#credit counseling program

[casexellence]

Enhancing Financial Wellness with a Credit Counseling Program Management Platform

In today's fast-paced financial landscape, many individuals struggle with managing debt and maintaining financial stability. Credit counseling agencies play a crucial role in helping people regain control over their finances. However, the effectiveness of these agencies largely depends on the tools they use. This is where a comprehensive credit counseling program management platform comes into play, revolutionizing the way agencies operate and serve their clients.

A credit counseling program management platform is an integrated software solution designed to streamline and optimize the operations of credit counseling agencies. It offers a suite of tools and features that facilitate case management, client communication, budgeting, and debt repayment planning. One of the standout features of such platforms is the ability to automate and manage complex financial scenarios, ensuring that clients receive accurate and timely advice.

The use of credit counseling software significantly enhances the efficiency and effectiveness of counseling services. With a user-friendly interface, these platforms allow counselors to easily access and manage client information, track progress, and generate reports. This not only saves time but also reduces the likelihood of errors, providing clients with reliable and consistent support.

Moreover, credit counseling software enables agencies to offer personalized financial plans tailored to each client's unique situation. By analyzing income, expenses, and debt, the software helps counselors develop actionable plans that guide clients toward financial stability. This level of customization is invaluable in building trust and confidence among clients, as they see tangible results from their efforts.

In conclusion, a credit counseling program management platform is an indispensable tool for agencies aiming to provide top-notch financial counseling services. By leveraging the power of credit counseling software, agencies can enhance their service delivery, improve client outcomes, and ultimately contribute to a healthier financial ecosystem.

[eileennatural]

i've said this before but i think often about the counselor i saw through the university mental health services (for free) while i was legitimately at the lowest point in my life mentally. who told me i should probably be prepared to be depressed forever. at the time that made me want to kill myself but now that i'm in a better place its honestly such a funny thing to say to a crying 22 year old on a monday afternoon

[loansmee]

Ready to take charge of your financial future? Consolidate your debt today and streamline your payments into one step. Say goodbye to multiple bills and stress-free financial freedom. Take the first step towards a debt-free life and consolidate your debt now!

[nab-solutions]

Credit Counseling Services Benefits | NAB Solutions

Unlock financial freedom with NAB Solutions, your trusted partner for Credit Counseling Services. Our expert team is dedicated to guiding you towards sound financial health, offering personalized solutions to manage and improve your credit. Contact us at 855-542-6078 to embark on a journey towards a brighter financial future. NAB Solutions - your pathway to responsible credit management and a more secure financial tomorrow.

[astroismypassion]

✨PART OF FORTUNE IN SIGNS AND HOUSES SERIES: 5TH HOUSE✨

Credit goes to astrology blog @astroismypassion

ARIES PART OF FORTUNE IN THE 5TH HOUSE

You feel the most abundant when you have Aries and Leo Sun people in your life. You could make money via attending sport events, competitions, through creative pursuits and creative self-expression. You may also earn money with your personality, you are very lively and animated, so people love to watch you and know what you are up to. You feel the most abundant when you discover new hobbies, develop a new fresh start (or crush haha), when you have more spare time and when you educate yourself in a new topic.

TAURUS PART OF FORTUNE IN THE 5TH HOUSE

You feel the most abundant when you have Taurus and Leo Sun people in your life. You could make money via event planning, organising, hosting, party planning or catering, preparing snacks, meals for gatherings. You may also feel the wealthiest when you have financial stability, quality food in your fridge and when you have stable romantic life. You feel most abundant when you treat yourself!

GEMINI PART OF FORTUNE IN THE 5TH HOUSE

You feel the most abundant when you have Gemini and Leo Sun people in your life. You could make money via being a social media strategist, managing social media for businesses or individuals. You may find wealth through being a motivational speaker, event host or webinar presenter (SpeakerHub).

CANCER PART OF FORTUNE IN THE 5TH HOUSE

You feel the most abundant when you have Cancer and Leo Sun people in your life. You could make money via hosting events, gatherings at your home. You can help others with making their space more comfortable and stylish. Maybe even therapy, counseling, holistic healing or wellness coaching. You may also find wealth in wedding planning, creating content about home, family and emotional well-being profitable. Investment in creative ventures comes to mind with this placements, such as investing in art, theater productions.

LEO PART OF FORTUNE IN THE 5TH HOUSE

You feel the most abundant when you have Leo Sun people in your life. You could make money via motivational speaking, social media influencing, podcasting which can leverage your ability to captivate an audience. You may also be abundant in fitness training, managing sports teams, directing, producing or talent management. You feel abundant when you can use your creative vision and when you are being appreciated for it.

VIRGO PART OF FORTUNE IN THE 5TH HOUSE

You feel the most abundant when you have Pisces and Cancer Sun people in your life. You could make money via content creation, copywriting, tehnical writing, editing manuscripts, personal training, yoga instruction, wellness coaching, jewelry making, pottery, party organizing, wedding coordination, event planning. You can find satisfaction and financial reward in childcare, early childhood education or running educational programs, managing administrative tasks for clients.

LIBRA PART OF FORTUNE IN THE 5TH HOUSE

You feel the most abundant when you have Libra and Leo Sun people in your life. You could make money via matchmaking services, relationship coaching, writing romance novels, creating children's content (books, shows, games for children). You could find abundance in public relations, human resources or via a role in non-profits and community organizations. Working with high-end luxury goods. You may find wealth in teaching, workshops or mentorship programs. You can also do creative writing, whether it's novels, screenplays or content creation for media.

SCORPIO PART OF FORTUNE IN THE 5TH HOUSE

You feel the most abundant when you have Scorpio and Leo Sun people in your life. You could make money via painting, sculpting, writing, filmmaking, music, psychology, counseling, therapy, alternative medicine, energy healing, working as a physical or occupational therapist. Since it's the sig nof Scorpio sex therapy, intimacy coaching or writing about sexual health can be rewarding. You can find abundance in child psychology, working with troubled youth or creating transformative educational content.

SAGITTARIUS PART OF FORTUNE IN THE 5TH HOUSE

You feel the most abundant when you have Sagittarius and Leo Sun people in your life. You could make money via acting, performing, hosting travel and adventure shows, sports, coaching, recreational activities. You could find abundance in planning events, such as cultural festivals, adventure trips, educational seminars, writing a book, creating a documentary or working in the broadcast media.

CAPRICORN PART OF FORTUNE IN THE 5TH HOUSE

You feel the most abundant when you have Capricorn and Leo Sun people in your life. You could make money via leadership in creative fields (managing a theater company, leading a marketing team or directing artistic projects, industrial design, graphic design or non-fiction, self-help, educational content. You find abundant when you are working on a productive, pragmatic project in your free time.

AQUARIUS PART OF FORTUNE IN THE 5TH HOUSE

You feel the most abundant when you have Aquarius and Leo Sun people in your life. You could make money via avant-garde art, experimental music, cutting-edge design, digital media, software development, game design, creatine innovative apps and tech solutions, creating awarenss campaigns, producing media content that addresses social issues. By focusing on activities that allow you to be innovative, embrace originality and contribute to the greater good, you can find both personal fulfillment and financial success.

PISCES PART OF FORTUNE IN THE 5TH HOUSE

You feel the most abundant when you have Pisces and Leo Sun people in your life. You could make money via painting, dance, music, theater, photography, spiritual counseling, energy healing, Reiki, yoga instruction, costume design. You could find financial success as a musician, composer, music therapist, astrology or tarot. You feel personal and financial fulfillment when you connect with others on a deep emotional level and explore your spiritual and imaginative side.

Credit goes to astrology blog @astroismypassion

[mpreglover225]

Meet the Dads of River Glen Community College

River Glen Community College has become well-known in recent years for its supportive programs assisting expecting dads under 25. With flexible class schedules, academic counseling tailored to their needs, and an on-campus child-care center in the works, it’s no wonder young fathers feel at home there. Lets meet some students here at the college!

Andrew Carter, 19 Andrew is a quiet History major who discovered his passion for teaching after volunteering at a local museum. River Glen’s lenient attendance policies and free tutoring sessions have allowed him to thrive academically—even while managing morning sickness and evening study sessions. He is 7 months pregnant with his boyfriends baby. The pregnancy was unplanned but taken well from family and friends.

Kai Simmons, 20 We meet Kai who is an arts major who doodles tattoo designs in the margins of his lecture notes. The school’s open-minded faculty and frequent mental health workshops have helped him stay focused through the ups and downs of pregnancy. He attributes his newfound confidence to the supportive campus culture that lets him be both an artist and an expectant father.

Julian Park, 23 Julian a computer science student eyeing a future in software development, he navigates back-to-back coding labs while planning for parenthood. With River Glen’s flexible online courses, he can write code from home on days when exhaustion or prenatal checkups demand a lighter schedule. His professors, well-versed in the college’s pro-family policies, always accommodate him with extended deadlines when needed.

Devin Brooks, 21 We meet Devin who is studying business administration, he’s spearheading a new student-run fundraiser for the upcoming child-care center. River Glen’s scholarship system—which awards aid based on student-led community initiatives—has helped him stay financially stable and on track to finish his degree before the baby arrives.

Each of these four future dads credits River Glen Community College’s unique approach—offering flexible class times, easy re-enrollment for those who pause their studies, and a judgment-free atmosphere—for helping them balance classes with prenatal appointments and occasional bouts of morning fatigue

[redphlox]

How long do you think Dabi survived for in the tube? I’m regards to Natsuo’s character, do you think he got the chance to reconcile with Touya despite the Ending incident? How do you think that went down?

One thing I will credit to the ending of MHA, the fact they still have Touya’s shrine (wonder if they still have kid Touya’s picture or if it’s a different one) considering Shoto prays to it. They never forgot about him, and they never seemed to blame him either saying they would always be there (Fuyumi and Rei said anyway.) Although I hope he didn’t die in the tube and was able to hug them one last time. The idea that Dabi is probably the only villain to be remembered by his family/have a grave while Toga and everyone else were abandoned is low key heartbreaking. But the whole ending for the LOV is LOL

I think maybe Toya survived a couple of weeks or months. Not too long, of course. Let the man escape this cruel world.

