FREE BOOK: The Value-Driven Approach To Sell Real Estate: Click here

Edina SW Minneapolis Area Advice Givers

Edina SW Minneapolis Area Advice Givers

Local Experts. Incredible Interviews

Working Tooth X Nail, How Employee-Turned-Entrepreneur Nick Lundquist Created a Space For Serious Athletes Looking For Serious Fitness Apparel

by Leave a Comment

Nick Lundquist, owner of Tooth X Nail in Edina, spent almost ten years in a large corporate bank doing project management work and apparently received a lot of attention and reward for what he was doing. By building program applications, Nick and his team were able to save the company a lot of money. He enjoyed the challenges of creating solutions for every problem that presented itself. However, it got to the point the reward turned into more problem solving every time a previous solution has been accomplished. That kind of working pattern did not resonate with him. Despite the fact that he was saving the company millions of dollars and gaining them lots of efficiency, his work unfortunately just became a job and no longer an accomplishment. He wanted to give more but it was no longer enough. So Nick took the plunge and combined his desire for corporate freedom and his passion for fitness into a unique outlet for those that share his passion.

A Very Intense Passion

Nick’s passion for his own fitness started in his early twenties. He’s at the gym six days a week with three hour bike rides sprinkled in for fun. The level of commitment he has to his fitness has even cost him relationships and friendships. Too many times he’s heard the question: “Are you ever not working out?”

To Nick, it’s about commitment: “When we do a workout, we commit hours of our day to this. We give everything we have that we just can’t possibly stand up any longer. We have to lie down when we have nothing left in our bodies anymore. That’s the commitment we give to try to perform at the best of our ability and be the strongest athlete we can be and really contribute to our athletic work.”

A lot of people go to that same intensity on any given thing they choose to be passionate about. In Nick’s case, he chose his passion around fitness because he feels it represents his personality well enough that he wants to give his entire life to this endeavor. Some people do it with art, some will do it with music, some people do it with other things while Nick chose athletics.

Tim Murphy and Nick Lundquist of Tooth X Nail in Edina, MN

Tim Murphy with Nick Lundquist (right) in front of Tooth X Nail in Edina

A Journey Into His Own Skin

To Nick, a truly accomplished individual is someone who can say that they work within their passion. Knowing his own abilities and skill set, he told himself that he can fulfill a need within the fitness industry and he set out to find that niche. That’s when the entrepreneurial spirit really started to burn. He set his mind to find the gaps in the fitness community. He wanted to be the guy to address that need.

Filling a Personal Void to Fill a Community Void

Empty—that’s a great word to describe how Nick felt at the time he was still existing in the corporate world. He wasn’t seeing the fruits of his labor or the people benefiting from his hard work. Using his intellect to be a part of solving problems was not enough. He wanted his abilities to directly help someone and see the reward right on that person’s face. He knew he could do more. He wanted to do something that allowed him to give everything he had.

Nick had a few moments of sitting around in his unfulfilling job and thinking about his life’s passion and how there’s an opportunity out there to fill his own void while fulfilling a bigger void in the community. He has the drive, the skill set, the ambition, the desire and he believed he can be the one to enhance the fitness aspect in his community’s life. According to him, it almost felt like a calling, “It seems a little pretentious. We’re entrepreneurs for a reason. We have this level of arrogance around us like, I was the only one who can do this.”

Failure Is Not an Option

Tooth X Nail in Edina, MN on the Edina-SW Minneapolis Advice Givers Podcast

Fitness Apparel able to keep up with high performance athletes at Tooth X Nail in Edina, MN

Being an entrepreneur is like walking at the edge of a cliff, looking down and jumping off knowing that there’s no parachute. From the outside, people would say it looks great. It does look great but it is one of the hardest jumps one has to make. According to Nick, “the biggest difference between an entrepreneur and somebody who just wants to be one is the fact that that entrepreneur jumped and that’s the biggest fear that everybody faces is that what if it fails, what if that, what if this. Well, I said, I have a great idea, I am an extremely skilled individual, I made proper choices to be financially stable, I won’t fail. So I jumped because I knew that there was no way I would splat. I was going to survive and this is gonna be successful because I feel extremely confident at what I’m doing.”

Once you’ve taken the leap, it doesn’t stop there. It is a long road where you have to make the decision first, set out a road that’s years-long. It’s a lot of planning, a lot of defining a financial road map. It’s coming up with a milestone checklist that you have to hit and commit to.

“Eventually that milestone comes that says you have to quit your job and you are now going to start living at your own income. And that is probably the equivalent of a prisoner of war being freed. You take that deep breath of ‘I did it!’. I got a long road ahead of me to get myself back from this but I’m now free from every shackle that has been holding me back. All my energy can go straight forward to what I want to do.”


