October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month and today is my birthday so I'm going to be a little self indulgent and share a personal story.  1 in 8 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer. That's a statistic most women are familiar with.   What most do not know is that an irregular mammogram only comes with a 20% chance or cancer. In fact, only about 2% of irregular mammograms lead to a biopsy, because most can be addressed with an ultrasound to make sure it's a false positive, dense breast tissue or some other common anomoly. If you do the math (which you know I love to do), you realize that about 10% of mammograms come back irregular  every year! But somehow the fear of an irregular mammogram can keep some women from getting tested.  It's a shame, because once you know the statistics, you know that an irregular mammogram is nothing to be afraid of! No, I do not have breast cancer. And for that I am thankful. But like most women will at some point in their life, I d...

We all know a bit about real estate, because whether we rent or own, we all LIVE in real estate! What a lot of people don't realize is how the market changes buying/selling strategies. In a seller's market it's tempting to sell your home For Sale By Owner (FSBO) but even if you can save a few thousand dollars in commission, it's likely going to cost you money along the way. Let me tell you 'bout my best friend (and if you're not singing right now I feel sad for you! ;-) )  On July 26, I met with my best friend to talk about the possibility of selling her home. For this story, let's call her Janet. Janet has owned her house since 2007 and was basing her home's value on that purchasing experience and what she saw online when house hunting. After going over the improvements she has made over the years and talking marketing options, I headed home to do my homework. Reason #1 Janet is glad she has a Realtor: I worked up a Competitive Market Analysis (CMA) bas...

  We've seen a lot of changes in 2020. People are spending more time in their homes. Consequently they're also spending more time thinking about why the chose their current home and what they might like in a new home.  There are people looking for more space. There are people looking for the ability to do home renovations and projects in their own home. Most importantly, there are people looking for a space to call their own. Statistically, 74% of homeowners bought their current home because they wanted more space. Of course, a lot of those people wanted the space so they could host company or start a family, but I'm sure those people were glad they had that space during the lockdown!  Working as a Realtor, location is extremely important for me. With Hubs working in IT from home, highspeed internet is a must. So for us, our current home was the right balance of location, space and conveniences.  So I'm curious, why did you buy your current home?

As a Realtor, I'm often looking for inexpensive marketing strategies. My email signature and business cards are great, but there have to be more ways to get my name out there. I have my blog, my  Facebook page  and my  Instagram  but I need content for those, so I'm always looking for ideas. One thing I consistently see is "take a picture of your work space and share about your projects for the day. I've held out on this one because my office is cluttered, chaotic and full of stuff that doesn't seem to be Real Estate related.  Hubs had surgery this morning. It was minor but still required general anesthesia, which is a little scary and got him thinking about happiness and our future. I know, deep stuff for a Real Estate blog, right? But I'm getting there. Stock photo, not from Hubs' OR I knew he'd be in the operating room for about an hour, so I took my laptop to get some work done while I waited. Once he was settled in and I got to work, I caught him g...

You may have heard that we are in a seller's market.  This means the demand (number of people looking for homes) exceeds the supply (number of homes on the market).  As a Realtor, I work with both buyer and seller clients.  At any given time, I tend to have more buyer clients than sellers.  That's just the nature of the work.  Not all buyer clients will end up buying and many people start looking before they're really ready to buy.  It makes sense.  That said, currently I'm working with 19 buyers and only 2 sellers!  That's nearly TEN TIMES as many buyers as sellers!   What does this mean?    We're not only in a seller's market, we're in a HOT seller's market!  The market has record low inventory, so houses are selling fast and often times above list price.  According to HousingWire, and online news source for those in the Real Estate market, 42% of people who bought a home during the pandemic dealt with a bidding war...

