Date Archives August 2007

Mid-Year numbers for Charlottesville Realtors

I’ve noted Realtor (in)activity before – January ’06 and January ’07 as well as when the Minnesota Association of Realtors suggested some Realtors seek a new profession.So far this year, 105 Realtors have had more than 10 sides.333 have had more than 5 sides.286 have had between two and four transactions and 206 have had one transaction this year.  Very few – 35 – have had more than 20 sides so far this year.The median sales price in the area is about $275k; for each transaction, one might “take home” about $3k (you can see the math here); how long until the “agent bubble” bursts?*A side is either a buying transaction or a listing transaction.*The top Realtors remain mostly those affiliated with new construction, condo conversions or teams of Realtors.

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Soccer schedules, local elections and affordability – 08-15-2007

noted that the city’s goal is to have 15 percent of units in a project be reserved at affordable rates, or a commensurate amount of money donated to a nonprofit.C-ville’s “Best Of” mapped out; alas, there was no “Best Realtor” category.Get ready for the surge of election coverage….  A lot of money is being raised and spent.You can’t go back home again, especially apparently to CrozetUVA’s soccer schedules have been released….  Add the Men’s Soccer schedule to your calendar by downloading this and the Women’s Soccer schedule by downloading this.  (my first attempt at doing this, so do so at your own peril 🙂 )Homebuyers with good credit find it harder to get a loanTaking your house public (!)

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Real estate professionals better start saving

In short, anybody associated with the real estate industry will have to put down at least a 10% down-payment and will be facing much greater scrutiny on their loans.  Verifying income is something that frankly should have been done all along; but shouldn’t somebody who is able to document solid income for two or three years be able to borrow higher amounts?From the broker who sent this to me -So, Jim, my problem is with the discrimination against Real Estate professionals….  Fortunately, we maintain multiple relationships, so we have other home equity solutions for clients.Michael, Brian, Dan – any thoughts?Every day brings a new development….  One question I’m working on is this – what impact will the curtailing of the easy money have on home prices?Real Estate Professionals – Applies to InterFirst CES OnlyLoans to Real Estate Professionals are subject to the following:- The maximum CLTV permitted is 90%.- Stated income and/or stated assets are not permitted.- The borrower’s income, assets and employment must be verified.- Real Estate Professionals, as used in this policy, include:- Real Estate Brokers, Real Estate Agents, and employees of Real Estate Brokers or Agents- Property Managers and employees of property managers/management companies- Home Improvement Dealers and contractors and their employees- Home Builders and General Contractors, and their employees- Real Estate Investors (Defined as any person who owns more than two properties)- Mortgage Broker or any employee of a mortgage broker.- Principals, officers and employees of any mortgage lender (excludes national banks).- Title company principals, managers, or employees.- Real Estate Appraisers or any employees of real estate appraisers or appraisal management companies.

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How are San Francisco and Charlottesville alike?

There are many similarities – very liberal governments, tech-friendly – but the most fun one right now is that the City of Charlottesville (well, only the Mayor) wants to “ban the sale of water in plastic water bottles,” á la San Francisco.  Is it so hard to buy a Nalgene bottle?The NYTimes might have a pertinent article, but alas it’s locked behind their $5 wall.

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A macro view versus the reality of million dollar homes in Charlottesville

Somehow I missed this story on CNBC earlier this year:In this university town, there are about 30 homes priced at $1 million or more, if you’re in the market to buy….  “Every window, and there are a lot of them, is a scenic overlook.”The house we visited is about 20 minutes from downtown Charlottesville and sits on ten acres….  It’s home to the University of Virginia.Expanding on and clarifying stories such as this is one of the goals of this blog.Using data from today:- There are currently 126 single-family homes in Charlottesville/Albemarle with asking prices over one million dollars.  – 24 of the 126 are marked as being new construction.- In the City of Charlottesville, there are six homes currently on the market with asking prices of at least a million dollars- 43 properties have sold for more than $900k and 34 have sold for more than one million dollars in Charlottesville/Albemarle so far this year; eight of the forty three were identified as new construction.The point of this article is not to find fault with CNBC’s reporting, but to demonstrate the limitations of such a broad overview of any particular real estate market.

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