Listen to Nick’s entire podcast episode!

Hello, Edina!

There’s a bit of story behind the location. There were a couple of areas of town Nick wanted to be a part of but those did not pan out as well as he wanted to. There was a day when everything was ready to go and all he had to do was to keep things moving forward but his location wasn’t quite there yet. He ended up driving around, got to Edina, saw a sign in front of a location, called the number, saw the property the next day, and had a lease ready for him to sign in two days! This ended up being the current spot and at that time, it spoke to him that it was the area ready for business. Nick wanted to do business with people who wanted to do business.

Nick takes pride in how this location turned out. He did all the renovations himself and grinded the space in 60 days, 16 hours per day.

Nick Lundquist on the Edina-SW Minneapolis Advice Givers Podcast

Tooth X Nail owner Nick Lundquist sharing his story on the Edina-SW Minneapolis Advice Givers Podcast

Niche Products and the Reemergence of the Brick and Mortar

Nick researches what his niche market needs. By listening to his community’s needs, he offers niche products that address the community’s actual needs.

Currently, Tooth X Nail specializes in the needs of the workout community and crossfunctional fitness. If you are looking to purchase proper weightlifting shoes and grips, or looking for hard-to-find yoga and crossfit gear, Tooth X Nail is the place to go. Look at the actual products yourself, try them, test them out, and be completely satisified with your purchase.

For more information on Tooth X Nail’s products, look for Nick and his team to help you with your purchasing decision.

Mortgage Expert Carrie Guarrero Busts the 20% Down Payment Myth in Home Buying

by Leave a Comment

Carrie Guarrero of Fairway Independent Mortgage is fired up over a CNBC article with a misleading title that, at first glance, implies the gloom and doom of home buying down payments. Evidently, that is not the case, especially in Edina with over 52 pages of different payment programs readily available to home buyers! Think you need to slave away for a 20% down payment?

Home Buying Myth: Wait, What?

The article, based on analysis by rental listing company, HotPads, claims it will take about six and a half years for a person to save the “needed” 20% mortgage down payment, and if you only read the first few paragraphs, this is all the reader would know. The article did eventually offer other options for the reader and home buyer, but with people usually just skimming through instead of reading fully, most people would have already disqualified themselves from the dream of buying a house. To Carrie, this is unfortunate and troublesome because buyers who don’t check with a loan expert just believe what they skim through online.

The Truth About Home Buying: You Don’t Need a 20% Down

Does it really take a person six and a half years to save for a home down payment? The simple answer is no. Each person is different. There are people who cannot save even if their lives depended on it and there are people who can diligently put away a specific amount of money every month. And then there’s the option to choose among different home buying programs depending on one’s credit standing and location. Carrie says that she’s had clients buying homes with very little down payment from 3% to 5% to nothing at all at 0%. In fact, for Minnesota home buyers, there are actually over 52 pages of payment programs available. To quote Carrie, “every individual circumstance is going to dictate a different product, a different program..” so obviously, a 20% down payment is not universal.

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Edina-SW Mpls Advice Givers (@mplsadvicegivers) on

Current Rent Prices Versus Mortgage Payments

In today’s Minneapolis market, as rental prices keep going up, Carrie is seeing more people who are qualified to buy homes with their projected payments less than their rent. “People don’t need the down payment that everybody thinks they need,” Carrie emphasizes again. There’s usually a payment shock when her clients find out what that there’s no difference between mortgage and rent amounts.

A great example of this would be a client who was paying $2400 a month for a 700 square feet condo. Carrie helped them with their first home purchase, a 3-bedroom with a couple of baths, with a mortgage payment of $2000 per month.


Listen to the entire episode!

Ask an Expert, Get a Sustainable Home Loan

With everyone consulting the Internet about everything these days, few bother to ask an actual expert. This could be said about mortgage loans and the real estate industry. Google searches won’t give you the entire story which could lead you down a path of disqualifying yourself from your own capabilities.

Carrie’s own philosophy when it comes to helping her home buying clients is in itself a very buyer-centered one. “My philosophy is, I don’t say no, I say not now. But here’s what’s going to take to get you where you want to be. I’ll sit down with people whether face-to-face or a Zoom video conference call. We’ll walk through their credit, we’ll walk through their assets, we’ll walk through what they’re paying for rent, what their situation is now, and then we’ll set a clear path. These are the three steps you need to take in order to get where you want to be and we’ll check in on a monthly basis, see where you’re at and when you’re ready, we’ll go.”

The idea is to put people into houses that they can afford to have for the long-term. Carrie adds, “I’ve always said it’s not just my job to put people into houses; it’s my job to keep them there too. We do sustainable home loans.”

