This week, I reminded some eager buyers that the first crucial step in the process was getting pre-approved by their lender. We could look at homes and they could fall in love with one, but we would ultimately hit a wall without that pre-approval, and they would end up empty-handed ...

A decade ago, home staging was still largely an excess found mostly in hard-to-sell luxury listings or high rise penthouses that needed the unique flair only a low-backed, modern, leather sectional could bring. Typical single-family residential listings were rarely decked out with borrowed furnishings. 

Time has changed things, though ...

As most of us are well aware, the Idaho housing market became a madhouse of activity and competition over the last nine months. Driven by the powers of supply and demand and record-low interest rates, the local housing economy was able to defy broader economic uncertainty during one of the ...

It's pretty amazing to think how much priorities and perceptions have changed over the last year. Most people have seen significant shifts in all the main areas of life. It's to be expected that home ownership has now been reframed, with new items topping wish lists, whether for ...

Humans are competitive. We all know this, and probably feel it within our own nature to some degree. We strive higher, perform better, and want more because of a tendency we have to measure up to one another. Most of us are raised to believe this is a quality -- a ...

We all have had crossroad moments when we’re faced with decisions that hold significant implications for our lives and the lives of those we love. Should I take this job or wait for something different? Where should I send my kids to school? Is now the time to buy a ...

You’ve no doubt seen it take over your social media. Soft filters on a still scene lit by warm, early-morning light: Bible open, devotional beside it, a journal and pen. Always a fresh, hot coffee. What a beautiful sight. Truth be told, these images portray the sort of set-up I ...

Lately, we have all been barraged by words. Media is no longer relegated to a few articles in a newspaper, casually glanced over during breakfast. It’s no longer objective and informative; no longer coming from a few reliable sources. It’s now as accessible and constant as the air we breathe ...

Years ago, I was visiting a tiny Alaskan junction town. There was little there besides a locally-owned fill station. Out in front, there were the skulls of two caribou, whose antlers had been interlocked in a battle, never managing to be separated again. They had likely engaged in an instinctual ...