Posts tagged Charlottesville

What is “Usual and Customary” in Charlottesville? – Part 2

in Albemarle Charlottesville General Real Estate on

Ipswich, Waterfront, Ipswich Campus, The Big Question Mark Sculpture

Part 2 of 2. Part 1 is here.

Continuing the “what is usual and customary” question and answer series …

What’s “normal” in the Charlottesville real estate market? It’s a question that’s asked of me by buyers coming from other markets (agents, too) and sellers who haven’t sold a house before (or for many years). Note: what you see on HGTV is not what is “usual and customary” in the Charlottesville market. (or any market on Planet Earth).

“Usual and customary” is always changing. Radon inspections weren’t usual and customary a couple years ago; now they are. Heck, buyer agency wasn’t usual and customary 15 years ago.

Q: — Who attends the home inspection? Appraisal? Termite/Radon inspections?

A: A buyer’s agent attends all of these, with the home inspection being far more important for them to be onsite than for the termite or radon inspections. Meeting the appraiser can be tricky – sometimes if the appraiser has a lockbox key and MLS access, we never get the call to schedule. I try to meet all appraisers onsite, as I like to pick their brains about what they’re seeing in the market as they see the market through a different lens than I do.

Q: Recording and possession. Is recording done the same day as closing? Are keys transferred when closing docs are signed or when transaction is recorded?

A: Usually recording and possession happens on the same day, although I advise my buyers to not have a moving truck on the front lawn the afternoon of closing … I’ve had this happen, something went wrong and many tears were shed, curse words flew, phone calls made and a few nights in a hotel for the buyer highlighted why I advise what I do. Frequently the keys are given to the buyer at closing, with strict instructions to not enter the property until recordation has occurred.

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Have a Favorite Charlottesville Food Truck?

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The number of food trucks in Charlottesville seems to be growing every day. When last I wrote about them in 2011, there weren’t quite so many. Now, there are way more. I see them all over Charlottesville and frequently at Starr Hill in Crozet, but I tend to either not have the time to stop or I see the food trucks before or after they’re serving. But they intrigue me.

Life would be easier if all of the food trucks in Charlottesville had twitter accounts (here’s a list of the ones I found who are on Twitter) – better yet, if they’d update their twitter accounts and if someone would do a food trucks map …

Thanks to @CorcoranGroup, I’ve created a Foursquare list to which we can all contribute. (Social media is great when it works; thanks Matthew)

After the break is a non-comprehensive list of the food trucks in the Charlottesville area, plus a Storify that led to the list. If I’m missing one, please let me know.

What do you think? Have a favorite?

Interesting, two Charlottesville places are trying to raise money on Kickstarter for their food truck offerings – Blue Ridge Pizza and The Flat Creperie – both of which offer delicious food. (I pledged a little bit to each as well)

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What is “Usual and Customary” in Charlottesville? – Part 1

in Albemarle Charlottesville General Real Estate Stupid Real Estate Questions - AKA: What are the questions you think you should know but have never asked? on
Question Mark Graffiti


Part 1 of 2.

What’s “normal” in your market may not be (and probably isn’t) normal in the Charlottesville real estate market.

So what’s “normal” in the Charlottesville real estate market? It’s a question that’s asked of me by buyers coming from other markets (agents, too) and sellers who haven’t sold a house before (or for many years). Note: what you see on HGTV is not what is “usual and customary” in the Charlottesville market. (or any market on Planet Earth).

“Usual and customary” is always changing. Radon inspections weren’t “usual and customary” a couple years ago; now they are. Heck, buyer agency wasn’t usual and customary 15 years ago.

Tina, a colleague in the Nest Blacksburg office, asked a few questions and naturally I felt the answers would be well-served to be posted here, particularly for buyers moving to the Charlottesville area and for sellers who may be moving to other market and not have relevant experience selling a home in our market. Answers are mine.

Q: Do agents use a standard contract? If so, is it the VAR (Virginia Association of Realtors) contract, one provided by your Realtor Association, or a combination of both?

