NRVLiving - Real Estate. Simplified.

In Health & In Wealth ... Unless We Can't Pay The Mortgage

Thanks to Darla for pointing me to this page.  Looks like another byproduct of the mortgage mess might be a rise in divorces ...

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Blacksburg Meals & Cops

That calzone you just ordered from The Cellar just got a little more expensive.  Blacksburg Town Council just unanimously approved a $72 million budget for 2008-2009.  The budget included a one percent increase in the meals tax, and  utility bills will increase by just under $5.   

I wrote about this last month, and surmised that a one percent increase in the meals tax would pay the salaries of as many as ten new police officers.  The new budget will increase the police force by four officers, one dispatcher, and a downtown cleaning crew.  Great!  But look at the disparity between similar VA communities - Charlottesville and Harrisonburg.

Community	Population	Officers	Jurisdiction	07-08 Budget	2007 Calls For Service
Blacksburg	39,284	62	19.5 Square Miles	$6.3 million	21,568
Charlottesville	40,315	117	10.4 Square Miles	$12.7 million	49,689
Harrisonburg	40,885	87	17 Square Miles	$7.6 million	34,009

At first glance, you see that Blacksburg has the smallest population, the smallest number of officers, the smallest budget and the smallest number of calls.  Great.  It's an average of 350 calls a year, per officer.  One of my concerns is the size of the Town, however - a larger Town footprint means it takes longer for an officer to get to a call.  More officers means you can have more cars on the road, and reduce the response time per call.  Chief Crannis says that Blacksburg has been efficient with what they've had, and I'd agree with that, but I'd argue that we could be even more efficient.  WIth almost identical populations and comparable jurisdictions, why does the budget lag so far behind?  With an increased budget, maybe our cops could actually have a laptop IN the car, so they can get real-time data from the car? 

Just a thought.  I'm pleased with our community here, and our high quality of life.  I want to see that continue, and I wonder what improvements we could make to ensure we continue to enjoy this special place for years to come.

* Sources - 2006 U.S. Census population estimates, Blacksburg Police Department, Charlottesville Police Department, Harrisonburg Police Department, The Roanoke Times

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Is Customer Service Being Redefined?

I'm a stickler for customer service, and probably a little tougher than most on what I expect from customer service.  So when I experience service that really goes above and beyond, I want to tell people about it.  In this case, I've had two situations that really impressed me.

• Earlier this month, I took a trip with some friends to go snowboarding in Colorado.  Getting out there involved a lot of traveling - a very early start, three flights, and a few hours of layovers.  When we got to the Denver airport though ... wow!  If you've never been there, it's one of the cleanest and prettiest airports I've ever seen.  Lots of lights, clean and bright, very easy to get from point A to point B ... so there's three guys, three boards, two board bags and we're all tired.  All the bags show up at baggage claim, but the boards do not.  Ugh ... kind of important when you're going snowboarding!  When we approached customer service at baggage claim about the bags, we weren't real optimistic we'd be getting them - past experience told us otherwise, and we'd forgotten to take the baggage claim ticket with us.  Two strikes.  But the woman at the desk happily listened to our problem - well, it LOOKED like she was happy - then plugged our names into her computer.  Within seconds (which really suited my instant gratification fix) she told us where our boards had been shipped, and told us that they'd be arriving on a different plane in 20 minutes.  Then, for our "trouble", she offered us a free meal anywhere in the city of Denver that night ... we were so dumbfounded by her response that none of us actually thought to say yes!  Sure enough, 20 minutes later our boards came through a baggage claim 50 yards away, and we were off on a great trip!  But think of it - thousands of bags are lost every day, no one's ever happy about it, and here this woman deflected our frustration with a pleasant attitude, an explanation and a resolution.  I wish I had gotten her name, but she worked for United - three cheers for United customer service at Denver International Airport.


• Experience #2 just happened recently.  My wife and I just moved into a new house, and we needed to set up high-speed internet at the house.  When I called Comcast - the only cable internet provider in our area - they said it'd take four weeks for a site engineer to determine whether we could have service at the house, since we're in a neighborhood where there's new construction going on.  Never mind the fact that neighbors all around us have high-speed internet ... venting my frustrations, I went to Twitter (more on what Twitter is here) and complained.  MUCH TO MY SURPRISE, within minutes I had a response from a user named @ComcastCares who explained that it was possible a site study wasn't needed, and if I'd email him my address he'd look into it.  Here's a major cable company, who's just been pounded for years over their awful customer service (just Google "Comcast Customer Service Reviews"), addressing MY concerns in a very nontraditional forum - I like it.  I emailed him my address, within 24 hours I had a response from an engineer stating that they could service my address, and then 24 hours LATER I had a phone call from their scheduling center.  It was installed today.  While I'm not a huge fan of Comcast the company, I'm pleased by their response and their initiative to see what people are saying about them and respond in a pleasant and helpful way.

