So it’s been a little over three months since the first posts (here and here)  for the NRVLiving Real Estate and Living Green blogs, and I have to say that these things have really taken off faster than I ever thought.  I was concerned that people wouldn’t care what we had to say about real estate – and that’s likely still the case – but readership has continued to climb so whether you’re taking to heart what I’m saying or just reading to pass the time, thanks for visiting! 

I wanted to take a moment to talk about our blogs and where we’ll see things head in the future, as well as changes to the New River Valley Real Estate team that are going to continue to make things better for you, our readers.  As with any business venture, our clients and customers really and truly tell us our next move – these blogs are examples of that.  With so much of our business coming from client referrals and online traffic thanks to Brisbane SEO expert and Harrisburg SEO as well, and Web 2.0 becoming such a buzzword, it was readily apparent that providing forums like these for real estate (where there previously were none) in the New River Valley was a great opportunity.   And you have certainly not disappointed!   On any given day,  dedicated  readership (those of you that get an email subscription or the feed delivered to your RSS Reader) ranges between 55-65 of you on the two sites, with another 50+ clicks from Roanoke.com and other sites where we’re linked up.   Remember that anyone can sign up via email and – this is important – will not be contacted by anyone here at NRVLiving unless they contact us first.  We value the fact that you read  these blogs and will not use that information for any other purposes but to track where our readership is located.  Please feel free to share interesting posts you like with others, and encourage them to sign up as well.

But the blogs are not the catalyst for the transaction of buying or selling real estate, they’re simply a piece of the puzzle we try to put together every day.  I was asked recently by a gentleman I had met minutes earlier, what separated the NRVLiving Real Estate team from all the other companies of the New River Valley and I thought "what a great question!"  Then I stared at the floor and started drooling … no, seriously, what a great question to ask!  I immediately responded that I thought the biggest difference for us came down to technology.  Trust me – there are some really great real estate firms out there, and they all do a great job of communicating with the client and making sure everything is taken care of from start to finish.  I would wholeheartedly throw NRVLiving Real Estate into that bunch, but when push comes to shove if I don’t have my seller client’s home in front of that buyer at 11:50pm while they sit on the couch then I’ve missed the boat.  Buyers aren’t likely cruising the streets at midnight looking for real estate signs, or flipping the pages of the classifieds before they go to bed and so I need to make sure I’m where they are right now.  This blog, our web site, and plenty of other tools (which I can’t share here because I know I have some REALTOR readers!) are invaluable in making sure we’re reaching the right audience, right now.  And I personally think the use of technology shows clients – buyers and sellers alike – just how creative you can be in (a) marketing their most valuable asset or (b) finding them their most valuable asset before anyone else gets to it.

So where do we go from here?  You tell us!  I have some ideas, but those ideas will be fused with where the market and our clients take us.  Market activity in the first quarter was very strong for buyers, and sellers now have the opportunity to promote their listings in non-traditional ways.  But I don’t believe we should be reactive only, but instead be proactive in staying ahead of the market and making changes to accomodate.  One of those ways we chose to respond to what we think will be stable rates and a gaining market was to bring on Steve Ayers, and we are thrilled to have him as part of the team.  Steve is a long-time resident of Blacksburg whose expertise lies in a number of different areas, and needless to say real estate transactions are not new to him.  Be on the lookout for more about Steve’s addition in the coming weeks, but for now help us welcome Steve to the team!  (Apologies, I’ve been trying to insert Steve’s mug shot in here but Typepad isn’t letting me.  So much for using technology, huh?)  We’ll also be making some much needed improvements and additions to NRVLiving.com, as well, to make the user’s experience at the site much more intuitive and worthwhile.  But as much as we like the technology-side of things, we still need to focus on the details, which is why in the next several weeks you’ll see significant changes in the transaction management piece of the puzzle.  No more work for you as a buyer or a seller – in fact, it’ll mean much less on your part!  But it’ll help us get you from Contract to Closing feeling that much better!  It’s all part of making Real Estate. Simplified.  Sorry, had to throw that in there …

So thanks for reading, subscribing, forwarding and sticking around.  It means a lot that you care enough to read and respond, and your comments have been fantastic!  We look forward to having more time with you in the future; and to those of you who have recently referred friends and family to us, we extend a heartfelt *THANKS* one more time!

Jeremy, Steve & Aaron
The NRVLiving Real Estate Team