I like to think that Natsuo reconciled with his brother. The story emphasized that they had a strong bond and implied that Toya was a main source of emotional support and comfort to Natsuo during a time when he felt abandoned and rejected by both parents, as Endeavor was focus on his career and abusing his family, and Rei's energy was focused on protecting Shouto from Endeavor and her own mental health was deteriorating. I'm sure Natsuo had a lot of anger and confusion about Touya's actions as a villain, but I believe they got closure.

It would be nice if the author had confirmed this in some way, seeing as he put so much emphasis on the relationship, but... ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ it's just another writing failure that didn't need to crash and burn but did anyway.

I also hope Touya didn't die in that tube by himself. Hopefully he was able to be held as he died or something. Especially since this second death was supposed to fix the first way he died (alone, unseen), but again, who knows! A major plotline of the story being so open-ended that readers get no closure and no satisfaction from the story... that's what we were left with.

I agree. It's truly all laughable. Shigaraki and Toga will only be remembered by Spinner and their respective hero kids, and neither party has a complete picture of the villains' stories. We're not shown that Spinner learned about his best friend's childhood abuse, and we're not shown if Ochako knew about the quirk counseling and all the childhood trauma that Toga went through. And it's not like Spinner will be let out of prison to make a grave or altar for them. Lol. Despite Deku saying he'll never forget Shigaraki, we're never shown that he's thinking about him or is moved by him in any way besides that "do your best" flashback which wasn't even in context to what Shigiraki would have wanted. Lol. And yeah, Ochako's quirk counseling program was inspired by Toga to prevent more kids from suffering her same fate, but it would be much more impactful if she actually shared this with the public and TALKED about Toga to the public. But no, let's keep Toga's dying heroic action on the down low so that people's perception of her is not challenged and she remains a heinous humanless villain in the annals of history. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

It's just all one giant superficial, forced ending that feels hollow and disingenuous.

Chapter 431 at least redeemed Shouto's ending for me and gave me some closure on Touya... reassurance that he's remembered and considered even in death, loved and seen unconditionally, which is exactly what Touya wanted after he died on Sekoto Peak.

[class1akids]

How was Hori trying to balance Bakugou’s ending when he got just as many bad moments in the war arc? And the bad moments outweigh the good ones. And then he gets dropped to 15 in the rankings. How is this balanced?

I'm just going to look at the main 4 - wishes / realities / pay-offs to show that not a single one of them got what they wanted / dreamed off:

Deku:

WISH: "OFA is not for killing, it's for saving. I want to save that little boy"

Reality: he ends up killing the crying boy, using OFA to destabilize his body. He loses the quirk he worked so hard to make his own in the process.

Pay-off: All Might calls him greatest hero together with Bakugou. Becomes a teacher, and realizes that his quirkless self could have become something other than professional hero, and still be heroic (probably, not shown). His friends give him a mecha suit. After 8 years, he (maybe) asks out a girl he likes.

Shoto:

WISH: Wants to save his brother, and share a meal with him.

Reality: Despite saving everyone, his brother is still dying, his family is alive but scarred and fractured, his family name is pulled through the mud and spends the first few years of his career overshadowed by a disgraced father and a criminal brother.

Pay-off: Gets no thanks or praise from anyone, but gets to ask his brother about his favorite food. Not that they'll ever eat it together. After 8 years of hard work people stop seeing him as Endeavor's son. He processes his grief over his brother into finding a new hobby.

Uraraka:

WISH: (This one is not so clear-cut), but she wants to see people smile and be able to be open about her feelings and wants to learn more about Toga and save her (maybe)

Reality: She gets wounded and Toga has to die to save her. Their battle is not even recorded and doesn't really influence or inspire anyone, other than Uraraka herself. She remains closed off about her feelings out of survivor's guilt.

Pay-Off: She gets a quirk upgrade. Toga thanks her. She gets comforted by Deku and Class A. She gets called Deku's hero and be thanked by him. She starts a successful quirk counselling program. Deku confesses to her instead.

So like nobody else gets their dream fully either.

Bakugou already got some amazing pay-off during the war:

He's the center of the effort to buy time for Deku and gets some amazing scenes of self-sacrifice

When he "dies", his team puts everything on the line to save his life

His resurrection is the biggest scene of the war, plus gets a quirk awakening

Gets to save All Might while the whole world watching

Gets the kill shot on AFO, and almost a solo credit for that kill despite everyone else's efforts

When he goes over to the final battlefield, he gets praised

Despite his injuries, he has a viable road to recovery, supported by his loving parents

All Might calls him the greatest hero and thanks him

His "death" and "resurrection" comes with only light costs - both Mirko's and Edgeshot sacrifices are turned into gags

He is admired by people and enters the chart at No 4.

Everyone helps him to organize the mech suit for Deku - and make his childhood dream an option.

I feel like Hori making him No 1 and making Deku his sidekick would have further increased the resentment of especially Deku-fans who felt like Bakugou got everything, while Deku lost everything.

So Hori gave him still some way to go to reach his dreams. He's only 25 - it's not like his life is over. Unlike the Savior Trio who all lost their villains and there is nothing they can do about it, Bakugou can still become No 1. He can even be partners or lovers with Deku at a later stage. Like none of those dreams are lost forever.

[sofiadragon]

Girl Scout Cookies are no longer sold door to door!

Times are scary, people are weird, and so the little Daisies (K-1st grade) and Brownies (2nd-3rd grade) do not under any circumstances go door to door selling cookies. They just don't. If you want some, you can order them delivered to your door from a local girl scout troop.

Order cookies direct:

That said, pre-orders for hand delivery by an actual scout are already over in some areas. You can still get them shipped! They will just come in the mail instead of via adorable child. There are even nice gift box packaging options for sets of 6 only available via shipping. If you buy from a counsel no troop gets credit but it funds the charity programs and regional camp staff. If you pick a troop the girls in that specific troop get credit.

That's my nugget and partner at the local camp last Halloween, which has a lovely lake, and also in her uniform with her fun patches on the back. Her troop wants to send all the girls on an educational day trip to the camp or a local farm.

[bnhaobservation]

Missed promises

As I'm rereading bits of the story to check for certain info I do feel bad when bits like this come up.

Jirō Kyōka ‘Torimodosu dake janakute mae yori motto yoku naru yō ni. Mina de ikou yo! Sarani mukō e!’ 耳郎響香「耳郎響香「取り戻すだけじゃなくて前よりもっと良くなるように。皆で行こうよ！更に向こうへ！」 Kyouka Jiro “Not just to get it back, but to make it even better than before. Let's all go! Even further!” [Chapter 168]

Midoriya gets often criticized because he tends to say he'll bring it all back as it was before, without considering that this means bringing it back means going back to a society where people like Tenko, Touya, Himiko, Jin and so on fell from the cracks, were left without help and became Villains.

However Jirou seems to address this when she says they don't have to bring it all back but make it even better than before, adding the famous 'Sarani mukō e!' which is basically the Japanese translation of PLUS ULTRA.

It feels like a promise Class A will work to change things, to create a better world.

So far so good.

However by the end of the story, who of the kids is devoted to make things even better than before? What are they doing to make things even better than before?

The only solid attempts at changing things are done by Uraraka's Quirk counseling program, Shouji's attempt at solving peacefully conflicts based on Heteromorph discrimination and by Hawks reforms to the ranking and support to Uraraka's program (this is not the post in which I'll discuss how good those actions are, let's just say those actions attempt to improve society).

Shouto, who suffered of the problem of being blood related to a famous Villain, Dabi, supposedly has to prove on his own that he's a good, reliable kid as never in the story is said that someone of class A kids helped fighting discrimination of Villains' relatives.

In fact the rest of the kids is merely working as a Hero as they would have done hadn't that mess happened and not really trying to change society if not by being better Heroes... which is kind of a relative idea because what does it mean to be better?

Stop more Villains in a day than All Might could?

None of the kids is busy searching for solutions that might improve society, as far as we know they're just doing the same as what their predecessors did.

And okay, if they're better Heroes things might improve but the story itself claimed that the decrease in rate of Villains was thanks to Uraraka's program (though, credits when it's due Iida, Asui and Yaoyorozu are shown helping with Uraraka's program in a panel... though the following chapter seems to establish it's usually Asui who helps Uraraka, so that team up seems to be a temporary thing).

After the story went long and deep about society problems I was genuinely expecting more instead the kids became the greatest Heroes because they just beat the big bad and Midoriya inspired people to be more helpful.

Maybe I was expecting too much but, honestly, after Jirou's speech I was thinking there would be more effort by class A in improving society instead than just the usual dedication to heroic work, which culminates in the final chapter telling us the kids' ranks, how Midoriya still works as a teacher to U.A. high and how Shouto will take time to devote himself to a new hobby.

I'm pretty sure Horikoshi wants us to believe BNHA society is improved for the better... but it feels way too random, forced and sidelined.

People could have been inspired by All Might's last stand in Kamino or by his fight with AFO in the last war, by Endeavor's battle against the Nomu, by Shouto and Iida (and the Todoroki family who are civilians) working together stopping Touya from nuking Japan, by Gentle Criminal saving U.A. high from falling, by Bakugou's resurrection and fight with AFO, by how class A, despite being worn out, when to still help Midoriya but no, they chose Midoriya beating Shigaraki to be inspired.

They specifically name him. While this too is a grat feat... I just can't see it as more special than the others, it just feels forced that only Midoriya would get the verbal acknowledgement, I think I would have swallowed it better if they had said 'all the Heroes inspired me' instead than just have the main character be singled... and anyway it's just a not planned consequence.

If they had to bring back the world to a better state, I wanted THEM, as in ALL THEM, to directly do something.

[dreamyshifts]

Yuuei Academy of Advanced Heroics | Pro Hero Pop Star

*Under construction. Ideas welcome.

