“Normal” is “now”. Human settlement patterns (where people are living and working) Gas prices Expectation of permanence/transience Interest rates Property tax rates Monetary supply The internet’s availability and impact Those are just a few of the ways that 1999 differs from 2011, and makes application of “normal” challenging. Here’s something that hasn’t changed – people [...]

With one more entry into the (automated) home valuation arena, how does one make sense of all the methods of valuing a home in this market? There are at least six methods of home valuation out there right now; I know that my customers and clients are going to use the ones that they find; [...]

Finding conversion between two distant stories with one major point: Lesson #1: Read the HOA docs and any neighborhood covenants and restrictions before you buy a home. Lesson #2: An awful lot could be solved and avoided if people would just talk to each other. Lesson #3: Homeowners’ Associations can be overly restrictive; if you [...]

Every real estate market is different; this one has brought more pre-offer inspections than I have ever seen (in part because I’m more comfortable suggesting them to my buyer clients). 1 – Allows for an As-Is Sale 2 – Removes one phase of negotiations from the process. 3 – Allows for fewer emotions clogging the [...]

If you haven’t read the VAR-sponsored agency bill (HB 1907) that is currently winding its way through the General Assembly sausage-making facility, you probably should. The edits and changes will, in some cases, fundamentally affect how agency is practiced in Virginia and in others, make Realtors’ and real estate licensees’ professional lives a bit more [...]

Allows counties, cities, and towns to assess and collect roll-back taxes for up to 15 years under a use value assessment program if all roll-back taxes, interest, and penalty are promptly deposited into a special fund and used to fund the locality’s purchase of development rights program. … Requires the Virginia Real Estate Board to waive the broker education requirement for any applicant for a brokers license who has owned a real estate brokerage firm for more than 15 years and during that time and maintained an active license as a real estate salesperson.

There will be much discussed this year that will focus on real estate , transportation , property tax es, grantors tax, recordation tax – all of which directly impact how was as REALTORS do business. … If you want to take a snarky approach, see how many bills commending people are introduced , and wonder how much each of these cost us, the taxpayers.

Matthew Rathbun brought up the Agency Conversation again at AgentGenius recently – “Realizing that cooperation with other real estate professionals promotes the best interests of those who utilize their services, REALTORS® urge exclusive representation of clients ; do not attempt to gain any unfair advantage over their competitors; and they refrain from making unsolicited comments about other practitioners.” … The purpose of writing this post is to reaffirm the need to examine and study at the continued viability of Single Agent Dual Agency and to clarify once again that this is not a call for an end to Designated Agency (whereby one company represents both sides of a transaction) but a request to look at one agent representing both parties.

Take a look at the agendas for the upcoming governance meetings and see if there is anything there that will affect your business (of course there is!). … The Delegate Body, the Public Policy and Governance meeting, the Policy Board – all seem ethereal – made up of the Realtor Association vapor – until you actually come to a meeting and hear that the discussions focus on very tangible aspects of Realtors’ businesses and lives.

( ed. note : one of my more favorite questions of late is, “tell me about one of your dissatisfied clients, and why they were so dissatisfied”) We’ve never seen a lender hauled before a panel of their peers on ethics charges (as happens in the Realtor community) though there’s certainly been ample cause. … There are a lot of good lenders who can get deals closed in this lending environment and will tell you if it’s not going to work.