Close to Home

This week in part 2 of our interview series with Hollis Rendleman of Hollis Rendleman Interiors we are focusing on how to set up your home office, without work taking over your home.

Welcome back listeners! As we all know the world is working from home right now and that has brought up a fresh set of challenges for a lot of people. How do you not take work to bed with you when your work is literally 20 feet from your bed? That’s why in this second half of our interview with Hollis Rendleman we wanted to focus on tips for the at home worker and putting together your own work space. It’s pretty safe to say the results speak for themselves and all of us who worked on this podcast will definitely be making some changes to our home offices, or in Brennen’s case his kitchen table. Hopefully you’ll find some good tips in there as well; and if you do, consider heading over to hollisrendleman.com and checking out one of her workshops.

As always if you have questions, ideas for future episodes, or guests you think we should speak to, please feel free to reach out:

Instagram

Facebook

Twitter

Also online at: TheClouseGroup.com

That’s all for this week, stay safe out there and thanks for listening!

Our Opening theme:

“Inspired”

By Kevin Mcleod (incomptech.com)

Other music (in order used):

“Good Times”

By Patrick Patrikios

“We Don’t Know How it Ends”

By Lee Rosevere (leerosevere.bandcamp.com)

“Ruination 2”

By Vibe Mountain

Music obtained and Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

This week Brennen takes some time to talk about red lining and the Equal Housing Act and how they shape the housing market and wealth gap still evident today. 

Hello listeners, normally we are not the the kind of podcast that does very special episodes, but in light of everything going on in the world right now we wanted to contribute to the conversation in our own small way. Now don't let the somewhat clickbaity title fool you, this is not some kind of juicy tell all first hand account of discrimination in the housing market, although those definitely exist. This weeks episode is more a tip of the iceberg affair meant to give a little historical background and information to people wanting to learn more about the circumstances that are shaping our lives in America today. That being said this is only intended to be an introduction, we strongly encourage everyone to do their own research. These things happened, and it is only by learning the truth of them and educating ourselves that we learn to better understand one another and how to begin changing the world for the better. 

If you have thoughts or comments you would like to share with us we always love to hear from you, your thoughts and suggestions are always appreciated:

Instagram

Facebook

Twitter

Also online at: TheClouseGroup.com

Thanks for listening and stay safe out there!

Our Opening theme:

“Inspired”

By Kevin Mcleod (incomptech.com)

Other music (in order used):

“Toward Us”

By Asher Fulero

“Ruination 2”

By Vibe Mountain

“We Don’t Know How it Ends”

By Lee Rosevere (leerosevere.bandcamp.com)

Music obtained and Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

This week Brennen talks with Hollis Rendleman of Hollis Rendleman Interiors about how to go about designing your space not just for comfort but to reflect and elevate who you are!

After a (very) long hiatus we are back with new episodes of our flagship Close to Home Podcast! It’s definitely been a minute and we appreciate you sticking with us as we acclimated to the new state of things. Speaking of acclimating, we are opening up with a two-part series, with our next two episodes centering on design all star Hollis Rendleman. If you have not checked out the interior magic she does over at www.hollisrendleman.com then you absolutely should. In Part one we were lucky enough to get her general thoughts of how optimizing your interior can benefit an individual or business in a multitude of ways, some expected, and some surprising. It’s definitely one of the better interviews we’ve done so be sure to catch both parts!

As always if you have questions, ideas for future episodes, or guests you think we should speak to, please feel free to reach out:

Instagram

Facebook

Twitter

Also online at: TheClouseGroup.com

As always thanks for listening, and we will see you next week for part 2!

Our Opening theme:

“Inspired”

By Kevin Mcleod (incomptech.com)

Other music (in order used):

“Good Times”

By Patrick Patrikios

“We Don’t Know How it Ends”

By Lee Rosevere (leerosevere.bandcamp.com)

“Ruination 2”

By Vibe Mountain

Music obtained and Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

What are the best improvements you can make to your house before putting it on the market? Brennen gives you the inside track to the most effective improvements!