UA Academy for Advanced Heroics is Japan's premier institution for hero education, offering both undergraduate and graduate programs in heroics and related fields.

The academy features the following below.

- State-of-the-art training facilities

- Combat simulation rooms

- Disaster response centers

- Medical training wings

- Distinguished faculty of pro heroes

- Active heroes teaching specialized courses

- Industry experts providing real-world insights

- Comprehensive curriculum structure

- Theory and practical application balance

- Focus on field experience

- Emphasis on ethical hero work

The Advanced Heroics program is a rigorous 5-year course that combines intensive classroom learning with extensive field training, and guarantees students graduate with a high school diploma and associates degree. Students work closely with established agencies while completing their studies, ensuring they graduate with both theoretical knowledge and practical experience.

The academy maintains strong partnerships with hero agencies worldwide, facilitating international training opportunities and exchange programs for students showing exceptional promise.

Core Requirements (60 credits)

Hero Studies Foundation (9 credits)

- Advanced Combat Training

- Quirk Theory and Applications

- Emergency Response Systems

- Hero Law and Ethics

- International Hero Law

Specialized Training (20 credits)

- Crisis Management & Leadership

- Crisis Response Training

- Advanced Rescue Operations

- Psychological First Aid

- Emergency Medical Response for Heroes

- Advanced Stealth and Reconnaissance

Field Experience (20 credits)

- Agency Internships

- Supervised Patrol Hours

- Public Relations and Media Management

- Media Relations & Public Speaking

- Agency Management & Leadership

Research and Development (9 credits)

- Advanced Quirk Analysis

- Hero Strategy Development

- Quirk Enhancement & Control

- Hero Psychology and Counseling

Graduation Requirements

- Maintain minimum 3.0 GPA

- Complete 1000 supervised field hours

- Pass Hero License Advanced Certification

- Complete Field Case Project demonstrating mastery of hero skills

International Hero Law - Class Session Example

Topic: Cross-Border Hero Operations

Professor begins with a real-world case study of the Moscow Mall incident where heroes from 5 different countries had to coordinate rescue efforts

Key points covered:

- Jurisdiction protocols when crossing international borders during emergencies

- Required documentation and emergency clearance procedures

- Chain of command in multinational hero operations

- Legal liability and insurance considerations

Practical Exercise: Students split into teams representing different countries' hero agencies to simulate coordinating a response to a natural disaster affecting multiple nations.

Homework Assignment: Draft a proper cross-border operation request form and outline the step-by-step protocol for emergency hero deployment to a neighboring country.

[random-thought-depository]

""Moreover, it turns out that the United States is not all that tightfisted when it comes to social spending. “If you count all public benefits offered by the federal government, America’s welfare state (as a share of its gross domestic product) is the second biggest in the world, after France’s,” Desmond tells us. Why doesn’t this largesse accomplish more?

For one thing, it unduly assists the affluent. That statistic about the U.S. spending almost as much as France on social welfare, he explains, is accurate only “if you include things like government-subsidized retirement benefits provided by employers, student loans and 529 college savings plans, child tax credits, and homeowner subsidies: benefits disproportionately flowing to Americans well above the poverty line.” To enjoy most of these, you need to have a well-paying job, a home that you own, and probably an accountant (and, if you’re really in clover, a money manager).

“The American government gives the most help to those who need it least,” Desmond argues. “This is the true nature of our welfare state, and it has far-reaching implications, not only for our bank accounts and poverty levels, but also for our psychology and civic spirit.” Americans who benefit from social spending in the form of, say, a mortgage-interest tax deduction don’t see themselves as recipients of governmental generosity. The boon it offers them may be as hard for them to recognize and acknowledge as the persistence of poverty once was to Harrington’s suburban housewives and professional men. These Americans may be anti-government and vote that way. They may picture other people, poor people, as weak and dependent and themselves as hardworking and upstanding. Desmond allows that one reason for this is that tax breaks don’t feel the same as direct payments. Although they may amount to the same thing for household incomes and for the federal budget—“You can benefit a family by lowering its tax burden or by increasing its benefits, same difference”—they are associated with an obligation and a procedure that Americans, in particular, find onerous. Tax-cutting Republican lawmakers want the process to be both difficult and Swiss-cheesed with loopholes. (“Taxes should hurt,” Ronald Reagan once said.) But that’s not the only reason. What Desmond calls the “rudest explanation” is that if, for whatever reason, we get a tax break, most of us like it. That’s the case for people affluent and lucky enough to take advantage of the legitimate breaks designed for their benefit, and for the wily super-rich who game the system with expensive lawyering and ingenious use of tax shelters.

And there are other ways, Desmond points out, that government help gets thwarted or misdirected. When President Clinton instituted welfare reform, in 1996, pledging to “transform a broken system that traps too many people in a cycle of dependence,” an older model, Aid to Families with Dependent Children, or A.F.D.C., was replaced by Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, or TANF. Where most funds administered by A.F.D.C. went straight to families in the form of cash aid, TANF gave grants to states with the added directive to promote two-parent families and discourage out-of-wedlock childbirth, and let the states fund programs to achieve those goals as they saw fit. As a result, “states have come up with rather creative ways to spend TANF dollars,” Desmond writes. “Nationwide, for every dollar budgeted for TANF in 2020, poor families directly received just 22 cents. Only Kentucky and the District of Columbia spent over half of their TANF funds on basic cash assistance.” Between 1999 and 2016, Oklahoma directed more than seventy million dollars toward initiatives to promote marriage, offering couples counselling and workshops that were mostly open to people of all income levels. Arizona used some of the funds to pay for abstinence education; Pennsylvania gave some of its TANF money to anti-abortion programs. Mississippi treated its TANF funds as an unexpected Christmas present, hiring a Christian-rock singer to perform at concerts, for instance, and a former professional wrestler—the author of an autobiography titled “Every Man Has His Price”—to deliver inspirational speeches. (Much of this was revealed by assiduous investigative reporters, and by a 2020 audit of Mississippi’s Department of Human Services.) Moreover, because states don’t have to spend all their TANF funds each year, many carry over big sums. In 2020, Tennessee, which has one of the highest child-poverty rates in the nation, left seven hundred and ninety million dollars in TANF funds unspent."

- The New Yorker: "How America Manufactures Poverty" by Margaret Talbot (review of Matthew Desmond's Poverty by America).

[boxoftheskyking]

So you might want to buy a house

DISCLAIMER: all of this is based on my own experience, and I am in no way a real estate professional. This is just some stuff that I’ve learned and some steps that I wish I’d known more about in advance, in hopes that it might be helpful for some people. I might get some terminology wrong, or make mistakes, but hopefully the general info is at least kind of helpful

ABOUT ME: because real estate stuff is specific. I am 33, single, employed, and live in a city in Minnesota, USA. This is my first home purchase, so most of this is specific to being a first-time buyer. I’ve been renting in this area for 15 years. I closed on my house in August 2023.

NOTE: The real estate market is super weird, and varies hugely from region to region, neighborhood to neighborhood, and week to week. What shook out for me will not be what shakes out for you.

This is SO LONG, so it’s under a cut, and I hope you will take it with the good faith in was intended!

Where do I start?

So you want to get started but want to talk things over first. This is a good idea! Even if you have friends and family who have bought before, it’s nice to talk to official type people where you can ask any and every question and know they’ve heard way dumber questions than you could ever come up with over the course of their career.

Employee Assistance Program -If you work a job that has benefits, you might have what’s called an Employee Assistance Program (EAP). Some companies get it along with their health insurance as kind of a bundle, but a lot of people don’t talk about it or know about it. -EAPs are all different, they’re basically a resource hub that you might have access to if your employer covers it. Some things they offer are limited therapy/counseling sessions (usually around a specific need like a breakup/death/life transition), consultation about adoption, personal financial advising, and consultation on housing and buying property. -I used my EAP to find a bunch of organizations that work to support first-time home buyers. The one I went with, NeighborWorks Home Partners, is specific to my area, but there were other options listed. -I didn’t actually talk to anyone related to the EAP, I just logged in to a site that had a bunch of links. But I could have talked to someone if I wanted -If you work a job and have benefits like health insurance, retirement, dental, etc it’s worth asking whoever does your benefits (and HR person, general manager, office manager, etc) if there is an EAP. Again, a lot of people don’t really talk about it.

Homebuyer Education -There’s a bunch of different organizations that provide homebuyer education. I didn’t know many of the details about homebuying, and it’s super confusing and anxiety-inducing, so I found it helpful -There’s a few ways to do this—I did both a one-on-one consultation and an online class -The one-on-one consultation was free from the org I chose. We talked on Zoom and went over monthly budgets (which I didn’t really need to do, I make budgets for a living lolllll), a soft credit pull (will talk more about this below) and talk about what goes into a credit score, and all the different expenses that go into a house and what that might look like. At the end of the day, it gave me the first sense of what my budget for a house might be.  -They did a soft credit pull (see below), which gave me a sense of my credit. It was more accurate than a thing like Credit Karma or my bank. -One note about the consultation - my down payment assistance program (will talk more about this later) required me to redo it, because I did it over a year before closing. So depending on your programs you might need to pay attention to the timeline. I also got a certificate saying I did it that I submitted to my assistance program. (Redoing it meant like a 10 minute call where the guy just helped talk me through my closing documents) -It cost me $75 to take an online class that took a few hours. It was in 8 parts and included watching some videos, reading some short articles, and then taking quizzes. You had to get 80% right to pass, and you can redo it if you need to. It went over most of the things to know and had links to read more. I also got a certificate for that to submit, and it didn’t matter how much time had passed for my assistance program. 