Which gets me thinking ... how am I serving my clients?  Is my Team doing all it can to listen, to converse, to serve?  Am I - as the leader of that Team - doing all I can to serve my Team?  If I have to be honest I'd say no, but I've found inspiration from two very unlikely sources, and I'll be working on that in the future.  How about you?  Are you doing all you can to serve your clients, your friends, your family?  It doesn't matter what your business is, how can you be the best customer service agent there is?  I'd be interested in hearing some of your awesome customer service stories, and how they've influenced you.

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It'll Cost You To Walk Away

Thanks to Jane for this article from the Washington Post about buyers walking away from new homes

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My Public Admission - I'm An Addict

Have I told you about Twitter?  No?  Well, allow me to introduce myself ... my name is Jeremy, and I'm a Twitteraholic.

Several months ago there was a buzz through the online real estate community about this new online communication tool.  "Have you heard about Twitter?"  "Are you on Twitter?"  I had no idea what Twitter was, but people kept saying things like "it's microblogging", it's "text messaging over the web".  When I looked it up, I saw no immediate use for it - post what you're doing online for people to see, ask questions that people can answer ... how is this any different than anything else out there?  A friend of mine - and new Twitter user - accurately described it as a group chat, and he's partially right.  I quickly found out that Twitter was so much more.

When I created an account, I was quickly "followed" by a user here in Blacksburg with the username @TMarkiewicz (I'm sure there's a reason why we have to have the @ symbol in our names, but I don't know what it is).  @TMarkiewicz saw that I was in the same area as he was, and he followed me ... so whenever I posted something to Twitter, he saw it and could respond.  As my community of people I followed - and those that followed me - grew, the conversations expanded - if @Tmarkiewicz wasn't following the same people I was, he wouldn't see the whole conversation, just a portion.  But it also introduced him to people in my social circles, and vice versa.  You can run applications on your computer, or your phone, that tell you when people you follow post something to Twitter, and you can choose various notification options as well.  It's all very ADD-ish, and while I don't pay attention to everything everyone posts, it fits my need to multi-task.

I still wasn't seeing a business-value to Twitter though.  I was learning a lot about people around the country that I followed, though - in particular, I started to learn about them through the posts they made online.  I learned about their real estate markets, I learned about their marketing strategies, I learned about them as professionals ... and suddenly I found that it was becoming a community.  I was becoming part of a community.  And it was affecting my business in a way that I hadn't expected - I was CONSTANTLY learning something new, that I could apply to my business here, and it was making me a better professional.  All of that education, for free!  The best kind ...

Then one day, it happened.  I got a message from @TMarkiewicz that said he and his wife were going to be leaving the area, and they wanted to talk with me about possibly listing their home.  WOW ... here was this guy I'd never met who was inviting me into his home to discuss being his representative, and solely because of the relationship I'd formed with him on Twitter.  I was floored.  We talked, we negotiated, and a few weeks later we listed his home.  Suddenly, it happened again.  Another message, this time from @stuboo (don't you just love some of these names?).  This message was a little different, it said "@NRVLiving, have you ever gotten a client from Twitter?".  When I responded yes, he wrote back "would you like another one?"

Amazing.  Two clients, a buyer and a seller, both acquired through relationships formed on Twitter.  I haven't even had the chance to meet @stuboo yet, but I know a lot about him, and he about me, and we're working on crafting a search that'll help him land a home here to serve his needs for the next few years.  Awesome.

So now I'm a Twitterholic.  I don't expect that everyone will receive business-related contacts from the service, but they certainly might.  The greater value may just be in connecting us with other individuals who share similar interests, or similar geographic locations, or maybe we just like talking with each other.  We may never meet in person, but I notice when they're not online anymore.  And when I close these pieces of business, I might just send Twitter a thank you card.  Who should I address that to?

A post on customer service is forthcoming, but here's an example of  how companies are using Twitter to actually SERVE their customers better.  If you join Twitter, look me up ...

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Matt Rathbun Wants A Mac

Matt Rathbun of the Fredericksburg Area Association of REALTORS posted on his blog today that he wants a Mac.  Actually, he's taking a jab at us Mac users, but it's pretty funny nonetheless. 

Enjoy.  Maybe we should start a fund for him?

