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. 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)

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.

Walnut Creek Park in Albemarle County

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.

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

??3rd Quarter 2016 Charlottesville Real Estate Market Report
Macro Economic Real Estate Trends – Talk by Lawrence Yun with NAR
Crozet Real Estate Market Update for 3rd Quarter; 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.”

Don't Know

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

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