Jul 18
About Jane
Simply put, I dig real estate.
My credentials: I worked in the field professionally for most of my life, starting as a marketing assistant before becoming an agent, then moving on to be a broker and a real estate investor, along the way learning a lot about marketing, staging, selling.
Towards the end of my career, I discovered the virtues of FSBO (for sale by owner) real estate. It’s good for sellers: they save money, they keep control over the process, they don’t waste time. It’s good for buyers: they save money, they don’t have to deal with a middle man, they don’t waste time. I realized this was something I really believed in and that I wanted to tell the world about.
I’ve made mistakes, and I’ve made money. At the end of the day, I came out ahead. I’d like to help you do the same.
Catch up with some of my favorite posts here. Find me on Digg or StumbleUpon
or at 
September 29th, 2007 at 3:10 pm
Buddy and Daisy are my faves!
November 27th, 2007 at 10:29 pm
Hey Jane~ Found your website! Tons of great information here– very nice
I’ll head back over in a couple of days for some serious browsing.
November 28th, 2007 at 6:28 pm
Connie: Thanks for visiting! I was excited to find your site, too.
December 17th, 2007 at 7:47 pm
Great blog Jane. I am a Toronto area mortgage professional, and I’m going to start a FSBO franchise. Contact me if you will, with your coordinates, as I’d like to know what it would cost to have you consult during the launch. Thanks!
September 11th, 2008 at 12:04 am
I have also become a FSBO fanatic lately, after selling my house myself and saved thousands of dollars. I am currently helping out my neighbours to do so. I have also started a new FSBO blog. I am so glad that I find someone with the same passion like you.
December 1st, 2008 at 7:14 pm
[...] About Jane [...]
May 19th, 2009 at 5:33 pm
Jane, some great thoughts here. The “Reasons You SHOULD use a Realtor” post was especially amusing.
I wanted to bring SmithAdams (http://www.smithadams.com) to your attention. SmithAdams is a fee-for-service brokerage firm, licensed in Virginia, Maryland, and the District of Columbia. I think we provide a happy middle ground between traditional brokerage and FSBO. I absolutely agree that consumers are capable of doing a lot of the work traditionally done by agents, in particular when it comes to marketing their own home and especially due to the plethora of online resources available now (and used by homebuyers). That being said, I believe that the area where real estate professionals can add the most value is assisting consumers during negotiations and advising them what is fair/normal/reasonable/unreasonable/questionable. Further, if a consumer does want some professional assistance in marketing his/her property, he/she should be able to get that help.
Here’s the key: you should pay for this advice/help BY THE HOUR or some equivalent — not by a commission. Not only should you only pay for the amount of service you receive, but this also helps to clear up the conflict of interest issues. This is the core of the SmithAdams fee-for-service model. Final advantage I’ll mention — our clients’ properties are listed in MLS, greatly expanding the exposure (though I always mention flat-fee MLS services as an alternative for FSBO sellers).
I hope that is useful, and I look forward to further dialogue. If you’re so inclined, check out my blog at http://blog.smithadams.com sometime. Keep up the great work!