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Dust Off The Golf Clubs

It's for a good cause.  The 3rd Annual Bob K. Memorial golf tournament will be held Saturday, May 3rd, at Auburn Hills Golf Club - just register right there on their website!  Join NRVLiving and other area businesses in supporting the youth of the Blacksburg and Christiansburg area, while having a good time playing a round at one of the coolest courses around.  Your tournament ticket includes:

• 18 holes of golf
• Lunch
• Dinner
• Tournament Polo
• Arrival gifts
• Raffle prizes, including a Caribbean Cruise, a ONE MILLION DOLLAR shot, weekend trips to Wintergreen and the North Carolina coast, tickets and more!

While you're at the range getting ready, you also want to check out oobgolf.com.  This is one of the coolest golf web sites around, and costs you nothing to use!  Just register, then track your score, handicap, all kinds of statistics, and hook up with golfers from around the world!  They just passed 30000 scores entered, and at their current rate will hit 50000 scores entered by July.  Once you join, look me up and say hello.

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I'm In A Historic District? Now What?

From the Town of Blacksburg:

"For many homeowners within the boundaries of a  historic district, it means wondering why they cannot make alterations to their own property without getting “permission” from an architectural review board or historic commission.   Where do these boards get their authority anyway?  What about those people considering buying a property in a historic district?  What are the obligations of the real estate agent to disclose the fact that the listing is in a historic district?  Are there opportunities, such as tax credits, available to property owners in historic districts, and if so, where does one go for assistance?

All of these questions and more will be answered during the workshop; What it Means to be in a Historic District:  A Primer for Property Owners, Real Estate Professionals and Architectural Review Board Members. APVA Preservation Virginia, the Virginia Department of Historic Resources and the Town of Blacksburg have partnered to offer the workshop from 2:30 to 6:00 p.m. on Friday, May 2, 2008 in Blacksburg.  The workshop will be held at the Blacksburg Municipal Building, 300 South Main Street.  The program is free and open to the public.  Due to limited seating, RSVP’s  are recommended.  For additional information or to register, e-mail Terry Nicholson, Town of Blacksburg Museum Administrator at [email protected] or call
540-558-0746.

Hope I'll see you there!  As a precursor to the meeting, there will be an open forum the day prior from 4pm - 7pm in the Kent Square Lobby to discuss ways to Identify, Educate, Preserve, and Develop the Sixteen Squares of Blacksburg.  Attendance is free to both events.

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Don't Forget!

The NRV Green Home Tour and Seminar will be this coming Saturday, April 26th from 9am - 5pm, to be followed on Sunday the 27th by the NRVLiving Real Estate Team's very own green home open house!

Reduce ... Reuse ... Recycle.

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How To Tell You've Pissed Off A Rocket Scientist

This has been making it's way around the Web today - I don't know if it's true or not, but Aaron sent it to me this afternoon and I had to chuckle.  Given my rant from earlier this morning, I needed it.  Enjoy.

How To Tell You've Pissed Off A Rocket Scientist

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Despite The Intentions Of Some, I WILL Remember Virginia Tech

I'm royally pissed right now, and because my mother reads this blog I'll refrain from repeating exactly what's running through my mind. 

Some jackwad emails me this morning ... "you're not going to put out more Virginia Tech crap today, are you?"  To "Enough Already" I say this - screw you.  If you don't have the intestinal fortitude to put your real name and email address up ... you know, I just don't get it.  32 people lost their lives at the hands of one sick individual, dozens more were injured, and tens of thousands of current, former, future students/alumni/faculty and staff lived a nightmare.  I got beat up last year for blogging about the shootings at Virginia Tech, but if you don't like it you don't have to read.  My wife and I were closer to those events than I've discussed on this blog, and it affected me in ways I'm not sure I quite understand even yet.  Don't bother coming back.  Seriously ...

This post is about the shootings, and remembering.  It's a positive post, I think ... if you don't want to read, that's fine, I'm just giving you the heads up.  It's not a recap, just my way of showing people how I'M finding a way to heal.  I'm just reposting some things that I think are POSITIVE ... there are hundreds more you can find online, it won't be hard.

Slideshow of JR Woodward's view of healing

Guest post from Sherry Inge, mother of Matthew Inge, a current Virginia Tech student (and NRVLiving Real Estate client!)

And Nikki Giovanni's speech, which still gets me choked up everytime I watch it ...

See, Enough Already, that wasn't too bad was it?  The next post will be about real estate, but I have a feeling you don't care much about that, either.      

Do The Arts Ignite Downtowns?

That's what Blacksburg's banking on - at least partially.  I wonder what's going to happen to the Henderson Lawn concerts, does anyone know?  Will they be moved, or just squeezed into a smaller space?

