Green Beret Realty

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Ankeny, IA
Green Beret Realty

Retired Green Beret. REALTOR®. 20 years Army, 8 in Special Forces. Your mission is my mission. He enjoys his faith, family, and friendships.

Now I bring that same discipline and commitment to every real estate transaction in Des Moines. Dan Douglas
Realtor / Idea Connoisseur and Knuckle Dragger

[email protected]
910.391.4554

Born and raised in central Iowa, Dan Douglas has been serving the United States honorably for 2 decades in uniform. Retiring from the US Army, Dan has returned and is excited to provide professi

onal service to his clients throughout the greater Des Moines area. He looks forward to getting involved in the community and enjoying the people here at home. While a Green Beret, Dan learned to have a passion for understanding the nuance of specific environments and the local culture. Dan’s hobbies include reading, renovation projects, and he loves planning and exploring new ideas. Real estate in Central Iowa
Homes for sale in Ankeny / West Des Moines / Urbandale
Green Beret real estate agent Iowa
Military-friendly realtor Iowa
Affordable homes in Greater Des Moines
Des Moines real estate market update

09/04/2026

How to buy and sell at the same time — the most stressful scenario in real estate, and how I help clients navigate it.

The challenge: you need to sell your current home to fund the purchase of the next one. But you also need a place to live between those two events, and the timing almost never lines up perfectly. Here are the main strategies, each with trade-offs.

Sell first, then buy. You sell your current home, close, and move. Then you find and buy the next one. Upside: you know exactly how much money you have to work with. Downside: you need somewhere to live in the gap. Short-term rental, family, or temporary housing.

Buy first, then sell. You buy the new home, move in, then sell the old one. Upside: you only move once. Downside: you need to qualify for two mortgages at once(unless paid for in full), or use a bridge loan or HELOC, or dip into reserves. Not everyone can.

Contingent purchase offer. You make the purchase offer contingent on the sale of your current home. Upside: no double-carry risk. Downside: sellers in competitive markets often decline contingent offers in favor of cleaner ones.

Simultaneous closing. You try to close both transactions on the same day or within a day or two of each other. Requires precise coordination, but when it works, it is the cleanest.

Rent-back agreement. You sell the home, but negotiate a short-term lease with the buyer to stay for a few weeks while you close on the next one. More common than you might think, and often a great bridge.

Which is right for you depends on your financial situation, the current market, and your tolerance for risk and inconvenience. This is a conversation worth having early — before you list or start shopping — so you have a plan that actually works.

If you are thinking about a move like this, let us talk through it. DM me. Link in bio.

Agency Iowa

515-214-8586/910-391-4554
[email protected]

Licensed to buy/sell real estate in Iowa

09/02/2026

How to spot an overpriced listing in thirty seconds — the same tricks I use when I scout homes for buyers.

One: days on market relative to the area average. If comparable homes in the same neighborhood are going pending in two weeks and this one has been sitting for five, something is off. Usually price.

Two: price reductions in the listing history. Most listing platforms show price history. Multiple reductions is a big signal that the home launched too high and the seller has been chasing the market down.

Three: comparable sales. Pull up three to five recent sales of similar homes in the neighborhood. If the listing is ten percent or more above those comps with no obvious justification (size, condition, lot, updates), it is probably overpriced.

Four: the language of the listing. Listings with heavy “motivated seller” or “price reduced!” language — especially in the first headline — are often telling you that the market has already spoken.

Five: the photos. This is subjective, but experienced eyes can tell. Overpriced listings often have photos that work hard to hide or compensate for the real reason the home is not moving — a weird layout, a compromised view, a tight lot.

None of these alone means a home is overpriced. Two or three together is a pattern worth looking at.

And here is the upside: overpriced listings that have been sitting are often the best negotiation opportunities in the market. A well-written offer below list, with good terms, on a home that has been chasing the market — that is where buyers sometimes get the best deals in any market condition.

Want me to scout a specific home? DM me. Link in bio.

Agency Iowa

515-214-8586/910-391-4554
[email protected]

Licensed to buy/sell real estate in Iowa

09/01/2026

Always fun. One of my favorite Altoona Area Chamber of Commerce gatherings is Perk Before Work and this was one of the best. It is amazing what we can do as a community when we share from our abundance in time and resources to help those who are struggling. Check it out!!!

08/31/2026

One of the lessons I have carried with me from SF is that the mission does not care about your mood. Or as one slimy talking head accidentally but wisely stated while picking on undergraduate students, "Facts don't care about your feelings."

