The Things We Do For Love.....For Our Clients! - 03/30/10 03:29 PM
“The Things We Do for Love” is the 1976 hit tune by the UK musical group, 10cc.  As a Realtor, I have created my own hit tune “The Things We Do Love . . . for our Clients”! 
Some of the most basic services we perform for clients are:  meet contractors on site to get estimates for work, provide access as necessary, and follow up to ensure work is performed accordingly; coordinate landscapers, snow removal and house cleaning crews;  meet pest inspectors and technicians;  obtain inspections by structural engineers, EIFS technicians and other professionals;  oversee installation of radon remediation systems;  … (0 comments)

Existing Home Sales Continue to Slide - 03/25/10 08:35 AM
This is one of the top headlines in the Economy & Business section of the Washington Post on March 24, 2010.  This is a link to the article:  ttp://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/03/23/AR2010032301226.html
My first reaction was:  “here we go again, more gloom and doom from the press about the residential real estate market.”  But then when I thought about it, perhaps there is a ray of light in these statistics.  The graph illustrates that the seasonally adjusted annual rate of existing-home sales in millions peaked in November 2009.  The end of November 2009 was the original deadline set by Congress for first-time home buyers … (0 comments)

First Day of Spring & "Hope Springs Eternal" - 03/18/10 10:08 AM
The first day of Spring is Saturday, March 20, 2010 and you can feel the hope in the air!  The quote “hope springs eternal” comes from the classic poem by Alexander Pope and it speaks to the common human trait of optimism.  The Northern Virginia area has come out of the most severe winter weather in 112 years, so the coming of physical spring is even more welcomed and pronounced than in past years.  Daylight savings time now gives us more hours of sunshine, the flowers are starting to bloom and the birds are singing.
The Northern Virginia area has experienced … (0 comments)

Briscoe Saga Part VI - Home Inspectors as General Practitioners - 03/17/10 02:02 PM
This is Part VI of the saga of me as a Realtor buying and selling my family’s personal residence and I am sharing my thoughts because I now have actual and first hand knowledge of what my clients experience.  Once all the terms are agreed to in writing in a contract for sale of a home and delivered to the parties, the contract is ratified.  If there are any contingencies in the contract, the counting of the number of days begins from the date of ratification.  That date is like pressing the start button on a stop watch. 
Typically one … (0 comments)

Briscoe Saga Part V - Logistics of Negotiating the Offer - 03/15/10 01:38 PM
This is Part V of the saga of me as a Realtor buying and selling my family’s personal residence, and I am sharing my thoughts because I now have actual and first hand knowledge of some of what my clients experience. 
We wrote our offer and presented it to the agent for the seller on a Friday, so the negotiating took place over the weekend.  Negotiating contracts over the weekend is very common.  That’s why us Realtors work 24/7!  Now that I’ve had this experience personally, I believe people wait until the weekend to write an offer because they are … (2 comments)

Briscoe Saga Part IV - Getting our Home Ready to Sell - 03/08/10 08:34 AM
This is Part IV of the saga of me as a Realtor buying and selling my family’s personal residence, and I am sharing my thoughts because I now have actual and first hand knowledge of what my clients experience.  When we put the offer on the townhouse my husband asked me, “But can you sell our house?”  Remember this was Thanksgiving week, not the prime time to be selling a home.  My answer was affirmative:  “Of course I can sell our home; it’s just whether it is at a price you would be happy with!”  Any property (real estate or otherwise) … (0 comments)

 

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