John King Realtor

09/05/2026

🌊 Here's something most people don't realize about luxury waterfront homes: they're sold completely differently than a standard listing, to different buyers, through different channels, with a different playbook entirely.

Here's what actually moves a luxury waterfront property. 👇

🌍 The buyer pool is small, and often not local. A seven figure waterfront home might have only a few dozen serious buyers, and many live out of state or overseas. Reaching them takes two things working together: global reach and precise targeting.

The global reach comes through the Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Luxury Collection, syndicating qualifying homes to 70+ international portals across dozens of countries. 🌐 The precise targeting comes from my strategic digital marketing system, algorithmic ad campaigns across Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube that put a home in front of thousands of specifically targeted buyers every week. Because today's buyers discover homes online first, online is the first showing, and that system is built to win it. 📱

🚁 The water is the whole asset, so the marketing has to capture it. For upscale homes, drone photography and video aren't extras. Paired with targeted digital campaigns, that aerial footage goes straight to the buyers most likely to respond to it.

🎯 Pricing takes judgment, not a formula. A one of a kind waterfront home can't be priced off the house next door, its value lives in what makes it rare.

Global reach, aerial media, precise targeting, and accurate pricing. That's what turns a beautiful waterfront home into a strong sale.

Thinking about selling a waterfront or luxury home in Hampton Roads? Let's talk about how to position it for the right buyer, wherever they are. 👇

Full Service Real Estate Agent
John King | Navy Veteran
Berkshire Hathaway RW Towne Realty
📱 757-270-3994

09/04/2026

🏡 NEW LISTING in Norfolk! Welcome to 8591 Margaret Avenue, a charming all brick mid century home in the Bayview Park area, listed at $369,000. 🌿

This one is full of character and hard to find. Here's what makes it special: 👇

🪵 Original hardwood floors, gorgeous oak downstairs and warm pine upstairs, for a cozy, cabin like feel
🛏️ 5 bedrooms and 2 full baths across ~2,201 sq ft, including a first floor bedroom and full bath
☀️ A bright sunroom, formal dining, office space, and two fireplaces
❄️ Efficient mini split heating and cooling with radiator backup
🌳 A large, serene backyard framed by mature pine and magnolia trees
🛶 Access to a finger of the creek, perfect for kayaking, paddleboarding, canoeing, and fishing Norfolk's marshes
🔨 An all brick detached workshop plus a storage shed, great for hobbies and projects

And the location is hard to beat, on a quiet street minutes from Wards Corner, Ocean View, and both Naval Station Norfolk and JEB Little Creek. ⚓ A perfect fit for anyone who loves the water and wants an easy commute to base.

📞 Want to see it in person? Call or text John directly at 757-270-3994 to schedule a private showing. (24 hour notice appreciated.)

Top Real Estate Agent in Norfolk
John King | Navy Veteran
Berkshire Hathaway RW Towne Realty
📱 757-270-3994

09/04/2026

09/03/2026

🏖️ After selling 50+ homes in the East Ocean View and East Beach area, here's something a some people don't realize: this isn't one market. It's several.

East Ocean View and East Beach make up a whole section of Norfolk's bayfront, spanning multiple neighborhoods. On the same block, you'll find brand new construction, a renovated cottage, and a bayfront home with water views, and those three homes don't sell to the same buyer. 🌊

Here's who's actually shopping this area:

🏗️ New construction and beach lifestyle buyers, drawn by the area's transformation
⚓ Military and relocating families, here for the short, tunnel free commute to JEB Little Creek and Naval Station Norfolk (many buying remotely, on orders)
🛥️ Luxury buyers, looking specifically for bayfront and creek side homes with docks and views

Each one responds to different marketing and a different story. And here's the big one: a bayfront home, a creek side home with a dock, and an interior home a few blocks back are completely different products. Pricing them the same way is the most common and costly mistake I see. 🎯

Priced and marketed right, homes here move fast. Two of my recent East Ocean View sales closed in 9 days and 5 days. That's not luck, it's the right price, the right marketing, and reaching the right buyer.

Thinking about selling in East Ocean View or East Beach? Let's talk about what your home is really worth. 👇

Full Serviice Real Estate Agent
John King | Navy Veteran
Berkshire Hathaway RW Towne Realty
📱 757-270-3994

09/02/2026

😳 Your home didn't lose to a better house. It lost to a better FEELING. Here's why buyers walk away — and sellers never see it coming. 👇

Sellers are always surprised when this happens. 🤷

A buyer tours the home. Seems interested. Then… nothing. No offer. No callback. Gone. 👻

Here's what actually happened:

They weren't just looking at YOUR home. They were comparing it to 5, 10, maybe 15 others in the same price range. And one of those homes felt:

✨ More maintained
💡 Brighter
🛋️ More inviting
📸 Better presented

That's the one they remembered. That's the one that got the offer.

It wasn't about square footage. It wasn't about the neighborhood. It came down to the small details the ones most sellers overlook because they've stopped noticing them. 👀

The good news? Most of these fixes are simple and inexpensive. You just need someone who knows what buyers are actually reacting to. 💯

💬 Thinking about selling? Let's make sure YOUR home is the one they remember.

Full Service Real Estate Agent
John King | Navy Veteran 🇺🇸
Berkshire Hathaway RW Towne Realty
📱 Call or text: 757-270-3994

09/01/2026

Story Night #4! "The Farmer on the bucket"

When I was about fourteen or so, a farmer sat on a five-gallon bucket and changed my life.

My first real job was hired hand on a family farm in Kansas. I got it off a school bus ride a friend was getting a new job, and handed me the farmer's phone number.

In the interview I told Karl the truth: I didn't have much experience.

I may have oversold my stick-shift skills.

