Life's Inside Track

You love the house. You’re ready to buy. And your REALTOR® asks a question that makes you reconsider. Is that unwelcome interference—or the kind of advice you were hoping to receive? Ken and Yetta Dekker share an unexpected side of buyer representation: protecting the decision can matter more than closing the sale. A buyer tempted by a wonderful sunroom reconsidered a supposedly essential bedroom...

You’ve done the painting, cleared the clutter and finally finished the jobs you’ve put off for years. Your house looks amazing. Now you’re not sure you want to sell. Ken and Yetta know the feeling. They share what happened when their daughter’s family tackled a “sprint marathon” of repairs and preparation. The house looked wonderful. Keeping it ready for showings with a busy household told...

You are so disappointed because your home inspection found problems. Does that mean the house is a bad choice? Not necessarily. When we were in our early twenties, one structural finding on the home we thought was “ours” changed everything. Decades later, we watched almost the opposite happen: a three-year-old fourplex inspected well beyond typical standards, yet the buyer still decided it was...

Progress does not always require a moving truck. Sometimes the wisest real estate decision is to strengthen the home and options you already have. In LIFE’S Inside Track Episode 766, Ken and Yetta explore why staying can be an active, strategic choice when it protects peace, flexibility, relationships and future freedom. Staying is not the absence of a decision. Chosen wisely, it may be the...

An investment can look successful on paper while quietly consuming time, cash flow, peace and attention. What once created opportunity can gradually become an obligation. In LIFE’S Inside Track Episode 765, Ken and Yetta explore why a wise real estate investment should be evaluated by what it requires—not only by what it may return. The conversation invites investors to ask whether the investment...

The highest offer can feel like the obvious measure of a successful sale—but does it create the best outcome? Price matters, but so do the terms, timing, certainty and the life that comes after the closing. In LIFE’S Inside Track Episode 764, Ken and Yetta explore why selling strategy should serve the whole move, not only one impressive number. The better question is not simply how to get the...

Can someone be house rich and still feel choice poor? A valuable home may create impressive equity while leaving less flexibility for daily life, retirement, family, generosity or unexpected change. In LIFE’S Inside Track Episode 763, Ken and Yetta explore the difference between what a home is worth and what that wealth is actually making possible. The conversation invites homeowners to look...

For many Canadians, the family home is no longer only an individual decision. It may also become part of a family’s caregiving, financial, relational and generational strategy. In LIFE’S Inside Track Episode 762, Ken and Yetta explore what happens when parents help adult children, families combine households, or housing decisions involve gifts, loans, co-signing or shared ownership. The wiser...

A renovation can make a home look better without making life work better. Before choosing finishes, layouts or financing, it helps to understand what problem the renovation is actually meant to solve. In LIFE’S Inside Track Episode 761, Ken and Yetta explore why a beautiful improvement can still miss the deeper issue—and how greater clarity can help homeowners determine whether to renovate, move,...

Qualifying for a home does not automatically mean the life that comes with it will remain affordable. A larger mortgage can affect flexibility, generosity, peace and the ability to respond when life changes. In LIFE’S Inside Track Episode 760, Ken and Yetta explore why the wiser question is not only, “Can we afford this house?” but, “Can we afford the life that comes with it?” The conversation...