Question from a reader regarding Charlottesville area foreclosures
“I would be interested to read about houses in trouble in Charlottesville area. Where can I find info about foreclosures, auctions, houses with late payments and so on. Are there a real estate agents specializing on this? Our agent didn’t show much interest in this kind of properties and I didn’t ask him if it is because there are not many on the market currently or he is just not strong in that area.”
First, thank you for the email, for reading my blog and for giving me a story!
Foreclosures in Charlottesville are difficult to find. There is no one place unfortunately that shows all of the foreclosures that are out there.
These are some great sites out there, but no one comprehensive source of all the foreclosures in the Charlottesville area (or any area that I know of).
For example -
Hotpads shows that there aren’t many foreclosures at all (but zoom out a bit for some perspective!)-
This is a story about area foreclosures with great comments from February.
*While this post bears some similarities to Joel’s post about foreclosures, I received the email on Tuesday morning, before I saw his story. And, foreclosures are quite the hot topic.
If you’re looking for the most accurate, up-to-date information on foreclosures in the Charlottesville area, I personally use the HooK’s site; I’ll bet they would get good traffic if they devoted a page to foreclosures and the link stayed the same every week - thehook.com/foreclosures … just an (selfish) idea. For example, here are the foreclosures from this week’s HooK.
For some perspective - realize that it’s really not that bad.
If I’d published this post when I originally wrote it, I would have beaten this post at the WSJ. 
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It’s our money, darn it!
I certainly don’t intend to be partisan. But … government should have to defend adequately how they spend our money. The following editorial is from the local “Albemarle Truth in Taxation Alliance.” * If the people don’t speak out on 2 April at 6pm at the County Office Building, or by contacting your representatives, don’t complain.
“It’s only a “pizza and beer a month,”to paraphrase one member of the Board of Supervisors reaction to last year’s failure to raise taxes to their original proposal of 30% (they were raised “only” 19.5%). The difference equates to $15 per month or $180 per year. Doesn’t sound like much does it? We’ll get back to that later.
That statement ignores that a property valued at $300,000 in 2007 already paid an increased tax bill of $332 / year from the supervisors ‘ 19.5% tax increase. So let’s be clear, there was no tax cut. Further, because state law requires that the rate be lowered to produce an equal amount of tax revenues (plus 1%), there was no “rate cut” either.
To suggest there was a rate cut is to ignore state law.
Had this additional “pizza and beer” increase gone through, that property owner would have received a $512 per year increase! This is more than chump change. Do you really think that if that additional $180 increase had gone through in 2007, there would have be en no request for increased funding in FY ‘08/’09? Unlikely-we’d see the same hand-wringing about the budget.
Back to “pizza and a beer.”
One man’s pizza and beer is another family’s six (or more) doctor visit co-pays. (ed. note: bolding mine)
Or another person’s two dental check ups, because some folks don’t have dental insurance. Or it might be a couple of grocery bills for a family of four, who don’t generally get a chance to go out for pizza very often. Or for many retirees it’s two months of Part B Medicare payments. $15 per month may not be much, but to some it pinches.
Demeaning the tax increase by suggesting it’s merely a”pizza and beer” per month is like TV commercials that hawk elder life insurance policies by suggesting that it only costs 50 cents a day! That’s still $180 per year! Whenever a marketer uses “per month” or “per day” cost, watch out; there is something you should be paying attention to, most likely your wallet.
Paying taxes is a citizen’s duty and responsibility. No right-thinking pers on can argue otherwise. However, it is also the county’s duty and responsibility to spend our tax dollars as effectively and efficiently as possible. We need to focus first on how we are spending current revenue before considering any increase in taxes, “pizza and beer” increases included.”"
I’d like to link to a Daily Progress article from the last time assessments were done in Albemarle County, but apparently they’ve never written about David Slutzky (but they’re working on it).
* the “Alliance” is an arm/derivative of the local Republican Party; while I don’t subscribe to strict partisan efforts, I think that in this case, they have a point worth sharing.
More on Albemarle County assessments at a previous post.
Technorati Tags: albemarle, taxes
Green building in Charlottesville is about to (hopefully) take a major step forward
They are setting a lofty goal and vision that should set the standard for new developments in the Charlottesville region. Yesterday I had attended a presentation given by the developers of the new Belvedere development and the builders - Hauser Homes and Church Hill Homes.
