Archives of my subscription-only monthly notes. The blog is more searchable. Interested in not waiting a few months to read it? Learn more here (archived: 2023).   For these posts, I don’t do much formatting/changing as I’m more concerned about simply having the content here (because I own the blog, and not Tinyletter (archived: 2023))

Some months, you have it. Some you don’t. This month is one of those “don’t” months. Next month’s note will be complete. Apologies for the “meh” note.

What are you going to do?

A mantra I adopted years ago – “what are you going to do?” Answer: put your head down, and push through; quitting isn’t an option.

The above lesson was reinforced during my cadetship at VMI; sometimes, life’s going to be hard. That’s life.  As I tell the girls I coach, “life’s not fair; suck it up.” (stick with me … )

There’s a saying on the internet (and in real life) – Be Nice To Everyone You Meet. They’re Fighting A Battle You Have Absolutely No Idea About (no longer available).

I know that every client with whom I work, every person with whom I interact, is going through something that 1) they’re likely not going to tell me
2) are trying to conceal
3) is affecting them and their decision making either positively or negatively.

Life, death, divorce, new kid, kid moving out, dog dying, new puppy, juggling single-parenthood … many if not most of us frequently face traumas that affect how they approach the home search/sale trauma. Empathy matters. As does compartmentalized, professional detachment; keeping the detached empathy in check is a skill not taught in any of the real estate book (deliberate singular) that I studied.

Be nice. Life is hard for many.

The Market

Short analysis: many home values are rising, some too much, too fast, in my opinion. Other values are stable. Your micro market will vary. (questions: ask)

Three relevant market related posts

1. ??3rd Quarter 2016 Charlottesville Real Estate Market Report
2. Macro Economic Real Estate Trends – Talk by Lawrence Yun with NAR
3. Crozet Real Estate Market Update for 3rd Quarter (no longer available); I really enjoy our doing these videos. (click the image to the right)

If you’re thinking about selling in the spring, start that conversation now.

“Is it really easy to become a realtor? It seems that a lot of people I know become real estate agents when they semi-retire.”

Yep. It’s really easy, not just to get the “education” but to find a broker to accept you. Being a great realtor is much, much harder. Here’s the thing – the crappy real estate agents – they survive and thrive because there is a market for them, and this is the consumer’s fault.  You know those bad MLS photos? A seller hired, and continues to employ that agent.

Think about that the next time you think about crappy real estate agents.

Nest County Fair

The Nest County Fair continued its evolution and growth. If you’re not familiar with the Fair, it’s an opportunity for Nest Agents to celebrate our clients with food, music. Notably, this year’s venue, the Charlottesville Pavilion, was a previously-unconsidered location, a location to which the Nest team switched a couple days prior to the event due to rain. They pulled off a monumental, herculean switch and made it look effortless. I couldn’t be more proud of our team for making our agents look good; they are truly amazing.

Numbers:

• 3,600 desserts
• 2,300 guests
• 625 pounds of mac and cheese
• 1 umbrella lost

(click the image for a nifty video)

Thank you for donating to the Boys and Girls Club

You helped me reach my goal last month; and importantly, helped a lot of kidsin the Charlottesville – Albemarle area. Thank you.

The Election is Almost Over!

Yay.

The Blogs

RealCentralVA

• Would You Buy a House In (or near) a Flood Plain?
• Making a Rash Homebuying Decision
• Market Street Plaza Renamed – Now West2nd
• A Disco Ball, House under Construction, and Trespassing
• (Urban) Planning for Self-Driving Cars

RealCrozetVA

• About that snob zoning story
• CCAC meeting recap – local government matters, folks.
• Crozet is getting a bike shop
• Crozet needs a dictator

What I’m Reading

• This Map Plots the Geocoordinates You May Have Accidentally Left Behind in Digital Photos | Atlas Obscura
• Hackable insulin pumps; this won’t end well.
• We Need to Save the Internet from the Internet of Things (archived: 2016) – If you don’t yet know about the Internet of Things, you will.
• That connected device already knows your mom’s maiden name
  • I read recently a good tip – when filling out those security questions (mother’s maiden name, first car, first job, etc) – treat those answers as passwords.
• Musk Bans Tesla Drivers From Ridesharing Their Cars, Will Roll Out its Own Program
• Hacked Cameras, DVRs Powered Today’s Massive Internet Outage

Jim on: Facebook | Twitter | LinkedIn | Subscribe to RealCentralVA | Jim’s Instagram

Jim Duncan, Nest Realty, 126 Garrett Street Suite D, Charlottesville, VA 22902. Licensed real estate agent in Commonwealth of VA.