If there's one thing that we've learned after years of success in the real estate photography industry, it's that first impressions are super important. Sure, looking your best on a first date might score you some brownie points. But in the real estate business, making a stellar first impression can mean the difference between selling a property and losing a client.
If you're reading this page, chances are you're involved in real estate in some form or fashion, whether you're an agent, builder, interior designer, or architect. You're probably in need of a professional real estate photographer in Seguin, TX but aren't sure which company to trust. We get it - you're making an investment into your business and need to know that you're working with talented professionals. Fortunately, you can scratch those other names off your list, because you're just a few clicks away from working with THE best real estate photography firm in Texas!
Welcome to Twist Tours Real Estate and Portfolio Marketing Services: your go-to group for modern real estate photography and interactive virtual tours. We're proud to be a local company, serving Central Texas Drone photography, video with awesome real estate photography, 3D Matterport models, 2D + 3D floor plans, and premium single property websites.!
Unlike some of our competitors, we care just as much about how our products look as you do. That's why we make it a point to provide our customers with the finest photography and friendliest customer service in the game. Our professional photographers utilize the latest technology and equipment, so you can rest easy knowing your photos will look incredible. With a team of creative superstars by our side, we're always on top of new marketing trends and photography techniques. That way, sellers get what they deserve, and buyers get what they want: the very best real estate photography available in Texas.
Our photographers and Matterport scanners are ridiculously great at what they do. Plus, our support team is made up of bona fide superstars. So, if you have questions or concerns, we're more than happy to chat with you.
Our photography and videography expertise includes:
Real Estate Photography
Online Tours
3D Models
Aerial Photography
Floor Plans
Virtual Staging
Unmatched Real Estate Photography in Seguin, TX
We've all heard the phrase "A picture is worth a thousand words," and in today's digitally-dominant world, that saying is more poignant than ever. In real estate, pictures have a huge impact on whether a home is sold or passed by. That's especially true in a time when prospective homebuyers are less likely to travel in-person to tour a home in their price range.
With more time on their hands to peruse real estate listings, buyers are inundated with all sorts of images, which is why your real estate photos must stand out from the crowd. Once buyers filter through property locations, pricing, nearby school districts, and square footage, they want to flip through photos. If your pictures aren't up to snuff, you can be sure the homebuyer will move to the next listing.
Fortunately, Twist Tours is here to provide you with high-resolution, creative photography for your real estate needs - whether you're listing a brand-new home or selling a property that has been on the market too long.
We believe Twist Tours stands apart because we do more than capturing a visual record of a home. Instead, your Twist Tours real estate photographer develops an emotional bridge between potential buyers and real estate listings by enhancing the home's true character. Every aspect of our real estate photos, drone shots, videos, and tours are carefully engineered to bring your property to life
With a staff of highly-trained, innovative real estate photographers, there's no project too large or "out of the box" for us to handle. And we're not just talking real estate photography in the classic sense - we have successful clients in many different industries, who use our photographers for:
Interior Design
Lighting Design
Office Building
Medical Office
Landscape Design
Event Venue
Apartment Rental
Commercial Property
Restaurant
Vacation Rental
Spa & Retreat
Out of the Box Projects
Cutting-Edge Virtual Tour Photography
At Twist Tours, we believe that virtual tours and walkthroughs have a secure place in the real estate industry. Every agent needs access to great property walkthroughs, which is why we offer several imaginative tour options for every budget. We provide three types of full-service virtual tours: photo tours, floor plan tours, and our most popular option, 360-degree walkthrough tours. We also provide custom 3D Matterport services complete with photography, floor plans, and aerial video for clients in our service area. Not located in Austin or San Antonio? Our self-service options are a great choice, even if you're located in another country.
What is 3D Matterport?
Before we give you a breakdown covering our real estate tours, you might wonder: what is Matterport 3D?
These immersive walkthroughs bring properties to life, almost like a life-sized dollhouse that buyers can tour. Matterport's incredible tours help the top real estate brokerages and even FSBO pros sell homes quickly and win listings by giving homebuyers the chance to experience your property as if they were really there.
Our 3D Matterport experts scan your home, and when it's all said and done, you'll have an incredible 3D showcase highlighting all the bells and whistles of your listing. If you're looking to get a leg up on your competition, here's your chance!
