If I were in your shoes, I'd reach out to people in my building or neighborhood to see what they're paying and who they're using.

pid=2061Houston Real Estate Highlights in February, 2024;-Single-family home sales rose 7.6 percent year-over-year, the third increase in the past year;-Days on Market (DOM) for single-family homes went from 64 to 57 days;-Total property sales rose 7.0 percent with 7,541 units sold;-Total dollar volume was up 11.8 percent to $2.9 billion;-The single-family median price rose 3.0 percent to $329,686;-The single-family average price rose 4.1 percent to $400,252; -Single-family home months of inventory registered a 3.4-months supply, up from 2.5 months a year earlier;-Townhome/condominium sales continue to decline, falling 8.1 percent, with the median price up 8.9 percent to $237,500 and the average price up 5.5 percent to $258,587.

Chat with some friends or coworkers who've been in your shoes.

Thank you, will look into it.How would you go about investing in real-estate if you were in our shoes?

Eventually my partner and my own health insurance cost rose to over $1400 a month which just wasn’t sustainable so I got a job in a group home on third shift.

I've been in your shoes!  

The median sale price rose to $350,000, reflecting a substantial 10.8% increase from the previous year.Total housing inventory showed a notable 19.2% increase from a year ago which is much needed.Half of the homes sold were under contract in 23 days or less, a slight increase from the previous month but a decrease from a year ago.For sellers, 43.5% of homes sold for the asking price or above, with 21.5% selling for more than the asking price.

But the range of possibility is  why everyone's been pointing you to your CPA to get specific.But from a horse shoes and hand grenades level of granularity - you can access that $500K (realizing a net of $400K after taxes. 

Would love to hear from anyone who's been in my shoes or has any insights to share.

Are you stepping into the shoes of a loan officer, or are you on the borrower's side, trying to figure out what documents you need to hand over to the LO?