Hello Listeners! This week is all about the practical, small tangible improvements you can make to your house that will net you the biggest payoffs. In an ideal world we would all like to think that we can improve a house, maybe not to the point of full on restoration (lets be honest the plumbing alone would be a disaster) but definitely enough to leave it better than we found it. The sad truth though is home improvement is less like Under the Tuscan Sun and more like The Money Pit, once you start things can easily go wrong and you'll find your time and money slipping away at an alarming rate. That being said, there are some small easy things anyone can take on that will improve a homes value on the market. We are starting with 3, there are definitely more, but 3 is all we have space for on an episode of the Clouse Corner, if you want more you'll just have to bother Brennen about it. 

If you want to do that here is our social media:

Instagram

Facebook

Twitter

Also online at: TheClouseGroup.com

Thanks for listening! Tune in again next week when I'll probably reference Under The Tuscan Sun again. 

Our Opening theme:

“Inspired”

By Kevin Mcleod (incomptech.com)

Other music (in order used):

“Low Life High Life”

By Dan Henig

“Ruination 2”

By Vibe Mountain

“We Don’t Know How it Ends”

By Lee Rosevere (leerosevere.bandcamp.com)

Music obtained and Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

This week Brennen breaks down why you should have your house put on its best outfit before you take it out on the town!

Hello again lovely listeners! We are keeping it short and sweet this week with a meaningful breakdown on staging! What is staging you might ask? Actually, probably not, it's one of the more common things for people to know about real estate. Well, just to cover our bases: 

staging is the practice of setting up a home or property with furniture and other adornments, so that people can really imagine themselves living there when they come to tour the place. 

See? super easy. Now most of you can probably see the benefits of showing people a nicely set up room instead of an empty box, unless you are super into empty boxes (no shame). But, if you want the in depth breakdown don't take my word for it, Brennen is eminently more qualified and here to share his expertise. Enjoy this weeks Clouse Corner!

As always if you have any questions or future episode suggestions please let us know:

Instagram

Facebook

Twitter

Also online at: TheClouseGroup.com

And as always thanks for listening!

Our Opening theme:

“Inspired”

By Kevin Mcleod (incomptech.com)

Other music (in order used):

“Low Life High Life”

By Dan Henig

“Ruination 2”

By Vibe Mountain

“We Don’t Know How it Ends”

By Lee Rosevere (leerosevere.bandcamp.com)

Music obtained and Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ 

This week we are talking seller financing, what is it, how does it work, and when is it a good plan? 

Hello lovely listeners! We are kicking off the month of June by getting back to our roots, so to speak. What exactly are those roots you might ask? Why, explaining the technical minutia of the world of real estate of course! What a silly question to ask! Up this week is seller financing, what is that you might be asking? Well to give only the briefest of context: 

Seller financing is when the seller of a property handles the mortgage process instead of a bank or other financial institution. 

Pretty simple right? But why would you want this as a seller or a buyer? Well you'll have to listen to the full episode to find out, but the major appealing aspect is it allows a buyer and seller to create a more tailor made deal. A common case could be parents buying a house for newlyweds and giving them a deal on paying it back over time, but that's just one example.

Instagram

Facebook

Twitter

Also online at: TheClouseGroup.com

Thanks for listening!

Our Opening theme:

“Inspired”

By Kevin Mcleod (incomptech.com)

Other music (in order used):

“Low Life High Life”

By Dan Henig

“Ruination 2”

By Vibe Mountain

“We Don’t Know How it Ends”

By Lee Rosevere (leerosevere.bandcamp.com)

Music obtained and Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Closing might seem like the end of the line for the home buying process, but there several common pitfalls that can be a first time buyers downfall. find out what they are this week on the Clouse Corner. 

Hello lovely listeners. It seems we are not talking as much these days and it's a shame! As some of the keener ears in the audience may have already noticed we have had to move our production into our homes with the shelter in place orders and Covid19. This meas that for the foreseeable future we will only be bringing you episodes of the Clouse Corner and not recording the longer form episodes of Close to Home. It's a shame but we hope you'll bear with us as we take every precaution to keep ourselves and our guests safe. 

Speaking of staying safe this weeks episode is all about safety, specifically how can you keep yourself and your money safe during the final phases of the home buying process. It may seem like a done deal once you've already traversed the harrowing intricacies of applying for loans, and having your credit measured every which way, but trust us, thinking you're in the clear can also be a recipe for disaster. 

