I am a native of Northern Virginia, and a current resident of Loudoun County; as well as a real estate consultant.
Whether you currently live in Loudoun (affectionately referred to in my family as LoCo), or if you're considering moving to the area, I hope you'll enjoy the information you get here! For information on our local real estate market go to http://therealestatewhisperer.blogspot.com/
For the week of March 28-April 3, our calendar is chocked full! You'll find free concerts, Karoake night, Parents Night Out, Ladies Night, First Friday, Spring Horse Trials, Toastmasters and even Breakfast at Kettermans!
Facebook has quickly become my best friend. I vent to it, I tell it what I am doing, I tell it what I think is interesting, and I joke with it. In exchange, it consoles me, encourages and inspires me, teaches me things, and makes me laugh.
I have reconnected with long lost friends. I stay in contact with friends I never seem to be able to "connect" with, because of differences in our schedules. I even make new friends and business connections.
I like it so much that I currently have 3 pages....
My profile, where you will read things like me trying to give my kids away to a free home or find out where I can exchange my husband, you'll follow the happenings of my family and friends, and get to know me on a very personal level....Good, Bad, or Indifferent.
"The Real Estate Whisperer" which is a business "fan" page. It's newly launched, and named after my real estate blog. I am still trying to build a following for it, but there I post things which are business related: My personal business like new listings, contracts, settlements, pictures of clients and the like; Things related to the real estate industry like initiates of REALTOR associations, changing tax laws, and other legislative issues relating to homeownership, or purchasing or selling property; I definitely post links to "The Real Estate Whisperer" blog, even re-circulating old posts that many haven't seen; And, to keep things light, I offer quirky insights and the occasional cartoon.
"Leesburg, VA"... this, too is technically a business "fan" page (although in hind sight it probably should have been a "group" page, and I would have named it "Living In Lo Co" but it's too late now). Here, I post local and regional news. You'll occasionally see links to my "LivingInLoCo" blog, but more often I post local news, upcoming events, reviews on local businesses....the content is similar to this blog, but more casual , more interactive, and a much quicker way to get news out - thus it is less words about more subjects. While I am still continuing to build this page, it is taking off quite well with viral marketing all on it's own. As of last night, we had 907 fans in less than a month.
But, on Facebook as in life, it is not about what you put OUT into the world, its about how you fully interact. I read the posts of others, "like" or comment on them, and genuinely participate in discussions. I not only read the posts of my friends, but I have developed a coast to coast REALTOR network via Facebook, which helps me tremendously in my business. I also get contributions from lots of groups and local businesses fed to my News Feed...so I say "in the know" about local happenings, events and issues that I care about (and I recycle this news as is appropriate). In fact, this morning I took my kids to a new photographer. One I learned about on the "Moms Like Me" fan page for my area. I am SO excited about seeing these photos. My next post will include a video of part of the photo shoot - amazing fun for the kids.
Thanks, Facebook!
For more information, visit me on Facebook or subscribe to my blogs -just click on the links above!
Thanks to all of you who regularly read this blog!!
Recently, I have been dealing with several issues in my family: a husband injured during the Snowmagedon and Blizzard who is undergoing treatment for torn tendons; 2 kids with variations of some "bug" that's going around; and a dog - who we thought had a spinal disease and was going to be put to sleep... but it turns out it may be just a slipped disc. In any case, you can imagine my life has been crazy and keeping up with blogging about local issues has been slowed.
Use this as a community bulletin board... we focus heavily on Leesburg issues, but as the county seat, and part of the DC Metro area, we welcome postings about important regional events and issues.
I will get back to posting a few times a week as soon as I can. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel now!!
So, today I was on Facebook (according to a recent quiz, I am 66% addicted).
We were all chatting about the woodchucks and groundhogs (what's the difference?) that did or did not see their shadows (most did).
One REALTOR friend in Michigan said that the spectators that went to see Woody the Woodchuck were all dressed in bikinis and bermuda shorts, trying to fake Woody out. It didn't work - he, too, was scared when he saw his shadow, and predicted 6 more weeks of winter. Those woodchucks are smarter than you'd think. Smarter than the spectators, anyway. It's cold in Michigan.
When I told this to my husband he simply commented that all the news reports this morning were focusing on the fact that the spectators of every city that does this had been up drinking all night. Hmmm... now it's all starting to make sense.
Then, they announced that most of Northern Virginia would be getting 3 to 6 inches of snow tonight... and to make matters worse (or better), they are now predicting maybe another foot of snow this weekend.... that's on top of the 6-ish inches of snow we got 3 days ago.... and this is not our first snow. Heck, our first snow of the season came before Christmas and was about 18-26 inches here in our area.
One of my clients said "I thought when we moved to Virginia we'd have mild winters"..NOT! (Sorry, Jodi.) Not this year, anyway. It's only like this about every 5 years, it's just that we're overdue - we've been spoiled since 1996. To average things out, we'll have to have 3 winters in a row with lots of wintery precipitation. (Maybe that's a warning to you.)
Another REALTOR friend posted this: "Here Mr. Groundhog, Mr.Tony Soprano has some concrete shoes he wants you to try on. Can you say Anacostia?" (The Anacostia is a river in DC.) NOT NICE! I like Phil! (Phil is in Punxsutawney, PA- a place I MUST be next year...it's on my bucket list). Phil is just calling it like he sees it.. and apparently YOU CAN'T HANDLE THE TRUTH, Steve!
Anyway... I was leaving to go pick up my kids, just as the flurries started to come down. One of the little girls was outside in her front lawn, arms spread open, looking toward the sky, mouth wide open and tongue hanging out.
Ahh... I remember tasting snowflakes, fresh ones, falling from the sky. It's been too long.
Then, I picked up my kids at daycare. We walked out to the car. They both, instinctively, stuck out their tongues to get a taste. The kids are all on the same page. What is wrong with us?
This time of year there aren't many Roses to 'Stop and Smell'. So, I am going to encourage you ALL to 'Stop and Taste the Snowflakes'. When I did that tonight, I suddenly felt excited about the falling snow. Thrilled that we'd have six more weeks of this possible miracle.
A new perspective changes everything.
Stay tuned to http://www.livinginloco.blogspot.com/. In the morning, I will be posting some ideas on how to prevent cabin fever. Crafts, games and special snacks...for kids and parents alike.
I have reconnected with long lost friends. I stay in contact with friends I never seem to be able to "connect" with, because of differences in our schedules. I even make new friends and business connections.
"The Real Estate Whisperer" which is a business "fan" page. It's newly launched, and named after my real estate blog. I am still trying to build a following for it, but there I post things which are business related: My personal business like new listings, contracts, settlements, pictures of clients and the like; Things related to the real estate industry like initiates of REALTOR associations, changing tax laws, and other legislative issues relating to homeownership, or purchasing or selling property; I definitely post links to "The Real Estate Whisperer" blog, even re-circulating old posts that many haven't seen; And, to keep things light, I offer quirky insights and the occasional cartoon.
"Leesburg, VA"... this, too is technically a business "fan" page (although in hind sight it probably should have been a "group" page, and I would have named it "Living In Lo Co" but it's too late now). Here, I post local and regional news. You'll occasionally see links to my "LivingInLoCo" blog, but more often I post local news, upcoming events, reviews on local businesses....the content is similar to this blog, but more casual , more interactive, and a much quicker way to get news out - thus it is less words about more subjects. While I am still continuing to build this page, it is taking off quite well with viral marketing all on it's own. As of last night, we had 907 fans in less than a month.
Ahh... I remember tasting snowflakes, fresh ones, falling from the sky. It's been too long.