The approval is for up to 775 units. They have the vision - “Enhance lives by creating great places to live and work.” They are using the right buzzwords - “stewardship” “LEED” “sustainable.” They will have an organic farm run by a local organic farmer (and current candidate for Albemarle’s BoS). They’re saying the right things - “green space within 250 feet of every front door.” Healthy skepticism and cynicism dictates that judgement be reserved for a couple of years … but they are certainly on the right track (in spite of the recent negative press).
A few notes and thoughts on yesterday’s presentation for Realtors:
- None of the floorplans (not yet online) are more than 3,000 square feet. This is a huge accomplishment for the developers - recognizing that buyers want smaller, smarter and high quality space is surprisingly innovative for such a large development.
- Realtors who are representing buyers will have to be more educated on this development than they would have to be on other developments - there is just more “to it.” As such, Agency disclosures will be even more crucial. And … the process seems to be so integrated that finding room for buyer representation will be challenging. My fear is that buyers will think that they don’t need buyer representation. For an example of a “worst-case scenario” - read this (and no, I am not implying that this will be the case here).
- There will be a soccer facility there - immediately bringing in the “beating heart” of the community.
Chris Schooley’s comment in May seems to be a reality. They will be building 800-1200 square foot cottages in the development.
While the current data don’t clearly demonstrate this trend locally:
In 2004, 52% of homes sold in Charlottesville/Albemarle were less than 2000 square feet finished and in 2007, the percentage was 56%.
In 2004, 27% of homes sold in Charlottesville/Albemarle were more than 2500 square feet, compared with 25% in 2007.
The trend is there and will grow.
Bacon’s Rebellion has a post today about Belvedere as well as a more in-depth story that points out a major hole in the development:
The project will not include a grocery store. That hole in the retail offering will generate thousands of off-site trips every month, adding to congestion, gasoline consumption and pollution.
So close to perfect …
The vision is admirable and was lamentably lacking in the past five to seven years. Lauding a visionary goal is one thing; lauding implementation of said vision will come later. If they can pull it off, they will provide the best model (yet) for new developments in the region.
(Tonight I am attending an “Exclusive Information Session” for interested buyers on behalf of out-of-town clients. Whether there is any difference between their message to Realtors and their message to the public remains to be seen. More tomorrow.
Update 18 October 2007: The presentation was the same, but the questions from the audience were new.
- There is a persistent them that the development will be “family friendly.”
- Concerns about the soccer facility came to light - there will be traffic to and from the fields and this likely will be a concern for some, although the benefits far outweigh the negatives.
- Streets will be narrow to encourage slower traffic and more walking - “activating the street” as they say.
- The buzz around this facility is unique. At no time did anybody speak of agency or representation. Who they select to market the development will be interesting, for many reasons. More on this in a later post.
Technorati Tags: albemarle, belvedere, charlalbemarle, charlottesville, green, real estate
Real estate Sunday in the Daily Progress - a deeper look at the housing numbers
The DP, Charlottesville’s biggest daily newspaper, has quite the real estate focus today:
Prices put dream of homeownership out of reach
Flight from high prices costs in road woes
High housing prices hit city in rankings
Housing boom benefits but wages still lag
(All stories on one page)
A point of clarification and expansion referencing this (I don’t know why I am taking on the ombudsman role today):
In response to the affordable housing issue, Phillips said, the real estate industry has built more moderately priced condominiums and town-houses. There are 633 active listings for attached homes, which is higher than usual, he said.
In the entire MLS, there are 638 condos or attached properties actively on the market. Albemarle, Charlottesville, Fluvanna and Greene, there are 476 condos or attached properties active on the market, 329 of which are priced under $300k, 151 are under $200k and 38 are under $150k.
Breaking the numbers down a step further to what I believe is a reasonable requirement for many, if not most:
Of all attached/condo properties on the market, with at least three bedrooms:
Under $150k: 0
Under $200k: 1
Under $250k: 2
Under $300k: 6
Another clarification:
The region’s homes-for-sale inventory is also increasing, giving buyers more choices and slightly lower prices. There are currently 3,443 active listings in the region, representing a three-fold increase over three years ago.
