Sellers, there are more expenses to selling your home than commissions if you're not ready to sell. One of worst things a seller can do is overprice his/her home when it first comes on the market. A small overage is one thing, but when that overage hits 10, 15, 20, 30% and beyond, it's like burning dollars in your furnace to stay warm.

What are the unrealized expenses of overpricing a home? I only say unrealized because it seems that sellers are the last ones to…

Buying a Foreclosure in Winchester, VA 

If you're thinking about buying a foreclosure in Winchester VA, there are certain things you should know. …

B PASHN8! 

This license plate has been on my Volvo for the past 8 years.  I recently gave my car to my church, and the DMV wouldn't let them keep the…

Teach Your Kids to be Financially Independent. Here's a Simple Way. 

One of the best things my wife and I ever did was put our kids on salary.  When our sons were 8 and 10 we put them on a monthly salary. …

Close Your Eyes So You Can See 

I've always heard that when you lose one of your five senses that the other ones become more intense.  Recently I was resting my eyes (taking a nap), and I heard a commercial on the radio that has a TV counterpart.  When I heard it on the radio I…

Sellers want to sell, and Realtors want to sell. So, what's the problem? 

Sellers want to sell, and Realtors want to sell. So, what's the problem? The problem is some sellers lie, and some Realtors lie (no offense…

Time Really Is Money

Internet savvy real estate buyers are skipping the old "find a Realtor, and then find a home" process of the past. Instead, 89% start their search online and then through their individual research they find a realtor. That brings up a great question. How soon do you respond…

Is That Coffee Coming Out of Your Nose?

Alright, it's Sunday morning and I'm supposed to be in Reston, VA, riding my bicycle at the annual Tour de Cure American Diabetes Association event. But, it's raining, and it's calling for rain on and off for the rest of the morning. The…

The Sky is Falling! Get Your Bucket!! (edit/delete)…

"Virginia was here on this day." 

On this Memorial Day weekend, I would like to thank all of the men and women who have defended this country from its inception to the present day. It is not without great sacrifice and dedication that you have put your lives in harm's way for the…

I loved Debe Maxwell's post "The Longer the Shelf Life, The Less Chance You Have of Selling Your Home".  I wish I could send it to a couple of my sellers (previous and…

Will The New "Point of Contact" Plan Fix The Mortgage Mess?

Washington is at it again.  If you've ever worked with HAMP or…

Things Your Mother Said . . .

Most of us have a list of things our mothers said to us when we were kids.  Some of those things came to pass and some didn't.  Here's a short list of the ones I've heard from my mother and the mothers of my childhood…

I didn't want to say it, but "Your baby is ugly!" 

We've all had that client who truly believes he can defy the market and list his home for 20-40% over a solid CMA value.  I get one (or more) every year who thinks there is something so extraordinary about his…

Language Makes All The Difference 

I recently worked with a foreign couple, and we had moments where the language barrier between us brought everything to a crawl. It wasn't that we  were having problems with each other, but the differences in language and…

Pay to Play? Show me the listings! 

I've been selling REOs since 2004.  Since the very first one, I have never signed up to sell for companies that have given me listings.  Somehow, they managed to find me out of the 100s of Realtors in my community.  I've always found that…

What Do You Do To Keep Your Agents Motivated? 

During the early part of the roaring 2000s our office was a selling machine.  Of course, most offices were like that, but when the market began to slide into…

Small Things to Help With Short Sales

A lot of agents avoid short sales because of the horror stories they hear from other agents, and I really can't blame them.  Lenders don't always make it easy…

Real Estate is Like a Box of Chocolates . . . 

You know how Forrest Gump always said, "Life is like a box of chocolates"?  Well, it dawned on me today that…

Feel Alive MY Friends, Feel Alive! 

Have you ever driven through one of those automatic car washes?  You know, you drive up, pay for your wash, you're immediately signaled to drive in and at the appointed place you're signaled to stop.  Once you stop all kinds of…