Category: Homes

Homes

Lessons From a First-Time Home Buyer: Yes, Your Payments Can Still Go Up

by Kyle BurbankDec 11, 2024

When we decided to ditch apartment life in favor of buying a house, one of the motivating factors was that, while rents tend to rise from year to year, our mortgage wouldn't. Of course, while that's true of our fixed-rate mortgage itself, that doesn't mean that our monthly payments won't increase. In fact, as we reached our first year anniversary in this home, we're now going to have to start...

Homes

Lessons From a First-Time Home Buyer: How the Pros We Worked With Are Still Helping Us

by Kyle BurbankNov 27, 2024

A few months ago, I wrote about how the professionals we choose to work with when buying our home made a huge difference and made our experience a positive one. Now, one year later, I'm somewhat surprised to say that they continue to help us out on a regular basis despite the transaction that first brought us together being well behind us. So, between that milestone and with it being...

Homes

Lessons From a First-Time Home Buyer: One Year as Homeowners

by Kyle BurbankNov 13, 2024

It feels absolutely crazy to say but it's now been a full year since we closed on our house. Perhaps it doesn't feel as long since we didn't actually move in until closer to Christmas — but, either way, time has flown. Before my wife and I got married, her mother said something to her about getting to know someone in all seasons. Well, now, we've come to know our...

Homes

Lessons From a First-Time Home Buyer: How FICO's New Tool Could Benefit Mortgage Applicants

by Kyle BurbankOct 30, 2024

Applying and getting approved for a mortgage can be a lengthy process. As I learned, this is especially true if you're self-employed — but it could also be a challenge given your credit situation. On that note, FICO is apparently rolling out a new tool to mortgage lenders that will hopefully enable them to give applicants more specific advice and direction while working to provide them with more and better...

Homes

Lessons From a First-Time Home Buyer: The Things You Don't Think About

by Fioney StaffOct 16, 2024

I like to think that my wife and I were quite thoughtful, careful, and diligent when it came to buying our home. Not only did we visit the house a few times before making an offer — and taking the time to inspect various elements on each visit — but we also got a comprehensive inspection completed before closing. For the most part, that's all worked out well for us,...

Homes

Lessons From a First-Time Home Buyer: The Problem with Appliance Repair "Quotes"

by Kyle BurbankOct 2, 2024

When we were buying our house, one piece of advice we were given was, "Get three quotes before hiring someone for repairs." While this sounds like a lot of work, I can absolutely appreciate this tip. After all, even when you're potentially spending thousands of dollars, saving any money you can is still important. As I shared, a few months ago, our water heater broke, ultimately leading us to replace...

Homes

Lessons From a First-Time Home Buyer: What Fed Rate Cuts Could Mean for Home Buyers and Owners

by Kyle BurbankSep 19, 2024

Yesterday, for the first time since 2020, the Federal Reserve cut interest rates. In fact, to the surprise of some observers, the rate was cut by half a point (as opposed to the quarter point that was widely anticipated). For many people, this update might not mean much — but, for those who have been looking to buy a home or who purchased during recent rate highs, this could be...

Homes

Lessons From a First-Time Home Buyer: How New Realtor Rules Could Impact Buyers

by Kyle BurbankSep 4, 2024

You may have heard that the rules for real estate agents and realtors were changing. If you're like me, you might have even caught a segment about it on your local news... that only managed to make things more confusing. I'm not sure why getting clear answers on these updates has proven so difficult but, in my experience, it has been. Luckily, among the junk, I have found some clarifying...