The Real Estate Whisperer on AR

Dear Sellers: I get so confused sometimes when I try to help you sell your home.  You see, I have these buyers.  Online, it looked like your home fit their criteria - the price and location are just right, and the description of your property made us think that your house could be "the one".  I l...

Do you really understand "AGENCY" in the real estate world?  Probably not. To me, the number one duty of a real estate agent (when you are in an agency relationship with them) is to protect your confidentiality.  If you are a buyer and have a written buyer agency agreement with an agent, then you...

How do you feel about Open Houses?  It's true that statistically very few homes are sold at open houses.  I think, however, that is because most agents don't approach them strategically.  I do.  I have sold many homes because of an open house. I admit that sometimes I am selling the house and the...

My marketing plan includes many proven methods which are in use by most professional real estate agents. The difference with me is how I choose to take everything to the next level. Today I am going to use open house promotion as an example. Here are seven levels of marketing an open house. As yo...

The charts below clearly show seasonal home sales trends in Fairfax County.  In our area, it is widely thought that spring and summer have the highest months of sales.. but have you ever seen statistical data to back that up?  You asked, and now you receive.  The chart below (green) shows the num...

Central Loudoun Little League held opening day ceremonies, despite the threat of rain, this morning at Good Times Park in NE Leesburg. There are 976 kids registered in CLLL this year, which includes 22 coach pitch teams. Little League is open for kids aged 4 to 12.  Last year, Little League adop...

I am often asked about what our local seasonal cycles are for real estate, so I thought I'd pass along this chart (thanks MRIS) for real estate sales volume in Loudoun County since 2006.  Despite fluxuations due to weather, tax programs, loan programs, interest rates and many other things, this ...

Congress is looking at many potential revisions to the tax code, including limiting the tax deductions for mortgage interest. This change could truly have a negative impact on our local & national real estate market. We need to let Congress know we want the mortgage interest deduction to be left...

It's Taste Test Tuesday! OK, I will admit that I am stealing the "game" from Zillow.com, but I liked it.  Every Tuesday I will post pictures of 2 or more homes and ask for your favorite.  I might shake it up a bit just for variety, but in this case, I have posted 2 pictures of Single Family Home...

We're well into 2011 and the market is very different than a few years ago.  In 2008, almost the only properties selling were REOs.   By 2009/2010, the banks had seen the value in working with short sales and had enough trained staff that they were able to start processing the requests in enough ...