Real Estate Forum

Name: Real Estate Forum
Address: Dallas, TX, US
Telephone: (469)5982558

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REF is built to unify the real estate ecosystem.

Connecting DFW’s Top Developers, Investors And Civic Leaders
🏗️ Exclusive insights from the builders of North Texas.
📍 Events | 🤝 Connections | 📈 Growth
👇 Download REF App & Join The Community
https://reforum.net/mobile-app We connect developers, investors, builders, and professionals through curated events, conversations, and opportunities that drive real growth. In an industry where relationships matter, REF creates the space where those relationships turn into deals.
📲 Join the network.

10/29/2026

🚨 DFW, THIS IS YOUR FINAL CALL! REF CONNECT IS HAPPENING TODAY! 🔵

The day is here! Get ready for an evening of meaningful conversations, new connections, and opportunities to bring the real estate and construction community together. 🤝

We’re excited to welcome Curtis J. Cornelious, Mayor of the Town of Little Elm, Texas, along with senior town officials, as our Guest of Honour.

Whether you're a builder, developer, investor, contractor, or real estate professional, this is your opportunity to get in the room, meet the right people, exchange ideas, and build relationships that go beyond business cards.

⏰ HAPPENING TODAY | OCTOBER 29

📅 Thursday, October 29, 2026
🕕 6:00 PM – 9:00 PM CDT
📍 Lotus Banquets
25691 Smotherman Rd, #240, Frisco, TX 75033

🎟️ HAVEN'T REGISTERED YET? DON'T MISS OUT!

👉 Reserve your spot now:
https://reforum.net/events/ref-connect-town-of-little-elm/rsvp

📞 Call: 210-756-8514
💬 WhatsApp: 469-430-8978
📧 Email: [email protected]

The conversations start today. The connections you make could open doors tomorrow. We'll see you at REF Connect! 💙

10/29/2026

🚨 IT’S HAPPENING TODAY, LITTLE ELM!

DFW real estate professionals, this is your last call to be in the room. 🤝

Join us for REF Connect — Town of Little Elm, featuring Mayor Curtis J. Cornelious and senior town officials for an evening of meaningful conversations, industry connections, and insights into the growth and development shaping the area.

Whether you're a realtor, builder, developer, investor, or industry professional, the right conversation could lead to your next referral, partnership, or opportunity.

📅 Today, October 29 | 6–9 PM CDT
📍 Lotus Banquets, Frisco, TX

Don't just hear about the conversations afterward. Be part of them.

🎟️ Register now: https://reforum.net/events/ref-connect-town-of-little-elm/rsvp
📞 210-756-8514
📧 [email protected]
🌐 www.reforum.net

10/28/2026

If your 2027 pro forma still uses last year's cost assumptions, it's time for a fresh look.

The producer price index for inputs to new nonresidential construction rose 11.9% from September 2025 to September 2026, the most in four years, according to AGC's analysis of BLS data released Oct 15. ABC's separate read of the same release puts construction input prices up 11.2% year over year, the largest increase in nearly four years.

Where the increases are concentrated (12-month change, per AGC):
• Diesel fuel: +115.2%
• Copper and brass mill shapes: +30.0%
• Steel mill products: +27.6%
• Aluminum mill shapes: +25.2%
• Truck freight transportation: +19.3%
• Liquid asphalt: +17.7%
• Precast concrete products: +10.5%

Price is only half of it. AGC reports that producers of beams and other structural steel shapes say their order books are full through spring 2027, and some contractors have been told they'll receive only a fraction of the beams they ordered.

At the same time, demand is soft. AGC notes contractors appear to be absorbing most of the increases because it's hard to raise bid prices, and ABC's Construction Confidence Index shows more than 1 in 4 contractors expect margins to shrink over the next six months. On the design side, AIA's September Architecture Billings Index fell to 44.7, and firm leaders cited high construction costs and restrictive financing among the reasons fewer projects are moving forward.

A few practical steps for anyone pricing work for 2027:
1. Re-run hard-cost assumptions with current quotes, not last year's unit costs.
2. Ask your GC and steel fabricator about lead times before the schedule is set, and consider early release of long-lead packages.
3. Review escalation, allowance and contingency language in contracts so the risk is shared on purpose, not by accident.
4. Keep design and preconstruction teams talking early; alternates are easier to evaluate before drawings are final.

These are national figures, so local conditions in DFW and Austin will vary. That's exactly why the conversation matters: developers, GCs, architects, suppliers and lenders comparing what they're actually seeing on real projects. That's what REF is built for. Learn more at

📞 210-756-8514
📧 [email protected]
🌐 www.reforum.net

How are you handling cost escalation and steel lead times on projects starting in 2027?

