Real estate is crazy. Take control.

Whether you’re buying your first, second or third home, going from renting to owning, or selling the home where you raised your kids, the process can feel extremely complicated. And it is. There is so much paperwork, so many rules and so many potential pitfalls to avoid. Sweating through a home inspection and waiting to find out if you qualified for a mortgage is frustrating.

These are all good reason to hire a real estate agent. They’ve been through it before, so they tend to know their way around. Kind of like relying on a pilot to know how to fly the 747 you’re sitting on.

But–as nervous flyers–we always say we’d feel better knowing how to fly the plane ourselves. That sense of control is empowering. We think the same applies to real estate. The more you know about the process, the more control you can have over the process.

While we are real estate agents ourselves (and if you’re in need of those services click here), our goal with this blog is to provide information that you can use to arm yourself with what you need to know to enter the world of real estate with a little knowledge. Knowing what your agent means when they start throwing around terms like “escrow” and “PMI” will make you feel powerful. Knowing what the home inspector means when he or she says, “Looks like you’ve got knob and tube” will be a little less scary.

We’ve taken the real estate classes so you don’t have to. Check back on the regular to see what real estate topic we’re diving into and feel free to wield the knowledge you gain to show off your savvy when you buy or sell your next place.

Thanks for visiting!

Think you’re not ready to buy? You might be surprised.

Is your lease about to be up? Is your ultimate goal to own your own home?

If so, you might want to investigate your options a little bit before just beginning another apartment search. You MIGHT find that with interest rates as low as they are, you could secure a mortgage payment that’s LESS than you would pay to rent another place.

A few years ago, I was renting an apartment that I really loved. But it was getting a bit small for me, my husband and my pup. We started looking at how much it would cost to transition to a 2-bedroom unit in the same building.

On a whim, I decided we should check into the possibility of buying instead of renting. As it turned out, the mortgage we were able to qualify for came with a monthly payment that was only about $60 more than we were currently paying in rent.

Now, it’s important to keep in mind that even if the mortgage payment is slightly more or the same or less than what your current rent is, owning a home comes with other expenses. When you’re renting and something breaks, your landlord is usually on the hook to fix it and pay for it. When you own your own place, you’re on your own. If you’re not into that, or if you don’t have cash in reserve to handle those emergencies, it might make sense to rent a little longer.

BUT, maybe you ARE ready to take the leap.

Bottom line: if you’re looking to buy at some point, it doesn’t hurt to do a little research and see what you qualify for. Maybe buying soon IS within your reach.

There are a lot of great mortgage lenders out there who are happy to work with you to see what you can afford and many will advise you on ways to clean up your credit or do whatever else you need to do to become ready for buying.

And when you get that pre-qualification letter, give me a call. I’d love to help you find your first home!

-Meredith