Tyler Real Estate Podcast with Danny and Rebecca Burks

What’s the biggest obstacle to homeownership?

Buying your first home can be an incredibly exciting time. However, it requires a huge commitment and a sizable investment.

If you have a pet and you’re looking to sell your home, then read on for some helpful advice.

Want to sell your Tyler Home? Get a FREE home value report Want to buy a Tyler Home? Search all homes for sale Merry Christmas! We hope you and your family enjoy all that this amazing holiday has to offer. We just wanted to take a moment to thank you for your continued support throughout the years. We wouldn’t be where we are today without your help! “ Merry Christmas from The Burks Team! ” It truly brings us joy to help you make your real estate dreams a reality. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us. We’re here to help you in any way we can. In the meantime, have a very Merry Christmas!

There are distinct advantages when it comes to selling your home during the holidays. Want to sell your Tyler Home? Get a FREE home value report Want to buy a Tyler Home? Search all homes for sale Today I wanted to talk about a topic that comes up pretty regularly for us this time of year: should you try selling your home during the holidays? A lot of people are under the impression that nobody buys houses over the holidays or during the winter months, but that’s not true. People buy houses all year. Granted, we don’t have as many buyers in the market right now as we would in May, June, or July, but the buyers that are out there looking are far more serious.  “ People buy houses all year long—not just during spring and summer. ” From a seller’s perspective, there aren’t nearly as many houses on the market. Less inventory means that not only do buyers have less to look at, but you’ll have less competition against other properties. And don’t worry about holding off on the holiday decorations, either. Realtors can work around that kind of thing or use it to their advantage. What we do, for example, is take two sets of photos—once during the holidays and once after the holidays if the home hasn’t sold yet. If you have any questions about selling during the holidays, feel free to reach out to us by phone or email. We look forward to talking with you!

If you feel like you’re flushing your money down the toilet when your investments are under-performing, have you considered investing in real estate? Want to sell your Tyler Home? Get a FREE home value report Want to buy a Tyler Home? Search all homes for sale Have you ever felt like you’re flushing your money down the toilet every month? If your investments aren’t performing, it’s not uncommon to feel this way. Did you know that one of the best investments you can make is in residential real estate? I’m joined today by my friend Doug Pederson, who owns about 750 “front doors” with his company, Twin City Properties. Doug says that one of his favorite things about real estate is that it’s a good investment in good times or bad. The stock market is volatile and can potentially crash, but real estate is a great place to park your cash. “ The first real estate investment is the scariest one. ” We’ve all regretted not investing in properties in the past because, as we all know, real estate tends to go up in value. One of the best things about residential real estate is that you have somebody else—a tenant—who is essentially purchasing that piece of property from you. This is a win-win proposition because the tenant has a place to live, and you have somebody else paying your mortgage every month. Doug cautions first-time investors that the first real estate investment is the scariest one, but it only gets easier from there. Don’t flush your money down the toilet! If you have any questions about getting your foot in the water, so to speak, as far as residential real estate investing, give us a call or send us an email. If you’re a first-time investor, we may even be able to talk Doug into giving you a few lessons in investing. We’d be happy to help you!

 Investing in rental property is a great way to increase your cash flow, but where do you start? Cheryl Peterson is here to guide you through the process. Want to sell your Tyler Home? Get a FREE home value report Want to buy a Tyler Home? Search all homes for sale There are a lot of people out there who are looking to invest in real estate, and many are interested in the opportunities for cash flow that rental properties provide. What should you look for in a rental property in the Tyler area? How should you design it? Today I’m joined by Cheryl Peterson, the Chief Design Officer at Twin City Properties, to answer these questions for you. Before deciding to purchase a rental property, Cheryl recommends making sure that you understand the neighborhood in which the property is situated. Pay attention to the kinds of neighbors around the property as well. Bad neighbors can shoot you in the foot more than the property itself, in some cases. When you find a property in a neighborhood you like that you think is a little bit undervalued, then that’s probably the one that you’ll want to buy. Even if the interior of the property is underwhelming on the surface level and has bad flooring, old paint, and ugly wallpaper, pay attention to the bones of the property. How many bedrooms and bathrooms does it have? Is there potential for renovation and remodeling? Try and look for the potential, rather than what’s simply visible in front of you. “ Pay attention to the property’s potential, not cosmetic flaws. ” Budget is another important aspect to consider, especially because you’re investing in this property to make money. To determine how much to spend on the property, Cheryl suggests first figuring out how much it would rent for before renovations. After that, her rule of thumb is to add an additional $100 onto rent for every $10,000 worth of improvements. For instance, if renovations to the property will total $30,000, you will need an additional $300 in rent to make up the difference. What are some of the most necessary improvements you should make to the rental property? Cheryl suggests looking at the electrical system and the plumbing first to make sure that they are up to par. Be sure to have some extra wiggle room in your budget to account for these unexpected costs. Because tenants don’t always treat rental properties the way they would a property they own, it’s important to renovate for protection. Cheryl recommends using vinyl flooring because it looks great and won’t absorb water or pet stains. Painting the property is also an important improvement to make. A nice coat of white semi-gloss paint on every room is great for lower-end rentals because it’s easy to clean once the tenant moves out. For higher-end rental properties, two-tone paint is usually the way to go. This paint is more expensive, so it’s important to hire a professional to ensure it is applied correctly. Cheryl’s go-to paint colors are Sherwin-Williams Creamy for the trim and Sherwin-Williams Practical Beige for the walls. These two colors go with everything! Hopefully Cheryl’s tips will help you when you’re looking for your next investment property. If you have any other questions about rental property design, give Cheryl a call at 903-561-2600. For any other questions related to real estate in the Tyler area, don’t hesitate to reach out to me. I’d be happy to help you!

