One week away from Memorial Day weekend. Hard to believe, right?

Speaking of time passing by, getting to retirement can often seem like it’ll take forever. But once you’re there, many questions can often pop up, such as whether or not it makes sense to start doing Roth conversions or which retirement accounts to tap first. That’s the gist of our call in hour one.

In hour two it’s time for a deep dive on the spring housing market.

Joining us this weekend is Maria Fregosi, the Chief Investment Officer at Homepoint Financial.

Where is the housing market going next? Despite the fact that we are coming to the end of the pandemic with accelerated vaccinations, many companies have announced that employees working from home may continue to do so permanently. 

That may allow some to seek out more affordable areas like Austin, Charlotte, Miami, and Nashville. 

Some smaller cities have launched cash initiatives, home buying allowances, tax credits and money toward local goods and services to induce pandemic movers to relocate there. 

If you are in the market to buy, you will need to run the basic numbers, including mortgage principal and interest, homeowners' insurance, and taxes. Add a line item for upkeep and maintenance, depending on the age of the house and its condition, factor in 1-3 percent of the purchase price annually. 

And for the transaction itself, don’t forget about closing costs, which averaged more than $6,000 last year. It’s easy to gloss over things like mortgage loan application and appraisal fees, the title search and insurance, as well as legal and recording fees, because they seem to be built into the legal process, but you should ask for discounts along the way to see if you can push them down.

Finally, even if the numbers appear to work, consider whether buying could preclude you from addressing other important financial issues in your life, like paying down student loans or saving for retirement. Just because a lender will fork over the dough, doesn't mean you should take it.

Have a money question? Email me here.

"Jill on Money" theme music is by Joel Goodman, www.joelgoodman.com.

Are you guys ready??? For the first time in a long time, we have our first caller on the radio show.

It’s Jess from Florida who’s wondering what he should be doing with some extra cash flow. Another important piece of info is that Jess jumped out of the market back in January and is still sitting on the sidelines.

When you combine near-historic low mortgage rates and fewer homes for sale, you’ve got bidding wars that are driving the housing market during the pandemic.

To talk about the home buying process, we’re bringing back a pre-pandemic interview with Nicole Hamilton, author of Avoid the Money Pit, Turn Your Home into a Financial Powerhouse, and the founder of Homeownering.com, a company that provides unbiased, independent information for homeowners to get the best financial outcome possible.

We touched on a variety of topics and questions facing the average consumer as they try to navigate the murky waters of homeownership.

Have a money question? Email me here.

"Jill on Money" theme music is by Joel Goodman, www.joelgoodman.com.