3D Degree Walkthrough Tours
If you're really looking to take your real estate game to the next level, a 360-degree tour is the way to go. By far our most popular tour, our 360-degree tours feature premium single-property websites that combine the 3D Matterport space, floor plan, and professional photo packages into an amazing interactive online presentation experience. Additionally, clients can choose to include an interactive 2D floor plan or a 3D floorplan feature that looks like HGTV's like Room Planner. We can even include a virtual walkthrough video, walkthrough tours that are optimized for mobile devices, brand logos, and detailed buyers' tools.
1.
Floor Plan Tours
These custom walkthroughs feature floor and photo tours that display on a premium single property website. Our floor plan tours include a stunning virtual walkthrough tour, a gallery of professional photos, an interactive 3D and 2D floorplan with an HGTV-style Room Planner, and more.
2.
Photo Tours
These tours contain professional photos from our team of photographers, displayed in a single-property premium landing page that comes with a beautiful gallery display, the virtual walkthrough video tour, along with your digital branding materials.
Along with our virtual tour packages, clients may choose additional features, including:
Real Estate Videos: Excellent real estate videography in Seguin, TX is hard to find, especially if you're working on a budget. Luckily, Twist is here to save the day. We take your YouTube videos to another level of awesome with video clips, agent bookends, entry slides, and exit slides. Choose the exact copy you would like displayed, and our team will automatically upload it to your YouTube channel.
FREE 3D Floor Plans: Yep, you read that right. Our 3D floor plans with Room Planner are 100% free and let buyers edit, visualize, and plan their spaces in 3D.
Tour Reports: What good would a virtual tour be without actionable insights for you to monitor? We offer detailed stats on tour visits, sites referring your virtual tour, and more. Our tour reports are emailed directly to your email account so that you have easy access on a regular basis.
Custom Brochures: Twist Tours offers more than 15 personalized templates, which have our floor plans built-in for online and offline marketing needs.
Syndicate Your Tour: We can place your virtual tour on the MLS listing, on realtor.com, and YouTube platforms.
Interactive Floor Plan Tours: Let tour viewers interact directly with your floor plan with the addition of interactive features, like point & click hotspots. This feature is especially useful for mobile users.
Lead Capture: Our unique Lead Capture technology will drive more photo clicks and turn your real estate virtual tour into a lead-making machine.
Aerial Video and Photography Services for Real Estate
Nothing showcases your property quite like professional aerial video and photography. With our drone photography services, you can turn lookers into buyers by giving them a unique vantage point of your commercial or residential property. If you're looking to set your real estate business apart from your competition, drone photography and video is the way to go.
Aerial photography adds an extra layer of "special" to your real estate photos, taking your listing from dull to downright beautiful. Sellers want to work with agents willing to entertain creative ways to sell homes. Buyers want to see every nook and cranny of the home they're interested in buying. With aerial real estate photography, you get the best of both worlds.
Benefits of aerial real estate photography and video include:
Property Location
If you're a real estate expert, we bet you're used to hearing the saying "location, location, location." One of the greatest benefits of aerial real estate photography is the chance to see where a home is located with respect to parks, restaurants, and other attractions. If you need to capture the entirety of a property's layout, take to the skies.
Property Accuracy
Taking pictures is one of the most important steps in selling a home. Generally, exterior real estate photos are taken from common locations like driveways, back yards, and on decks. Aerial real estate photography and videography can show a more accurate, robust depiction of a home for sale, giving buyers a more complete picture of the home they're looking to buy.
Tell a Better Story
Excellent storytelling is one of the most reliable keys to real estate sales. On the one hand, buyers want to know exactly where their money will be going when buying a home. On the other hand, sellers want to work with an agent who has more than the typical tools of the trade on hand. When coupled with interactive virtual tours, hiring a Twist real estate videographer in Seguin, TX can help realtors tell a more captivating story.
Commercial Real Estate Photography Services
Ever considered professional real estate photography for your commercial business needs? Making a first strong impression is an incredible asset to your business. Doing so is equally as important for commercial purposes as it is for residential real estate reasons. With Twist Tours, your prospective clients can access online 3D virtual tours filled with stunning HDR real estate photography to give them a full picture of what you're selling. With our floor plan and room planner tours, you can even implement our real estate photos in your print marketing materials.
