Can you post a closeup of the grass? It's so yellow it's almost like you have a warm season grass that's dormant.

Front and rear yard respectively.

Ok the back looks like Bluegrass. The front looks like bluegrass too, except very dead or dormant.

When you moved in in October, was the grass green?

The grass was green, I cut it once during that period and through the winter ended up with this. The 'good' grass in the back yard is the color all of it was back in October.

Since you're tuned in to grubs, please allow me to explain what they are. They are one of the stages of life leading to Japanese beetle and June bugs. If you get a swarm of beetles around your porch light in May or June, then you should be on the alert for grubs in July. The beetles lay their eggs, they hatch, and grubs eventually appear. So if you had the swarms, then in early July dig up 1 square foot of grass looking for grubs. If you find fewer than a dozen in that square foot, then you have no problems. If you find a gooey, uncountable mass of grubs, then you can cover them up and spray something like Grub-ex. If you do not have the swarms of beetles then you can forget about grubs for the year. It is best for your soil if you do not anticipate insect problems and apply insecticide for no reason.

Northern Kentucky is deep into cool season grasses. You could probably grow something like bermuda, but it would not be happy there. Focus on fescue and Kentucky bluegrass. Looks like you have a mix. Fescue will always remain green in the winter. Well cared for KBG will remain green under all but the worst weather. Here are some general tips for management. These are in order of importance.

Watering: Deep and infrequent is the mantra for watering. This is for all turf grass all over the place. Deep means 1 inch all at one time. Put some cat food or tuna cans around the yard, and time how long it takes your sprinkler(s) to fill all the cans. Memorize that time. That will be the time you water from now on. My hose, sprinkler and water pressure takes 8 full hours to fill the cans. Your time will likely be less. I like gentle watering. As for watering frequency, that depends on the daytime air temperature. With temps in the 90s, deep water once per week. With temps in the 80s, deep water once every 2 weeks. With temps in the 70s, deep water once every 3 weeks. With temps below 70, deep water once a month. Note that you have to keep up with quickly changing temps in the spring and fall. This deep and infrequent schedule works in Phoenix and in Vermont, so it should work for you. The reason for deep and infrequent is to grow deeper, more drought resistant roots and to allow the soil to dry completely at the surface for several days before watering again. If it rains, reset your calendar to account for the rainfall.

Mowing: Mulch mow every week at the mower's highest setting.

Fertilizer: Once on Memorial Day, once on Labor Day, and once after the grass stops growing (around Thanksgiving) but before it goes completely dormant. Note that there is no early spring application. Leave it alone until Memorial Day.

Herbicide: You can apply a preemergent at the first sign of any life in the neighborhood. Usually that sign is the blooming of the forsythia plant. You can spray or spot spray a herbicide in April. Use something like Weed-b-Gon or Weed-b-Gon Chickweed, Clover, and Oxalis Killer.

Reseeding or overseeding: In the fall. For you that is September. That will give you time to evaluate how well the new grass came in before the window for seeding closes. Spring seeded grass does not develop strong enough roots for the summer heat which allows crabgrass to move in.