Day one, he pointed at a green 1966 Chevy pickup—the truck they'd bought brand new...and said: finish filling it with diesel, start it up, and come pick me up over at the shop.

I killed that truck five or six times just getting it moving. Couldn't see out the back past the fuel tanks. Only had one mirror.

He could have fired me on the spot. I was sure he would.

Instead, a few weeks later, he put me in the biggest tractor I'd ever seen pulling a thirty-foot disc and sat down on a five-gallon bucket in the corner of the cab.

My hands shook the whole way.

I botched every turn. Too fast, too slow, couldn't hold a line. At one point he told me flat out: "If you don't get this right, I'm gonna lose it on you."

But he didn't lose it. And he didn't leave.

He watched me fail, corrected me, and stayed on that bucket until I could do it.

By the end of that one summer, I could drive every stick shift on that farm and work a field like I belonged there.

Karl passed a few years back.

But I think about him every time I sit with somebody doing something for the first time, first house, first sale, first big scary decisions and moments.

Everybody kills the truck on day one.

What matters is whether somebody's willing to sit on the bucket while you learn.

Karl, this one's for you.

Tag the person who sat on the bucket for you. Let them see it. 🚜

09/01/2026

Buyers aren't analyzing your home. They're comparing it to 20 others and if the price feels off, they don't negotiate. They SKIP. 👇

Pricing a home isn't math. It's psychology. 🧠

Buyers don't look at one house at a time. They're comparing 5, 10, sometimes 20 homes all at once. And here's what most sellers don't realize:

❌ If your price falls outside what buyers perceive as fair value they don't call to negotiate.
❌ They don't lowball.
❌ They don't even schedule a showing.

They just scroll right past it. 📱

The right price ATTRACTS attention. 🧲
The wrong price REPELS it. 🚫

And every day your home sits overpriced, it gets staler, while the competition gets fresher.

This is why pricing isn't just "one of" the decisions a seller makes. It's THE decision. And getting it right from day one is the difference between multiple offers and crickets. 🦗

💬 Need help pricing your property right from the start? You know who to call.

I'll see you around town! 👋

Full Service Real Estate Agent
John King | Navy Veteran 🇺🇸
Berkshire Hathaway RW Towne Realty
📱 Call or text: 757-270-3994

09/01/2026

Not every home sale comes with a big bow on the front door. Life comes in all shapes, sizes, and seasons and sometimes a sale happens during a tough transition like a split.

When life moves fast or things get complicated, our focus is simple: take the burden off your shoulders. From handling remote paperwork to managing showings and negotiation, we make sure the process is smooth, fair, and seamless for everyone involved.

A huge thank you to our client for this awesome review and for trusting us to guide them through their East Ocean View sale!

Full Service Real Estate Agent
John King | Navy Veteran
Berkshire Hathaway RW Towne Realty
757-270-3994

08/31/2026

🏡 **HAMPTON ROADS MARKET UPDATE — AUGUST 31, 2026** 📊

Here’s your Hampton Roads real estate market update for the week. 👇

And this week, we actually saw some pretty positive movement. 📈

🏠 Total active inventory dropped from **4,776 homes to 4,704**, while new listings also fell from **565 to 527**.

🔥 But the biggest number I’m watching is pending sales.

We went from **370 homes going under contract last week to 429 this week**.

That’s almost a **16% increase in ONE WEEK.** 📈

And it wasn’t isolated to one part of the market.

Pending sales increased in **EVERY price range**:

🔹 Under $250,000: **64 ➡️ 83**

🔹 $250,000–$450,000: **205 ➡️ 236**

🔹 $450,000–$700,000: **79 ➡️ 89**

🔹 $700,000+: **29 ➡️ 30**

We also saw:

💰 Price reductions: **450 ➡️ 433**

🚪 Homes leaving the market unsold: **174 ➡️ 171**

🔑 Closings: **252 ➡️ 260**

⏰ Average days on market: **45 days**

📉 Interest rates: **Mid-6% range**

So what does all of this tell me? 🤔

After several weeks of inventory building and buyer activity slowing down, **buyers showed back up this week.** 👀

One week doesn’t make a trend, but when inventory drops, new listings slow down, pending sales jump almost **16%**, and every price bracket improves at the same time…

**That’s something worth paying attention to.** 📊

I’ll be watching next week to see if it continues. 🏡

08/31/2026

🏡 When a marriage is ending, most couples want one thing from the house: sell it, split it, and move on.

That is completely understandable, and a divorce sale can absolutely be run efficiently. But here is the honest part most people do not hear: a divorce home sale has a few more moving parts than an ordinary one, and the couples who sell the fastest are the ones who get ahead of them.

Here is what actually drives the timeline in Virginia:

⚖️ Agreement is everything. Virginia treats the marital home as jointly owned no matter whose name is on the title, so both spouses generally have to consent to list and sell. When both parties are aligned, the home sells at normal market speed. When they are not, everything slows down.

📝 Set the rules up front. The fastest sales settle the details early, ideally in writing, how the agent is chosen, how price reductions get approved, and how the proceeds are divided at closing.

🔑 Showings are the pressure point. When one spouse still lives in the home, cooperation on schedules and condition is what keeps offers strong.

💰 Know the proceeds rule. If the divorce is not final when the home sells, the proceeds are often held until the decree resolves the split, and the title company will usually want a copy of it before releasing funds.

The throughline is simple: speed comes from removing friction. That is exactly what a neutral agent is built to do, representing the sale itself rather than one spouse, keeping both parties equally informed, and coordinating the logistics so the process keeps moving.

This is general information, not legal or tax advice. Consult a Virginia family law attorney about your situation.

Full Service Real Estate Agent
John King | Navy Veteran
Berkshire Hathaway RW Towne Realty
757-270-3994