Chris Hill

OK so I had my first listing appointment today. It was with my Cousin whom has a lot to sell, so its not a lot but this week has truly been a real inspiration for me. Today I plan on listing my first lot for sale and I am finding that having an "expertise" in land is a good thing... I might have another land listing next week. But This week has really been good for me. The agents that represent my project in Waldorf have sold yet another one, and I had the luxury today to meet with a real "prospect" that wants to write a contract as soon as possible. THis should be a great rambler plan that he has found online. Luckily this is an online architect that I have worked with in the past and have a discount due to previous purchases. I met with someone tonight that may be a "buyer" YEAH>>> I can't believe the change in my life from being a builder to my least favorite profession on earth... an agent. But I know that I can "single-handedly" convert my opinions of the local real estate market. LOL. But over the last couple of weeks I have met some truly inspirational agents that have nothing but good intentions in their business plans. This has made me both excited and happy. Thanks to all of you that have inspired me this week and I can only look forward to next week.

I came across this blog post I wrote last year, and I actually thought it was relevent for now! Maybe a good time to remind your clients to prepare for winter? Replace the furnace filters and check all your window and door sealants. Hope this is helpful!

Winterizing your home.

Since I was just sending out my monthly homeowner reminders, I thought I would post a little something about maintenance for your home. I think one of the most overlooked items that we forget to do to maintain our home is also one of the most dangerous. Every November 1rst in my market I recommend that homeowners "winterize" their outdoor hosebibs. Other markets need to do this sometimes much earlier, or even not at all. Here in the Washington D.C. area the freeze usually starts to occur around November one. Failing to properly winterize your hosebibs can easily result in frozen pipes. Basically what happens is when the temperature outside drops below freezing the residual water in the line starts to freeze from the farthest point out and leach its way back into the house. When the pressure on that line becomes too much the pipes actually split causing sometimes serious water damage, but it isnt the serious leaks that are the problem, what can also occur is a small "pinhole" leak causing slow drips inside the walls of your home or in areas that are not checked regularly. And when you apply a water supply to something like this, the end result is Mold... The sad part is that this simple item can be corrected with a little bit of maintenance. Remember "frost-free" hosebibs are not completely resistant to bursting. The most important thing to remember is to ALWAYS remove your garden hose from your hosebibs during the winter. The residual water inside the hose make it much easier to cause this problem. Here is a typical procedure for winterizing your Hosebibs.

Step 1-Remove garden hoses

Step 2- Go into the home and shut off the indoor hosebib

Step 3 -Go back outside and open the outdoor hosebib.

Step 4- After ALL of the water inside the line has drained you may close it back up. At this point many older homes may require a frost protective cover, which can be purchased at any home improvement center.

Remember that all homes have different procedures for winterizing hosebibs, this is only intended as a guide as well as a reminder to do it!

Hope this helps.

Well it's official! After passing the MD licensing class, I thought it prudent to take the Maryland State Exam right away, while the knowledge was still fresh. Sure enough. I passed! FIrst try. Yes I'm proud of myself, and now on to the challenge of finding the right broker here that fits my needs? I have interviewed a few now and have narrowed it down to a couple. It is funny how completely different the brokers are here in my area. I am excited however, that my background in homebuilding will definitely bring me a bit of an advantage over those just starting in the market. I am also excited about the market growing. It seems that all signs point to an increase in the marketplace that I hope will lead to an increase in my revenue? I really plan on making my decision shortly with what broker I plan on signing with. Also let me note that the Borkers in this area have been so very helpful and professional in "helping" me, and asking what my needs are as a new agent. It came as a bit of a shocker hearing the support mechanism here. Thanks also to all t he well wishers here on Activerain. I am starting to feel more comfortable posting things on here. I just hope that one day my information will be more helpful to others in the Real Estate industry. Thanks again.

Well today was the last step before taking the Maryland State Licensing Exam! I passed the Class. 96% I might add! It was interesting taking the exam today and actually feeling that I have been in this business now for over 20 years and the questions on the test sometimes had absolutely no relevance to what I have encountered in the past. Its funny how a class such as this doesn't cover the "real world" of Real Estate. I will try to write more on here to tell you how the actual Maryland State Exam goes.

Hello all, I thought I would tell you about the great family event we had yesterday. We went to my kids school and saw the Patuxent Playhouse perform "School House Rock Live" . It was a lot of fun to hear the old songs that used to inspire me on Saturday mornings. The cast and crew really made this event a lot of fun for everyone there. They even had a small childrens area for kids to get a "front row seat" Hearing all the old songs on the Saturday morning cartoons, was really a lot of fun. I think they have a couple more shows left. Check out their website. www.paxplays.com