Credit -I’m not going to explain everything about credit, because it is complicated -A soft credit pull is when they check the three major credit reporting agencies to get a general sense of your score. It’s not 100% accurate. -A hard credit pull is what lenders will do when you actually go in for a preapproval (more below). It will be the most accurate. A hard credit pull will have an affect on your credit score, so if you’re ever doing something that involves a hard credit pull, it’s best to do all of that within a month so that it only really hits once. -There are 3 credit reporting agencies, and your score will be different from each one. Why? no idea. They all have a different maximum number that your score can be. Why? again, no idea. It’s around 850 though. -Generally things get easier to do if your score is above 680ish. It’s not like you can’t get a house with a lower score, but sometimes there are other hoops to jump through. -I’m not very useful when it comes to buying a house with low credit, but I bet there are people who are!  -You build credit by owing money and paying it regularly. It’s annoying and dumb, but it’s the way it is. Paying rent on time builds your credit, having a credit card that you pay off every month builds credit, paying utility bills that are in your name builds credit. (Note: This stuff has to be in your name for it to count, so if you pay your roommate every month for the electric bill and it’s in their name, it won’t count. So if you’re in that situation, you may want to put something in your name like a card to build your score). Paying off a car or phone or student loan also helps. -I have really good credit, and I’m neither rich nor special. I just set everything to autopay, including my credit card bill. I use my credit card for most things that I just shop for in the world like groceries, etc, and then I have all my bills autopay from my checking account. How did people do this shit before autopay? I have no idea.

Mortgage vs. Rent -The benefit of paying a mortgage vs rent is that you’re building equity if you pay into a mortgage. This is a surprise tool that will help you later. Which means that if you are in a situation where you need money, you can borrow from what you’ve paid into your mortgage. So like if you get very sick or have a kid going to school or want to throw a big party, you could get a loan based on your equity -Equity is confusing, don’t ask me about it -For me, I pay a bit more per month than I did in rent at my last place. BUT mostly that’s because I’d been living in the same place for many years and my rent hadn’t gone up that much. One of the first things I did when considering buying is look at how much it would cost to rent a house like the kind I would want to buy. And those rents are over what I ended up paying monthly to my mortgage. -Keep in mind that you will be taking on some extra expenses that you don’t have as a renter (like maintenance, repairs, etc). Note: if you’re buying a condo, that’s different. I don’t know shit about that. -So for me, paying my landlord every month for him to occasionally (half-assedly) fix stuff (on his schedule, where he decides who to hire or how to do the work, where he is a stranger in my space for the duration) was not as appealing as me paying the bank every month so I can have some equity  -The first 6 months of owning a house feels like hemorrhaging money out of every orifice, but the majority of these expenses are one-time or rarely-reoccurring things. But I didn’t quite prepare for this the way I wish I had, so when you’re thinking about building your savings to buy a house, you’ll want to consider things like furniture, small repairs, pest control, duct cleaning, gutter cleaning, many many visits to a hardware store, realizing some of your stuff doesn’t fit the way it did in the old place and you have to get new things.... etc. 

The Money Stuff

Lenders -It might be appealing to start by looking at properties, but especially in a hot market that’s not what you want to do first -The first thing to do is to look at lenders! Lenders are basically the institutions that give you the loan to buy your house, and the ones you will be paying monthly for the 30 years of your loan (or until you sell) (or die I guess) -I talked to like 13 lenders, because I love an excuse not to move forward on scary things, so I just do research and research and research until I run out of steam. So i don’t necessarily recommend doing that. But you definitely want to talk to at least a few. -Lenders can be banks (like Bank of American, US Bank, Wells Fargo, etc), credit unions (like Affinity, RCU, etc), or smaller mortgage companies. -You can also talk to mortgage brokers, which are companies that have agreements with different banks or companies and can shop around on your behalf. -I got my list of people to talk to from: my consultation (above), friends who had bought/were buying, friends who like their bank/credit unions for other things -You’ll have a specific person you’re working with, so who that person is matters. -Things you’ll want to ask about 1. How is their communication? How big is your team? If you see a house on a Saturday and they need offers by Sunday afternoon, how likely is it that they will get your preapproval letter ready in time?  2. Are they good at explaining things to you? Do they work with first-time homebuyers a lot? Do you feel dumb talking to them? Are they mortgage nerds and genuinely seem like they care about finding you good deals and cool programs? 3. What are their interest rates at the moment? Know that this will change between now and the time you have the option to lock in, so don’t put too too much weight on this 4. Most importantly: What assistance programs do they have access to? Everyone has different ones, which we’ll talk about below. Don’t assume that because a bank is huge that they have a ton of assistance. Some small places have really great programs. Likewise, some of the banks that are more well-known for big ticket mortgages (like Jumbo loans for mansions, etc) actually have crazy good programs for low-income and first-time home buyers, because they need to show that they also work for the little guy -I ended up going with a small local mortgage company because they had a kickass program ($10,000 in down payment assistance that is forgivable in 5 years. So as long as I don’t sell my house in 5 years, I don’t have to pay that back). -You may be tempted to solely base your decision on who to get a mortgage from on the politics of the lending institution. This is a lovely instinct. HOWEVER, your mortgage can be sold to anyone at any time. Within a month of moving in, my mortgage was sold to Freddie Mac. I still pay the credit union that is the servicer of my loan, but it all goes back to the big guy in the end. So basically you have no control of where your money ends up. (or maybe you do somehow, ask someone else about that) -At the end of the day, you should apply to like 2-4 different lenders. Once you fill out your application, they’ll do a hard credit pull and look at all your income, bank accounts, etc, and they’ll pre-approve you for a certain amount of money. -This is really where you’ll get your house-hunting budget. There can be a pretty big range in what you’re approved for! One lender approved me for $220K (”maybe $225K” they said). Another approved me for $280K. You’ll want to pick a lender based on all the above information, along with the amount you’re approved for. Being approved for $280K doesn’t mean that’s what you should spend (you can, but I don’t recommend it), but it does mean that your budget can be more like $250K, compared for $225K. You’ll want to look around at your area to see what’s reasonable for you.

Downpayment Assistance -for a lot of first-time buyers, the downpayment (and closing costs) is the thing that’s standing between you and being a homeowner. So that’s what a lot of organizations focus on -The more you put down (i.e. pay right off the bat), the lower your loan will be, and therefore the less your monthly payment will be. So it’s worth it to try and pay down as much as possible -(Likewise, if you buy and house and then get a windfall and are like What do I do with all this cash, paying down your mortgage will save you money) -This is because you pay MORE in interest than you pay for your house, so the less your loan is, the less you’re paying in interest. If you find a way to pay off your loan early, you end up paying less interest! And you win against the bank! If you get a raise and are able to put even like an extra $100 towards your mortgage each month, that can cut years off your loan and build your equity more quickly, thereby cutting down on the interest you end up paying. So unlike paying more money to a landlord who will eat it with a spoon, maybe more in your mortgage early is helpful for you. -Lots of downpayment assistance (hereinafter DPA) is stackable! So you can qualify for multiple programs and use them all -Many have an income requirement (for one of mine, I need to make 80% of the median income in my area or less). -Many are location specific. Some of those you can look up in advance and try to focus on properties in those areas. Some are super super specific, like this block only, or these specific addresses. That’s true for one of my programs—whenever I was considering making an offer on a house, I’d email my lender and she’d tell me if that specific address counts for the assistance program -At the end of the day, I got $30K in assistance. $10K of that is forgivable in 5 years (so I don’t have to pay it back unless I sell in that time). The other $20K is from two separate no-interest loans. This means that if I sell the house, I have to pay back that amount. Ideally by that time I’ll have enough equity in my house that will cover that. -Interest rates are super high right now, so if you’re buying now you want to think about refinancing. Refinancing is basically when you negotiate a new deal with your lender. There are fees and things (I’ve never done it so IDK), but the benefit of doing that is getting a lower interest rate. So my rate is 6.25%, and in 5 years if the rate goes down to like 2.3% I may want to refinance so I’ll be paying less in interest over the course of my loan. -If you’re getting DPA that’s a loan, you will want to ask what happens when you refinance. They’ll probably tell you either you have to pay it back when you refinance (so don’t get stuck in that situation if you don’t have that $$$ on hand) or they’ll say it’ll be subordinated -this took me like weeks to get a straight answer on wtf is subordination. Basically, you pay your loans off in order, right, so you pay your mortgage and then after that you pay off your DPA loans. So if you refinance, then your mortgage ends up being “newer” I guess. So in order to put the mortgage back “on top” of the pile to pay off, so to speak, you pay that (and it’s interest) first, the DPA loans get shoved down underneath the mortgage on the list. 

Interest Rates -You can’t control interest rates. Honestly markets are so volatile and the world is so close to ending, I would say it’s not worth waiting for them to go down. Maybe they will, maybe they won’t. No one fuckin knows -So many global, political, circumstantial things affect these, and who knows what might happen. My friends happened to be closing during the time the debt ceiling almost freaked out, which was outside of their control, so they got screwed with a super high rate.  -After you get an offer accepted and you’re working on setting up your loan, you’ll usually get the offer to “lock in” an interest rate. Basically, if you have reason to believe rates will go down before you close, don’t do it. if you think they’ll go up, then do it. Who fuckin knows. I did it bc I didn’t think it was likely stuff would go down. And I haven’t looked it up bc if they did I don’t want to know -There are more complicated things you can do with interest rates, like “floating down” and APRs and other shit. Don’t ask me about them, I do not know.

