To Buy a Bigger House or Not to Buy a Bigger House???

Earlier today I was contemplating how awesome it would be to move to a bigger house.

 My family currently is tucked up in a 1,500 square foot 1950-something split level house with a one stall, tuck-under garage. The upper level has 2 bedrooms a bathroom, our living room, kitchen, and dining nook. The lower level has another bedroom and bathroom along with a family room, and of course, the garage.  It sounds like a lot of space when I type it out, but it feels a little cramped sometimes. My boys share a bedroom, and I sometimes wonder if they would sleep better by themselves.                                             NOTE: THIS IS NOT MY CURRENT HOME! 

But then I look around and see how much of our space we don’t use well. Our downstairs family room is hardly ever used. We watch TV down there sometimes, but probably only a couple times a week. The lower level bedroom houses a treadmill and the printer. The downstairs bathroom… well, it is currently housing a few cans of paint. We use the shower strictly for washing the dog.

So why do I want a bigger house? I’m not using all the space I have! Sure, a few extra cupboards in the kitchen would be nice, but is it nice enough to pay more for a mortgage? At the moment, no. In the future (maybe if there is baby #3), perhaps. For now I’m going to enjoy the pounding of little feet outside the bathroom door. I’m going to enjoy the little shoes that clutter my small entryway. I’m going to enjoy my life and my home, because it is the one I have now, and it isn’t worth wishing away! 

Someday I will buy a new house. Maybe I'll buy the house that is pictured above, but today is not that day. 

I Dream of Gardens

Perhaps it was going up on a farm in eastern Idaho, driving the balers and the combines, that has embedded such a deep desire to start my own garden in the back yard, but it is very clear to me that there’s a difference between maintaining 1,000 acres of wheat and a 6x12 plot next to the boy’s cedar play set.

I have tried to start a garden since moving to Sioux Falls four years ago, but each time I go out back – trowel and iced tea in hand – I don’t know where exactly to begin. It may be that there’s a lot more precision involved in creating and maintaining a garden plot, and I’m not as familiar with that as I am with making sure that my lines are straight and that I don’t roll the swather into an irrigation ditch. My husband approaches such uncertainty with a very different spirit; if he doesn't know how to do something, he looks up a few videos on YouTube, gets on his work clothes (which he’s had long enough that the cardinal red college-themed t-shirt is barely hanging on to his broad shoulders and the two-sizes too large blue jeans look like he’s trying to smuggle items across an international border), and says, “Well, here goes nothing!” All that to say, when I approach a problem, whether it’s what to plant next to the squash or what my new business cards should look like, I want the end result to be perfect. Surprising, and I say that with chagrin, perfect is a frame of mind. If I never dig in the dirt, it doesn’t matter if I have the best trowel available at Home Depot, or the most wonderful iced tea recipe available on Pintrest (although that does truly help), I will never have a garden. So, as I write this, my disheveled-looking, Cuban cigar-smuggling, “get ‘er done” attitude husband is out buying a topsy-turvy tomato pot and three railing planters for my growing green thumbs. Now, if only I could cross my arms, blink my eyes and have the finished herbs, tomatoes, and peppers ready to devour. Wouldn’t that be perfect!

Keeping the Flu at Bay

If you live in the Sioux Empire, it is likely that either you, or someone you know has gotten what I have affectionately deemed, "The Plauge". It starts with a little runny nose and perhaps a bit of a cough, and a few days later you feel like you can barely move. I caught The Plague about 13 days ago, and am just now starting to feel like I will be able to someday soon resume life as normal. I have never before coughed to the point where I felt like I really could not cough anymore. So where did I catch The Plague? The office? One of my kids? The grocery store? Church? Who knows, all I know is everywhere I go, I hear people hacking up a lung. Even in my own home, three of us sounds like quacking ducks as we cough away. But my husband didn't get it... I have a few theories as to why that I would like to share.

1. He drinks a lot of water - Mike is phenomenal at drinking water whenever he gets the chance. A prior Diet Coke drinker, he has substitued in great quantities of H2O in favor of the flavored beverages. I myself drink my weight in coffee.

2. He recently cut out junk food - Did you know that every time you eat sugar, your immune system is a little less effective for a few hours? I didn't until recently, but it certainly explains why this sugar junkie seems to get every little thing that comes along.

3. He drives with the fresh air vents open - When driving around town, he keeps the air circulating in his car. He also keeps the air circulating in his office. He does the most fetching of things in and out of the house. Basically he breathes way less recirulated air, which means he gets way fewer germs back into his system!

So what can I learn from my husband? Drink, eat, and breathe what is natural. All the processed grossness that I consume and bring into my body makes me susceptible to illness. As I'm starting a new month, I am making a new commitment to being natural. Stay tuned to see how it improves my health... and my life!

