The rest of the series –

- Crozet
- Ivy
- Charlottesville

29 North has it all – great neighborhoods, neighborhood schools, Target, Bonefish Grill, Panera, Harris Teeter – and it’s sort of hard to define. For some, it’s anything north of Rio Road, for others, it’s north of Polo Grounds Road. Either way, 29 North offers excellent accessibility to “stuff.”

Some of the neighborhoods in the 29 North area:

- Forest Lakes
- Bentivar
- Hollymead
- Homes for sale that offer a great commute for those going to NGIC or DIA or the UVA Research Park

Stay tuned … we have more coming!

Copyright RealCentralVA.com, LLC. If you like this post, please, visit RealCentralVA.comwhere this was originally posted.

Copyright RealCentralVA.com, LLC. If you like this post, please, visit RealCentralVA.comwhere this was originally posted.

Join us anytime between 5-8 on Friday, October 2nd for food and drinks at our new office.

As part of the First Friday’s Art Walk, we’ll be spotlighting art from local artist Amy Varner, who has created a series of landscape and nest paintings for our office. In addition, Whitley Designs will be showcasing their handcrafted line of accessories and jewelry.

Stop by for a quick drink or spend the evening with us – children are welcome!

RSVP on Facebook

Event Info

‘The Nest’ at the Gleason Building Downtown
126 Garrett Street, Suite E
Charlottesville Virginia 22902

Friday, October 2nd
5:00PM-8:00PM

Copyright RealCentralVA.com, LLC. If you like this post, please, visit RealCentralVA.comwhere this was originally posted.

Big thanks to the Hook and Courteney Stuart for including Nest in their story, "Survival of the Fittest."

Copyright RealCentralVA.com, LLC. If you like this post, please, visit RealCentralVA.comwhere this was originally posted.

Nest is about to make a huge announcement. A *really* huge announcement. Stay tuned.

And it is a big one. But …

Here’s the challenge:

We need to define how and why this matters to potential buyers and sellers in Charlottesville and Albemarle and Central Virginia, because it absolutely does matter. Realtors will get it, but I and we are more concerned about how we can convey the how and why to our existing and potential clients.

We know it matters, we can feel it, and can describe it in a thirty to sixty minute conversation, but we need to distill this conversation into a more communicable message; and we will.

Being a partner in Nest is, to use the word in the truest sense, awesome. Communicating that sense, our story, and most importantly how our clients benefit is next.

As Keith said in his post about the pending announcement:

I will go more into this listing in future blog postings, but there is one thing for certain. I would not have this listing if we had not started Nest. I’d like to think I’m that good, but it is about my team and the vision that we share together. It is how that vision is playing out in our actions, our marketing, our space, and our clear and directed philosophy. That is why we as a team have this listing.

Copyright RealCentralVA.com, LLC. If you like this post, please, visit RealCentralVA.comwhere this was originally posted.

Keith has more at the Nest blog:

So, where does that leave Nest? Well, like I said in the opening paragraph. Forget the Past. Who are We? What is it that Nest really does? Simple: We are a Marketing and Service Organization. And while marketing and service are certainly intertwined, they are two distinct functions with separate needs.

Service in real estate has historically been managed in the field; inside the homes. Certainly , the product that we sell — the home — is in the field, and not in our office. But that is changing to a certain degree. The amount of focus, time, energy, and money that we at Nest have put into a web site is remarkable. And we have done that to improve the amount of information available to our buyers. We provide this information so that our clients can take control of their own buying process, not so that we can tell them how to manage the process. Consumers have more information than ever, and the office should be one in which we can explore that information and discuss what it means to them.

Our office needs to be a place where we can meet comfortably on a sofa, and watch videos of properties on the market. Somewhere that we can sit and talk about the history that our clients and friends hope to write with their family in a new home. Yes, we will always show properties, but so much of what we do is discussion and discovery, and that is happening in coffee shops today, and in The Nest in just a few weeks.

Think you can guess where our space is located?

Hint: It’s in the City of Charlottesville.

(me? I’ll be holding down the fort at the new Open Space Co-Working space)

Copyright RealCentralVA.com, LLC. If you like this post, please, visit RealCentralVA.comwhere this was originally posted.

