Disclosing Flooding in Virginia, Sort of
Virginia is a buyer beware Commonwealth. Yes, there is the mandatory disclosure to disclose "repetitive floods" -- "repetitive risk loss" means that two or more claims of more than $1,000 were paid by the National Flood Insurance Program within any rolling 10-year period, since 1978"…
Who Knew HOAs Could be Progressive? No Woodstoves?
No woodstoves in your neighborhood? Woodstoves. No woodstove (including free-standing and fireplace insert) shall be installed, maintained or used on any Lot. Read the HOA packages, folks. My clients found this when they read the HOA docs. There's often some interesting things in homeowner association…
Climate Change and Insurance — A Charlottesville Insurance Perspective
I've written about climate change and real estate markets quite a lot. I know the real estate side of this world very well. I tangentially know the homeowners insurance world, and read a lot about it. So I asked an old friend and insurance agent,…
14 Years Later, Real Estate Commissions Have Shifted
We've been thinking and talking about the real estate lawsuits for years. The first of many have now concluded, and real estate commissions are changing. How? We don't yet know. Ramifications? Still unknown. Right now, we have lots and lots of questions. I know this…
Charlottesville Area Market Update – October 2023 | Low(er) Inventory, Stable(ish) Prices
The Charlottesville area real estate market continues to plod along, with few significant changes as interest rates continue to rise higher and higher. A few highlights from the Charlottesville Area Association of Realtors' most recent market report.* Sales activity remains sluggish in the CAAR region…
October 2023 Charlottesville Real Estate Reddit AMA – Buyer Letters, Market Updates, and More
Repurposing content is useful. My third Charlottesville Real Estate Reddit Ask Me Anything (AMA) was objectively, informative (I learned some things), timely, and fun. I'm posting the initial post here, as well as a few of the discussion threads -- there were a lot of…
Quick Charlottesville Market Stats – 9 October 2023
With respect to today's Charlottesville real estate market, 2022 is irrelevant. First and second quarter 2023 are equally irrelevant. What matters is what is happening right now. With that, a few stats that I'm putting out, with the question -- what real estate market stats…
Jim’s Note | Misspellings, Thanks, Uncertainty, and a Consistently Nuanced Market | Note Archives – August 2023
Archives of my subscription-only monthly notes. This is for August 2023. Interested in not waiting a few days to read it, and want it straight to your email? Subscribe here. For the re-posts here on the blog, I don’t do much formatting/changing as I’m more…
Hiding Vultures, Get a HELOC, and Moving Reasons | Monthly Note Archives September 2023
Archives of my subscription-only monthly notes. This is for September 2023. Interested in not waiting a few days to read it, and want it straight to your email? Subscribe here. For the re-posts here on the blog, I don’t do much formatting/changing as I’m more…
Are People Moving to the Charlottesville Area Due to Climate Change?
I'd argue that the answer to the question - "Are people moving to Charlottesville due to climate change?" is -- I think it's a factor that more and more of my buyer clients are articulating as a contributing factor when considering where to move. Have…