Charlottesville Real Estate Talk

The Power Of The Women's Council of Realtors

To fully understand the power of The Women's Council of Realtors, it is necessary to attend a national event.  The midyear meeting was just such an event and it didn't disappoint.

The conference started out with a meet and greet on Thursday evening.  Afterwards about 16 of us from region 1 of the Women's Council went to DC Coast for dinner and had a great time making new friends and reconnecting with old.

Friday morning started early with a day crammed with education.  It is helpful to have more than one person present from your chapter so that you can split up and attend as many of the classes as possible.  Most of the Friday classes focused of how to make your chapter better with forums on professional development, leadership, chapter operations and communication.  Then we had the opportunity to listen to respected real estate coach Jackie Leavenworth speak on her pricing techniques to help get your listings sold.  It was amazing that WCR could bring in such a powerful national speaker to help us build our businesses.

Friday night was the banquet with the presentation of awards.  Wow...to see what so many chapters have accomplished.  And then for our Blue Ridge Chapter to win a Silver Chapter Excellence Award.  I felt so proud of our new chapter and at the same time motivated to acheive even more this year. 

Saturday was another jam packed day.  The morning was filled with more classes which were even better than those from Friday.  Then in the afternoon we had the opportunity to hear Stefan Swanepoel speak on "Top Trends Inpacting the Future of Real Estate".  I am a huge fan so I was blown away.  How cool is it that The Women's Council of Realtors can bring us this quality of speaker. 

The education and programs at the midyear conference were top notch, but the true power of the Women's Council of Realtors is in its members.  And the best part of attending a national WCR event is the relationships that you form with the other members.  It was so special to walk into a class and meet not one but two of my WCR facebook friends in person.  I came home with a stack of business cards and many new friends made and old friendships deepened. 

I encourage you to join the Women's Council of Realtors, get involved in your local chapter and attend a national event.  Feel the power of WCR!

Copyright 2011 by Pam Dent, all rights reserved "The Power Of The Women's Council Of Realtors".

Remember when you were a child and believed in Santa Claus?  Christmas was a time of magic and if you believed hard enough anything could happen.  I always asked for a horse.  I never got one, but each year I believed it was possible.  Now I have much more complicated Christmas wishes such as world peace or health and prosperity for loved ones. 

Relax and let this humorous song take you back to a Christmas season full of possibilities, when getting a hippopotamus for Christmas was a real possibility and may all your Christmas dreams come true.

Attending the WCR conference at NAR midyear has convinced me that WCR makes me a better Realtor.

I just returned from my first Womens Council of Realtors Conference and what a powerful event it was.  The educational opportunities were first rate.  Not only were there excellent speakers and presenters, but they also gave us oppotunities in each class to get tips from other experienced Realtors on best practices that have worked for them.  I learned so many things that will immediately impact my business to enable me to serve my clients better.  For instance I took a dynamite class on winning offers for reos and short sales.  Not only was the presenter excellent but I sat at a table with two agents who specialized in these types of properties.  I am now  even better qualified to counsel my clients to make offers that will result in the purchases of one of these distressed homes.

Involvement in the Womens Council abounds with opportunities for leadership and the resulting personal growth.  There was coaching and inspiration to give us the  tools to empower us to achieve our professional and personal goals. 

Finally WCR is all about the people.  I met successful Realtors from all over the United States.  This networking enables me to better serve my clients who are relocating.   Through my relationships with WCR members from all across the country I will be able to find an excellent real estate agent to help my client find the perfect home in their new city.

The Womens Council of Realtors is helping me to be the best Realtor that I can be.

Its New Years Eve 2009 and time for out with the old year.  And what an interesting year it has been!

In Charlottesville Virginia the day has been icy, cloudy and drizzly.  The gray day has been the perfect metaphor in my mind for the tired year as it limps off into the history books.  It has been a year that has seen us fighting back from recession, dealing with foreclosures and shortsales, seeing the housing market hit bottom, witnessing the stock market drop and slowly climb partially back, not to mention what ever personal challenges we may have faced as well. 

I know that I am tired and i would imagine that this old year is as well.  The picture below taken at the end of the day today is my impression of a worn out old year.

Now let us toast the beginning of an optomistic New Year full of opportunity and good things to come.

Wishing all of you Peace, Joy and Prosperity in the coming year!

Cheers!

Tomorrow October 24 is the International Day of Climate Action.

Do you realize that scientists say that 350 parts per million CO2 in the earth's atmosphere is the safe limit for humanity.  Our planet is in trouble.  We are at 387ppm.

The map outlines the world wide events occuring on October 24.

How can you meet old friends for the first time?  Doesn't that classify them as new friends?  Not anymore.  If you are at all active in any social networks, I'm sure that there are people who you "talk" with on a daily basis and have been conversing with for months, but have never met.  We know many facts about their lives.  Sometimes we may know more about them than many of the people who we see face to face everyday. 

