1st Post!

As a true millennial 90’s kid, I’m VERY familiar with blogs. I had a livejournal (and technically still do, I guess) that I actively posted on since the early 2000s, that spans 18 or so years of my life. Crazy to think about! So time to dust off the ol’ keyboard I guess.

Considering this is my first post, I figured I’d tell a little bit more about myself and why I decided to get into real estate.

Whenever people ask me “why real estate?” My short answer is, “It’s the family business. It’s in my blood, I guess.”

I come from a long line of real estate entrepreneurs. My grandfather, along with my great uncle, were some of the first builders developing the Pocono Mountain area in Pennsylvania. I grew up hanging out in their office, raiding the office supply cabinet and copying a million copies of my hands on the industrial copier. I remember going along to showings with my dad, stopping for a McDonald’s on the way. The industry has come a LONG WAY since the days of the hard close and the “ABC (Always Be Closing)” sales strategies. Thankfully! I think if the industry was still like that, I wouldn’t be into it. Every now and then my dad will try to give me advice and I just have the biggest internal eyeroll ever. My dad tried to put me in real estate school when I was 18, and I wouldn’t even hear it. I was a PUNK (!) — and the thought of wearing a pantsuit was so revolting to me that I wouldn’t even consider it. Things happen the way they do for a reason though– I’ve lived my life the way I wanted to– traveled, partied, loved, learned, done everything imaginable that I’ve ever wanted to do — and grown into the person I am today.

I’ve been a bartender most of my adult life, but I think somewhere in the back of my mind I knew I’d always end up in real estate. I came of age at an interesting time– during the 2008 financial crash. Part of what prompted my move to Colorado, was the fact that the house I’d been renting with my friends for the past three years was being sold out from under us, because the owner was being forced to sell because they were facing foreclosure, like many other people at the time. My friends and I were ASTONISHED that the 5 br, 3,000 sq ft Victorian home that we loved, was on the market for only $40,000. Even back then, I knew that that neighborhood was going to blow up. Those homes in that neighborhood now START at around half a million dollars. It’s a dorky hobby, but I’ve always been OBSESSED with watching the market, looking over the sales data, etc. I watched as the property values in Fort Collins climbed and climbed. I watched the property values climb back home in my old neighborhood in Florida. I wanted to buy a house, I always knew that that was the way to get your foot in the door, but it always felt out of reach. Knowing what I know now, I could have bought my own home many times over — but just didn’t know that it was possible.

Which brings me to the reason I ultimately got into the real estate business. I want to help people like myself, who didn’t know then that just a few small tweaks could put me in the driver’s seat of my own life. Instead I paid my landlord’s mortgages for 20 years– that adds up to a STAGGERING amount that would make anyone nauseous– while everything just got more expensive– and seemingly further and further out of reach.

The thing is, with the average rent in Northern Colorado hovering right around $2400, it’s not that people can’t afford a mortgage. It’s the down payment that stands in the way for most people. That, and there’s a lot of misunderstanding around how mortgages work, how credit works… what’s required.. A LOT of people still are under the assumption that you need 20% down to qualify for a mortgage. Which– if we’re considering property in Northern Colorado, IS A LOT OF MONEY! That thought alone is enough to make most people (especially first time buyers) just give up and say to themselves, “It’ll never happen for me. I can never come up with that amount of money.”

The truth is, you can get a loan for as little as 3% DOWN! (Or in some cases, no down payment at all.) Homeownership is for everyone! There are a TON of programs in Colorado, as well as federal programs, to help homebuyers. There are down payment assistance programs, programs for first-generation homebuyers, affordable housing assistance programs, USDA Loans for rural areas & low-income buyers, zero down-payment VA Loans for current and former miltary servicemembers and their spouses.. programs to specifically help teachers & firefighters… you name it.

If you’re on the fence, and wanting to be a homeowner, but not sure how, not sure it’s possible, not sure what to do– YOU are the reason I got into this business. I got into this business to help people like myself. Give me a call when you think you’re ready– and even if you think you aren’t! Especially if you think you aren’t. I can help guide you there & put you in touch with the resources that are available. It’d be my greatest pleasure to help you get OFF the hamster wheel of renting & into your own home.