ABOUT JIM
Walking a Mile (in My Shoes) as a Real Estate Agent
"Being a real estate agent is one of the greatest privileges in the world. It requires a diverse skill-set of sales, compassion, empathy, marketing, organization, hustle, wit and patience. It's connected me with people in ways unlike anything I've ever experienced before and is incomparable…
PUBLIC PERCEPTION
Lawrence Yun is Right (My take on the NAR’s Revisions)
“From a consumer's perspective, only the local market information matters and there are no changes to local multiple listing service (MLS) data or local supply-and-demand balance, or to local home prices,” Yun explained. (business insider) True. Ignore the NAR. Read local real estate analysis that…
GENERAL REAL ESTATE
One Way that Real Estate Agents are Like Lawyers
The New York Times notes this regarding law schools: "The fundamental issue is that law schools are producing people who are not capable of being counselors," says Jeffrey W. Carr, the general counsel of FMC Technologies, a Houston company that makes oil drilling equipment. They…
GENERAL REAL ESTATE
Realtor.com’s App Rocks – So Say I & my Clients
Say you want to know what houses are for sale in a certain, undefined area around Crozet Park. I never thought I'd say such nice things about Realtor.com. I've written a few things about them over the years, and while I still have issues with…
GENERAL REAL ESTATE
Vetting your Charlottesville Realtor – Like + Experience =
Personally, I've never used the term "neighborhood expert" ... but what if you could actually vet those Realtors who make such claims? In a couple weeks, the Houston Association of Realtors will launch a Web application that allows consumers to see which Realtors within their…
OFF-TOPIC
The Onion Speaks – About Real Estate Signs
I Wasn't Going To Buy This House Until I Saw The Realtor's Headshot On The Sign Have you seen our signs? (more…)
CHARLOTTESVILLE
School Values and Housing Prices – Specifically in Albemarle County
Do better schools increase house prices? From my perspective as a Realtor in the Charlottesville area, the answer is yes. I have never had buyers tell me that they wanted to live in a bad school district; but virtually every single one - whether they…
GENERAL REAL ESTATE
This Should be Fun – Raising the Bar
Or ... #RTB as the conversation has become known on Twitter and on the Google Wave conversation. Now the conversation moves to blogtalkradio. Talking about raising the bar within the real estate world is one thing. Mobilizing to actually effect change is another. (more…)
SIDEBLOG
Light Blogging Next Week – I’ll be in New York
(click through for a brief video) I'm going to NYC next week for the Inman Connect conference. I'll be doing a session at the REBarcamp on Tuesday and sitting on a panel on Thursday. Importantly, we'll be discussing the RPR - the Realtors Property Resource,…
EDUCATION
I’m an Associate Broker in Virginia. So What?
It's been just over eight years since I received my Commonwealth of Virginia real estate license. So now I'm an Associate Broker. No longer "just a Realtor" (and yes, brokers would look at me with disdain when I would say that I was not a…