Loving DSM, Team Updates, and Important Dates

I can’t remember when the news wasn’t overwhelming. Prior to my near death experience on the kitchen floor, I was a media and anxiety addict. Healing required me me to focus on myself, my kids and my relationships. When your house is on fire, it is hard to worry about fires anywhere else. With the passage of time and having put out my personal house fire, I see what a gift the necessity of focusing inward was, it brought peace and clarity.

Isolating entirely from the “news” isn’t sustainable nor desirable to me, so as I’m healing, I’m bringing the outside back in pieces and focusing locally on what I can control. This has led me to one raging fire I can fight up close, keeping DSM housing locally owned.

Keeping DSM Housing DSM

Confession, I have sold properties to out of state investors, but they were families building a legacy portfolio not corporations. Intentions and outcomes matter and I am a true believer in the family legacy of real estate. In the last 30 days I have helped 3 different clients transition into or out of real estate assets as part of a family strategy. That is the type of investor I work with, the kind.

I believe in legacy and local investment in real estate for many reasons, but mainly, we have an affordability problem and that it is not easily solved.

Household income determines what is affordable and many households do not have enough income and wealth to afford the housing stock we have. Investors aren’t behind stagnant incomes facing potential buyers and at least in DSM they are only a small part of the reason housing prices accelerated out of reach for many people, but it is an easy group to lob guilt at.

The graph to the left may be national but it shows the underlying truth: real estate is becoming a luxury item. I want it to be more accessible and the best way to do that is to keep it local and in more hands rather than fewer. Put simply, it is better for our community when local individuals own more doors and access than corporations or larger entities.

The graph above is national and while real estate is hyper local, the raw number on the right side of the graph is less of a concern than the trendline. Yes, DSM is one of the most affordable places in the country to live and invest, I love that for us. But, between 2015 and 2025 the comparable index went from 2.2 to 3.42 in Ankeny and in DSM it went from 2.5 to 3.375.

Our 515 community is tackling affordability (ask me how) but we need to nurture that by ensuring we don’t end up with consolidated housing stock, especially non locally-owned. Consolidation drives up prices and makes affordability worse. First time homebuyers are the priority but they can’t buy it all. If expanding access to housing and investing wisely are your jam, let’s chat about this. It’s a great conversation over coffee!

Team Update and Fun/Important Dates

It’s official, we are now a three person real estate team with Adam finishing his licensing last week! There are no two people I trust more to help clients and grow the credibility of real estate in DSM than Amy and Adam. They have coined themselves the A Team and honestly, 80s nostalgia aside, they couldn’t be more right. They are the best people you could ask for to have on your side, in virtually every situation.

The power of 3 means we can do more and we are hitting the gas pedal hard. We have a booth at the Valley Junction Farmer’s Market, we are building a concierge investor suite of services as well as design and remodeling capacity! What are we doing at the Farmer’s Market you might ask? The answer is something cool and new every time and truthfully, it is an experiment of community incubation. Come see us at our inaugural market booth on May 22nd and meet our first guest vendor, Sara, owner of The Arrangement DSM.

April 27th-Investor Event (there are still a few spots if you can make it, we are covering investing soup to nuts from 1031 exchanges to 10% cash flow goals.)

May 22 - Valley Junction Farmer’s Market Launch. Come say hello, meet the whole team and enjoy the best season DSM has to offer!