Looking for houses

Realtors -Who your realtor is MATTERS y’all. Here is what a realtor will do: 1. Give you access to a Super Awesome online listing of properties (much better than Zillow! Updates constantly). They will set your search filters based on what you specifically want and your specific budget. That includes size, amenities, location, school district, garage, yard, etc etc 2. Arrange showings for you. Sometimes you might want to go to open houses, but you don’t have to wait for those to see a house. You tell your realtor what you’re interested in and they can set up a time for just you and them to see the place 3. Access houses with funky lil lockboxes. Heist teams should include realtors—I’ve seen my guy get into the weirdest of devices in no time 4. Recommend places to you 5. Talk on your behalf with the seller’s agents or the sellers themselves 6. Take you all the way through your offers, acceptance, all the way to closing (basically, most of the rest of this post) -I am really lucky that a friend of mine is one of the best realtors in town (in my humble opinon). It really worked out for me, because when it came to negotiating price and terms with sellers and their agents, people already respected him and his expertise because he was a known fixture in the field. I’m not saying that an early-career or unknown realtor is bad, but reputation can do a lot of heavy lifting for you (as you’ll see later) -My realtor, S, is not only a friend, but also someone who has owned, rented, built, remodeled, bought, and sold everything from high rise condos to alpaca farms to tiny houses built in shipping containers. That experience was super useful to me for a few reasons: 1. He was very very good at looking at a roof, foundation, or basement, and saying “absolutely not, this is a mess” —I could only rarely see what he was talking about because I know nothing 2. If I looked at a space and said “what if I wanted to add a shower there?” or “could I make this basement area a bedroom?” S was able to pretty accurately estimate what that would cost. So that became part of the math as we looked at places, which was really useful and saved me so much time doing research on my own 3. He’s a queer artist who grew up in a nontraditional family and has lived many fascinating and non-standard lives. I only mention this because when I wanted to talk about my future and what my home could look like, I didn’t have to worry about S making assumptions about what “family” consists of or what my “role” would be. And as a single woman who is looking to adopt, that really meant a lot to me! -(side note if you’re in the Twin Cities and want S’s info, hit me up) -The most important thing about working with S, for me, is that he never made me feel foolish. I gradually got really good at talking about and looking at houses, but even when I asked questions that were obviously, or made incorrect assumptions, he never treated me like I should have known the answers, or like the process was supposed to be easy. And the guy genuinely loves houses!

What to Look For -You’ll want to find a house that fits what you want your life to be, not necessarily what it is at this moment. So think about what you want your day to day to be like. Will you be working from home at all? Do you have or want kids or pets? Do you want to be a person who hosts out of town guests? Do you want to have band practice at your place? Do you want to host D&D? Large holiday meals? Do you want to garden? Grill? Have a firepit? Do you have a car, or do you think you will? Do you have physical access needs based on your body, like particular types of doorways, floors, stairs, size of spaces, etc.? Are there furniture pieces that are important to you that you want to plan around? (For me, I have an electric piano, and placing that was super important).

-I’m a single person, and I want to adopt a kid, and I know I’ll need a roommate in order to afford my mortgage. So it was vital for me to find a house that either had 3 bedrooms, or had 2 bedrooms and a 3rd could be easily finished/added. it was also important that my roommate would have their own private space that was decent size for me to charge rent -Think about all year round. I live in Minnesota, and you better believe snow was top of mind at every house. As a renter, my landlord was supposed to deal, with anything over 3 inches (did he always? of course not). Now it’s my responsibility. What kind of trees are around? Do you have big storms? You need to pay attention to big branches and power lines. Is it getting super hot where you live? You probably want to prioritize central air, or shade.

-On the topic of central air - It’s pricey to add it to a house that doesn’t have forced air heat, because you have to add all the ductwork. If that’s the case and you don’t have that $$$, you can either go with window units or something called a mini-split. It’s basically mini air conditioners that heat floors separately, but have a better range than a window unit. -Does the house have a yard you want to deal with? How about a sidewalk you have to shovel (woe unto you in corner lots) -How does bussing work for the schools in your area, if that matters to you? -Some houses will be empty. Empty rooms look smaller than rooms that have shit in them -Some will be staged. People who stage houses don’t fill them with STUFF, so you’ll notice few bookcases, coatracks, etc. Think about the stuff you have, not the stuff they put in the house. -You will be AMAZED at how some people live. Seriously. Some people have a giant ass oak tree literally leaning on their roof and just deal with it. Some people have 3 bedroom houses, and the only bathroom is only accessible by going through one of the bedrooms. Some people have their fridge down a flight of stairs from the kitchen. Some people have their laundry in the basement, but the only access to the basement is through an outside door. In some climates that’s fine, but I live in fucking Minnesota -I had the instinct when I started looking that I needed to be entirely open to everything, and not be too picky. After about two weeks of looking (and S had me going to like 4-9 showings a day some days), I got real picky real fast. This was helpful for S and helpful for me, so we weren’t wasting time on houses that weren’t contenders. I learned that the houses’ feelings did not get hurt by me not wanting to buy them -Likewise, I started out being entirely open about where I wanted to live. Anywhere in the Cities or near suburbs, I said. But then I went to see houses in these places and realized I did not want to drive that far to work, or that the only way to access places was by the highway, so if it shuts down or there’s a bad snowstorm, I’m stuck. -To that end, i found it really helpful to make myself a Google map (you can make some and save them) of where I go. I included work, church, my bandmates houses, bars I like to go to, and my friends’ houses. Then whenever I was considering a house I’d plunk it on the map and see how it lined up with the realities of my life. -We’ll talk about offers in a sec, but remember that people can technically list their house for whatever number they want. So it’ll be up to you and your realtor to decide what’s fair. I mention this here, because a house may be listed way cheaper than others on your list—there’s likely a reason for that, but if it looks promising, give it a try! It could be that the reason it’s listed low doesn’t matter to you (i.e. it’s next to an annoying business that you don’t mind, or doesn’t have a garage but you don’t have a car, or the other houses int he neighborhood have yards and this doesn’t). Or it could be the seller needs to move it FAST and you can take advantage of their situation. -If you’re a handy person, a cheaper house might be a great option if fixing it up to be what you want is affordable for you. (Again, this is where a realtor like S can be super helpful to come up with those costs). For me, I didn’t want to do jack shit to the house, and I knew I’d be paying for that. (not that I don’t have a whole spreadsheet of eventual projects....but that’s invevitable) -Likewise, it can be helpful to set your filters to include houses a bit above your budget. Some people list their houses WAY higher than they should, so if you see a property that’s been on the market for a while (when I was looking the market was hothothot, so “a while” could mean anything over a week/10 days. In a slower market, you’ll want to look at those that have been listed for 30+ days), it might be worth checking out and then offering low. Chances are the seller will need to reduce the price anyway if they’re not getting any bites, and you could get a good deal by jumping in before they do that. -IDK where else to put this, but measure the garage. I didn’t, and I discovered like a month ago that my car (a little compact Toyota) is too long for my damn garage. It’s not that I wouldn’t have bought the house because of that, but I could have included it in some negotiations.

Offers -So you found a house you like! Now the scary part. 

-You’ll get a sense of the market from your realtor, and they can usually advise you about how quickly you need to move on a potential offer. Sometimes a seller will give a deadline themselves: they call this “best and highest.” So they’ll say “we’re hearing offers at 3pm tomorrow” or “we’re asking for best and highest on Monday.” Generally that’s the cutoff for receiving viable offers. -In the market when I was buying, it was pretty common for houses to sell for 20-40K over the asking price. Again, some houses would be listed too high or too low, as I mentioned before, but on average that’s what I was working with. There were also a TON of offers on all the properties I liked. The lowest number of offers on a house I tried to get was 5, the highest was 19. That is kind of insane. In a slower market, when you’re not competing with that many people, you can offer closer to the asking price (or some people just say “asking” as in “20 over asking”) -The first thing I did when I decided to put in an offer, was to talk to my realtor so he could start getting the paperwork together. You can’t just email the seller and say “i want your house,” there are legal documents that have to be drawn up to make it a binding agreement if it’s accepted. -My folks bought their house without a realtor and did all the negotiating, etc, themselves, but they still needed a realtor friend to do the paperwork for them. If you go that route, you can probably do more informal offers, but IDK how that works. -The next thing I did was contact my lender for the following things: 1. I gave them the address and asked “Does this fall within certain DPAs?” 2. I asked them to run some numbers for me. Usually it was a version of: “What would my monthly payment be if I offered $240K and put down $5K in earnest money, and if I had $20K of downpayment assistance? How about if I offered $245K or $250K? What if I only put down $2500?” This helped me figure out what kind of offer I could reasonably make, and what it would actually cost me monthly if I got the house. 3. Then, when I decided what I wanted to offer, I would ask for a preapproval letter that includes the address of the property, basically saying “hey we’re a lender and we will give Jay a loan of $XX to buy this house, pinky promise” -I copied S on all my communications with the lender, so he knew what I was considering and he could give advice -(sometimes I saw a house on Friday and had to make an offer by noon on Saturday, leading to me trying to call my lender at 9am on a Saturday morning, which sucked. This is why knowing who’s on your lender’s team and how to contact them matters) -There’s no hard and fast way to decide on a good offer, because you won’t know how many you’re competing against. Sometimes your realtor might be able to chat with the sellers agent and find out how many people saw the property, if they have a sense of how popular it is, but sometimes you want. You want to be able to afford it, but also not go so low that you won’t even be considered. -Usually, your realtor will ask you to write a love letter to the house to include in the offer. “Dear seller, I love your house because of blah blah blah, I can see myself doing blah blah blah, specifics specifics.” Do these matter? I don’t feel like they do but whatever. Make a template and update it for each offer. -One thing to note about this is that you DO NOT want to give information about yourself regarding your status in a protected class (i.e. “we’re a young queer couple; I’m a neurodivergent person; I’m an immigrant/veteran/belong to X racial group”). It might seem like that would be helpful in certain areas, but sellers aren’t legally allowed to pick a buyer based on those things, so it ends up working against you.  You can talk about what you do as a job or as a hobby, if you’re an artist, if you’re a parent, if you have pets, if you know who else will be living int he house with you, etc. You can hint at things. But S was very clear with me about keeping it pretty general and about the house. -Once you’ve decided on the $$$ you’re offering, you need to decide if there’s anything else to add to “sweeten the pot.” For some people, that’s saying “my timeline is totally flexible, so if you need to close in a month that’s fine, and if you need to close in 4 months that’s fine.” A lot of people choose to waive inspections. -OHHHHHH Ye olde inspection. Dear God. -The inspection is basically a thing where you hire a professional to look at the house before you officially seal the deal, and they tell you if there are things you need to be concerned about. So if the inspector comes in and says “yeah this roof is going to cave in in a year,” you can use that in your negotiation and say “look, I’m going to lower my offer by $15K, because I will need a new roof in a year.” then it’s up to the seller to decide if they want to agree to that, or if they want to try again to find a buyer who hopefully would not get an inspection. -to “waive an inspection” means that you’re agreeing to skip this step -OK so my instinct was always “I will NEVER waive the inspection,” and a lot of people feel that way. HOWEVER, I did not get certain houses because the people who did offered exactly what I did and waived the inspection. There was a buyer who had made SEVENTEEN OFFERS and beat me out on a house, and they got that house after SEVENTEEN OTHER TRIES because they waived an inspection. -I did get an inspection with my house, which was lucky and also thanks to S being a great negotiator. -I waived it on one of my offers -I would say I’d be comfortable waiving an inspection if: 1. You or your realtor knows shit about buildings, codes, etc. S knew a lot, so was able to look at things like furnaces, windows, basement beams, foundations, etc etc. 2. The important parts of the house are easily visible. Usually this means an unfinished basement. if the basement is finished, you probably can’t see all the structural things you’d need to 3. You’re already planning to do a bunch of work on a house, so you’re offering a lower bid and budgeting to do renovations anyway -At the end of the day, it’s your call. More about inspections below. -Most people who buy houses have mortgages, meaning that they can’t just drop $250K on a house. However, some people got it like that, so they make what is called a cash offer. Cash offers will win out every time, because they are usually higher, are easier for the sellers, and will often waive inspections. Depending on your region and your budget, you may or may not see this. I got screwed SO MANY TIMES and so did my friends, by all-cash, no inspection offers. The majority of these are from people who are buying properties to rent out or Airbnb - they won’t live there so they don’t really care if it’s solid, and my budget range seemed to be about where rich people who don’t want to flip a house felt comfortable buying. It was annoying. -but hey if you got it like that, go for it. -Once you have all the terms of your offer figured out, your realtor will send you the official offer paperwork that you’ll sign (prob. digitally). Then they’ll send it over to the seller and be in charge of all that communication. If the seller comes back with a counter, or with questions, your realtor will bring that to you. They may advise you, but at the end of the day it is up to you what you’ll offer and what you’ll accept.

