I'm Sorry

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I’m sorry.

Two small and simple words but sometimes they are so hard to say AND sometimes they are so hard to receive too.

Saying sorry is a skill. You will likely learn how to say sorry (or not say sorry) from someone close to you.

I wasn’t always good at saying sorry, and truth be told there are still times it’s still hard.

BUT these two little words have a way of setting you free.

Now, they don’t erase your misstep or words spoken in anger, but they will begin to build a tiny bridge between you and that other person.

Those two little words have a way of unburdening you of your shame and guilt so you don’t have to carry that heavy load anymore.

And when you can get to the place where “I’m sorry” is the next step you might feel a lightness you didn’t feel before.

I don’t underestimate the importance of being able to say sorry and accept an apology - being able to do so is a journey in becoming your best self.

With gratitude.

Buying vs Renting

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Buying vs Renting in today’s market. Which is better?

There are pros and cons to both. But here’s a couple of key points.

  • When you own your landlord can’t raise your rent.

  • When you own your landlord can’t put your rental on the market.

  • When you own you are building equity and wealth for YOU.

  • When you rent and the sewer line fails is not your problem.

  • When you rent you are not in a “committed relationship” with your home.

  • When you rent you are paying 100% interest rate. Say what? Yes, your rent is 0% to principal and 100% to your landlord.

Homeownership doesn’t have to be out of reach, no matter what you tell yourself. I have great strategies and resources for first time buyers to overcome the fear of buying a home.

Negotiation Inspections

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I’m going to tell you a little secret: Negotiating inspection items can be a bit tricky.

Shows like Million Dollar Listing have not helped either. I cannot tell you how many times the agent on TV says, “We will just get the seller at inspection”. Yeah, it doesn’t work that way.

The purpose of the inspection is to reveal items that cannot be seen with the naked eye or issues that only a thorough home inspection would find.

In other words, the giant carpet stain you saw during the showing is not something that should end up on your list of inspection requests.

For the best results stick to health and safety issues.

And remember, it doesn’t hurt to ask for the things that are important to you. The seller cannot “ditch” you because you sent over a list of inspection requests. All they can do is say no.

If you have kept your list to major items that “any reasonable buyer” would find objectionable the seller is probably going to agree with you.

One of my biggest roles in a real estate transaction is helping you through this process whether you are the buyer or the seller.

Let's Talk About Poop

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LET’S TALK ABOUT POOP!

Did I get your attention?

Many of the homes in our area are on septic systems. This means the waste from the drains and toilets in the home travel to a tank.

The septic system is a crucial element of the home and not one that people like to think about.

Let’s be real, if it's working you kinda forget it's there. When it's not working, you’re faced with a very crappy situation! If you catch my drift.

I could have fun with puns all day with this topic!

In this video I’ll discuss the importance of getting a septic inspection when purchasing a new home.

Why Hasn't Your Home Been Sold?

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Here are the three reasons your home is not sold yet.

  1. Price: buyers know the market. They have access to tons of data online and while the market is still crazy buyers are not in the mood to grossly overpay for your home.

  2. Condition: too small, too dated, too smelly, major repairs, dysfunctional floor plan, you get the picture.

  3. Location: too close to the road, in town, out of town, on a mountain, in a valley, again, you get the picture.

Two of these things you can change, one you cannot. So if your home is not selling you will need to have a closer look at and and see what adjustments need to be made.

Second Showings

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When someone sees your home it’s really a second showing for them. Say what? Yep, they have already “seen” your home online.

They have walked thru all the rooms, admired your decorating style and marveled at your gardening skills.

  1. But what if your photos aren’t “show ready”? What if your kids didn’t pick up their dirty laundry?

  2. What if your rooms really need painted?

  3. And what if your agent used their iPhone to take the photos (gasp!)?

Welcome to 2024 - if your agent is not hiring a professional photographer to take your photos then you need to start asking some questions.