Well today I had the opportunity to meet two people who I am connected with on multiple social networking sites.  I attended the Virginia Association of Realtors legislative conference in Richmond, Virginia.  I preregistered for two classes on social networking taught by Jeff Turner also known as the ResPres.  Jeff is someone who I am connected with on several social networking sites.  I started out reading his informative posts on Active Rain, where he has shared a wealth of information, and went on to follow him on twitter and become facebook friends.  It was a treat to finally meet him and get to listen to his "words of wisdom" first hand (and words of wisdom they were).

The other person that I was excited to meet in person was Candy Lynn.  Of course, it was just like seeing an old, old friend.  Candy and I have coffee together every morning.  How can that be when we have never seen each other before?  Well, we have virtual coffee together on twitter every morning.  I know that Candy has horses and loves her barn kitties, among other things and she knows that I have horses and corgis.  We have even done some business together.  I was thrilled to discover that Candy was attending the same classes at the conference and we would finally get to meet and give each other a hug.

How many old friends do you have that are enriching your life through the world of social media?

Contact Pam Dent, e-PRO, SRES, NHD, REALTOR®, Real Estate III, Charlottesville, Virginia at   434 960-0161  , pam@JumpintoGreenerPastures.com, to list your property for sale or to buy a property in the following areas in Central Virginia: Charlottesville, Albemarle County, Keswick, Glenmore, Ivy, Crozet, Earlysville, Free Union, Cismont, Scottsville, Fluvanna County, Troy, Palmyra, Lake Monticello, Louisa County, Louisa, Mineral, Spring Creek, Orange County, Gordonsville, Orange, Barboursville, Greene County, Ruckersville.

  To view all of the Charlottesville, Virginia and Central Virginia Homes for Sale click here and click on the mls search button.

 Visit my website  Jump into Greener Pastures or read my pther blog Charlottesville Horse Farms and Country Homes for more information on Charlottesville homes, events and real estate.

As soon as President Obama was sworn, just as his speech was beginning, a new blog post popped up on the White House website.  We all know how important a role the internet played in the Obama campaign not only in raising money for the campaign, but also in generating support.  Now Whitehouse.gov contains a blog The Briefing Room - The Blog.  This initial post was titled Change Has Come To The White House. 

The Briefing Room Blog is the "beginning of the new administrations efforts to expand and deepen" the online engagement begun during the campaign. 

The new media efforts will have three priorities:

• Communication - You will be able to subscribe via rss feed or email
• Transparency - All executive orders and proclaimations will be published on the blog.
• Participation - As promised in the campaign they "will publish all non-emergency legislation to the website for five days, and allow the public to review and comment before the President signs it."

It will be interesting to see in what other innovative ways this administration uses the internet and web 2.0 to connect and engage the country. 

The big day finally arrived.  We woke up to a totally white world in the mountains of Colorado.  There was light snow falling from the sky, but the 60 mile an hour winds blowing the fresh powder from the night before resulted in whiteout conditions as we drove to the chapel at Snow Mountain Ranch.  However the snow and cold did not deter our little band.  The chapel was beautiful with flowers and fairy lights and soft candle light.  Of course the bride was radiant, and the groom was tall and handsome.  Like all weddings it was storybook and like all mothers, my eyes were not dry.  Despite the challenging weather the bride was able to ride away from the church sidesaddle on horseback with the groom walking along side.  My thanks to the horse for not spooking from the long skirts of the wedding grown and dumping the bride in the snow. 

Then it was off to the reception to party the night away! 

As I reflect back on the events of the past few days, several things stand out.  One of the special aspects of having a destination wedding was the fact that we ended up with such a close knit group.  Everyone who made the effort to travel so far, was someone who really cared for these two young people and wanted to witness the start of their life together.  It was a time of great beginnings, as Christmas is a time of great beginnings as well.  It is very special that the memories of Gwynn and Andy's wedding will be tied in our minds with this wonderful time of year. 

This year my families Christmas has come early!

I am making an exception to my habit of never writing personal posts to share an important event in my family's life.  My daughter Gwynn is getting married.  She and Andy have chosen to get married in Frasier, Colorado where they met.  Frasier is just outside of Winter Park.  After traveling all day, my other daughter, Baily and I arrived last night.  The trip through the pass on the ice and snow pack last night in the dark was an experience as we navigatered one hairpin turn after the other, but we finally arrived safe and sound.

One of the things that I experienced on the trip out was that even though reports are that holiday travel is way down the airports were still very crowded.

Today, we have woken up to sunshine and a beautiful crisp Colorado day.  I am about to go take pictures with an old family friend until time for the rehersal.  It will be a full day of family and friends old and new.

This year when friends have been asking me about Christmas plans, I have been replying that year we are having a wedding for Christmas.  It is times like these that put our lives into perspective and get us back to focusing on what is right with our world.

The pictures are of the lovely view from the front of my hotel.

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