My big real estate ‘regret’…

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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… and if that way of seeing the world isn’t working ~ ie. we think things that we really want are impossible… or that…

Why everyone should treat their house like a flip

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{photo credit: Fixer Upper} You guys, this renovation is stressFUL. It’s also awesome and it also sometimes kind of sucks. But I signed up for this and really, I’m super excited about the project and doing this ‘flip’. Honestly, it might just be my personal preference, but I’d rather take on a huge fixer upper in a house or building that has boatloads of potential, or has ‘beautiful bones’ that has just been a bit neglected, than a newer property. But that’s just me, and the truth is that you don’t have to take on a huge project in order…

Happy New Year! We {might be} buying a house {!!…?!}

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Guys! Happy New Year! I have some super exciting news… we’re buying a house! Well, a condo because that’s big city life, but seriously ~ !!!!! If I’m being honest I vacillate back and forth between this is totally happening and this is not going to happen at least 10,000 times every day. Also between being totally ecstatic and totally terrified too, lol. Somedays I feel like I’ve never been on as intense an emotional roller coaster as being under contract on this puppy. I was really hesitant to share any of this yet because really, nothing is guaranteed until…

Answering the question: Should I rent for a while instead of selling right now?

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Even in the midst of the best market there can be a great deal of stress and apprehension around selling your home. This could be coming from a myriad of things, but usually it all boils down to being worried about whether you’ll be able to sell your house for the amount of money that you want. Every now and then clients ask me if they should hold off and selling and just rent out their place for a year or so… and almost every time the answer is ~ no. Does it ever make sense to just rent out…

Everything is an investment, invest wisely

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I’ve really been thinking about this topic a lot lately. I’m not sure we think of much outside of money as investments in our lives, but really ~ everything is an investment of one sort or another. What we spend or save money on is the obvious one. And the bigger the amount of money in one purchase, the more we think about it, and get stressed, etc. But outside of actually ‘investing’ money in the stock market do you think of anything else as an investment? Do you think of your car as an investment? Do you think of…

Working on the energy of our now space, and our next space…

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I’ve been feeling super frustrated this week. I’m so ready to buy our new place and be going full steam ahead on all kinds of fun fixer-upper projects, but we still have a little while until we even start looking for that place {like at least four or five months}. We also aren’t settled into our current {temporary} place either… while we might not be totally unpacking, there is still quite a bit that needs to get put away and organized so that the space feels good to be in and we can enjoy it… and I need to figure…

The distressed property… what it is, and what it means for you as a buyer.

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So you think you want a distressed property… it can seem like an amazing deal, but is it really? Our team is selling a listing that is a bank-owned property {also known as an REO property}, so I thought it was the perfect time to talk about this type of sale. The house we are selling is listed at $739,000, it’s pretty big at about 6,500sf, and was built in 2006. And even though it hasn’t been especially well cared for over the past decade, it’s not in extreme {or obvious} disrepair, and it’s not an old house where you’re…

The ‘in-between’ space, and how it’s turning out to be a blessing for our real estate search AND my purge!

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If you’re buying a house you might need an ‘in-between’ space. Maybe just for a few days, or maybe for a few months… Cue the panic. And the resistance. Noooooooooo!….. Often there is considerable stress about timing when it comes to real estate. People selling their houses are worried about being able to find something new, so they won’t put their house on the market until they’ve found ‘the one’. The trouble with that is that great spaces sell extremely quickly, and the market is competitive enough right now that most sellers also won’t accept a home sale contingency {that’s when…

Logan Square Cottage gets a big facelift!

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Yesterday was picture day at Carla and Andrew’s sweet Logan Square house, as we get ready to go on the market there soon. {if you want to see more about how they transformed the interior, click here} While they did a lot of work on the interior of their house, one of the simplest, but biggest impact, projects they did was replacing the siding on the exterior. The house looked okay with it’s original grey siding, but didn’t really stand out. And when you got closer than just looking at a photograph, you could tell that it had ‘been around…

A small project makes a big difference in this Logan Square house!

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Last year we met with some clients, Carla and Andrew, who had bought a fixer upper back in the winter of 2014 and were just about ready to sell and get started on a new project. They wanted our input on a few potential projects and timing so that they could really get the house in tip top shape, and at it’s peak value, to be able to maximize their investment when they were ready to sell. Carla and Andrew are awesome people, and they are smart when it comes to their house.  They also have a killer sense of…