Fall and Winter Home Prep: What to Do Before the First Freeze

Featured Advice

How to Choose a Loan Officer: Interview Questions That Reveal More Than a Rate

A rate quote tells you what one loan costs on one day. The questions you ask a loan officer tell you how the next 30 to 60 days will go. Here's how to build a short list, interview and compare.

You’ll learnHow banks, credit unions, non-bank lenders and mortgage brokers differ

Leaving Your Home Empty? How Vacancy Clauses Can Limit Your Insurance Coverage

Moved out before the sale, away for the winter, or waiting on a renovation? Many homeowners policies treat an empty house differently. Here's what vacant and unoccupied mean, and what to ask before the house sits empty.

You’ll learnHow many policies define vacant (no one living there, few belongings) vs. unoccupied (furnished, no one home)

Buying a Condo or HOA Home: What to Read in the Documents Before You Commit

When you buy into a condo or HOA, you're also buying into an organization that sets rules, collects dues and can charge assessments. Here's what to read in the documents, and what to watch for.

You’ll learnWhat the declaration, bylaws, rules and architectural guidelines actually control

After the Home Inspection: How to Ask for Repairs, Credits, or a Price Reduction

Almost every inspection report is long. The goal isn't to fix everything. It's to decide what matters and choose the right remedy (repairs, a credit, a price change, or walking away) before your deadline.

You’ll learnHow to sort inspection findings into safety, major-system and maintenance items

Buying a Home

How to Choose a Loan Officer: Interview Questions That Reveal More Than a Rate

How banks, credit unions, non-bank lenders and mortgage brokers differ

Buying a Condo or HOA Home: What to Read in the Documents Before You Commit

What the declaration, bylaws, rules and architectural guidelines actually control

After the Home Inspection: How to Ask for Repairs, Credits, or a Price Reduction

How to sort inspection findings into safety, major-system and maintenance items

Home Ownership

See also: Insurance · Home Maintenance

Fall and Winter Home Prep: What to Do Before the First Freeze

Why heating service, alarm testing and dryer vents come first, before the first cold night

Leaving Your Home Empty? How Vacancy Clauses Can Limit Your Insurance Coverage

How many policies define vacant (no one living there, few belongings) vs. unoccupied (furnished, no one home)

Buying a Condo or HOA Home: What to Read in the Documents Before You Commit

What the declaration, bylaws, rules and architectural guidelines actually control

Selling a Home

Selling a Home You've Already Moved Out Of: Risks, Costs and How to Manage Them

What selling vacant makes easier, and what it makes harder

Selling a Home With Tenants in Place: What Owners Should Know Before Listing

Why a sale usually doesn't end an existing lease, and who that means can buy

Assumable Mortgages: How Taking Over a Seller's Loan Actually Works

Which loan types are generally assumable, and why most conventional loans aren't

Southern Coastal NC

Living in Wilmington, NC: What Buyers Should Know Before Moving

Why Wilmington, the three beach towns, and the unincorporated county are separate jurisdictions, and why that changes taxes, rules, and utilities

Buying an Investment Property on Oak Island, NC: What to Check Before You Buy

Calabash, NC: What Buyers Should Know

Why Calabash is a creek and waterway town built around a working seafood waterfront rather than an oceanfront beach town

The Benefits of Living in Southport, NC Year-Round: Why Full-Time Residents Get the Best of the Town

What the roughly October-to-April off-season gives Southport residents: a calm waterfront, open restaurant tables, and downtown returned to locals