Don’t Let a Big Down Payment Stop You From Owning Your Dream Home

Do you want to buy a house, but aren’t sure you can cover the down payment? Let’s talk about
some down-payment assistance programs that may be able to help.

Down payment assistance can be the difference between saying “yes”
or “no” to a first home. If you are interested in buying a home but don’t
have cash on hand for a down payment, or if you have a son, daughter
or any other friend or family member who would like to purchase a home
but doesn’t have cash for a down payment in the state of Illinois, there
are several government programs that can assist you in securing a
down payment for your new dream home.

The First Home Illinois Program This program offers a forgivable
loan of $7,500 to buyers who will live in their new home for at least 5
years. This program will discontinue in December 2018, so to take
advantage of this down-payment assistance opportunity, your home
loan must be originated by December 15, 2018.

Even though this program will be discontinued for much of Illinois past 
2018, there are other down-payment assistance programs that will be 
available moving forward into 2019 and beyond:

- A forgivable loan of up to $6,000, with the amount based on the total
price of the home, forgivable after 5 years. 

- A $7,500 deferred program. This loan is repaid through a second
mortgage the buyer doesn’t make payments on, but is reimbursed when 
you sell your home.

- A $10,000 no-interest loan repaid through a monthly payment of
$83 for 120 months.

If you’d like to find out more about these programs, check out this flier!

If you have anything other questions regarding down-payment 
assistance in the purchase of your new home, please feel free to
give me a call or send me an email today. I’d love to hear from you.

Tips to Replenish Your Self-Confidence

I recently read some advice for self-confidence from a teenage girl's website, and I think it can actually be really helpful to you and your career. Try thinking about these scenarios in a different way to help yourself.

Sometimes when we use our same introduction or phrasing over and over again, we can get a little bit stale. In turn, I think we can also lose a little bit of self-confidence.

I came across this recent bit of advice from a teen girl's website, actually. It's something you can share with anyone to help with the idea of self-confidence: "What can I say to myself?"

Instead of thinking you're not good at something, ask yourself what you're missing.

Instead of "I'm not good at this," try thinking "what am I missing?" Instead of "I'm awesome at this!" try thinking "I'm on the right track." Instead of "I give up,” try thinking "I'll use some of the strategies we've learned."

Instead of thinking "This is too hard," think, "This might take some time and effort." Instead of, "I can't make this better," think, "I can always improve, so I'll keep trying." I think this is something I struggle with in my own office. Likewise, another one that was kind of personal and funny to me was, "I just can't do math." I never said I couldn't do math, but I was never fond of algebra.

Instead of "I made a mistake," think "Mistakes help me learn better." Instead of "She's so smart, I'll never be that smart," think "I'm going to figure out how she does it so I can try it (or so I can kick her ass!)"

Another one I really like is instead of thinking, "It's good enough," think "Is it really my best work?" I've had this situation transpire with me several times over the last year with people I've met through networking groups that I hired. I was disappointed in their work knowing that they didn't do their best, and this is something that I started asking them. I'd say "I'm going to pay you for this, but is this really your best work?"

Finally, the last item was, "Plan A didn't work," when you should be thinking, "Good thing the alphabet has 25 more letters."

Hopefully, this helps you in your networking and your education. If you have any questions for me or there's anything I can do to help you in your career, give me a call or send me an email. I'd love to help you out!

A Word on Honesty From Joe Maddon

I think Joe Maddon is not only a great baseball coach, but he also has some great philosophies on life I’d like to share with you.

Today, I wanted to share with you an inspirational quote by Joe Maddon, the coach of the reigning World Series champion Chicago Cubs:

“If I’m honest with you, you might not like me for a day or two, but if I lie to you, you’re going to hate me forever.”

That line would be my next tattoo if I could minimize it enough. In my business, it’s important to be very transparent. If people misunderstand what you’re saying, or they even think that you’re not being honest with them, they’ll end your relationship with them and never come back. 

The importance of transparency doesn’t just apply to business relationships, though; it also applies to your personal relationships. In all walks of life, remember to be honest and transparent.

Honesty and transparency are important in all walks of life.

If you have any questions about this topic and or how I apply it to my business, please don’t hesitate to give me a call or send me an email. I look forward to hearing from you!