A: Most Realtors in the Charlottesville area use the VAR contract for almost all of our forms, including home inspection, radon etc. We tend to craft specific addenda as needed.

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JM Stock + Provisions

A Great Addition to Charlottesville – JM Stock + Provisions

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This is the type of place that makes Charlottesville a cool and great place to live – local food and people, beautiful space and wonderful service.

A friend alerted me to the new butchers on West Main the other day – JM Stock Provisions + Supply. Today I stopped in for some bacon, and had a great conversation with Matt and Alex, the proprietors. Genuine, nice guys who know what they’re doing. As Chip on Yelp said, “JM Stock is what a store should be.”

I’ll be back – for more bacon and more conversation to learn about what these guys do.

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Another Student Housing Complex on West Main?

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West Main Street’s evolution continues. A third student housing complex may be coming. You know what would be a great addition to West Main if they’re planning to bring over 1000 bedrooms to that area in the next 12 months? Innovative bike lanes.

For some background, I wrote abut West Main’s evolution in October of last year and September of this year.

Charlottesville is getting denser. Let’s hope infrastructure is part of the planning – and implementation – of said density.

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Sell Now or Wait Until Spring?

in Albemarle General Real Estate Sellers on
flowers have the funniest names

Should I try to sell now or wait until spring?

Therein lies the question as we enter the autumn and winter seasons in Charlottesville. This is the time of year when sellers planning to put their homes on the market in the spring start the process of getting their homes ready for the spring market.

Jonathan Miller pointed out a great article in a New York publication that neatly aggregates some very good responses to this question – “should I sell now or wait?” – all of which are summarized essentially by my default answer of “It Depends.”

Whether you sell now or wait depends on your goals, your flexibility, your timelines, your lives …

A few things to consider:

– The market is seasonally slowing right now – fewer homes are coming on the market and fewer homes are going under contract. As a buyer this means less selection, as a seller this means less competition.

– If you decorate your home for the holidays, be prepared to re-take photos after the holidays … few things date a home’s time on market like Christmas photos.

– What’s the market like for your home right now? What’s it likely to be in January-March? What is your competition likely to be? Existing homes? New construction?

– Will the market for your home be stronger in the spring?

A few questions to ask yourself when debating whether to put your home on the market now or in the spring:

– If you sell now, where will you go?

– Where do you want to live?

– What happens if you can’t sell but find a place you want to purchase?

– What do you have to do to get your home ready for the market? Is it a short list or a long one?

– The holidays are by definition disruptive; are you willing to add “trying to sell a home” to the disruptions?

– Are you already looking for homes? Here’s a few tips to search smarter for homes in Charlottesville.

My thoughts –

– Talk to a lender now, if you need one.

– Talk to a good real estate broker now to help you get a firm understanding of what your marketing strategy and price should look like

Above all, do what’s going to be most advantageous to you, while still maintaining a semblance of sanity. After all, we’re taking about your home; marketing and selling a home is by definition disruptive. Do what you can to minimize the stress and disruption.

Questions? Ask me . I’m doing quite a bit of consulting right now with sellers who are looking to put their homes on the market in Spring 2014.

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Charlottesville’s Walkscore – Not Bad on the Whole

in Charlottesville Transportation on

As a City, Charlottesville has a Walk Score of 57, but neighborhoods close to the city center are much more walkable.

Walkability, in addition to generally having a positive effect on housing values, seems to lead to happier people as well.

If you haven’t seen Nextdraft, you should.

Are you trying to be more happy? If so, you might want to consider getting out of your car. According to Charles Montgomery, author of Happy City, we tend to be happier in places where we take to the streets and interact with each other. “As much as we complain about other people, there is nothing worse for mental health than a social desert. The more connected we are to family and community, the less likely we are to experience heart attacks, strokes, cancer and depression. Connected people sleep better at night. They live longer. They consistently report being happier.” Here are the secrets of the world’s happiest cities.

Food for thought.

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