"Is it a sellers' market?" A potential client asked that question recently, specifically after we toured three neighborhoods in the immediate urban ring of Charlottesville. Each of the neighborhoods is in the County of Albemarle (meaning, County schools, police, fire, taxes, etc), but they are considered to be "Charlottesville" (22901, 22903 zip codes) As I instinctively answered the question, I thought the answers were interesting, and worth sharing. Neighborhood One Seller's market. Great location, high demand, short but consistent … [Read more...]
Biking to Home Inspections
Now that we have a Nest outpost in Crozet (NestWest, we like to call it), I'm hoping to be able to ride my bicycle to more home inspections. Every mile counts. (even China gets it) A great day when I'm able to ride to a home inspection. #crozet #lovecrozet #realestateisfun A post shared by Jim Duncan (@jimduncan) on Jun 27, 2017 at 12:35pm PDT Fingers crossed. … [Read more...]
Comfortable Price Point + What Could Possibly Go Wrong?
This is the advice I give buyer clients, in this or any market Buy a home where the monthly payment + operating costs is comfortable. And be prepared to live there for at least 4-5 years. A client of mine defined "comfortable price point" as well as I've heard "I want to buy a home where, if I'm out to dinner with five or six friends and feel like picking up the tab, I can, without really thinking about it." Perfect. And then there's this via Mortgage News Daily: Fannie Mae has announced changes in underwriting for loans submitted to … [Read more...]
PSA to Home Buyers in Charlottesville – Beware Fake Wiring Instructions
1 - Watch out for wire fraud. 2 - Confirm everything. 3 - Question things that don't seem quite right. 4 - We have seen and heard of this scam at some of our Nest offices (one of the benefits of having a growing reach). 5 - Read the whole story. From Minnesota: (thanks, Erin for the heads up about this story!) A Minnesota couple lost more than $200,000 in a sophisticated email scam authorities say is sweeping the country. Email records reviewed by KARE 11 reveal the scam may have connections overseas. “People in other … [Read more...]
4 Things about Seasonal Slowing of the Charlottesville Market
I've referred to this chart so many times in the past few days, I thought I'd write another post. (most of) The Charlottesville real estate market remains highly active. But ... Amazingly, we are entering the seasonally and expected less active part of the market. That green bump at the end is likely representative of new construction closings- 70 of the 296 December 2016 closings were new construction; 50 of the 256 in November 2016 were new. If you're thinking about buying in 2017, figure out your market, and look at … [Read more...]
Did You Know about the Hole in the Wall?
Every house has them ... those little things that make a house unique, sometimes good, sometimes not so good. Ideally, every transaction would be so easy, unstressful, remarkably friendly and amicable that the seller and buyer would meet and talk about these home's idiosyncrasies. The Latent Gas Much of the house runs on gas, gas provided by liquid propane. The gas range is in the kitchen, the gas fireplace is in the living room, and the liquid propane tank is about 50 feet away. As my seller told me (and I told the buyer's agent) - … [Read more...]
Rural vs Urban Life
I love getting messages from friends and readers. What follows is an exchange with a particularly thoughtful client discussing rural and urban life in the Charlottesville area. (my words are italicized) * Actual urban living in Charlottesville is becoming rather unaffordable for many folks. Suburbia is not urban living. When I moved, I had the choice between urban and rural living. If I had wanted urban I would have gone to an actual city, like Richmond or DC. The reason I am here, and many others are drawn here as well, is the … [Read more...]
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