Chad Janda

The result of your new budget will show you where your money is coming from, and where it all goes each month.

How to Make a Personal Budget in 6 Easy Steps A personal or household budget is a summary that compares and tracks your income and expenses for a defined period, typically one month.1 While the word "budget" is often associated with restricted spending, a budget does not have to be restrictive to be effective.

There’s no doubt that a diverse portfolio will help withstand the market’s inevitable highs and lows, but you may be wondering where to focus your funds first.

How to Decide if You Should Save for a House or Invest — The Complete Guide. Perhaps you’re on the hunt for your first home, or you’ve been wondering if you should increase your monthly contribution to a retirement or investment account. Maybe you’re figuring out if you can do both.

Are they worth the cash you have to spend to get started?

Do smart lights save money? If you're looking to save money on your electric bill, try upgrading your lights. We're run through the best energy-saving light bulbs.

Looking for Siri compatible smart vacuums?

The best robot vacuums with Siri support Robot vacuums are one of the best ways to maintain the cleanliness of your home without having to drag out a traditional upright vac whenever the living room needs refreshing.

To understand what may happen in the future, one has to look at the recent past relating to housing activity and market trends.

Best time to sell a house is now, given the impending headwinds People who finance large homebuilders, wood and materials suppliers are increasingly getting convinced that the housing market has seen the best of the uptick in sale prices.

Is it time to choose a design style for your bathroom? Great!

15 Bathroom Decor Pictures Featuring A Modern Design. One of the most popular design styles is modern bathrooms. That’s why we’ve gathered some bathroom decor pictures to inspire you. modern bathrooms are always in and they will always look good!

More than half of real estate professionals surveyed—59%—said trees are the landscaping element that can add the most value to a home’s property.

Study: Property Values Fall 30% From Poor Landscaping A new study aims to put into perspective the impact curb appeal can have in a home sale. An Oct. 13 study by Trees.com shows property values can decrease by up to 30% due to poor landscaping alone.

Before you run out and get a mortgage, it’s important to point out that the impact may not be substantial.

Does Having A Mortgage Help Your Credit Score? Your Mileage May Vary, Here’s Why If you’ve ever pulled your credit report and/or viewed your scores, you may have noticed that the lack of a mortgage could actually be holding you back from credit score perfection.

Values are shifting among affluent consumers and homeowners.

Redefining the Triangle's luxury market According to a report produced by WealthEngine, Wealth-X and The Institute for Luxury Home Marketing (ILHM), there has been an 180% increase in luxury property ownership in a mere three-year period.

"Rates have gone up rather quickly and there's still a little upward movement going on."

Rapid rise in mortgage rates startles homebuyers; blame inflation fears All the big unknowns surrounding the rapid jump in inflation — including how high consumer prices will go and how quickly the Fed will raise interest rates — have put the mortgage market on high alert in early 2022.

There are many things you can do to make a profit on your home.

4 Fantastic Ways to Add Value to Your Home Looking for ways to increase your home's value?

It is not a secret that making your house look cosy and homey takes a bit of money.

5 Budgeting Tips For Furnishing Your Home We went about, did a little bit of digging, and we found, what seem to be, the top five budgeting tips for furnishing your home. Now, let’s check them out!

This will teach you how to personalize your rental space.

How to Add Your Own Style to a Rental Property. Have you ever lived in a rental place and were never sure what you were and weren’t allowed to do in terms of decoration? We can all agree that leases can be pretty restrictive.

Need some help removing your device?

How to remove a Nest thermostat from the wall Maybe you’re painting the room, and you want to paint around it. Maybe you’re moving house, and you want to take it with you. Whatever the case, it’s easy to remove your Nest thermostat from the wall.

The choice between a jumbo or conventional loan is usually easy.

Jumbo vs. conventional loans: Which is better? Most conventional loans have to be within conforming loan limits. That means your loan amount would have to be under $548,250 in most of the U.S. If you need a bigger loan amount, you’ll typically use a jumbo loan.