The work has to get done. The client has to be served. The detail has to be caught. Whether you slept great last night or not, whether your morning went smooth or not, whether the last phone call was good or bad — none of that shows up in the outcome unless you let it.

Professional means you put all of that aside when you sit down at the table. Not because your feelings do not matter — they do — but because the person across from you hired you for an outcome, and they deserve your full attention, your best thinking, and your steadiest judgment, regardless of what is happening inside your head that day.

I was taught that early in the Army. I have tried to hold myself to it ever since. My clients deserve the same level of focus on day 200 that they got on day one. Consistent. Steady. Present.

If you want that kind of agent on your side, I am here. Link in bio.

Agency Iowa

515-214-8586/910-391-4554
[email protected]

Licensed to buy/sell real estate in Iowa

08/28/2026

The hidden costs of selling a home that first-time sellers often miss.

When people plan to sell, they usually focus on one number: what they think they will clear after paying off their mortgage. That number is almost always too high because they forget the costs that come out before they see a check. Here is the real list.

Agent commissions. Typically paid from the seller’s proceeds. This is the biggest single cost. We are worth it, and one that can't make the case that they are shouldn't earn your business.

Title and settlement fees. The seller’s side has its own closing costs — deed preparation, transfer fees, title company fees, recording charges.

Seller concessions. In many transactions, sellers contribute toward the buyer’s closing costs as part of the negotiation. This comes out of your proceeds.

Prepping the home. Cleaning, minor repairs, paint touch-ups, landscaping, junk removal, possibly staging. Can range from a few hundred dollars to several thousand depending on condition.

Pre-listing inspection or repairs. Not always done, but sometimes smart. If you do one, budget for the items that come up. I don't necessarily recommend a formal inspection, but you should plan on repairs regardless.

Unpaid property taxes. Prorated to closing. Can be a meaningful credit to the buyer depending on timing.

Outstanding HOA dues or transfer fees. If applicable.

Moving costs. Often overlooked until the week before.

What you actually clear at closing is your sale price minus all of these, minus your mortgage payoff. A good agent will walk you through a net sheet that shows you the real number before you list — so there are no surprises.

Now, you can avoid many of those expenses by renting, but of course, you miss out on ALL of the proceeds and you still don't avoid ALL of the costs. Buying is still nearly always smarter than renting if you will be anywhere nearing 2 years.

Want me to run a net sheet on your home? Free, no obligation. DM me. Link in bio.

Agency Iowa

515-214-8586/910-391-4554
[email protected]

Licensed to buy/sell real estate in Iowa

08/26/2026

Why proximity to parks, trails, and green space is worth real money in the Des Moines metro — and how much.

People underestimate the value of green space next door. Homes within walking distance of a good park, trail system, lake, or major green amenity consistently outperform nearby homes that do not have the same access. The gap is not always huge, but it is consistent, and it is growing.

Here is why:

One, buyer preferences have shifted. Since the pandemic, outdoor space has jumped up the priority list for a lot of buyers. Trails and parks went from “nice to have” to “must have” for many families.

Two, access to nature is a scarcity play. You cannot build more frontage on a lake or a trail. The supply is fixed, or at least hard enough to create that it is effectively fixed. Fixed supply with growing demand is the classic formula for pricing power.

Three, walkability to outdoor amenities shows up in resale. When a buyer tours a home and the listing says “three-minute walk to the Gray’s Lake trailhead” or “backs to a protected greenway,” that adds emotional weight to the tour. Emotional weight is part of what sellers sell.

Des Moines has a lot of this kind of value. The MLK trail system, Gray’s Lake, the Raccoon and Des Moines river corridors, the Neal Smith, the trails through Ankeny and Waukee. Homes near these amenities hold their value better than comparable homes that do not.

If you are looking in an area and you want to understand the park and trail dynamics, I am happy to walk you through it. DM me. Link in bio.

Agency Iowa

515-214-8586/910-391-4554
[email protected]

Licensed to buy/sell real estate in Iowa

08/24/2026

There is a principle in Special Forces called decentralized command. The idea is that the people closest to a problem are usually the best equipped to solve it — as long as they understand the overall intent of the mission.

The leader’s job is not to make every decision. It is to set a clear intent, trust the team, and give them the autonomy to adapt on the ground.

I bring this into how I work with clients.

My job is not to make your decisions for you. My job is to arm you with the information, the context, and the honest counsel you need to make your own decisions with confidence. The house is yours. The money is yours. The life you are building is yours. You should drive the process — and I should make you better at driving it.

