Keller Williams Realty holds a RED Day event every year.  This is a nationwide effort to provide support to local charity orginizations.  Since its founding three years ago, the KW Mclean/Great Falls office has been supporting SHARE of Mclean/Great Falls.  We held two food drives at the Mclean Giant and Great Falls Safeway on May 12th and 14th respectively.  Following is a note the office received the SHARE:

First, let me express the deepest appreciation from Share for the huge outpouring of support from Keller-Williams for your 2 ‘RedDay’ events at the McLean Giant on Thursday, May 12, and the Great Falls Safeway on Saturday, May 14. This year marks the 3rd ‘RedDay’ event you have hosted for Share, and it was our best year of donation volume by far. I especially want to commend your organization and preparation for this year’s ‘RedDay’ which made it such a successful food drive for all of us. The enthusiasm shown by you and all the K-W realtors who volunteered was highly evident throughout the day and contagious for our donors. Thanks for bringing so much community spirit to McLean and Great Falls.

Now for the summary of results from each ‘RedDay’ food drive:

GREAT FALLS SAFEWAY SATURDAY, MAY 14

Included in the food donation tally on Thursday, May 12, were the “Grab & Go” bags prepared by Rick Makely’s staff at the McLean Giant. I recall your accounting that Rick prepared 300 of these bags at the start of the food drive and sold 225 by the end of the day. You purchased an additional 13 “Grab & Go” bags with cash donations for a grand total of 238 bags sold and donated.

The total food donations Keller-Williams provided Share from your 2 ‘RedDay’ events was 7,100 pounds, a new record for your organization and almost double what K-W provided last year. You now hold the 2011 food drive record at Share!! A million thanks for the massive addition to our food pantry. We are confident your donations will provide the bulk of our client needs for the next 2-3 months.

Again, my sincere thanks to Keller-Williams for making your community service ‘RedDay’ event a grand slam home run for Share and for supporting our needy neighbors in the communities of McLean and Great Falls.

Best regards,

Hunter

–

Please join us on May 9th for next week’s Military Appreciation Mondays dinner where we will be recognizing Our Military Kids.  This is the event that was originally scheduled for April 25th.  While last weekend’s news about Osama bin Laden is extremely exciting, we must remain more vigilant than ever.  With that said, our troops and their kids deserve ever greater support and appreciation.  Nancy and I hope you can join us at the Old Brogue where we will be recognizing our nation’s true Superheroes.  Please be sure to call the Brogue and make a reservation for either the 5:30 or 7:30 seating.  Feel free to either call me or send an e-mail if you would like more info or would like to sign on as a $200 or $100  cosponsor.  We are also always looking for door prize support as well.

Please join Nancy and me for the March 28th Military Appreciation Mondays dinner.  We are taking a little license by hosting this month’s event in support of the CIA Officer Memorial Foundation.  Having raised over $100,000 during the past two years, we determined that it was time to support an organization that is very close to home.  As I said at last month’s dinner, this one is personal.  Do come out and show your support for the families of those CIA officers who have given their lives in support of our nation.  Because of operational security reasons, many of these individuals will never get the recognition they deserve and their families can never say how they died.  They will forever be remembered as stars on the wall.  We are asking everyone to make a reservation sooner rather than later since we would like to fill the Old Brogue to capacity.

For those of you unfamiliar with how MAM works, you simply come out and enjoy a great dinner at the Old Brogue in Great Falls.  We and our co-sponsors will each make a 10% match of your dinner tab.  (We are always seeking new sponsors.) Last month we had a 110% match of the total restaurant receipts at the Old Brogue.  We will be doing two seatings at the Old Brogue, so make your reservation for either 5:30 or 7:30.  To make a reservation call the Brogue at (703) 759-3309.

I can assure you that it will mean a great deal to myself and my former colleagues to see a room full of faces who recognize the risks they take each and every day.  Do come join us in sending the message that we truly care.   All you need to do is pick up the phone, make a reservation and come enjoy a great dinner.  Please share the attached flyer with anyone who may be interested in attending.

