About Jefferson County, WV

As part of the new $789 billion economic stimulus plan, first time homebuyers will receive an $8000 tax credit when they purchase a home, an increase over last year's $7500 repayable tax credit. This new non-repayable tax credit is expected to increase home sales by 500,000 units in 2009 alone, according to the National Association of Realtors. The previous repayable credit was only good until June 30th. The new, higher, non-repayable tax credit has been extended to September 1st, 2009. With more money in the homebuyers' pockets, the $8000 tax credit is expected to generate as much as $62,000 of additional economic activity per house. This extra generated revenue comes from real estate commissions, moving expenses, new furniture and appliance purchases and remodels. This will put extra money into the economy, helping buoy local businesses.

In addition to the $8000 non-repayable tax credit, the stimulus package has other incentives for homeowners. All previous energy-related tax credits have been extended through 2010. This includes purchasing and installing energy-efficient appliances, windows, doors, heating and air conditioning units and even insulation. The economic package has also allotted $2 billion to buy up foreclosures and other vacant homes, renovate them and either sell or rent them to help those neighborhoods across the country that have been the hardest hit by the record foreclosures in the recent past. If you have any questions on how this will effect Jefferson County real estate, please call me at my office (540-665-6570), via cell (304-279-1046) or email me at tommyunderwood@topproducer.com.

So its been about 2 weeks since I've written a blog post or a comment. Well, see, I had a nasty cold that kicked my a** for over a week. By the time I got back to work, things had predictably piled up on my desk. I've gotten pretty much caught up, so back to the Rain!

I have a couple of new projects: Chairing the Education Committee for our Board and taking over the helm of our homeowner's association.

Just call me Madame President.

Ok, you don't have to.

I'm honored to be involved with both organizations. I'll talk more about the Ed. Comm. in later blogs, but right now I have to brag on my neighborhood. Avon Bend on the Shenandoah is a pretty community located next to the Shenandoah River, which actually curves around our community. Its beautiful. The Blue Ridge Mountains hover over us providing a gorgeous vista throughout the year.

Last night we got some heavy, wet snow. I took these very unprofessional shots from my deck this morning:

Both of these shots are from west to east. Mr. Sunshine puts on a pretty spectacular show almost every morning.

I know this isn't really about REAL ESTATE, but who cares? And I probably should have waited to post on "Wordless Wednesday," but remaining wordless isn't my strong suit...

Through the combined efforts of local Jefferson County Cub and Boy Scouts, more than 15,000 lbs of food were offered to the food pantry run by the Jefferson County Community Ministries in 2008. One weekend a year, scouts go out in their neighborhoods and ask for donations to this great cause. Some scout troops, like Pack 95 with the Mannahoac District of the Shenandoah Area Council, donated 165 pounds of food bought from money they raised through a popcorn sale earlier in the year, even though they only have 13 scouts in their pack. This is just one of the ways that scout leaders try to instill a sense of responsibility for giving back to their community at a young age. And the food pantry is happy to have the help. With many people losing their jobs, the Jefferson County Community Ministries finds that more and more people are coming every week to receive food from the pantry. The donations given to the pantry from the scouts every year helps alleviate the stress on the pantry to provide food for its patrons. In fact, last year alone, over 8700 people were fed with the food donated to Jefferson County Community Ministries' food pantry. If you would like to donate to the Ministries' food pantry, please call 304-725-3186.

Last week it was announced that, through the incredible outpouring of support from the local Jefferson County community, the United Way of Jefferson County has reached its annual fundraising goal of $440,000. This means that 21 Jefferson County chartitable organizations will be receiving the assistance they need from United Way to help fund programs for food, clothing and youth programs in the area. This amazing feat was accomplished through the help of donations, volunteers and fundraising efforts of members of the United Way's Board of Directors. Even though the Ohio Valley has been hit with tough economic times like the rest of the country and many people are in dire need of assistance, the support United Way has experienced from the people of Jefferson County show the extent of the strong spirit of compassion that flows through their veins. We should all be proud.

While commenting on a post by Todd Clark, I realized I had stumbled upon an idea for a blog post of my own.

His post : http://activerain.com/blogsview/859391/Could-my-2009-start-with-a-brokerage-move talks about a big decision he's considering: stay where he is, move to a different brokerage, or possibly jump out on his own. I've been where he is now...unsure of how to proceed with my real estate business.

I'll try to keep the background brief: About 3-ish years ago, my dear friend, Susan Williams, and I began a rather tentative discussion about whether or not we should try to open our own brokerage. Somewhat disatisfied with our current office, we started kicking ideas around about how we'd handle particular situations differently. Turns out, there were lots of ideas, which lead to even more ideas, and suddenly, 6 months later, we had a business plan, office space and another trusted Realtor who would be our broker.

Leading Edge Properties, LLC was born!

We certainly have days when we think, "if we had known then what we now know, we might not have opened up."

There are many more days when we think, "if we had known then what we now know, we still would have opened, but we'd have been a lot more frightened!"

Because, let me tell you, owning your own brokerage can be a pretty scary thing:

*No one else to turn to when you have a major problem with a client, transaction or whatever.

*No one else to turn to when there are not enough closings to meet the monthly financial obligations.

*No one else to turn to when you just want a day off!

And while the vast majority of our fellow agents and past brokers are totally supportive of us, there have been many naysayers along the way. Yes, we opened just about the time the bottom fell out of our market here in the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia. Yes, sales prices are dropping, meaning less commission coming in on our closings. Yes, there are expenses you don't realize you're going to have.

But -

There's no way either of us would have had the time or energy required to do this back when the market was hot. Due to limited finances, we set this company up with frugality in mind! We have been extremely careful about our marketing plan and the dollars spent there. We purchased used office furniture and equipment. We've seen other brokerages scale way back in the last 2 1/2 years by closing offices, cutting services, etc. Because we started frugally, we've been able to weather the economic storm somewhat more easily.

We have two main guiding principles that we drum into each other and into the agents who now work with us:

Set The Tone - We found that the tone being set in many of the other companies was that of a more corporate mentatlity. That type of thinking often countered what was best for the people working at those offices, but more importantly, it didn't jibe with what was best for the people we (the agents) were representing.

and

Real Estate is a PERSONAL/PEOPLE thing. When you take the people out of the equation, you're never going to do a good job. Real people buy and sell real estate for personal reasons. Real people have real needs in their purchases and sales.

A brokerage that runs like a factory doesn't do anything to encourage agent or client loyalty.

By being "People-centric," we're able to look at individual needs of our clients and also our agents. We believe this concept will allow us to succeed, even in these tough economic times. By being ready, willing and available to incorporate our clients' needs into the way we market their properties or help them complete a purchase, we believe we offer a much better fit than the "one size fits all" corporate mentality of many other brokerages.

Change is painful, scary and usually rewarding. I don't have a crystal ball: even if I did, I seriously doubt it would be working now, so only time will tell if our little company will ultimately be successful or not. What I am sure of is that we strive to work hard and smart. We believe in what we're doing. We're positive that, even if the worst happens, we know that we gave it our all.