PMI Is Not the Enemy. Waiting Might Be.

I have a family member in my circle who is still waiting to have 20% saved before he buys. Every time I see him, I tell him the same thing: the market is not waiting for him. I have been saying it for a few years now. And every time, the house he could have bought is worth more than it was the last

Approved vs. Actually Affordable: Know Your Real Number

I had friends who got pre-approved for $450,000. The houses they wanted were in that range, and the temptation to just go for it was real. But when we sat down and ran their actual numbers, take-home pay, monthly expenses, what they wanted their life to look like after closing, the number that made

Should I Keep Renting or Buy a House in the Chicago Suburbs Right Now?

In the fire service, we have a saying: plan for the 90% but be ready for the 10%. What that means is you train hard, keep everything in working condition, and prepare for what you know is coming. But the 10%, the calls that are unlike anything you've trained for, that's what separates people who wer

Illinois Property Taxes: The Number That Changes Everything in the Chicago Suburbs

I have a friend, I will call him Perry, who bought a home in a Chicago suburb that had not been reassessed for property taxes in quite a while. His first year of ownership, two things happened at once: his individual property got reassessed, and the entire county went through a reassessment at the s