John's Real Estate Blog

Having a home on the market can be a frightening experience, especially if it is not handled properly. By placing your home on the market, you are allowing people you have never seen before have access to your most important possessions. Most of the time there are absolutely no problems especiall...

I learned of a really disturbing situation the other day through a realtor in the Newport News area. This realtor was with a rather large and well established company that was being bought out by a firm that owned a Prudential franchise. One day this realtor was with XYZ company and the next day ...

The other day, I needed to contact my daughter on her cell phone and was totally frustrated by the experience. There is something about giving your child a cell phone to use in the event of an emergency, or to contact her when you need to and then not being able to reach them that really raises t...

Everything is new this year for our firm. We have dropped our affiliation with a major brand and gone independent. It is our hope that the huge sum of money we were paying monthly to be associated with a brand can now be used to promote our new brand, "Valley Realty Associates." We have downsized...

As realtors, it is our duty and responsibility to protect the interests of our clients. Anything less is irresponsible and a violation of the code of ethics. I recently learned of a situation with a realtor whose client took pre-possession, only to learn that the finished basement had no heat or ...

While we continue to do the real estate business the way we always have: list it, mls it, wait for a buyer, sell it, the world of real estate is evolving. Not that its new, real estate auctions are beginning to become a serious alternative to the way we've always done it. Raise your hands if you ...

The person that said, " A picture is worth a thousand words," must have been a realtor. At least they should have been. The one thing that people want when they investigate your listing is lots of pictures. I hate when I go to a listing that has a single photo. People that are attempting to make ...

I recently spoke with a client that does engineering for developers...site work, etc. They have begun to see an increased demand for their services from northern Virginia, an area that was hit hard in the recent housing downturn. This could mean that the movers and shakers have come out of their ...

The question I pose today is whether or not it is ethical for real estate firms, other than the original listing agency, to list a property on their websites (giving credit to the listing agency in very small print) in such a way that the listing appears to be their own? I realize that we all do ...

I would love to hear what others have to say about cutting their commission to make a deal. Do we ask our doctors to cut their fees. Are we professionals or are we simply another salesperson? I would encourage non-real estate folks to weigh in.