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Important post-licensing changes
Tuesday, April 9, 2013

This is a reminder — but an important one — about post-licensing curriculum changes. (It will mostly affect new real estate licensees, but brokers need to remember it.)

The PL curriculum is changing from three tracks (residential, property management, commercial) to a single-track system.

  • The old system will be in place until December 31, 2013.
  • The new system will be available starting July 1, 2013.

The overlap is what’s important.

You know you must take 30 hours of PL education within a year of getting your license. You must take those 30 hours under the current system or the new system — you cannot mix them.

Blueprint Virginia launches local briefings
Monday, April 8, 2013

IMAGE_SM_Blueprint_VALast November, the Virginia Chamber of Commerce launched Blueprint Virginia, a year long initiative to develop a strategic plan that will improve Virginia’s competitive position in the global economy and ensure a prosperous and sustainable future. Virginia Chamber President and CEO Barry DuVal has been traveling across the Commonwealth in recent months to gain valuable stakeholder input on regional economic priorities.

RPR offers tour of commercial tools just for Virginia Realtors
Monday, April 8, 2013

commercial180x50Virginia commercial Realtors are invited to attend a free webinar to learn the core functions of RPR Commercial:

  • Searching properties/viewing property details,
  • in-depth market analysis, and
  • mapping/reporting.

When: Wednesday, April 17, 2013
Time: 10 a.m.
Cost: Free

VAR thanks General Assembly
Thursday, April 4, 2013

The Virginia Association of REALTORS® thanks Governor McDonnell and the members of the General Assembly for working together to pass a sustainable transportation funding plan, resulting in HB 2313.

“We know the importance of an adequate, efficient transportation network. It enhances the quality of life in cities and towns across the Commonwealth. Transportation impacts everyone: parents getting children to school, businesses aiming to attract customers, first responders and law enforcement responding to emergencies, and commuters on their way to work,” says Mary Dykstra, President of the Virginia Association of REALTORS®.

This transportation bill is not perfect, but a result of compromise and working together for the greater good.

April is fair housing month
Tuesday, April 2, 2013

equal-house-oppApril 2013 marks the 45th anniversary of the 1968 landmark Fair Housing Act. The Fair Housing Act prohibited housing discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, familial status, or handicap. Every April, REALTORS® celebrate Fair Housing Month to reaffirm their continuing commitment to fair and equitable treatment and a professional level of service for all in their search for real property.

495 Express (toll) lanes open for free April 6-7
Tuesday, April 2, 2013

495_freetravel_weekendShowing houses in Northern Virginia this weekend? 495 Express Lanes announced Monday that all drivers can travel for free on the Express Lanes from April 6 to 7.

Study: Zoning contributed to housing crisis
Friday, March 29, 2013

Add to the never-ending List of Things That Caused the Housing Market Collapse: zoning. Specifically, zoning for too many large, expensive, single-family homes.

That kind of policy, according to a paper in the journal Housing Policy Debate, left people who wanted to live in an area with a choice of either living elsewhere or being lured by the promise of low/no payments and the idea that they could refinance when their ARMs reset.

Naturally, they chose the latter, and the data show the result: Communities zoned for those larger homes were much more likely to see foreclosures. (And that, of course, drove down property values, making it harder for people there to refinance..)

Spring buzzing season approaches
Friday, March 29, 2013

Every 17 years, cicadas emerge from the ground for a few months of mating frenzy — the spring break of the insect world. Then they go back to living underground.

There are different colonies or ‘”broods” of cicadas across the country, and this spring Brood 2 will emerge. And Brood 2 is in Virginia (as well as Connecticut, Maryland, North Carolina, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, and Washington, D.C.)

If it’s anything like when Brood X emerged in Ohio (when I was living there) get ready for a very, very loud spring. It was . impressive, to say the least.

I took this picture in my backyard in 2004:

Eastern Shore Realtor raises money for volunteer firefighters battling arsonist
Thursday, March 28, 2013

imageSince November 2012, an arsonist has been plaguing the Eastern Shore, setting more than 70 fires in abandoned and unoccupied buildings.

He (or they) have eluded police and are driving the local volunteer firefighters nuts — these are folks with day jobs and are often out all night fighting fires.

An Onancock Realtor is saying thank you — and while raising some awareness (and money) by selling T-shirts.

Look at all the good news about Virginia’s infrastructure
Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Let’s play the glass-half-full game, and see all the positives in what the American Society of Civil Engineers’ “2013 Report Card for America’s Infrastructure” had to say about Virginia!

First off, we didn’t fail overall. We got a D+!

Fewer than 10 percent of our bridges (9.1%) are considered “structurally deficient” — only about 1,250 are in danger of collapse! (And only 17.6% are “functionally obsolete".)

Bravo for history! Our bridges are among the oldest in the nation — more than half are at the end of their designed life!