Tag Archives: albemarle real estate
Northtown Bike Trail – From Downtown to 29 North – Looks Great
The Northtown Trail is a smart, functional, bold and audacious plan that would likely help shape non-auto-dependent growth, reduce congestion on 29 and maybe help folks using it get more fit .
…The Northtown Trail is tied to several significant roadway projects in the area, including the Route 250 Interchange at McIntire Road , McIntire Road Extended , the Meadow Creek Parkway and Berkmar Drive Extended . The portions of the trail in Albemarle County correspond directly to planned facilities for the Places29 Master Plan, which aims to improve congestion and land use issues along the US 29 north corridor in Albemarle County. … The City’s portion of the conceptual trail corresponds to planned bike and pedestrian facilities along the future McIntire Road Extended and the Route 250 interchange at McIntire Road.
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Homebuyers – Caution on Radon, Builders’ Reps and No Representation
Second issue, (The builder) missed his 11-month walk through of our home and it was encroaching upon our 12- month (final inspection of the home), so my husband and I agreed to have an official home inspector come into our home (as we know nothing about home construction). … Upon hearing the findings and what they meant we conducted research for remediation and also contacted (The builder) and set up an appointment to go over the findings of the inspection (the inspector also disclosed he had conducted the radon tests in (The Neighborhood) and stated that (The builder) knew he had a radon issue because one of his home sales almost did not go through until (The builder) remediated the issue). … We immediately contacted a mediator to address the issue (when the location of the home was made known to the remediator (Radon Company), the owner stated he remediated the other homes in (The Neighborhood) and this could have been prevented/mediated during the building process or prior to sale of the home if already constructed). … (The builder) returned an email that stipulated he would accept no responsibility for the radon issue but agreed to put 250 dollars towards the remediation, “because we were good people and had contributed to the neighborhood”. The total cost of inspection and remediation is 1175 dollars. Continue reading
FHA Increases – Buying a Home Is Now More Expensive
Effective for FHA loans for which the case number is assigned on or after October 4, 2010, FHA upfront and annual MIP will change as follows: – Upfront MIP - 1.00% on ALL mortgage terms (from 2.25%) … – Annual MIP - 0.85% for LTVs less than or equal to 95% and terms of more than 15yrs (from .50%) * No Change in Annual MIP for <=15yr Terms (No Annual MI) In general, monthly payments are going to INCREASE due to the higher annual MI payment. ** LTV = Loan to Value (the above was sent along by Jason Crigler with Crown Mortgage ) Keep in mind that the FHA loan limits for the Charlottesville MSA are: Single Family/Attached – $437,000 Two family – $559,450 Three Family – $676,200 Four Family – $840,400 For an example of what these increases mean you homebuyers in Charlottesville, I’m going to borrow Rhonda Porter’s math : Using an interest rate of 4.25% and a based loan amount of $400,000; it looks like this: FHA Case Number BEFORE September 7 October 10, 2010:
… $400,000 plus $4,000 = $404,000 amortized for 30 years at 4.25% = principal and interest of $1,987.44 plus the annual mortgage insurance of $300 = $2,287.44. Continue reading
Friday Chart – Is this the New Normal for the Charlottesville Real Estate Market?
Looking at the number of transactions so far this year* in the Charlottesville MSA – Charlottesville, Albemarle, Fluvanna, Greene, Nelson – for all kinds of property – condo, attached, single family, farms … in this dataset there are going to be outliers and anomalies, but with a set this large, we’re really looking for trending analysis. … Maybe we are witnessing the “new normal” for the Charlottesville real estate market, and it’s something that we’re just going to have to get used to.
…While dramatic increases in productivity could theoretically take up the slack, that may be too much to ask of a generation whose education, for the first time in American history, ranked in the bottom third of developed nations. … “The trend is most visible,” they write, “in the transition from a G-7 to a Group of 20 model of international decision making which includes influential and deep-pocketed developing countries like Brazil, China, India, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Continue reading
Showed Houses in Charlottesville Last Week -or- Why AVMs Suck
Zillow hasn’t been in the three townhomes in another neighborhood in Charlottesville , one of which needs to be gutted, one with a moist basement and mold coming on a piece of ceiling hanging from the bathroom and another one that absolutely needs to be taken to the studs.
