Huge thanks to the Charlottesville Podcasting Network for producing this podcast.

I was on Coy Barefoot’s Charlottesville-Right Now! last week and we briefly discussed the Charlottesville real estate market. I anticipated 20 minutes on air, prepped as if I would be on air for three hours, and got 7 minutes. It was fast.

Some of the topics we discussed:

- Foreclosures in Charlottesville’s MSA

- FHA’s increasing limits/guidelines (story coming later this week) and their impact on the real estate market, specifically first-time homebuyers.

- The homebuyer tax credit’s impending expiration – If you’re buying a home, you must have it under contract by 30 April 2010.

- How much time do buyers and sellers have before FHA and homebuyer tax credit hit the market? (not much)

Transcription is after the “fold”. I’ve bolded what I think are the most important parts.

—

Sean: This is an audio archive edition of WINA Charlottesville right now with Coy Barefoot, made available online by the Charlottesville podcasting network, www.cvillepodcast.com Jim Duncan is live in studio, local realtor and blogger. He is with the Nest Realty Company and joins us on occasion for a real estate update. We’ll just change gears here. I wanted you to hear that Gemini. I appreciate you waiting while I could do that because I wanted to share that press conference with people because folks haven’t have a chance yet to hear WINA has been playing extended clips but they haven’t had a chance to hear the entire thing from beginning to end and if we have time again today I’m going to play that again and it will be podcast www.wina.com and www.cvillepodcast.com.

Coy: Just horrible horrible news here isn’t it?

Duncan: Pretty much indescribable.

Coy: Yeah. It’s just tragic and gosh. Well let’s see if we can change gears and talk about the real estate market it we can, the very latest and when it’s going to get better. Are there any signs that all the people who are under water with their mortgages are going to – you’re making a face as if it’s not going to be any time soon.

Duncan: I don’t think so. I think that we are looking at – I think I’ve been saying for three years that we are in a market in transition. I think the transition is just continuing to transition in and of itself. We have the volume of sales in the Charlottesville area are up in some categories dramatically from a percentage wise year over year or actually quarter over quarter, but what we’re seeing is I think that that may be a false indication of what’s going to happen in the next three to five years. In my opinion there’s no way to really track that accurately in our region. I think a lot of that has been driven by the tax credit, the $8,000 tax credit that has been extended two to three times.

Coy: Is that still in place now, that tax credit?

Duncan: It is and the two things that I really wanted to push to people today is that if they do make that considered thoughtful decision to purchase right now. Which it’s never a good time to buy for anybody, but if they do purchase there are two time lines that are really pretty hard that they need to pay attention to. The first is the tax credit expires and you have to be under contract by the end of April of this year to take advantage of that $8,000 tax credit for first time home buyers and it’s $6,500 for repeat buyers. The second time line is the FHA is getting ready to increase their costs and the FHA is something that a lot of buyers are using right now in the lower price points.

Coy: Are they like closing costs?

Duncan: They’re increasing essentially the closing costs.

Coy: They’re not increasing the rate?

Duncan: No, just the with the FHA funding fee up front. So some people are going to see increases of $300 to $600 minimum for purchases that they make with FHA loans.

Coy: Now we’re talk with Jim Duncan of Nest Realty. Where is the volume that we’ve seen quarter after quarter? Is it in the lower end of new home buyers?

Duncan: It’s under $300,000 is the bulk of what we’re seeing.

Coy: So apartments, townhouses, condo’s kind of thing?

Duncan: More town homes and single family. I mean I think that the condo market is going through a significant transition. A lot of the condo conversions that we saw in the boom years are really suffering right now where some were purchased for $200,000 or $225,000 a couple of years ago are now selling for $80,000 and $90,000.

Coy: Oh my God!

Duncan: That’s a segment of the market that is really really hard right now.

Coy: Now all of these new people that are getting into the market as home owners for the first time with this tax credit wouldn’t that bode well that they are going to want to move up?

Duncan: I think so.

