The blog posts have been few and far between this week because I'm on vacation in Manhattan. But real estate does cross my mind, even on vacation! And I thought this might be a good time to reinforce an old real estate adage. You may have heard "all real estate is local." And it's certainly true. That's spectacularly true comparing NYC and Virginia.

Believe it or not, New York City still doesn't use a Multiple Listing Service! You think you have trouble selling your home now?! Try it when only the firm that listed your house is actively trying to sell it! Wow! In our area that would eliminate thousands and thousands of agents that are currently helping to try to sell your home, no matter who lists it!

And if you think it's tough getting a mortgage now in Virginia, try NYC! In Manhattan the lender is the one with the easy requirement. If you're buying a co-op or even many condos or townhouses there's a board that's going to have a say and they often REQUIRE 50% down! Some of them want proof that you have 5 times the purchase price in net worth. At NYC real estate prices that's a big number!

Now I know that many people in this area hate home owners associations. But what if you had to submit hundreds of pages of documents to them proving you were worthy to live there? I'm guessing there are some rude thoughts going through your mind right now!

Even things like how long it takes to close are much different. Typically it's about 90 days in New York City. I see plenty of settlements in our area that happen in less than 30 days. And I've seen them done in a week! 90 days would be highly unusual in our area.

This is a drastic example of differences. But the adages apply locally as well. Real estate can be practiced differently even in different parts of the Commonwealth. And if you move to Virginia from someplace else you're likely to experience lots of things that are different here.

It does make real estate endlessly interesting!