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The Extreme Holiday Decorators Spending Thousands to Deck ‘Every Nook and Cranny’ of Their Homes
Jennifer Houghton clung to the banister in her Dallas mansion. Suspended about 10 feet off the ground, she braced her foot against the wall, extended her arm and placed an oversize pink-and-white ornament atop a spinning Christmas tree festooned with candied pink poinsettias. Below her, a life-size Nutcracker stood sentry in the double-height foyer, which Ms. Houghton, 54, had reimagined as the Land of Sweets, with pastel-colored candy covering the railing and plush ice-cream cones hanging from the chandelier. “Freaking amazing,” she said, satisfied with the finished product. In the kitchen, a candy-cane conveyor belt was perched on the counter. The front yard had been transformed into a Christmas tree farm with more than…
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How Michigan couple makes thousands a month from real estate investing
When Jamie McCauley was a junior at Cornerstone University, his parents bought and helped him renovate a foreclosed home near the Grand Rapids, Michigan campus. He lived there and managed the property during college, renting out rooms to seven other Cornerstone students to help pay his tuition. He met his wife, Sarah McCauley, in that house, too. His stint as a young landlord foreshadowed the couple’s now-lucrative real estate ventures: 12 years later, they bring in up to $11,000 per month renting out 11 renovated units in five properties throughout West Michigan, according to documents reviewed by CNBC Make It. Jamie, 33, and Sarah, 32, also flip houses for themselves…