In Charlottesville, Albemarle, Fluvanna, Greene and Nelson, there are actually 2,581 properties on the market. I noted inventory levels two days ago, as well as on 31 May.
*Source of data: CAAR (the data was a bit iffy today for some reason)
Technorati Tags: affordable housing, albemarle, charlalbemarle, charlottesville, real estate
17 is better than 1
“Being No. 1 is not all it’s cracked up to be. Charlottesville, Va., hit the top spot in the 2004 rankings, but slipped to No. 17 this year. Why? The median house price jumped from $177,000 to $345,000, and the cost of living more than doubled, to the highest in the state, the book says.
What does Charlottesville think of the drop?
“Good!” said Kathy Uriss, the director of information services for the Charlottesville Regional Chamber of Commerce.
Of course, she appreciated all the people who mentioned the No. 1 ranking when they called for relocation packages — especially those looking for places to retire. The president of the chamber was so proud, Ms. Uriss said, that she had bumper stickers made up that proclaimed, “We’re the No. 1 City in America.”
“We were proud and honored, but maybe things will come back to the ground,” Ms. Uriss said. “As housing prices have gotten out of hand, we’ve certainly seen a curtailing in the number of calls we’re getting.””
For better or worse, the Central Virginia region is a destination for many people and as many reasons - retirement, job relocation, school, grad school, med school … because they have read online about what a great place Charlottesville is to live … The Charlottesville area is a great place to live. Just do your due diligence first. (you can start here)
Update 05/07/2007: From the Daily Progress (demonstrating how much one should trust these rankings)
“Cville is tops no longer, although it didn’t fall far from its perch,” the authors wrote. “Aside from the negatives, we still see an attractive, intellectually stimulating, and prosperous city with a handle on its growth issues (which have driven up prices as supply has lagged demand).”
Technorati Tags: albemarle, charlalbemarle, charlottesville, real estate
Central Virginia development moves on
Biscuit Run, the proposed development to the south of the City has been revised downwards from a proposed 5,000 homes to 3,500 homes. The traffic study work session next month should be interesting.
As always, Cvilletomorrow has much more information as well as a podcast of the planning commission’s meeting.
Wal-mart is finally coming to Greene County! If only NBC29 will stop with the bringing “green” to Greene lines. Hardy-har-har. So clever. There has been much discussion locally about the merits of Wal-mart, but I do know that my clients in Greene will welcome this addition to their community. Soon they won’t have to go to Culpeper or CharlAlbemarle,
Yesterday at an open house for a new development, I was interested to see that their solution, as approved by the County, to the affordable housing situation is to provide affordable “accessory apartments. (pdf)” At least it’s something. More at the County’s website.
Fluvanna’s clustering is moving forward and Daniel has his thoughts on the newest Fluvanna development.
Piedmont Environmental Council’s new report says that we have enough housing in the pipeline. (pdf)
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again - studies that consider only Charlottesvile/Albemarle or Fluvanna or Greene are too myopic for today’s settlement and travel patterns. We need to look at development and its benefits and impacts from at least a regional point of view.
Housing inventory is up, but development plugs on, and for many, that’s a good thing. The various development industries add so much to our local economy that many don’t realize. Managed appropriately, growth can be good. Might as well attempt manage it, because it seems it’s going to happen anyway.
Tracking all of these things is almost a full-time job!
Technorati Tags: albemarle, charlalbemarle, crozet, fluvanna, greene, real estate
Reasons why this market is better
1) Less pressure on buyers.
2) Buyers have time to consider spending a quarter of a million dollars. (and more and less)
3) Less greed.
4) Patience can be rewarded.
5) The madness has subsided.
Technorati Tags: real estate, realtor
Ah, Leadership
I thought about this when I read it, but Mayor Brown puts it most succinctly:
And the irony that this luncheon was held in Glenmore - an affluent, gated community - must have been obvious to everyone present.
“Lots of poor kids are smart and need enrichment opportunities,” Ralston told the chamber’s annual Community Government Luncheon at Glenmore Country Club. Parents living in poverty “want the best for their kids but they don’t have the resources and they don’t have the opportunities,” she said.
WINA and WCAV report as well. Hat tip to Waldo.
Might as well lead from the top.
Technorati Tags: affordable housing
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