For more information, contact Carrie directly:

Carrie Guarrero
Producing Branch Manager
NMLS# 209015
Office: 952.851.8966
Email: cghomeloan@fairwaymc.com

How to Turn the Dream of Owning a Family Vacation Home Into Reality with Practical Advice from Carrie Guarrero

by Leave a Comment

“I’m going to the cabin this weekend!” How many times have you heard that from a neighbor, a friend or a workmate and thought that dream of a second home is out of reach for you. Think twice. Second homes are in reach for almost all of us. Mortgage expert Carrie Guarrero, debunks the myths around what it takes to get into your dream getaway.

Is 20% Down a Must?

It’s a common misconception that in order for you to afford a second home, you have to have plenty of money. According to our go-to mortgage expert, Carrie of Fairway Independent Mortgage, “plenty of money” is a relative term. We have good news for people looking into investing in a second home: you DON’T NEED 20% DOWN PAYMENT. The “plenty of money” aspect would have more of a role in maintenance, repairs, and affording the payment.

Second home mortgage rates are actually lower than commonly thought as long as you utilize your second home as an actual second home and not as an investment property. In fact, interest rates are very comparable to primary residences.

Three Things to Consider for Second Home Buyers

When looking into second homes or investment properties, there are three important things that Carrie highlights to her clients and these are:

  1. Reserves: When investing in a vacation property, Carrie cannot emphasize enough that you will always need reserves. Reserves are available funds you can use to pay your mortgage if an interruption in income does happen. You have to consider the possibility, God forbid, of temporary disability or loss of income. Carrie says that money in the bank is where magic is. You don’t need to worry if you have 6 months of reserves to subsidize your payments or debt load if something happens.
  2. Maintenance and repairs: Extra responsibility comes with owning a second home. A second home is an added layer of potential for maintenance and repairs as you will be maintaining two households. Costs can come out more than what you expect so make sure to plan carefully.
  3. Taking care of the property: This is the part that most people tend to overlook according to Carrie—regular maintenance, repairs, utilities still need to be taken care of even when life events prevent you from going to your vacation property. There are options available. In most cases, vacation property owners tend to self-organize into little communities with an association that employs a maintenance person to run around and take care of the grounds or properties. If that opportunity isn’t for you, you can always do your research. Carrie and her Fairway team help guide people through these things.

(Related: Building Your Dream Home Without Starting From Scratch Is As Simple As a Rehab Loan)

Can I Rent Out My Second Home?

With the rise of Airbnb and similar services, the trend of renting out vacation homes is on the rise. However, if you need to rent out your second home to afford it, it becomes an investment property. Investment properties and vacation properties are completely financed differently.

Your second home is a property for your own personal use.

You can occasionally rent it out but don’t count on the income. Carrie again emphasizes the importance of reserves because when you count on occasional rental income and it doesn’t happen, that could mean financial heartache.

From a financing perspective, renting out your second home once or twice a year shouldn’t be a problem.

Getting into nightly rentals or something similar, though, would qualify you for a different kind of loan. Take note that a rental home is considered a commercial property. For vacation homes, there are actually documents you have to sign indicating that you will not be renting your house on a daily basis. There’s a big difference between the two and Carrie would be more than happy to walk people through those variables.


Listen to the entire episode!

Loans Are Not as Complicated as the Media Portrays It to Be

For Carrie and her team who do loans every single day— and they’ve done a lot! — they understand that loans can sometimes be terrifying for those who are vaguely familiar. A lot of news headlines plant seeds of doubt in people’s minds. People get scared and don’t bother learning that buying a second home can actually be an option.

“Don’t disqualify yourself…don’t let that stop you. Check it out. What do you have to lose? Bottomline: people just need to pick up the phone and let’s walk through it. If the time is not right now, let’s make a plan to get where you want to be.” -Carrie Guarrero

For more information and to ask Carrie a question:
Carrie Guarrero
Producing Branch Manager
NMLS# 209015
Office: 952.851.8966
Email: cghomeloan@fairwaymc.com

da BOMB Bath Fizzers – How Two Edina ‘Sisterpreneurs” Turned Their Solution For a Boring Bath Into a Nationwide Frenzy Now Carried in 12,000 Stores

by Leave a Comment

Isabel and Caroline Bercaw, founders of da BOMB Bath Fizzers

Teenage ‘sisterpreneurs’, Isabel and Caroline, share the story of how making 150 bath bombs in their basement for the Uptown Art Fair grew into a nationwide frenzy carried in over 12,000 stores. Because of an ever increasing demand, the girls now locally employ 150 people to help them with their business. Additionally, they are supporting multiple causes around the world as a way of giving back.

