Until last week, it had been a long time since I last wrote on this blog. December 2020, in fact. After several years of writing, life got in the way. And then the market that was in 2020 (and 2021, and 2022 …) happened. Things were a little crazy. Then just a few things happened in real estate this month, so why not dust off the blog and let’s do this again? We’ll see if anyone’s still sticking around.
I have buyers buying their first home tomorrow, sight unseen. Oh sure, we’ve done a couple of Facetime “visits”, but tomorrow their walkthrough will be the first time they’ve physically set foot in the house. There’s really nothing more stressful than closing day for a sight unseen buyer, I don’t think.
One of the things that attracted me to Nest Realty oh so many years ago was their focus on good, accurate data. Zillow is a popular tool, but it can’t replace solid, real-world data based on live sales. And that’s where the New River Valley Mid-Year (and Annual) Market Report comes in. Every quarter (every month, really), we put together a look at what’s happening in the market, both the good AND the bad, and we just published our 2020 Mid-Year Market Report for the New River Valley real estate market.
What a world we’re living in right now. No one cares about my one little voice, and certainly less so when I’m talking about current events and not real estate, but two voices speak louder. Four voices are even louder than that. And millions are deafening.
Spring is here! By that I mean that we’re between ice storms here in the New River Valley. It’s never a safe bet to assume warm weather is here to stay until at least May but it’s certainly time to start thinking about some simple and cost-effective landscaping ideas.
For years, it seems, people have been calling for Amtrak passenger rail service to the New River Valley, and plans to finally make that a reality were coming together – but now they’ve hit a snag. Sure, I could have said they’ve been derailed, but that would be too easy. Yes, we could say the train’s been delayed, it’s failed to leave the station … all good stuff.
Snow is on the way for the New River Valley, and Montgomery County Public Schools Big Tweeter Mark Miear posted a helpful infographic of how MCPS reviews conditions, and determines school closures. I thought I’d post it here – I don’t have any details on other counties in the region, but I have to imagine they follow similar protocols. Dr. Miear’s – who’s a great follow on Twitter, he routinely engages with students and teachers – post even got a musical response from a sister duo …
One of our favorite fundraisers at Nest Realty every year is our annual Gingerbread House contest, supporting Micah’s Backpack. We’ve been doing it for several years now, and each year we get the question “are you doing the gingerbread houses again?” Yes!
Yesterday I had the honor of being installed as the 2019 President of the New River Valley Association of Realtors. I woke up this morning feeling … well, feeling just like I did yesterday. Fame and fortune are sure to follow though, I’m sure. That’s not the point of this post, however. Association leadership was never something I truly desired. What I wanted was for Nest Realty to have a voice in the discussions surrounding the issues of our industry, and to set the example for others that there’s value in having a seat at the table. I might have overshot that a little bit, but I’m happy to represent the nearly 500 members, and affiliate members, for the next year.