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Showing posts from December, 2025

How To Stretch Your Options, Not Your Budget

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One of the biggest homebuying advantages you can give yourself today is surprisingly simple: a flexible wish list. What You Can Change, and What You Can't Think of it like this. Your wish list and your budget are the guardrails of your search. And when your budget needs to hold firm, there's another lever you can pull. That's seeing if you truly need all of your desired features. Because the truth is, a small compromise could be the difference between feeling stuck and getting the keys to your next home. The data shows more buyers are using that strategy to offset affordability hurdles in today's market. A recent study from Cotality found most buyers (70%) ended up compromising on one or more items from their original wish list. But before they started searching, only 33% expected to compromise at all: Source: Cotal...
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Why More Homeowners Are Giving Up Their Low Mortgage Rate If you're like a lot of homeowners, you've probably thought: "I'd like to move... but I don't want to give up my 3% rate." That's fair. That rate has been one of your best financial wins - and it can be hard to let go. But here's what you need to remember... A great rate won't make up for a home that no longer works for you. Life changes, and sometimes, your home needs to change with it. And you're not the only one making that choice. The Lock-In Effect Is Starting To Ease Many homeowners have been frozen in place by something the experts call the lock-in effect. That's when you won't move because you don't want to tak...