What if you just started a new job, or recently switched careers? It doesn’t necessarily mean you’re disqualified from home buying.

Can I buy a house without a 2-year job history? According to mortgage advisor Ivan Simental, employment history is just one piece of the puzzle. If you can prove you’re a strong borrower — and not a risky bet for the lender — there are ways to get around a two-year job history. Here’s how.

Analysts had expected a 0.8% increase in sales, according to Bloomberg consensus estimates.

Pending Home Sales Fall 2.2% As Supply-Demand Problems Drive Up Prices Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist, explained this decline as a supply and demand imbalance that has made buyers less keen to buy now because of higher prices.

To help cover the cost of renovations, some homeowners will drain a good portion of their savings or use a personal loan. But there may be a better way to get the cash you need.

Refinance for home improvements: 5 Renovation loans Borrowing from your home equity via a cash-out refinance or renovation refinance could help you pay for home improvements at an ultra-low rate. And it will improve your home value at the same time. So this strategy is often a win-win.

As a future homeowner, it’s crucial to avoid common home-buying errors that can end up costing you a lot of stress and money.

6 Common Home Buying Errors and How to Avoid Them The pandemic undoubtedly drove many people to make major life decisions, such as moving out of state or purchasing a larger residence for their family.

The many benefits of flat roofs.

How These 4 Flat Roofing Benefits Can Improve Your Home With flat roofs rising in popularity over the years, especially in commercial buildings, you should consider going with this option.

Will there be a cool-down and possibly a fall in sales and prices in 2022, along with a return to some normalcy?

Will there be a housing correction in 2022 after two yars of 'hyper-growth'? About 94% of 183 metropolitan areas that were measured notched double-digit gains, up from 89% from the previous year, the organization said.

Buying your first home?

16 First Time Home Buyer Programs to Help With the Down Payment, Mortgage, and More Alittle help can go a long way when it comes to buying your first home.

These transformations are amazing.

Before and After: 4 Yards That Stay Toasty Thanks to Fire Pits Landscape pros from around the country created fire pits that were just right for these personalized landscape styles

We’ve talked to mortgage professionals who handle credit issues daily, investigated mortgage programs for buyers with bad credit, and broken the process into clear steps. Read on to find out how to get a mortgage with bad credit.

Follow These 10 Steps to (Still!) Get a Mortgage … Even With Bad Credit If your credit score is low, you might think that getting a mortgage will be impossible. But, if you’re willing to put some work in, you can buy a house with bad credit.

Selling your home?

How to avoid a tax bomb when selling your home Home sales profits are considered capital gains, taxed at federal rates of 0%, 15% or 20% in 2021, depending on income.

In a world where color trends seem to switch before your paint even dries, you want to pick something that you’ll be able to live with for awhile.

Here’s the Classic Exterior Paint Color That Is Trending Right Now, According to an HGTV Expert In a recent interview with Apartment Therapy, John Gidding, designer and host of HGTV’s new show “Curb Appeal Xtreme,” revealed what color many of his clients are asking for when it comes to painting the exterior of their home: good, old-fashioned white.

What's the best course of action for potential home buyers?

5 Things podcast: Our top financial tips for potential homebuyers The pandemic housing market is extremely competitive right now. Inventory remains low while prices continue to soar. What's the best course of action for potential homebuyers?

There's plenty you can do to make your place your own!

10 of the Best Renter-Friendly Home Transformations We’ve Ever Seen Renters can sometimes feel like they’re stuck with what they have — after all, they’re likely not staying in their place permanently, and they’re not always working with the most flexible of landlords.

Smart plugs are an intermediary device between an appliance and a power outlet.

Guide to smart plugs Upgrading to a wide range of smart appliances is getting much easier, but for the ones you can’t — or the ones that don’t have smart equivalents — what can you do?

It can be done!

Your Go-To Guide on How to Save for a House on a Low Income. Here is a guide that will lay out options and provide a game plan that will help minimize the stress of saving so you can turn your dream of buying a home into a reality.