I'd argue that the arts do in fact improve downtown areas.  Look at Austin, TX, for instance.  Or run a Google search like this and just look at the results.

So what do you think - is this new project, in conjunction with others currently happening in downtown Blacksburg - just what our area needs?

NRVLiving Radio Show, April 12 2008

Apologies for the missed shows the last couple of weeks, we've had some miscommunication with the station and things just didn't work out.  We're back on track now, and we're geared up for our month long focus on the NRV Green Home Tour!

Download 41208_nrvliving_real_estate_show.m4b  

Our thanks to Justin Boyle of Green Valley Builders, and Nell Boyle (no relation) of Breakell Construction for their participation in this week's show.  This Saturday, we'll have another interview in preparation for our live remote from the Green Home Tour at the Blacksburg Rec Center on April 26th!  Don't forget that we'll THEN be hosting an open house at our very own Green Home in Floyd the following afternoon! 

If you can't listen on the radio but are near a computer, you can always stream the show live every Saturday morning at 10am by visiting 810AM WPIN and clicking "Tune It".

See you next week, Saturday from 10:00-10:30! 

 

Green Home Tour Coming To Blacksburg

More information forthcoming early next week, but if you caught the NRVLiving Real Estate Show this weekend you heard us talk about the Green Home Tour that will be rolling into Blacksburg on April 26th. 

You can find out more about the Tour by visiting their blog, or stay right here and we'll post more information on Monday!  And don't forget that the following day, April 27th, we'll be hosting an open house of one of our own green home listings, at 153 Gracie Lane in Floyd!  Check out the video!

Blacksburg Listens To Students?

I hope so.  Earlier this week, Town officials met with the university community to discuss what students want to see in Blacksburg.  The results included:

• under-21 nightspots
• out-of-town hiking routes
• a more aesthetic downtown

What would you like to see?  Did anyone have an opportunity to attend this?  If so, what were your thoughts?

Dynamic Subprime Mortgage Map

Discovered this subprime mortage map somewhere online last week - I wish I knew who to give credit to where credit was due, I'm sorry about that.  Nevertheless, it's an interesting tool to determine the percentage of subprime and Alt+A mortgages in your area.   It looks like it tracks, among other things:

• # of subprime loans per 1000 units
• # in foreclosure per 1000 units
• # of REOs (Real Estate Owned, aka Bank Owned properties) per 1000 units
• Median Combined Loan-To-Value

A neat little tool, play with it and see how your area stacks up.

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What Brings People Back?

I estimate that every year, as much of 20% of our business comes from alumni of either Virginia Tech or Radford University, who are (a) looking to invest in the area or (b) looking to relocate either part-time or full-time.   It's an interesting phenomenon to me - I graduated from tiny Messiah College, and while I enjoyed my time there, I don't see people rushing back to Grantham, PA.   It's just not happening ...

But what brings people back to the New River Valley?  Consider the case of Frank, a Virginia Tech alumni I'm working with right now ...

Frank graduated from Virginia Tech in the 60's; his girlfriend, now wife, attended nearby Radford University.  They're looking to relocate back to the New River Valley from the 51st state of Northern Virginia, and we're scouring the Valley looking for that perfect place.  Frank was telling me the other day that he couldn't stand college when he was here, and that he couldn't wait to graduate.  As the years passed though, he and his wife discovered a real pull back to the area - they attended football games and special events, and discovered a fondness for the area they'd missed.  Now, as they've retired, they're looking to move back full time and "can't wait".

What's the draw for coming back?  I don't disagree that this is a wonderful place to live, but what is it about the alma mater that creates such a pull for people?  Can anyone explain it?

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What's Your Vision for Blacksburg?

What's your vision for Blacksburg?  That's the question that's being asked of the university community, and an opportunity to respond is being held at the Graduate Life Center on April 9th at 8pm.  Come hear what the student body wants to see, or participate yourself.

I'll be out of town on a little R&R, so if anyone is able to make it, I'd love to open up a spot for a guest blogger to offer their take here.  Email me if you're interested.

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Virginia Tech Goes Green

From Planet Blacksburg ...

The New Face of Real Estate

Yesterday, I had the privilege of spending the day with some of the coolest people you'd care to spend six hours on a Friday with.  Everyone had laptops, there were wires everywhere, Twitter was going strong, and we were learning new ways to distribute information via channels like blogs, wikis and more ... perfect for a techno-geek like me.

Know what we all had in common, besides our love of technology?

We were all REALTORs.  Welcome to the new face of real estate - these are the people that are changing the way business is done in our industry throughout the state, I'm honored to have had the chance to work with them.