The biggest temptation you face after buying a new home is to fix, update, and otherwise “prettify” every aspect of your new abode.

The most immediate-seeming updates are generally those that appear most obvious: adding some fresh paint, updating fixtures, installing new countertops. These updates seem especially important in older homes, which may not have been renovated in a very long time, sometimes decades (my pink toilet, sink, and bathroom tiles and mustard yellow kitchen counter-tops s...

If you’re new to your area, buying local is a great way to get out and learn more about the area you moved to!

But, if you’re totally new to the area, you might not be sure where to start. Moving can be overwhelming, but learning about town events is easier than you think! Here are some tips to get you started.

Why You Should Do It

The first questions you might be asking yourself if why. Well, there are a few good reasons.

First of all, you’re supporting local people. A lot of the people...

When it comes to choosing a realtor, the options sometimes seem endless. Your best friend knows someone who is married to a realtor. You neighbor is a realtor. You’re looking at three local real estate websites and they all seem to have many great agents available.

So, where and how do you make a good choice? Start with evaluating them with the following five important criteria.

1- Interpersonal Skills It’s important for a realtor to have good interpersonal skills—you want to enjoy who you’...

If you’re in the market for a new home you might not be thinking all that much about inspections. Sure, you know about them and you know you should do them, but do you know how many there are?

If you are at the stage of the buying process you might be thinking “Where do I begin?”

There’s more than just the home inspection and roof inspection. Your real estate agent should be able to provide a list of the area’s common inspections, but you don’t want to go into this blind if you can avoid it....

Upon recently perusing Netflix for something to watch, I came across a documentary about small houses. Thanks to television shows such as Tiny House Hunters, I’m a little bit in love with the idea of living small.

They’re always painted as these picture-perfect, tiny homes where living is easy and buying is straight-forward. So much so that I think I can do that. Boy would it be nice to live like I’m camping all the time!

But this documentary opened my eyes a bit while still supporting my d...

Not all home-buying experiences are cut-and-dry. You have options, and if one of these is to invest in a foreclosure, there are some things you need to know before you buy.

Most professionals will tell you this might not be a good idea.  Why would you want to invest in a property where there could be a large amount of debt, including past taxes and damage, and that you would assume responsibility for these issues?

If approached thoughtfully and with the right preparation, however, foreclosur...

We’re going to talk about something that might be a little scary for some: money and your mortgage down payment.

When you’re buying a new house, you need to think about money quite a bit. How much should you have saved up to make that down payment on the home? Typically, we hear 20% as a general rule of thumb, but this may not be possible for first-time buyers. And if it is possible, should you put more than that down?

There are so many questions!

Here are the benefits of various percentag...