Scooters in Charlottesville
Get ready for scooters, Charlottesville. Because they are coming. For some reason, I can imagine a gaggle of scooters heading into Woolen Mills. What are they? To my eye, they are souped-up motorized versions of those razor scooters kids ride. But really. Scooters have become enormously…
4 Things About Voting in Albemarle and Charlottesville on 6 November 2018
You might have heard. 6 November there's an election. Make sure you know where you're supposed to vote. Check the sample ballot before you go in. Here's the Charlottesville City sample ballot Here's the Albemarle County sample ballot You've studied the constitutional amendments, right? Right? Now's a…
As the Charlottesville Market Turns – 2018 Edition
It's going to be an interesting 2019. I noted in July of this year, (twice) Q: Is the Charlottesville Real Estate Market Turning? A: I don’t know. Yet. I’ve been saying for months that a turn may be coming, and noted it in the July monthly…
Vacant Homes for Sale in the Charlottesville Area – 2018 edition
Update 10 September Looking at the 2017 market (a very active market) for some context: In Charlottesville + Albemarle, 2,379 homes sold via the MLS. 485 of those were new construction 1,894 were resales 737 of the 1,894 - 39% - were marked as vacant.…
Process of Buying a Home is a Deliberate Process
Choosing the right home, neighborhood, part of Charlottesville or Albemarle area can be hard, time-consuming, and challenging. As I tell my clients, "you're making a decision that will affect the rest of your lives (and your kids' too, if you have them). My advice: take your time. So…
Is the Charlottesville Real Estate Market Turning?
Q: Is the Charlottesville Real Estate Market Turning? A: I don't know. Yet. I've been saying for months that a turn may be coming, and noted it in the July monthly note. And, I've been saying for years that I'll tell you in 18 months…
Mid-2018 Crozet Real Estate Market Update
I live in Crozet; it's easy and natural to focus on that micro-market. https://youtu.be/jeVedaR0Ess The first half of 2018 is behind us, and we talked about resales vs new construction, home prices, where in Crozet homes are selling, what happened with home inventory over the…
Describing Charlottesville & Crozet to a Friend – Part 2
A friend shared with me his description of the Charlottesville area that he'd sent to a friend. This is part two; part one is here, and it's quite useful and good. Reading this has been interesting for me; I look at Charlottesville through the lens of a…
Buying a House that’s “Good Enough”
There comes a time in every home search process (and often the home selling process) where one says "this is good enough." Arriving at the point of whatever you want to call it - concession, compromise, acquiescence, acceptance, or, to use a positively-connoted descriptor -…
Charlottesville Land Use – A Brief History
Jim's preface: Affordable housing in Charlottesville + Albemarle (and America) is at, or nearing, crisis stage. I love this post because I learned a lot from it. I hope you do, too. The housing crisis isn’t just about affordability—it’s about economic mobility, too Community land trusts take…