Custom Real Estate Blog

Perfect doesn't have to mean PERFECT.  Is the smell of pumpkin pie fresh out of the oven perfect?  What about seeing so many of your favorite people all in one place, at one time? The best Thanksgiving recipe we will enjoy this year is made up of people, food, and fun in "perfect" harmony for a day of expressing thanks.  My purpose in sharing this post is to step away from the selling of homes for a moment to focus on enjoying them... on Thanksgiving! Memories Re-Lived It's funny how certain smells or tastes take us back in time.  Like remembering the smell of grandma's turkey stuffing cooking in the oven.  Revisiting these memories is a deja vu experience of joy and warmth.  THIS really is the best!  Bringing past memories alive again with this year's Thanksgiving meal.  Better yet?  Watching these joyful moments wash over our kids' faces as we enjoy all of this together.  It's the START of their memories.  More than just...

Want to build your real estate empire?  Start by pinpointing which areas to target!   Click on each city in this interactive map to learn more. So how did we come up with this info?   We took a look at the Average Cost of Each Home versus Average Rental Rate to come up with a yearly return percentage.  This is done by taking the yearly average rental rate total and dividing it by the average cost of a home in that city.  To simplify the data, we chose to focus on 3 bedroom, 2 bath starter homes using sales/rental data from July - Sept, 2019. When these two performance metrics are put up against each other, you can use this info to find out which cities are best for building your rental real estate empire.  Use these tips to take the next step... Tip #1 - Work Smarter, Not Harder. Seasoned investors know that time wasted is opportunity lost, so gain efficiency in your property search by using this data as a spotlight to focus your e...

Risk is all around us, but it only enters our thoughts when we have something to lose.  This is the starting point for understanding the mentality that hurts your chances of building a real estate portfolio that will someday allow for full retirement from the workplace. We all want a better future, a vision of stability and wealth... But not if we have to venture too far outside our comfort zone. Enlarging Your Comfort Zone If you think back to when you were a kid, then you understand that life is good when you are in familiar surroundings.  Playing in your neighborhood with long-time friends after school or on weekends is a comforting memory.  Or maybe it's a grandparent's house that you feel instantly welcome from the moment you step through the door.  These are good examples of a "comfort zone" type of place where you can be at peace and relaxed.  As an adult, we are now comfortable in many more places, with many more people, but the one thing all ...

When you were shopping for your home, I doubt you were thinking about how hard (or easy) it would be to sell someday.  The fact is, that your home's value is dependent on current homebuyer demands, which changes when prices get too high.  But that is for all homes, so what's new!? Just as markets change, so do the buyers.  In good times, we have buyers of all types and price ranges coming out of the woodwork to purchase a home.  But in times like these, buyers start to cool off after hearing that home values are softening.  This mentality is what makes certain types of homes instantly lose value.  This mentality isn't necessarily bad since it's probably helpful in other areas of our lives, but this causes most people to take a "wait and see" approach.  Especially if you see homes around your neighborhood sitting on the market for too long and not selling. Just like the leftovers in your fridge, buyers may not take a bite out of a house that ha...

"Do the Numbers Work?" When an investor looks at a property to determine if it's a good deal, they are really applying some of their own formulas to rate each home.  That's the easiest way to make a very complicated process EASY.  So read along to learn how to create your own formulas for buying a great rental property. Your Formula Starts With You What is your goal?  This isn't meant to be a tough question, but like most people that are considering real estate as an investment vehicle, you want to build a larger retirement nest egg.  That's a fine place to start, but let's make it an official goal by deciding on some specifics.  How much revenue do you want to make in a given time period?  To keep things moving, let's say that you want to make 100k every 5 years. Acquisition Formula Every home has a "sale value" and a "rental value".  If a home is for sale for 100k and rents for 500 dollars per month, that's...

It's NOT easy finding a good builder.  Some are too big to do budget custom builds, others too small to depend on.  Out of 30 builders I called in March, only one stood out.  While most retail builders  never even returned my call, he was willing to meet me for coffee. The hardest part of sizing someone up is figuring out who the man is behind "the job title".  I think we have all presented the best version of ourselves in job interviews, dating or high school reunions.  So the first step in any good "size-up" is to ask lots of questions, many levels deep, to get to the real stuff.    The year is 1989, and TW and his wife are babysitting the children of a young couple who just moved into their new home.  Funny enough, in college he had studied child development, so he often offers to watch his clients' kids so their parents can have a night out to celebrate their new home.  These people must have really loved TW, because th...

Have you ever DREAMED of building a Custom Home but assumed it would require a large down payment? A Home Designed to Fit You & Your Budget...  Build Your Dream Home NOW! Finally regular buyers can get a truly custom home because of low down payment, one-time close construction loans!  Find that perfect piece of land in the perfect location, design your Custom Perfect home and then wrap it all into one easy loan product! For far too long, buyers with only 3-5% to put down have had to settle for pre-existing floor plans or homes.  Why compromise on the place where you spend so much of your life?  NOW you can design your new home exactly the way you want it... YOUR Style & Design with all the floor plan, layout, features and amenities that fit How You Do Life ! Your Own Custom Perfect Spaces! What will you put in YOUR Custom Home? Master retreats, kitchens straight out of Pinterest or HGTV! Guest houses for an aging parent . ...

If your parents are in their “golden years”, chances are they will need help maintaining their independence someday soon.  So let’s take a few minutes and explore all their options so you can collaborate with them to figure out what is the best fit. We will summarize each option based on your loved one’s physical and mental abilities as well as the estimated monthly cost for each type of facility. INDEPENDENT LIVING COMMUNITIES Courtesy of Discovery Village at Twin Creeks (Allen) Physical/Mental Abilities High, minimal lifestyle support required. Overview Independent living communities are a great place for active, healthy seniors who no longer want the responsibility of taking care of their own house.  If normal physical activities are no problem for your parents, then they will enjoy the company of other seniors through various social activities. The living arrangements are typically multi-story buildings similar to apartment complexes with elevators ...