You got accepted!

-Holy cats, they said yes to your offer and your terms! This is a huge moment to celebrate! I cried! And obsessively looked at pictures of the house over and over -The seller may come back to you with some proposed adjustments. In my case they wanted to round the selling price up by $1K, which I agreed to. (IDK why they cared, but in the grand scheme that was fine). They also wanted to change some of the verbiage in the offer that didn’t actually affect anything. -The first thing you’ll need to do is put down the earnest money. That is usually held in a trust or something similar until closing. But basically, if you said you’d put down $5K of your own money in the offer, you have to prove you have it right away. So don’t offer to put down earnest money that you don’t have! -The higher this number, the more appealing your offer generally is -There are a lot of things that will need to wait until you close, so this period of time feels really weird -You’ll have a purchase agreement (along with any addendums or changes) that basically says “I’m Jay and I offer $XX, the seller agreed to the price and the terms, we’ll see how it goes from here and if it all goes well, this deal will go through” -I’m gonna say it now, don’t ask me about escrow. Escrow is basically like an account where money lives between you and the bank. You pay extra into this account so that if something happens and you can’t pay what you agreed, the bank still gets the money for a certain period of time. or something like that, I don’t know, it gives me a headache. I’m sure other people understand it better.

Next steps

Inspection -If you included an inspection in your offer/purchase agreement, you’ll want to set that up within a few days. (Don’t worry about booking “last minute,” inspectors pretty much always work on that kind of schedule. Very few people are booking inspectors weeks in advance. This was something I felt bad about, but it’s okay)

-Inspections are pricey, and usually have different packages that include different things. I chose to do the sewer scope bc I had a friend who found some crazy sewer issues and I didn’t want to deal with it. Your realtor can probably give you advice on what you might need. -Inspector look at a lot of things: all your systems (like heating, cooling, pipes, electricity, etc),  your windows, roof, foundation, gutters, attics, floors, plumping, appliances, etc. -They do NOT open walls/ceilings/floors, etc. So if it’s not visible, they won’t be able to report on it.  -They’ll send you a big ol’ report, and if you can be there with them they’ll do a walk through with you to talk over big issues. Your realtor should come to that as well, as they might have good questions. -After you have the information, you have to decide if there are any big issues that need to be addressed. The inspector will flag things that are a problem legally, but it’s up to you how much you care about them. Some will be easy fixes. Others might be deal breakers that mean you decide to walk away from the property entirely. Most things will be in the middle.  -Note that some things are legally “issues” but practically may not matter. There are certain outlets on the outside of my house that aren’t right, but I don’t intend to use them much and if it turns out I need to, it’s not that expensive to switch them out. My basement stairs are an absolutely death trap, but my laundry is upstairs and so i dont really need to use them much. I could spend like $4K to replace them, but I don’t care at this point, and it’s not a big issue for me. But legally they are terrible. -Some things may be an absolute problem that the seller needs to deal with before you’ll agree to by the house. -You and your realtor will come up with a list of things you want to tell the seller to fix before closing. They might fight you on some of them, and again that’s why the realtor being a good negotiator matters. -Generally, you want to ask for fixes on the important things, without asking for every little thing, so the seller doesn’t decide you’re too much trouble and they could probably back out and get a better offer that wouldn’t cost them as much in repairs. -for me, the garage door was busted so they defnitely needed to fix that. There was a pipe that was put in wrong that was a quick fix. And there were birds in the attic, so they needed to clear those out and go through and block up all the entry points in the room. All of these requests were reasonable, and the sellers agreed to them. -At this point, it’s up to you if you want to pay for a re-inspection (i.e. the inspector coming back to verify that they did all the work they were supposed to). I didn’t—instead I had them give me all the receipts from the work that was done along with photos and video of the work. That way if something is a problem in the future, I can contact the companies that did the work and take advantage of warranties, etc.

Home Service Warranty -Speaking of warranties! There’s a thing called a Home Service Warranty that you’ll need to decide on. Mine is through American Home Shield. Basically this is a warranty that covers things in your house. There are different levels of coverage, so some just cover the big things like windows/roof/furnace/water heater/etc. As you upgrade, it’ll include things like stoves, fridges, dishwashers, etc. -If you’re getting your own warranty, you basically pay a certain amount per month for the coverage. Then if any of the covered things break down, it get’s fixed for free (plus a small service charge. For me that’s $125). So if your inspector tells you “hey, you’ve got about a year left on this water heater” or “the furnace has some issues that might come up in a few years” you could save a BUNCH of money by having this coverage. -My realtor got this warranty included in my purchase agreement, so the seller is actually paying for a. year of my coverage at he upgraded level. This is SICK AS HELL and not every realtor will think of it—definitely mention it to yours. I didn’t even think of it as an option. Basically what this means is that if any of my stuff breaks this first year, I can get it replaced for very cheap AND I don’t even have to pay the monthly coverage fee. -When I moved in, my shower was broken. I tried to fix it, but the called AHS and I only paid $125 for a plumber to come look at it, order parts (which would have been pricey since my house is pretty old), and fix it for me. I hate my fridge, so I have a goal to break it this year so I can get a new one for free.

Appraisal -Okay, so you got the seller to agree to your fixes, everything is moving apace. It is time for the GOD DAMN APPRAISAL -(for many people, the appraisal is fine and is not GOD DAMN anything. For me, it was a nightmare and I didn’t sleep for like 2 weeks) -Okay so what is an appraisal. Basically, the seller said “my house is worth $XX” you said “I’ll pay $XX for it.” Your lender said “we’ll give Jay a loan for $XX.” But now someone else has to look at the house and determine if it’s a fair price for the house. This is what really determines the loan you’ll get (this is also why what you’ve gotten so far is a pre-approval. They’ve basically said “you’re capable of paying back a loan of $XX, but we need an outside agency to determine if this house is worth is”) -The appraiser will look at the house, inspection reports, and other sales of similar houses in your area. Ideally, this helps them determine if the price you and the seller have agreed on is in line with what is reasonable. -Banks are not going to give you a $400K loan on a potting shed in a ditch -It’s all complicated and this is where a lot of shit in the Housing Crisis came from -Basically, you want the appraisal to come at or higher than your purchase price. (if it comes in higher, do a little dance bc you got a deal) -If it comes in lower, you can be in trouble. That’s what happened to me. -A note about rules & regs - lenders cannot talk directly to appraisers. This is because of the housing crisis and all the shady backroom deals that were happening (i.e. if you appraise this house at this price, we’ll give you Mr. Appraiser Guy some kickbacks from the extra money we’re making in mortgage interest or whatever). In practical terms, this means it takes FOREVER to get messages to all the parties involved.  -If the appraisal comes in low, you can ask for a reappraisal. It’s up to the appraiser if they agree. There are rules about this. -What Happened To Me: OK so my house is in a historically Black and immigrant neighborhood (read, historically redlined). This means a lot of the properties here are undervalued based on other locations. In a hot market, even undervalued properties can go up in price in a big way. In a slow market, that doesn’t happen so much. My appraiser only wanted to pull comps (meaning comparable sales of similar houses in the same area) in my exact neighborhood. However, there hadn’t been any sales of similar size/age/etc houses in my exact neighborhood since last winter. Guess what the market is like in the winter in Minnesota! Fucking SLOW boy. So these comps were coming in like $20K lower than my agreed price. So my realtor and lender took a look and said “look, if we widen out a little bit to these nearby neighborhoods, we can see all these more recent sales that are closer to our price.” It took two weeks of back and forth to get the appraiser to agree to add some of these comps to the appraisal. He was really reluctant to look outside my immediate area, because my neighborhood is of “lower value” than the surrounding areas. Structural racism, baby. Not against me, but against my neighbors and everyone who’s lived in this area for the past 150 years. Hooray. Finally, I got a re-appraisal that was $8K lower than my purchase price. So I was in a pickle. I had an agreement with the seller saying I’ll pay $XX, while the bank is now saying “we’ll only give you a loan for $XX-minus-$8K.” So either I need to come up with $8K MORE of a down payment in earnest money, or I need the purchase price to go down. Or i need to find more assistance. HERE IS WHERE HAVING S MADE ALL THE DIFFERENCE. He went to the seller and basically used his status and significant experience to say “Look, you can either agree to lower the purchase price by $8K, or we all walk away. If we walk away, this means you have to re-list the house, wait for more offers. And then even if you get an offer as good as or better than Jay’s, that person will still need to go through the appraisal process. So...  you’ll probably be right back here. The only chance you have of skipping appraisal is if someone comes in with a cash offer, meaning they won’t need a loan and no bank is involved. But for a lot of the reasons the appraisal is low, those types of buyers (who often want rentals/vacation rental properties) ain’t looking to buy in this neighborhood.”

