Hurricane Gustav May Interrupt My Blogging - 08/29/08 06:05 PM
It may take Hurricane Gustav to keep me away from the Rain for some time.  Yesterday while up in New York (more about that later) I received a call asking if I could go somewhere in the Gulf Coast as a Red Cross volunteer.  My immediate answer was 'Yes!".
I arrived home from NY around 3:30 a.m. this morning and have been busy, very busy all day trying to get ready to go.  My flight leaves at 7:30 a.m. from Richmond, Va flying into Baton Rouge, LA. tomorrow.
Red Cross volunteers are being deployed to Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana.   Perhaps to Texas … (24 comments)

When You Know You are No Longer a Newbie - 08/23/08 11:59 PM
 When does this happen?  How do you know or do you ever know?
Well, for me, I suspected I might not be one any longer when I began to read posts and realized that I'd written about the same topic.
If this hasn't happened to you yet, it will without a doubt.  Almost everything related to real estate has been posted and reposted and reposted again on the Rain.  We are certainly not talking plagiarizing here simply new posts by different agents covering the same topics.
The inventory of posts must be so huge it is impossible to imagine.  Now that I mentioned … (43 comments)

Does Your Post Do the Side Step? - 08/23/08 10:59 PM
Hoping that it is not my computer, I would like to know if you ever have any problems reading some of the posts.  Every once in a while I go to read a post and the text has done the side step.
Definition of sidestep according to YourDictionary.com:
sidestep Definition
☆ side·step (-step′)
transitive verb -·stepped′, -·step′·ping
to avoid by or as by stepping aside; dodge to sidestep a difficulty
intransitive verb (Is this how I am using it?  Hope so!  It's nice to be right once in a while.)
to step to one side; take a side step or side … (30 comments)

It's Not an Addiction...It's a Love Affair - 08/20/08 08:21 PM
My husband, Jim, and I have come to the conclusion that I am not addicted to Active Rain.  I am simply in love with it.
It happened so insidiously.  Who could have known.  I cannot even remember how the affair started.  I'm sure that is true for so many.  It just happened.  No one is guilty.  No one started out with that in mind.  I thought it was harmless.  Oh, a few minutes here and a few minutes there.  Nothing to it.  Certainly nothing serious.
Then winter set in, things slowed down.  I had a little more time on my hands.  Yes, … (32 comments)

A Colorful Visit to Lake Anna Nursery - 08/17/08 12:38 AM
We are so fortunate to have a number of businesses around the lake that make life easier and more pleasant for us.  One of the best is Lake Anna Nursery.  It is the go to place when you need some color in your life or a new tree for your yard.  Maybe you are looking for some yard furniture to provide a little more seating for those guests that love any opportunity to come visit and spend some time out on the water and relaxing on the deck. 
Having a nursery close at hand provides us with just about everything one could … (12 comments)

Wait a Minute...I Only Turned My Back for a Second - 08/16/08 03:09 PM
It's getting to the point where real estate is just getting in the way of my Active Rain life.
For what seemed like a second, it was really a few days, I found it necessary to stay away.  Two new listings and two offers to purchase and the necessary negotiation involved, plus showing properties left little time even for meals and sleep.
This evening it got to be too much for me.  I came back to finish a post I started last week and to do some reading and commenting.  I needed my AR fix.
So what confronts me at the … (33 comments)

Should We or Shouldn't We? - 08/11/08 10:52 PM
Recently there have been some posts on the value of writing about things other than hard core real estate on Active Rain.
Are we diluting our effectiveness if we write about restaurants we frequent, fun things to do, unique places to shop, upcoming activities, points of interest, and all the other things that can be written about our local markets?

Like most topics here on the Rain, there's more than one point of view.
About a week ago I posted, Seeing the World Through Active Rain Eyes, in which I mentioned how many pictures I have been taking and how Active Rain as opened up … (22 comments)

The Other Side of the Coin - 08/07/08 05:53 PM
So many of the posts seem to be about the cost of doing business now that business is harder to do and the cost of gas has soared.
Perhaps we need to step back, take a deep breath and reflect on the recent past.

For several years the real estate market was the perfect place to be.  If you knew what you were doing and you were good at it you had the ability to make a six figure income.  Granted, for some that was gross and not net.  Nevertheless, the reality was there was the opportunity to earn a very … (16 comments)

True Confession - 08/06/08 08:58 PM
Recently I read two posts dealing with the pros and cons of when and if to introduce the Representation Agreement I thought I'd add my perspective.
I do not use a Buyer Representation Agreement.
Many, many agents do. It is the way they wish to conduct their business.

 One reason I do not is because people that are looking in my area, a lake community, are often second home buyers or those looking for retirement homes. They have all the time in the world to look and many are looking at other areas as well.
In Virginia we must disclose agency … (12 comments)

Seeing the World Through Active Rain Eyes - 08/05/08 07:10 PM
Thursday when I arrived home I walked into the house and told my husband not to let me out of the house with my camera, ever again. (I told Rich Jacobson this on the phone Friday evening and he mentioned in a post.  Thank you, Rich.)
Since I joined Active Rain I have begun looking at the world around me with Active Rain Eyes.  I've loved where we live even before we moved here.  Now I found myself wanting to know more about it.  I was seeing things that at one time I may well have driven right by.  Now everything became a little … (116 comments)

Do You Pre-Qualify Your Buyers Yourself? - 08/03/08 02:58 PM
It would be interesting to know what is the prevaling practice regarding pre-qualification of buyers.  Is there a difference in
regional markets, markets for primary homes vs. second or retirement homes,   price ranges, or low or high end homes? Do you pre-qualify your clients yourself...not through a lender?  If you do have you always or has this current market changed the way you do business?
If so, do you pre-qualify all of them? If you pre-qualify some of them but not all of them what is your rationale?  Do you believe that would be considered disccrimination?
If you do pre-qualify, why do you?  Is … (24 comments)

Grow Your Business...Just CALL Up Those Prospects - 08/01/08 09:07 PM
Did the National Do Not Call Registry go away?  Was it dissolved?  Or is it still in effect and the only ones exempt are REALTORS®?
I remember when we all seemed to know that it was illegal to call people that had registered their phone numbers.
Please let me know what I've been missing.  From what had been reported, in February 2008, it was made official...the names on the list stayed on the list. 
There were no expiration dates looming out there threatening to put you back on the "Hey Everyone Hurry Up Call and Sell Anything to Anyone List".  Once you signed up on the … (9 comments)

 
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Kate Elim, Realtor® 540-226-1964 Selling Homes & Land at LAKE ANNA

Spotsylvania, VA

More about me…

Dockside Realty

Address: 4634 Courthouse Road, Mineral, VA, 23117

Office Phone: (540) 895-9400

Cell Phone: (540) 226-1964

Email Me

Kathleen "Kate" Elim
Dockside Realty
4634 Courthouse Road
Mineral , VA , 23117 United States
540-226-1964

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