A neighbor posted this on the local listserv, and when I asked if I could post, she welcomed the additional readers.

"NewHillEast" is essentially the east side of Capitol Hill, from 11th St NE/SE on the west to the Anacostia on the east.

She wrote this a few weeks ago, so now, I can even add #11: Crepes on the Corner, 15th St at C St SE.

Her post to the listserv, which captures the neighborhood ambiance:

Top Ten Reasons Why I Love Living in Hill East:

This is a fun tour, and you are sure to learn while having fun and enjoying the day AND seeing a handful of newly redone homes on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC.
This tour is Saturday, Oct 15, 10-4; tickets at Fragers', Schneiders, and Hill's Kitchen.

For all the info you need, check out Renovator's Tour's website. The banner says 2010, but ignore that, it's really Saturday 10/15/2011

Washington DC is a large city, and all that comes with it.

However, there are very strong communities & neighborhoods, essentially, little villages.

Bloomingdale is one of those, with an entire neighborhood of large townhomes, many restored, and others on the way to being restored.

The tour has been going on for a few years, and is always a great way to spend a leisurely Saturday afternoon (Oct 15, 1-5pm)  there's also an Art Show...  really, just a nice way to spend the day.

Check out their Bloomingdale HomeTour  website for more details, and hopefully, we'll see you there.

Something just happenned to me this evening, which I thought was funny.  I could easily tell a neighbor, but they'd laugh and understand.  I suspect this crowd of realtors will likely laugh and understand. 

I live and work in Washington DC, and this town eats people; people work to get here, but it's no vacation when you are here working.  Whether you're a lawyer, a policitian, and somehow here because the government is here, then you are surely working at the top of your game.  That energy attacts others with the same energy.

At the moment, I'm working with a buyer who's recently relocated to Washington, DC and has 2 months of corporate housing allocated so that he can find a new home as a result of the transfer to here.  Saturday, I sent an email to him, to both his private and his corporate email (almost reflexively, so he has it regardless of where he is). 

And now, the funny part.

His corporate email has an auto-responder telling me he is out of the office on Sept 17 & 18 (Saturday & Sunday).  I can assure you, his building is not open on weekends, I expect the only people there would be the front security desk.

Evidently, he's been here 3 weeks and he's already become "one of us".

Funny to me, though I suspect the funny is lost to many others.

And yes, I'll have to share this with some neighbors this week.

For the past several years, the street is closed for a day long festival.

This Saturday, Sept 17, 2001;

On H St NE from 8th to 14th St.

Very family friendly, and a different way to enjoy the community.

It usually gets pretty crowded, and it shouldn't be that wonderful muggy DC September, it should be pleasant.

For ful details, check out their site http://www.hstreet.org/

Enjoy the party, come back in the evening for more fun

Often, it seems we speak more of the problems we see in ourselves and our vendors, but I wanted to speak of an Attaboy that I received today.  This reminded me that there are plenty of good agents, and plenty of people who recognize them.

In the spring of 2010, I helped a woman buy a home in Alexandria, VA.  Uneventful, though this was a referral from a financial planner who I've known for some time.  Yesterday, I heard that her street had been evacuated due to some flash flooding.  She lives on a short street, and so, surely, she'd been impacted.

A day later, it occured to me that I should call her next week, when her life has almost come back to normal.  Then it occured to me, she's a single woman, retired, and most likely not having a good day.  Perhaps she'd want to hear my chirpy voice.  More important, I likely have access to resources and vendors to help her NOW.  I called her cell phone, reminded her I was here, even during non business hours, and urged her to make whatever request she needed.

She's living in a hotel, her home has several feet of water in basement (as do all her neighbors).  She's safe, and yes, she's called the insurance companies and will be working with them to get her life back to normal. And yes, she was thrilled to realize I was offering a hand of support.

After the call, I sent a short note to her financial planner.  He likely didn't even know of the evacuation.  But, the thing is, he did.  He'd also reached out to her.  AND he was infinitely grateful that the Realtor he had referred showed her (and him) that I cared not only about the sale, but about the client, long after the sale was over.

I loved her home, she had this amazing forest and birds in the back (in the greater Washington DC area), so, now I've got to get myself over there when life is normal again, to hang in the back yard and watch the birds with her.

At least today, both the financial planner and I both recognized a similar trait in each other, a true mark of professionalism.

I know, I surely know, there are many many in this ActiveRain world who share those traits.

_Claude

Realtors are a special type, though we are a breed of salepeople. 

Recently, I was trying to find a scheduling solution, and have come across TimeTrade.  It's well geared to people who make appointments at their office all the time, or I could even see it for people who have multiple clients who they support from their computer all the time.

I'm trying to understand how to use the software so that my 15 minute phone call request from a client doesn't cause a conflict as I try to get to the next appointment for a home showing.  TimeTrade's support person has been making some recommendations, though I'd love to hear if anyone here has had success. Or not.

Thanks for any ideas.

_Claude

and sure, it would help if I added a link... TimeTrade

While I'm quite aware that many people in this profession are here temporarily, I would have presumed that those who were active and writing in Active Rain would have been real, legit, a few steps above.

Twice in the past week, I'm come to AR to search keywods, and from that, find a resource or two whom I could reach out to.  I've been shocked in that many, the majority of people I found, are no longer here.  Not a post since 2009 or 2010, the links to their own site get me a 411 error or an offer to purchase the domain.

Evidently, it's not just someone who posts a few times (or, posts a few "commercials"), but rather, those who are real are those who post repeatedly, with longevity. Surely there's a lesson here.

While we are having a brisk market here in the metro Washington, DC area, I think this question still applies to everyone on the board.

I'm working with two first time buyers, and in the past 10-12 days, this has happenned twice.  I feel we're losing credibiity as realtors, though I can see where this works for the sellers, and so, the agents are doing their jobs.

In each case, we made a good offer, and being aware their may be other offers, we went higher and did a "Best & Final clause".  In one case, there were 2 offers, in the other, there were 6 offers.

In each case, we were not the highest offer, but we had a great offer (cash... quick close, etc).  In each case, the seller came back to us and said "Okay, but how about you spend another $10k or so, and we'll ratify".

Is this a new angle that listing agents are using, essentially saying "We don't really believe your best & final is really either".  Let's agree, it's certainly making my buyers wonder "for real?".

_Claude

The year is flying so fast, someone just pointed out to me today that next week is the NAR Mid Year conference in Washington DC.

If you're flying in from out of town, bring jackets & shorts, it's been between 50's-80's this week, I'd expect the same next week.

For a quick rundown of what's scheduled, see the official link  (It almost sounds like I work for them)

http://www.realtor.org/misyear.nsf

Surely, some AR people will meet up for quick get togethers.