Coy: Wouldn’t that sort of push the market up with all these new people in at the bottom?

Duncan: I think so, but again, it’s something we, as Americans have a hard time doing, just looking at the big picture. That’s something that’s not going to take effect as far as the next cycle for five to seven years. So the people who are buying today in that sub $300,000 in my client base are buying for a minimum of five to seven year time frames.

Coy: So if they do move up, they won’t have enough equity to move up for at least a few years.

Duncan: Right and I’ll be 40! It’s a good thing that we’re starting to see people who have some confidence in buying right now, but there are all sorts of negative indicators that we’re looking at and trying to make sense of.

Coy: Like?

Duncan: Well the foreclosures. I think that when you look at the number of foreclosures in our area, it looks like they’re going up. I always make the parallel between Northern Virgina and Charlottesville Metropolitan statistical area. NOVA is down year over year about 23% from foreclosures and we are actually up from the beginning of the year to fourth quarter of 2009 to about 57%.

Coy: So foreclosures in Central Virginia are way up?

Duncan: Right. Right and I think we’re just starting to see that wave.

Coy: What’s the price value of the homes? Where are we seeing those foreclosures, across the board?

Duncan: All over the board from top to bottom.

Coy: Really?

Duncan: So I’ve seen some that are in the $600,000, $700,000, $800,000 price range and some are in the $30,000 to $100,000 price range.

Coy: In Northern Virginia with the volume that they have though, they’re usually a little ahead of us, right?

Duncan: Right. They usually track.

Coy: So it’s encouraging that their foreclosure numbers are coming down.

Duncan: Right. I think they’re at the point that we want to be next year now. So there’s a lot of stuff happening right now. The interest rates are thought to be moving up after the second quarter of this year which will increase the purchasing price for buyers and increase the amount of reduction that sellers are going to have to make to meet those buyers.

Coy: Jim Duncan is my guest. You said something last year or the year before on this program that I took to heart and I think it’s the best advice you ever gave for this market. People, if you own your home and you’re in your home the best thing you could do right now is fall in love with your home again. (*note: I’ve used this line quite a lot and want to be clear that it wasn’t my idea; I just think it’s a brilliant and relevant and useful concept)

Duncan: Absolutely.

Coy: And look at it with fresh eyes and say: you know what? This is the time. I’ve always wanted to punch a hole through that wall and make this one big room. I’m going to do that. And that in fact is something I just recently did because I am seeing my home in a totally new way now and I’ve totally fallen in love with it all over again.

Duncan: One of the things that I think we’re seeing now is that the people who are buying now are doing it now with the intent to be in the community and that’s something that we haven’t seen over the last five to seven years. We’re transient in Charlottesville by nature.

Coy: People are just treating the homes they bought like bank accounts and flipping them and taking money out of them and not really thinking long term. Most people this is where I want to raise my kids and this is where I’m going to be 15 to 20 years from now.

Duncan: I’ve had people who have bought recently who are looking at that ten, 15, 20 year time frame which I think is wonderful from the community aspect.

Coy: Yeah. That’s good for us. Jim what’s the website again?

Duncan: www.realcentralva.com and www.nestrealtygroup.com .

Coy: Jim Duncan www.realcentralva.com and www.nestrealty.com are the websites. Thank you for being here. I appreciate it.

Duncan: Thank you Coy.

Coy: You’ve been listening to Charlottesville right now with Coy Barefoot. Charlottesville right now is broadcast live Monday through Friday on news radio 1070 WINA from 4:00 pm to 6:00 pm. Best selling author and historian Coy Barefoot is the host and producer. To interact with Coy and his guests, you can call (434) 977-1070. Coy can be reached at: barefoot@wina.com. This audio download has been made possible by the Charlottesville Podcasting Network. Visit www.cvillepodcast.com for more.

Copyright RealCentralVA.com, LLC. If you like this post, please, visit RealCentralVA.comwhere this was originally posted.

