Over the weekend I received an unexpected acknowledgment from RE/MAX International congratulating me for reaching my 15-year mark as a RE/MAX Affiliate. Yes, I started in 1991 at a local firm in Vienna and made the switch in 1994. Now this may not seem like a big deal, but it started me thinking about the last fifteen years and where the world Continue Reading
My RE BarCamp DC quick take-aways…
Image by brokersaunders via Flickr Real Estate BarCamp D.C. (#rebcdc) took place on Tuesday and it really was an all-star cast. At one point I sat in a session with Daniel Rothamel and three other AgentGenius.com writers (darn, I should have called TMZ)… so the celebrity sizzle was there. Did you miss it? Seriously, BarCamp was filled with a Continue Reading
Your Maryland lockbox doesn’t work in Virginia
In the past two weeks, I have shown up at two vacant homes in Fairfax, Virginia with clients wanting to take a look-see, only to find that the SentriLock lock-boxes did not work. You know, SentriLock's are the little blue boxes on the front door handles of homes for sale. In the Washington D.C. metro area, we have Realtor Associations in Continue Reading
Digital signature saves the home sale negotiation!
One of my real estate associates at RE/MAX Presidential recently went on a vacation and I agreed to handle her clients. Yes, we all need vacations (even real estate agents) to recharge our batteries and add a little adventure to our lives. In her case, it was a motorcycle trip in Wyoming and Montana with her husband. One of the cases involved a Continue Reading
Are you thinking about RE BarCamp DC in October?
Hopefully it isn't too late for you to register to attend RE BarCamp DC being held on October 27th, 2009 at the NVAR Herndon Center near the Reston Town Center. It's free for attendees but you need to register right now. To see who is coming, you should check here. Let me be clear; this is not a conference with a featured speaker, there will not Continue Reading
Digital signatures = Better Service for my clients
The age of the digital signature has arrived… for my real estate clients. My motivation to add this technology came when a client faxed back a counter-offer to my office in June and it was unreadable. People just aren’t faxing as much, and when they find a fax machine it is probably more than five years old, and as you know, real estate Continue Reading
My Vienna VA home FiOS upgrade!
UPDATE: I have upgraded again to 25mps in 2011! In the late 1990’s, I was seeing many new homes being built with Cat5 cable and a network hub from Bell Atlantic (soon to be Verizon) so that buyers could have the best available communications network. The box was branded with the Bell Atlantic logo but it was up to the new owner to either pick Continue Reading
Doug’s RE BarCamp prep-class for newbies – 2009
Oh, to go to RE BarCamp…in Virginia Beach. So I woke up extra early and made the three hour drive to Virginia Beach yesterday. Luckily the State Troopers had already pulled over speeders (everyone was going 70+) and the Interstates were wide-open... so it was an easy trip listening to my XM stations. In classic RE BarCamp style, it took place Continue Reading