But you need to do your part too - and I can help you with that.

As a service to all my sellers I offer home staging and styling for free! My stager extraordinaire will bring accessories and work with what you have. She will guide you on decluttering and cleaning.

And as a team we will ready your home for market with your best foot forward. And don’t forget to tell the kids to pick up their dirty clothes!

MYTH vs FACT

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Myth vs Fact

  1. I need 20% down to buy a house.

  • NOPE! Some loans are NO money down such as USDA and VA.

2. I don’t have a good enough credit score

  • NEWS FLASH, some lenders will accept credit scores under 600.

3. Getting approved for a loan is HARD!

  • Did you know that around 75% of loan applications received are approved?

Know the facts before you decide home ownership is out of reach I’m here to help with any questions you might have.

Ski Accident

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When I was 12 years old some kid from Jersey skied over my head.

This was way before everyone wore helmets so you can imagine it was not pretty. I got to take a ride in the ski patrol sled to the bottom of the hill and a trip in the ambulance to the hospital.

The kid from Jersey was freaking out and wanted to know if I was going to sue him. I am not even sure I knew what that was at 12.

I have about 25 stitches in my head as my battle wound. Luckily that is about the worst accident I have ever had.

How about you, have you ever had stitches?

Perfect Mom

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Things I am not: a perfect mom.

Things I am: someone trying my best, day in day out.

When I was pregnant with my first everyone told me that parenting was the “most difficult, yet most rewarding job you will ever have.”

This is not an understatement!

Raising humans is serious stuff! There is lots of second guessing, regrets, missteps and fumbles.

And yet, there is so much love, fun and and adventure.

So what I’ve learned in 11+ years of parenting is that you shouldn’t take yourself too seriously. Our kids have a tremendous amount of “built in grace”.

We Want To Sell Our House

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This house, these sellers.

Okay a little back story here. When I first met with this lovely couple they said “we don’t want to list our house, we want to sell it”.

So we discussed the market analysis I had prepared for them and they decided to list their home below my suggested price with the intention of getting multiple offers.

And that’s exactly what happened. offers to be exact and showings!

We hit a couple bumps in the road along the way with inspection items but since they were under contract for WAY over their asking price, the sting of repairs wasn’t quite as bad.

And on the day of closing it was smiles, excitement and gratitude all around. As a professional in my field I can’t ask for anything more.

Don’t get caught!

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Did you know that some home owners insurance policies only cover damages to your home within 30 days of you moving out?

I found this out the hard way.

We had moved out of our house and I was checking on it every other day, BUT on the one day I wasn’t there the dishwasher decided to go kaput!

What ensued was the basement filling up with water and doing tons of damage.

I called my insurance company to make a claim and received the bad news; all repairs would be out of pocket!

Sucker punch to the gut!

So what can you do?

If you move out of your primary residence make sure you check with your insurance company to find out what will be covered.

In most cases you can get “vacant home” insurance which is more money than a standard policy but much, much cheaper than dealing with a flooded basement.

Please, please, please learn from my mistake and don’t make the same one yourself.

BTW - second homes have different insurance policies that typically fall under different guidelines.

Please reach out if you have questions.

Why I Love My Job

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Staple in the finger, and why I love my job.

The other day I had the girls at the office with me. They love getting into all the drawers and cabinets and checking out all of my office supplies. I am not sure why this is so exciting, but I digress.

So I’m on the phone with a client and Elizabeth is playing with my stapler.

All of a sudden I hear a whimper from her. I look up and she’s got what appears to be a staple in her finger.

At first I thought she was just playing around and pretending to have been impaled by a small piece of metal and then I looked at her face.

White and scared.

I stammered into the phone, “I’ve got to go!”.

We then proceeded to carefully remove the staple from her finger, clean it up and phone the doctor to make sure we were current on tetanus shots.

Once the dust had settled I called my client back and apologized for the disruption.

She said it was no problem, being a mother herself.