Please tune in to WINA radio – 1070 AM – tomorrow at 4:10pm to hear Coy Barefoot and me discuss the Charlottesville area real estate market in 2009 and what 2010 may bring.

Are there any specific topics you would us to discuss?

Questions that haven’t been discussed substantively anywhere else?

I was bumped due to the settlement of the recycling/trash/Van der Linde lawsuit; tune in today to hear this important discussion. I will be on next week, though.

Copyright RealCentralVA.com, LLC. If you like this post, please, visit RealCentralVA.comwhere this was originally posted.

First, thank you for reading. I’ve learned more than I could have ever expected or hoped for. Thank you for your comments and emails over the years.

I’ve been a Realtor for just over eight years, a real estate broker for nearly a month, and have been writing this blog for five years. Without the blog, I wouldn’t still be in business.

A couple million page views, several hundred thousand visitors, I finally had to switch to a more robust hosting solution, and most importantly, I’m still a successful husband, father and Realtor. 2009 was a pretty good year.

For my readers and clients (and potential clients) – please contact me anytime with questions about the Charlottesville regional real estate market, story suggestions, tips,

I worked hard on last year’s “blog-iversary” post where I looked back at four years of blogging about the Charlottesville real estate market, so I won’t do the same this year.

Milestones in 2009:

There were quite a few more, but a sampling …

- The brokerage – We opened Nest Realty Group this year, and by all accounts we have been successful. Increased market share, implemented new tools and always placed the clients first. 2010 looks to be exciting.

- I finally earned my Virginia Broker’s license.

- I’m giving up my fight to eliminate single-agent dual agency. More on this later, but suffice it to say that the traditional real estate establishment has too much of a vested interest in this legacy. I and we at Nest will just continue doing what we think is right for our clients; “Dual Agency is not in the client’s best interest — it’s only in the agent’s best interest“.

Other thoughts:

- Blogging is work. (but the good kind – fun and rewarding)

- I’ve added a lot of tools to the blog over the years, and gladly talk about them to whomever asks. Heck, five years ago the only “tools” I knew about were reading, writing and how to publish. Tools don’t make you good at what you do – in my case, representing clients.

- My archives are getting full.

- I’m trying to stick with my roots – writing about the Charlottesville real estate market, growth, politics, etc.. I stray frequently, but appreciate readers’ persistence and patience with my tangents.

- I’ve enjoyed a good relationship with the Charlottesville press, whom I respect for doing their best and embracing new ways to communicate to their readers. Seeing them all reach out to their respective readers and views via Twitter, Facebook … and yes, in real life … has been encouraging.

I’m grateful for my readers, clients and friends. Unsolicited kind words such as this make what I do worthwhile:

Still one of my favorites, from 2007:

… I started investigating local real estate blogs because, given that I am old and anxious to call myself a homeowner, I should approach the market as an old, yet informed, future Donald Trump, should I not? This is how I arrived at Real Central Virginia, a real estate blog by local Realtor Jim Duncan who, not coincidentally, is quoted to distraction in all manner of local media. It should be no surprise that the vast majority of local Charlottesville blogs are insanely boring or stupid or both. Ditto local real estate blogs (or all real estate blogs for that matter). Which is why this one stands out as being none of the above: It’s both good looking and good reading. It makes good use of TV clips from YouTube, links to articles on the topic (“The Upside of a Down Market” on RealBlogging.com), and personal observations.

I’m going to continue to be involved in Realtor and real estate stuff. I’ve questioned being involved, but will remain so long as they’ll have me (and even when they don’t I’ll still express my opinion). I serve on the Charlottesville Realtor Association Board of Directors, a committee or workgroup here or there, just finished my fairly fruitless term on the Virginia Association of Realtors’ Public Policy Group, will be beginning service on a VAR Group tasked with evaluating Virginia’s Agency laws (because, since the early ’90’s “much has changed in real estate with the advent of new technologies, business practices and consumer expectations.”) and will continue to serve on National Association of Realtors Groups and Committees whenever I am asked. I serve to learn and give back.

