You nailed it with the “dog years” comparison—escrow time really does drag. I’ve been through both bank and independent routes, and honestly, neither ...
Honestly, I haven’t seen lenders skip steps just because of a great credit score. When I bought my last place, my score was in the high 700s and the p...
Honestly, I get where you’re coming from. Lower monthly payments look good on paper, but stretching out the loan can really add up over time. We did a...
I get where you’re coming from. I’ve lived in my house for over twenty years, and honestly, the old-school switches and thermostats have never let me ...
Couldn’t agree more with this: Waiting until your finances are solid is underrated. I rushed into my first place and those “surprise” expenses hit ha...
I get where you’re coming from—there’s definitely a lot of junk fees out there, and some of them are just plain nonsense. But I’ve also run into situa...
That’s the part folks don’t always realize. I nearly fell for a “no closing cost” refi once—turns out, they just rolled everything into a higher rate....
Totally relate to this. When I refinanced a few years back, I got caught up in the same obsession—spreadsheets, calculators, the whole deal. Eventuall...
True enough, but I'd caution against jumping into programs with too many strings attached. When I bought my first place, I almost went for a grant tha...
I've tapped equity a couple times myself, mostly for home improvements rather than business ventures. It worked out fine because I kept it modest and ...
Totally agree with your take on simpler appliances being safer bets. I've bought refurbished washers and fridges a couple times now, and they've been ...
That's exactly the balancing act I've struggled with over the years. When we bought our place, the sellers had put in this gorgeous stone fireplace—be...
Had a similar experience when refinancing last year—supervisor involvement just muddied things up. Eventually, I started clearly stating when I needed...
Totally agree, refurbished has worked well for me too. Got a used fridge from Craigslist 5 years ago—still humming along. New doesn't always mean reli...
Yeah, I've seen it go both ways. My first mortgage was with a small local bank, and it was nice dealing with someone face-to-face, but they weren't ex...