When hobbies get serious...

Over the course of my short real estate hobby, I have had many people ask me questions about the process, my experiences, and my thoughts on various things relating to real estate. I am always glad to help and that is part of the reason that I have created this blog. I try to share my experiences so that people can read and learn and figure out how to best go about purchasing a home for themselves or as an investment.

The problem is that the questions have started to become more pointed. They are no longer general inquiries, but questions relating to specific properties. Unfortunately, I do not have access to all of the information that is needed to make a proper assessment for people, and this frustrates me. I usually have to refer them to a real estate agent, so that the person can properly assess the situation.

Now, I've had a great experience with my real estate agent, Jeff, but I think its more prudent that I take the next step in my hobby. I'm going to start looking into becoming a part-time real estate agent. Weekends and evenings are usually showing times, so I should be able to manage my duties on a part-time basis. In addition, I'm going to be able to list my investment properties without the fear of losing 5% on real estate commissions.

Also, it's going to give me a better opporunity to get better information for people when they are looking at homes. If there has been one thing that I really like about real estate, it is that I gather information to help make a decision. How long has it been listed? What does a place like this rent for? What are the costs of renovations? Is it a bargain? Is it overvalued? What's the expectation for this area in terms of property values? Can I afford it? Where should I buy?

Chad meets Exit Realty on Monday.

Blackburn tournament

Exit Realty finished the weekend with a 3-2 record. This meant a trip to the semi-finals in a game which we lost to the eventual victors, Mr. Electric.

Despite some really close games on the weekend, the game between Mr. Electric and Exit Realty must have been the most dramatic. Keanu Reeves could not have even provided for that much drama. In a close 1-0 game going into the bottom of the 7th, Mr. Electric scored the tying run with only one out remaining. To them, it would be like picking up a hot chick at closing, nearly impossible, but an amazing finish.

Exit Realty opened the scoring in the 4th inning. While pitching a perfect game until that point, Nick Bowmann walked the first batter of the inning (me). I advanced on a beautiful sacrifice bunt by Terry Jones. I later scored on a ground ball that went through the infield.

Will Lowe, Exit's pitcher, was pitching an equal gem of a game. After pitching 7 innings in the quarters, Will never looked tired in the semis. With two outs already in the 7th inning, Exit Realty looked poised to win the game. Unfortunately, the defence behind him got unlucky.

With Nick Bowmann running for Steve Walman, Shannon Borho hit a slow grounder towards emergency 2nd baseman, Will Mood. Mood, waiting for the grounder, positioned his body directly behind the ball, but the ball hit a divot and the game became tied as it rolled past him. Exit would get out of the inning without any further damage.

With international base running rule in effect for the 8th inning, Exit Realty was able to score Al Tomlinson from 2nd base. This was no easy task. Terry Jones mentioned that he was going to time Al's speed from 2nd to 3rd, but he didn't bring his calendar. Regardless, Wayne Hunter was able to single him in. Exit Realty, however, could not provide any more offence in the inning.

In the bottom half of the inning, Mr. Electric didn't waste any time. On an attempted sacrifice bunt, the runner was able to make it to first before the throw. The runner from 2nd made it safely to third as well. Exit Realty was in a big hole. Will Lowe could not stop the bleeding and Mr. Electric would eventually score 2 in the inning on some clutch hits. They got advance to the finals.

It was a great game for the fans to watch. There was some classic small ball, and Mr. Electric were deserving champions. They eventually beat the Good ol' Boys in another tight 3-2 game.

No-No for Will Lowe

Will Lowe (buck-rider, not A's pitcher)

Congrats on my teammate Will Lowe for throwing a no hitter last week. Will pitched for the Blues last week and threw up a doughnut against the Rogues. It's nice that he's sharp this early in the season. The trick will be to try to get him to do it when he's pitches for our team. Hopefully, the new jerseys will pump him up.

Johnny B. Good for Good ol' Boys

Last Thursday, in their season opener, Exit Realty tied their first game of the season 8-8 against the Good Ol' Boys. Exit was solid at the plate as demonstrated by their 8 runs, but ultimately could not prevent GOB from doing the same.

After taking an early lead, Exit was up 8-5 going into the bottom of the 7th. With a comfortable lead for their ace pitcher, Will Lowe, Exit looked like it was going to start the season strong. Unfortunately, Lowe struggled a little bit by given up a couple of base runners. He seemed to have regained his composure after he went up 2 strikes against the always dangerous John Tremblay. Unfortunately, Lowe missed his spot and gave up a solid shot to right-centre field. The ball was hit high and seemed to have just carried beyond the reach of centre-fielder Chad Featherstone. Tremblay had just hit a game-tying 3 run homerun.

Fortunately, Exit avoided complete collapse and managed to shut down the GOB's in the rest of the inning. Team Captain, Terry Jones, seemed particularly upset about the game. "We had that one!", exclaimed Jones. "We're ahead of where we were last year" retorted a positive Will Mood. "We lost our opener against these guys last year".

Exit Realty looks to rebound on Thursday night against the regular season champions, the Knights. Although many of the Knights and members of Exit Realty get along very well off the field, be prepared for a war on the field as the competitiveness between these players is very high. The Knights will be looking forward to avenging their loss in the finals of the BMFL playoffs to the A's.

A's gone, Exit in

It looks like the A's will be no longer. After many years of going under the Wally's A's moniker, the team has benefitted from some tremendous generosity from their 2nd baseman, Albert "AJ" Plant. AJ is the broker of record of Exit Realty. With a strength in the east-end of Ottawa, Exit provides a full range of brokerage services.

The A's were overdue for some new wear. With different players having different green jerseys from over the years, there were some players that had no jersey at all. As defending champs, it will be great to look like defending champions, or, at least, a team.

The jerseys were not available for the first game as there has been some "delays" in the procurement process. (ie. AJ didn't know when the season started). Hopefully, Exit will be able to show their new stuff within the next couple of weeks.