Very bad news for personal property rights. Expect more commentary/feedback on this ruling in the next few days.As a result, cities now have wide power to bulldoze residences for projects such as shopping malls and hotel complexes in order to generate tax revenue.From the Washington Post.
Date Archives June 2005
New commuter rail service?
They hope to see the Virginia Railway Express, or VRE, extend its service to Charlottesville. From WINA.Not a bad idea, particularly in light of the fact that Amtrak service may be stopping.I think that in general, more efficient, non-auto transportation is a good thing. But how would our market be affected if more Northern Va and DC residents moved here to commute to DC?
Redistricting fallout
The Albemarle County schools redistricting committee is taking criticism from parents and even one of its own members who say the body was unresponsive to residents’ concerns and spent too much time bickering.No kidding – the redistricting process is inefficient and upsets a lot of people?The recommendations, however, are the work of a committee that spent months talking about ways to fill an elementary school that is no longer slated for construction. Southern Urban Elementary, scheduled to open in 2007, was abandoned for the near future after the Capital Improve-ments Plan budget came in $21 million less than anticipated. Should they not have at least contracted on a piece of property prior to planning to build on it?
Got my Rolling Stones tickets today
Whoo-hooo. Even better, Trey Anastasio will be opening.
More on interest only loans
From the SFgate.com -Interest-only loans accounted for about 31 percent of all new mortgages last year, but David Lareah, chief economist with the National Association of Realtors, says he is more worried about option ARMs than interest-only loans….As I tell all of my clients, think of your housing purchase as your home – a place to live, rather than simply as an investment. Keep your perspective and your expectations in check, and you will usually be fine.
Slow blogging this week.
My mom, Betty Duncan is out of town this week, so I am covering her business as well as my own…. lots of news happening in the City and County … anybody want to submit a story?
It’s not always about the money
Within a month of putting her two-bedroom house in San Francisco on the market recently, homeowner Linda Gao had five offers, each one above her asking price of $699,000. So before accepting the most-attractive bid, she threw in an extra condition: If you want to buy my house, you have to feed the squirrels….The sellers, Robert Mode and his wife, Lisa, say that because they had more than one bidder, they could afford to weigh factors besides the final price…. (The Modes accepted Ms. Love’s offer, which was $6,100 above the asking price but $2,000 below the highest bid.)This article was published in the WSJ last week but is now free on the Realestatejournal.