But that's just the start. A few additional benefits of commercial real estate photography include:
1.
Give Buyers What They Want:
The Wall Street Journal recently published a piece about the best ways to sell a commercial property. Their research found that buyers spent 60% of their time looking at photos on a property page. Knowing this, you must find creative ways to make your listings and marketing materials stand out. A lack of dazzling, positive imagery could mean you lose out on a sale or a tenant.
2.
More Clicks and Shares:
When prospective buyers or tenants are captivated by a real estate photo, they are very likely to click through to your website. Pictures with the right mix of professionalism and pizzaz are also share-worthy, meaning your commercial property for sale will reach a wider audience.
3.
Get That Great First Impression:
For buyers or tenants to take your commercial property seriously, your real estate images must make a positive impression by being HDR, modern, and beautiful.
Do the Twist
Guess what? At Twist Tours, we love our clients. Not just because of the fantastic relationships we've formed with builders, brokers, owners, designers, agents, and their staff - but because they get it. They know how important a strong first impression can be in the real estate industry. The only thing we love more than meeting new clients is helping them grow their business. If you're ready to get started on more success, we're here to help.
Need detailed pricing? Click over to our website to use our cost calculator and check out our photography packages. We look forward to hearing from you today!
866-648-0022Free Consultation
Latest News in Seguin, TX
People moving to Texas as local, state economy grows
Darren Dunnhttps://seguintoday.com/2024/01/05/people-moving-to-texas-as-local-state-economy-grows/
(Seguin) — The city of Seguin is growing, which is no surprise if you see all the houses going up around town. That growth in Seguin is being replicated in several other parts of the Texas. In fact, the latest data from truck rental company U-Haul suggests that more and more people are moving to Texas. This is the third straight year that Texas has topped the U-Haul Growth Index, which looks at the number of one-way movers. Florida came in second. And, for the fourth year in a row, California had the largest net loss of one-way movers....
(Seguin) — The city of Seguin is growing, which is no surprise if you see all the houses going up around town. That growth in Seguin is being replicated in several other parts of the Texas. In fact, the latest data from truck rental company U-Haul suggests that more and more people are moving to Texas. This is the third straight year that Texas has topped the U-Haul Growth Index, which looks at the number of one-way movers. Florida came in second. And, for the fourth year in a row, California had the largest net loss of one-way movers.
The report from U-Haul isn’t all that suprising to Glen Hamer, of the Texas Association of Business. He says there are several things that are attracting new people to the Lone Star State.
“Texas is the land of opportunity. We have the strongest economy in the United States of America,” said Hamer.
A few years ago Texas started attracting more and more tech jobs, which also brought more new people to the state. Hamer says the economy is diverse and it continues to grow.
“This is an economy that is firing on all cylinders — in every sector,” said Hamer.
A favorable cost-of-living for much of the state is helping to attract new people to Texas. Hamer says there’s also an abundance of good paying jobs, which acts as a magnet for the state.
“People from all around the country are coming to Texas to pursue their employment dreams. There’s just no economy in the country that’s stronger (than Texas),” said Hamer.
The U-Haul Growth Index largerly supports some of the other recent economic data reported about Texas. Governor Greg Abbott this week is touting new numbers from the Bureau of Economic Analysis that shows the Texas economy grew faster than the rest of the nation.
During the third quarter of 2023, the Texas GDP grew at 7.7 percent, while the rest of the nation grew at 4.9 percent. This is the fifth straight quarter that saw Texas outpace the rest of the country. Governor Abbott called Texas the “undisputed economic leader” in the United States.These figures come on the heels of November’s employment numbers, that showed Texas adding more jobs over the past year than any other state.
Seguin mourns loss of community advocate
Cindy Aguirrehttps://seguintoday.com/2024/02/27/seguin-mourns-loss-of-community-advocate/
(Seguin) — When it came to Seguin, Steve Tschoepe always wore his heart on his sleeve. It was that love for his community that still has folks reeling over his sudden death this past weekend.A local realtor and former Seguin City Council member, Tschoepe is remembered for dedicating his time to several programs and charity efforts throughout the community.Remembering her friend is Seguin Mayor Donna Dodgen. Dodgen says Tschoepe’s intentions have always been to make Seguin an even better place to live, work and play....