This month’s Military Appreciation Monday’s dinner, on January 31st, will be supporting the Naval Special Warfare Foundation (NSW).  It is our first effort on behalf of this organization.  Naval Special Warfare is comprised of U.S. Navy SEALs, Special Warfare Combatant-craft Crewmen (SWCC), and support personnel.   The NSA serves a fundamental role within the SEAL and SWCC community.

• It provides tragedy assistance for families who have lost a loved one in training or combat.
• Supports family events to uphold morale and camaraderie.
• Awards scholarships and provide educational assistance to active duty personnel, their spouses, and children.
• Additionally, to ensure the contributions of these elite warriors are always remembered, recognized, and documented for future generations, NSW strives to preserve the rich history and heritage of the NSW community. Since its inception in 2000, the Naval Special Warfare Foundation has mourned the loss of many of our NSW warriors in the Global War on Terror, and in turn, we support their families and their teammates.

Please be sure to click on the above link to learn about what they are doing to support our nation’s bravest men and women.  They do us proud.  As always, the dinner will be at the Old Brogue in Great Falls with seatings at 5:30 and 7:30.  Be sure to call from reservations since we have had overflow capacity at several of the dinners.

As always, you simply come out and have dinner at the Old Brogue in Great Falls. Myself and my cosponsors will each be contributing a 10 percent match of your dinner tab to help our Nation’s True Heroes.

You can also show your support through:

A. The purchase of door prize entries. (ALL Proceeds will go directly to NSW)

B. Our buy a vet dinner initiative. We hope to have about ten enlisted personnel for whom you can buy dinner.

C. Or you can make out a fully tax deductible donation to The Naval Special Warfare Foundation.

Please come out strong to show your support. This is our first time back after the holidays and I’d love to have a huge turnout to show our active duty personnel and veterans just how much we appreciate their service.

Last month we had a 100 percent match.  Please let me know if you would like to sign on as a co-sponsor.  By doing so, you agree to provide a 10 percent match of the evening’s dinner tab.  This typically runs about $200.  I am  also regularly looking for door prize donations as well.  Current co-sponsors are:

Nelson Family

Norman Family

Tim Heil Family

Carillon Capital

The Old Brogue

Grossman Family

Gary Kaihara, DDS

Jill Grossman – LSA Title Services

Taylor Allgyer – First Savings Mortgage

James Gaudiosi – Wells Fargo Home Mortgage

I have been thrilled with the feedback I’m getting from everyone who has sponsored one of the military families.  I just received the following from the family Nancy and I adoted.

Good Morning!
I just wanted to thank you again for your generosity!  I received the box this morning.  Our boys will be so thrilled and it definitely takes a lot of pressure off of us financially as we wait for Allen’s VA claim to come through.  Families like yours have made our journey of adjusting to disabilities much easier.
May you and yours have a very blessed Christmas.
Gina Hill and Family

Please let me know if you receive similar messages and I’ll be happy to post them.  I had received the following from Gina last week.  Please be sure to check out her blog as a way of helping you understand the debt of thanks we owe families like Gina’s.

We are so thankful for the amazing organizations out there to help military and wounded families like ours.  We are even more thankful for the individuals like yourself and your family that support these organizations and our families!
You can find my blog at http://theinvisiblewounded.blogspot.com .  Please feel free to share with anyone and to post on your website.  It is really just something I do as therapy for myself but also to help others know that they are not alone.  At times, being the family of a wounded warrior can be a very lonely place to be.  Where we live, we do not know any other families close that deal with the things we do on a daily basis.

