TJ: Founding Father of Sprawl?
Who knew? As a writer, philosopher and leader, Jefferson was able to hard-wire an anti-urban bias into the culture of the United States. Consider the U.S. Constitution. What power does it give to cities and towns? None, nada, zip. In fact, the Constitution doesn't even…
Portland as “the” example?
But for what? Portland is often used as "the" example for how to manage growth effectively and efficiently. I usually read this blog and post it in my little sideblog, but this warrants further comment. The following link is well-researched, cited and presented. I look…
Great post on housing valuation
Merv has an outstanding post this afternoon. Read the whole thing. - TAX ASSESSMENTS HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH THE MARKET VALUE OF A HOME - APPRAISALS HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH THE MARKET VALUE OF A HOME - CMA'S HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH…
Staging homes
Staging a home - more and more this is becoming an absolute must. Buyers now have more options than they have had in some time, so Sellers must actually do some work to prepare their homes for multiple showings. The property I am marketing now…
New listings
We have put several new properties on the market in the past several days, in part to hopefully take advantage of the upcoming Match Day, when Medical Residents find out where they will be attending school for the next several years. Crozet (17-20 minutes to…
Affordable Housing
This editorial in the WP lays out the workforce housing situation quite well. One thing the author does not do is identify solutions, beyond calling for government subsidies. Having done the math, Lerner, like other developers, feels little incentive to build large quantities of smaller,…
Local housing market review
The DP has two interesting articles David Hendrick provides a good analysis of the local market and its prospects for the upcoming year. Charlottesville is unique, for a variety of reasons. One of which is - "Charlottesville is a destination area," said Casey Dawkins, director…
A negative Zillow review
I didn't think it would happen. Someone realizes that pricing homes is part objective data analysis, part subjective analysis. Zillow provides a good starting point and a good "ballpark" number. Replacing an expert? Not yet. I will use it from time to time to know…