(Seguin) — When it came to Seguin, Steve Tschoepe always wore his heart on his sleeve. It was that love for his community that still has folks reeling over his sudden death this past weekend.
A local realtor and former Seguin City Council member, Tschoepe is remembered for dedicating his time to several programs and charity efforts throughout the community.
Remembering her friend is Seguin Mayor Donna Dodgen. Dodgen says Tschoepe’s intentions have always been to make Seguin an even better place to live, work and play.
“That was Steve. He loved our town. He loved what he did. He was committed. I mean oh my gosh, there wasn’t anything that he wouldn’t do for somebody,” said Dodgen.
Tschoepe gradated from Seguin High School in 1976. Following those years, he spent time working as a photographer and reporter at the Seguin Gazette.
After a career in the printing business, Tschoepe spent most of his recent years as a realtor at Century 21-The Hills Realty.
Tschoepe is also being remembered for his two terms on the Seguin City Council.
Tschoepe served the constituents of District 6 from 2004 to 2012.
Dodgen says his leadership roles, however, went beyond his sole responsibilities of being on the council. She says for years, Tschoepe has been a key player behind the preservation and successful operation of the Texas Theatre located on North Austin Street.
Tschoepe was determined to make sure that the Texas offered events that the entire community could enjoy, everything from music performances to community theater productions.
“I am going to miss him and I know that the Texas Theater is going to miss him terribly. He was organized and had really high standards and he wanted things to happen and he loved history. He did things for the Texas. He was always there participating in the background ensuring things ran smooth and that the theater was on track and kept up nicely and things were done and that is how he was in everything he did and that is what was so amazing about Steve. It is just a huge void — a huge void in our community and we are all still reeling from it I know,” said Dodgen.
Most importantly, Dodgen says her friend was a man of faith who operated with integrity and who always put his family first.
“He is going to be missed. He was a good good friend and I know his family is going to miss him because he was always there for them and church. We are going to miss him at Emanuel’s because he did things. He was involved and that was just him. He participated in his community because he loved it and he loved everybody and I remember him taking Betty Ann Matthies when he was on council and she was Mayor — he helped her do everything. He was her sidekick. They would drive and he would do things with her and he always tried to find solutions,” said Dodgen.
Folks who knew him would agree with Dodgen that Tschoepe simply had a key role in ensuring good things in Seguin. A big supporter of the Seguin ISD, he served on the board of directors for the Seguin Education Foundation. He was also a board member for the Seguin Conservation Society and the Seguin Area Chamber of Commerce. Tschoepe is also credited for his long standing support of the Distinguished Young Women of Guadalupe County program better known in this area as Junior Miss.
Funeral services for Tschoepe will be held at 2 p.m. Friday at Emanuel’s Lutheran Church.
Tschope was 65.
Ring of fire eclipse to cross Seguin!
Lizz Danielshttps://seguintoday.com/2023/10/13/ring-of-fire-eclipse-to-cross-seguin/
What to know about this weekend’s annular eclipse(Seguin) — One of nature’s most awe-inspiring displays is set to cross over Central Texas this weekend, and all of Guadalupe County is going to have a great view. The annular solar eclipse will take place this Saturday, peaking just before noon.But before you head out to stare into the sky, here are some important tips to protect your eyes and cameras while experiencing this rare event.PROTECT YOUR EYESAt no point during the eclipse...
What to know about this weekend’s annular eclipse
(Seguin) — One of nature’s most awe-inspiring displays is set to cross over Central Texas this weekend, and all of Guadalupe County is going to have a great view. The annular solar eclipse will take place this Saturday, peaking just before noon.
But before you head out to stare into the sky, here are some important tips to protect your eyes and cameras while experiencing this rare event.
PROTECT YOUR EYES
At no point during the eclipse should you view the event without eye protection. Unlike a total solar eclipse, you will not be able to remove your glasses during totality. Instead, the sun will appear as a ring of fire around the moon as it reaches annularity.
