Churchill Mortgage is a nationally known company that does this (thanks to Dave Ramsey) and I have found that a number of local and regional banks in my area also have the ability to do this.Good luck in the process, Justin!

They use national averages and try to adjust fr location but its not an accurate way of estimating costs.Bottom line there are not short cuts.

The reason I ask is because you can either go the traditional route (if you qualify, which would be ideal) or the non-bank route with national private money lenders. 

Big corporations (Charles Schwab, Fidelity, Amazon, Toyota, Pizza Hut, Dr Pepper, Frito-Lay & JCPenny) are moving or have moved their head/regional offices or business centers to DFW.

REI nation is one of the bigger turnkey companies with mr. clothier.

Simond - For housing and real estate, I check out the monthly/weekly stats from our local realtor association/MLS to keep an eye on stats and changes.For business and real estate, our local business journal is really great for keeping tabs on our local economy, employment numbers, companies moving in/out, and commercial real estate.On a national level? 

Can anyone tell me whether it would be worth the time commitment to you, if it was mostly just to achieve your personal goals (achieving an overall understanding of how to create and run a business/basic accounting, finance, systems/operations), as opposed to climbing the corporate ladder? 

@Omeja RossLocal is okay, but national is okay too. 

. - set up overdraft protection for your checking account (if you dont have one, get one; local bank would be better than national ones)- consider going to trade school or doing apprenticeship (plumbing, electrical, HVAC). really helpful skills. really

My intention is to understand the trending areas within the country and the factors that are motivating the population increases/decreases throughout the nation.