From the Nest Realty Group blog : I was speaking with a client just the other day who said he was excited to move to Charlottesville because he noticed the wide variety of local restaurants and saw that as a sign that Charlottesvillians supported their local businesses. He said that his current town (which will remain unnamed) is chock-full of chain restaurants and there isn’t much of a local restaurant scene. … Check out the ‘ Charlottesville Scout Promise ‘, which includes this: My goal is to promote local business and help to maintain Charlottesville as a unique and interesting place to live. … So grab a cup of coffee from Mudhouse , a doughnut from Spudnuts and we’ll see you at the City Market this Saturday at 9….
Posts Published by Jim Duncan
Friday Charts – March 2010 Home Sales
I suspect that the number of home sales in the Charlottesville MSA will show a slight increase as Charlottesville Realtors update their closings over the next couple days. In the meantime, it seems that sales may be on track with last year. Maybe. The First Quarter Charlottesville area market report is going to be very interesting. [altos_flash_chart st=”VA” cid=”1978951″ zid=”2878485″ rt=”sf” ra=”a,c” q=”t,b” right=”median_inventory” left=”mean_dom” mini=”mean_age” width=”450″ height=”500″ /]
Charlottesville Short Sales and Buyer Agents’ Responsibilities – Part 2
Fourth – Prepare our buyer clients for what they may run into. (more to come on this) What’s a Charlottesville buyer to do in this market with more and more short sales? – Be patient. – Be aware that there are some things that neither you nor your agent can control . – Be informed . – Be qualified.
…Maintain confidentiality of all personal and financial information received from the client during the brokerage relationship and any other information that the client requests during the brokerage relationship be maintained confidential, unless otherwise provided by law or the seller consents in writing to the release of such information;
…The second section is a protection for the Buyer, should the Seller find out in the course of the transaction that they cannot pay off all indebtedness and need to revert to a Short Sale transaction. Much like how good Charlottesville Buyers’ Agents should be researching a property’s true continuous days on market (quote from a client regarding Days on Market, “The MLS lies” 🙂 ) [ Realtors gaming the MLS ] – Buyers’ Agents should be doing extreme due diligence.
The Most Succinct Example of Charlottesville Real Estate Market’s Meteoric Up and Down
February 2005 : Asking Price – $345,000 Selling Price – $345,000 Days on Market – 119 April 2007 : Asking Price – $399,000 Selling Price – $399,000 Days on Market – 13 March 2010 : Initial Asking Price – $366,000 Current Selling Price – $299,999 Days on Market – 76 Now in a short sale It’s a very interesting house. If you’re interested, ask me . 🙂
Charlottesville Short Sales and Listing Agents’ Responsibilities – Part 1
If I were a buyer and saw potential short sale/foreclosure, I would probably move on to some other property given the amount of time I hear it takes to complete a short sale. … The Charlottesville MLS now has a required field from which Realtors much choose one of the following when inputting a listing: – Standard – Lender Owned – Short Sale (of 2323 active listings, 53 are noted as being short sales … this seems ridiculously low ) Short sales take longer – in everything, they take longer . … Let prices fall until the goods find a buyer. The question in the first paragraph was posted on a conversation at the Charlottesville Bubble Blog , and it is very pertinent question, particularly as short sales are becoming more and more a part of the Charlottesville* real estate market.
…Buyer Agents would be wise to put language in the contract that ensures the Buyer’s contingencies (such as home inspections) do not begin until approval from the Lender to proceed at the current price.
Not Much Building in Fluvanna County
Courtesy of the Free Enterprise Forum blog : Fluvanna officials recently released the annual Development Activity Report, which covers 2009. It highlights, in this case, the lack of development activity in Fluvanna over the past year. For example, residential building permits declined another 5 percent last year to 112, continuing the downward trend that began in 2001. … One final, and telling, statistic from the report: the average new home price in 2009 was just $160,118, twenty-eight percent below the average price in 2007. adf
Housing Sales Down in Charlottesville and Albemarle – February 2010
I know this – independent of me, a new client came to me last week and said, (paraphrasing here) – “I think that right now in Charlottesville/Albemarle, there is a unique and perhaps once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to buy a home for my family.”
…We know this: Charlottesville and Albemarle home sales in February: 64 homes sold in 2010 79 homes sold in 2009 72 homes sold in 2008 105 homes sold in 2007 141 homes sold in 2006 124 homes sold in 2005 108 homes sold in 2004 Homes under contract – first 23 days of March … …
…I know this – independent of me, a new client came to me last week and said, (paraphrasing here) – “I think that right now in Charlottesville/Albemarle, there is a unique and perhaps once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to buy a home for my family.” … From today’s Wall Street Journal : For those trying to figure out how much further U.S. house prices could fall, it would help to know how many more foreclosed homes banks need to sell.