A few thoughts as I'm in Portland this week for a quasi-real estate conference. I said on Twitter Had an interesting conversation with my Lyft driver this morning. Topics he raised: - unsustainable housing market - gentrification - rental properties - unsat infrastructure - rising population/too few housing options - no good solutions. We covered a lot in 19 minutes. I felt bad for the taxi drivers. When I was there, the taxi island saw no customers. The ridesharing island at the Portland Airport had a constant stream of … [Read more...]
Opendoor, Dairy Central, Housing Expenditures
A few stories of micro and macro interest to break up the week. Chris Suarez at the Daily Progress - Dairy Central moving forward. This is going to be a transformative project on the Preston Avenue corridor. Lots going on here, and if you haven't been to the redone Shenandoah Joe's, you need to stop by. Allison Wrabel at Daily Progress - Albemarle supervisors to consider changing permitting in rural area. Albemarle's continuing struggles with managing its rural, urban, and overlapping identities. At the Big Picture - Housing & … [Read more...]
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 (relatively) very long-term resident, and as a (relatively) long-term real estate agent. A few things Realtor.com and Zillow are quite useful with their price and tax histories, sales history, which firm brokered a sale, etc. I don't often look at the home search/research process through … [Read more...]
“Nothing But Building Equity”
Remember the real estate crash? I do. Short-term thinking is a large part of how we got to the last housing-based recession. Welp. With clients over the weekend, we went into a new construction model home. When the salesperson said this, I was taken aback. "If you build in this phase, all you'll be doing is building equity, because there are more phases to go!" Said the salesperson. No. No. No. Seriously, NO. Anyone remember the last recession? Parts of the Charlottesville market still aren't out of it. Some homeowners are still … [Read more...]
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 the point of whatever you want to call it - concession, compromise, acquiescence, acceptance, or, to use a positively-connoted descriptor - satisfied - is hard. The home search process can be hard, even if you're looking at new construction in the Charlottesville area market, as you're seeking a home where you and your family will live for, usually, at least seven to ten years. Coming to the conclusion of, … [Read more...]
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 aim at rising rents Thomas Jefferson Community Land Trust Affordable Housing At Critical Stage The Global Housing Crisis What we are doing locally to address affordable housing is not working. I'm grateful for a community of very … [Read more...]
How Exactly Does Local Government Work?
tl;dr - we're going to try to learn about local government. If anyone wants to help plan and organize, please contact me. 434-242-7140 How exactly does local government work? (few people know) A few weeks ago, I wrote a story on RealCrozetVA I saw this post recently – An Adult Civics Hour and think we can do the same thing Crozet. And Albemarle. Based on the Facebook responses, we’re interested.* I’m thinking of doing this at Crozet Mudhouse to start. Maybe an initial meeting to set the stage. Topics? Maybe set a monthly … [Read more...]
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