We expect to be copied – on our signs, on how we market, on how we work with clients – and that, in and of itself, is a good thing. Will others do it better? I’d like
to think that no one else can do what we have done, but I’d rather not underestimate our competition .

Heck, I and we copy other people as often as we can … first mover is cool, but sometimes the real skills are recognizing emerging trends and technologies and then having the gumption, wherewithal and ability to implement said trends and technologies.

The signs are an extension of Nest’s collective intent, start towards our “one size does not fit all” philosophy …

Downtownenvy’s comment the other day hit the nail on the head (bolding mine):

I like this! Not only do you get a price on the property without stopping the car, but this sign is actually more about the property for sale than the agency representing it. That’s refreshing. I would love it if I were a seller.

It’s not about us, it’s about the client.

Update 26 May 2009: I’m going to be transcribing these videos from here until my new found partner stops working with me.

Hey! Jim Duncan, RealCentralVA.com here. It’s Wednesday morning and lots to do. Buyers and sellers are crawling all over the place which is wonderful! I think there has been an up-tick in activity on both sides of the isle.

I want to talk today about innovation. If you saw the release of Nests’ new signs (I’ll have a link here at the bottom) they’re pretty kick butt. That was evidenced by the fact that NBC 29 even did a 45 second segment on how we have shaken things up in the real estate market here in Charlottesville. I think it’s pretty cool.

The one challenge that we’re facing is that we expect to be copied. Take the fact that flattery is best shown by imitating. At least two people in our market have bought Diverse Solutions as a search since I implemented it about six months ago. So thank you Diverse Solutions for having a great product.

So what do we do? We expect to be copied. We expect people to emulate what we are doing, and frankly, I wouldn’t be surprised if some of them do an even better job than we do. So that’s a really great thing though because it shows that real estate is changing. It shows that people have to strive to keep up and get better and realize that stagnation which has been the rule in Real Estate for the last several years is no longer good enough. Good enough was good enough to get by and survive and sometimes thrive, but now, we’ve got to change every single day. New data, new information, new technologies and that’s a really cool thing. So it’s keeping us on our toes and holding us accountable through what we see online and also by seeing how our competitors try to keep up with what we are doing.

That’s it for Wednesday. Talk to you soon.

Copyright RealCentralVA.com, LLC. If you like this post, please, visit RealCentralVA.comwhere this was originally posted.

Introducing Nest Realty Group.

What are we doing differently?

Everything and nothing.

This is a new direction for me. Since the start of my career as a Realtor, I have always been narrowly focused on my clients and their needs, but I have always also, by necessity been focused on myself – my career, brand, success. This move represents a monumental shift in philosophy, one of collective responsibility, goals and values. I hope I’m ready.

Firmly believing that the Agent is the brand consumers trust, this is a Realtor-Centric brand. We have shared beliefs, values and goals but recognize that the value provided to customers and clients rests firmly with the quality and value offering of the individual Realtor.

No Dual Agency. To my knowledge, we are the only real estate brokerage in the Charlottesville area stating definitively and publicly “No Dual Agency.”

The Status Quo, in the form of the established political “leaders” refuses to eliminate Single Agent Dual agency, so we are choosing to lead by example. We believe that this is something the consumers want and need.

I have lobbied against Single-Agent Dual Agency (where the only beneficiary is the Realtor) for years. And I have been consistent in my belief:

Q: Dual Agency – Who Benefits?

A: The Realtor.

Real Estate Consulting – hourly fees, fee-for-service, flat fees. Everything is negotiable. We recognize that today’s consumer is far more qualified, educated, market aware and knowledgeable than the consumer of the previous decade. The internet has changed everything; we embrace this rather than try to put the rabbit back in the hat.

Accountability to you, the consumer/client/public and to each other.

Our brand is the collective “us” – we intend to push each other, help each other and make each other and the brand the best in the market.

Technology

Brokerage-wide, we intend to do things better, or as we and consumers think, the way things should be done. Look at the website, my search page,

Who am I? I’m Jim Duncan and we’re the Nest Real Estate Group and I intend to change the world.

Copyright RealCentralVA.com, LLC. If you like this post, please, visit RealCentralVA.comwhere this was originally posted.