My advice to those who are fretting about not having strong social media presences? Don’t worry. Start writing; but write for yourself and your brand, not someone else’s. I’ve said since the beginning that my focus is on owning the content I create; what benefit do you get from building someone else’s site?

Find my Google profile, my card.ly profile, my Twitter feed,

Sincerely, thank you for reading and spending your time here. I greatly and humbly appreciate your time.

Copyright RealCentralVA.com, LLC. If you like this post, please, visit RealCentralVA.comwhere this was originally posted.

Listen to the podcast at Charlottesville Podcasting Network.

Once again, an hour wasn’t enough. It never is. Thanks to Rick Moore and WNRN for the opportunity and Charlottesville Podcasting Network for the podcast.

I read more so you don’t have to.

If you’re thinking about buying a home in the Charlottesville area in 2010, when should you begin looking?

Answer: now.

Prepping to sell a house in Charlottesville.

Prepping to buy a home in Charlottesville.

I’m doing something differently this time. I’m posting the links to most of the subjects we discussed, but will be elaborating and expanding on them for throughout the course of the week. While we may have discussed each issue for only a few minutes, I think that each one warrants a separate blog post so as not to be missed.

So, skim these links or wait until the posts come out. I’m also going to post the transcription when it’s done.

Strategic Defaults:

Strategic Defaults: Naughty or Nice?

Walking Away From The House She Can Afford

If Morgan Stanley Walks Away, Why Shouldn’t You? Firm Walks Away From 5 Properties

Short Sales:

11 Short Sale Frequently Asked Questions

Short Sale Help – HAFA

Foreclosures in Charlottesville:

Two properties with $100k price reductions

A quick look at some of the foreclosures in the Charlottesville/Albemarle area shows that there are foreclosures ranging from $25,913 to $1,010,000

Biscuit Run may become a park:

Update 28 December 2009: Windfall for Biscuit Run developer? Tax credits could become cash (at the Daily Progress. h/t Charlottesville Bubble Blog)

- Charlottesville Tomorrow

- cvillenews

- The HooK

Tax Credit: Who qualifies for the homebuyer tax credit?

First time homebuyers

“Move-up” homebuyers.

From NAR

Tax Credit information on RealCentralVA

HR 3458 – For our purposes, known as the “homebuyer tax credit act“

More on Home Sales – nationally

Why U.S. Home Sales Are Both Up and Down

New-Home Sales Drop 11.3% As Impact of Stimulus Fades

Home Sales up as Buyers Respond to Tax Credit – National Association of Realtors (read with the biased grain of salt)

More on Home Sales – Charlottesville/Albemarle

Predictions and Prognostications:

Prepped but Didn’t Get to:

U.S. Lifts Limit On Aid To Fannie, Freddie

Shadow Inventory

The nationalization of America’s mortgage problem

Resources for Accidental Landlords

As Slump Hits Home, Cities Downsize Their Ambitions
Fannie, Freddie and the Struggles of HAMP

OFHEO – Rankings by *Metropolitan Statistical Areas and Divisions Percent Change in House Prices with MSA Rankings** Period Ended September 30, 2009

OFHEO says Charlottesville real estate has appreciated over 5 years

Copyright RealCentralVA.com, LLC. If you like this post, please, visit RealCentralVA.comwhere this was originally posted.

We’ll be discussing year-end statistics about the Charlottesville region’s real estate market, prognostications for 2010, real estate and technology trends that consumers need to pay attention to and probably quite a bit more.

