TULSA REAL ESTATE & LOCAL LIFE
Real Estate Insights & Local Stories
Whether you’re buying, selling, relocating, or simply exploring Green Country, this is where you’ll find practical real estate advice, neighborhood guides, local history, market insights, and the stories that make the Tulsa area feel like home.
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News, Stories, and Guides
Fresh Off the Blog
A running mix of buyer and seller guidance, local favorites, and everything in between. New posts are added regularly, so check back often for updates on Tulsa real estate and local life.
Buyer Tips
Are Home Warranties Worth It? A Buyer’s Guide
By Shannon • July 31, 2026
HOME BUYING ROADMAP • HOME WARRANTIES Are Home Warranties Worth It? What They Actually Cover, What They Cost, and How to Decide Throughout this article, you’ll see me use two terms for the same thing: home warranty, the phrase…
Read more: Are Home Warranties Worth It? A Buyer’s Guide
Buyer Tips
Gifted Funds: What Buyers Need to Know Before Accepting Help From Family or Friends
By Shannon • July 31, 2026
HOME BUYING ROADMAP • GIFTED FUNDS Using Gifted Funds for Your Down Payment What Buyers Need to Know Before Accepting Help From Family or Friends A lot of buyers assume gift money is a workaround, something that’s technically allowed…
Read more: Gifted Funds: What Buyers Need to Know Before Accepting Help From Family or Friends
Buyer Tips
Why Your Lender Requires an Appraisal, and What Happens if the Value Doesn’t Match the Contract Price
By Shannon • July 31, 2026
HOME BUYING ROADMAP • HOME APPRAISAL Understanding the Home Appraisal Why Your Lender Requires One, and What Happens if the Value Doesn’t Match the Contract Price A home appraisal is an independent opinion of a property’s market value. If…
Read more: Why Your Lender Requires an Appraisal, and What Happens if the Value Doesn’t Match the Contract Price
Buyer Tips
What the Inspection Can Reveal, and How to Use That Information to Make a Better Decision
By Shannon • July 31, 2026
HOME BUYING ROADMAP • HOME INSPECTION Understanding the Home Inspection What the Inspection Can Reveal, and How to Use That Information to Make a Better Decision For many buyers, the home inspection is one of the most anticipated parts…
Read more: What the Inspection Can Reveal, and How to Use That Information to Make a Better Decision
Buyer Tips
What Is Earnest Money? Understanding the Deposit That Helps Strengthen Your Offer
By Shannon • July 31, 2026
HOME BUYING ROADMAP • EARNEST MONEY What Is Earnest Money? Understanding the Deposit That Helps Strengthen Your Offer After you find the right home, you’ll probably hear a new term for the first time: earnest money. Most first-time buyers…
Read more: What Is Earnest Money? Understanding the Deposit That Helps Strengthen Your Offer
Buyer Tips
What Are Closing Costs? Understanding the Expenses Beyond Your Down Payment
By Shannon • July 31, 2026
HOME BUYING ROADMAP • BUYER CLOSING COSTS What Are Buyer Closing Costs? Understanding the Expenses Beyond Your Down Payment One of the most common questions I hear from buyers is: “Besides my down payment, what else will I need…
Read more: What Are Closing Costs? Understanding the Expenses Beyond Your Down Payment
Buyer Tips
How to Research a Neighborhood Before You Buy a Home
By Shannon • July 30, 2026
HOME BUYING ROADMAP • NEIGHBORHOOD RESEARCH How to Research a Neighborhood Before You Buy Because You Can Remodel a Kitchen, But You Can’t Move the Lot One of the biggest decisions in buying a home has nothing to do…
Read more: How to Research a Neighborhood Before You Buy a Home
Buyer Tips
Touring Homes with a Critical Eye
By Shannon • July 28, 2026
HOME BUYING ROADMAP • TOURING hOMES Touring Homes with a Critical Eye How to Look Beyond the Fresh Paint and Pretty Furniture Buying a home is exciting. It’s also surprisingly easy to get distracted. A staged kitchen, fresh paint,…
Read more: Touring Homes with a Critical Eye
Buyer Tips · Homeowner Tips
The Homestead Exemption Benefit Almost Nobody Talks About (It’s Not the $1,000)
By Shannon • July 25, 2026
The Homestead Exemption Benefit Almost Nobody Talks About (It’s Not the $1,000) Ask any Tulsa homeowner what the homestead exemption does, and you’ll get the same answer every time: it knocks $1,000 off your taxable value. True, but that’s…
Read more: The Homestead Exemption Benefit Almost Nobody Talks About (It’s Not the $1,000)
Local Life
Waterfront Grill in Jenks Might Be My New Favorite Sunday Brunch Spot
By Shannon • July 19, 2026
This Might be My New Favorite Sunday Brunch Spot Waterfront Grill in Jenks Some Sunday mornings just call for brunch. Mike and I finally made it to Waterfront Grill in Jenks this weekend after he’d received a gift card…
Read more: Waterfront Grill in Jenks Might Be My New Favorite Sunday Brunch Spot
Seller Tips
What Does an Appraiser Actually Look At?
