Is This Home Right For You? 4 Musts to Check Off

Are you in the market for a new home? If so, congratulations! Buying a new home is a major milestone and takes lots of well-thought out planning, financing, and preparation from moving out of your current residence to moving in to a new one.

After research online, working with a realtor, and viewing homes in person, you may start to wonder how you'll know if a home is the right one for you. Waiting for that "ah ha!" moment may not come as obviously as you may have pictured, so you'll need to rely on some other factors to be confident the home in question is "the one."


If the four items below fall in line, you can feel assured that the home you're thinking about is the one for you. While nothing will be 100% perfect, if you get most of the way there with each piece, home sweet home is right around the corner.

You Picture Yourself Living There

When you first saw the exterior and then walked inside the home, could you see yourself and your family calling the place home? Could you envision family dinners in the kitchen and tucking your kids into bed at night? What about BBQs in the backyard and hanging family photos on the walls? If you get that gut feeling, it means something.

Realtor recommends asking yourself, "Is the house the right size for your needs, and does it have the right combination of bedrooms, bathrooms and other living areas? If the house has two stories, are you comfortable with the idea of walking up and down stairs every day? Is the design and architecture of the house too modern or too traditional to match your preferences in furniture and home furnishings?" Be sure all aspects make the grade so you'll be happy with the home as a whole.

As per Sound Money Matters, "Would you feel proud having people over to this home? Can you imagine yourself coming home to the house and feeling happy? Can you see how you'd arrange your furniture? Then it's your house."

If you've looked at a number of homes and this one keeps coming back as your favorite or you find yourself using this home as the standard the others must match, then this home is a standout. Snap it up before someone else has the chance to ring the bell.

It's In Your Price Range

Of course, no matter how much you may fall in love with a particular home, if you cannot afford it, then there's no sense in pining over it. Plus, there's more to cost than the price of the home itself. As Realtor notes, "Are you comfortable with the monthly payments? Is the down payment within your means? Will you have enough cash to pay transaction costs and moving expenses? If the house needs major repairs, remodeling or redecorating, can you save the necessary funds within a reasonable time period?"

If you can answer "yes" to all of these questions, then you're on your way. Pre-plan as to not get your hopes up after finding a home you adore when it's clearly out of your price range. Work with your realtor to only look at homes you can actually afford.

Additionally, consider your status in life. HomeFinder advises, "There's nothing wrong with settling for a more modest dwelling that satisfies your immediate needs, before taking the plunge and spending more for your permanent dream home. The average home buyer stays in his or her home for a little more than six years, so allow yourself a chance for transition when the time is right."

A perfect home may be the one that's perfect for now. Another home may be in the cards a little further down the road.

It's In Good Condition

Unless you paid a lot less for a home than you'd planned to and set aside funds for renovations, your best bet is to choose a house that's up to par as is. Sure, you may want to make some changes to suit your personal taste, but if the place is falling apart and needs major work, you may have a real headache on your hands that can take months, if not years to cure.

As per HomeFinder, "First time homebuyers tend to underestimate the time and money needed for large remodeling projects. Adding a new bathroom, den or even sleek lighting fixtures not only costs a lot of money but can take you a while to complete. If you don't have time to update an older home, look for new construction springing up around the city and suburbs."

And Realtor suggests considering, "Does the house need a new roof? Extensive upgrading of the electrical wiring? New plumbing? Is the home disaster-ready? Will you be able to meet the financial challenges and live with the mess and inconvenience while the home is being brought up to your expectations?"

If you find a home that seems to be a great value, but then you need to put in tons of work, the deal may not be worth the future money you'll need to spend and the time the updates will take. Be sure to consider these factors before making a move.

Location/Neighborhood is Right

You want to be happy with your home, but you won't be totally pleased if it's located someplace that's not appealing to you. Bob Vila asks, "Is the house close to the places that are most important to you? Scout out the nearest grocery store, gas station, school, and place of worship — not to mention learning how far the house is from your workplace."

HomeFinder reminds you to choose a home that reflects your needs and personality. "Your lifestyle and how your prospective home fits into it, should be the main consideration in your decision to buy a home. Many couples with young children now choose their home according to which school district it's located in to ensure a good education for their kids."

Additionally, your neighbors will make a difference in how you feel in your new town. "A surprising study by Harvard political scientist Robert Putnam found that the more you have in common with your neighbors, the more likely everyone is to feel a connection to the community," as per Bob Vila.

As much as you love your new home, you will be stepping outside every now and then after all!

Are you ready to make your move? Now you'll know whether or not the home you're thinking of buying is right for you. It's time to open the door to your future!

