Central Virginia Real Estate Blog

Happy New Year!!

Dale Campbell (Pioneer Realty) — Wed, 26 Dec 2007 11:34:13 -0800

Happy New Year to all!!

I certainly hope that you are looking forward to 2008 as much as I am! I have set some terrific goals, and I am really anxious to start out the new year to reach them all!

Having gone thru some changes this year (changing brokers and improving my online presence), I really anticipate an awesome year in 2008!!

Good luck to all in this changing market!!

Real Estate Agents owning rental property - Can you take the tax loss?

Dale Campbell (Pioneer Realty) — Fri, 21 Dec 2007 09:26:15 -0800

I am sure that come of you Active Rain real estate agents also invest in real estate as rental property. You may or may not be able to deduct your rental losses... READ ON.

Rental losses are considered "passive" losses, and usually can only be used to offset passive income on the tax return. Now rental losses can be deducted EVEN IF (added together for all rental properties) they exceed passive income up to $25000. I put up an earlier post on this topic (more of a general public kind of post) that you may want to check out... Deducting Rental Tax Losses - Can you do it?

Here is the real estate professional exception to that rule (always an exception!!)...

"Real Estate Professionals" can deduct MORE than the $25000 loss on rental losses in a given year. This is our NAR PAC dues working for us!

Now things get more complicated...

What is a "Real Estate Professional"?

Well, according to the IRS (IRC Sec. 469(c)(7)), the "Real Estate Professional" includes someone who satisfies both of the following:

More than 50% of your personal services are performed in the real estate business in which you materially participate AND your material participation in the real property trade or business exceeds 750 hours per year, AND
You must show that you materially participate in the rental activity

Before you read the above and say, "That's me! No problem!", read further!!

What is the definition of "real estate business"?

"any real property development, redevelopment, construction, reconstruction, acquisition, conversion, rental, operation, management, leasing, or brokerage trade or business."

Did you see Real Estate Agent in that definition?

Me neither, and neither does the IRS.

Before you go crazy and say, " I am in the brokerage trade or business! The definition of a broker is someone who brings buyers and sellers together, and that is what I do!", I agree with you!

The IRS does not!

Before you say, "I don't agree with you or the IRS, and I am taking the deduction anyway!", know this... it has been denied before. If you are a real estate agent, according to the IRS, you do not fall into the definition of a "real estate professional", and the deduction could be denied, and you may be in for a fight.

I do believe that it is a fight that you will win. In the prior cases where the deduction has been denied, the taxpayer did not fight it all the way. When I say all the way, I mean taking it to the tax court system. I believe that anyone fighting it would have the full support or NAR and their state association, and that to settle the argument once and for all, would be in our favor for now and the future. But the problem is... at what cost. The reason that this battle has not been fought is the cost of the battle has outweighed the benefits for those taxpayers.

While I don't agree with the IRS on this issue, I do want to make you aware of the facts and issues with this deduction, and what may or may not happen. Good luck!

Deducting Rental Tax Losses - Can you do it?

Dale Campbell (Pioneer Realty) — Fri, 21 Dec 2007 09:21:58 -0800

In my rental experience as a real estate agent in Central Virginia, most of the time, the first five years or so of rental property ownership generates a tax loss. Usually, unless it is a property that the owner purchased for very little because of the physical condition and put a lot into fixing it up prior to rental, it is about year 5 or year 6 before increased rents begin to generate income for the landlord.

Now comes the real issue, can you take these losses on your tax return? Answer...MAYBE. (Maybe is the classic answer when dealing with taxes, because there is an exception to every rule in the tax code.)

Rental income and losses are considered "passive" income, as opposed to "active" income, basically meaning you didn't have to physically do anything to earn it, like you would in your job or profession where you work to earn the money. Examples of other passive income are interest income, dividend income, or capital gains income.