A Little Bath History

Da Bomb Bath Fizzers are not your usual bath bombs. They’re handmade fizzing bath bombs with an exciting surprise in the middle. Sisters Isabel and Caroline came up with the idea at the ages of 10 and 11 because they weren’t satisfied with the bath bombs on the market, complaining they stained their bathtubs and felt sticky and gross. So bad they had to take showers afterwards. Definitely not fun for two young girls!

So, they started experimenting and making bath bombs in their basement. After a lot of online research and countless experiments, they perfected the recipe and added a surprise element in the middle of each—something that remains after the bath experience is over. They brought out their 150 final products to the Uptown Art Fair in 2012, sold out on their first day, and the rest was history.

Sisterpreneurship

Aside from turning a trial and error basement project into a multimillion business, the sisters have also coined and trademarked the term, sisterpreneur™. Sisterpreneurship is about pushing each other with respect, love and support, because at the end of the day, it’s about being a team and succeeding together.

Because of this unique entrepreneur partnership, the girls now have around 24 bath bomb types with additional seasonal or limited flavors. The details of their bombs are in their recently published book, Fizz Boom Bath!, but their creative process is basically centered around these three guiding principles:

    1. High quality ingredients that’s of cosmetic grade pigment that doesn’t stain and that’s good for the skin.
    2. It’s all about promoting fun.
    3. There’s a bomb for everyone.

Life Changing for the Whole Family

Isabel & Caroline Bercaw, inventors of da BOMB Fizzers with Tim Murphy on the Edina-SW Minneapolis Advice Givers (r) Podcast

The sisters may be the main partners but the da Bomb journey has been life changing for the whole family as well. Huge credit goes out to the girls’ parents, Kim and Ben Bercaw. Both parents play a big role in overseeing and monitoring the business and production side of things. Even their little brother was material in coming up with their bath bombs for boys.

Giving Back

What’s special about these girls and their bath bombs is their low-key heroic dreams of helping out different communities across the world. The Earth Bomb is very important to the girls as partial proceeds go to various charities around the world that help clean and protect the world’s oceans.

 


Listen to Isabel and Caroline on the Edina-SW Minneapolis Advice Givers (r) Podcast w/Tim Murphy

 

The Future is Fizzy Bright

It seems like Isabel and Caroline are just on the start of a very exciting journey. As an ethical brand coupled with fun creative innovations, there seems to be just endless possibilities for these bright young ladies. College is definitely part of the near future as they’re very open to continually learn and add up to their business and life knowledge.

If there’s anything to be learned from these girls today is that, hard work, fearlessness and fun can actually be part of a very successful business equation.

Interested to purchase a bath fizzer for yourself? Find da Bomb at any of the stores listed here. For wholesale inquiries, please email orders@dabombfizzers.com.

Carrie Guarrero Envisioned Waterville’s The Village As a Place to Go, Grow and Make a Great Community Impact

by Leave a Comment

The Village is a community space where girl scouts and boy scouts meet, where dancers do their classes, and where birthdays, weddings and anniversaries are celebrated. It’s a community center that solely runs on donations, which happens to provide food for families. For Twin City lender Carrie Guarrero and her husband, Dan, the decision to manage The Village was easy, but introducing its mission to a community they just moved into was a little harder. 

It Just Happened

Just over three years ago, Carrie and her husband Dan closed on their new home they were remodeling in Waterville, MN (Building a Dream Home Without Starting From Scratch is As Simple As a Rehab Loan). During that time, Carrie was chairing a local race and was required to attend a Waterville council meeting for a road closure related to the race. In the course of that meeting, it was announced that the Good Samaritan Nursing Home building was up for donation to any non-profit organization. Dan was serving as an Executive Pastor of a Burnsville, MN church at the time and had planned to simply commute, but Carrie shared with him the news about the Good Samaritan building thinking the conference may have interest. That set in motion the application process to receive the building on donation. Initially, they got a no and that made sense to them since they did not even live in the area yet, let alone have an active ministry. Fast forward several months, Dan resigned from his job and within 24 hours of doing that, he got an email from Good Samaritan saying that the other folks had taken a pass on the building and if Dan still wanted it, the building was his. That’s how the journey of The Village started.

Let the Community Decide

Carrie and Dan settled in the idea that they were brand new in the Waterville community, let alone brand new in the undertaking of leading a ministry. Being unfamiliar with the community’s needs, they prayed about it and opened the doors and let the community decide what it is they want to use the building for. They had a town hall style meeting, met up with the community and asked everyone’s opinion. It was a mix of skepticism and gratitude that eventually voiced out the need for a place where boy scouts and girl scouts can come to meet, a place where people can hold dance classes, a place for birthday and anniversary parties—which eventually turned out to be the place for all of these community activities.