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A Guide to Quiet Quitting: How the Gen Z TikTok Trend Is Actually About Setting Boundaries At Work

Quiet Quitting is the latest trend among Gen-Z TikTok that encourages setting boundaries at work

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Toni Morrison has an anecdote about her first ever job, which was cleaning some neighborhood woman’s house. The young Toni arrived home after work one day and expressed her troubles to her father. But he didn’t provide the sympathy she expected. Instead, he gave her something better — his advice:

“Listen. You don’t live there. You live here. With your people. Go to work. Get your money. And come on home.”

Years later, she wrote about this remarkable experience for the New Yorker and said, in hindsight, this is what she learned:

1. Whatever the work is, do it well—not for the boss but for yourself

2. You make the job; it doesn’t make you

3. Your real life is with us, your family

4. You are not the work you do; you are the person you are

What Morrison so eloquently articulated was setting boundaries. I revisited this piece during the pandemic when working from home ramped up in earnest. Back when work was one of the few things that anchored my day.

Without a physical office, the pandemic shattered the work/life balance for many people. There was no more of that physical separation that Morrison talked about. There is no coming home from work physically. There is no real life to come back to — just a manufactured commute to your laptop in your makeshift home office.

But, par for the course, Gen Z are navigating this boundaryless era using TikTok. While internet gurus promote hustle culture and constant online availability since you’re not getting face time with your managers, there’s a trend in town — “quiet quitting.”


@zaidleppelin On quiet quitting #workreform ♬ original sound - ruby


The trend arose from the depths of the pandemic. Layoffs, salary cuts, and furloughs proved that their employers did not care about their hard-working employees.

The Washington Post dubs quiet quitting as a fresh trem for an old phenomenon: employee disengagement. In many cases, it’s a response to burnout. For much of Gen Z, it’s a way of establishing healthy boundaries in the office and resisting the pressure of the rat race. After all, why work yourself to the bone for a company that just proved it’s ready and willing to let you go?

Despite the term’s negative connotations, Quiet Quitting can provide an empowering shift in thinking for employees.

For far too long, employees have been indoctrinated with a slew of toxic workplace advice. Faced with these old misconceptions and lacking job security or clear paths for advancement, Gen Z is untethering their identities from work.

Quiet quitting — therefore — might be a bit of a misnomer. These employers aren’t completely disengaged. They’re certainly not launching Flight Club-esque sabotage attempts on their employers. NO. Contrary to media panic, Gen Z understands the value of a job — the fickle market they entered ensured that. But they also understand the value of life.

They’re doing what they’re being paid for. Nothing more, nothing less.

According to Chief, a private membership network focused on connecting and supporting women executive leaders, older generations should learn from this approach.

“Gen Z has already endured the largest seismic shifts to the career landscape than any previous generation, having started their careers in the middle of a pandemic that changed office culture forever and a gig economy that makes piecing together work more viable. They’re taking both those realities and therefore demanding more autonomy and flexibility than any other generation.”

Gen Z are less attached to job titles and statuses. They’re more concerned about their lives. Sure, this can lead to problematic outlooks on money and experiences — see the “I can earn my money back” TikTok trend. But it’s better than hustling for no reward. Besides, as some Gen Z-ers put it on TikTok, the office isn’t even a vibe.

“With the ability to work from anywhere and for more than just one place, Gen Z-ers are forging their own paths that don’t rely on old patterns set by previous generations and are redefining what “career success” looks like. Gen Z can take note, as more and more leaders are similarly pursuing multiple income streams of their own through the form of a portfolio career. The way in which work looks like and where it happens is evolving.”

With less single-minded focus on one job, some TikTok business gurus advocate shutting your laptops precisely at 5 pm. And then jump onto your side hustle. Do nails or lashes on the weekend. Become social media managers for your phone. Sell soap on Etsy (again … perhaps not in the Fight Club way).

But this valorization of side hustles is not about hustle culture, either. They say job security isn’t guaranteed. Learning new skills and develop an alternate income stream/s to keep you afloat. Just make sure you’re not left in the lurch. BTW inflation is here. So every little bit helps.

But where do you start? Watching TikToks can only get you so far. Try a course on LinkedIn Learning to sharpen up your skills and learn new ones that you can turn into a verifiable side hustle — or leverage in your job search if quiet quitting leads to … real quitting.

Learn on your own time with bite-sized videos or in-depth courses. Watch them after work, before you clock in, or on your lunch break. Then, after your courses are complete, you’ll have certificates prominently displayed on your profile that prove your skills.

quiet quitting

The Future of Coffee is Melted

Why You Need Cometeer Coffee: Coffee You Can Take on the Go

Cometeer Coffee

There’s an internet trend that says that everyone has three drinks: one for energy, one for hydration, and one for fun.


