Back to School means Back to Business

This time of year reminds me of football players and our kids/grandkids - back to the basics, and back to school. The basics in football are blocking and tackling which lead to proper execution. The basics of real estate are contacts, communications, previewing, thinking like a business owner, and showing up, which lead to a successful career. Back to school is just that - time to learn and grow again. In real estate it means learning the market, going to trainings, educating your self and your clients to become more professional.

As we all know, it was a different week than normal last week. It was technically the last week of summer, a holiday weekend and for many of us, back to school for our children on the 5th. The good news is our market remains the same as in the last few reports- Steady Eddie. Inventory and interest rates continue to creep down. Sales and rentals were off a bit, but are still decent considering it was a holiday weekend. Not a considerable change. Keep this in mind, in the past September, October and the first half of November have been good for sales in our area. Let's hope that this year follows suit!

Speaking of our area, guess what? More good news. Builder Magazine analyzed the most recent Census report which indicates areas that have healthy technology, manufactoring, entertainment or financial services companies as well as employers like top universities enjoy equally healthy property values. Guess what? We have that and more - just ask Dunkin' Donuts. Dunkin' Donuts plans on opening 325 more stores in our region - an excellent read on our market which shows we are a viable area for expansion, even for coffee & donut shops. The Washington area also tops the charts for median household income nationwide for cities and counties with 250,000 people or more. Guess what? Loudoun was #1, Fairfax was #2 and Prince William was #7 - not too shabby. Oh yeah, gas prices are dropping - just like interest rates (6 weeks in a row). We have the lowest gas prices out of DC, Maryland, and Virginia. I have only seen or heard this mentioned once - good news doesn't sell!