ADAM GARRETT

https://www.adambgarrett.com/post/adam-s-values Did you know that buyers and sellers regularly reject honest agents in favor of those who...

Image by author Fair Housing Law is a critical element of real estate today after a history of tremendous segregation in the United States including in our housing. Today, I still see racism and other bigotry against protected classes in my field. That said, fair housing implications can go beyond what you would expect in order to protect those that need protection. In some cases, even if there is no discrimination on the part of a real estate agent, they can be in legal trou

Image courtesy Realtor.com In the home buying or selling process, if you're looking to purchase in the United States, or another country...

On at least one occasion I've had an experienced agent mock me for giving any credence to Zillow Zestimates surrounding a home. In this...

Above, photo from a former listing of mine in Hampton. Image by Adam I wanted to share more details on my aerials in this article....

What are the Main Differences Between Modular, Manufactured, & Mobile Homes? "The main difference between manufactured and modular homes is that manufactured homes are built to the national HUD code, while modular homes are built to all applicable state and local building codes ." Modular homes are more often pieced together on site and the median size is inherently bigger than manufactured homes because of it, with an appearance more similar to traditional construction.

In this article I wanted to identify how to identify the zone that a property is in. Image courtesy gis2.nngov.com

Link to property Showings:

Time is of the essence in this business and an extra 24 hrs can mean the difference in a deal or no deal or thousands of dollars at...

While not fully comprehensive on all responsibilities, deadlines, & Inspector options, I've developed a resource to provide a brief synopsis of some of the main items to focus on. To use the spreadsheet most effectively (available to clients only due to numerous contractual clauses included, which are protected by copyright that Adam isn't in control of), it's important to keep in mind the following:

I was asked today some good questions about land that I felt deserved an article. Image by Adam General Concepts: Where to Find Land The place to start will be with a listing agent that has access to the MLS in the cities/counties that you're considering. However, unlike home purchases, it's critical to not stop there, & have feeds set up with more than 1 source. For instance, with land purchases, I've seen where 3 of 17 results used Bright MLS out of those options shown on Z

The dominant Hampton Roads offer for residential real estate is the Real Estate Information Network Standard Purchase Agreement, dominant in any area where REIN MLS is dominant. In this post, I wanted to share the latest version of it as of 4/25/25, in its simple form, so that buyers and sellers have it available to read through if desired before making an offer or receiving one. I also wanted to point out where it's used, common surprises about it & provide some additional

In my map above & my spreadsheet below, I go over which Multiple Listing Service (MLS) are needed for someone considering selling or buying land, a condo, a house, or a townhouse in Virginia as well as additional pertinent information. The spreadsheet focuses on Central & Eastern VA while the map covers Virginia, Delaware, Maryland, North Carolina, & beyond. Importance of the Right MLS One of the top marketing elements & one of the top elements for a buyer's agent creating s

I've created a master spreadsheet for government & other information on virginia localities . In case you're unfamiliar with Google Sheets , I've created an article on the subject as well. Some tabs cover all of Virginia while others cover exclusively Central & Eastern Virginia. I'm unaware of any publicly available spreadsheet that can come close to being as comprehensive as this one for the task of comparing potential cities/counties in Central & Eastern VA. While most of t

See the related page here for basic elements of service provider determinations & here for termite/moisture inspector questions. If...

In real estate transactions & outside of real estate transactions, it can be helpful to know how to find service providers. While no referral is foolproof, even the best-reviewed companies have their problems, & someone who served you before might no longer be in the business, taking the steps below can help to mitigate the likelihood of issues. You might be wondering, "If they have hundreds of great reviews and a 4.9/5 on Google Maps, how bad can it be?" A. In one case, I fo

Buyers and sellers can both benefit greatly from access to more than 1 MLS, but that's especially true in areas of high crossover MLS, where only 1 MLS doesn't cover >95% of the residential properties in the area. As a seller , having access to more than one MLS can reap great rewards, with the higher the number of MLS with the greatest amount of market share in your area reaping the greatest rewards. That's especially true in areas of high crossover MLS. Likewise, buyers lo

Often if agents look at the serial plate of main systems, and don't see the age clearly labeled on them, they will leave it to home...

The Multiple Listing Service (MLS) is the main way that agents input real estate properties onto the market for sale, and in many cases, for rent. There are different MLS around the country. Some states have only 1, while states like VA have more than 1. Sometimes multiple MLS will intersect to a high degree, with no 1 MLS having more than 50% of the properties in a given city/county (i.e. Williamsburg/James City County), while in other cities/counties, 1 MLS will cover >99.5

Today I was asked about what the "termination clause" was in my listing agreement in the event that the seller was unhappy with my service. It was asked during the course of an interview prior to the prospect of listing with me. This article is a response to that and a response to others who may be wondering the same thing. The listing agreements and buyer brokerage agreements that are most commonly used in our area don't get too explicit with termination clauses, while the l