Did we cover all of your questions about the mistakes that can occur during closing? If not feel free to reach out to us with those and any other real estate related questions. You can always find us on social media:

Instagram

Facebook

Twitter

Also online at: TheClouseGroup.com

Thank you for listening and we will see you next week!

Our Opening theme:

“Inspired”

By Kevin Mcleod (incomptech.com)

Other music (in order used):

“Low Life High Life”

By Dan Henig

“Ruination 2”

By Vibe Mountain

“We Don’t Know How it Ends”

By Lee Rosevere (leerosevere.bandcamp.com)

Music obtained and Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

This week we are talking deals! More specifically are you missing out on anything by not shopping around during the pandemic?

Hello lovely listeners! In case you haven't gathered from our lead in this weeks topic might be a bit touchy. Don't worry, no actual touching has occurred in the making of this podcast, we all know that's a relic of the before-times. Nonetheless, as a podcast centered primarily on Seattle real estate and real estate related topics, we would consider ourselves remiss if we did not at least try to acknowledge the  topic. What with society largely shutting down if you're the kind of person who has a nose for a deal you might think now would be a great time to pick up some property at a steep discount, However, do the trends actually support this line of reasoning? Well, you're just going to have to listen and find out!

We can be reached through various social media: Instagram

Facebook

Twitter

Also online at: TheClouseGroup.com

Thanks for listening!

Our Opening theme:

“Inspired”

By Kevin Mcleod (incomptech.com)

Other music (in order used):

“Low Life High Life”

By Dan Henig

“Ruination 2”

By Vibe Mountain

“We Don’t Know How it Ends”

By Lee Rosevere (leerosevere.bandcamp.com)

Music obtained and Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

This week Brennen delves into the DI-Why of buying a piece of work property and improving it over time. 

Hello Lovely listeners! The idea of buying a run down starter home and restoring it to glory with your own two hands can be a romantic one. I think deep down most of us have had the fantasy of being Diane Lane, restoring our beautiful villa under the Tuscan sun. It's a great day dream. But the practicalities of just plumbing and electric on a run down home are often enough to make your head spin. That's why this week we wanted to delve a little deeper on this common idea of home improvement, how do you balance risk versus reward to get the most out of your time and money. We may not all be able to be Diane Lane, but hopefully we can avoid being Tim, the Toolman, Taylor. Shout out to anyone who remembers the show Home Improvement. And for those who didn't don't worry, that joke isn't worth looking it up. If you have extra free time these days (and most of us do) do check out Under the Tuscan Sun, it's a good watch!

As always if you have any questions or suggestions for future shows please feel free to reach out to us on social media: 

Instagram

Facebook

Twitter

Also online at: TheClouseGroup.com

Thanks for listening!

Our Opening theme:

“Inspired”

By Kevin Mcleod (incomptech.com)

Other music (in order used):

“Low Life High Life”

By Dan Henig

“Ruination 2”

By Vibe Mountain

“We Don’t Know How it Ends”

By Lee Rosevere (leerosevere.bandcamp.com)

Music obtained and Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

This week Brennen is breaking down what exactly makes a loan a "jumbo loan" in the Seattle area. 

With all the craziness going on in the world right now you may have heard the term "jumbo loan" thrown around a bit. If you have and were wondering what exactly makes a loan jumbo (it's not adding fries and a drink) then that is where we come in. Brennen is here to give you the rundown on what exactly makes up a Jumbo Loan and what you can expect from them. It's a brief info dump that we hope people will find helpful, especially those in the Seattle area!

As Always if you have additional questions please reach out to us over our various forms of social media: 

Instagram

Facebook

Twitter

Also online at: TheClouseGroup.com

Thanks for listening!

Our Opening theme:

“Inspired”

By Kevin Mcleod (incomptech.com)

Other music (in order used):

“Low Life High Life”

By Dan Henig

“Ruination 2”

By Vibe Mountain

“We Don’t Know How it Ends”

By Lee Rosevere (leerosevere.bandcamp.com)

Music obtained and Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/