A New View of West Main in Charlottesville
I had the opportunity this week to look at the back side of West Main from UVA Hospital. The Charlottesville skyline is changing a bit ... and it's not even close to being finished. A #Charlottesville view I'd not seen before. An evolving skyline. (That…
The “Quiet Period” of the Residential Real Estate Transaction
I remember well the quiet period, from when I bought my first house ... anxiety, questioning, wondering what I was doing that was inevitably going to screw things up. What is the "quiet period," or the time with little communication just before closing on a…
Recordings in the House
I remember several years ago showing a house, as we do, making honest and critical comments about the house (my folks ended up buying it), when we looked up, saw cameras, and realized we were being recorded by the sellers. We stopped talking. Being able…
Re-Posting: A New Home is More than a Hole in the Ground
As I was taking photos this morning for out-of-Charlottesville clients who are building a new home, I remembered this story from 2012. It's worth a re-post. “From the perspective of the rest of the world: one random hole in the ground. For our family on February…
Charlottesville & Albemarle Real Estate Assessments – 2017
Charlottesville & Albemarle Property taxes up. Rural conspiracy? What do real assessments mean? The following message came to me the other day Mr. Duncan: have you heard any thoughts on the recent county rural tax assessments. my land value dropped roughly 25% this year. I am…
Quick Followup on a Marked-Up Home
A couple weeks ago, I wrote about how a home is a series of marks, and those marks are memories that make the home a home. A client sent me this the other day, and I thought I'd share I was lamenting my water damaged…
Homebuyer Seminars in Charlottesville
I don't often post email forwards, but knowledge is a good thing; I've had client take these classes who have found them useful and fruitful. Piedmont Housing Alliance will be hosting a VHDA Homebuyer Class in February at Carver Rec Center at the Jefferson School…
Alexa – Where are the Sellers Moving?
A simple tip for owners of Amazon's Alexa (or Google Home) - consider pressing the "silence" button before you leave in the morning, before your house is shown. And ... require a code when ordering things from Amazon. You don't want someone coming in and…
A Home is a Series of Marks
I know which of my kids make the hole that that not-yet-sanded spackle is filling. I think I know why it's there, and I know when. That hole is part of what makes my house a home. Recently, I asked a client how she was…
NAR Says Experience Doesn’t Matter
This isn't a political post, it's one about the NAR advocating for expertise on one hand, and advocating the complete opposite with this endorsement. The National Association of Realtors, in their Endorsement of Ben Carson for HUD Secretary, throws aside the notion that experience matters.…