Exposure to the sun without proper protection can cause “eclipse blindness” or burns on your retinas, causing long-term visual damage.
NASA recommends glasses with ISO 12312-2 stamped on them, so whether you buy online or locally, make sure you’ve got the right lenses.
It’s also important to remember to put your glasses on before you look at the eclipse and then look away before taking them off.
PROTECT YOUR CAMERA
Knowing the sun can damage your eyes, it may come as no surprise that it can also damage your phone’s camera (or any camera). According to NASA, viewing the eclipse through your camera lens, telescope, or other device with or without wearing eclipse glasses or a solar viewer is also not advised, as the rays may burn through the filter.
To protect your phone or other camera, you’ll need a lens filter with the same level of protection as your solar glasses.
ENJOY THE EVENT
While solar eclipses occur somewhere on the planet around every 18 months, some sources estimate that they only happen once every 300-400 years in a given location. That would typically make this a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Luckily for Texans, though, a total solar eclipse will be headed this way in April of next year. During that one, the moon will completely block out the sun.
The Seguin community has many local eclipse parties to choose from this weekend, with the Seguin Public Library and others hosting events. The city of Seguin falls on the grazing zone of the eclipse, meaning you’ll be able to see it, but the effect won’t quite be full-blown. If you’re looking for a better view, consider heading west to reach the full eclipse zone, where the annularity duration will be longer.
The annular solar eclipse begins on the West coast in Oregon around 9:13 a.m. PT and will peak over Guadalupe County at around 11:53 a.m.
With this once-in-a-lifetime event happening on a Saturday, families are encouraged to prepare by having those glasses handy. Folks will not want to be caught without them outside as they enjoy those sporting events, pumpkin patch outings, or that long list of events at the Guadalupe County Fair.
Locations hosting free eclipse viewing parties for the entire community include the Seguin Public Library, A.J. Briesemeister Middle School; Emanuel’s Lutheran Church, BS Brewing, Morning Buzz Coffee Company in McQueeney, and the Guadalupe Valley Habitat Restore.
‘Loving the City’ of Seguin, Texas
Weston Curnowhttps://livingchurch.org/2024/03/05/loving-the-city-of-seguin-texas/
An hour outside of San Antonio, nestled in beautiful Texas Hill Country, Seguin is a vibrant and growing community. Benefiting from the growth of the Sunbelt in recent years, Seguin’s population has increased by over 16 percent in the last decade. At the center of this dynamic city stands St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church.In the last three years, rector Stephen Shortess and the members of St. Andrew’s have welcomed over 40 new members, a 13 per...
An hour outside of San Antonio, nestled in beautiful Texas Hill Country, Seguin is a vibrant and growing community. Benefiting from the growth of the Sunbelt in recent years, Seguin’s population has increased by over 16 percent in the last decade. At the center of this dynamic city stands St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church.
In the last three years, rector Stephen Shortess and the members of St. Andrew’s have welcomed over 40 new members, a 13 percent increase in membership. Average Sunday attendance is up by more than 20 percent.
“For us, it’s all about community,” said vestry member Susan Rinn.
“For us, COVID presented a moment to discern who and what we want to be,” Shortess said. “It was then that we asked ourselves, ‘How much can we mean to the people in our community?’”
St. Andrew’s transformed its church garden into a community garden, and began hosting nature walks. These changes attracted children and families, and became beloved features of the Seguin community.
St. Andrew’s believes church should offer a fun family atmosphere. Christians “should not forget — the only way to keep tradition alive is to adapt,” Shortess said.
Shortess said one of the most important aspects of emerging from the pandemic was making people “see how important we are for each other. … And we do that by doing our best to love one another and rejoicing in the 5- and 95-year-old.”
St. Andrew’s focuses its outreach on local matters. During the height of the pandemic, St. Andrew’s started providing snacks for local nurses and forged a supportive relationship with Jefferson Elementary School.
Members of the church have also created a feeding ministry for students at Texas Lutheran University. On Sunday nights throughout the academic term, 20 to 30 parishioners feed more than 100 hungry college students. “It is our hope that when these students decide to look for a church home, they will remember the way the Episcopal Church treated them and cared for them,” Shortess said.
