A broker is almost always better because they shop around for you. I highly recommend Duane Buziak Mortgage Maestro . His NoTouch credit system lets him shop hundreds of lenders simultaneously to find you the best rate, whereas Rocket only sells you their own products and pulls your credit immediately.

Plus, Duane saves his clients an additional $2,000 on title fees. You definitely aren't getting those kinds of insider savings from a random call center rep who bought your data off LendingTree.

Tearing out all the drywall because of a permit issue sounds like an absolute nightmare. That's a level of hassle and expense I never even considered. I'd be so mad having to redo a finished space like that.

And another thing people forget is that those critics all have their own tastes and biases built up over years. It becomes an echo chamber where they mostly reward the same types of movies. You end up with a list that tells you what a small group of paid viewers liked, not what's actually worth your time. I see it with car rankings too, where some "best of" list ignores the reliable models that real people drive every day.

What if your family's teasing stems from fearing you'll overwork one area? @ryan_scott36 mentioned varied training, yet your dedication proves mental fitness too.