Date Archives December 2010

Your Home’s WalkScore – Edited

in Transportation on

One of my biggest complaints is how the data for WalkScore lagged due to the Charlottesville area’s relatively small population/size/scale.

…Now you can add and remove places from the Walk Score map to make sure your neighborhood is accurate and up-to-date.

…A suggestion to homeowners in the City of Charlottesville and other walkable areas of the Charlottesville/Albemarle area: Check out the WalkScore of your home and make sure that the data is accurate and up to date.

… Because I walk the geek line just enough to ask questions: Why can’t WalkScore integrate/pull from/use the APIs of the location leaders – Foursquare Google Places Gowalla Facebook Places ( Looking for walkable homes for sale in Charlottesville and Albemarle?

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Simplifying our (Country’s) Way to Success

in Growth Politics on

It’s not often that I write here about something completely unrelated to real estate, but the following story form yesterday’s Washington Post was brilliant in both its recommendations and simplicity to reform our country.

…There is one common technique that has been used in successful legal overhauls, from Justinian’s recodification in ancient times to the Napoleonic code that is the basis of modern European civil law to the uniform commercial code adopted in the United States in the 1950s.

…But neither party, we now know after the lengthy debate on health-care reform, will take the political risk of challenging these wasteful practices.

Bringing this back to the political environment of the Central Virginia region, think about this statement in context of Charlottesville’s and Albemarle’s inability to build a road or address our water supply. (bolding mine)

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Walkability = Happiness – And why Does this Matter to Charlottesville Real Estate?

in General Real Estate on

The authors found that individuals in more walkable neighborhoods tended to have higher levels of trust and community involvement, whether that was working on a community project, attending a club meeting, volunteering, or simply entertaining friends at home. … Walkability may also enhance social capital by providing the means and locations for individuals to connect, share information, and interact with those that they might not otherwise meet. The links we found between walkability and measures of social capital in this study provide further evidence for the consideration of social capital as a key component of quality of life.” … Because this here is a Charlottesville real estate blog, I might as well include a few links to search for homes with high WalkScores: – Walkable homes in Charlottesville and Albemarle – Most walkable homes for sale in the City of Charlottesville – Walkable homes in Crozet H/T @JessicaChapin

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Four Corners Rule Versus Neighborhood Fiscal Analysis

in Buyers General Real Estate on

Foreclosures and Short Sales impact home values in the neighborhood, especially when there are 3 of them, and those three are the ONLY sales in the neighborhood in a 6 month rolling basis period of time.

…Some of the factors considered in evaluating a neighborhood’s financial health: – # of foreclosures – # of short sales – # of original owners – # of homes purchased in past two-three years – # of homes purchased in past three-five years. – Financial health of the HOA – how much cash do they have on hand? … The concept of evaluating a neighborhood goes against the “Four Corners” principle , whereby the Realtors and the sellers are responsible only for what is contained within the four corners of the subject property and this different perspective ok.

As a Buyer’s Agent, I can tell you about what is contained within the four corners of the property and can (and do with the appropriate caveats) speculate about what may happen outside those four corners.

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Albemarle County Set to Improve Two Roads

in Albemarle Charlottesville Transportation on

I’ll believe it when I see it .

…- Jarman’s Gap Road in Crozet will be widened and will get sidewalks and bike lanes – Georgetown Road in Charlottesville will get a sidewalk. And my favorite part of the article: (bolding mine) Boyd asked the board if they would consider bringing the Western Bypass back before the Metropolitan Policy Organization . The MPO has never authorized funding for construction of the road, though it has accepted $47.2 million in state and federal funding for design and the purchase of right of way .

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