(or that’s what I imagine he said. It was probably smarter)

ANYWAY, all that to say a MIRACLE occurred, and the seller agreed to lower the purchase price of the house by $8K. I can tell you the whole story of how I found out over a drink sometime, but let me tell you I wepttttttt

-Anyhow, once the appraisal is good and you’re pretty sure the deal is going through, you gotta get insurance. call a bunch of places, figure out what coverage you need, see if it’s cheaper or easier to put car/life/etc in the same place. You have to have insurance if you have a home loan - basically the bank owns the house, so it’s in their interest to have it covered in case of disaster.

Closing

-I’m going to be quick on this, because it’s super technical and I only kind of understand it. -Closing is basically the day where you sign all the paperwork, after which the house is yours! Then you can start moving, renovating, decorating, whatever you want. -One of the things that’s part of closing is the Title and Title Insurance. Basically, you need to pay to have the paper that says you own the house, and then you have to pay for insurance on that piece of paper. Why. IDK.  -At this point there’s so many random fees and charges, I just kind of looked at the totals and made sure nothing was way out of range of what I expected.  -A few days before closing, you should have the following: 1. receipts/evidence from any fixes made to the house or a re-inspection report 2. Closing disclosures, which basically means any information that’s attatched to the deed for the home. This can include unpaid property taxes, any weird liens on the property, any easement agreements with neighbors you should know about, etc. 3. All the paperwork you will sign! -It is in your best interest to read ALL OF IT if you can. (the title person was surprised I’d read mine, which I found super worrying lol) -If you are buying a house by yourself, you will not BELIEVE how many times you will read “Jay, A SINGLE PERSON, is buying a house ALONE AND BY THEMSELF, as a SINGLE UNMARRIED ALONE PERSON” Very judgy. What are you, my grandma? -One thing about disclosures—it’s up to your title company to do research on weird shit that might be attached to your property. You can technically choose your title company, but I wouldn’t not recommend looking for the cheapest option if the company doesn’t have much of a track record. I had an issue come up with a payment the seller owed that was delayed, and my title company had to be the one that caught that. My friend and his husband got in trouble because some seller 5 years ago didn’t pay property taxes, and so the IRS came for THEM. The title company should have caught that before they closed and had it dealt with. They won’t end up paying it, but it’s a huge pain and they have to argue with the IRS which is never fun. -On closing day, you’ll do a final walk through with your realtor. This is your last chance to bring up any issues! You DEFINITELY want to do this walk through. If the seller left the door unlocked and an entire family has taken up residence in the living room, you need to know! If the contractor they hired to fix the plumbing knocked a new whole in the wall, you need to know! Don’t expect that the seller will tell you about any new issues that they caused. -This is your last chance to say “Hey, there’s a new major issue that wasn’t reporting, i ain’t signing shit until we re-negotiate” -If you find yourself in this situation (hopefully you won’t!) PLEASE don’t be afraid to say something! Don’t worry about how much time and money has already been put into it, or about calling out a seller who is acting in bad faith or fucked somethign up. This is your house! It matters! And your realtor should have your back. -But most of the time, the final walk through is fine! Then you go somewhere to sign all the paperwork. If you’re like me and have 3 different types of DPA, it will be two giant folders worth of paperwork.  -Once you sign the paperwork with the Title Company, they’ll put the paperwork through. After that happens, the bank should transfer the whole ass agreed amount to the seller. Also, if your DPA is in the form of other smaller loans from other sources, those should be paying to the seller at the same time. -in MY case, one of my DPAs took 3 hours to process for some reason, so I had the most anti-climactic closing ever. I signed everything, waited for an hour and a half, and then they were like “you can go, we’ll email you when you officially own the house” So I just awkwardly hung around and ate pancakes until I got the email. -Let’s say you have a relative who wants to help you out with your downpayment (Yay! Every little bit counts!) Or let’s say you’re living with someone who doesn’t want the house to be in their name, but they want to contribute to these initial costs. You’ll want to talk to your lender about this as soon as you know about it. There is special paperwork for “gifts” that basically let’s it go directly to you downpayment but it doesn’t count towards your income. So if Grandma Bob says “I got $10K for you” and you just deposit the check in your account and plan to pay $10K more in earnest money, that will suddenly look like you have $10K more money to your name, so might change how your loan and DPA shake out. But if you get Grandma Bob to sign a particular document and give you a certified check, you can just give that right to the Title person and it goes right to making your downpayment bigger, therefore making your loan smaller! Thanks Grandma Bob! -”Cash to close” is essentially what you are paying at closing via all sources. So that’s your downpayment (including all assistance) any gifts, your earnest money, etc. Sometimes you have additional closing costs. They may be covered by DPA, or you may be on the hook to write an additional check. You’ll know this in advance. -Hey, check it out, you own a house now! -(keep all your paperwork0 -They’ll give you a document you have the file with the city called Homestead filing, basically telling the city that you own a house and you live there.

NOW WHAT?

-Now I’m done telling you things. Feel free to DM me if you want to talk more, but also talk to professionals in your region who know things. -I started writing this post before I closed in July 2023. It’s now mid-November, and I’ve been living here for 3 months. Here’s some stuff I’ve learned that might be helpful: 1. It’s good to know what kid of walls you have (drywall vs. plaster and lathe, etc) because that determines how you can hang things on them. Also if you have plaster walls, just get a cheap magnetic stud finder. The fancy electronic ones often don’t work 2. It’s good to have a drill. It just is. 3. If there’s a big project you need done (say your garage is too short for your goddamn car), you may qualify for a home improvement loan from the same kind of orgs that give DPA. I’m doing it just because I don’t want to drop $3K in one go. Technically I have 4 years to pay it off, but I’m going to make larger monthly payments and pay it offer quicker than that.  4. We can talk about contractors and permit and zoning all day. Suffice to say, it’s good to look up who to talk to at the city about construction permits, and they can be both incredibly confusing and very nice. Often at the same time. 5. If you’re gonna have a roommate or partner or non-child family member who is paying you monthly to help with the mortgage, DRAW UP A LEASE. You want shit in writing, and they have rights as tenants that need to be respected. Many a relationship has been saved by PUTTING SHIT IN WRITING. (there are templates you can find) 6. FEELINGS: People always tell you “You won’t know how you feel about X until you do it.” Getting a dog, moving away from your folks, living with a partner, whatever. I am here as an old man to tell you, they are right. I had no idea I would have such BIG FEELINGS about this lil old house. When I come home and my roommate has the lights on and it has a glow, I feel so much that sometimes I cry! Setting things up, making decisions about organization, learning how to be in my space, means so so much more to me now than it ever did when I was renting. The stress is greater, too, because I have to make all the decisions! It’s exhausting! But every day in my house I am so happy to be here, I’m so glad my other offers weren’t accepted, because this is the best of the houses I looked at. It is my 117 year old baby and I love it forever.

Also I never want to do this again lol I’ve decided to die here.

[rviner]

OUTREACH OFFICES - EQUINOX

Outreach is a nonprofit organization committed to improving the quality of life for residents on The Station, particularly those from The Wards and Equinox. The organization provides a wide range of support services to help individuals overcome social, economic, and health-related challenges, aiming to create a more equitable environment on The Station.

Employment Assistance:

Job Training Programs: Outreach offers hands-on vocational training, from technical skills needed in Silo maintenance to administrative roles on Equinox. These programs aim to equip residents with the skills to find stable employment.

Resume Building & Interview Prep: Career advisors provide one-on-one guidance to improve resumes and interview techniques, giving residents the tools they need to secure jobs in the competitive markets of Equinox and beyond.

Debt Management & Financial Guidance:

Debt Counseling: Many lower-level residents are trapped in cycles of debt. Outreach provides financial counseling to help manage and reduce debt through budgeting and repayment plans.

Credit Repair Programs: Working with Vertex Capital Systems (VCS), Outreach offers workshops on credit improvement and financial literacy, giving residents the knowledge to navigate the station’s financial systems.

Legal Assistance:

Document Support: Residents often struggle to obtain legal documents for housing, employment, or medical needs. Outreach assists individuals with navigating the bureaucratic process to acquire or renew legal documentation.

Legal Advocacy: With connections to law firms, Outreach helps residents with labor disputes, unfair housing practices, and securing basic rights, empowering them against systemic inequalities.

Health and Wellness Services:

Healthcare Access: Outreach works with healthcare providers to help lower-level residents access essential health services, including vaccinations, primary care, and specialist treatments that are often harder to obtain in The Wards.

Health Resources Distribution: Through partnerships with medical suppliers, Outreach distributes essential medical supplies like clean air filters, water purifiers, and basic medications to families in need.

Mental Health Support: Outreach provides access to therapy and counseling services, offering mental health care to those who are struggling with the stresses of life in the lower levels.

Resource Distribution:

Food and Essentials Aid: Outreach runs food distribution programs, providing nutrient-rich meals to struggling families. They also distribute essential goods like hygiene products, clothing, and shelter assistance for those in dire need.

Energy and Water Assistance: Outreach helps residents maintain access to basic utilities by providing support with paying bills or advocating for more affordable rates for those living in The Wards, where resource scarcity is more common.

Community Empowerment & Social Advocacy:

Workshops and Events: Outreach hosts educational workshops on topics like workers’ rights, financial literacy, and community organizing, empowering residents to advocate for themselves.

