David Rathgeber's

2021 Personal Note

This is written at holiday time, a time for reflection and thankfulness. Despite the pandemic-induced disruption, 2021 was another strong year for Your Friend in Real Estate. Friends remember me, and some have offspring who are now buying homes. Some have told two friends, and they told two friends, etc. New folks also search me out, convinced that I know what I am doing. That's my logo on the right; it was once my photo. →

HISTORY
In 1985, I decided to end a rewarding career in industry to gain greater control over the future. How can one trade in a 22-year engineering and management career for the great unknown? There were ample resources to ensure the family would have food, shelter, and college tuition for Neen and Davey. I also believed I had whatever was needed to meet a new challenge and again be a winner. →

With my decision made, I sold my sportfishing boat and prepared a spreadsheet to plot my new course. Over a dozen possibilities were analyzed: McDonald's and AAMCO franchises, marinas, a flirtation with inventing, and several real estate related ventures. The diversity of real estate seemed appealing, and it would be a logical step into home building for an engineer with an MBA. So I took the courses and exam, gave notice to Mobil Oil, and joined Long & Foster Realtors in 1987.

Just before I left, Mobil announced plans to transfer its New York headquarters to Virginia. Insider trading? In the first 3 years, I sold more homes than the average agent does in decades. But the early 1990s was not the time for my home building venture; the real estate boom of the late 1980s had come to an end.

Meanwhile, I developed my own ideas about how an agent could provide real value. My technical background was invaluable in developing new ideas. My methods and message began diverging from "what everybody knows." This led to my first home selling book in 1993; an updated edition is available here.

The book helped convey critical details to home sellers and led to the home buying book, courses at Northern Virginia Community College, TV appearances, and speaking engagements. Major media have serialized two of my books and published many other articles. Also, my ideas have been covered in major newspapers coast-to-coast.

My articles on negotiating, market statistics, and other topics have appeared in the national REALTOR Magazine and elsewhere. My third book, Agent's Guide to Real Estate, was featured by the National Association of Realtors.

THE RECENT PAST
Amazon selected Crystal City, my backyard, for its second headquarters and will be adding 25,000 jobs in the next few years. Always happy to help, I updated my book Buying a Home in Northern Virginia and did an entire rewrite of $elling Your Home in Northern Virginia. But don't buy them on Amazon Kindle; they are just a free click away on the menu to the left!

I created a website, eclipseinfo.net, with useful information for residents of the Eclipse condo in Crystal City. The page for parking space rentals was a big hit as was the page of units sold since the Amazon announcement. I also developed an algorithm to precisely estimate the market value of all 464 Eclipse units. This was an interesting mathematical exercise involving matrix inversion and auto-dithering to ensure accuracy.

Many of you shared days on the Lady Katie in the Chesapeake Bay as well as in the Gulf Stream off Cape Hatteras. But my website helped her find a new owner in Montauk, New York. We enjoyed 14 glorious years, and I still fish in the Chesapeake Bay, out of Palm Beach, and with Captain Greg, star of the NatGeo TV series, Wicked Tuna Outer Banks. →

I did not want to write a fourth book, but my displeasure with most media coverage finally won out: Real Estate Statistics Perspective for the Experts provides much-needed perspective for real estate media experts and is sold on Amazon Kindle.

My main website, DrRealEstate.net, has a mobile-friendly version. There is also a website for real estate investors. For a change of pace, view the lifetime collection of my grandfather's Christmas poems (1928 to 1969), which includes photos like the family home in 1895 on the right. No, that's not me on the porch! My father's Christmas poems (1945 to 1990) are also available. My next Christmas poem will be my very first, but don't hold your breath. There is also a photo essay, Family Archives, from 1895, that includes a 2019 addition named Wyatt.

In response to the wild spring market of 2021, I created a novel way to help home buyers win their home of choice and beat others trying to buy the same home. My unique idea found favor with my fishing friend and nationally syndicated real estate columnist, Lew Sichelman, whose article featured it in major newspapers. Details are here.

THE FUTURE
My new home-selling course will be presented virtually in spring 2022 by George Mason University' s Osher Lifelong Learning Institute. It is an updated version of the one I often presented at Northern Virginia Community College years ago.

Meanwhile, it is a joy to be remembered by friends when it's time to buy and sell again. And please suggest Your Friend in Real Estate to a friend, neighbor, or business associate who is buying or selling a home. A friend of yours is always a friend of mine. Can you scan the QR code with your phone? →

Here's hoping my 2022 calendar is on your fridge and that you are sharing my Local Market Report with friends, neighbors, family, co-workers, and complete strangers. The Report often includes personal messages, tips, and Miscellanea.

Special thanks to those who have helped me meet new friends at the Middleburg Races, on the Bay, and at your social events. Let's get together to fish, have lunch or dinner, or even buy and sell homes. Call or text me at 703 434 0773, or send an email to yfire1@gmail.com!

With very best fishes,

Your Friend in Real Estate
Serving you and your friends since 1987

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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. * *