Hello and happy holidays to all, I wanted to take a minute to thank you for your support this year to make the holidays a little brighter for the families of injured and killed in action veterans.  The “Our Military Kids” organization provided me with a Christmas Gift Wish List of 26 veterans’ families including 65 children this year.  Thanks to your help, packages are on the way for 16 of these families.  We are down to just 10 families left on the list, but now we are headed into ‘crunch time’.  With limited time left to buy, wrap and send gifts we must find people or organizations to support these last 10 families within the next week. If you have been thinking about committing to help…. if you can find room in your heart and your wallet this year…. please let us know before time runs out for these families.  One of the wounded veterans I spoke to last week was so thankful when we told him his family would be receiving support with Christmas gifts.  He mentioned that he was especially grateful because last year his kids did not get any Christmas gifts.  Let’s not let this happen again for any of these families who have sacrificed so much for all of us. If you would like to help make this holiday season a little bit brighter for the children of our injured and killed in action servicemen and women, all you have to do is respond to this email.  You can adopt one child, a family or simply make a cash donation.  Nancy and I will gladly purchase the gifts still on the list if you do not have the time.  Simply give me a call or drop an e-mail to Santa@BobNelsonTeam.com. These are the children still available for ‘adoption’ :

1. Vaughns Family

Jordan (6): Vtech MobiGo Touch Learning System MobiGoCarrying  Case MobiGoSoftware Games:  Toy Story 3, Disney Cars, NASCAR, Shrek, Mr. Men/Little Miss

John (10): Nintendo DSI (black)

Dejah Miles (15): Women’s UGG Australia Classic Short Boots, Size 10, Color:  Black

2. Ellis Family

Juliann (13): New clothes/Gift card to Target, Pac Sun or Forever 21

Joshua (12): Nano Touch I-Pod – Gray or Silver (Purchased through Cash Donations)

Jesse (16): Nano Touch I-Pod – Gold (Adopted by Louis and Chris Wise)

3. Kuinileti Sele Family

(Adopted by Elizabeth Gaffney)

Peter (9): Sony PSP G Handheld Game; black or blue

Serafina (7): Sony Limited Hannah Montana PSP Entertainment Pack (used on Ebay $130.98); pink or purple Kleopatra

(4): KidKraft 65156 Designer Dollhouse Doll Toy; multicolor is fine

4. Broesch Family

Bella (7): Zhu Zhu Pets Hamsters Wild Bunch (set of 4) Barbie Horse Adventure:  Riding Camp for Nintendo Wii Uno Attack Game Easy-Bake Oven and Snack Center with Classic Light Bulb Oven (mint green) (Purchased by Jenni Blessman – Keller Williams) Magic Tree House Books

Taylor(15): Gift card to a clothing store such as Macy’s (Purchased by Alison Sherman – Keller Williams), Vanity or Maurices, Gift card for gas, Solia 1″ Flat Iron

5. Summers Family

Amber (11): Beginner snowboard, length 140-145 cm

Devan (10): Beginner snowboard, length 132-137 cm

Tristen (8): Beginner snowboard, length 135-140 cm

6. Byrd Family

Nailah (14): Ipad or Iphone (or a gift certificate to the Apple Store or to the AT&T Store to go toward either of these items)

Nia (13): Dell Laptop (pink) (or a gift certificate to the Dell Store to go toward it)

7. Mitchell Family

Zac (18): a Craftsman tool box, the one that stands up with a bottom box and top box (To be purchased with donated funds.)

Jerret (8): Nintendo DSiXL (blue or black)

Serenity (6): (Adopted by Susan Wisely – Keller Williams)   A nice, portable DVD player, one that the screen flips and folds down; (Sony has one)

Finally, we would like to thank the following who have already come forward to show their support. The Copito Family, The Borland Family, The Hoernig Family, Rick and Amy Buchanan, Jane and Doug Hanscom, Gene and Laura Smith, The Brugel Family, Mary Burnette, Mark and Carolyn Stys, John and Sally Burns, P.C. Martin, Dave and Pava Cohen, Joan Fiander, The Weaver Family, Louis and Chris Wise, Kofer and Suzanne Black, Richard Moxley, Sue Long, Beatriz Duque Long, Elizabeth Gaffney, Paul Norman Family, Dave Lesser Family, Chip Bay Family, Shiner Roofing and Siding, Sonya Dervenis – Lavender Hill Interiors, Jack Legler – Legenter LLC, Tami Harsanyi – State Farm Insurance, Diane Hoyer – Women Helping Women with Finance, Jill Grossman – LSA Title, Tim Heil – Keller Williams Realty, Michael Vandergrift – Washington First Bank, Laura DeSimone – DeSimone Health and Fitness LLC, Collingswood Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, Susan Wisely – Keller Williams, Alison Sherman – Keller Williams, Jenni Blessman – Keller Williams,

