Changing Writing Progams: a Big Little Change
It’s funny how a seemingly small shift can have a big impact. For the past few weeks, I’ve been using Desk and I highly recommend it. I’d used the same blogging platform for nearly 8 years, since my blog looked like this (which wasn’t a bad…
Realtors versus the MLS and the Real Estate Board
(Click through to see the video) What's a Realtor to do when the sellers' best interests conflict with MLS rules and/or Virginia Real Estate Board regulations? As noted in 2007, For a web site, either the firm or the licensee must include disclosure of their…
Bloggers and Their Rights
Bloggers deserve protected free speech too, and it looks like Waldo Jaquith, with the help of the VA ACLU, Thomas Jefferson Center for Protection of Free Expression, and Public Citizen, is set to prove that fact (again). The time will come I suspect when a…
A Thought on Anonymous Comments
For the past four years, I have resisted instituting a no-anonymous-comments policy. Recently, however, there have been more anonymous commenters than is typical. This makes readers' tracking of discussions more difficult. I can see the IP addresses of visitors and can track who's saying what,…
Waldo got Subpoenaed
Waldo Jaquith of Cvillenews has been subpoenaed for names, email addresses, IP addresses, etc. And we'll be watching. My money (assuming I had some to bet) is on Waldo. I debated putting this on the sideblog, but feel that this sort of thing deserves front…
Server Maintenance Tomorrow Night
Courtesy of Bluehost: The server realcentralva.com is hosted on will be undergoing a hardware upgrade at approximately 11PM MST Monday January 12th We expect the downtime for the account to be 1-2 hours, but could be completed long before that window. This upgrade will greatly…
What Makes a Great Hyper-Local Blog
First and foremost - time and dedication and commitment. Finnegan at Harrisonburg News puts together the perfect analysis of what he's learned in the two and a half years since he started writing. Everything he says is on point. It's a shame that he's "throwing…
Realtor Incentives, Nice Areas of Charlottesville and Dual Agency – pulled from search
A brief trek through recent search queries bringing visitors to my site - incentives for realtors to sell - besides a paycheck? Kidding. This is why I negotiate my fees with my buyer clients up front - so there is no question about bonuses (huge…
A New Theme
It's been a while since I broke redesigned my site. I purchased the Thesis theme months ago because it offered the look, flexibility and support community that I was looking for. Finally, I've gotten the help needed to implement it. Hopefully you see it as…
New Reader Poll – Who Reads RealCentralVA?
Now for 2008. It's been a long time since I've run a poll. In late 2006: - 49% of readers identified themselves as "Curious Consumers." - 7% were "active buyers or sellers" - Nearly 30% were "real estate professionals or related fields" I'm curious -…