four days later and moved in between. It's really worked out great."

The housing market has spiked so much in some places in the Indianapolis area that real estate agents are turning to Facebook and going door-to-door looking for prospective sellers because of a shortage of houses for sale. Sales are up overall statewide, with Indiana reporting 68,015 homes sold from March 2012 through February 2013, a 15.2-percent increase over the same period a year earlier. For the first two months of 2013, sales were up 20.5 percent. Home sales have improved on a year-over-year basis for 20 consecutive months.

"In the major markets, everything seems to be very, very busy," said Kevin Kirkpatrick, president of the Indiana Association of Realtors. "We don't have enough inventory for the number of buyers that are out there right now. That's what's causing prices to go up. They're not skyrocketing, but things are moving in the right direction."

The median cost of a home in Indiana is up 4.7 percent, from $112,750 to $118,000.

Toby Muhlhofer, an Indiana University assistant professor of finance who specializes in real estate, said it's not surprising the housing market in Indianapolis is leading the comeback.

"It makes sense because Indianapolis is where Indiana's economic output is centered," he said.

Other areas also are seeing improvement.

"It's still very clearly a buyer's market, but that pendulum is beginning to swing and I think consumers are noticing that," said Peter Novak Jr., chief executive of Greater Northwest Indiana Association of Realtors.

Some buyers are having trouble even finding homes to look at. Tonya Sanderson of Fishers said she's been looking nearly a year for a four-bedroom house with a three-car garage and a yard big enough for a pool in the school district she lives in, but there have been few houses to look at.

"We really thought by now there would be a lot of houses being listed and we'd have a lot of options, but we're not seeing that," Sanderson said.

She said she's considering putting letters in mailboxes of homes she likes to see if people are interested in selling.

Cindy Marchant, a real estate agent since 2001 in Fishers, said home sales in the suburb are up 48 percent from a year ago. She said it's the best market she's seen. She attributes the improvement to pent-up demand, low interest rates, improving consumer confidence and homeowners becoming frustrated last year at the lack of sales lowering their prices.

"It was the perfect storm, but no one was jumping because everyone was afraid because so many people were unemployed," she said. "It was hard to go out on a limb and buy a house. But I think now, people are ready to make a move."

Kirkpatrick worries, though, that the resurgence is fragile.

"If something happens with North Korea or something happens with oil prices, it could knock it off real quickly," he said.

Profits Up in The Commercial World

Housing News Roundup

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Homeowners can save $$$ with tax deductions

March 2013 Newsletter

Welcome Spring? As we write this snow is frantically flurrying outside and schools were just cancelled. Fortunately, spring break is just a few short days away and Steve & Brigid are headed to Tampa, FL to see Brigid's parents and see two of Steve's college roommates. They are looking forward to enjoying some warm weather until Spring finally decides to arrive for good here.

Speaking of spring changes, the transition to Keller Williams has been very smooth and an extremely good one. We continue to be amazed at the support, technology, and marketing that Keller Williams has on top of their impeccable ethical reputation. Steve attended Family Reunion (national convention) in Dallas last month and not only continued to be impressed hearing Gary Keller speak and then announce that Keller Williams is the #1 real estate company by agent count in the US. We are honored & privileged to be associated with such a fine company.

As for the market, it is a LOT hotter than the outside temperature. It is a strong seller's market, believe it or not and the inventory is at 4.2 months and getting lower. We are seeing houses selling in hours, not days or months and they are getting multiple offers. We expect things to continue to get stronger as inventory shrinks and buyer activity increases. Builders can't keep up with demand. If you are even remotely thinking of selling your house, give us a call as we'd love to share some specific information about your situation so we can give you the most thorough information with which to make a decision.

Enjoy this month's newsletter talking about a subject, which is near and dear to our hearts-Servant Leadership. We truly believe in servant leadership.


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