Edited to add: this post turned out to be much longer than I planned.  While I apologize for the length, I really do think it's all important information.  I hope you learn a lot and don't hesitate to reach out if you have follow up questions! Can you buy or sell a home without a Realtor?  Absolutely!  But why would you embark on what is likely the biggest financial decision of your life without an expert?!  While there are many reasons to use a Realtor, here are the ones I think are the most important. The lingo We've already talked about how real estate has its own language .  While it's good to educate yourself, your Realtor already knows the lingo and is happy to be your translator.  She can also make sure you don't get misinformation along the way because someone else didn't understand the lingo.   I recently had a lender tell a buyer client she didn't need to schedule inspections, it would be taken care of for her.  Come to fi...

Every industry has their own language.  There terms they throw around like everyone knows what they're talking about but no one outside the industry really does.  In most cases it's okay.  I don't need to know what an antisuck valve (yes, it's a thing!) and degassing are as long as my vacuum works.  But in Real Estate, it's your money and your home we're talking about, so a little education can go a long way. There are a LOT of Real Estate terms, and if you've followed my Real Estate Dictionary I'm sure you think you've heard them all.  But here are a few miscellaneous terms you may not have considered. Realtor  (Pronouced Reel-tor) According to the National Association of Realtors, " REALTOR® is a federally registered collective membership mark which identifies a real estate professional who is member of the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® and subscribes to its strict Code of Ethics." In reality, a Realtor is someone who sells you...

Every industry has their own language.  There terms they throw around like everyone knows what they're talking about but no one outside the industry really does.  In most cases it's okay.  I don't need to know what a faucet aerator or a backflow valve are as long as my plumbing works.  But in Real Estate, it's your money and your home we're talking about, so a little education can go a long way. There are a LOT of Real Estate terms, so I'll break them down by category.  Here are a few pre-house hunting terms to get you started. Realtor  (Pronouced Reel-tor) According to the National Association of Realtors, " REALTOR® is a federally registered collective membership mark which identifies a real estate professional who is member of the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® and subscribes to its strict Code of Ethics." In reality, a Realtor is someone who sells your home in record time, finds your dream home and solves problems you never knew exi...

Every industry has their own language.  There terms they throw around like everyone knows what they're talking about but no one outside the industry really does.  In most cases it's okay.  I don't need to know what inseams and darts are as long as my clothes fit.  But in Real Estate, it's your money and your home we're talking about, so a little education can go a long way. There are a LOT of Real Estate terms, so I'll break them down by category.  Here are a few pre-house hunting terms to get you started. Realtor  (Pronouced Reel-tor) According to the National Association of Realtors, " REALTOR® is a federally registered collective membership mark which identifies a real estate professional who is member of the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® and subscribes to its strict Code of Ethics." In reality, a Realtor is someone who sells your home in record time, finds your dream home and solves problems you never knew existed! First, a quick re...

Every industry has their own language.  There terms they throw around like everyone knows what they're talking about but no one outside the industry really does.  In most cases it's okay.  I don't need to know what barometric pressure and dew points are as long as the weather is comfortable.  But in Real Estate, it's your money and your home we're talking about, so a little education can go a long way. There are a LOT of Real Estate terms, so I'll break them down by category.  Here are a few terms specific to home owners and sellers. Realtor  (Pronouced Reel-tor) According to the National Association of Realtors, " REALTOR® is a federally registered collective membership mark which identifies a real estate professional who is member of the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® and subscribes to its strict Code of Ethics." In reality, a Realtor is someone who sells your home in record time, finds your dream home and solves problems you never knew exi...

Every industry has their own language.  There terms they throw around like everyone knows what they're talking about but no one outside the industry really does.  In most cases it's okay.  I don't need to know what amperature and inductor mean as long as my electric works.  But in Real Estate, it's your money and your home we're talking about, so a little education can go a long way. There are a LOT of Real Estate terms, so I'll break them down by category.  Here are a few insurance terms to get you started. Realtor  (Pronouced Reel-tor) According to the National Association of Realtors, " REALTOR® is a federally registered collective membership mark which identifies a real estate professional who is member of the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® and subscribes to its strict Code of Ethics." In reality, a Realtor is someone who sells your home in record time, finds your dream home and solves problems you never knew existed! Mortgage Insura...