Passive income is always taxable, as is generally any income. But the catch is... passive losses are not always deductible. Passive losses are only deductible to the extent you have passive income. This means that you use passive losses to offset, or wipe out, passive income on the tax return, but if you have more passive losses than passive income, the passive losses must be carried forward to the next year.

Here is the exception... (I told you there was always an exception.) With rentals, you can write off passive losses up to $25000 per year in excess of your passive income.

This is really huge if you are thinking about investing in real estate. Basically if you are in the 30% tax bracket (25% federal + 5% state), you get back in your refund (or reduction in what you owe) an extra $0.30 for each $1.00 of loss that you had on that rental property. It's like a big HUGE rebate. For instance, if repairing the plumbing in that rental property costs you $1000, the IRS is paying $300 of it.

Do Your Clients Know You?

Dale Campbell (Pioneer Realty) — Sun, 16 Dec 2007 11:13:28 -0800

One of the most wonderful tools that I use now with all of my buyers and sellers of real estate in Central Virginia is called a CAREERBook. The CAREERBook was created by Barb Schwartz, the creator of home staging, in an effort to help her clients get to know her better.

I had been planning on putting together a brag book for myself to be left at listing appointments with potential clients, and then I happened across this product when I attended a course on home staging.

Once I obtained this product, it took some time to get everything together, but I must say I have gotten tremendous results. What a better way to let a potential client get to know you, than by leaving them this monstrous book with all your credentials and achievements? How can a competing agent hold a candle to that? I simply leave my book with the potential client, and I set up another time when I can come back to pick it up (an opportunity for a follow up! How ingenious!) The first comment I usually get from sellers when they see the book is "Wow!"

This is a tremendous weapon in my arsenal of services for home sellers in Central Virginia. We always want the potential clients to tell us who they are, so why not tell them who we are?

Rebates - Yes or No?

Dale Campbell (Pioneer Realty) — Sun, 16 Dec 2007 10:04:03 -0800

One of my corporate partners would like to include me in a booklet that they hand out to all of their employees (over 7000 employees). This booklet is a booklet of vendors, most of which offer discounts to the employees for using their services.

I definitely want to be in the book, and I have offered a rebate to their employees as incentive to use me as their real estate agent.

My question is... What are your experiences with these types of situations? I have been advised both ways for various reasons that I understand, but I am looking for your opinions.

Real Estate Law Course Coming Up!!

Dale Campbell (Pioneer Realty) — Sat, 15 Dec 2007 12:58:29 -0800

Just ordered my final broker course on the web today... Real Estate Law.

Having already completed three out of the four required courses necessary in Virginia to take the brokers exam, I am excited to hopefully finish up my broker studies soon!

I tend to go the self-study route, as it works better in my crazy schedule with my wife working full-time and taking care of the little ones (Mr. Mom, we call it!)

I will have to post updates on how it is going.

Can any of you that have taken the Law course in Virginia give me any idea of what I am in for?

Cell Phone Spam!! Yuk!!

Dale Campbell (Pioneer Realty) — Sat, 15 Dec 2007 12:54:34 -0800

How many of you have started to receive text messages on your cell phone that are sales propaganda, the equivalent of junk e-mail? Over the last two weeks, I have started to receive several of these.

Knowing that text messages end up being an extra charge to my bill, I contacted my cell phone carrier today to see what I could do about this situation. I use Verizon Wireless. They directed me to a website http://www.vtext.com/ where I could login to my account and set preferences to block all text messages coming from email or the web, and told me that if it continued being a problem, call them back and they will block all text messages.

I do not use text messages too often, maybe one time per month to send a funny picture of the kids to my wife, so I don't have an unlimited text messaging feature on my plan.

Has anyone else ran into this issue?

Real Estate Education

Dale Campbell (Pioneer Realty) — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 08:22:49 -0800

In an effort to become the best real estate agent in Central Virginia, I have been improving myself through reading.

There are two books that I have found that have been quite helpful to me.