Here is my working list …

• The first-time homebuyer and “move-up” buyer tax credits.
• Reasons to buy a home now. And … reasons not to buy.
• Impact of NGIC/DIA coming to the area
• Biscuit Run’s acquiescence to the market – will it really become a park?
• Foreclosures and Short Sales in 2010 in Charlottesville – flood or trickle?
• Strategic Defaults – brought on by underwater homeowners – what will be their impact?
• Home sales and building permits
• The Charlottesville Realtor market – how many have moved on since the bubble deflated?
• Maybe a little plug for Nest Realty – Charlottesville’s newest real estate brokerage
• If you’re going to buy a home in Charlottesville in 2010, when should you start looking? (how?) (now) (Same if you’re looking to sell a home in Charlottesville)
• …
• … (have you noticed the Meebo bar at the bottom? It lets you share and interact with this blog in a new and easier way)
• …
• I’m sure there’s a lot more we’ll discuss – what do you want to know?

I love doing radio for some of the same reasons I love writing this blog – one of the foremost reasons is that live radio forces me to prepare … as always, I prepare too much stuff to talk about, but I’d rather over-prepare. Dead air is hard to conceal.

I’m thinking about trends in housing as well …

1 – New Urbanism
2 – Green building (green as in “saving money” in addition to “feeling good about oneself”
3 – Walkability – (and its benefits for a safer community)

Examples:

Most Walkable homes in Charlottesville

Showing properties 1 - 3 of 328. See more city of Charlottesville (city Of) real estate.
(all data current as of 3/11/2010)

1. $499,500 : 233 Jefferson St (charlottesville), Charlottesville (city Of)
   
   1 beds, 2 full baths

   Size: 1,156 sq ft

   Listed with FRANK HARDY INC.
2. $595,000 : 305 NW 2nd St (charlottesville), Charlottesville (city Of)
   
   2 beds, 2 full baths

   Size: 2,131 sq ft

   Listed with MCLEAN FAULCONER INC., REALTOR
3. $399,500 : 309 2nd St (charlottesville), Charlottesville (city Of)
   
   2 beds, 2 full baths

   Size: 1,140 sq ft

   Listed with ROY WHEELER REALTY CO.

Listing information deemed reliable but not guaranteed. Read full disclaimer.

Most Walkable homes in Crozet

Showing properties 1 - 3 of 91. See more city of Crozet real estate.
(all data current as of 3/11/2010)

1. $339,900 : 5848 St George Ave (albemarle), Crozet
   
   4 beds, 1 full, 1 part baths

   Size: 2,688 sq ft

   Listed with ASSIST2SELL - FIRST RATE REALTY, INC.
2. $309,000 : 5451 Hill Top St, Crozet
   
   4 beds, 3 full, 1 part baths

   Size: 2,279 sq ft

   Listed with NEST REALTY GROUP
3. $149,900 : 5432 Hill Top St, Crozet
   
   2 beds, 2 full, 1 part baths

   Size: 1,244 sq ft

   Listed with ERA BILL MAY REALTY CO.

Listing information deemed reliable but not guaranteed. Read full disclaimer.

Copyright RealCentralVA.com, LLC. If you like this post, please, visit RealCentralVA.comwhere this was originally posted.

Copyright RealCentralVA.com, LLC. If you like this post, please, visit RealCentralVA.comwhere this was originally posted.

I’m sitting on a panel discussing the Future of the MLS at the National Association of Realtors convention in San Diego. After the announcement of RPR last week, the future is bright/cloudy/great/muddled/uncertain.

As with every conference I attend, I go with a couple goals:

1 – What can I learn that will help my clients?

2 – Learn at least two things that will help me better represent my clients in the Charlottesville area?

3 – What can I learn that will position me ahead of my competition?

- Note that my competition consists of more than Charlottesville Realtors – it’s consumers as well. Consumers are far more tuned in and in touch that ever before, and I have to work that much harder to stay ahead of them. Really, if they consistently know more than I, what value do I bring other than an MLS login and a lockbox key?

Here is a preview of my work-in-progress part of the panel:

Update 14 November: This is the presentation I gave yesterday. Frankly, it’s still a work-in-progress, as things are changing so quickly.

I love that this panel is the second-most pre-registered event at the convention. It really should have been scheduled for at least 90 minutes rather than 60.

Update 18 November 2009: The Realtor newspaper put out during the conference has a recap of the panel.

