Today’s release of Albemarle County’s citizen survey notes a few interesting facts: (Summary) (Full report – 142 pages!)We as a people have a lot of growing to do…. How we grow, where we grow, and where we locate job centers will determine what type of quality of life we are going to have.Regarding Quality of Life: in spite of the challenges our County has, the QOL factor remains quite high…. Not bad.**What we need is a regional study of the same scope and clarity. What follows are highlights from the report:Citizens don’t seem to recognize the importance of tourism to our area.Top 5Bottom 5Like it or not, tourism brings people here. Sure, some of them purchase homes, but most come, spend money and leave…. Couldn’t these all be wrapped under the heading of “Manage Growth”?All in all, that the County 1) does this survey and 2) it’s so comprehensive and publicly accessible are extraordinary, in my opinion. This page seems to sum up citizens’ views quite succinctly – Services are important…. Ah well, such is life.To put these growth trends in perspective, look at these two charts, courtesy of CensusScope: As usual, cvillenews has a great discussion on this.
Posts Published by Jim Duncan
Out of area lenders
If only clients would listen to me.When I advise my clients to use a lender whom I know and trust, it’s not that I have any special ties, receive kickbacks, or anything else underhanded or shady. It’s because I am looking out for the best interests of my clients.Picture this – client comes in pre-approved by an out-of-the area lender…. In spite of my concerns to my client but client has already started the process and does not want to start over. Lender asks for my recommendations for attorney/title company, appraiser, etc. I consult with my client to ensure that he approves, and proceed…. Hopes and dreams have been smashed because an incompetent, unknown lender does not have any reason to work harder, does not have any relationships to maintain, has no concerns re accountability. There will always be another internet lead.I knew things would be un-recoverable with this particular lender when I called one afternoon and was told that “she’s at lunch.”… Not the answer one wants to hear when clients’ concerns and lives are affected.*I have done transactions with out of state and out of area lenders before successfully…. The difference between out of state and local is simple – the local firms are staffed by people into whose eyes I can look.
Thursday links 12 October 2006
Should municipalities provide wireless? As we become a higher-density society, this may become more and more of an attractive option.Tall buildings coming to the City of Charlottesville! Tall, at least, by our standards – 9 stories.Six great blog articlesIs Albemarle County growing too fast? A full post on this as soon as the study is released.The FTC’s release today:FTC Charges Real Estate Groups with Anticompetitive Conduct in Limiting Consumers’ Choice in Real Estate Services300 million.Three hundred million is also a discomfiting reminder of a nation that, on its east and west coasts, at least, is running noticeably low on elbow room. More humanity is stirring up more traffic, more sprawl, more rules against growth, more protests against anti-growth rules, and more of the greenhouse gas emissions that cause global warming.We are young. Nearly 250 years old. We have a lot of growing to do – in many, many ways. Are we sustainable?What will these new condos do to the property values of the Belmont Lofts?
Hard or soft?
How does one define “soft landing” or “hard landing” when describing the housing market? No more than x percentage of foreclosures? How long after the market is going back up can we reassess and determine what type of “landing” we had?
Reasons why this market is better
1) Less pressure on buyers.2) Buyers have time to consider spending a quarter of a million dollars. (and more and less)3) Less greed.4) Patience can be rewarded.5) The madness has subsided.
RSS comes to the unwashed masses
Get ready! RSS is coming to the rest of the world via Internet Explorer 7. (those of us with Firefox, Macs, et.al. have been enjoying the glories of RSS for some time now) I can’t wait for the virii that make their way to PCs via RSS.Now, I just have to find some sucker willing participant to let me borrow their Windows box to test it out. :)Seriously, this will be a landmark moment for RSS, as RSS moves from an emerging technology to one that will hopefully become seamless, invisible to most and an option for information/content delivery.
The Autumn Newsletter is up
Publishing these newsletters is time-consuming, frustrating and ultimately worthwhile. This month marks a big step. I am no longer going to be mailing out the newsletter; it will be entirely online, save for those who email me and choose to receive a hard copy. Please email if you would like a copy.