Scott MacDonald's Blog

There is a saying that states “bad news travels fast”.  As we know in nature, what goes up must come down.  Combining these two scenarios, we can conclude that “good news travels slowly”.  We at RE/MAX Gateway are living in the real world of real estate.  We see the market improving, prices stabi...

Sometimes you get lucky...just after last month's market update, the sales of existing homes went up 5.5% for September, and the highest level in 11 months.  It just goes to show that the media is typically 3 months behind in market stats when dealing with real estate.  What caused this surge? An...

I ran into a friend of mine this morning who works for another broker in Centreville and he asked me how things were going for us.  When I told him how well you were doing this year he said - wow.   He said the advice his from his broker was to take time off because houses weren't selling and for...

It's been almost an overstatement, but it is true...all real estate is local.  And it's local down to neighborhoods. If you take Northern Virginia as an aggregate, inventory levels are down from their high this year of 17,608 in March to 13,011 as of last week.  The Northern Virginia real estate ...

It is hurricane season...are we in the eye of a hurricane or did we just come through the backlash of the latest storm?  A financial storm that is! Wow, what a month September has been in the financial world.  First it was the government takeover of Freddie and Fannie, next it was Merrill Lynch a...

We have approached our business in a more business - like manner this year. Each contact we make with clients is less casual and more intentional. We encourage our agents to be more informed about the market through trainings, blogs and in mastermind groups so they can give their clients the righ...

We have approached our business in a more business - like manner this year. Each contact we make with clients is less casual and more intentional. We encourage our agents to be more informed about the market through trainings, blogs and in mastermind groups so they can give their clients the righ...

The answer is basic.  You have to prospect.  You must be persistent and consistent in your daily, yes daily, prospecting activities.  If you don't have someone to work with as a buyer or seller, all of the knowledge in the world about real estate won't get you a sale.  Where do you start?  You mu...

Wow, how the summer has flown by.  The real estate market has seen a lot of changes during the summer that has caught our attention.  The government passed the housing stimulus bill which should help jump start our business going into the fall.  Foreclosures and short sales continue to "dominate"...

I ran into a friend this morning at the bagel shop on the way to the office and he asked me about our beloved Redskins. He said his interest was waning in the Skins (a diehard?) and how could they be so bad? It seemed pretty evident as a Monday Morning Quarterback that it was play calling, person...