Copyright RealCentralVA.com, LLC. If you like this post, please, visit RealCentralVA.comwhere this was originally posted.

I’ll be in sidekick mode on WNRN this Sunday … this is a paragraph written by Kate White, the "star" of this weekend’s show. I’ll be adding my input here and there, but I will primarily be discussing some of the neighborhoods in the Charlottesville and Albemarle areas that seem to be most nature-accessible as well as some that are close to parks, hiking and some of the other outstanding nature attractions in the area. Candidly, I’m looking forward to listening and learning.

"Join realtor Jim Duncan and Belvedere resident Kate White in a discussion with Rick Moore of The Wake-Call on Children and Nature in Development. White is a nature-based education teacher, pre and perinatal specialist, massage and craniosacral therapist. She says that her specialty is the developing nervous system and sees play in nature as a way to increase health on every level from the individual to family to community. Part of her educational platform includes designing communities that include free time in nature for children.

There has been an explosion of research and programs about the impact of living in connection with nature since the publication of Last Child in the Woods. White has been teaching nature-based classes since 2001. She will be going over the data on why free play in nature is important, especially for communities that emphasize nature in their design like her Belvedere neighborhood. Jim Duncan has observed Charlottesville real estate trends for years. Their comments together will invite discussion for this great call-in radio program. Give it a listen! WNRN 91.9 FM Sunday at 11 am.

Main points:
Play in nature increases cognitive ability, peace and well-being in children;
Close-knit communities that are multi-generational in nature also increase health in people;
Connection to nature can encourage the wonder of childhood in children of all ages, and it can help reinforce family cohesion;
Connection to nature is a great antidote to the fast paced culture we live in, why not have it in your neighborhood?
Charlottesville offers excellent opportunities to connect with nature that are mostly free and plentiful.
If nature connection is so good, why aren’t we doing it more rather than less?"

If you can’t listen the show live, you can listen to the podcast on Charlottesville Podcast Network or comment/email/tweet/send me in some way your questions.

Copyright RealCentralVA.com, LLC. If you like this post, please, visit RealCentralVA.comwhere this was originally posted.

Big thanks to the Hook and Courteney Stuart for including Nest in their story, "Survival of the Fittest."

Copyright RealCentralVA.com, LLC. If you like this post, please, visit RealCentralVA.comwhere this was originally posted.

Tune into Coy Barefoot’s Charlottesville – Right Now! on WINA from five to five thirty today as I and one of my Nest Partners, Keith Davis, discuss the Charlottesville real estate market.

Topics we may cover –

- Where the Charlottesville real estate market is right now.

- Where the market may be going.

- New Construction

- Why and how now may be a great time to buy (for goodness sake, it’s not a great time to buy for everyone – it never is or was)

- The vacancy rate in the Charlottesville MSA for homes currently on the market.

Ideas and calls are welcomed.

If you miss the show live, you can always listen to the podcast at Charlottesville Podcasting Network.

Update 22 July 2009: The podcast is up at Cville Podcast.

Copyright RealCentralVA.com, LLC. If you like this post, please, visit RealCentralVA.comwhere this was originally posted.

This one is at Lake Monticello, where they do not allow post signs.

Update: Here is a better pic than the one provided by by BlackBerry:

Copyright RealCentralVA.com, LLC. If you like this post, please, visit RealCentralVA.comwhere this was originally posted.

Once again, we covered a lot of ground. I’ll update this post later today with specific notes and links.

A huge thanks to Coy Barefoot, WINA and the Charlottesville Podcasting Network for the podcast.

