Montpelier, VT

I love Montpelier. Here's yet another reason why: The Montpelier Capital Area Neighborhoods is asking the residents (remember, there are only around 7000, so participation is key!) to capture 1/10/10 on film (or bits). Montpelier CAN wants people to take pictures of "a day in the life" on that particular day.

I love it!

True Confession: I don't actually live in Montpelier--I live in Middlesex, but own properties in Montpelier.

I may have to submit my photos in a sneaky fashion. You know, have a bona fide townie drop them off. Or, I could develop them and put them in an unlabeled manilla envelope.

Who am I kidding? I'm just going to email them. In a town of 7000, I suspect the officials may be inclined to skim over some of the details.

Of all the places to visit over Christmas, I went home to Michigan. No sandy beaches, no glorious historical architecture, and worst of all, no optimism. Ok, a little optimism.

I was asked again and again by wave after wave of relatives and friends, "Must be tough in real estate these days, eh?"

Well, maybe it is, and maybe it isn't. That's not really the point. The point is that I have had so much fun this year as a Realtor, that I can't imagine doing anything else...and I get paid for it!

I told those waves of disbelieving relatives that I get to do pretty much whatever I want. Want to target a particular neighborhood? A particular price point? Do online advertising? Write a blog? Send postcards? Have coffee and donuts in the office for Saturday office hours? Yup, yup, yup, etc.

No one tells me something won't work. And then, of course some things don't work. I've had other jobs in which I was forever being told that my harebrained ideas were just that. Except I'm pretty sure they weren't always. As a Realtor, and maybe it's some of the Vermont optimism, I feel completely free to try all sorts of things.

And, I'm lucky enough to have a broker who doesn't think I'm completely harebrained.

Although Montpelier is the capital, it's still a pretty small town of 7000 people. The other towns in the area are small too. And each one has its own feel, its own vibe, its own reasons that people want to live there.

Let me clarify what local means here in Central Vermont. When people call in, walk in, or visit the website, they usually want specific locations. As examples, some people want to buy a home in Montpelier, some want to buy a home in Barre, some want to buy a home in the U-32 school district, etc.

It does happen sometimes where sellers or buyers contract with agents from outside the area to help. It's just not usually the best way to do it. Obviously, local Realtors know the market better than distant Realtors. I know plumbers, electricians, handymen, contractors, fuel suppliers, roofers, etc who work in the area, but may not work two towns over. The local banks and attorneys know each other and have a great deal of familiarity with each other. This can save buyers and sellers time (and money) on the transaction.

The offices know each other. Another Realtor can call our office here in Montpelier, and if Alice or Carol answers the phone, the other Realtor knows who they are, and knows that they can answer just about any question. When I call an office out of the area, I never know if the person with whom I'm speaking is familiar with the transaction, and how much they know about it.

Yes, this is a plug for our agency, but only because it makes a whole heck of a lot of sense to keep things local. For buyers and sellers in Montpelier, Barre, Northfield, and U-32, I strongly recommend using an agency and a Realtor based in Montpelier. It's just a lot easier.

Plus, Alice and Carol are wicked smart.

I couldn't put it off any longer. It just wasn't fair to everyone else in the office.

It's happening.

We're loading four agents from our office into my Toyota RAV 4 and heading up the "road" to a 100 acre camp just north of Montpelier, in Worcester, Vermont. This place is waaaayy up the road. And when I say road, picture a Jeep commercial. There have been many inquiries into the property, and it's time that everyone in the office knew the truth about the location.

Here's the truth: It's a gorgeous secluded piece of 100 acres, It's not going to be a primary residence, but it's going to be a killer snowmobile, four wheeling, hunting, and hiking getaway. The road's a real bear, but it's doable.

Having said all that, if we're not back in the office tomorrow morning, call out the search team. We're either stuck in the road, or have decided to secede and are taking steps toward adverse possession!

Stick Season In Montpelier and Barre

I will admit, the phones aren't ringing as steadily, and I'm getting fewer email inquiries about our listings as I did throughout the spring, summer, and early fall...but it's not dead. Not by a long shot.

Two weeks ago I had three offers come in (2 are accepted, one is a short sale, so you never know when that'll land). Last week I added another offer and a new listing. Today I'm headed out to see about a listing, and then this morning I had an email inquiry wanting to know about selling her house.

I'm not going to count any chickens before they've hatched, but this is certainly a busier November than I thought I'd have. Back in January when I started (I can't believe this is my first year...I should've been doing this for a long time!), people assured me that it was the worst possible time to start a career selling real estate. My (perhaps naive) response then was that if I could make a go at it and stay in business when the market's down, when unemployment's up, and when people think it's a bad time to start a career selling real estate, then I'd have a grand old time when things turned around.

I think I was right. When I hear veteran agents talking about how this was the strangest, least profitable year in which they had to do more work to close fewer deals than in recent memory, I smile to myself. You mean it gets better than this?

Perhaps I better bookmark this posting, and read it again in January to cheer myself up. Then again, I spent all summer telling my wife that she'll get enough of having dinner with me come November. Well, here it is the week before Thanksgiving..