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 while now. And every time, the house he could have bought is worth more than it was the last time

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?

I have a saying that goes, "Plan for the 90% but be ready for the 10%." It comes from my near decades in the fire service. 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

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