Drick Ward

It's hard to believe but there's just a few more months of the $8,000 tax credit that is being offerred to first time buyers from the federal government.

In order to close by November 30, it is important to start the home search no later than September, which is only a couple days away now. November will be here sooner than we expect.

ABC News reported yesterday that Virginia Beach, Virginia has been ranked as the #1 spot in the top 10 places to buy a home. For those of us who have lived here for years, it's no surprise.

READ THE FULL ARTICLE ON ABC WEBSITE

Virginia Beach is not only the most populous and largest city in Virginia, it's also one of seven cities that comprise Hampton Roads. In addition to the Navy bases located in Virginia Beach, our neighboring city, Norfolk, is home to the largest Navy station on the planet. The large military presence not only helps maintain stability in the local economy, it also makes our region ideal for investors who want to own residential rental real estate. Add to that, the fact that we are the world's largest resort city attracting vacationers from all over the continent and you've got a recipe for success.

For more information on residential real estate in Virginia Beach, contact Drick Ward of Exit Realty Central. Whether you're looking for a vacation home, rental property, or are considering a move to the area, Virginia Beach is a GREAT place to buy real estate.

It's hard to believe but there's just a few more months of the $8,000 tax credit that is being offerred to first time buyers from the federal government.

In order to close by November 30, it is important to start the home search no later than September, which is only a couple months away now. It will be here sooner than we expect.

In the days of olde, people maintained a paper book with all their appointments. On their desk was a rolodex containing the business cards of professional and personal contacts readily available. That is, as long as you're at your desk. But all that began to change in the late 80's with the introduction of the PIM (Personal Information Manager) and soon Microsoft Outlook was the preeminent electronic desktop version of the appointment book and contact manager rolled into one along with task list and notes to boot.

1996 saw the introduction of the Palm Pilot starting the mobile computing revolution. As devices became smaller and more powerful, people began to realize their data needn't stay only on their desktop. Web based providers offered people a place to keep their data so it could be accessed at home or work (anywhere they had an internet connection) all the while still synchronizing with the handheld device of choice, though sometimes taking a step through Outlook in route to the final destination.

Today most agents have a variety of contact systems, some aimed at keeping in touch with past or prospective clients, others integrated with the MLS allowing easy access to active clients who need to see what's available on the market. Now, many of these systems also offer the ability to synchronize their data with your Outlook or other system. So before you jump head first into the unknown, put some thought into what makes the most sense for you and how you operate.

For me, I'm still evaluating and contemplating-what I've had for several years has worked and continues to work just fine. You see, my MLS recently added the capability integrate showing appointments for the contacts I keep in their system thinking they were making life easier. I've been in technology for over two decades and know how difficult it is for a person to have to check three different systems to know where they are supposed to be when, so it just makes sense to have everything in one system and keep that system updated. That's where the SYNC comes in. I tried to sync my calendar with the system in our MLS - it took over 5 minutes (I keep a full calendar, schedule things out two years or more in advance and retain the prior 18 months in my handheld for a handy reference when I need to know something.) In successive sync operations, the time required didn't improve much. Now bear in mind that the MLS syncs with my Outlook, I've still got to sync Outlook on my desktop with my handheld.

Long story short, think through your overall plan before changing how and where you keep your data. This simple fact remains: real estate sales took place long before the invention of even sticky notes - if you've got an effective system that works for you, it can be done without synchronizing anything. Yes, computers allow us to realize greater efficiencies, but one must question the logic of spending 60 minutes a day in small time blocks continually synchronizing their data. Now, I'd like to hear from you. What have you found that works and what doesn't work? What problem areas have you identified and how might you overcome them? The answers lie in all of our collective minds; we just need to talk about the problems to realize the solutions. What say you?