First -- How To Become a Power Agent in Real Estate : A Top Industry Trainer Explains How to Double Your Income in 12 Months by Darryl Davis gives a twelve month program in twelve chapters, one chapter for each month.

I have read this book twice already and working on my third time. The first time to gain a quick understanding of the material and begin to apply some of it to my real estate business, the second time to actually outline the booklet to help me to digest the material, and now the third time I am reading one chapter each month to try to completely absorb it and study that one chapter for four weeks.

Second -- How to Develop a Six-Figure Income in Real Estate by Mike Ferry was recommended to me by my new broker.

I have already read this book one time and working on the second time outlining it as I go.

What books have you read that help you in your business and what reading suggestions would you have for me to improve my real estate career?

Improve Yourself!

Dale Campbell (Pioneer Realty) — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 09:45:09 -0800

This time of year is a good time for real estate agents to do some self reflection.

At this time of year I always look at myself and ask myself the following questions...

What can I do to make myself a better Central Virginia real estate agent?
What areas of my game are the weakest?

Last year when I asked myself those questions, the answer was Home Inspections. I felt like whenever the home inspection took place, I knew less than anyone present. All I could say was, "uh huh" or "duh", and I could not contribute anything to the conversation.

So what did I do to improve myself in this area?

I took two home inspection courses in my spare time, and aced them! Now, I am not an expert, and I have no intention of performing home inspections for the public, but you know what? I am a lot smarter during this phase of the home buying process and I have expanded my knowledge to add to my home buyer services in Central Virginia.

I feel that if more real estate agents would take this opportunity to improve themselves, the profession would be a lot more professional!

One of the smartest things you can do AS A PERSON is recognize you have a weakness and then do something about it!

Active Rain Works!!

Dale Campbell (Pioneer Realty) — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 15:55:48 -0800

Last month I did a post on House Flippers - The Tax Consequences, which I thought was a very informative post. Later that day after posting, I received an email from a writer, Mr. Christian Toto of the Washington Times, who just happened to be doing an article on House Flipping. He wanted to draw from my expertise as a CPA and real estate agent in Central Virginia.

After talking to him on the phone, he apparently found what I had to say worth quoting in his article, Flip Side of Remodeling.

Even though he decided to call me Dave (I have been called worse), I was still very excited.

Anyway, isn't it wonderful when our personal marketing works for us?

Brokerage Change

Dale Campbell (Pioneer Realty) — Thu, 06 Dec 2007 07:15:55 -0800

Hey guys!

I have not been posting or answering posts for a few weeks now, because I have made a change in brokers. For me, such a decision is not an easy one to arrive at, and it really does involve a lot of deliberation and thought. It was really difficult, but I feel that it will be the best for me and my growth and the service of my clients.

I did not realize how much work went into making such a change, as all forms, marketing materials, brochures, websites, now all have to be changed. I have been so busy trying to get all this done, and I have so much more to do, but the upside is that I get a whole new learning experience with my new broker that I am truly excited about! I really feel that it will make me a better Central Virginia Real Estate Agent.

What factors are in your mind when deciding on staying with a broker or making a change?

Thanks!!

Broker Finance and Appraisal Courses Passed!!

Dale Campbell (Pioneer Realty) — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 11:24:53 -0800

In my quest to better myself as a Central Virginia Real Estate Agent, I have been taking classes to obtain my broker's license.

I am so excited and thrilled to now have the Broker Finance and Broker Appraisal classes behind me! This morning, I took (and passed, thankfully) the final exams for these two classes.

My eventual goal is to become a broker and open my own real estate brokerage. To do so, I need to obtain a Virginia broker's license. Due to having two little ones at home and the nature of being unable to commit to a regimented schedule to physically take the necessary classes, I always take the classes self-study. Just read the book and take the test.

For those that are not familiar with Virginia's broker requirements:

In addition to an experience requirement and passing a state licensing exam, there are four classes necessary to become a broker in the state of Virginia:

1 - Brokerage Management - passed in August - CHECK!