And that is why I love my job.

Because I have the flexibility and time to care for my family and clients and sometimes those events cross over quite quickly.

Being A Homeowner Rocks!

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Here’s just a few reasons being a homeowner rocks!

  1. Monthly mortgage payments stays steady even as rents rise and inflation increases.

  2. Decorate and update without having to ask your landlord.

  3. Possible tax benefits

  4. Building equity instead of giving it away to someone else

  5. Being able to borrow against the equity in your home for other things such as debt reduction and home improvement projects

Tuff Shed

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Do you have custom home taste on a Tuff Shed budget?

Well you aren’t alone and here are a couple helpful tips to overcome this pesky situation.

  1. Homeownership is a stepping stone process. With each home purchase you will likely be getting more of what you want. Consider readjusting your expectations and recognize you might not yet own your dream home.

  2. Lots can be done with cosmetic repairs. That run down home down in your neighborhood might not yet look like a gem but with some elbow grease and money you can turn out a diamond in the rough.

  3. Be strategic about buying by watching the market with a trusted real estate agent. Is the market rapidly accelerating? Purchasing a smaller home or condo in a rising market and then quickly selling while the market is still rising can produce quick equity that can allow you to leap frog to your next home sooner than later.

The advice of a trusted and knowledgeable real estate agent is important to maximize these strategies. Reach out with questions.

CLOSING COSTS

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CLOSING COSTS!

Might as well be a four letter word.

Every buyer and sellers worst nightmare, fees that rack up for days. Processing fees, appraisal fee, title fees, credit report fee, recording fee, commission fees, release fees and I could go on and on.

But here’s the deal.

These fees represent the cost of doing business when buying or selling real estate.

These are not made up fees, they are actual costs that you will incur when you buy and sell real estate.

Some fees are just buyer fees, such as those associated with getting a loan.

And some fees are most commonly paid by the seller such as real estate commissions and title insurance.

When you have a trusted advisor on you side, they will explain these to you so you don’t feel like someone is taking you to the cleaners.

Ignorance Is bliss, Knowledge Is Pain

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When the 2004 tsunami hit Indonesia, Bill and I were on a cross country road trip from Colorado to Vermont.

We listened to music the whole trip and had no idea this catastrophic, world wide event had happened.

It was surreal to pick up a copy of the Boston Globe and see photos of the destruction on the front page. Watching the footage of the disaster on TV was horrifying and it felt weird, knowing this had all unfolded and we had no clue.

Ignorance is bliss and sometimes knowledge = pain.

I felt off center and disoriented. I recognize that might sounds selfish but I have no other way to describe it.

Has anything like this ever happened to you? I would love to hear your story.

Sellers Property Disclosure

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The sellers property disclosure, your friendly form.

Did you know the number complaint with the division of real estate is non-disclosure by sellers?

What does this mean in plain English. “We bought a house from Mr and Mrs Seller and they never told us about the roof leak, the cracked foundation, the flood in the basement, fill in the blank.”

So how do sellers avoid this unpleasant situation?

There is this handy form we use in real estate called the Sellers Property Disclosure. This form is your opportunity to air all your homes dirty laundry.

Sometimes I have sellers balk at this form, they feel reluctant to fill it out.

But think of this form as your get out of jail free card.

The save your bacon form.

The keep you out of hot water form.

You can’t hide things from the new buyer!

Just picture this. New buyer moves in and who should saunter over, but Karen from across the street.

“Oh welcome to the neighborhood! I was just saying to my husband that I didn’t think anyone would buy this home with the moldy attic and all.”

Your neighbors know everythingAnd if something is wrong with your house the buyers are going to find out eventually.

It’s best to be as thorough and accurate as possible with the disclosure. It will protect you in the long run and keep you out of trouble.

Yes, you might have to make some repairs, but I can promise you it will be a lot cheaper than a lawsuit and attorney fees.

When in doubt, DISCLOSE!