Top 5 stories of 2007

The top 5 stories on this blog from the past year -

Zillow steps it up - Zillow is just “hot”
What I want in a real estate website - It worked; now I have most of what I was looking for.
Google and Zillow - both are changing the real estate industry with their innovation.
A sign of the times - the changing market brings out silly offerings. Since this story, I have seen much sillier offers - a Mercedes, a 7-day Caribbean vacation, more big televisions …
Rent -v- Buy - hopefully candor is recognized and appreciated. (and remembered)

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December 31, 2006 | Filed Under sideblog | Leave a Comment 

Transportation in Virginia

If you live in or use the roads of Virginia and you’re not paying attention to the potential remedies, or lack thereof, you need to be.

To get you started:

Republitarian
Bacon’s Rebellion (and here)
Raising Kaine
Charlottesville Tomorrow (and here)

What would our area look like if the localities had to pay for subdivision roads? Who will bear the brunt? (Property owners!) Why no more interest in a broad-based or use tax such as a gas tax or tolls? Those who are our elected representatives need to do what they have volunteered to do - represent the best interests of their constituents. That 2007 is an election year and many will be pandering for re-elections is a shame.

Why not light rail or some other form of transit? Why is it always about roads? We have a responsibility to look to the future. Otherwise, we will look back twenty or thirty years from now and curse our predecessors (and ourselves) for our irresponsibility and lack of vision.

A few bills regarding impact fees - Rep. Marshall has been busy -

HB1666, HB1667, HB1669, HB1670, HB1671, HB1724 , HB1745, HJ588 (Constitutional Amendment)

Update: Rule #1 - Listen to your readers.

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December 29, 2006 | Filed Under Albemarle, Charlottesville, General Real Estate, Growth, Politics, Transportation | 8 Comments 

If the taxes are local …

… shouldn’t the localities decide how to tax themselves?

Bah.

Requires each locality to lower its real estate tax rate for the forthcoming tax year, to produce no more than 101 percent of the previous year’s real property tax levies when any annual assessment, biennial assessment or general reassessment of real property by the locality would result in an increase of 1 percent or more in the total real property tax levied. The locality may increase the rate above the reduced rate after a public hearing held no sooner than 30 days after the rate reduction.

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December 29, 2006 | Filed Under sideblog | Leave a Comment 

2007 Goals

If I don’t write them down, it’s almost like I don’t make them …

- Relish fear and failure. I have experienced failure several times recently. One of these was in competing for a listing, another agent won (it was for a 35% referral fee, so it wasn’t that great of a loss, but …). From both failures, I learned something, and there is the value in failing.

- Work to systematize my business.

- Dramatically change something about how I work. Maybe implement Daylite. Maybe change companies.

- Grow my business by 15%.

- Fix my Archives page.

- Start working in the $500k+ price range.

- Write every day. Learn something new every day. Establish new business relationships/friendships and maintain existing ones.

- Bring passion, dedication and desire to the table each and every day.

- Say “No” more often. Between the local, state and national committees and Boards on which I serve, time to actually sell real estate is often scarce.

- Spend as much time as possible with my family and work every day on my marriage.

Next up … my predictions for 2007.

Update: This post is part of the 2006 Real estate goals group writing project.

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December 29, 2006 | Filed Under About Jim, General Real Estate, Technology | 6 Comments 

Tracking the market too closely?

One of the problems with the housing market is the constant tracking of the housing market. The market has never been an immediately-liquid investment, and it ought not be treated as such. How many of you read every line of your quarterly IRA or 401(k) statements? Hopefully not, because those are intended to be long-term investments. So is housing.

The market is a bit like the axiom - “a watched pot never boils.”  We won’t know how the market is doing today until we look back from a six- to nine-month removed perspective.  We can gain insight by looking at the numbers - interest rates, 10 year Treasury notes, pending sales, recent solds … but to get an accurate understanding, we have to look in the rear-view mirror.

Most of the analysis is cogent, articulate and informative, but. Do we really need to track the market on a daily, if not seemingly hourly basis? Many contracts were written three, four, six months ago. In reality, when analyzing the housing market, one is analyzing the past and attempting to project the future.

Housing should be, except in rare instances, a three to five year decision. We have lost sight of that over the past several years. The media has played a very large part of that, but so have the buyers and sellers. Let’s take a breath, step back a bit, read the apocalyptical and rosy projections and determine that reality is probably somewhere in between.

Related reading:

The Big Picture
Seeking Alpha
Calculated Risk

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December 29, 2006 | Filed Under Buyers, General Real Estate, Market statistics, Sellers | 1 Comment 

Hiatus almost over

Batteries are almost recharged, planning is nearing completion, and most importantly - I spent two nearly uninterrupted days with my family, something I haven’t done in nearly a year.

The Charlottesville area market seems to be balancing out, and a bit of analysis is in the offing. Stay tuned.

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December 28, 2006 | Filed Under sideblog | Leave a Comment 

Post-Christmas Links 12-28-2006

Housing Market at its worst since 1997. But it’s been better than 1997 since then. See - there is a positive spin everywhere! :)
Mortgage Rates may move like Elaine Benes.

Darned consequences for one’s actions. How dare students and faculty have to be - gasp - honorable?

Greedy local governments starting to pay price. Get ready - as local governments’ golden goose becomes more lean, localities will (in my opinion) once again turn to increasing the burden on property owners. Either way, more state oversight is not the answer.

Why is my $%@#! Cable Bill so High?

Comcast’s DVR apparently sucks, too.

An early end to the housing slump? Let’s be patient …

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December 28, 2006 | Filed Under General Real Estate, Politics | Leave a Comment 

Friday links 12-22-2006

An example of mortgage fraud?

Staging Q & A - staging/preparing one’s house is becoming more and more important in this market.

Fun with conservation

My new favorite local radio station

Mainstreaming of solar

This guy says that the real estate market in 2007 will be good (video). That CNBC is FINALLY offering video is fantastic.

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December 22, 2006 | Filed Under General Real Estate, Green, Marketing | Leave a Comment 

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