You can do all these events on donation-based fees so there’s no set heavy fees that go with using the space. It’s perfect for any event or occasion without taking a toll on one’s budget. The Village has hosted birthday parties, anniversaries, and even weddings.


Listen to Carrie talk about The Village on the Edina-SW Minneapolis Advice Givers (r) Podcast!

Food Distribution – It Just Happened, Too!

Over time, The Village also began to function as a food distribution. Similar to how The Village started, the food drive just happened. It began when a sister ministry had excess bread and asked Dan if he wanted to take the overflow. He put the bread out on a bread rack outside The Village – some took the bread while some took photos. There was a time when cases of food came in without knowing where the food was coming from.  The food sources continued to multiply and The Village now schedules a food distribution that feeds around 100 families per month.

The Village is now in operation for three years and currently accepts free will donations and provides food distribution with no questions asked. Listen to the rest of the podcast to learn more about donating and volunteering at The Village.

 

For food distribution details, keep yourself updated on The Village’s Facebook Page. For questions about holding your own events, send Dan an email at dan@thevillageinwaterville.com.

Building Your Dream Home Without Starting From Scratch Is As Simple As a Rehab Loan

by Leave a Comment

Learn how rehab loans can expand your buying options from Fairway’s Carrie Guarrero, who walks us through this home improvement loan that lets you borrow money to buy a home a renovate it.

As the local housing markets get tighter and tighter, today’s home-buyers get frustrated with their limited options. With a historical low inventory but with normal buying demand, people are finding it hard to purchase a home that’s right for them. But don’t lose hope yet because our friend, Carrie Guarrero of Fairway Independent Mortgage, welcomes us in her home to share a mortgage hack that could be your ticket to a home in that perfect neighborhood!

Rehab Loans: An Overlooked Option

Carrie Guarrero and Tim Murphy talk Rehab Loans in Ep 51 of the Edina-SW Minneapolis Advice Givers (r) Podcast

With the recent low listings of real estate properties, home-buyers struggle to find the homes they desire. Submitting your offer for a house becomes The Hunger Games with forty other people doing the same thing.  It seems like a hopeless case when you don’t have any other options left in the neighborhood you’ve always wanted to settle in.

Most home-buyers usually don’t consider buying a house in need of repairs or improvements. Carrie nudges us to the idea that perhaps they should. Apparently, there are these things called rehab mortgages, a type of home improvement loan, that can be used to buy a property that needs a little bit of work. What rehab loans do is that they let home buyers borrow enough to buy a home and pay for the renovations that the property needs.

With rehab loans, Carrie has helped her clients buy properties in neighborhoods that, otherwise, might have been out of their reach. Rehab loans will help you repair an “ugly” property and turn it into your dream home.

Speaking from Experience

Carrie Guarrero has lived the rehab loan process herself after discovering this home in Waterville, MN in need of saving. Look at it now!

Aside from being an expert on rehab loans, Carrie herself went through the similar homebuyer situation – before moving to Waterville, she lost out on a multiple offer situation with no other appealing option. In fact, her current home was an unlisted property at the time she was inquiring. She was viewing a house, was frustrated and happened to glance out the back window when she saw this Waterville property (now her home) and said, “If I could just get my hands on a house like that.” Fortunately, her agent knew the owner and they went over to ask if the owner was interested to sell. Carrie emphasizes on the importance of working with people who aren’t afraid and will go beyond to help you find a property that you can afford and can envision a future in.

It’s About Good Location and Good Structure

At the time she was asking the owners if they would think about selling, the house was a rental duplex unit for 15-20 years that wasn’t exactly cared for. It needed pretty much a whole lot of everything. However, in her mind, Carrie saw the house as what it used to be and what it could become.

It is difficult to imagine what to make of a dilapidated property or even a property that just needs cosmetic updates. If you’re having trouble seeing the big picture, focus on these things: Is the house in the right place? Does it have a good solid structure? If so, you can pretty much do anything with a rehab loan. Carrie recently worked with a couple who had that problem and upon taking Carrie’s advice, they ended up buying an older farmhouse with acreage through a rehab loan. They spent a little over $100,000 and turned it into the perfect property for them.  Whether a home just needs some simple updates or a major overhaul a rehab loan may be the key to getting you what you want and need in a home today.