- Short sales
- Brief market update for Charlottesville, Virginia region
- Where to search for homes in Charlottesville – Zillow, Trulia, Roost, Realtor.com, Nest, mycaar? (hint: start here)
- Sellers’ responsibilities to verify that their Realtors are putting good pictures online; if sellers are not checking up on their Realtors, they should be.
- Green building gaining ground – it’s about saving money, not necessarily the environment.
- Chickens. Coincidentally, the Daily Progress had a story on Saturday about locally-kept chickens in Charlottesville.
- Home Valuation Code of Conduct – I pulled a lot of what we discussed from this post on BHB.
- Videos for clients.
- Learning from home inspections and home inspectors
- CvillePedia – the new wikipedia for Charlottesville and Albemarle, courtesy of Charlottesville Tomorrow

Copyright RealCentralVA.com, LLC. If you like this post, please, visit RealCentralVA.comwhere this was originally posted.

There is a challenge, regarding the pending announcement from Nest. I mentioned it on Twitter:

Nest is about to make a huge announcement. A *really* huge announcement. Stay tuned.

And it is a big one. But …

Here’s the challenge:

We need to define how and why this matters to potential buyers and sellers in Charlottesville and Albemarle and Central Virginia, because it absolutely does matter. Realtors will get it, but I and we are more concerned about how we can convey the how and why to our existing and potential clients.

We know it matters, we can feel it, and can describe it in a thirty to sixty minute conversation, but we need to distill this conversation into a more communicable message; and we will.

Being a partner in Nest is, to use the word in the truest sense, awesome. Communicating that sense, our story, and most importantly how our clients benefit is next.

As Keith said in his post about the pending announcement:

I will go more into this listing in future blog postings, but there is one thing for certain. I would not have this listing if we had not started Nest. I’d like to think I’m that good, but it is about my team and the vision that we share together. It is how that vision is playing out in our actions, our marketing, our space, and our clear and directed philosophy. That is why we as a team have this listing.

Copyright RealCentralVA.com, LLC. If you like this post, please, visit RealCentralVA.comwhere this was originally posted.

Thanks to Marijean and WCAV for the profile during their Blog of the Week segment.

Know this – some of the most informative, educational and entertaining contributions to this blog are provided by the commenters, and for each and every one of them, I am grateful and humbled that they choose to spend time here.

RealCentralVA is a real estate blog in Charlottesville that tracks the Charlottesville and Central Virginia real estate market … but there’s more than that. Since I founded this site in January 2005, I intended it to be an information resource for candid, honest opinion and dialogue about the local real estate market. NB: Jim Duncan is a Realtor.

I do not pander or condescend to my readers, and try my best to write at a reasonably high level – I figure if one can’t take the time to spell check a little old blog (which will be remembered by Google forever), what would one’s contracts look like?

I track home sales (or lack thereof), market trends, land use discussions, local politics – anything that is tangentially related to real estate.

First and foremost, I don’t sell – I hope to educate buyers, sellers, consumers, media – if people like what they read, they are free to contact me anytime.

Some of the more useful posts that I have written (after writing for nearly four and a half years, please feel free to dig around in the archives yourselves) -

- Posts with Enduring Interest – Just for Sellers

- Posts with Enduring Interest – Just for Buyers

- I really, really want consumers to search for homes without me – any Realtor whose core competency is the MLS should be searching for a new career. That’s why I have what I believe to be the best ways to search for homes in Charlottesville – Diverse Solutions and FranklyMLS – and tips on how to search for homes without a Realtor.

- I’m an advocate for transparency in real estate fees.

- I work as a Buyer’s Agent and am working to eliminate single agent dual agency, because the only one who benefits from Dual Agency is – guess who? – The Realtor.

- I market homes in new and different ways (property videos and personalized signs for two examples).

My goal – provide information and analysis for consumers to educate themselves … then we all benefit.

If you’re new here, please take the time to poke around, consider subscribing to my site or follow me on Twitter – this way you will always be among the first to know about what’s happening in the Charlottesville real estate market.

As I said in February when we announced Nest:

My name is Jim Duncan and we’re the Nest Real Estate Group and I intend to change the world.

Copyright RealCentralVA.com, LLC. If you like this post, please, visit RealCentralVA.comwhere this was originally posted.

