Tag Archives: MLS
MLS Search Not Working
And apparently hasn’t been working for a few days now … The Charlottesville MLS folks are aware of the problem and are now working on it. My search isn’t working, Nest‘s is not, and neither is FranklyMLS, nor are a few more around Charlottesville – so it’s not just mine.
When the problem is resolved, I will post an update and move this post to the sideblog.
Darn it.
Update 16 April 2009: From Diverse Solutions’ CEO … this is how to handle a problem … basically we are dealing with two problems – one with … Continue reading…
You’re Going about It all Wrong – Or How to Search for Homes in Charlottesville (Without a Realtor)
Look at picture to see how different the home looked a few years back (pics usually taken in 2002 or 2003). ( ed note: this leads to a separate rant about Realtors stripping the MLS of photos of their listings when the listing expires/sells – this kills the accuracy and historical context of the MLS )e. … For example: Grove St. plus Charlottesville clued me into the Grove Square development (which I was unaware of because I’m new to C’ville). (ed note: don’t forget to visit Charlottesville Tomorrow for the most in-depth reporting on growth, development and politics in Charlottesville/Albemarle) 5. Continue reading
Reflecting on Zillow’s Influence Over the Past Three Years
A lot has changed in the real estate tech space, but the real estate business remains a belly-to-belly business, with client relationships solidified with handshakes and time spent together in the car, in houses, at the coffee shop. 
Zillow’s presence in the Charlottesville real estate market is negligible; in spite of this I’ve always considered them another tool in the good Realtor’s toolbox. … I for one, have welcomed the opportunity to answer this. (more in a later post) Brian Boero at 1000Watt Blog offers this kick ass post on Zillow’s three year anniversary – (bolding mine/read the whole thing) The real estate industry owes Zillow a debt of gratitude, whatever their fate may be. Continue reading
Charlottesville Foreclosures Study sheds Light on a Surprisingly Hidden Market
From my position as a Buyer-Broker , my advice to my buyers would be – be well qualified and prepared to buy and consider targeting these neighborhoods; they are all very well located with great respective proximities to the University of Virginia Grounds and/or the Downtown Mall – the two major economic hubs of Charlottesville.
…Extent of Crisis, Virginia: The Center for Responsible Lending predicted that 62,174 homes will be foreclosed upon in 2008 and 2009 in the state of Virginia.38 In June 2008, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association, for the foreclosures in the state of Virginia, 54% of them are on subprime and Alt-A loansâânon-traditionalâ loans while 26% of the foreclosures are on prime and government ARMs and the remaining 20% are on government and prime fixed rate loans.39 In other words, approximately 80% of the foreclosures in Virginia are by higher risk borrowersâsubprime lenders and/or ARMs. Continue reading
Where Are the Walkable Neighborhoods in Charlottesville/Albemarle?
A new tool, optimalhomelocation.com (h/t Lifehacker ) Here’s my very rudimentary definition, based on personal biases and listening to my clients’ wants and needs – - Schools –(you can search by elementary school on my Charlottesville Home Search ) – Walkable neighborhood with sidewalks –(Walkscore can help, but you’re better off asking someone or driving by the area – or better yet, we can ride to the properties on bicycles!) … — The County of Albemarle does not offer curbside recycling, but two private companies have recently sprung up to fill this need – My Recycling Club and Green Pieces Recycling , so if you’re in the Urban Ring of the County, you should be able to get recycling. Continue reading
Search Tool Down
My nifty new “search for homes” tool is down, but I expect it’ll be fixed shortly. Continue reading
Why Aren’t 100% of the listings in IDX?
An off-line comment in response to this post on Agent Genius sums up the argument against excluding listings from IDX very well: This is a great comment from you “isn’t IDX use saturated enough where a listing agent may have to disclose to the seller that the listing won’t be sent through IDX? … and it should be expounded on, if a copyright term is used so often that the copyright is longer valid then the point is made here; if placing a listing onto IDX is the norm then the disclosure should be that it will not appear not the other way around GREAT point. Continue reading
What’s a Beme?
Here’s the thing – more now than ever before, the brand that matters most to the real estate consumer is the value added by the individual Realtor, not the brand. (and I’ll bet I could back this up with statistics if I had the resources to pull off a survey) Of particular note regarding the current fragmentation of the real estate listings universe – (bolding mine) From silos to simultaneity . … Read more about silos and how the concept relates to MLS’ at Michael Wurzer’s FlexMLS blog, where he says , “NAR could create a non-profit that could be the ICANN for property IDs, and that would be valuable for tying together the efforts of those publishing real estate info on the web. Continue reading