Some Tips When Considering a Rehab Mortgage

  • Ask your realtor for market valuation. They can consider the current value of the property and the value post-rehab. Some can even give recommendations regarding the construction side. They usually have contacts with reputable contractors.
  • Find one great general contractor to work with and enlist them to attend the home inspection with you. They can tell what improvements you can do and estimate the construction cost.
  • Leave room for overruns. Overruns happen more in remodels because there’s always something that’s unknown. Have a contingency plan.

 

For more information and to ask Carrie a question:
Carrie Guarrero
Producing Branch Manager
NMLS# 209015
Office: 952.851.8966

 

Why Veterans Deserve a Second Opinion When it Comes to VA Financing

by Leave a Comment

When veterans come back from service and look for a place to live, most have no idea how they go about financing a new home. Additionally, most don’t know and understand their own veteran benefits so upon appointment with their approved lenders, they just say yes to the next best option without using any of the benefits available to them that could save them up to thousands of dollars.

Not all lenders are adept in veterans affairs (VA) and not a lot of them would go the extra mile to research other available options. So, whether a veteran is newly out of the service, just home from a recent deployment or a World War II hero, it’s always worth to seek a second opinion when it comes to VA financing, as advised by our go-to mortgage provider, Carrie Guarrero of Fairway Independent Mortgage Corporation.

The Sakatah Challenge and the Heart to Serve Veterans

Dating back to her grandmother, Carrie comes from a family of veterans who have served in the Army, Navy & Marines. She is also a proud army mom – her son enlisted at 17 and is still serving. As a matter of fact, she’s also the lead organizer for the upcoming Sakatah Challenge, which will take place on May 26th in Waterville, MN. This event is part of the American Warrior Initiative to carry out AWI’s mission to educate, encourage and inspire Americans to give back to our military. The race will benefit the AWI and local scholarships.

Having veterans in her own family and interacting with other veterans through Sakatah and AWI, it is obvious that the veteran community is dear to Carrie. She tells us that most of them are unaware of their VA financing benefits and as a Military Mortgage Specialist, she has made it a mission to educate them. Most lenders miss out on prodding their loan applicants if they’ve served in the military thereby, missing the chance to consider applicable benefits. Additional benefits may include waived funding fees depending on a veteran’s circumstance.

There Are Lenders and There Are Those Who Specialize in VA Loans

There are many lenders, but few who invest their time in truly knowing the all the options in VA financing. However, there are those who take the time to become Military Mortgage Specialists – lenders who specialize in VA financing. In fact, Fairway has their army of VA experts and they have partnered with the American Warrior Initiative to educate loan officers and realtors nationwide on serving the veteran community. Fairway is dedicated to giving back to the veterans, and the community in general, through finding the best loans at the best rates for them.


Listen to the entire podcast!

A Message for the Realtors and the Sellers

There’s just one thing that Carrie wants to get across clearly to the realtors and sellers out there. It is to remember that veterans laid down their lives for us and this country and that when they submit an offer with a zero down VA loan, it shouldn’t be frowned upon. Instead it should be viewed with a perspective that these brave men earned their zero down offer and it’s a privilege to be handling their sale.

If you have interest in the Sakatah Challenge, go over to their Facebook page. If you have questions or need advice on your own VA loans and want to know the gritty details you might be missing, you can get in touch with Carrie at Fairway Independent Mortgage with this number: 952.851.8966.
Email: cghomeloan@fairwaymc.com
NMLS# 209015

When Your Body is Not Keeping Up with Your Passion for Running – Performance Running Helps Push You to the Next Level

by Leave a Comment

Mark Johnson, owner of Performance Running in St. Louis Park

Need a workout designed around your need to run? Performance Running trains runners. Period. Mark Johnson, a stay at home dad for ten years, decided to combine his excitement for running and training and open a facility to help fellow runners take their passion to a whole new level of personal success. This is a gym for runners by runners and nothing else. No fancy cafe, no pool, just equipment and training that helps runners cross the finish line strong.

An Accidental Passion – Literally

Mark’s passion for running was born 20 years ago when he hurt his knee. He tore a meniscus, and after surgery, his surgeon advised him to keep his knee muscles strong to avoid arthritis. So when he came home from the hospital, he started running, and within his first year, ran a marathon. From then on he was hooked.  Aside from strengthening his knee muscles, he found an intense passion for running. Following that, he would run two marathons a year, which eventually led to even more intense challenges, trail running and ultramarathons.

Confessions of a Running Addict

Not a lot of people find joy in running, and Mark puts it this way – when a person starts running, it is hard! But once you get into shape, you can run for miles and miles. Mark says that you will love that feeling of being able to go crank out a 10-mile run and not feel like you put much effort into it. That’s the thing that keeps him coming back; it’s addicting.

