I’m sure you’ve at least read headlines about the nationwide class action lawsuit against the NAR, and utlimately many individual real estate brokerages. Starting next week there will be some distinct changes to how real estate is practiced. I’m running through the main shifts, which impact both buyers and sellers. I think this is only the start of many changes, hopefully all ultimately for the best!

You guys, I love talking about things that I feel like I shouldn't talk about. When you feel like something is off limits for any reason, there's usually just a lot of energy around it. Of course, there's a lot of energy around selling your house! For some reason, I feel like no one talks a lot about pricing and what your house is worth, but I'm not really sure why…

Today on over on the gram I shared some (for the moment virtual) happy hour recipes, I definitely need some just for fun creative things going on so I'm making a new cocktail recipe every week (I mean, with this stay-at-home order I don't want to drink so much wine that I start hating it - is that even possible?! Not gonna find out, ha!)

The Great Recession was unique in that it was caused by the housing and lending sectors and then spread out into the rest of the economy. There were specific characteristics present at that time that still are not present now. Now that we're a decade out from that recession I have people mention another housing bubble bursting, or another huge housing crash, and the truth is, at least in the Chicagoland area, is that we are still experiencing a relatively low housing inventory in comparison to the number of buyers who are active in the market…

ruthfully, this renovation is one of my biggest dreams coming true. And I do love it. But also ~ ohmygod it is also some of the worst stress I've ever experienced at the exact same time.As I scroll through Instagram daily and see the big design bloggers that I follow doing this project or that... seemingly always in a state of utter design bliss, I can't help but feel like I'm failing…

We are in the part of our renovation where I feel like we are working constantly {so. many. decisions. to make!} but we aren't seeing much progress day to day. I know that's totally normal for any construction project but man does it take the fun right out of it sometimes... I'm ready to see some transformation!

When we think something is impossible, is it really? Or is it just not possible for us because we think it's impossible? The more years I'm here on this big round ball of air and water, the more I'm realizing that so much of what we think and feel and believe is just programmed into us day after day, second after second, for most of our lives... it's not right or wrong, it's just what we know...

While we live in our semi-done/undone kitchen and wait {for what feels like an eternity} for our kitchen cabinets, there are still a million things to be done to keep making progress in our cute little abode. The next thing I want to tackle is the coat closet right inside the front door of our place. 

Hi there! I've been a little pre-occupied with our renovation lately, but we are in full spring work mode over here and today I wanted to talk about something that I get lots of questions from people about all of the time ~ what's the real estate market like right now? How can someone possibly be successful in this market?! Honestly, I get tons of questions all the time…

We are getting closer and closer to go time... the kitchen cabinets should be shipping the first week of April and I have plenty of things I still need to do. Anyone know where to get a super sexy black kitchen faucet?? Given that we will have had at least a month of waiting while the cabinets were being fabricated, there are no excuses for not being ready when they actually get here…

What's your 'dream house' style... and where might that put you on the map? I absolutely love Chicago, and one thing I find really interesting about Architecture ~ both within this city and across the country ~ is that different regions are home to distinct housing styles.

This is what my 'in progress' kitchen actually looks like right now. It's not pretty, and it's not super fun to live in. I had been a bit naively optimistic in hoping that could stack up the kitchen boxes and make a usable 'counter' space on top of them until our actual cabinets come, which clearly isn't happening.

I've shared some of the ups and downs of buying and starting renovations of our new place... but I haven't actually introduced you to it! Meet our cute little house {condo}! We bought a super outdated two-bedroom two two-bathroom condo in a loft/courtyard building in a pretty hip part of town. Honestly, I don't feel cool enough to live in our new neighborhood, lol, but here we are!

Guys, we are officially IN our new place! It still kind of doesn't feel real, but I'm sure that's because have no kitchen appliances right now and are living out of boxes for the next few weeks while we get new baseboards installed and hopefully get new kitchen cabinets.And paint colors, I need to figure out the paint colors!

You guys, it's officially official, we bought a house! I shared the super exciting news a few weeks ago, but I also wanted to share our/my experience of going through the actual process, because I feel like it's something people don't really talk about. Sure, your friends might tell you when they are doing it, but does anyone really share what it's actually like to go through this crazy process?

You guys, I have so many things I want to talk about and share this year on the blog, but right now, all I can think about is our new place. I mean, is there really anything else worth doing?! It's taking some serious willpower to not actually buy anything before we move in. . .