2 - Real Estate Finance - passed this morning - CHECK!

3 - Real Estate Appraisal - passed this morning - CHECK!

4 - Real Estate Law

So anyway, three down and one to go! What a R-E-L-I-E-F!!!

20,000 Points!

Dale Campbell (Pioneer Realty) — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 15:27:25 -0800

Since joining AR over two months ago, I have really treasured the relationships I have found. I look forward every day to reading the numerous blogs that have been posted since the day before and really enjoy offering any input if I have something to share.

There are many bloggers out there that I have found (and many more that I have yet to find, I am sure) where I just cannot wait to see what they post next, and many groups that I subscribe to, anxiously awaiting the next informative post.

I want to thank AR for being such a great place for all of us to get together and share experiences, trials, lessons, and pains. AR has brought me a lot of new acquaintances and I feel that many others feel the same.

Energy Efficient Home Tax Credits

Dale Campbell (Pioneer Realty) — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 14:07:59 -0800

Did you know that you could get a tax credit for energy efficient items that you installed in your main home in 2007?

The amount of the credit is 10% of the amount paid for qualified energy efficient improvements or 100% of the amount paid for energy efficient items installed, but there are some limitations to the credit on these items.

This means that you could go out right now in 2007 and install one of these products in your home, and get the money back (or part of it back) when you do your taxes!

There is a $500 lifetime limit per taxpayer, and certain items are limited, and you must obtain a manufacturer's certification to show that it is energy efficient.

Sample qualifying items (with limits) include:

$300 for insulation, water heaters, heat pumps, AC units

$50 for ceiling fans or other air circulating fans

$200 for windows, storm doors, and windows, and skylights

$150 for natural gas, propane or oil furnaces or water heaters.

As always, check the IRS Form 5695 and Instructions to make sure you are eligible. I also have more info on the credit here for you.

Friends Getting Together

Dale Campbell (Pioneer Realty) — Fri, 09 Nov 2007 06:49:22 -0800

Being a huge Dallas Cowboys fan living in the middle of Washington Redskin country, I have always tried to make it to Dallas to see a home football game each year. I have been maybe ten times or so, consistently for the last five years.

Five years ago, I started inviting friends to go, and ever since this group of guys (That's right, gals. A guys weekend away!) has grown from 7 guys to 27 guys. It has turned out to be a complete blast every year, and as soon as it is over, we start counting down for the next year. For some of us, it is a small window of time that we can completely get away from the responsibilities of every day life and just have fun being kids again, even though we are all in our (at least) thirties now, and it's a great way for us to keep in touch even though many of us have moved to different parts of the country.

So, here we are again, as we leave our homes in various cities to congregate once more for our annual retreat next week. The game this year is Cowboys vs. Redskins, and we have fans of several different teams going, just to have fun and see each other for our one time of the year.

Anyway - Lesson is: Find an outlet to get away from the everyday grind, and you will definitely come back refreshed and be better for it. AND find a way to keep in touch with your friends when they move away. You won't have many true friends in your lifetime.

Real Estate Investors? - Frustrating!

Dale Campbell (Pioneer Realty) — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 09:58:45 -0800

When working with an investor (buyer), how many times have you heard the following...

"What I am really looking for is a deal. I want you to find me the type of property and deal that you would buy for yourself."

Now honestly, if those types of deals were so easy to find, don't you think the listing agent, their family, or anyone in their office or their families would have already purchased it before their marketing exposed it to the rest of us? Truth is... those types of deals are few and far between because agents gobble them up before the general public can get to them.

Investors watch a little late night TV and read a book or two, then they find an agent who has little value of their own time, and run around town making numerous ridiculously low offers on ravaged properties hoping one offer will stick.

Too many times, the agent will get tired of spending so much time and gas on a fruitless effort, and the investor moves on to find another agent who is too willing to do the same thing. And they will never sign a buyer's representation agreement.

