Tag Archives: real-estate
Median Home Prices – Attached Homes for Charlottesville MSA
Looking back at a decade of attached home sales in the Charlottesville MSA* – Albemarle, Charlottesville, Fluvanna, Greene and Nelson – seems that the peak Scanning through these numbers clearly demonstrates several things: – High-level analyses such as those found in the Case-Shiller reports are meaningful from one perspective – that of confidence and trends. – The respective peaks for various localities were in different. Albemarle may have peaked in 2006 while Charlottesville’s was 2007. – Transactional volume matters . Look at how easily Nelson’s numbers can be skewed. – For a real analysis of how much your home or the one you may be considering buying might be worth, you absolutely, positively need an analysis specific to your home, your neighborhood, your area.
… 2001 
* There were no attached homes sold in Greene County via the Charlottesville MLS in 2001. 2002 
2003 
2004 
2005 
2006 
2007 
* There were no attached homes sold in Greene County via the Charlottesville MLS in 2001. 2008 
2009 
2010 
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What’s Next in Real Estate Technology?
This stuff fascinates me because it make for a better search experience for consumers and will eventually trickle its way to the Charlottesville market. (and Nest released a new version of our search , and my Charlottesville home search just got faster) – Lifestyle search – I want to find and live in a neighborhood with other people around my life stage – with kids, near a park, 20 minutes to one spouse’s work, walk to a coffee shop and a library, ride a bike to the other spouse’s work, close to a Trader Joe’s or a Whole Foods, with utilities that are below average in a well-built house, priced lower than the assessed value that is oriented to allow for solar panels, with high speed access, close to the Downtown Mall on a cul-de-sac. – More content creation for and by real estate people – across the spectrum – Geo.
…I want to know what’s happening in the real estate market – what people are searching for, what they’re buying, how many foreclosures are out there, how many people are buying houses with ceramic tile, how many with gray-water systems, how many off-the-grid and more.
…For example: if I put a video up of a property I’m marketing and use my primary youtube account (the easiest way to upload and share video) I can be and will be flagged for “branding” because the consumer can find me via youtube. – MLS – other websites can resize photos. … There is no excuse. – Part One – Real Estate Technology I wanted Five Years Ago is Finally Here – Interactive Floorplans – Part Two – Real Estate Technology I wanted Five Years Ago is Finally Here – Real Estate Video – Part Three – Real Estate Technology I wanted Five Years Ago is Finally Here – Paperless Transactions . – Prologue – What’s Next? Continue reading
There Are (real estate) Deals To be Had in Charlottesville
Seriously. I know of a house in Crozet (foreclosure) that sold for under $150 and will be coming on the market – flipped – in a couple weeks. Another one that was originally listed well over $700k went under contract in the low-$400′s.
Not every house is a “deal.” Not every house is going to be a “deal” (and that’s a very good thing); but they’re out there.
These are a few properties in Albemarle and Charlottesville that have had price reductions of at least 10% over the past 30 days… Continue reading…:
Vetting your Charlottesville Realtor – Like + Experience =
In a couple weeks, the Houston Association of Realtors will launch a Web application that allows consumers to see which Realtors within their chosen search area are transacting business – and which are not.
… The app is based on MLS data and will be available from the association’s highly-trafficked Website Every Realtor in the market is included, there is no opt-out The app is map-based, so consumers can see who has sold what, where, over different time periods The app may be made available to MLS organizations nationwide
…In the Charlottesville area, I see geography as less of a differentiator, niches are important, but making a career as a “specialist” would be nearly impossible – there’s no way one could be solely a ” Charlottesville condo specialist” – it could be a significant component of one’s business, but the market is just too spread out … but — combine the above with the announcement(s) from Facebook yesterday Heck, now you could see how many people Like the Realtor you may be considering hiring.
…(SIDE NOTE – This also drops Facebook in the middle of the local advertising game – you YELP, you update your facebook PROFILE automatically, I can then create an Ad based on the fact that you “liked” KFC -someone pinch me, I’m still in the dream with Hedi) People are going to freak out about this and it’s a shame – Facebook does not expose YOUR data specifically – only people who you’ve given permission to as a friend will actually see your profile and I can see this being fantastic way of really keeping in touch – how many of my friends liked “Hurt Locker” for example – that’s the next step of Facebooks evolution, it makes sense. Continue reading
The Onion Speaks – About Real Estate Signs
I Wasn’t Going To Buy This House Until I Saw The Realtor’s Headshot On The Sign Have you seen our signs ? It’s about our clients and their houses, not us. Continue reading
School Values and Housing Prices – Specifically in Albemarle County
In an effort to get my head around the numbers, I have prepared the attached spreadsheet which evaluates (to the best of my ability with the data available) , the impact of the different budget scenarios and what different property tax rate increases necessary to close the funding gap.
…At this point in the process, I don’t like trying to address a budget challenge by manipulating the tax rate, but I think the public deserves some factual information about the different scenarios and how that might impact their personal pocketbooks.
…• In the best case state funding scenario , a property tax rate of 81.9 cents would balance the budget and increase ANNUAL tax payments by $146.19 for the median priced home when compared to 2009.
…1 However, the strength of the consensus is puzzling, given the formidable empirical challenges facing any homeowner or empirical researcher seeking to answer the question carefully.2 First, good schools usually come bundled with other neighborhood qualities– such as proximity to employment, shopping and recreational conveniences and neighborhood peers. Continue reading
Nest Realty Introduces Tom’s Garden
We at Nest talk about sustainability and local food; now we are enabling others actually do something about this. … While Central Virginia is in the deep freeze at the moment, some of us are dreaming of Springtime, or more specifically, our Spring gardens and the fresh veggies they yield! With that in mind, the Nest team is thrilled to introduce Tom’s Garden , an initiative to support and fund Community Gardening in the Charlottesville-Albemarle community. The agents at Nest, in addition to sharing a profession, share a commitment to our community, an interest in the local food movement and ecology, and a firm conviction that community gardens enhance quality of life. Continue reading
Walkability – More than a Fad
“For the typical metropolitan area, each additional point of Walk Score was associated with a $700- to $3,000- increase in home values, after controlling for other observable factors. To give you an idea of what kind of difference that makes in the marketplace, we looked at the difference in home values between a typical house that had the 50th percentile Walk Score, compared to an otherwise identical house that had the 75th percentile Walk Score. Going from the average level of walkability to the 75th percentile raised the value of the median house by between $4,000 and about $34,000, depending on the market.”
…Even more on walkability from the New York Times : REAL estate agents often chant the mantra “location, location, location,” which essentially means “find a home in a well-kept neighborhood with good schools and a low crime rate.”
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