…The product of an automated valuation technology analysis, public record data, and computer decision logic combined to provide a logical calculated estimate of a probable selling price of a residential property. … An AVM typically includes: ▪ An indicative market value for many residential properties nationwide. ▪ The Tax assessor’s indication of value, if available. ▪ Information on a subject property and recent sales history. ▪ Comparable Sales analysis of like properties.
…Cyberhomes puts it at $184,842 , the price range is $166,357 – $212,568: Realtor.com – You have to agree to have a Realtor contact you to provide the report. Continue reading
Can Crozet have Three Centers?
Downtown Crozet needs to do something to combat the challenges put forth by: – The 250 West Corridor – Anytime Fitness, Harris Teeter, medical and dental offices, restaurants, office space … residential housing … – Old Trail Village – ACAC Fitness, Trailside Coffee, restaurants, Augusta Medical facility, Advanced Center for Physical Therapy (awesome place – they helped me rehab my ankle after a soccer injury) … residential housing in Old Trail Village .
…A group that oversees planning in Crozet has endorsed a new concept to redevelop a lumber yard on the Square into a walkable and livable community similar to Charlottesville’s Downtown Mall.
…“This is a very small scale, a version of that, but what it does create is the ability to have a gathering space and some place where people love to go [in] Crozet.”
… “From [research and development] business to office space, restaurants, retail [and] some housing,” Roell said, “it will provide a variety of opportunities for people to locate their businesses, live, work, play and entertain each other.”
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“New” Lead Based Paint Rule Revised
The only way I learned about it was when I saw that the National Association of Home Builders is suing the EPA : (bolding mine) A coalition of housing industry groups joined the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) today in announcing plans to file a lawsuit against the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for removing the “opt-out” provision from its Lead: Renovation, Repair and Painting rule. … Its opt-out provision, which expired July 6, let consumers allow contractors to bypass extra preparation, clean-up and recordkeeping requirements in homes where there were no children under 6 or pregnant women, thus avoiding additional costs. “Removing the opt-out provision more than doubles the number of homes subject to the regulation,” said NAHB Chairman Bob Jones, a home builder and developer in Bloomfield Hills, Mich. … Right now* nearly 1/3 of homes on the market in Albemarle – 322 homes – are affected by this rule (as in, they were built before 1978). Continue reading
When Evaluating the Charlottesville Real Estate Market, IGNORE National Data
Take your lede : – Home sales up 14% in Charlottesville and Albemarle year over year. – Home sales up 19% in Charlottesville MSA year over year. – Foreclosures continue to climb in Charlottesville and Albemarle. – Questions abound regarding second half of 2010; where will we find the bottom of the market? – If you have questions about or would like more detailed analysis, please contact me.
…Simple (though notsoumuch in reality) What I’m reading: – Harvard’s State of the Nation’s Housing Market (PDF) and listening to an excellent podcast with Nicholas Retsinas , Director, Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies . (did you know that there was an exhibit at the Smithsonian on McMansions ?) – Core Logic’s Home Price Index Report for April 2010 – Virginia’s Housing Price Index, for single family homes year-over-year, is up 6.5%; for single family homes excluding distressed properties, is up 3.6%. Virginia is one of the five best states for year-over-year price appreciation excluding distressed sales .. but mostly that’s irrelevant in my opinion as the bulk of those sales are most likely comprised of Northern Virginia sales. – The Federal Housing Finance Agency’s House Price Index for First Quarter 2010 The FHFA (formerly OFHEO) say that in the Charlottesville MSA house prices have dropped 6.98% year over year, 1.86& in the 1st Quarter 2010, and have appreciated 12.68% over the past 5 years .
… Home Sales are Up 19% year over year in the Charlottesville MSA: 
Homes sales are UP 14% in Charlottesville and Albemarle : 
One point: Charlottesville’s Unemployment is lower than the national average. 
Prime example of the irrelevance of national, aggregate housing data, which is good only for political talking points and respective agendas: Foreclosure starts for the nation and Charlottesville and Albemarle: National foreclosure data, courtesy of the HUD Scorecard, using RealtyTrac data: 
For Charlottesville, using RealtyTrac : 
For Albemarle County, using RealtyTrac: 
What have median home prices done in Charlottesville over the past five years? Continue reading
