David Rathgeber's
2008 Personal Note
I'm writing this note at holiday time, a time for reflection and thankfulness. 2008 has been a good year for business, and I m still getting more than my fair share. If you have been reading my Monthly Market Report, you know that it is not all doom and gloom.
HISTORY
It has been decades since I decided to end a rewarding career in industry for my own thing. I had a secure management position, but needed greater control over the future. How can one trade in a 22 year engineering and business management career for the great unknown? I did have resources to insure that the family could eat, live in a home, and that the kids (now with 2 degrees each) would go to college. I also believed that I had whatever was needed to meet a new challenge and win. →
With my decision made, off I charged to sell my sport fishing boat, The Undecided II which took almost a year. Then I prepared a spreadsheet to plot my future course. Over a dozen diverse activities were carefully analyzed: franchises, a marina, a flirtation with inventing, and several real estate related activities, including home building. The diversity of the real estate activities seemed appealing, and a logical entry point seemed to be residential sales and marketing, from which it would be a short step into home building. So I took the required courses and exam, interviewed with several McLean real estate firms, and gave formal notice to Mobil Oil.
Within days, Mobil Oil announced the transfer of its New York Headquarters to Fairfax. (Insider trading? Never!) By the end of 1990, I had sold more homes than the average agent does in 20 years. While I had established viability and expertise in the sales and marketing arena, the real estate boom of the late 1980 s had come to an end. The new slow market of the early 1990's was not the time for my home building venture.
Meanwhile, I had developed my own ideas about real estate and about how an agent could provide value to his clients. As new ideas emerged, new questions arose. My technical background was valuable in helping me develop the new ideas and to find answers for the questions. My methods and message began diverging from what everybody knows. To make a long story a bit shorter, this led to my writing the first home selling book.
A book with limited local appeal is not the way to fame or fortune, but it was well accepted in the marketplace, and helped me efficiently transfer my message to home sellers. The home selling book led to the home buying book, my courses at Northern Virginia Community College, plus many TV appearances and speaking engagements for home buyers, home sellers, and agents. Some of the greatest understanding and appreciation of my new ideas have come from fellow real estate agents. My third book AGENT'S GUIDE to Real Estate was featured on the National Association of Realtors web site. My articles on negotiating, market statistics, and more, have been published in the national REALTOR Magazine, in several state and local Realtor magazines, and on Realtor web sites.
THE RECENT PAST
I often get email from agents across the country telling me how much they enjoy my Agent s Guide book. A few years ago I got such an email from a broker in Australia named David Rathgeber! A broker from South Africa also emailed with kind comments. I am constantly amazed by the world-wide-web. While such activities are neither lucrative nor time consuming, they are fun and help me maintain a broad perspective.
In 2001 I moved to be close to my daughter and granddaughter, but after 2 years, I moved to a larger home with enough space for Dorothy. As you know, I started my own real estate firm, Your Friend in Real Estate, LLC (YFiRE for short). My daughter, Susan (another ex-engineer) and my son Davey (the Rock n roller from Athens, Georgia) are my only agents, and work part time as they both have real jobs.
I also spend time with my granddaughter Katie, who has a job, a car, and is attending NVCC. I enjoy many days on the Bay, cruising and fishing with friends on my boat Lady Katie, which is named after you know who. In addition, I take Lady Katie to Cape May, NJ or the outer banks to fish a few times a year. It has been a fun fishing year, especially in the Gulf Stream off the NC coast.
THE FUTURE
My focus remains on fun, and that includes the sale and marketing of residential real estate for my friends and their friends. If I've learned one valuable lesson over the last 20 years, it has been the importance of turning clients into friends. I would be lonely and hungry without a large group of friends who keep me in mind when the subject is either real estate or fun. It is a joy to have you remember me when it's time to buy and sell again. I am also very fortunate that so many of you refer your friends to me. All of my new business comes from your personal referrals. So please, keep your friends calling, and do keep in touch.
With very best fishes,
Your Friend in Real Estate
Serving you and your friends since 1987
* * * * * * *
AFiRE — Florida-licensed real estate broker
A Friend in Real Estate, LLC
YFiRE — Virginia-licensed real estate broker
Your Friend in Real Estate, LLC
* Copyright © David Rathgeber *
* * All rights reserved. * *