I have seen many posts on AR about retainers and after spending much time being that agent, I am now going to implement that policy as well. Time is too valuable and gas is too expensive to be working for free, when the chances of one of these lowball offers working out is fairly slim.

Thanks for reading my ramble.

LAND FOR SALE - 12192 CEDAR LANE, ASHLAND, VIRGINIA

Dale Campbell (Pioneer Realty) — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 13:25:42 -0800

LAND FOR SALE - 12192 CEDAR LANE, ASHLAND, VIRGINIA
	Click Here for a Virtual Tour!! Click Here for a Buyer's Report!! Click Here to see the Survey!!
Beautiful Country Views!	Offered for $1,100,000

JUST MINUTES FROM I-295 IN HANOVER COUNTY!

Wonderful opportunity to own a gorgeous piece of land in Hanover County, one of the top counties in Virginia! This 103 acre parcel offers terrific country views and a tremendous potential to be divided into smaller parcels. Partially timbered and gently rolling, the property is now partially cleared for farming.

MLS Information	Directions
MLS # 2739989	From I-95 North, take exit 86B, west on Sliding Hill Rd (go 0.6 mi), right on Washington Hwy/Route 1 (go 0.1 mi), left on Cedar Lane (go 4.7 mi), land on right across from Rocky Ridge Road.
Area 36
Acreage 103 +/-
	Map Page 7792 Coord E-5

Call Dale today at 804-516-3280 to view the property!!

Real Estate Self-Directed IRAs

Dale Campbell (Pioneer Realty) — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 10:59:52 -0800

Did you know that you can create a retirement plan that you can control and invest the monies in real estate? It can be invested in rental properties or for rehab projects.

As the self-directed real estate IRAs are becoming more and more common in Central Virginia, I am starting to get more and more information about how they work in order to help my clients with this product.

The two biggest problems that I have found with these are:

1 - Funding - You almost have to have substantial monies from another plan to roll over into the IRA, as there are limitations as to what you can put in the IRA directly each year from your cash on hand. Plus, obtaining mortgages are difficult as the property must be in the IRA's name only, so substantial cash will be necessary.

2 - Trustee - You must find a company that can be trusted as your trustee. This person will have your retirement in their hands.

Are there any other problems or situations with these products that you know of?

Income Tax Exclusions for Selling Your Home

Dale Campbell (Pioneer Realty) — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 10:58:03 -0800

So often in dealing with other real estate agents in Central Virginia, I find that they are unaware of the rules of the income tax regulations for the exclusion of capital gains for their clients who are selling their homes.

So many people think that you have to buy a bigger home to exclude the gain from the previous home....WRONG! Old law. This was disposed of in 1997.

Others think that you must be 55 or older to get an exclusion...WRONG! Old law. Again gone in 1997.

In general, the law currently states that an individual may exclude up to $250,000 (and a married couple may exclude up to $500,000) in capital gains on the sale of their principal residence.

Before we go further, we need some definitions...

What is a principal residence? The IRS does not define this, but definitely use some common sense here. You will have to prove that you lived there without question if you are asked be the IRS. You may be able to do this by showing where you receive your mail (copies of bills), where you are registered to vote, where your car is registered, where you file state taxes, etc. Obviously, if your car is registered or you are registered to vote in North Dakota, and the home is in Florida, it's not gonna work.

What is capital gain? Basically, what you sold the house for less what you paid for it, less improvements and selling expenses.

Now that we got those definitions out of the way, let's look at the stipulations needed to take advantage of this exclusion.

There are three requirements:

1 - Ownership - Must have owned it for at least 2 out of the last 5 years before the sale.

2 - Use - Must have used it as a principal residence for at least 2 out of the last 5 years before the sale.

3 - One Sale in Two Years - Can only do this exclusion one time every two years. HUGE! They are telling you that you can move every two years and pocket the money without any tax consequences.

