Seeing as how I come up first in this search – Condominium Investment is good in Charlottesville, VA – I ought to have an opinion…. If it is a conversion, I am more concerned with what percentage of the units have sold already than I am with a new development. Right now, there is one “student condo” targeted at University of Virginia students that looks promising, and the product they are delivering, while corporate, has proven successful elsewhere. Each client’s investments goal(s) is different and it is impossible to say either “condos are good” or “condos are bad;” each development warrants careful analysis and due diligence.
Date Archives February 2007
Local wiki comes to Charlottesville
How ’bout that? (hat tip: Dave Donohue) One (of the many) thing that differentiates Charlottesville from many markets is the connectivity and interaction of the community. I am curious to see how this local wiki grows.
Heard on CNBC this morning.
Regarding real estate and new home numbers:”Demand varies week to week and according to local markets.”
Thursday links 2-21-2007
Carnival of the GreenHow to stage your homeStats, lies and real estateHow to shrink Albemarle’s footprint – yes, Virginia, green building is smart and fiscally viable:Specifically, the board is considering tying rezoning and special-use permits to the willingness of developers to promise to build green…. Ultimately, says Lowe, change will come from a widespread shift in the mindsets of builders and homeowners regarding both the benefits and ease of green building…. (hat tip: Luxury Home Digest)Two great local organizations, the Charlottesville Venture Group and the Virginia Piedmont Technology Group, are merging…. We will have more than 300 member companies and the resources to be the preeminent private-sector advocate and catalyst for entrepreneurship and technology-based economic development in the region.
Traditional versus Internet buyers
Aren’t we at the point now where “internet advertising” is “traditional” advertising?From Broker Agent News the other day:92% of Internet buyers found their agent on a web site; 63% found them through an Internet search engine; 0% of Internet buyers found their agent through brochures, flyers, yard signs or mailers to their home (does this tell you to spend more on Internet marketing and less on print?);…You need to take most of the money you are spending on newspaper ads, brochures, glossy marketing pieces, etc., and invest it in your Online Marketing…. It will be tough not seeing your comforting listings in the paper, but think of all the money you’ll be saving! (And as more fuel for that fire, consider this: Ms. Appleton-Young’s data also show that over 70% of people 65 and older read a daily newspaper, but only 35% of 24 year olds do…. Those who regard print advertising as “traditional” may as well call themselves “antiquated.”I have said it before; if I cannot measure the effectiveness of an advertising campaign, how useful is it?
Winter Real estate Newsletter
Is finally up. I have been trying to maintain consistency with the Printing in-house has been a chore, so I am trying out the FedExKinkos store for the first time, so we’ll see how that goes. If you would like a copy, please let me know.
The MLS Coffin – one stake at a time
And this is a big one.When I was at the Virginia Association of Realtors Legislative conference a few weeks ago, I sat in on a presentation that touched on the NAR MLS working group on which I had the privilege to serve. At the table I was sitting, several of my classmates from the Leadership Academy were a bit confused – it’s hard for two people to compress months of meetings into twenty minutes – and this is the example I gave them:What if Keller Williams, Century 21 and Re/Max decided to upload their listings to Google or Zillow or Trulia rather than to their local MLS, or even better, kept them locally, but stopped sending them to Realtor.com?It is starting. This type of innovation makes me seriously consider even more a move to KW.For those of us at Trulia, we are excited to announce our strategic business agreement with Keller Williams Realty. This is the first of its kind for Keller Williams; part of their company wide initiative to provide more cost-effective, innovative online advertising opportunities to their 77,000+ brokers and agents.