The Chad Raney Real Estate Team Podcast

Today on Trade Local, Matt Blue tells us all about his automotive garage, Blue Gorilla Garage.Welcome back to another episode of Trade Local, where we go behind the scenes and meet the people behind the businesses that make up our community.I'm here today with Matt Blue, owner of Blue Gorilla Garage in Nash. We sat down and talked about how he got started in automotive repair and what brought him to this point.Matt had always been fascinated with machinery and how things work since he was a young child. He rode dirt bikes when he was younger and learned a lot about fixing them. He carried that knowledge over to his eventual work at a few different auto dealerships. He started out changing tires but eventually got into diesel engine repair.After about 10 years bouncing around different dealerships doing diesel engine work, Matt decided it was time to embark on his own. According to him, it's one of the scariest things he has ever done, but also one of the most rewarding.Blue Gorilla Garage gets its name from an unlikely source. One of Matt's customers actually coined the term. It's a combination of his last name (Blue) and the fact that Matt is a grease monkey of the highest level (Gorilla.) He's noticed that people either love the name or hate it, but everyone remembers it, which is exactly what he was going for.They diagnose the problem instead of just trying to replace things. Blue Gorilla Garage specializes in diesel engine repair, but they also specialize in another area: diagnostics. According to Matt, this is a dying part of auto repair that he wants to bring back. He says that a lot of mechanics these days will simply replace a part instead of taking the time to diagnose the problem and see if there is any way to remedy it without having to get a new part. They do a little bit of everything here, from gas engine repair to transmission work and everything in between.Blue Gorilla Garage is located at 6905 Alumax Rd. in Nash, Texas. You can reach them at (903) 223-7428 or right here on their website. Thanks for your time, Matt!If you have any other real estate related questions or needs, we are always here to answer them. We look forward to hearing from you.

Today on Trade Local, Andy Kim tells us all about his family's restaurant, Fuji Kim's.Welcome to another edition of Trade Local, brought to you by the Chad Raney Team and Keller Williams. Our Trade Local series is here to bring your awareness to local businesses. Today, we're talking to Andy Kim from Fuji Kim's Sushi and Grill. The Kim family came here from South Korea and became American citizens. They are a great family who has had a lot of triumph and some tragedies throughout the years. Through it all, they have become a closer family and built a great business here in town based on great relationships, great service, and great food. So, what's the history behind Fuji Kim's? Andy is the manager at Fuji Kim's. “I was born and raised in Seoul, and we came to the U.S. about 18 years ago, when I was 11 years old. The first city we moved to was Nashville, AR. My parents had a job in Texarkana as servers, so they commuted back and forth every single day.” Andy's family decided to move to Texarkana to cut down on the commute, and they have been here for about 17 years.“We've been in the restaurant business ever since we moved to the states,” says Andy. “My parents worked very hard for all this time and I wanted to help out, so when I turned 16, I started working in the restaurant business and haven't stopped.”Andy's family worked at a local Japanese restaurant for six or seven years when tragedy struck. “We lost my sister in a car accident,” says Andy. “It was hard for a long time. One of the dreams she always had was to open our own restaurant, so we decided to open Fuji Kim's to honor her memory. So that's how this came about. It's not just a restaurant for us; it's everything, really.” Andy's family opened Fuji Kim's to honor his sister's memory. Choosing a name was a little difficult. “We couldn't think of a name that was somewhat Japanese-related, so we thought, ‘What is the most Japanese word we could think of?' And we remembered Fuji, like Mount Fuji,” Andy explains. “So we chose that and added our last name at the end. We wanted to put our name out there so it represents us because it's our restaurant. That's how the name came about.”Fuji Kim's is a Japanese restaurant, but Andy says, “Since we are Koreans, we like to incorporate Korean flavor into our food. So we serve sushi and grilled entrees, but we also serve Korean barbecue. We are the only ones who serve it in town.” Andy goes on, saying, “Our most popular item is the fried rice. We go through about 1,900 pounds of rice every two weeks, and most of that goes into the fried rice. Then we have our sushi. Some people call it traditional, but I don't want to call it traditional because I'm not Japanese and it's our own style of sushi. A lot of people like it. We've been voted the No. 1 Asian/sushi restaurant in the area many times over the past decade, so I think people like it very much.” Fuji Kim's is located at 2830 Richmond Road and is open Monday through Saturday. Monday through Thursday, the restaurant is open from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. On Friday and Saturday, the restaurant is open from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Since it's a family restaurant, they get to choose which holidays to close for; usually, though, they only close for the Fourth of July, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. Andy would like to take a moment to thank their customers. “Without them, we wouldn't be here. I wouldn't be able to have what I have, and we're definitely blessed to have a good customer base. Because of them, we get to open up a scholarship at Texarkana College under my sister's name every semester. I have incredible customers and I want to thank every single one of them, I really do.” Fuji Kim's has been a personal favorite of mine for many years. It's a great place to gather with family and friends to enjoy some delicious food. If you have any questions for Andy, you can reach him at (903) 334-6903. As always, if you have any questions for me, just give me a call or send me an email. Let me know if you would like your business to be featured on Trade Local, too. I look forward to hearing from you!