Those who do not meet the 2 out of 5 years test, can possibly get a reduced exclusion if they meet certain requirements. Check with your CPA.

If you are looking to buy or sell real estate in Central Virginia, call Dale Campbell, CPA, Cloverleaf Realty, 804-516-3280.

House Flippers - The Tax Consequences

Dale Campbell (Pioneer Realty) — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 10:53:54 -0800

Having worked with real estate investors in Central Virginia for some time now, one thing that I am starting to realize is that many of them do not realize the tax consequences of what they are doing, especially with regard to those that are flipping houses.

Many people watch the shows on TV, go to a seminar, or watch late night TV and decide to start flipping houses.

One of the most highly taxed (and highly scrutinized) areas of a tax return is the self employed business, mainly because of excessive deductions taken in this area in the past, but also because not only is self-employment income subject to income tax, but it is also subject to self-employment tax.

Self-employment tax is basically social security (SS) and medicare (MC) taxes on your earnings. You see, when you work for someone else, SS and MC are taken out of your paycheck at a total rate of 7.65% of your earnings. Your employer matched that amount and sends in 15.3% of your earnings to the government for social security and medicare on your behalf. Big Note: When you are self employed, you pay all 15%!

This brings us to the subject at hand...flipping houses. The IRS would like to consider this income as self-employment income. This obviously would be to their benefit, as the flipper would pay income tax and self employment tax on that income.

Most house flippers are told (in their courses that they buy on late night TV, by friends, or even accountants!) that this income is capital gains income, and there should be no self employment tax assessed.

Problem is...(for the flipper anyway), that the flipper will have a hard time disputing it is not self employment income, unless this is a "once in a blue moon" transaction. If they are doing three or four houses a year, they do not have much of an argument to dispute the IRS claim that they are self-employed, especially if they have no other job. This means $0.15 less out of their pocket for every $1.00 they made! The IRS will argue that they are just like anyone else that is self-employed out there selling a product.

House flippers need to beware. The larger the house flipping trend grows due to popularity and publicity, the more the IRS will crack down on it.

If you are looking to buy or sell real estate in Central Virginia, call Dale Campbell, CPA, Cloverleaf Realty, 804-516-3280.

Keep In Touch with Your Clients - It Will Pay Off!!

Dale Campbell (Pioneer Realty) — Tue, 30 Oct 2007 15:38:00 -0700

Keeping in touch with all of my potential home buyers and home sellers in Central Virginia is one of the main ways I build my business. Sounds so simple, but so many real estate agents get so busy with what they are doing they neglect their prospect database.

The strongest prospects in my database are those that have dealt with me in the past. Those are the ones that I take care of, and I give them the special treatment. They are the ones that trust me.

In another lifetime I started and built my own CPA firm. I sold that business several years ago, but those clients that I had in that business are the cream of the crop as far as I am concerned, and they are the first ones I called when I started as a Central Virginia real estate agent, as many trust me more than they would anyone else.

Well, here's the story...

There is one prospect who I have known for years, and I knew he worked as a land developer, buying large tracts of Central Virginia real estate and creating subdivisions. Although he and I have never worked together on any of these, I continued to keep in touch with him.

He does not have an internet connection (I know..crazy, huh?), so any land that came available in the areas that he was looking, I would print out the MLS report and mail to him. So many agents wouldn't take the time, and certainly would have gotten tired of doing it after a year and a half with no results. But I kept on keeping in touch by sending these reports, and once every few months, I would give him a call to see how he was doing. (Yes, how he was doing with life and family! Not "When are you going to buy?") I was building trust.

Today, I was rewarded, as unexpectedly, he shows up at my office today with a survey in his hand, and asked me to list and sell this huge piece of land (over 100 acres) that he owns in the county. Out of the blue! I could hardly talk, but I knew that he now had his trust in me, and that I was going to work as hard as possible not to let him down. I thanked him for that trust.

