Category Archives: Ann & John News

DST – you can’t stop time!

Sunday, November 4th at 2 AM is the official end to DST in our neck of the world.

The Energy Policy Act of 2005 extended Daylight Saving Time in the U.S. beginning in 2007, though Congress retained the right to revert to the 1986 law should the change prove unpopular or if energy savings are not significant. Going from 2007 forward, Daylight Saving Time in the U.S.

  • begins at 2:00 a.m. on the second Sunday of March and
  • ends at 2:00 a.m. on the first Sunday of November

Daylight saving time (DST), also daylight savings time (United States), also summer time (United Kingdom and others), is the practice of advancing clocks during summer months so that evening daylight lasts longer, while sacrificing normal sunrise times.

Typically, regions that use daylight saving time adjust clocks forward one hour close to the start of spring and adjust them backward in the autumn to standard time.[1] In effect, DST causes a lost hour of sleep in the spring and an extra hour of sleep in the fall.[2]

 Sourced From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Enjoy your extra hour of sleep this weekend – I hope it doesn’t mess with your internal clock the way that it does with mine!

What does a career in real estate look like today?

 

The answer to that question as real estate sales guru and trainer Brian Buffini always likes to say is, “Unbelievable!” Looking at the overall marketplace, gleaning information from reports and statistics, it’s easy to see that business is good. It has been growing consistently now for several years, especially as the demand for new construction rises to keep up with a lack of overall inventory. When it is going well people take notice, and many begin to contemplate what it’s like to be in real estate sales.

As a Realtor® and sales associate with Long & Foster for over 15 years, coupled with a housing background beginning in 1985, I’ll say that our business is rewarding and enjoyable. It is also one of the most demanding when you plan to make it your “career”, the primary means of earning your living. I would argue that it is without a doubt a full-time professional occupation that often demands weekend and evening hours.

As the office manager for Long & Foster Strawberry Street Sales located in Richmond’s Fan district, I continually meet and discuss business prospects with new and experienced agents seeking to begin or improve their careers.  It is easy to explain how Long & Foster has enjoyed the last 50 years as a real estate leader when you consider all the training, tools, and systems we continually offer our agents. As a result, our sales associates are better prepared and more productive than the nationwide industry average. Contact me if you would like to learn more about the Long & Foster career advantage, I’m happy to share what a fulfilling career in real estate looks like today.

John VanderSyde
Long & Foster Real Estate
Managing Broker
Strawberry Street Sales Office

Perspective is a Wonderful Thing

It’s Friday Afternoon. We are looking into what will be a busy weekend. While it’s exciting to be working with some wonderful people, I still have to take a deep breath and gear up for the fact that for us Saturday and Sunday will be a continuation of the work-week.

Perspective is a wonderful thing. Ann and I attended a funeral yesterday. It was out of town so we had the chance to talk for two hours each way in the car. Going down we just caught up with each other. As if we hadn’t had a moment together alone for weeks – even though we work together in the same small office every day!

The memorial service was was amazing. It was a beautiful tribute to a man that had a wonderful life, full of blessings. Not only did he enjoy all that was available to him, but he gave back to people in the most kind and generous ways imaginable. He was selfless, always appreciating his family and friends, and doing whatever he could to help others. The man was filled wit the Holy Spirit and lived through the word of God – but as is should be, in humble and unassuming ways, doing for others, never asking what was in it for him.

On the way home we reflected on the day, the service, and the people who helped us understand this special man.  We should all be so lucky to live a life like this; then to leave this world and be memorialized with nothing but good memories and loving thoughts. It was truly a celebration of life and love. It was a reminder of what we are all here to do.

Perspective is a wonderful thing!

Architecture and Real Estate – a blend that works for our Clients

Ideas we develop for our clients needs

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ann and I consider our professional experience in design, construction, and architecture to be a seamless benefit to the clients we help to buy and sell real estate – Real Property.

Many people don’t initially grasp the subtle advantages they receive when working with us, or how our design and architectural expertise within the Richmond real estate business separates us from our competition.

We’ve been involved with residential construction and design since 1986, a licensed Architect since 1995, a licensed Realtor since 2002, and we are both Associate Brokers; these complementary and overlapping disciplines have created for us a unique and specialized knowledge in our field. We share these assets with the people we work. Together with our client-centered approach to business, we deliver the “Service You Deserve & Expect” in your real estate transaction.

We like to ask the question, “What makes a house a home?” The answer is likely to be different for everyone. We help you to explore this subject, as well as the multitude of other considerations we face in real estate sales and service. This is true on both sides of the transaction, weather buying a home or selling a house. It’s important to understand “objections”; we have the ability for one to overcome them by turning them into “opportunities”.

It’s one thing to talk to a knowledgeable sales person about “possibilities” that may exist at a property; it’s quite another experience to discuss practical and achievable solutions, which meet your particular needs, with a qualified and licensed design professional.

A home is more than just a structure, no matter what the style. The essence of architecture is what makes a house so personal. There is a certain feeling that good design embodies – it’s the fundamental ingredient in what makes a house a home – the perceptible difference that you may wish to consider during your next real estate transaction!