By Shannon • July 18, 2026
Tulsa Home Appraisal Guide What Does an Appraiser Actually Look At? (And What the “Tulsa Lean” Has to Do With It) If you’ve sold a home before, you know the moment: your buyer’s loan is moving along, then a…
Read more: What Does an Appraiser Actually Look At?
Seller Tips
Before You Remodel: Which Home Improvements Are Actually Worth It?
By Shannon • July 18, 2026
BEFORE YOU LIST Which Improvements Are Actually Worth It? (And Which Ones Just Feel Like Progress) Before You Remodel: Which Home Improvements Are Actually Worth It? If you’re getting ready to sell, you’ve probably wondered whether it’s worth remodeling…
Read more: Before You Remodel: Which Home Improvements Are Actually Worth It?
Buyer Tips
10 Mistakes to Avoid After You’re Pre-Approved for a Mortgage
By Shannon • July 17, 2026
10 Things that Can quietly Wreck Your Mortgage Approval (After You’re Already Pre-Approved) Getting mortgage pre-approved feels like crossing the finish line. In reality, it’s just the beginning. A mortgage pre-approval gives you a green light to start shopping…
Read more: 10 Mistakes to Avoid After You’re Pre-Approved for a Mortgage
Local Life
Tulsa Tunnel Tours | Explore Tulsa’s Hidden Underground
By Shannon • July 10, 2026
Hidden Tulsa The Secret World Beneath Downtown Tulsa Discover the hidden passageways, stunning Art Deco architecture, and fascinating oil boom history beneath downtown Tulsa. Most people admire Tulsa’s skyline from the street. Far fewer realize that another part of…
Read more: Tulsa Tunnel Tours | Explore Tulsa’s Hidden Underground
Buyer Tips
How Much House Can You Afford?
By Shannon • June 27, 2026
HOME BUYING ROADMAP • BUDGETING How Much House Can You Afford? There Are Actually Two Different Answers to This Question Ask a lender how much house you can afford, and they’ll give you a real number, backed by your…
Read more: How Much House Can You Afford?
Buyer Tips
The One Step Most Buyers Skip Before House Hunting
By Shannon • June 27, 2026
HOME BUYING ROADMAP • FINANCING Getting Pre-Approved The First Step Toward Shopping With Confidence Buying a home is exciting. It’s even more fun once you actually know what price range you’re shopping in. Getting pre-approved isn’t just about finding…
Read more: The One Step Most Buyers Skip Before House Hunting
Buyer Tips
What Does a Buyer’s Agent Actually Do?
By Shannon • June 26, 2026
BUYING A HOME What Does a Buyer’s Agent Actually Do? The Work You Don’t See Before You Buy a Home Buying a home is one of the biggest financial decisions most people will ever make. Yet many buyers start…
Read more: What Does a Buyer’s Agent Actually Do?
Buyer Tips
Should You Rent or Buy a Home?
By Shannon • June 17, 2026
OWNING WINS LONG-TERM Here’s How to Know You’re Ready (And When It’s Smart to Wait a Little Longer) Should You Rent or Buy? Here’s How to Know You’re Ready. Buying a home is one of the best long-term financial…
Read more: Should You Rent or Buy a Home?
Buyer Tips · Seller Tips
What I Keep Noticing About Summer House Hunting
By Shannon • June 15, 2026
What I keep Noticing About Summer House Hunting (And Why It Has Nothing to Do With Square Footage) Something I’ve been thinking about a lot this summer while I’m out showing homes: buyers aren’t really buying houses. Not in…
Read more: What I Keep Noticing About Summer House Hunting
Shannon Almy
REALTOR-ASSOCIATE®
with Erin Catron & Company
Tulsa-area Real Estate Agent with an analytics background. Lifelong Oklahoman, Travel Planner, content creator, furniture restorer, and thrift-store regular.
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Shannon Almy
REALTOR-ASSOCIATE®”
The Catron Team
Phone
918-206-9285
5334 East 43th Street
Tulsa, OK 74135