Hydration drinks are usually seltzer, a sports drink, or good old-fashioned water. Fun drinks can be anything from boba to kombucha to a refreshing fountain sprite. But the drink you choose for energy says the most about you. Are you a chill tea drinker? An alternative yerba mate devotee? A matcha-obsessed TikTok That Girl wannabe? A chaotic Red Bull chugger? Or are you a lover of the classics, a person after my own heart, who just loves a good cuppa joe?

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Can We Afford To Return To The Office?

Over two years into the most momentous event in our lives the world has changed forever … Some of us have PTSD from being locked up at home, some are living like everything’s going to end tomorrow, and the rest of us are merely trying to get by. When the pandemic hit we entered a perpetual state of vulnerability, but now we’re supposed to return to normal and just get on with our lives.

What does that mean? Packed bars, concerts, and grocery shopping without a mask feel totally strange. We got used to having more rules over our everyday life, considering if we really had to go out or keeping Zooming from our living rooms in threadbare pajama bottoms.

The work-from-home culture changed it all. Initially, companies were skeptical about letting employees work remotely, automatically assuming work output would fall and so would the quality. To the contrary, since March of 2020 productivity has risen by 47%, which says it all. Employees can work from home and still deliver results.

There are a number of reasons why everyone loves the work from home culture. We gained hours weekly that were wasted on public transport, people saved a ton of money, and could work from anywhere in the world. Then there were the obvious reasons like wearing sweats or loungewear all week long and having your pets close by. Come on, whose cat hasn’t done a tap dance on your keyboard in the middle of that All Hands Call!

Working from home grants the freedom to decorate your ‘office’ any way you want. But then people needed a change of environment. Companies began requesting their employees' RTO, thus generating the Hybrid Work Model — a blend of in-person and virtual work arrangements. Prior to 2020, about 20% of employees worked from home, but in the midst of the pandemic, it exploded to around 70%.

Although the number of people working from home increased and people enjoyed their flexibility, politicians started calling for a harder RTW policy. President Joe Biden urges us with, “It’s time for Americans to get back to work and fill our great downtowns again.”

While Boris Johnson said, “Mother Nature does not like working from home.'' It wasn’t surprising that politicians wanted people back at their desks due to the financial impact of working from the office. According to a report in the BBC, US workers spent between $2,000 - $5,000 each year on transport to work before the pandemic.

That’s where the problem lies. The majority of us stopped planning for public transport, takeaway coffee, and fresh work-appropriate outfits. We must reconsider these things now, and our wallets are paying

the price. Gas costs are at an all-time high, making public transport increase their fees; food and clothes are all on a steep incline. A simple iced latte from Dunkin’ went from $3.70 to $3.99 (which doesn’t seem like much but 2-3 coffees a day with the extra flavors and shots add up to a lot), while sandwiches soared by 14% and salads by 11%.

This contributes to the pressure employees feel about heading into the office. Remote work may have begun as a safety measure, but it’s now a savings measure for employees around the world.

Bloomberg are offering its US staff a $75 daily commuting stipend that they can spend however they want. And other companies are doing the best they can. This still lends credence to ‘the great resignation.’ Initially starting with the retail, food service, and hospitality sectors which were hard hit during the pandemic, it has since spread to other industries. By September 2021, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics reported 4.4 million resignations.

That’s where the most critical question lies…work from home, work from the office or stick to this new hybrid world culture?

Borris Johnson thinks, “We need to get back into the habit of getting into the office.” Because his experience of working from home “is you spend an awful lot of time making another cup of coffee and then, you know, getting up, walking very slowly to the fridge, hacking off a small piece of cheese, then walking very slowly back to your laptop and then forgetting what it was you’re doing.”

While New York City Mayor Eric Adams says you “can't stay home in your pajamas all day."

In the end, does it really matter where we work if efficiency and productivity are great? We’ve proven that companies can trust us to achieve the same results — or better! — and on time with this hybrid model. Employees can be more flexible, which boosts satisfaction, improves both productivity and retention, and improves diversity in the workplace because corporations can hire through the US and indeed all over the world.

We’ve seen companies make this work in many ways, through virtual lunches, breakout rooms, paint and prosecco parties, and — the most popular — trivia nights.

As much as we strive for normalcy, the last two years cannot simply be erased. So instead of wiping out this era, it's time to embrace the change and find the right world culture for you.

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