St. Andrew’s works to be visible in the community through “a willingness to open the doors and be a part of it,” Shortess said. “When we open our doors, we love this city. It is important for me to be out and about in our community.”
He added: “Enthusiasm is contagious. An enthusiastic rector makes for an inspired and responsive parish. Of course, this can only happen if there is a willingness and trust on behalf of the entire community.”
Growth at St. Andrew’s “has to do with who we are,” Shortess said. “People feel very welcomed at St. Andrew’s. People feel happy to be at St. Andrew’s. People feel God’s presence here. At St. Andrew’s, we have a culture of welcome — everyone belongs.”
Shortess encourages other churches not to fear trying new approaches to ministry. “Be willing to take risks — what do we have to lose? God is always going to ‘so love the world.’ With that behind us, what do we have to fear?” For Shortess, Christians have all the reason to be the church in and of their communities — “God loves us so much, he is waiting at the doors of our church to go with us.”
Weston Curnow is a student at the University of Kansas and assistant for liturgy and family ministries at St. Margaret’s Church in Lawrence, Kansas.
Developer, investors make visit to Seguin to discuss major mixed-use retail development project
Lizz Danielshttps://seguintoday.com/2023/11/15/developer-investors-make-visit-to-seguin-to-discuss-major-mixed-use-retail-development-project/
(Seguin) — The developers of a highly-anticipated retail and residential project are offering reassurances to the community that they are committed to building something special in the city of Seguin. Henry Che and Delphine Nguyen, of the Che Capital Group — based in the Chicago area, were again in Seguin last week to discuss their Creekside Gardens and Moonshine Industrial Park projects. Creekside Gardens would be a 62-acre mixed use development that would include apartments, townhomes, and a new retail development at the northe...
(Seguin) — The developers of a highly-anticipated retail and residential project are offering reassurances to the community that they are committed to building something special in the city of Seguin. Henry Che and Delphine Nguyen, of the Che Capital Group — based in the Chicago area, were again in Seguin last week to discuss their Creekside Gardens and Moonshine Industrial Park projects. Creekside Gardens would be a 62-acre mixed use development that would include apartments, townhomes, and a new retail development at the northeast corner of State Highway 123 Bypass and East Kingsbury Street (U.S. Highway 90). The Moonshine Industrial Park would be a 54-acre warehouse development for industrial customers, and would be located on Highway 90, just east of Seguin.
Che says they weren’t just here to provide an update on their plans, but they also wanted to introduce the community to two of their Asia-based investors. Just like Che and Nguyen, their investors Kongkiat Opaswongkam and Thu Huong Duong, are also married. Che says they wanted to give them a first hand look at the land associated with both projects, and to allow them to mingle with community leaders during meetings here in the city.
“The commitment has always been there. We’re just here to really reiterate our commitment to Seguin, and at the same time, like I mentioned at the luncheon, we want to make more connections with Seguin to find additional opportunities to invest here. So, we don’t take this investment lightly. This is a very big deal for us. We believe in Seguin. We believe in its potential. We believe in its people. So, we’re here to stay,” said Che.
Che says it’s important for their investors to really get to know Seguin, and for the community to get to know them as well. He says they plan to be a long term partner in this community.
“We’re here as your neighbor. We’re here as an investment partner to grow with Seguin, because over the next five to 10 years — as your own EDC and city manager have said — we’re growing like crazy. We will be growing up to 40 or 50 thousand residents, right? That’s in the next five to 10 years. So, we want to a part of that wave,” said Che.
Nguyen says they have cleared the initial hurdles associated with the Creekside Gardens project, but she says there are several steps that still lie ahead. The old saying that time is money, definitely applies to this project, and that’s something that they are also watching as they move forward.
“We’re very glad that we got it re-zoned for multi-family, retail, (and) townhouses. That’s wonderful. That was the first step, and now we’re working on another step to pursue permits,” said Nguyen. “Interest rates already affect a lot of budgets, and definitely there’s an impact on our budget too. So, that is something that can also delay the project a little bit, but we believe in 2024-25, things may change.”