10/27/2026

Almost everyone in real estate and construction is trying AI now. Very few have made it part of how they actually work.

RICS's 2026 AI report (3,148 construction and commercial property professionals, surveyed Q1 2026) puts numbers on that gap:

• About two-thirds of construction respondents now use AI in some part of their work, up from just over half a year earlier. In commercial property, it's more than three-quarters.
• 39% in both sectors are at the early pilot stage.
• Only 19% of construction respondents and 29% of commercial property respondents report regular use in specific processes.
• Widespread or full integration: about 4% in construction and 6% in commercial property.

The RICS team puts it plainly: in 2025 the gap was between planning to invest and starting. In 2026 it's between running a pilot and embedding it.

Why does construction lag? Part of the answer is structural. Project data resets at every project boundary, and each investment has to prove itself job by job. A lack of skilled people is the most-cited barrier in construction, and privacy and security concerns rose from 22% to 30% of respondents.

The everyday picture is moving fast, though. Houzz's 2026 U.S. survey of construction professionals (mostly residential) found 52% of firms using AI tools for everyday business tasks, up 20 points in a year. Among those users, estimates and proposals are the most common application (87%).

Three questions worth asking before your next AI pilot:
1. Which workflow will it replace or shorten, and who owns it after the trial?
2. Is the data it needs clean and reusable from one project to the next?
3. Who reviews the output before it reaches a client, a lender or a city?

This is the kind of conversation REF exists for: developers, builders, architects, brokers, lenders and technology providers comparing what actually works. Learn more at https://reforum.net

Where has AI moved past the pilot stage in your business, and where has it stalled?
📞 210-756-8514
📧 [email protected]
🌐 www.reforum.net

10/27/2026

Only 2 days to go! 🔵🤝 DFW, we’re getting ready for REF Connect!

The countdown is on, and we’re looking forward to an evening filled with great conversations, new connections, and opportunities to bring the DFW real estate and construction community closer together.

We’re especially excited to welcome Curtis J. Cornelious, Mayor of the Town of Little Elm, Texas, along with senior town officials, as our Guest of Honour.

From builders and developers to investors, contractors, and real estate professionals, REF Connect is about getting the right people in the room, sharing perspectives, and building relationships that can go beyond a single evening.

📅 Thursday, October 29, 2026
🕕 6:00 PM – 9:00 PM CDT
📍 Lotus Banquets
25691 Smotherman Rd, #240, Frisco, TX 750333

⏳ Just 2 days left! Have you secured your spot yet?

🎟️ RSVP here:
https://reforum.net/events/ref-connect-town-of-little-elm/rsvp

We can’t wait to see everyone there. Let’s make it an evening worth connecting for! 💙

10/22/2026

Ever wish you could just ask the city what they actually want built? 🏙️

Next Thursday, you can. REF Connect DFW is hosting an evening with Little Elm Mayor Curtis J. Cornelious and senior Town officials. They'll talk about where Little Elm is growing, which corridors are open for retail, restaurants, mixed-use and entertainment, and how the approval process works. Then the floor opens for your questions.

Developers, investors, builders, brokers, lenders: this one's for you. Come for the panel, stay for dinner and good conversation with people building North Texas.

📅 Thu, Oct 29 | 6 – 9 PM
📍 Lotus Banquets, Frisco
🎟️ Save your seat: https://reforum.net/events/ref-connect-town-of-little-elm

REF membership is free, and members attend free. Seats are limited!

What would you love to see built in Little Elm? Tell us below 👇

10/22/2026

Nine months into Texas SB 840, the first numbers are in, and DFW is where most of the debate is happening.

SB 840 (effective Sept 1, 2025) allows multifamily and mixed-use housing by right on commercially zoned land in 19 large Texas cities. Ten of them are in DFW. A July 2026 report from the American Enterprise Institute, Texas Appleseed and Texans for Reasonable Solutions (covering Sept 2025 – May 2026) found:

• 8,488 housing units proposed or approved: 1,253 directly through the by-right path and 7,235 indirectly supported
• 322 pre-development consultations in Dallas (247) and Plano (75), an early signal of what may be coming
• Plano accounts for 827 of the direct by-right units, across three proposed projects

The authors also show that cities have responded in different ways. Dallas and Fort Worth aligned their codes and issued guidance for developers. Several DFW suburbs added SB 840-specific standards such as minimum heights, amenity requirements and design rules. The authors call their counts "a floor, not a full measure."

