Hey — Jim Duncan, RealCentralVA. Quick walk through this month’s note.
The thread this month is presence. Showing up — and what’s quietly trying to make that optional.
Start with the headline everybody saw: AstraZeneca. Four and a half billion dollars, thirty-six hundred jobs, right here in Albemarle. Big. But read past the number — six hundred of those are the long-term jobs, the rest are construction. Still huge. Just not thirty-six-hundred permanent-jobs huge.
Always read beyond the headline. And as I told my kids - always ask questions
The market? A bit more active than a year ago — more listings, more contracts, and more listings being pulled from the market because sellers couldn’t get what they needed or wanted — but a little less frantic.
Price and present your home well, and it should still move fast. Miss on either, and you’ll likely sit. Buyers finally have a few more choices, and they’re being selective — many if not most are buying for longer horizons, which means they may be a bit more diligent.
Then the one I’d argue matters most. What if I told you your house wouldn’t be on Zillow? A couple of big companies are pushing to fragment home search — to wall off inventory.
I think that hurts buyers, sellers, all of us. My buyers want to see every home. My sellers want to be seen by every buyer. That’s the whole job.
This industry is so adept at hurting itself.
And speaking of the whole job — pick up the phone. Five minutes beats forty-seven texts. Every time. Matter of fact, I just did that with another agent, although I texted first - do you have two minutes for a call? Everything is fine.
That’s the note. Tell me what made you pause — and I’m doing a Charlottesville Reddit AMA July 17. Bring questions.
