Indy Home Marketing - June 2010 Newsletter

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June, 2010 Newsletter

Volume 4, Number 6

	Indy-Area Housing Continues to be Most Affordable in the Nation Nationwide housing, bolstered by favorable interest rates and low house prices, hovered for the fifth consecutive quarter near its high- est level of affordability since the
	series was first compiled 19 years ago, according to the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Opportunity Index (HOI). The HOI showed that 72.2 percent of all new and existing homes in the first quarter of 2010 were affordable to families earning the national median income of $63,800, slightly higher than the previous quarter and near the record-high 72.5 percent set during the first quarter a year ago. Continued Below

June Events in Metro-Indy

June is a fun-filled month in Indy
with dozens of events ranging from
street fairs to ethnic festivals. Click
HERE for our picks including times,
locations, and other information.


	RECIPE OF THE MONTH Southern Potato Salad Nothing says "Summer is Here" like homemade potato salad as a side for grilled hamburgers, hotdogs, or brats! Recipe courtesy of: the Food Network

INGREDIENTS:

•	3 large eggs	•	1 cup mayonnaise
•	1/2 cup diced onion	•	2 scallions, thinly sliced
•	1 teaspoon hot sauce	•	1/2 cup diced celery
•	2 tablespoons sweet relish
•	1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
•	Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
•	3 large Yukon gold potatoes (about 1 1/4 pounds),
	peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes

DIRECTIONS:

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add the potatoes and cook
until tender, about 15 minutes. Drain the potatoes and spread
out on a sheet pan to cool. Meanwhile, bring a separate pot of
water to a boil. Carefully add the eggs; cook for 12 minutes,
then remove to a bowl of ice water to cool completely. Peel
the eggs under cold running water, then roughly chop.

In a large bowl, combine the onion, celery, relish, Worcester-
shire sauce, hot sauce, 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, 1 teaspoon pep-
per and the mayonnaise. Fold in the potatoes, eggs and
scallions. Adjust the seasoning to taste.

			Three Steps to a Well Organized Garage Be honest: is getting through your garage a little bit like completing a difficult obstacle course? Somehow garages just seem to attract a dis- proportionate share of sports equip-
	ment, furniture, gardening gear, firewood and other random, stray items. If you're constantly tripping over things on your way to the car each morning (that is, if you can even fit your car in the garage), you might be wondering how on earth you can tame the chaos. Continued Here

Indy-Area Housing... (Continued)

Indianapolis-Carmel and Youngstown-Warren-Boardman, Ohio-
Pa., shared the ranking as the most affordable major housing
markets in the country. In Indianapolis, which has held this top
ranking for nearly five years, almost 95 percent of all homes
sold were affordable to households earning the area’s median
family income of $68,700. In Youngstown, the same percent-
age of homes were affordable to households earning a
median $53,500.

Five smaller housing markets posted even higher affordability
scores than Indianapolis and Youngstown. Among them, Bay
City, Mich., where 98.7 percent of homes sold during the first
quarter of 2010 were affordable to median-income earners,
was the most affordable market in the country. Other smaller
housing markets near the top of the index included Kokomo,
Ind.; Davenport-Moline-Rock Island, Iowa-Ill.; Sandusky,
Ohio; and Elkhart-Goshen, Ind., respectively.

New York-White Plains-Wayne, N.Y.-N.J., continued to lead
the nation as its least affordable major housing market during
the first quarter of 2010. Slightly less than 21 percent of all
homes sold during the quarter were affordable to those earn-
ing the New York area’s median income of $65,600. This was
the eighth consecutive quarter that the New York metropolitan
division has occupied this position.

The other major metro areas near the bottom of the afford-
ability scale included San Francisco; Honolulu; Santa Ana-
Anaheim-Irvine, Calif.; and Los Angeles-Long Beach-
Redwood City, Calif.

San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles, Calif. was the least affordable
of the smaller metro housing markets in the country during
the first quarter. Others near the bottom of the chart in-
cluded Ocean City, N.J; Santa Cruz-Watsonville, Calif.;
Napa, Calif.; and Flagstaff, Ariz.

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June Events in Metro-Indy (Continued)

Saturday and Sunday, June 5-6, 2010
Indiana Festival at Conner Prairie

Sample global tastes, sights and sounds from far off destina-
tions, and immerse yourself in the diverse and wonderful mu-
sic, art, dances and foods that make us who we are today. June
5-6: Sat 10-5, Sun 11-5. Click HERE or call 317-776-6000 for
additional information. Location: Conner Prairie Interactive
History Park, 13400 Allisonville Road, Fishers, Indiana.

