“What started as a fringe movement of environmental activists and hippie entrepreneurs three decades ago is now largely mainstream for companies, investors and consumers.” So says CNBC.Realtor Magazine notes:* The market for green homes is expected to rise from $2 billion to up to $20 billion over the next five years.* Standard homes are becoming increasingly green, with home owners using green products for 40 percent of their remodeling work.* Most Americans find out about green homes through word-of-mouth, followed by television and the Internet.In the Charlottesville area, there are more “green” homes everyday, but the MLS hasn’t caught up yet. For example, to find green properties in the Central Virginia area, I have to search the remarks for the words sustainable, LEED or EarthCraft. Surely this will improve over time.
Date Archives November 2007
Make sure you open all the doors
Kerri and Jason Brown discovered a secret room behind a bookcase containing a homeowner’s worst nightmare – mold. Also in the room was a handwritten note: “You found it!” What the Browns found was a mold problem so serious the previous owner was forced to move, according to the note….”Hello…. One that actually made my children very sick to the point that we had to move out,” Kerri Brown read from the letter.Not to make light of this clearly troubling situation, but – wow.
Why write for the Bloodhound?
To answer a question I have received a couple of times – Writing at The Bloodhound Blog represents an opportunity to write and speak to a larger audience than I do now. The audience for, and focus of RealCentralVA is generally contained to the Charlottesville and Central Virginia real estate market. The Bloodhound Blog is an extraordinarily well-written and read real estate blog with a large national reputation, self described as a “National real estate marketing and technology weblog written by, for and about real estate professionals.”All the arguments about the accuracy of Technorati (a search engine for blogs) aside, the Bloodhound is ranked as one of the “Top 10K” blogs (versus the still-not-too-shabby 45k ranking of RealCentralVA when there are at least 70 million blogs). It’s also a chance to have my writing and my thoughts critiqued by a much broader audience and hone my thinking, writing and reasoning in the process so as to serve my clients better.
Emerging Trends in Real Estate 2008
If you’re interested in what’s around the bend in the real estate world, have a look at Gerry Davidson’s three part series on the report.One aspect I found interesting about the report is that when ranking trends on a scale of 1 through 9, 9 was “Excellent” and 1 was “Abysmal” – a pretty powerful and descriptive word.Part 1 – A Dose of FearPart 2 – Best Bets for 2008Part 3 – Markets to WatchMost applicable to the Charlottesville market is the (easy) prediction that the greening of real estate will continue to grow.Thanks for the copy of the report, Gerry!
Albemarle’s Third Quarter Building Permit report
As noted earlier this month, building permits are down in the Albemarle County region. Now, the Third Quarter Building Report has been released.The market needs to work its way through the excess inventory. Not adding to that pile is a good start.Two notable conclusions can be drawn:1) The plan to drive development into the growth areas seems to be working (27% of permits issued were in the White Hall district in Western Albemarle)2) Fewer building permits means that the market’s focus may turn to existing housing inventory – which is a very good thing. Thanks to Brian Wheeler for putting this report together.
A big day
Honored and humbled to be sharing the stage/platform with the rest of the Bloodhound writers.This blog has long focused on the Charlottesville/Central Virginia real estate market, client representation, technology and the implementation of same in the real estate world and local politics that pertain to real estate.I welcome the opportunity to expand my reach further.Hugh Macleod has a pertinent post today in which he states:If I have noticed one thing to happen in the world of work these last twenty years, it is the massive blurring of the lines that separate work you get paid for, and work you do for free. These days, it’s not uncommon to meet people who work 30-50% of the time for free, especially among the bloggers.I write because I enjoy writing. Writing provides an outlet and a forum for some of my passions – real estate, politics, education. What price could one set on fulfillment?I hope to live up to the expectations set upon me by myself, Greg and everybody at Bloodhound.One thing is certain – my writing will, by necessity and fear of failing on a much grander scale, improve.I look forward to the opportunity.
Media Appearance 11-01-2007
From Channel 29, the local NBC afffiliate. I would be doing a disservice to my client if I didn’t note that this is the house discussed in the story.“She needs to buy a house. In order to buy that house, she needs to sell a house…. You’re seeing a lot more offers contingent on the sale of a property.â€A good, reasonable local story about the state of the housing market.