Busy Monday

Spent today working on "net sheets" for a seller. They want to know how much money they could make on the sale of their home. Talked via email to another RE broker, want to keep in touch because I don't think she is happy where she is and I think she will eventually come to work here at Family Realty. Looked over some new listings for an investor of mine, new stuff coming on the market just about every day. Good prices, great interest rates, wonderful time to be a buyer! Anybody want to be a buyer? Ask me how, questions answered, FREE!

Time Out.

Ok so I 'm at home recovering from some surgery I had yesterday . . . but here I am at my computer tending to my real estate business. I got the news that I will soon have another RE agent go into my referral company: that's when an agent doesn't really have the time to conduct real estate themselves so they put their license into a referral company, like mine, and then just refer in names of customers to me and when those customers "close", I can pay them a referral fee. See in the state of Virginia, you must hold an "active" real estate license in order to be paid on any real estate transaction but by only having a license on referral status you can avoid belonging to all those boards and having to pay for MLS and lockbox keys and REALTOR dues, etc. The only hard part is, you can not conduct real estate at all yourself. But for lots of agents who are, just starting out and want to transition in to real estate or agents who do not want to give up their other full time jobs, or when an agent is ready to retire and wants to keep the income flowing. Sometimes it just makes sense if the outside life is so full but you don't want to give up that RE license you worked so hard for!
Any way, did I cover the "referral" topic for you ? Remember, don't hesitate to ask questions if you have them, I'll do my best to answer or find the answer.

Getting Started

Welcome to my "blog". I hope to use this as a tool for talking to and helping to educate first time home buyers or anyone interested in getting into real estate, whether that's buying it, selling it or maybe even becoming a real estate salesperson. They won't all be this full or boring, just this first one.
I am a broker with 8 years of experience here in the Southside Hampton Roads (VA) area. I myself was a Navy wife for 20+ years, that's what brought me to Hampton Roads. I'm still here because I love it, it's home.
If you have questions about buying your first home or selling for the first time I hope to be a source of information for you. Maybe you are in a "spot" with an ever increasing mortgage and need to know what your options are for saving your self from foreclosure. Perhaps you have heard now is a great time to be a buyer or an investor, with interest rates at historic low levels and a vast selection of homes from which to choose and you were wondering if you could become a homeowner or investor, but don't know where to start.
For any or all of the above reasons, ask me. I am a great place to start. Person to person, no sales pitch, just information. I, personally, hate being pressured, so don't expect any from me.
I'm new at this blogging thing so I guess I will try to make an entry each day. . . kind of a day in the life thing until someone asks a question.
1/15/08 - Took several calls today from Homes magazine ads, wanting addresses, gave them out, encouraged people to drive by then call me back if they want to go inside. Had another real estate agent show my 3 bedroom single family listing in Norfolk today. Watched it snow and then sunshine, repeatedly. I'm originally from New England, so seeing the snow makes me melancholy.