Sometimes a client asks me, “What would you do?” I will tell them. But only after I have made sure they understand the full picture, because my answer might not be the right one for their situation. My goal is not to be the decider. My goal is to help you be a better one.

If that is the kind of working relationship you want, I am here. Link in bio.

Agency Iowa

515-214-8586/910-391-4554
[email protected]

Licensed to buy/sell real estate in Iowa

08/21/2026

What an escrow account is, and why your mortgage payment is more than just principal and interest.

When you get a mortgage, your monthly payment usually includes four things — commonly abbreviated PITI: principal, interest, taxes, insurance. The taxes and insurance pieces do not go directly to the county or your insurance company every month. They go into an escrow account held by your lender.

Why? Because taxes are due once or twice a year, and insurance is due annually. Rather than letting borrowers forget and get hit with a huge bill (or worse, fall behind), lenders collect one-twelfth of the estimated annual cost each month and pay the bills on your behalf. It protects both you and the lender.

How it works:

One: at closing, you prepay a few months of taxes and insurance into escrow. This is your escrow cushion.

Two: each month, your payment includes a portion for taxes and insurance. It goes into the escrow account.

Three: when the bills come due, the lender pays them out of escrow.

Four: every year, the lender does an escrow analysis. If your taxes or insurance went up, your monthly payment will go up. If they overcollected, you get a refund. If they undercollected, your payment goes up more.

Two things that surprise borrowers:

Property taxes go up over time. Assessments are reviewed periodically, and when they go up, your escrow adjusts. Your mortgage payment can change year over year even on a fixed-rate loan because of this.

Insurance rates can also jump — especially after large claim events in your area.
This is why “my mortgage payment went up” is a real thing on a fixed-rate loan. It is almost always the escrow piece.

Now does it go up faster than rent? Nope.

In most circumstances, you are still better off buying a home than to rent.

Questions about your situation? DM me. Link in bio.

Agency Iowa

515-214-8586/910-391-4554
[email protected]

Licensed to buy/sell real estate in Iowa

08/19/2026

How job centers drive home prices in the Des Moines metro — and why most buyers do not think about this enough.

Here is the simple version. Home values in any metro area are heavily influenced by where the jobs are. Homes within a reasonable commute to major employment centers command a premium. Homes further out trade that commute for more space or lower price.

In the Des Moines metro, the major job concentrations are downtown, the business parks on the west side, the medical corridor, the Ankeny and Bondurant industrial and logistics growth, and the large insurance and financial employers that anchor multiple submarkets.

What this means for buyers:

Proximity to a job center you use is worth real money. Saving twenty minutes each way, twice a day, five days a week, for years — that has a value you can put a number on.

Proximity to a job center you do not use is also worth money. Because when you sell, your buyer might work there. The market is paying for the option, not just your current commute.

Trends in job center growth matter. Areas that are gaining employers are often areas where home values follow. Areas that are losing them can see softer pricing over time.

Bonus factor: remote work has changed the math. But not as much as people thought. Proximity still matters because most people still commute at least some days, and because “I might need to go in” is enough to drive pricing.

If you are weighing a location decision, factor in not just today’s commute but where you might work next. DM me if you want to think it through. Link in bio.

Agency Iowa

515-214-8586/910-391-4554
[email protected]

Licensed to buy/sell real estate in Iowa

08/17/2026

One of the most valuable things I learned in the military: after every mission, you sit down and do a real debrief.

Not a celebration. Not a victory lap. A cold, honest review of what went right, what went wrong, and what you would do differently next time. No ranks in the room. Everyone’s input counts. The goal is to get better.

I carry that into real estate.

After every transaction, I sit with my client for a conversation about what worked, what did not, and what we could have done better. Sometimes the feedback is nothing. Sometimes it is small. Sometimes it is a real lesson I take into the next deal.

And I do the same thing on my own. What did I miss? What surprised me? What would I handle differently with the next client? Every transaction is a chance to get better at this — and I do not want to waste that chance just because the deal closed successfully.

The agents who stop learning are the ones who stopped caring. I do not plan to do either.

If you want an agent who treats your transaction as a chance to serve you well — and then to serve the next person even better — I am here. Link in bio.

Agency Iowa

515-214-8586/910-391-4554
[email protected]

Licensed to buy/sell real estate in Iowa

Address

1551 SW Prairie Trail Pkwy
Ankeny, IA
50023

Telephone

+19103914554

Website

https://www.agencyiowa.com/agents/dan-douglas/, http://www.greenberetrealty.com/, https://calendly.com/dan-greenberetrea

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