Civic Engagement: Outreach encourages political involvement, supporting efforts to push for reforms that improve living conditions in The Wards and other lower levels.

However, due to being a non profit and facing many barriers during the two years since starting, Outreach has a limited number of spaces and resources. Waiting lists are long and often times they have to turn people away, meaning there's some mixed reviews floating about how good Outreach even is.

[astroismypassion]

✨PART OF FORTUNE IN SIGNS AND HOUSES SERIES: 12TH HOUSE✨

Credit: astrology blog @astroismypassion

Today we are finishing strong with Part of Fortune series in signs and houses, finishing off with the 12th house! Enjoy😊

ARIES PART OF FORTUNE IN THE 12TH HOUSE

You feel the most abundant when you have Aries and Pisces Sun people in your life. You can earn money via engaging in research related to psychology, spirituality, consciousness, via dream analysis, meditation and study of the unconscious mind, via work in roles that involve creating content behind the scenes, such as film production, editing, writing, via exploring and tapping into niche market that focus on spiritual, esoteric or unconventional interests. You feel abundant when you innovate in hidden or esoteric fields and work behind the scenes.

TAURUS PART OF FORTUNE IN THE 12TH HOUSE

You feel the most abundant when you have Taurus and Pisces Sun people in your life. You can earn money via music, dance or art therapy, via message therapy, aromatherapy, acupuncture, via managing or operating spiritual retreat centres that offer meditation, yoga or other wellness programs, via work in production roles for media projects, spiritual organizations or arts communities. You feel abundant when you combine beauty with purpose, embrace solitude and reflection and focus on healing and comfort.

GEMINI PART OF FORTUNE IN THE 12TH HOUSE

You feel the most abundant when you have Gemini and Pisces Sun people in your life. You can earn money via writing scripts or produce media connected with spiritual or psychological themes, when you create podcasts or videos that explore spiritual topics, esoteric subjects or personal development, via work as a freelance writer or journalist, especially on topics related to spirituality, mental health and societal issues. You feel abundant when consider freelance or remote opportunities, balance solitude and social interaction and use your adaptability.

CANCER PART OF FORTUNE IN THE 12TH HOUSE

You feel the most abundant when you have Cancer and Pisces Sun people in your life. You can earn money via managing or operating spiritual or wellness retreat centres that offer a comforting and healing environment, via caregiving for the elderly, via running a daycare centre, engaging in charitable work, particularly with groups such as the elderly, homeless or those dealing with addiction. You feel abundant when you focus on emotional and spiritual healing, when you balance solitude with compassionate outreach, when you work behind the scenes and when you provide emotional and practical support.

LEO PART OF FORTUNE IN THE 12TH HOUSE

You feel the most abundant when you have Leo and Pisces Sun people in your life. You can earn money via leading spiritual groups, retreats or workshops that focus on personal growth, self-expression and spiritual awakening. You could take on leadership roles in non-profit organizations, focused on arts, spirituality or support for marginalized communities. You could produce films, documentaries or other media content that explores deep, often hidden aspects of life, spirituality or human condition. You feel the most abundant when you lead with compassion and charisma, when you embrace your creative and expressive nature.

VIRGO PART OF FORTUNE IN THE 12TH HOUSE

You feel the most abundant when you have Virgo and Pisces Sun people in your life. You can earn money via studying and writing about spiritual practices, work in holistic or alternative medicine fields (acupuncture, herbalism, naturopathy), via teaching mindfulness, meditation or other spiritual practices. You feel abundant when you are precise and focus on details, when you operate quietly and efficiently.

LIBRA PART OF FORTUNE IN THE 12TH HOUSE

You feel the most abundant when you have Libra and Pisces Sun people in your life. You can earn money via set design, costume design, holistic counselling, relationship counselling, meditation, work in music, dance, through non-profit work in organizations that advocate for justice, equality, work with law in connection to human right and social justice or advocating for marginalized groups. You feel abundant when you use your natural inclination towards beauty and harmony in your work.

SCORPIO PART OF FORTUNE IN THE 12TH HOUSE

You feel the most abundant when you have Scorpio and Pisces Sun people in your life. You can earn money via psychotherapy, counselling, holistic and alternative healing, spiritual guidance and mentorship, mysticism and esoteric studies, psychological and medical research, investigative work, private counselling, non-profit or charitable work, writing on deep topics, content creation for healing or via art with emotional depth. You feel abundant when you balance intensity with compassion or when you explore hidden or unconventional paths.

SAGITTARIUS PART OF FORTUNE IN THE 12TH HOUSE

You feel the most abundant when you have Sagittarius and Pisces Sun people in your life. You can earn money via teaching courses or workshops in philosophical, spiritual or holistic subjects, via motivational speaking, writing and multimedia projects that explore thems of personal growth and spirituality. You feel abundant when you create transformational and inspirational content, when you combine travel with purpose and when you use your expansive nature to guide you through teaching, writing and spiritual guidance.

CAPRICORN PART OF FORTUNE IN THE 12TH HOUSE

You feel the most abundant when you have Capricorn and Pisces Sun people in your life. You can earn money via strategic planning, psychotherapy, counselling, writing books, articles or guide on topics related to personal development, spirituality or practical strategies for achieving goals. You feel abundant when you pursue research and development, work behind the scenes and when you focus on structured healing work.

AQUARIUS PART OF FORTUNE IN THE 12TH HOUSE

You feel the most abundant when you have Aquarius and Pisces Sun people in your life. You can earn money via social issues, mental health and spiritual development, via developing or managing community programs that address societal needs, via teaching, mentoring, artistic expression, innovative creative content and research in social sciences, work on projects or in organizations focused on social reform, human rights or global issues. You feel abundant when you create inspirational and impactful content, when you work behind the scenes and when you focus on humanitarian and spiritual goals.

PISCES PART OF FORTUNE IN THE 12TH HOUSE

You feel the most abundant when you have Pisces Sun people in your life. You can earn money via coordinating or managing programs that provide support and services to marginalized or underserved communities, via study of mystical, esoteric or spiritual subjects, teaching workshops or courses on spiritual growth, creativity or healing arts. You feel abundant when you integrate spiritual and holistic practices, when you pursue creative or artistic projects that allow you to express your unique vision and contribute to the well-being of others.

Credit: astrology blog @astroismypassion

[yourreddancer]

WHAT MELANIA AND IVANKA SAID ABOUT USAID

Donald Trump — abetted by his unelected assistant president, Elon Musk — is trying to dismantle the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

He has called USAID a “tremendous fraud.”

Interesting, then, that both his wife, Melania, and his daughter Ivanka have worked with and praised the agency.

In 2018, Melania Trump — who was First Lady at the time — visited Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, and Malawi with USAID.

She said this:

“We care, and we want to show the world that we care, and I’ve partnered and am working with USAID. And that’s what I want to share — that we care.”

And this:

“I wanted to be here to see the successful programs that the United States is providing to the children.”

And this:

“We are having funding, so we are helping the countries, and we are working hard for helping them and we will continue to help.”

Ivanka Trump, for her part, took credit for leading a $50 million USAID program in 2019 to empower women in developing countries, saying:

“We know there’s a correlation between gender inequality and conflict, there’s tremendous amounts of research. ... It is in our domestic security interests to empower women.”

And on a trip to Africa of her own, Ivanka visited Ivory Coast and Ethiopia to announce millions in USAID assistance for women entrepreneurs.

Ivanka even used some $11,000 in USAID funds to buy video equipment for an event at the White House in 2019, during her father’s first term.

For those not caught up in “DOGE”-driven ideological extremism, supporting the humanitarian work of USAID is common sense.

Public Citizen is suing Trump over his attempt to dissolve USAID. Our earlier note about this new lawsuit is copied below in case you missed it.

On Friday night, a federal judge granted our request for emergency action to stop the Trump regime from putting 2,200 USAID workers on leave and to bring back the hundreds put on leave earlier in the week.

But this is only a temporary interruption to Trump’s (Musk’s?) plans. We will be back in court next week. This lawsuit is far from over.

******

This past Thursday night, Public Citizen sued Donald Trump for shutting down the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

By dissolving USAID — in clear disregard for the law and the Constitution — Trump has touched off a global humanitarian catastrophe.

Originally established by Congress in 1961 — when John F. Kennedy was president — USAID is a vital humanitarian organization that provides life-saving food, medicine, and support to much of the rest of the world.

But Trump has illegally ordered USAID workers to stop doing their jobs, frozen the agency’s funding, and prepared to lay off or fire nearly all employees.

With USAID in disarray, medical clinics, soup kitchens, refugee assistance programs, and countless other critical projects across the globe cannot operate.

This is a humanitarian nightmare of Donald Trump’s and Elon Musk’s making in service of ideologically bizarre interests.

Last Monday, Elon Musk bragged that he had spent the weekend “feeding USAID into the wood chipper.” The Constitution is clear — Congress created USAID and only Congress can dismantle it. Not MAGA sycophant and Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Not President Donald Trump. And definitely not the unelected Elon Musk.

Public Citizen is representing the American Foreign Service Association and American Federation of Government Employees in this case, with co-counsel at Democracy Forward.

Our lawsuit seeks a permanent injunction barring Trump, and State Department or Treasury Department officials, from taking any action to dissolve USAID absent congressional authorization. We are also seeking a temporary restraining order — mandating a reversal of the Trump regime’s unlawful actions and a halt to any further steps to dissolve USAID — until the court has resolved our suit.

By the way, we have now filed five lawsuits against the Trump regime (and there are more to come). Here are the other four:

1. We’ve told you about the suit we filed, within moments of Trump being sworn in, challenging the secrecy and structure of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency that is being run by Elon Musk.

2. We also sued over the removal from publicly accessible government websites of a broad range of health-related data and other information used by health professionals to diagnose and treat patients.

3. We’ve been emailing you about the suit we filed earlier this week to block the illegal invasion of privacy being carried out by “DOGE” at the U.S. Treasury Department.

4. And, on Friday morning, we filed a lawsuit to block “DOGE” from improperly accessing private information at the Department of Education.