We treat each of our clients with the utmost importance. When we do, good things happen. Just ask Denise.A few months ago, I got a call from a woman named Denise on a Sunday afternoon. She had lived in her home for 17 years and finally decided that it was time to downsize after her daughter had left home.We went to meet with Denise and listened to what her goals were. Based on this, we designed a detailed plain and let her know exactly what she needed to do. We gave her a list of homework and checked back in after a few months. She hadn't quite done everything we talked about, but we weren't discouraged. Instead, we got one of our great listing agents, Melanie, to help out.She did a fabulous job working directly with Denise. She helped her declutter the entire house by setting up a garage sale to do most of the decluttering for them. They ended up raising enough money from the garage sale to cover Melanie's commission, so she essentially paid for herself. We'd love to help you find the same success. The house was in great shape, but it needed a bit of decluttering and organization. Once we took care of that, and ramped up the curb appeal by repainting the shutters and door, we were ready to put it on the market.Denise's home ended up selling in less than a week and as you can see in the video above, she could not have been happier. When asked to use one word to describe her experience with us, she simply replied “phenomenal.”We were so happy to be able to help Denise. We'd love to help you or someone you know have the same type of success in selling their home. If you want to sell, if you don't know where to start, or if you simply have a question or two, reach out to us by phone or email. We'd be happy to help.

Hopkins Ice House is a Texarkana staple. Their dedication to fresh ingredients and innovative recipes are just a few of the reasons people love coming here.I'm back with another episode of Trade Local. This series gives you a chance to get to know the people behind some of the businesses in our community. Today we are at Hopkins Ice House with George Dodson and Dave Jones to talk about their history, their menu, and much more.Hopkins Ice House began in 2007 with their first location downtown at 301 E 3rd St. George and Dave actually met through flipping real estate, and I actually found them the property that eventually turned into that downtown location. For their first 18 months, they were on a shoestring budget. They did all the work themselves, including demoing the building, cutting the sheetrock, and cutting the concrete. Once the restaurant finally opened, it was an instant hit. A lot of that has to do with their philosophy of having fresh, made-from-scratch food. The menu is both appetizing and unique. From sandwiches to pizza and burgers to chicken, everything is made from scratch daily. When they say fresh, they mean it. They cut their own fries, fry their own potato and tortilla chips, and don't cut open the avocados to make their house guacamole until you order it. Some of their most popular items include their fried fish, which is considered by many as the best in town. The menu is both appetizing and unique. For example, their Newton pizza might sound a little odd once you hear it has cucumber and avocado on it, but the gorgonzola cheese cream sauce they use as a base marries all of those flavors perfectly together.In addition to a full kitchen, Hopkins Ice House also has a full bar. This includes more than a dozen beers on tap and more than 50 bottled beers. You can relax inside and watch the game, or take a seat outside on the patio and enjoy the weather. Due to the success of their downtown location, Dave and George have now opened a second location at 4030 Gibson Lane, right off Richmond Rd. Stop in sometime and grab a bite to eat. They are open every day at 11 a.m. and close at 10 p.m. on weekdays and midnight on the weekends. If you want to learn more about Hopkins Ice House or just look at a menu, visit their website here. If you have any other questions for me or have a business that you would like to have featured on the next episode of Trade Local, give me a call or send me an email. I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Price, condition, and exposure are the three factors you must consider if you want to sell your home quickly and maximize its sale price.There are three important factors to consider when selling a home if you want to sell it quickly and for top dollar.  The first is price. Price is something you the seller are ultimately in control of. Us Realtors can only advise you about what we think the price should be and make recommendations based on comparable sales in the area. Whenever a property is appraised, the appraiser always goes by comparable sales in the area. It doesn't matter what the property is priced at—if it's going to have financing, it will need to be appraised. So ask yourself—is your home priced in line with the other sold properties in the area? One of the best ways to sell your home is to make sure it's priced correctly on the front end. The second factor is condition. We can take great photos of your home and market those photos, but if the property isn't in good condition when it shows, that really hurts your sale because you're in competition with other listings. Most sellers are very attached to their homes and want to get top dollar for them, and it's our job to help you do that. If we show your home and it hasn't been cleaned, though, you're doing yourself a disservice. Our team gets your listing maximum exposure when we market it. The third and final factor is exposure. Our team gets your listing maximum exposure when we market it. If you try to sell your home by yourself as ‘For Sale By Owner' and just put a sign in the yard or list it on Zillow, you'll only attract a fraction of all the potential buyers out there. We've been marketing to buyers in the Texarkana area for several years now, so we also have a database of potential buyers for your home. When we list your property, it shows us the buyer leads that are most suited for it. We can then reach out to those people immediately to see if they would be interested in a showing. We list your house both on the MLS and the KWLS, which stands for the Keller Williams Listing System. That system syndicates your property all over the world to hundreds of different websites. If you have any questions or are thinking about selling your home, feel free to reach out to us. We'd love to be of service to you.

