New Listing in the Gates of St. John:

New Listing in the Gates of St. John

4 bedrooms, 2,5 baths. 3370 sq ft.

:

          https://www.mccolly.com/single-family/gni/831604/9163-w-103rd-street-st.-john-in-46373

Watch out for this Fraud

 It is National Cybersecurity Awareness Month – a great opportunity to strengthen your defenses against fraud. Fraud is growing more sophisticated every day, and scammers are targeting both individuals and businesses. Last year alone, nearly 1 in 3 people experienced checking, savings or debit fraud.¹ The good news? With the right steps, you can make sure you’re not next.

 

Here are common fraud schemes to look for — and how to stay ahead of them.

 

Social Engineering

What it is: We've seen a rise in impersonation scams where fraudsters create convincing websites that mimic legitimate ones, urging you to log in and share one-time passcodes. These are messages delivered via emails, calls or texts appearing to come from your bank, a government agency or a trusted company. They often ask for personal details or try to entice you to click a link that might install malware on your device to get personal information.

How to protect yourself: Don’t trust links, numbers or emails provided in a suspicious message. Verify requests using a trusted phone number or website.

 

Account Takeovers

What it is: Hackers use stolen online banking credentials to access accounts and make unauthorized transactions. They also know most people reuse account / password combinations and leverage previous breach information to see if they’re able to gain access to your online accounts.

How to protect yourself: Use strong, unique passwords, enable multifactor authentication and avoid reusing login details across accounts.

 

Payment Scams

What it is: Scammers pose as friends, family or trusted businesses to trick you into sending money, often with urgent or emotional requests.

How to protect yourself: Confirm payment requests directly with the person or business before sending funds. Once money leaves your account in a scam, it’s often difficult to recover.

 

A Holloween Story

 Question: You show a lot of spooky looking houses. Did you ever think any of them were haunted?

Answer: I was sitting in the driveway of an early 20^th century farmhouse, waiting for my buyers to arrive. It was a mid-November afternoon, and dusk was rapidly approaching. As I sat in my car, I noticed that a light came on in an upper-level bedroom. The home information sheet said the home was vacant. I was a little disturbed by this as the spooky Autumn evening made my mind wander to places it should not have gone.

 

A few minutes later a light came on in a main level room. I was starting to feel very uneasy about going into this home. When my clients finally arrived, I said nothing to them about what I saw, and they followed me to the front door. The note on the front door said: "Use caution, power is off."

 

Now my heart is pounding. I know I saw lights in two rooms go on. We went into the house with flashlights and viewed the main level. As we walked by the staircase to the upper level, we all noticed a light go on. We all read what the sign said, so we were a bit startled. The male buyer who had to be 6 ft, 250 pounds said he was going upstairs, despite the mysterious light. Within a minute, he came back down and said we needed to leave. His facial expression indicated he was very disturbed. We asked him what he saw, and he said he saw nothing, but felt an enormous presence in that upper-level room.

 

When I returned to the office, I called the listing agent and explained what happened. I thought he was going to laugh at my paranoia, but he said I was the second agent to report this. I asked how many views this newly listed home had. He replied, “two.”

 

I noticed after a few days the house was taken off the market, no reason was given, but something strange was going on there and I was not interested in finding out what it was!

Happy Halloween!

 

Market conditions as of 10-16-25

 We are transitioning from a sellers market to more of a neutral market.

Homes are selling, but we don't see many multiple offer situations.

The Sharp and updated homes still sell really well.

The average condition homes will take longer to sell, but if these sellers remember that this isn't 2022, when almost every home sold for record prices, market time will improve.

Days on the market are longer. Showings are fewer, thanks to the massive government spending of 2020-2024, which caused high inflation and mortgage interest rates that became unaffordable to many buyers.

Sellers are hesitant to give up their 2.75% interest rate.

Late 1st quarter 2026 (March and after), would be a great time to sell. All the buyers who have been hibernating will come out and boost the selling market.

Interest rates should be lower. This will also create more buyers.

The big question will be how many homes will hit the market?

Call us for an estimate on the value of your home and what you need to do to get it into selling condition without breaking the bank!

The Stress of Moving

 

Question: We are going to sell our home soon. I’m already stressing about it. Any suggestions you can share about this?

 

Answer: Moving is an emotional process. If you’re not calming down your nervous children, you're trying to reassure yourself that you'll meet people in your new neighborhood and that you bought the best house within your means.

If you can, keep an emergency fund in case you run into any unexpected costs. One example: If your buyer comes forward after a home inspection is completed and requests a series of repairs prior to move-in, you'll be prepared. Chances are good that you won't necessarily agree with the buyer's requests, but at least you won't face the additional stress of being short the money for repairs if you plan ahead and save some extra cash. It's probably in your best interests not to try to guess what the buyer will want to repair, and then fix it ahead of time. That's because buyers have a habit of isolating areas of your home that you never considered having repaired, and not even noticing the ones you expected them to pinpoint. So, save yourself any expenses until you've determined their requests.

