We're in Philadelphia Style Magazine!

So... we have news to share. We're featured in a local magzine! Autograph, anyone? 🤓   We're thrilled to announce that, based on MLS data, we have been selected as one of the top real estate agents/teams in the Philadelphia metropolitan area, exceeding $10 million in sales over the past 12 fiscal months.This accomplishment has earned us recognition in Philadelphia Style Magazine’s first-ever “THE REAL ESTATE LIST”  in their October 2024 issue. Pretty rad if I do say so myself.    Over the past few weeks, I had the honor of interviewing with Philadelphia Style and collaborating on a photoshoot with Phil Kramer at Billy Penn Studios. It was such a fun, unique experience.    You can find the link to the full issue here. However, if you want a preview of our interview, keep scrolling!    HIGHLIGHT OF THE YEAR The highlight of 2024 was undoubtedly becoming a mom and having a banner year to boot! When I found out I was expecting in 2023, I quickly laid some groundwork for my team so I could take a quasi maternity leave and still keep clients moving. While I didn’t takemuch of said maternity leave, it turns out working with clients was great for my mental health and postpartum recovery. I closed over $7.275MM in sales volume in the fi rst three months of navigating the new mom life. GREAT EXPECTATIONS We are a hospitality company that sells real estate. Since the inception of my real estate business in 2017, I have woven curiosity and compassion into our models and made them a fundamental part of our team’s fabric. BUCKET LIST To visit all 63 national parks. I have hit 7 so far, and I’m excited to have my family in tow for the rest. Professionally, I want to prove that I can be a mom and a business woman. REAL ESTATE REFLECTIONS While some Realtors are shaking in their boots, I’m stoked for the change that will come from the NAR settlement. It will encourage more transparency, more education, more agency, and overall more expertise. BUSINESS MANTRA People before profi t. My business is entirely organic; our clients are repeat, referral, or from social media. I’m a nurturer by nature, and I continue to invest in my clients beyond the transaction. DREAM TEAM If I had to describe our team in three words it would be fierce, quirky, and dedicated. When you marry each of our individual personalities along with our constant quest for growth, you get a holistic group of charismatic, skilled, connected, and experienced team of professionals. FAVORITE LOCAL BUSINESS W.M. Mulherin’s and Sons—my husband and I got married in their garden! I also adore Musette Cafe, Wissahickon Brewery, and Fountain Porter.    

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Mortgage Pre-Approvals: do I need one?

Buying a home can seem like a huge undertaking. There are many steps in the process, which, for a first time home buyer, can mean many questions. One of the most common questions is “where do I start?” Generally, before you can start shopping for a house, you need to know how much house you can afford! I know we all love to window shop on Zillow, but is that giant home with the huge windows and original hardwoods actually in your price range? It might be! This is where a pre-approval comes in. A pre-approval is a statement from your lender that says what dollar amount of a loan you qualify for and therefore what your home purchase budget is! This is an important part of the home buying process not only because it tells you what range you can shop in, but also comes in handy down the line as an insurance to a seller that you can afford to buy their home when you put in an offer. There are a few components that go into how much you are approved for: Debt-to-income ratio Loan-to-value ratio Credit history FICO Score Income Employment history Your lender will collect this information from you either online or during a consultation and crunch the numbers. They may provide you with several scenarios that include (or remove) assistance programs or seller assists, or other other loan terms like points and length of loan. Ultimately, these scenarios will create different monthly payments, and ultimately show you exactly what you can afford.The best part of it all is that you are welcome to get a pre-approval at any time. It might help you better understand if now is a good time for you to purchase; you may be surprised to find out you actually can afford a home, despite not having 20% to put down. Your lender will be happy to help you see what you can afford and help you put together a game plan for the future if you’re not quite ready. Pre-approvals are typically valid for 60 or 90 days. After that, you just need your lender to crunch those numbers again. One last thing: a pre-approval and a pre-qualification are not the same thing! A pre-qualification doesn't run your credit or verify your information, so your numbers may be skewed. When it's time to get serious, go for the pre-approval!If you want to know more about the pre-approval process, have any questions, or want to connect with a lender, let us know! 

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Answering the Hard Questions: Lead Based Paint... What's the Big Deal? Is It Even A Big Deal? AM I GONNA DIE?

ou may remember lead-based paint from all the times your parents told you not to eat paint off the walls (oh… just me?) or from a fun little form called the “lead based paint disclosure” that you might have signed when renting/buying a home built before 1978. But what the heck is it? Why do you have to sign a form about it? Is it going to kill you?????Don’t worry, it’s not nearly as dramatic as you may think so long as you stay informed! Let’s start with the basics.What is it?Lead-based paint (LBP) is exactly what it sounds like; it’s paint that contains lead as one of its main ingredients. Lead (pronounced led, not leed), is a heavy metal that is now understood to be highly toxic to humans if ingested or inhaled. Paint is… well you know what paint is. Put these two together and you have lead-based paint. Back in the day, lead was highly valued as a paint ingredient for its durability, bright color, and drying properties. Lead-based paint was the bee’s knees from the 1800s up to 1978. Think of the vibrant colors painted all over the 60’s & 70s… highly toxic but oh, so beautiful (and groovy). Why is it a big deal?Like I said, that heavy metal can really do a number on a human being. If you eat it or breathe it in, it can live in your bones and organs forever and disrupt your system. I won’t bore you with all the scientific details, but the presence of this lead throws a lot of things off in your internal ecosystem. Especially in children, it can hinder brain development and lead to cognitive delays, behavioral problems, cause anemia, kidney disease and cardiovascular disease. To sum it up… it’s bad news bears.What happened in 1978?In the 1970’s, scientists started to realize that something funky was going on with this paint and the general health of the population in the US, especially kids. The movement to ban this type of paint started to gain steam as it became more evident that children were becoming sick and having developmental issues after having themselves a little paint-chip snack from time to time (yummy). Everything came to a head in 1978 when the U.S. government banned the use of LBP in residential properties. Other nations followed suit shortly after.Why do I need to think about it now? 1978 was like seven hundred years ago.After 1978, LBP was no longer allowed to be used in residential properties but that doesn’t mean President Jimmy Carter was making door-to-door trips and removing all the paint off of everyone’s walls. In the decades that followed, the homes that were already built continued to have the presence of lead paint, but that paint started to get covered under layers and layers of lead-free paint. It’s still under there but unless you’re cutting open a wall, it’s almost like it wasn’t there to begin with. Believe it or not, that sloppy, thick Landlord Special paint job could actually be protecting you and your family. That being said, it is still important to know if there is any lead anywhere in your home. You could be at risk if you do renovations and start releasing that stuff into the air or have a child who just can’t help but lick windowsills, which are more likely to have exposed LBP (who is painting their window sills regularly?). Because of this risk still being present in these older homes, the government holds property owners responsible for disclosing any known presence of the paint to new tenants or future buyers.Should I be worried?Generally speaking, no. If you’ve made it this far, you are armed with enough information to understand the risks. To reiterate, as long as you’re not cutting into walls with LBP without a mask and freely breathing in a ton of lead or actively eating paint chips that you know have lead in them… you will be alright. If you are made aware of LBP when purchasing or renting a home, you can take steps to conceal it with non-toxic paints if not done so already. If your home is built before 1978 and you’re not sure, getting a lead test is quick and easy and will help you understand if there is any exposed paint to be dealt with. But overall, now that you know what it is and where it is, I’m fairly certain you’re gonna be fine. 🙂For more information on lead-based paint and how to stay as safe as possible, check out the EPA’s pamphlet “Protect Your Family From Lead In Your Home”  

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