Monthly Archives: June 2011
Bundoran Farm Foreclosed on, Continuing On
Bundoran Farm, having been foreclosed on by Wells Fargo, looks to continue on as a preservation development. Hopefully. Continue reading
Buying Local – The Race to Homogeneity
Think about this the next time you shop at a chain.
One by one, store by store, the chains expand, earning a few more dollars a share and further insulating themselves from the communities they used to serve. No, my neighbors and I don’t need another drugstore, we have plenty. That’s not going to change Walgreen’s mind, and it’s not going to help Jimmy and his team, either. My heart goes out to them. Thanks for everything you did for our community, guys.
Admittedly, many of the chains are locally-owned; but they aren’t as locally-owned as true locally-owned stores. Think Mudhouse and Starbucks. CVS and Parkway Pharmacy in Crozet. The Markets and 7-11. Harris Teeter and Great Valu in Crozet.
In a related story, the developers at Stonefield are finding that their stores may be welcome but their architecture is not. Continue reading
Knowing This, Would you Trust Zillow?
It’s been a while since I’ve taken an in-depth look at Zillow; generally I tell my clients that it’s good for content but not actual good, conclusive, base-any-real-decisions-on-what-it-says.
If you’ve been using Zillow’s zestimates and trends to understand the market, not only are you finding that you were misinformed, but now you really don’t know how misinformed you were (or are).
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Reason #137 to Love Living in Charlottesville
The alternate title to this post was “Priorities.” The hard part about living in Charlottesville is making time to take advantage of opportunities. 
I could have been showing houses, or writing, or emailing clients. 
Instead, I made a memory with my daughter.
Sustainability Matters
I was humbled to participate in the panel with real business leaders John Lawrence of Mudhouse Coffee and Crystal Mario of Rivanna Natural Designs yesterday. John and Crystal are setting standards for what and how profitable green/sustainability can be done successfully. Continue reading
Want to Know Why Buyers Target Western Albemarle?
Seeing Green and Talking Green – Charlottesville Workshop Tomorrow
I have long said that a very small percentage of the (American) populace will make green decisions – conservation of resources, smarter use of resources, building green, etc. – because it saves green not solely for altruistic reasons.
With that preface, come to the Seeing Green: Savvy Solutions for your Business and Your Community workshop tomorrow at City Space (press release after the jump); I’ll be on the panel – “Been There, done that, have the results to prove it!” at 10:45 discussing some of the ways that I and Nest Realty have chosen to go green for green reasons as much as economic reasons.
The ways that I and we have “gone green” is surprisingly long … I’m looking forward to discussing them tomorrow as well as hearing feedback on which ones are applicable beyond real estate. Continue reading
5 Questions to Help Determine if it’s Better to Buy or Rent in Charlottesville?
Is it better to buy or rent in Charlottesville? It depends on what your goals are. Answer these questions first:
- How long are you planning to be in the Charlottesville area?
- Are you qualified?
- What are your life plans? (do you have kids? Plan to? Will you grow out of the space in under four years?)