Remind yourself of why you're moving in the first place: A job transfer, or is it a voluntary choice? Obviously, whether or not you had some degree of control over the decision will affect your outlook.

Envision your new home. Picture all your Family holidays in your new home.  As often as possible, try to imagine your family fully adapted to your new environment.

Remember to have a little fun occasionally. You're still allowed, even if you feel as if you don't have a penny left to your name. Take the family out to dinner, to a movie or a picnic -- anything that gets all of you out of the house and away from boxes, emotions and all of those pre-move concerns.                                                                             

Enjoy your time together and remember that this stress won't last forever. Regardless of what you're feeling now, the move will happen, and everything will eventually fall into place. Journeying into the unknown is what makes life rewarding. So, remember to look forward and enjoy the journey ahead.

 

 

Internet Home Value Sites

 Question: If a Realtor tells me my home is worth $380,000, and an internet home valuation site says $440,000, who do I believe? 

Answer: If the Realtor has five or more years of experience in your local market, has been inside your home, has noted the lot characteristics, has found comparables and provided a market analysis, and has discussed with you the features of your home that both add, and detract, from its value, you can bet their estimate of your home’s value is more accurate than an Internet Home estimate site.

These internet home estimate sites are notorious for over, and under, estimating home values. They don’t make house calls and have never been inside your home. They can’t see (or can’t subjectively evaluate) your ugly bathroom, your tired kitchen, your out-of-date finishes or your beautifully updated home.

Their algorithm doesn’t compensate for your house backing to a busy road, a fast-food drive-through window, or a sewage treatment plant. When it comes to subjective determinants of value, these internet home estimate sites miss the mark. Every time.

It’s ridiculous to try to compare an experienced human real estate professional to these inaccurate home estimate sites.

I know it’s tempting, but just don’t do it.

Real estate question

 Question: We signed a contract to sell our Home contingent on the buyer getting a loan approved & closing it by a given date.  The buyer did not get the loan & the deal was off.  We started showing the house again, but have now found out that the buyers got financing through a different bank & they can close by the original deadline. Are we still obligated to close or can we change the contract to better ourselves?

Answer:    Wait a second. Go back to the part about the “deal was off.” Did the buyers agree the  transaction was finished?  Did they get their earnest money back? Or did they simply find a financial bump in the road? Their offer was fair & acceptable— otherwise you would not have had a contract. The offer from the buyers may be the best you’ll get. Instead of seeking advantage from their difficulty, congratulate them for trying to meet the terms of the agreement & enjoy your check at closing!

Quick Joke....

 What's the difference between a bad Golfer and a bad Skydiver?

A bad golfer goes:     "Whack, Darn."

A bad skydiver goes: "Darn, Whack."

Here's all you need to know to have a great Lawn....and it's simple

From the Best of the professionals:

 Don't cut the grass too low. When you cut off all that foliage, the grass is forced to live off its energy reserves, and a stressed-out lawn is not going to look very good.

Besides being more disease-resistant, taller grass does a better job of blocking out weeds, meaning fewer dandelions to deal with; and it provides thicker shade cover for the soil, reducing evaporation and helping the lawn through dry spells.

 

To avoid scalping your grass, Rossi recommends following the 1/3^rd rule, whereby you never take off more than 1/3rd of the height of the grass. That’s probably longer than you’re used to, but besides reducing plant stress and water-loss, it means you won’t have to mow as often, about 25% to 35% less frequently.

 

For best results, lawn care experts recommend letting the grass grow to a little more than 5 inches, then cutting it back to around 3.5 inches, removing about 1/3^rd of the blade.

 

Compare that with someone who cuts their lawn down to 2 inches, going for a more manicured look. To do that and still follow the 1/3^rd rule, they will need to cut the lawn when it reaches 3 inches. That’s 1 inch of growth between cuttings versus 1.5 to 2 inches under the best-practices scenario. Which translates into mowing every 5 days instead of every 8 or 9 days. Multiple that out over the course of the entire growing season, and you get back a few extra Saturdays!

 

For a lush, healthy lawn, avoid these other common lawn care mistakes:

 

Mowing with a dull blade. It will tear at the grass blades, leaving behind jagged edges that loose water and invite disease. Experts recommend sharpening your blade every 10 hours of mowing

 

Bagging, instead of mulching. Lawn clippings are a natural source of nutrients for the lawn that can reduce fertilizing needs by 25% or more. So instead of bagging them (which adds time and effort to the chore), use your mower’s mulching mode to deposit the clippings back onto the lawn.

