David Sobotta's Blog

I come to real estate from the computer and technology world.While I worked at Apple for nearly twenty years, after leaving Apple I spent a lot of time using Windows XP and Linux.As a real estate agent I was faced with one of our two MLS systems requiring Internet Explorer and both forms packages...

Sometimes work is just work.  There is no way around it. On a cold cloudy day in February, a commercial fishermen is out working in spite of  the elements.In a tough real estate market, it can feel like the clouds have settled in permanently.January and February of this year have been very challe...

Sometimes it is hard to let your client back away from a deal, but I recently ran into a situation where that was the most logical thing to do.My client made an offer, got a counter, and made another counter.  Given the market we are in and the condition of the property he was trying to buy, his ...

About ten days ago my wife and I were over on the beach to take some pictures of a home for a CMA.We took the pictures, and my wife wisely commented that we should drive around in the area and see what might not show up in MLS.Sure enough just down the street was a beach home that was for sale by...

No matter how much research you do on the web, at some point you have to visit an area. You do that even if for no other reason than to start enjoying the place you bought remotely.I have been in the real estate business for eighteen months, but I still have only heard of one case of someone buyi...

It is very clear to me that effective use of technology can have a major impact on the ability of clients to find their real estate dreams and on my efforts to find clients and help them realize their dreams.It is also clear that we are in somewhat uncharted waters.  Just as technology makes it e...

I had some clients with me for several hours on New Year's eve.After I responded to a few questions and finished a follow-up email to the wife, it occurred to me how absolutely amazing it is to be able to send so much information at the click of a button.I created a private Picasa Web Album for t...

I was putting up our Christmas lights a few weekends ago when my wife noticed a pickup truck stopped at one of flyer boxes on a vacant lot up the street from our home.They came on down to the clubhouse and boat ramp just across the street from us and parked.  I had noticed the box was empty of fl...

When we first moved to Roanoke, Virginia, we had only been in the US for about two years after spending seventeen years in Atlantic Canada.That meant that snow and ice were still pretty close to the front of our minds.  When we moved to the top of our mountain, we traded both vehicles for all whe...

Last night I was driving around in Cannonsgate, a new waterfront community in Carteret County between Morehead City and Cape Carteret where I live.There are no homes in Cannonsgate yet.  Construction is scheduled to begin on the first homes just after the new year.Since I have seen the architectu...