PS - I am showing the land Friday already to another prospect.

Mr. Potato Head Pumpkins

Dale Campbell (Pioneer Realty) — Tue, 30 Oct 2007 09:31:12 -0700

I really must say that having two four-year olds has helped me to relive my childhood, although I don't look any younger.

After a trip to the pumpkin patch yesterday, my little ones wanted to decorate their pumpkins prior to putting them on the porch. This prompted a family event in which all four of us (Mommy too) decided to create a pumpkin in their own likeness, a virtual family of pumpkins. Then someone (me) remembered that we had some Mr. Potato Head parts in a box.

Then we decided to have "make a funny face with your pumpkin" time. Have fun checking out these pics and remember, any goofy faces that my kids made were all inherited from their Mother's side of the family.

PS - My pumpkin is the handsome one with the yellow hat.

Corporate Partnerships Can Be Very Important For Real Estate Agents

Dale Campbell (Pioneer Realty) — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 15:01:22 -0700

One of the keys to success as a Realtor, can be corporate partnerships. I am currently working on some of these in the Central Virginia area now.

By building relationships with human resources directors in the corporate arena, a Realtor can generate relocation business for new employees that they are bringing into the area, or new housing for their existing employees. In one of the new initiatives to the Central Virginia area that I am currently a part of (Home From Work), I build those relationships by offering home buying seminars and bringing vendors together to offer one complete package to an employer.

But even outside of the Home From Work program, working with corporate employers will help build a strong referral base over time that other Realtors will find it difficult to compete against. By making those contacts (especially with the smaller, growing companies), I am starting to establish myself as the expert real estate agent in Central Va for this largely untapped market for recurring business.

Recordkeeping: A Pain in the Neck or a Lifesaver Around the Neck?

Dale Campbell (Pioneer Realty) — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 11:54:25 -0700

I cannot stress enough the benefits of keeping records as a Central Virginia real estate agent. Even though the office keeps records of the paperwork, I always keep a copy of everything that comes thru my hands: pictures of the home, contracts, addendums, disclosures, everything!

But what about the space and paperwork in your file drawers and keeping up with it all, you ask? Get a scanner! I scan everything that I do not already have an electronic copy of. If something is faxed to me, I have an electronic copy thru my fax to email service, but if not, I scan it into my computer.

What about disk space and computer logjams, you ask? Get an external hard drive! They are very inexpensive now.

Scan it all in (if not already in the computer), keep the copy on the external hard drive, then take the original to the office broker's files. You will not regret this! You will always have what you need without the hassle of going to the office to retrieve it.

Example: One of buyer-clients whose transaction closed in late May called me last week, and their A/C had broken. They needed a copy of the home warranty information and receipt. I had emailed it to him, by the time we got off the phone!

This only increases your efficiency and value to your clients! It has helped me to be a better real estate agent in Central Virginia.

How Do You Find Your Way Around Town?

Dale Campbell (Pioneer Realty) — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 11:50:05 -0700

One of the most useful tools that I have come to depend on regularly while conducting showings to home buyers and sellers in Central Virginia is my Global Positioning System (GPS).

I now wonder how I ever got along without my Garmin Streetpilot. Prior to purchasing "Bessie" as I call her, I was riding around with the map book open and MapQuest directions printed out, trying to read while I drove. Sometimes, I even had to follow clients from house to house for showings, as I had no idea where the next house was. How embarrassing is that?

Bessie now tells me where to go (no jokes, please). All I do is program all of the showings for the day in ahead of time. Sometimes, I will print out the MapQuest directions anyway, just to be safe. This has been money well spent in this area of Central Virginia where road construction is constantly adding and changing neighborhoods. It makes me look smarter (I always need help there.) because I look like I know where I am and where I am going.

Plus, big benefit..... I am never lost! I just never worry about getting lost, as I just hit "Home" and listen to Bessie.