Especially if you're over 40, shortening the term of your loan to pay it off sooner could make you mortgage-free in retirement.

No loan is free. The costs are in your loan somewhere, maybe rolled into the amount to be refinanced or even coming at a higher interest rate.

I gave up years ago on the concept that you could actually have balance in your life, I think it's a phantom chase.

If your house has been on the market for more than four months, take it off the market and re-list it in two months as 'new.'

Buy with your heart, not your head. You can look at all the aspects that make a purchase practical, but that kind of thinking makes it an investment rather than a home.

Don't you dare underestimate the power of your own instinct.