Tag Archives: albemarle real estate
C’Mon, Apple. Real Estate Agents Need Property Boundaries
How will I show land without parcel boundaries on my phone?!
There’s been a lot of discussion about the new Apple maps, which will be replacing Google maps on the next iPhone.
This isn’t enough to switch back to an Android device from my iPhone 4S, but it’s significant. In the nearly-three-years since Google integrated Albemarle County’s property boundaries as one of its layers, I’ve become quite dependent on this extremely useful feature.
Gizmodo did a nice side-by-side comparison of Google Maps vs Apple Maps, but they left out one thing that I use in my real estate practice multiple times a week – real estate parcels.
I saw some discussion about it last week in my Twitter stream, and asked for some help on Google+
Anyone with access to iOS 6 – can you tell me if the new apple maps have parcel boundaries as the google maps do? I need and use those to show property – in subdivisions and when showing raw land.
And thankfully got an answer pretty quickly from a friend.
Note the difference between these two photos? iOS5 has property parcel boundaries, while iOS6 doesn’t.
While I wouldn’t advise my client to accept these boundaries in lieu of a survey, they are usually accurate enough when walking land or lots, particularly when walking county/country properties where “natural” boundaries such as power or telephone poles aren’t visible.
Charlottesville Real Estate Market Conversation – 29 January 2012
Matt Hodges and I had a good time on WNRN radio yesterday discussing what’s happening in the Charlottesville real estate market, mortgages, buyer activity, real estate assessments, government interference, gas prices’ impact on real estate decisions, and a whole lot more.
I’m going to listen to the show (thanks to Charlottesville Podcast) and put up some show notes, but in the meantime, feel free to what I think was a pretty interesting hour of real estate. Continue reading
Sunday Morning Wake Up Call: Real Estate & Financing with Jim Duncan and Matt Hodges [ 59:40 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | DownloadA New Theory on Buyers in Today’s Real Estate Market
Put simply – buyers want to buy. And a lot of them are tired of waiting.
Categorizing the Charlottesville real estate market:
– 20% distressed
– 20-30% is overpriced
– 20-25% is stuff that no one wants to buy
– 20% is in great condition, priced really well and is selling in under 60 days. *
Right now* there are 2122 homes on the market. 410 are currently under contract; 177 (43%!) have continuous days on market of under 30 days and 219 (53%) have CDOM of under 60 days.
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).
.
Charlottesville Real Estate Market Update: Transaction Volume for 2000 – 2011
Part Two of … See Part One – Charlottesville MSA – Single Family & Attached Homes Placed Under Contract – First Five Months
Looking at the Charlottesville MSA for transactional volume history … what we need is stability and consistency. Once we can reach a relatively stable number of transactions, I think we’l be able to start to see normalcy, whatever that is … maybe ~ 1000 transactions per year?
For the first five months of the year, what we’re looking at here is everything – single family detached homes, attached homes, new construction, resale, condos … Continue reading
Willoughby Neighborhood is Growing
The following was sent in by a reader (and I’m grateful): “Don’t know if you’re repping any homes in Willoughby or any of your buyers are looking there, but there are some plans in the city and county that they may wish to consider. … All 100 units will enter and exit on Harris Road in Willoughby, as the property is constrained by Moore’s Creek and I doubt the County would give permission to build an automobile crossing into the Avon Center development, should it ever be built. … * Part I of the city plan looks to be about half the units and beds — 25 units/100 beds or so. — From Albemarle’s “County View” : (bolding mine) ZMA 201100003, Willoughby Apartments Planner: Claudette Grant PROPOSAL: Rezone 5.671 acres from Planned Unit Development (PUD) zoning district which allows residential (3 – 34 units per acre), mixed with commercial and industrial uses to PUD zoning district to add residential density to plan.
…I contacted an attorney who graciously bent his ear for 20+ minutes about the very possible encroachment or developing on Willoughby Common Property in the City without legal right of way and he said to hire a surveyor and have him/her survey the area, mark it and record it, then we will have an expert determine if this is true. Continue reading
400 More Homes on Pantops? What Could Go Wrong?
Start at Albemarle County’s site , this pdf of last night’s agenda , and then spend some time at Charlottesville Tomorrow’s site .
…That a developer would seek a rezoning of this scale that would add thousands of vehicle trips a day without submitting a traffic study is indicative of either ignorance, arrogance or indifference.
… However, Rooker said the proffer language calling for the road could be interpreted in such a way that the county would have to condemn property. … “We don’t want to be in a mode where we’ve approved this and he doesn’t have to build the road because we won’t condemn the property.” Continue reading
Talking about the Charlottesville Real Estate Market – WNRN Radio 9 January 2011
If you are interested in – whether from a buyer, seller, voyeur, moving to Charlottesville perspective, I highly encourage you to listen to this hour of radio Matt Hodges and me as we discuss the Charlottesville real estate market, national trends affecting all of us, and what the conversation may mean to you, the real estate consumer. … Some of the stories to come: One of the best parts of doing radio shows is that I always generate new ideas to write about. – Top 10 most popular neighborhoods in the area; I’m finalizing the methodology for how this will be determined, so I won’t promise the publication date. – An expansion on the nomadic class. – The internet’s/telecommuting’s impact on attracting people to the Charlottesville area. … Title issues, conveyance of title, property ownership – I think this is going to be a huge story in 2011. – Mobility – many of today’s potential homeowners are choosing to not buy because they want to have options. – QE2 – DIA and NGIC – their impact on the Charlottesville real estate market; in short, they they provided a stabilizing force. – Loan Level Pricing Adjustments – what does this mean to homebuyers?
…
– Foreclosure rate for the Charlottesville MSA – Majority of Virginians oppose gas-tax increase – Town hall to discuss Hollymead development area expansion – Realtors’ response to Mortgage Interest Deduction – Commentary: Mortgage Interest and Real Estate Tax Deduction Facts – Facing Scrutiny, Banks Slow Pace of Foreclosures – Homeownership is not a must . Continue reading