Members of Performance Running Gym proudly display their race bibs

From Operations to Full-Time Dad to Business Owner

Before Performance Running happened, Mark was an operations guy for a company that took over contracts for facilities. That part of his life planted the seed that one day he will want to build his own business.

He left operations and became a stay-at-home dad for ten years. He said to himself that when he goes back to work, it will be a business that has something to do with running. An idea from a text from his wife sparked an idea. She brought up that her work partner was randomly commenting on how there are a lot of fitness businesses but there’s none that focused on nutrition. Although his business idea, somewhat, had nothing to do with that, it triggered something in his head, and that’s when he thought to himself, “I need to open a gym for runners.” The idea was to build a gym very specific to running, and it just grew from there.

The idea evolved into a  space where he could teach runners how to make their bodies stronger while comfortable and confident.

Bodybuilding While Community Building

His dream is to give runners a place they can call home. Performance Running has a pleasant lounge area for people to relax and chat about past or upcoming races. They also have group runs so people can share the experience, push each other, and form friendships.

Since opening last December 2017, the Performance community has grown to over 100 members. It’s a warm community of people sharing their running goals and cheering each other on their events.  To Mark Johnson, it’s all about community.

Strength training is a big part of runner’s training at Performance Running

Custom Service, Targeted Training

Performance Running Gym presents you with a lot of options. Upon membership, you get a free training session, and from that, you can choose to train by yourself or get personalized training.

The gym collaborates with a race coaching company called Trail Transformation which adds additional nutrition and recovery services. For specific running goals, you can customize what services you want to be included. You can even get a full package that includes coaching, strength training, nutrition and recovery. Performance can guide you – a little or a lot – depending on what you want.

It’s All About Balance

Mark’s passionate about seeing people improve. He loves spending time with people in the weight room and helping them with their goals. To him, it’s super satisfying to hear people say that they feel great. That’s what gets him up every day.

While Mark trains for a balanced body, he also balances his roles as the sole trainer of Performance Running and as a father. His business set-up revolves around still being able to be a dad to his kids. Keeping that balance is absolutely critical to him and he wouldn’t do Performance Running if he couldn’t keep that balance.

To learn more about Performance Running in St. Louis Park, MN, head here.

 
Listen to full interview on the Edina-SW Minneapolis Advice Givers (r) Podcast with Tim Murphy

When Your Mortgage Provider is Also Like Your Mom Minus the Nagging

by Leave a Comment

Carrie Guarrero is not only a top mortgage lender with the CG Home Loan Partners at Fairway Independent Mortgage, but also a top career coach with Fairway Ignite. She helps guide professionals and clients through the bumpiest roads to success as they define it.

Why a Great Mom is a Great Coach

As a mother of 7 and a mortgage profession and coaching leader for 22 years, Carrie is always looking out for everybody. To Carrie, great parenting and coaching are very closely related. Parenting involves asking a lot of questions, encouraging, inspiring and holding her kids accountable. It is putting her children before herself – what is important to them, what do they want to achieve, and helping them towards those goals. With coaching, she focuses on her client’s objectives and helps them clarify the steps that need to be taken to attain those objectives.

Carrie believes that both coaching and parenting are more about listening than they are about teaching. That is why at Fairway Ignite, listening is one of the things they work on every single day with their coaches. She emphasizes the importance of listening and understanding where their clients are coming from so that they can help guide them, encourage them, inspire them, and cater to whatever it is they may need at any given time. Just like how Carrie puts her children before herself, she does the same for her clients.

Changing Lives

Everyday, Carrie wakes up to the objective of changing lives with her coaching. Parenting and coaching are both great passions for this inspiring woman. In fact, in her coaching company and close circles, she is known as Mama C. It’s a nickname that she got from one of her clients and since then, has stuck. To her mortgage clients, she is the mom you need when you don’t want your real mom involved. As mortgage loans are one of the biggest financial decisions that most people make in their lifetimes, having a mortgage mom like Carrie to give you information helps a lot in making an educated decision. She looks out for you and you’re sure she has your best interest at heart.

Carrie shares that the most rewarding thing that always takes her back to the heart of coaching is when a client gets real with her and is open to receiving what they can do to make a difference in their lives. It’s those moments that she believes she is able to actually making a big difference. Talking about production, accountability, and numbers are given things she can offer and there’s always a place for those. But for a client to actually open up, be vulnerable and ask what can be done, that’s the essence of coaching.

It is not always about the technical aspects. It is more about having her clients’ backs, helping them make the best decisions and looking out for their best interests.

Always Looking Out for You – Just Like Mom

The first thing Carrie asks her mortgage clients is this, “What are you comfortable with?” Any company can supply reliable information and competitive rates and fees but many don’t bother to ask what the client is comfortable with. Carrie and her team, however, go into the nitty-gritty and make sure you are agreeable with what you are investing – that you are okay with your down payment. Carrie wants to make sure you are comfortable long-term and that your payment is something sustainable for you – like a mom would.