Saturday, June 5, 2010
11th Annual Vintage Indiana Wine and Food Festival

26 Indiana wineries, 11 restaurants, 16 art vendors, and live
music from Jennie DeVoe, Jon McLaughlin, and NeedToBreathe.
11 AM to 7 PM, rain or shine. $22 advance, $25 at gate ($10
designated drivers). Click HERE for additional Information
or call 800-832-WINE (9463). Location: Military Park,New York
and West Streets, Indianapolis, Indiana.

Thursday, June 10, 2010
Monument Circle Strawberry Festival

Each year on the 2nd Thursday in June, over 300 volunteers
serve an estimated 6 tons of strawberries and 18,000 home-
made shortcakes to more than 20,000 visitors. June 10:
9 AM to 6:30 PM. Click HERE for additional Info or call
317-636-4577. Location: Christ Church Cathedral, 125
Monument Circle, Indianapolis, Indiana.

Friday and Saturday, June 11-12, 2010
27th Annual Italian Street Festival

One of the very best ethnic festivals of the year in Indiana-
polis, with great food, live music, carnival rides, and more.
Free admission. June 11-12: Fri/Sat, 5-11 PM each day.
Click HERE for additional information or call 317-636-4478.
Location: Holy Rosary Catholic Church, 520 Stevens Street,
Indianapolis, Indiana

Saturday and Sunday, June 12-13 2010
55th Annual Talbot Street Art Fair

An outstanding 2-day art fair, the oldest and largest juried
show in central Indiana, one of the top 100 art shows in
the nation. June12-13: Sat 10-6, Sun 10-5. Free admission.
Click HERE for additional information or call 317-745-6479.
Location:1600-2000 North Talbott St., Indianapolis, Indiana.

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Three Steps to a Well Organized Garage... (Continued)

It is possible to get it organized enough so you're not mortified
everytime the garage door is open. It simply takes a little dose
of imperfection and a lot of teamwork.

Imperfect Organization

So, where do you start, what is most important, and what do
you need to throw out? When you look at the whole garage,
those questions can be intimidating enough that they keep you
from taking action. Instead, focus on the 80/20 rule. Zero in
on the 20 percent of things that are creating 80 percent of the
clutter and chaos. Those elements are usually easy to spot,
and diving in and tackling something right away gets mo-
mentum working in your favor.

Bringing in Backup

Going to town on the mess in the garage all alone is a thank-
less task. You're not the only one who contributed to the mess,
so why should you be the one responsible for cleaning it all up?
Working by yourself takes longer and actually hurts your chances
of keeping the space clean for long. Why? Because nobody else
has a vested interest in keeping it tidy, since they didn't help
clean up the mess! To make real progress, you'll need to bring
in backup support. Family members can turn a 10-hour extra-
vaganza into a two-hour one. So don't be shy in enlisting
help—the more hands on deck, the sooner you will all be
outside enjoying the weather, and the more help you'll
have keeping it clean over the long run.

Here are three easy tips that can help you get that gorgeous
garage in no time.

1. Pitch it.

Realistically, every garage has old roller skates that are too
small, flat tennis balls and newspapers tucked away collecting
dust. Figuring out what items need to be tossed or donated to
charity should be your first order of business. Make three piles
and label them Keep, Toss and Give Away. Follow the rule of
thumb that if you haven't used it in 18 months, it should be
tossed or given away. Before you know it, you'll have room
for the things you actually want to keep.

2. Put things up in the air.

To optimize space and give your garage an organized look,
install a few hooks and shelves. They are an effective way to
organize a wide variety of items—and they have the added
bonus of keeping things off the floor. Hang a row of hooks
along the side of the garage to neatly store bikes, rakes,
shovels, sleds and all other items that easily get in the
way. If you place these hooks close to the front of the
garage, it makes them easier to use, and you're probably
less likely to scrape the car.

3. Create a kids' corner.

Designate an area of your garage as the "kids' corner" to
store all of your family's bikes, sports equipment, toys
and arts and crafts. This will make it easy for them to get
what they need without calling for your help to find their
favorite blue soccer ball or other lost item.

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