It is snowing in Sioux Falls today. And by snowing, I really mean blizzarding. As in "walk outside and nearly be swept off our feet because the gusts coupled with the icy ground make it hard to stay up" blizzarding. This is what my Accuweather screenshot looks like today.

No joke that today is a poor day for Outdoor Fitness! I did almost feel like I was getting a workout by just trying to walk to my car! 

So since South Dakota is getting hit with some pretty awful weather, where is the weather better? Well, if we don't like the weather in the STATE SD lets go to the CITY SD! (That is San Diego for all you yahoos that don't recognize it.) A high of 80 degrees, and it even feels like 80 degrees! What if we want to MOVE to San Diego? "Mary," you ask,"even though you work in South Dakota, can you help me move to San Diego?" YOU BETCHA!!!! 

As a RE/MAX agent, I have a connection to over 90,000 agents world-wide who would love to serve you. While I may not be able to personally help you negotiate the purchase or sale of your home, I can certainly help you connect with someone who will not only meet your expectations, but exceed them! RE/MAX was started over 40 years ago based on the principle that they hire only the best. I have found that to still be true today! If you'd like me to help set you up with a RE/MAX agent in your locale, or in the locale that you will soon be moving to, please feel free to give me a call at 605-376-1314 or drop me an email at mary@stefaniestockberger.com. Or if you are staying here in the Sioux Falls region, lets take a few minutes and sit down over a cup of coffee and see what your goals and plans are. I want to help make your goal of home ownership a reality, no matter where you are! 

“I don’t even know if you are the right person to talk to….”

I hear this phrase from almost every first time home buyer. The first time someone purchases a home, they may not have any idea where to start. “Do I need to talk to a bank first? Should I find a Realtor? Is it good for me to go to a bunch of open houses before I start really looking? How do I start this whole process?”

The good news is that there really isn't a wrong place to start. All of the above will get you started on the path towards home ownership. However, I do have a few suggestions on how you can speed up your process, or just help you feel more informed as you proceed.

#1. Talk with your banker first. – He or she will help you get approved for a mortgage, figure out how much you can spend, and set up a financial plan for success. They will also let you know about any limitations you may have as far as condition of house, location, or other loan specific limitations.

#2. Connect with a Realtor who you feel listens and responds to you. – If you call a real estate agent and they take more than 24 hours to call you back, I’d move on to the next one. If you talk with an agent and you feel like they spent the whole conversation looking online or texting or in any way ignoring you, move on. Find someone that you feel really understands you and you feel a good personal rapport with

#3. Go look at some houses. - Whether you want to go look at open houses or have your Realtor take you through for personal tours, schedule a little bit of time to start familiarizing yourself with what you really like.

#4. Write and negotiate an offer, do inspections, close, and move in!

The beauty is that if you are going to open houses and you find a Realtor that you just hit it off with, you’ve knocked out two birds with one stone. If you haven’t talked to a banker yet, your Realtor can refer you to one. If you don’t know where to find a Realtor you might hit it off with, your banker may have some suggestions. Of course, if you live in the Sioux Empire, I’d always recommend interviewing me to see if you and I could be a good fit! So whether you start at the bank or start at a home, just start!  

Welcome to what is sure to become the Sioux Empire's premiere blog about all things related to the purchase and sale of homes in Sioux Falls, Tea, Brandon, Valley Springs, Crooks, Harrisburg, Hartford, Lennox, Parker, Renner, Dell Rapids, Baltic, and beyond! If you are looking forward to purchasing your first home, I hope this blog proves helpful in answering some of the questions you may have. If you have a home to sell, I hope this blog gives you some ideas on how to go about preparing your home for sale. I encourage interaction, so if you have questions, ASK!!!

First, let me introduce myself and give you a few details about myself! 

This is Me!

 Mary Pate, Realtor ®

I hang my license at a lovely little place called RE/MAX Professionals, Inc. I've been in the real estate industry for nearly 3 years now, and have been licensed since April of 2013. This first 8 months of being licensed have been fantastic, and I have greatly enjoyed working with all of my clients who made it possible for me to win the

 2013 Realtor's Association of the Sioux Empire - NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR award. 

I don't want to be cocky, because there is absolutely no way I could have done it alone! I work in a fantastic group the Stefanie Stockberger Group composed of Stefanie Stockberger, Brad Stockberger, and myself with the excellent assistance of our marketing assistant Brittany Oehlerking. 

I'm looking forward sharing as much knowledge of the Sioux Empire as I can, and allowing you to ask your questions and get the assistance you need!