Another packed hour with Coy Barefoot on Charlottesville Right-Now! last week – I love doing radio. The time always seems to fly by so fast –

- The referenced discussion with Michael and Greg.
- Search site is fixed (it was broken)
- The Charlottesville real estate market update for 1st Quarter 2009
- Charlottesville does seem to be tracking about six to twelve months behind the Northern Virginia market – take Loudoun County for example.
- What do we need to know to know that the current, possible market is stable? We need 18 months of hindsight.
- Regarding assessments’ relation to market value: there are three valuations – appraisals, assessments, market value – they all have different customers and different goals.
- Days on Market in Charlottesville area trending downward (likely due to seasonality)
- Short sales, foreclosures and pride – pride stings for a little while, but you’re not alone. Be honest with yourselves and your Realtor.
- One of my all time favorite stories – Sold Comps Matter Less.
- What Sellers and Buyers absolutely must do in this market.
- How to search for a home in Charlottesville without a Realtor – an awesome post by one of my buyer clients.
- A plug or two for Nest Realty Group.
- The referenced Zillow study about under water homeowners.
- Sellers need to check the MLS and check up on their Realtor representation …
- A good discussion about real estate video … of which I’m doing a lot more of now – neighborhood tours, property previews, marketing sellers’ homes …

More to come about the off-air phone call regarding pricing homes based on the property assessment, using video to market homes and neighborhoods, foreclosures and short sales …

Copyright RealCentralVA.com, LLC. If you like this post, please, visit RealCentralVA.comwhere this was originally posted.

I’ll be on Coy Barefoot’s Charlottesville – Right Now! today on WINA a little bit after four discussing the state of the Charlottesville real estate market, what’s selling (and what’s not), what sellers absolutely have to do before putting their houses on the market, possibly the Charlottesville Tweetup today, maybe the coming Charlottesville OpenSpace, and anything else that comes to mind.

What do you want to talk about? Give us a call at 434-977-1070.

I will update this post after the show with notes from our discussion, any links we discussed, and hopefully the podcast.

Update 16 April 2009: – CvillePodcast has the podcast of the show. Show notes in the works …

Copyright RealCentralVA.com, LLC. If you like this post, please, visit RealCentralVA.comwhere this was originally posted.

It’s going to be interesting to see what impact this year’s incoming (and outgoing) medical Residents have on the market.

If you match at UVA, start getting acclimated:

Charlottesville relocation map – most Residents must stay within a 20 minute radius of the Medical School.

View Larger Map

Start searching for homes here (or here).

Moving to Charlottesville?

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Copyright RealCentralVA.com, LLC. If you like this post, please, visit RealCentralVA.comwhere this was originally posted.

Once again, I am grateful to WCAV for calling me to discuss the state of the Charlottesville real estate market. One point of clarification regarding this:

Duncan says that people should wait to sell their homes if they can. Otherwise, he suggests selling it for less than market value in order to compete.

What I think I said (or at least what I meant to say) is that some sellers may need to sell their homes for less than they think it’s worth – the market will determine the value.

See this recent discussion for more on how some buyers try to ascertain market value.

On the foreclosures data, we’re working on some interesting numbers right now. Stay tuned.

Copyright RealCentralVA.com, LLC. If you like this post, please, visit RealCentralVA.comwhere this was originally posted.

More to come when I listen to the podcast and review my show notes …

Download the podcast here.

Copyright RealCentralVA.com, LLC. If you like this post, please, visit RealCentralVA.comwhere this was originally posted.

I’ll be on Coy Barefoot’s Charlottesville-Right Now! today from 4:15 to 5.

Topics I expect us to cover -

- A brief update on the Charlottesville/Albemarle/Central Virginia market

- What’s holding buyers back?

- Foreclosures

- Buyers’ search processes – how do they search for homes?

- Maybe a Realtor update

- General economic update

- The move to Nest Realty Group (and maybe touch on the quest to end Single Agent Dual Agency)

Any other ideas?

Copyright RealCentralVA.com, LLC. If you like this post, please, visit RealCentralVA.comwhere this was originally posted.