Category Archives: Trends
Charlottesville Green Carnival
This is the first in what I hope will be the occasional yet frequent Charlottesville Green Carnival – a place to highlight, ever-so-briefly green happenings.Green Matters – now advertising information clinics in the C-Ville WeeklySunbiosis – A Charlottesville green architect that popped up in my feedreader.Lithic Construction – another green builder that popped upEco-Friendly homes a moneymaker for ‘green’ firmsOfficials examine sustainable local food supplyDo you have a green cause? What other local green stories have you seen?Green “stuff,” and green building/real estate is a trend that is not going away. I told a developer the other day that he should consider changing his plans now because by 2009, I believe that green building will be a de facto requirement of buyers. Barely a day goes by that there is not a major story or initiative in the national press about green innovations, and every week brings a new development in the Charlottesville area – real estate or otherwise.I wrote my first story on this blog in November of 2005; the momentum of this movement has certainly picked up since then.
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How do you get a green home in Charlottesville?
There is real, sustainable momentum right now towards the green movement.I ran into a Realtor this morning at my favorite coffee shop, and asked whether a development that she was representing was going to be EarthCraft or not…. In his presentation, Hartke addressed the costs of such benefits.”We know that green buildings increase property value, they also decrease liability, but they also have a huge impact on health and well-being.”… “I am not sure how many times I have written or said this, but whether developers buy into the concept of building green for the health reasons or sustainability reasons, they need to start building green for at least the following reasons:1) Buyers want it.2) As buyers stay in their homes longer, they will be able to recoup the additional costs (however incremental they may be) as they stay in their homes longer.3) There is profit to be had in building green. Courtesy of an Eco-Broker presentation I use:Home value increases by about $20 for every $1 reduction in annual utility bills.94% of 300 American surveyed cited their most sought-after green upgrade as energy savings.Roughly nine in ten people (91%) said energy-efficient features in a new home are extremely or very important.Heck even CNBC is covering green; their demographics tend to speak to market leaders.
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How vital is internet access?
Inspired in part by this post at the Center for Realtor Technology comes this week’s (probably month’s) poll – How Important is Internet Access in your next home? 99% of my clients deem internet access to be an absolute, non-negotiable necessity, on par with needing three bedrooms and two baths, or needing to be within 20 minutes of the UVA Hospital because that is what the residency requirements state (Match Day is approaching!) In the area surrounding Charlottesville and beyond the Urban Ring of Albemarle, one cannot safely assume that high speed internet access is ubiquitous – this is often very surprising to those relocating to the area.One would think that the MLS would offer this as a field by which we could limit our searches, but alas, not yet…. Calling the local phone company to see about DSL is another step, but often they aren’t 100% certain as to where their service extends.
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RealCentralVA is two years old
I have learned an enormous amount from the real estate bloggers out there, and plan to continue to do so…. National trends impact the Charlottesville, Virginia market, but the most influential real estate trends happen on the local level.7. Right or wrong, I feel a certain responsibility to write as well and as frequently as possible – both for my own and my readers’ continuity.I wanted to link to some of my older stories, but the conversion process from iBlog to Wordpress destroyed much of the formatting. If I could figure out how to install this tag cloud plugin, I’d post the most common words and categories over the past two years.Blogging is easy, but as with anything, blogging well can be quite difficult.
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Sustainable building workshop in Albemarle
Kudos to the County of Albemarle:The Virginia Sustainable Building Network will be holding a training session for Earthcraft House™ in Charlottesville for the first time on January 18, 2007…. The EarthCraft House™ green building program works with home builders to construct resource and energy-efficient homes that lessen the impact on the environment. Earth Craft homes were first built in Virginia about one year ago when the program did a test run in Charlottesville.The EarthCraft program standards were developed through a unique partnership between Southface Energy Institute and the Greater Atlanta Home Builders Association, government and environmental leaders…. My prediction is that the housing market will see a return to buyers staying in houses longer and thus will be able to recoup the costs from living greener, more earth-friendly lifestyles.
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How is this not discrimination?
To refuse to sell or rent after the making of a bona fide offer or to refuse to negotiate for the sale or rental of, or otherwise make unavailable or deny, a dwelling to any person because of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, elderliness, or familial status;2. To discriminate against any person in the terms, conditions, or privileges of sale or rental of a dwelling, or in the provision of services or facilities in the connection therewith to any person because of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, elderliness, or familial status;Federal laws seem to be equally silent on sexual orientation.From Rismedia:The certification training for LGBTRES candidates includes a half-day live lecture course or an online track, which the candidate must pass to receive their certification…. The NGLCC will begin delivery of the training in the fourth quarter of 2006, and, in 2007, will certify LGBTRES trainers in Realogy’s major markets to make the certification available to a wider audience.As to someone’s sexual orientation, skin color, sex, age – I don’t care one way or the other. So long as they are qualified by a reputable lender, are looking within their comfortable price range and are ready, willing and able to purchase a home now or in the (sometimes not so near) future, that’s all I need.
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We’ll all be Earthcraft soon
Friday, I met with some potential buyers who spoke to exactly what I foresee as being what is “next,” both from a want and a need perspective.A bit of research led me to this excellent interview with John Beldock, CEO of EcoBroker…. I don’t necessarily agree with the severity of all the comments, but there are some valid points regarding the speed with which homes have been built of late and the accompanying level of quality…. I said the other day in The HooK: “In the last several years, people had gotten away from the ‘buying smart’ mentality and were just buying,”Change that sentence around a bit – In the last several years, people had gotten away from the ‘builders smart’ mentality and were just building whatever they could, as fast as they could.Not surprisingly, none of the EarthCraft builders in Charlottesville market are “production” builders. Waldo has collected a few useful links.Can homes with these offerings be built in a dense environment?What will Homeowners’ Associations’ response be to solar panels?Solar power is becoming more affordableA look at alternative energy and moreHow to green your heatingA lot of the green “trends” are simple common sense.
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Monday real estate roundup
From (mostly) the big media -Reading between the signs (NYTimes)Maybe Realtors are needed after all (CBS Marketwatch)Young builders -vs- old builders’ experience/perceptions (CBS Marketwatch)”Simply put, many of the guys in charge on the divisional level don’t know what a down market is like because they’ve never been in one”Thoughts on the housing slowdown (Econbrowser)What is it they say about those who forget history? Something about doom and repetition?
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