(Urban) Planning for Self-Driving Cars
I don't know the answers, but it's worth the conversation and awareness. How are Charlottesville/Albemarle/Central Virginia planning for self-driving cars? They're coming. Uber swallows self-driving truck startup Otto for $680 million Columbus’ smart city win may lead to autonomous trucks Local smart city planners want big…
HOA Docs Have some Interesting Things
Saw this story today, "EL DORADO HILLS -- An El Dorado Hills subdivision still has a “whites only” occupancy rule on the books." And remembered (I wrote about this in 2012) this clause from a Charlottesville neighborhood: This particular document was written in 1972. Nineteen. Seventy.…
Monday Reading – AirBnB, Smart Homes, Affordable Housing
"Can I AirBnB this?" is a question a lot more of my clients are asking. Everyone wants to tax AirBnB. Here's how to apply to be taxed at Charlottesville's site. Albemarle County are considering (they will) taxing AirBnb. I wish they would date their documents. Interesting…
Fun Friday
My lead quote in this month's note: Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it. ~ Ferris Bueller
Killing Blog Comments – A Very Tempting Thought
No one comments anymore. I'm tempted to follow NPR's lead, and remove comments on RealCentralVA. As they noted, naturally, on Twitter: Significant stat on comment retirement: Only .003 percent of visitors posted even once a month over three months. As the web has evolved and…
Local Journalism Matters
I couldn't do what I do in real estate (or in the community) without local journalism. Without Charlottesville Tomorrow, we would be a far, far less informed community. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bq2_wSsDwkQ If you can, help support Charlottesville Tomorrow. (I have)
Monthly Note August 2016
Last month's note was fun; this one should be, too. Ask for the note here (it's easy!) Value & Innovation in Real Estate - Part 2 Slack Owning it (one of my favorite stories) Market update Last month on the blogs Things I'm reading.
Two Opinions on Growth
The Daily Progress have printed two editorials on growth in the Charlottesville - Albemarle (CharlAlbemarle) region. Take a few minutes to read them both. First, from Kyle Redinger: Land-use policies often harm those most in need Next, from Morgan Butler: Albemarle must maximize growth areas, update policies to provide…
Buy a home, Not an investment
Just putting this here so I can refer to it in 6 years. Buy a home as a home first, as an investment second. (unless you're buying it strictly as an investment). From the Washington Post "Lawrence Yun, chief economist of the National Association of…
Value and Innovation in Real Estate – Part 1
The following is from my July Monthly Note. Part 2 coming in August via the note. Curious? Sign up here and I'll send you next month's note. To an outsider, real estate practice is confounding,occasionally infuriating, and archaic. Imagine how you'd feel if you were an…