I hear you on the peace of mind thing—my nerves couldn’t handle a sketchy situation either. But I’ll admit, I was tempted by some of the indie options...
I totally get what you mean about feeling like a bother for asking questions. When I refinanced last year, I was constantly emailing the loan officer ...
Yeah, those fees can sneak up on you if you're not careful. When I went through my VA refi, I actually made a color-coded sheet because my brain just ...
That’s way too real. I once thought I was getting a “finished garage”—turns out, it was more like a glorified storage unit with a space heater and som...
That’s wild. I remember seeing a “mailing fee” on my closing docs and thinking, what are they mailing—gold-plated paper? I asked about it and they act...
That’s exactly what happened to my cousin—she bought into a place with “reasonable” HOA fees, but then the board changed and suddenly there was a $7k ...
I remember thinking the same thing when I went through pre-approval—like, why do they need my entire life history? But honestly, it did help me spot a...
DTI really does feel like the gatekeeper most of the time. I remember a couple years back, I was convinced my freelance gigs would help me out on a mo...
Yeah, I totally get what you mean about the “preferred” inspectors. Last time I bought, my agent really pushed her guy, but I ended up finding someone...
That’s the truth. When I bought my first place, I noticed a $150 “admin fee” buried in the closing docs. I literally just asked what it was for, and s...
Those mailers make it sound like you just snap your fingers and—bam—money from your house appears in your bank account. In reality, I felt like I was ...
I totally get what you mean about trust and real communication. When I was looking for my first place, I was super focused on sticking to my budget, s...
Yeah, I’ve actually had a “processing fee” knocked off once just by asking about it. They acted like it was a huge exception, but honestly, it felt li...
Totally get what you mean about survival mode sometimes trumping the “perfect” financial plan. A few years back, my partner lost her job and we were s...