 

Pulling every last weed. Forget about the perfect, weed-free yard. It’s tough to achieve without pumping the lawn full of chemicals. Plus, some weeds are actually good for turf grass. Clover, for examples, pulls nitrogen from the air and feeds it to the soil.

 

Watering every day. A daily sip won’t help your lawn’s root system. A good long soak once a week (or every few days during high summer) is a better irrigation strategy. Lawn’s need about 1 inch of water per week, including rainfall.

 

Food for Thgought

There is going to be a flood of homes coming on the market as soon as the Fed cuts interest rates. Sellers have been patiently waiting, and their patience is running low.

If you have been thinking about selling, now is a great time! 

Remember, low supply and higher demand = higher sales prices.

Higher supply of homes means a lowering of home prices.

This is Basic economics.

Just out opinion, but we've been selling homes for 33+ years!

Real estate market doesn't know what to do

 The risk of a "sustained downturn" in the housing market is rising, as home prices show further signs of cooling off.

• 🏷️ Home prices rose 2.7% nationally in April, compared with a year earlier, down from a 3.5% jump in March, according to the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller Index released today.
• ⚠️ April had the smallest annual price gain in nearly two years, S&P noted.
• 📉 And on a seasonally adjusted basis, prices fell 0.4% nationally from March.

What they're saying: That decline "raises the risk that prices are entering a sustained downturn, as the market finally buckles under the weight of near-7% mortgage rates," Capital Economics North American economist Thomas Ryan wrote today.

• "Clearly, the existing homes market is losing momentum," Ryan added, citing sky-high borrowing costs and rising supplies pressuring sellers' price expectations.

Zoom in: Other recent datapoints also point to the housing market losing steam.

• Sales of existing homes fell 0.7% in May from a year earlier, according to data from the National Association of Realtors released Monday.
• And median home sale prices rose just 0.7% year over year in May — the slowest growth in two years, Redfin notes.

Reality check: Inventory, though rising, remains relatively tight as homeowners continue to cling to lower mortgage rates, which will likely prevent prices from seeing a significant correction.

Yearly appreciation of homes 1950-2024

 

Common Sense

 

Making a $50K salary, 

but spending $60K on a car 

is what keeps people broke!

 Quick Market Update:

The Home selling engine is revving. The market will go full throttle soon.

Thinking of selling? 

Now is a Good time to do some updates like painting, flooring....anything that will make your home look more updated!

Why? Move in condition homes that are really nice, are selling really well.

Low home inventory makes your updated home a hot commodity!

Remember, low inventory and higher demand increases home values, (for the really nice homes).

Once inventory increases, then buyers have more to choose from, competition gets stronger, and values may fall.

If your home has been neglected for years, don't count on top dollar, because you won't get it.

Updated homes will sell first. Non-updated homes will sit on the market unless the price is attractive. We're not talking a few thousand dollars, depending on your level of condition, it could be many thousands of dollars.

A few thousand dollars in updates, could increase your homes value substantially!

Digging in your Indiana Yard?

Think about this when digging in your yard:

 Installation of a new sewer on an Indiana farm led to an incredible discovery of 13,000-year-old mastodon bones. Originally, the Schepman family thought cow or chicken bones had been found, but were shocked when they saw the giant tusk and 4-foot-long thigh bones. 

The bones were confirmed to belong to a male mastodon that most likely weighed 12,000 pounds and was between the ages of 40 and 50 when he died.

Body Protection

 https://x.com/gunsnrosesgirl3/status/1896816939043057881?s=19

Is it still a Sellers Market?

 Question: One day we hear it’s a Buyer’s market, then we hear it’s a Seller’s market. Which is it now?

 Answer:  A buyer’s market occurs when supply exceeds demand. To put it another way, there are plenty of homes for sale, but there’s a shortage of interested buyers. These conditions give buyers leverage over sellers because when supply is higher and demand is lower, the market is forced to respond.

In a buyer’s market, real estate prices decrease, and homes linger on the market longer. So, sellers must compete with each other in order to attract buyers. Typically, sellers will drop their asking prices to gain an advantage in the market. Furthermore, they are much more willing to negotiate offers to prevent buyers from walking away.

 A seller’s market arises when demand exceeds supply. In other words, there are many interested buyers, but the real estate inventory is low. Since there are fewer homes available, sellers are at an advantage.

In a seller’s market, homes sell faster, and buyers must compete with each other in order to score a property. These market conditions often make buyers willing to spend more on a home than they would otherwise. Therefore, sellers can raise their asking prices

The market has shifted in the last 2 years from a strong sellers’ market to a somewhat strong sellers’ market.

Multiple contracts are not quite as common, but selling prices are still good.

 When will this change? When Home supply is greater than demand.