Why it matters:
1. Developers: the entitlement question has moved from "Can we rezone?" to "What does this city require on top of by-right?" Underwrite city-specific standards early.
2. Cities & counties: local standards are now part of a statewide conversation, with the 2027 legislative session ahead.
3. GCs, architects & investors: aging retail and office corridors could become residential pipelines. Early alignment with planning staff matters more than ever.

These outcomes depend on developers and city leaders actually talking to each other.

Developers, planners, architects: is SB 840 changing how you evaluate commercial sites in North Texas? What's working, and what's getting in the way?

Source: AEI / Texas Appleseed / Texans for Reasonable Solutions, SB 840 Housing Impact report (July 2026):https://www.aei.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/SB-840-Report-Final-TA-AEI-TFRS.pdf

Join the developer-city conversation at REF: https://reforum.net
📞 210-756-8514
📧 [email protected]
🌐 www.reforum.net

10/17/2026

DFW just posted another balanced-market month and the number that matters for builders isn’t the headline price.

Per MetroTex Association of REALTORS® (September 2026), the Metroplex sat at 4.5 months of inventory, with 34,502 active listings and 7,228 closings (−6.6% YoY). Median sale price: $379,990 (−1.6% YoY). Typical days to sell: 95.

What that means on the ground:
1. Buyers have more options — rate buydowns and closing credits often beat a flat list-price cut for protecting comps.
2. Submarket inventory still varies. Before releasing the next phase, check months-of-supply in your ZIP, not just the MSA average.
3. Absorption assumptions from 2023–24 are stale. Model slower DOM and sharper sold-to-list discipline into your pro forma.

If you’re developing or building in North Texas right now, how are you adjusting pricing and incentives for a 4–5 month supply market?

Source: MetroTex / NTREIS via DFW Agent Magazine, Oct 13, 2026.

Join the conversation with other developers, GCs, and city stakeholders at
📞 210-756-8514
📧 [email protected]
🌐 www.reforum.net

10/15/2026

📢 YOU’RE INVITED | REF CONNECT: TOWN OF LITTLE ELM

Where Little Elm’s vision meets Dallas–Fort Worth’s real estate opportunities.

Join REF DFW Chapter on October 29, 2026, for an exclusive evening featuring Mayor Curtis J. Cornelious of the Town of Little Elm, alongside senior town officials and professionals from across the real estate industry.

This is an opportunity to connect with local leadership, exchange ideas with industry peers, and gain valuable insights into the future of development in one of North Texas’s growing communities.

What to expect:
🔹 Little Elm’s growth trajectory and long-term development vision
🔹 Commercial, retail, and mixed-use development opportunities
🔹 Hospitality, entertainment, and destination development
🔹 Site selection, entitlements, and approval processes
🔹 Infrastructure, incentives, and public-private partnerships
🔹 Dinner, networking, and engaging discussions with industry professionals

📅 Date: Thursday, October 29, 2026
🕕 Time: 6:00 PM – 9:00 PM CDT
📍 Venue: Lotus Banquets, 25691 Smotherman Rd, Suite 240, Frisco, TX 75033

Whether you’re a real estate investor, developer, broker, or industry service provider, this is your opportunity to build meaningful connections and be part of the conversation shaping North Texas.

🎟️ Reserve your seat today:
https://reforum.net/events/ref-connect-town-of-little-elm/rsvp

REF membership is free, and the event is free for REF members. Seats are limited.

📞 210-756-8514
📧 [email protected]
🌐 www.reforum.net

We look forward to welcoming you for an evening of connections, insights, and opportunities.

10/13/2026

💰 Are you overlooking valuable tax-saving opportunities in real estate?

Real estate investors and developers may be missing opportunities to optimize their tax deductions simply because they aren't familiar with the strategies available to them.

In this video, we discuss three important concepts worth understanding:

🏢 Cost Segregation — Identify property components that may qualify for shorter depreciation periods.

📊 Bonus Depreciation — Understand how eligible assets may qualify for accelerated tax deductions under applicable tax rules.

💡 Capital Expenditures vs. Expenses — Proper classification can make a meaningful difference in how property-related costs are treated for tax purposes.

But here's the catch: understanding the difference between active and passive losses is crucial before implementing these strategies.

At the Real Estate Forum (REF), we believe informed decisions start with the right conversations and insights.

📲 Want to connect with real estate professionals and explore more industry insights? Get in touch with REF today!

📞 469-598-2558
📧 [email protected]
🌐 www.reforum.net

📌 Save this reel for your next real estate investment discussion.

💬 Have you explored cost segregation for your investment properties? Share your experience in the comments.

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Website

http://www.reforum.net/

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