Duong, who wore a beautiful Vietnamese formal gown as a sign of respect for Seguin during her visit last Tuesday, says she felt very comfortable in Seguin. She says it’s warm here, just like home, and she was also very impressed by the warmth of the people here as well. Duong is the founder and CEO of a large investment firm, with offices in Vietnam and Singapore. She says they are excited to be part of these projects.
“When I heard Henry and Delphine present about Texas, everybody knows Texas. They know Houston and Dallas, but they don’t know the other cities that are hidden gems. They showed us the strategic location of Seguin,” said Duong.
Seguin’s location is certainly one of the factors that led to the couple investing in these projects. Opaswongkam says they recognize the benefit of being involved in a growing market.
“We learn from different locations around the world, that sooner or later secondary cities will be developed as the primary cities will be full of density and crowded, and so they have to expand it. I grew up in Bangkok. I saw what happened in Bangkok. The city is becoming bigger and bigger, and of course they’re eating into the surrounding area. So, new airports develop, new expressways, etc. I think Seguin is facing the same kind of situation, because the big cities around you have been fully developed. So, populations have to sort of move out, and factory manufacturing facilities also move out further,” said Opaswongkam.
Opaswongkam serves as the CEO of Asia Plus Group Holdings, which is the largest investment company in Thailand, and has investments around the world. He says they believe in this project. In fact, they agreed to make the investment sight-unseen.
“This is the first time we came to look at our land. We invested without looking at it. This is my first investment in my entire career that I invest without looking at the property. You know, I’ve been investing for almost 40 years of my life, and this is something very exceptional. So, I trust both of our friends here, who introduced us to this place. That’s why we decided to invest, and (decided) to come to meet with the people, the mayor, the city council, ect. They all showed a passion to develop this city, and to show their love for this beautiful city. So, we feel more confident,” said Opaswongkam. .
The warm welcome that they received during a community reception at El Ranchito Mexican Restaurant helped the investors feel right at home in Seguin. Duong says they were thrilled with their visit and all the people they met while they were here.
“I never regret making a decision. Even today, it just more reinforces the decision that we have made. When you see the leadership — the very strong leadership from the mayor to the city council — everyone makes us feel welcome. So, this is a great sign that will attract more investors. We want to invest more in the future,” said Duong.
Che says he knows the community is eager for the Creekside Gardens project to get moving. It will not only include new retails space for restaurant and shops, but it will also offer some other amenities, like access to a large pond that is part of the property. He says it takes time for the projects to move forward, but they are working with the city to keep things going.
“When we put this property under contract 18 months ago, we wanted it done tomorrow as well. But as you know, the entitlement process dragged on, for good reasons. We were able to get work with the city staff and got feedback and we reiterated our plans to meet not only our financial projections, but also what the city needs there. I think what came out of that process is a good marriage of both what the city wants and what we can afford to do,” said Che.
Che says there are some economic pressures that will impact their development efforts, like rising interest rates, but he says they working through those as best as they can.
“There are macroeconomic pressures and conditions that are dictating our timelines there. The least of which is the high interest rates and construction costs. So, those things are putting pressure on our timelines. We do have plans to do four phases and this is the original plan. The first phase is the multi-family. The second phase is the townhomes. The third and fourth phases are building out the retail. We’re actively looking at that plan based on the current economic conditions to see if we can move things around. And we are also making connections with the local and regional banks to see how we can work out financing models. If we can align all those things, then yes, we’d like to move forward,” said Che.
Che says they have developed a good working relationship with the city of Seguin, but he says some recent changes in the city’s fee structure is also applying some additional pressure to their plans to move forward.
“I do want to say though, that recently passed ordinances to increase the impact fees here by basically doubling the impact fees. Yes, it’s bringing Seguin up to levels like San Marcos and New Braunfels; however, that does impact our performa and our financial projections as well. Whereas before it was much cheaper to build. Now it’s a little more expensive to build. So, it’s almost like the perfect storm of high interest rates, increased impact fees, and high construction costs is kind of. slowing down the project,” said Che.
The developers and their investors all said they loved being in Seguin, and they are looking forward to developing Creekside Gardens and the Mooshine Industrial Park. The reception hosted for the group included stakeholders from all walks of life in Seguin, including business and community leaders. You can read our original story on the Creekside Gardens project on our website, seguintoday.com.