Homes
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Lessons From a First-Time Home Buyer: The Problem with Appliance Repair “Quotes”
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…
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Lessons From a First-Time Home Buyer: What Fed Rate Cuts Could Mean for Home Buyers and Owners
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…
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Lessons From a First-Time Home Buyer: How New Realtor Rules Could Impact Buyers
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,…
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Lessons From a First-Time Home Buyer: When Your Mortgage Servicer Changes
Something I’d absolutely never heard about prior to buying a home was the idea that your mortgage might just randomly be sold to another company. Sure, I was familiar with the concept of companies selling off delinquent debt to collectors, but it never crossed my mind that lenders would elect to transfer their mortgages in…
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Lessons From a First-Time Home Buyer: A Warning on “Interest-Free” Home Repair Financing
The unfortunate fact about being a homeowner is that, at some point, you’re going to have to pay to repair/replace some expensive items in your house. And while you should try to be as prepared for that as possible, in reality, there are times when an unexpected repair may mean needing to request financing. That…
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Lessons From a First-Time Home Buyer: 5 Safety and Security Items We’ve Purchased for Our House
When you’re a renter, there’s a certain level of safety and security that your landlord is required to provide. So, when you become a homeowner, suddenly you’re solely responsible for these important aspects of your life. And, of course, this also likely means spending more money to protect yourself. In our case, since moving in…
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Lessons From a First-Time Home Buyer: Our First Major Repair as Homeowners
Well, it had to happen sooner or later. This week, my wife and I placed a maintenance call, with the hope that it might be a small fix — but, of course, it turned out to be a worst-case scenario. The culprit causing harm to our wallets this time? Our water heater. The good news…
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Lessons From a First-Time Home Buyer: Should You Break Your Lease to Buy?
In a perfect world, the transition from renting to buying would be seamless — you’d find a great house to buy, close the deal, and move right into your new place. Alas, it’s rarely this easy. That’s because many renters are on a lease, which may heavily impact their timing when buying a home and…