Best wishes to you and your family this holiday season,

Nancy and Bob Nelson (703) 999-5812

A Recent Connections Newspaper Article

The local Great Falls Connections newspaper contained an article about Military Appreciation Mondays which they entitled “Paying Tribute” The writer Alex McVeigh really seemed to capture the essence of what we have been trying to do with the monthly dinners.  I was really worried about how well it would come out since he interviewed me in the middle of the dinner.  This while I was hold my granddaughter Reagan who insisted on being with her POP.  Please be sure to mark your calendars for this month’s dinner in support of the Yellow Ribbon Fund.

Thanks to all our great supporters, the Military Appreciation Monday event raised nearly $4,000 for Operation Second Chance.  We had nearly 100 people turn out for the dinner to include several servicemen and women currently stationed at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.  One of the greatest parts about the evening was that two of the most desirable door prizes were won by one of our visiting vets.  He walked away with a two day stay at the Lodgecliffe on the Choptank Bed and Breakfast and a fabulous apple pie from B. Sweet.  The four star lodging is donated each month by Dawson Richardson at Merrill Lynch.  B Sweet has donated two pies for each of our last two events. The wife of another vet won the biggest prize of the evening, a beautiful pendant donated by Adeler Jewelers.

If you have a chance, please be sure to give a big thanks to our co-sponsors and door prize donors.

Co-sponsors include:

The Old Brogue
LSA Title Services
Gary Kaihara, DDS
The Grossman Family
Julius Fleischman
The Norman Family
The Nelson Family
James Gaudiosi – Wells Fargo Home Mortgage
Taylor Allgyer – First Savings Mortgage
Carrillon Capital

Door Prizes for this month were donated by:

Adeler Jewelers

Lodgecliffe Bed and Breakfast

Dominion Title

PF Chang’s

Maison Du Vin

Great Falls Design Build

State Farm Insurance

Great Falls Exxon

B. Sweet Pies

While nationally, the real estate market continues to barely limp along, locally we have been quickly moving towards a greater balance between buyers and sellers.  This, of course, depends on where you are considering buying or selling.  The general feeling among my co-workers has been that the closer to the beltway, the stronger the market.  There have been repeated stories of buyers paying more than asking price for homes located inside the beltway.  While out with some clients on Tuesday, they told of friends who had withdrawn their offer on a home in Mclean once they learned that one of the three other offers included an escalation addendum stating that they would pay $5,000 more than the highest offer.  Anyone familiar with the market during the 2003-2005 period may recall that this was very much the norm at that time.  I have been saying for the past year that Northern Virginia may well be headed for a severe shortage in housing in the not too distant future.  We have slowly been edging towards this potential shortage since builders have essentially stopped construction on new homes.  This despite the fact that Northern Virginia continues to grow in population.

Whether you are considering selling or buying a home, you really do need to remain focused on the critical do’s and don’ts highlighted in a recent Rismedia article entitled:  Be-Smart:  Dos and Don’ts for Home Sellers and Buyers.

As Realtors, we often get asked questions regarding the accuracy of the Zillow website “Zestimates”.  I typically respond by saying that the efficacy of these depends entirely on the neighborhood, location and condition of the home.  The accuracy within Virginia ranges from a best case of 5.2 percent for Arlington to a worst case of 27.8 percent for Caroline County.  Even within these figures, the numbers can really vary from street to street.  Your best bet is to make certain you employ a Realtor who fully understands the local market and can help you establish a true fair market value for the home whether you are buying or selling.  Click on the link to review the Accuracy of  Zestimates.

Please take a look at Zillow Zestimate Accuracy Table by clicking on the link to see how they did with your county.  Feel free to give a call or e-mail if you have any questions on these figures.