Today I'm here at Ironwood Grill with Craig McDuffie for another episode of Trade Local.Happy Memorial Day Weekend! If you're looking for a delicious place to eat, the patio at Ironwood Grill is open for business!  A few months ago, we sat down with Craig McDuffie for another episode of Trade Local. Trade Local offers you the chance to learn a little bit more about both local businesses and the people behind them. Enjoy! Craig grew up in Linden, Texas and has been living in Texarkana for most of his adult life. His restaurant experience began at Texas Roadhouse, where he spent 15 years working from bussing tables all the way up to management. He and his wife Lisa were able to build a life through that industry, and he even became a product coach on the corporate side of things. As a product coach, he spent four years traveling to different locations and gained a lot of culinary experience. When he first got introduced to Bruce Hornbuckle, his managing partner at Texas Roadhouse who initially hired Craig as a server, it was in a bowling alley. Craig had been hanging out with some friends at the bowling alley and decided to approach Bruce about a job. 15 years later, they got the opportunity to be partners in Ironwood Grill, and Craig has never looked back.Ironwood Grill opened in 2005 and was owned by Tom and Carrie Rostek. It featured a superior menu and great food, but after building the business for 10 years, Tom and Carrie were looking to leave. Bruce and Craig took over in the summer of 2015. Their focus since taking over has been to be friendly, accommodating, and pleasant. The menu has always been superb, as chef Tom did a fantastic job with the recipes, so they aim to focus on making sure their guests are well taken care of. Make sure you try their famous blackened fish tacos. They are known for their blackened fish tacos. People love them! They also have hand-tossed blackened fish sandwiches that come with a cup a soup for their lunch special. For their dinner portions, they have larger sides and hand-cut every steak. Ironwood Grill is known for their great patio experience as well. In fact, there's currently a remodel being done to better accommodate guests on a rainy day. There's even a sandbox for kids to play in and a new bar going in for the adult crowd. Ironwood Grill is open Monday through Thursday from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Friday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Be sure to stop by for lunch or dinner! You're bound to run into somebody you know. To get more details on Ironwood Grill, go to ironwoodgrill.com or call (903-223-4644). As always, if you have any questions for me, feel free to give me a call or send me an email. I look forward to hearing from you!

The winners have been announced and we're honored to say that we've been named the best real estate team in Texarkana once again!The news is in and we've been voted the best real estate company in the 2017 Best of Texarkana Awards!Today I just wanted to take a moment to thank you from the bottom of my heart. This is our second year winning this award, and we greatly appreciate your votes and your business.We're honored to win best real estate team in Texarkana once again! We were also honored to win Most Team Cross Sales in the Texarkana MLS, meaning we sold more of other people's homes and they sold more of our homes than any other real estate team in the Texarkana MLS. I want to thank my wonderful, hard-working team for helping us achieve this.If you're thinking about buying or selling a home, remember that this is the time of year when the buyers come out of hibernation. We have more time in the evening to find a great home.It's listing season, so let's get your home listed. If you're interested in working with the best team in Texarkana, we'd love to help you sell your house or find your dream home. Just give us a call or send us an email soon. We appreciate your business and your support!

We're rolling out a new information service called Homeowner Connection where you can submit questions about your home. If we chose your question, we'll send you a $50 gift card!I wanted to take a moment today to tell you about something we call the Homeowner Connection. This is a chance for you to ask me about common repairs needed in your home—we'll help you find the right answers. Submit a video of yourself asking your question and we'll address it ASAP!If your question is selected for us to answer, we'll send you a $50 gift card to Texas Roadhouse!Send those questions in for your shot at a steak dinner on us! I look forward to hearing from you soon.