Date Archives October 2005

Exactly what our region needs – more high end homes.

From today’s DP – Greene County supervisors on Tuesday opened the door for a new high-end neighborhood in Ruckersville….  The 40 new one- and two-story houses likely will cost between $430,000 and $450,000 – a price range that would cover most county service costs, developer Barry Dofflemyer said.  In addition, the company will give the county $2,000 in proffers for each house built….  As for the proffers, Dofflemyer doubled the amount per home from $1,000 to $2,000.This was interesting and pertinent regarding the impending Albemarle County BoS elections.Greene likely will be the home for most of Dofflemyer’s future projects, he said, because Albemarle County has become a difficult place for a small developer to work.Where do you think these new homeowners will work?

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Google Scares me.

Inman News – Real Estate News and Advice for Buyers, Sellers & Investors:What is Google up to?  A screenshot of what appears to be a new Google service in the works called Google Base appeared on a Dutch blogger’s site, Seweso.com….  On Monday, another blogger reported discovering a new Google subdomain, base.google.com, though nothing appears at that address today….  The interesting part for real estate is that the screenshot shown on the Dutch blogger’s site shows a page where the user enters information about a real estate listing.This kind of scares me, from an industry point of view.

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Why not?

Politics is a dirty business, one that can cause one to vacate one’s principles, beliefs and basic good intentions for the sake of placating donors and the constant urge to win re-election.  Politics, in many circles, equals power.

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It’s working!

Today, as part of a larger post, I received a little bit of recognition from Cvillenews.com – Jim Duncan provides a great example of how a blog can be beneficial to its author and to the community….  Now, if you asked me to name three real estate agents in the area, I don’t doubt that I’d name him.  The few hundred subscribers to the Charlottesville Blogs RSS feed may well do the same, as would whatever number of people read his site regularly.  The benefit to me is that I now have a sense of area real estate — I understand what the trends are, how we’re impacted by national market changes, and I think I get how real estate fits into the large picture in Charlottesville.Going from “never heard of” to “one of three” is pretty good, and frankly feels kind of good.

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New listing in Grayrock

I just put this beautiful home on the market in Crozet.  I was competing against two other companies; it feels good to earn something good business.This wonderful home was a multiple winner in the 2004 Parade of Homes.  Four bedrooms, front office, front and rear staircases, gracious entry foyer, hardwood floors thorughout, rear patio, level entryway, two car garage, upgraded appliances, laundry on main level, dual-zone heating and cooling, OUTSTANDING eat-in kitchen with granite countertops, cherry cabinets and so much more …Visual Tour link is here.Google MapInformation at my website.

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Fuel prices’ impact on “where to buy” decisions

if you live an additional 10 miles away from work, that means that (most likely), two cars are driving an additional 20 miles a day – an extra 40 miles per day….  —Assuming gas remains around $3/gallon, and that a vehicle gets 20 mpg, a family would be paying at least an additional $6 per day in fuel costs.  Using these assumptions (not bad for an English major!), that additional 10 miles further equals an additional $180/month and an extra $2160/year….  If you have kids, factor in the soccer practices, tae-kwon-do, dance lessons, etc. and living closer makes more sense than ever – now if one can just find one of Dennis Rooker’s $225k townhouses …

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Candidate interviews at Charlottesville Tomorrow

In their words – This will be as close to a fireside chat as you can get with the candidates before election day!  If you get to vote in a competitive race, these interviews may have just the information you need to help you make an informed vote.If you are planning to vote in the November 8 election (and you should be), find the time to listen to these interviews and inform yourself….  Listen to the responses regarding Old Trail and whether the “affordable housing” aspects of this development are valid….  I fail to see defined how does the Albemarle County BoS (or any government for that matter) plans to ensure that 15% of the homes at Old Trail will be “affordable.”

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