Want to sell your Tyler Home? Get a FREE home value report Want to buy a Tyler Home? Search all homes for sale The number one reason people complain about Realtors is simply that they can't reach them. They try to call, email, or text them and get no response, making communication the biggest problem people have with Realtors. The problem is, Realtors are juggling a lot of balls at once, between meeting with clients, showing properties, or business meetings. Sometimes it can be several hours before they can get back in communication with their clients. “ If you have a question, we have  an expert there to answer you. ”   With today's cell phone technology, people want to get in touch very quickly. On the Burks Team, we try to solve this problem by having specialists. We have listing specialists, buyer agent specialists, and a whole team of administrators who can help with questions. Single agents are simply juggling too many jobs at once between showings and closings and everything in between. For example, we have a marketing expert constantly posting to channels like social media, websites, and magazines, and she's always there to answer questions. We also have a photographer for high-quality photos and buyer specialists who are out in the field showing properties. Our listing specialists are in constantly listing properties and are available to answer any questions you have. If you have any questions for us, please give us a call today!

Want to sell your Tyler Home? Get a FREE home value report Want to buy a Tyler Home? Search all homes for sale Today I want to talk about why your home may be worth thousands of dollars more than you think. After the year 2008, the real estate market hit a bubble and we saw housing prices plummet. Over the next few years the market was severely depressed, and home prices were down. The last couple years, however, have seen those prices make a tremendous rebound. In certain price points, the effect has even been phenomenal. Your house may be worth more than you think it is because you may have been told by a real estate professional in the years immediately following 2008 that it was worth a certain amount of money. There is a good chance, however, that by today it may be worth thousands, even tens of thousands more than what they told you at that time.   If you think that’s the case with your home, we would be glad to give a complimentary market analysis. There is actually a link on this page that allows you to fill out the necessary information to calculate a preliminary value, and we’d love to talk about that too.  If you’re considering updates, then you’ll want to know how much value those updates would make. If you’re going to spend your money, we’d want you to spend it wisely and get the most bang for your buck. We’d be glad to have one of our listing partners talk to you about value. You might find out that you have thousands, or even tens of thousands more in equity than you had as little as three years ago. Until next time, thanks so much for joining us. If you’re interested in hearing more, give us a call or follow the contact information on this page for email.

Want to sell your Tyler Home? Get a FREE home value report Want to buy a Tyler Home? Search all homes for sale Interestingly enough, when evaluating homes in a given neighborhood, we frequently see a disparity in final sale prices. We have seen many homes in the same neighborhood, sometimes even on the same street, sell for 10% more than their almost identical neighbor. How does this happen? The home that sells for more money has been fine-tuned and prepared in all the ways that allow it to fetch the highest price possible. Think of it this way; during the Miss USA pageant, the women on stage don’t just show up at the event center that night. They spend months, even years, preparing for that single day. They have coaches that teach them how to walk, speak, and give the best presentation possible.  When your home is listed for sale, you want it to present in its best light possible, too. You need to fine-tune your home by reducing clutter, touching up paint, addressing minor fixes, and much more. Do everything possible to make it shine! Buyers will pay more for quality and presentation. They fall in love with homes based on the feeling it gives them, and you can give buyers a great feeling by properly preparing your home. In fact, on average, you can earn up to 10% more. If you have any questions for us about how we can sell your home in less time, for more money, and for 98% of your asking price, give us a call or send us an email. We would be glad to give you a walkthrough and tips about how to get more money. We look forward to hearing from you!