William & Alison Smith's Blog Posts

Once the holidays are over and the new year turns, our phones begin to ring. January is the time when we begin to hear from most of our clients thinking of selling their home. For years, you've

The first week of January 2021 started like a circus. We had a listing that had previously been on the market. The owner let the listing expire, discouraged that his home wasn't selling. We came in

Please bear with us as we are having some technical issues with our formatting.SHE SAID: Buyer's Side About three years ago, I met a buyer who told me he was waiting to buy his first home because

The month of March has brought us some questioning events. If you’re watching the news, everyday is a new item about performance metrics. It’s no surprise that many of us don’t

Just last week, we showed a home. The home was constructed beautifully, with extra details throughout. But it had been on the market for a while. Our buyers wanted to know why. They saw the

A couple years ago we talked with a young man who had just had his first child. After celebrating that occasion with him, we naturally moved to a discussion about bigger houses, school systems, and

Something we’ve done for the past 20 or so years is take the week between Christmas and New Year’s Day to set goals and look ahead toward the next year. While it’s easy for us to

A few months ago, we were sitting at a closing. You see, William’s typical role at a closing is to move the conversation. He absolutely loathes a quiet, very serious closing. If you’ve

Are you watching the news? If you’ve watched any news channel, scrolled social media, or even read any articles lately, you’ve probably seen where we’re headed in the economy.

In last week’s newsletter, I gave buyers some tips on what to expect in this shifting market. Since that time, we’ve seen another bump in interest rates. That’s given us another

I remember working with a first-time home buyer in January of 2021. We’d been talking for a couple months, but she had waited to start looking until that time with hopes of keeping her kids in

I admit that I sometimes fall victim to the “paralysis by analysis” mentality. Constantly consuming facts, data, and news, can sometimes give us information overload that causes more

You know that saying that goes, “A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush?” What are your thoughts about your retirement account? Do you see your holdings a “real” money?

As Alison entered a new listing yesterday, she came across a relatively new question, "Short-term rentals allowed?" We showed a very nice lake property last week. The owners had a handwritten note

We pass by this pasture not too far from our house a couple times a week. Parked in it, are maybe a 100 or so (or more) full-sized pick-up trucks. It’s really a weird sight. But it reminds us

Twenty-two years ago, we were facing a decision that many are looking at now: Where did we want to live long-term? We could live virtually anywhere, so the decision seemed daunting and overwhelming.

Imagine you’ve just spent $750 thousand dollars on your dream lake home. Your back deck overlooks a wide expanse of big water. You’re close, too. It’s just a short walk down a

What do you want your payment to be? is one of first questions I get every time I visit a car dealership. It’s been a few years since I’ve been in the market for a new car, but I was

A few months ago, you might have read about the green shag carpet in our first house. The next month, William alluded to our “not perfect” second home. The first time we drove up, the

The first morning with lower humidity.The first college football game. The changing colors of the leaves. All signal a very special time approaching, and fall is my favorite season. This year

The marriage of big data and boots on the ground is in trouble. Earlier this week, Zillow suspended its iBuying program through the end of 2021. When we are talking with homeowners and buyers,

When you think of real estate and auctions in the same context, most of our minds head toward tax sales on the courthouse steps, foreclosures, and HUD homes. A few months ago, I talked with an agent

Most of don’t have enough cash in the bank to pay in full for our home, especially a first home. With interest rates historically low, we’re consistently hearing questions about real

About a year ago I started seeing some social media posts for a new local business that caught my eye. I knew the owner, Jack Waddy, and thought what he’d started had potential. In fact, I

Almost a year ago, just as we were seeing the housing inventory decrease, we took some time to network with some other agents in some developments with new construction. Like we often encounter, we

Over the past couple years, our transition in careers has been an awesome experience: meeting new people in the community, learning a new industry, and partnering with my wife.  The challenges

Diversification is always a sound investment strategy. Not too long ago, we diversified our portfolio with our first rental. As one of those people who often suffers from “paralysis by,

Did you hear that I’m now a PeePaw? Yes, we welcomed our first grandchild last Sunday! I’ll refrain from posting too many baby pictures, but the grandparent thing is already pretty

If you read Alison’s last post, you’re probably assuming we moved up from that green shag carpet with our second home. Nope. We drove up to our would-be second home and were met with a

Photo courtesy of Ruckersville Farms on FacebookI was scrolling through Facebook a few months ago. We had been looking for a local place to buy our garden plants for the spring. I found the perfect

Is green shag carpet on your list for your dream home? It wasn’t on mine either, but that’s what we got as first-time home buyers. We were 21, William had been making a decent living for

Have you ever met someone and thought, “How in the world does she do all this?” Since I generally call myself a “jack of all trades, master of some,” when I met Teresa Harper

A belt sander. Tools hung neatly on a shop wall. A subtle track formed from a riding mower out toward the edge of the woods to dump lawn clippings. What are these things? For us, they are signs of

What would you do if your passenger yelled, “STOP!” in the middle of nowhere? I did it one of the first times William and I were working in South Carolina, and he just kept driving. The

Not long ago we stopped one day at some model homes in a new development to talk with the agents on duty. Being the middle of the week, they gave us some time. We discussed rising prices, and one

A few months ago William and I wandered into BeBop’s Bakery and Bistro in Royston after our morning walk. We had planned to stop in for breakfast and work a little outside of the office.

We’re working with a buyer right now and have seen some properties she really likes. So far, she hasn’t made an offer. Why? She’s not going to compromise on her list of priorities

The first two things I learned of David and Jennifer Sanders of M.T. Sanders Furniture Company in Commerce, Georgia, were that they kept their kids in a playpen at work and they are good people.