At the CG Home Loan Partners at Fairway, they usually present three options and clients get educated on these. As mortgage coaching is an education process, Carrie makes sure that her clients understand the little tweaks that can make a huge financial difference. This is exactly the kind of information people are looking for from an expert or a parent.

This is long term; this isn’t just a transaction.  At the end of the day when selecting a mortgage professional and who you’re going use to provide financing, it’s a given that people supply competitive interest rates and fees and loan programs and all of that good stuff. Who do you want to have your back? This is a relationship. This is long-term.”

It’s not everyday you get to know a mortgage officer who would genuinely ask questions about you and get to know you and not just ask about your mortgage. For long-term commitments like buying a home, it’s good to know that there are people working in the industry who want to take care of you for the long haul.

Questions? Call Carrie at Fairway Independent Mortgage: 952-853-0222 

NMLS #209015. Equal housing lender.


Listen to the full episode

Home Finance Expert Carrie Guarrero Explains 3 Things You Need to Be Ready for When Building Your Dream Home

by Leave a Comment

Carrie Guarrero

Carrie Guarrero of Fairway Independent Mortgage

Have you ever dreamed of moving into a brand-new home? – Or transforming the home you have? The appeal of new floors, fresh paint and the latest trendy finishes is hard to resist. Some people have the do-it-yourself bug that sustains entire cable TV channels while others prefer to visit and gain inspiration from model homes and let a builder take it from there.  Whether you prefer to be hands-on or take a supervisory role, there are many common misconceptions, mistakes and pitfalls along the way to making the dream of a new or remodelled home a reality and finance expert Carrie Guarrero of Fairway Independent Mortgage knows exactly what they are.

Mortgage lending – and homeownership in general – is really Carrie Guarrero’s family business. Carrie joined her mother in the lending industry at a very young age, and she gravitated toward builders and providing the information and support they needed to help consumers finance new homes.  Carrie was a fixture at model homes and job sites, helping builders and clients navigate what can be a confusing construction loan process. Carrie worked with thousands of people during the construction boom of the late 1990s and she’s been through the process herself:

“My husband and I built our home from scratch in the early 2000s. It’s impossible to get everything right on the first attempt and it’s definitely not all sunshine and roses. Thank goodness we’re still married!”

With the build and remodel renaissance underway in places like Edina and Southwest Minneapolis and the traditional home shopping season ramping up, Carrie understands what people are looking for and how to help them make it happen. Helping new construction buyers is one thing, but living through a major build project herself increased her ability to connect with customers and help them along what is often a rollercoaster ride.

Here are some common scenarios that arise when building a new home or doing a remodel:

Transitions: It’s normal to experience a gap between your new home being ready and your old home being available.  Carrie, her husband and their five children lived in residential suites for a month until their new home was finished so she truly empathizes with her clients.  Delays such as material delivery or a contractor getting sick are common, but they can have a big impact on your living situation (and sanity). It’s important to be aware and prepare for obstacles.

Lending. There are different requirements and processes for construction and rehab financing and it’s critical to deal with a loan officer and support team who are well-versed in these loan types. Choosing an experienced group like Carrie and her team who understand the unique experience of major construction projects will help make the loan process as seamless – and pleasant – as possible.

Prices. The end price of your project is almost always higher than the initial price. Everything from lighting to backsplashes and hardware can jack up prices, so it’s important to take details into consideration and plan for the possibility of overruns.

It may be hard to imagine why anyone would want to build or take on a major remodel after considering all that could be difficult or go wrong, but Carrie says there’s really nothing like it in the end:

“It’s your dream home! It’s virtually impossible to find an existing house that has everything you want. Building – or even a big remodel – gives you a blank slate and you get to design it to your specifications and style.”

After over twenty years in the industry, Carrie has more passion than ever when it comes to being part of helping people on their personal paths to homeownership – whatever that looks like. Construction and renovation financing is a wonderful way to build or create the home of your dreams; but the process is different than a common purchase home loan and it’s important to have expert guidance backed by years of experience in that arena. Carrie and her team bring decades of experience and exceptional service for the best possible customer experience. There are a lot of moving parts to construction and renovation loans and everyone’s situation is different, so it’s critical to make sure you get the right financing for your project, needs and goals. When it comes to mortgages for new construction or rehab, don’t try it at home…or rather, don’t try it on your own.

 

Watch Carrie Guarrero with Tim Murphy on the Edina-SW Minneapolis Advice Givers (r) Podcast (Full episode)