The HooK steps up this week and has a special green pull-out in addition to their normal issue. The HooK’s new site design makes it a bit more challenging for me to find their green stories directly, but thanks to a smart search set up on Yahoo, the green stories popped up in my feed reader.Has C-Ville become G-Ville?Editor’s NoteEven more on Stonehaus’ Belvedere development and even more here.Mr. GreenThe Green category on RealCentralVA.com.Some of my favorite green posts:How do you get a Green home in Charlottesville?Green Homes = Common SenseHybrid Home completely off the gridGreen BuildingFrom a story early in 2006:I was talking to somebody last week who asked me why I had gotten my EcoBroker certification, was I doing it simply to be altruistic and good for the environment?… I’d rather be on the front end of the curve and be a market leader rather than a follower.If you’re interested, here is the OMPL file to import into your feed reader (Google Reader, etc.) of many of the “green” blogs I read.
Date Archives September 2007
Another reason blog “leads” are better
The differences between leads generated from blogs and “leads” purchased through one of the various blood-sucking non-value-adding referral companies are many. Some of the most crucial differences are that blog clients:1) Are typically further along in the process of hiring an agent (whether buyer’s or seller’s representation)2) Have vetted me, at least a little bit, by reading what I have written over the past 34 months, which makes the process more efficient for both of us.3) Frequently are more aware of the current market and some of the factors impacting the market.4) They’re not “leads” per se, they’re typically conversations about whether we might work well together.4) I would never have gotten this question from a blind internet lead:(b) We’d obviously prefer to avoid dual agency if at all possible. If an appropriate listing comes up through your C21 office, though, what safeguards are in place to protect both sides?I love that this question is asked up front! Fortunately, I have an opinion on dual agency – get rid of it.All in all, the hours spent reading and writing every day are worth it for my own knowledge and ability to represent my clients.
Pulled from the comments of one of last week’s stories – Albemarle growth and appreciation
After a closer look at the VAR’s July numbers, it seems that “median price†is really not at all indicative of market trends, which seem poor and getting worse with each passing month in this area.Consider, average days on the market of 86 marked an increase of nearly 50% from the same month in 2006 and 10% from June ‘07…. Dumping massive supply into a rapidly declining market doesn’t seem to make much economic sense.And from Luke:As a real estate amateur and an intelligence professional, I know one thing for certain, the Defense Intelligence Agency is moving a sizable portion of its operations to Charlottesville, creating a significant number of high-paying jobs and likely keeping prices inflated as they have been over the past few years, so I have no fear in buying a house right now, in fact I’m building one…. In short, the Dillon rule does indeed hinder our ability to manage growth, but the county is not without tools to address these issues.For that matter, Governor Kane [sic] has mentioned a willingness to work with local governments to give them more tools to address the issue of sprawl…. If we’re going to grow (and we seem to be) we should grow in the right areas, and we should grow in a smart manner – with infrastructure as well as houses.As noted on Brian Wheeler’s site last month:For the SFD permits detailed above (last 12 months), 61.4% were in rural areas and 20.25% were in the Crozet designated growth area …
Attention Charlottesville Realtors – market your property to international clients, too
One of the key features to this type of filming, in addition to the widescreen format, is that the voice-overs are done in English, Spanish and Portugese. Charlottesville attracts a fairly large international population, due in large part to the University of Virginia as well as the cosmopolitan business climate. Ready to post your own flat rate video listing professionally narrated in English, Spanish, and Portuguese? We currently have videographers ready to film your property in Miami, Los Angeles, San Diego, Atlanta, Charlottesville, or New York City.If you’re interested, please either let me know or plan to stop by the Realtors’ Board office on Friday morning.Read more about VidListing.com here.
A foray into Albemarle politics
The opportunity to participate in the discussion of growth in Albemarle County came about recently, and after a bit of deliberation I decided to take it. Better to exercise my voice and be part of the process.MissionThe Fiscal Impact Advisory Committee (FIAC) is appointed by the Board of Supervisors (BOS) to provide advice to the Board of Supervisors on the development, implementation, and uses of the County’s official tools for measuring the fiscal impact of development. The Committee’s goal is to foster a well-informed, thoughtful, and constructive dialogue on the fiscal impact of development, thereby contributing to rational decision-making. Fiscal impact, in this context, refers to the dollar value of the public costs and revenues associated with development….ResponsibilitiesEnsure that the assumptions behind the County’s official tools of fiscal impact analysis are open to scrutiny and discussion from a cross-section of community interestsEnsure the community of the credibility of the County’s official tools of fiscal impact analysis, by providing oversight and management as the County uses its official tools of fiscal impact analysis to analyze various growth scenarios and development projectsIf anybody has insight or advice, I’m all ears.
Yet another reason to dislike Realtor.com
In order to publish my listing content on Realtor.com, which is supposed to be for the benefit of both Realtors and Move.com’s shareholders (both of whom have divergent and opposed interests) – I have to agree to Move’s Terms and Conditions, which include this nifty The professional photographs which I commission, to which I own the copyright, I am forced to relinquish the rights to:8…. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained herein, and subject to Move’s receipt of payments specified in the Order, the Product is licensed (not sold) to You by Move…. This non-exclusive license only gives You the right to use and display the units of the Product that are licensed to You hereunder in accordance with the terms hereof. You hereby agree that to the maximum extent permitted by law, You will not decompile, reverse engineer, disassemble or otherwise reduce the Product to a human-perceivable form, in whole or in part, and, except as provided for in this license, You will not copy, modify, network, rent, lease, sublicense, or otherwise distribute the Product in whole or in part.
A few links for Tuesday morning
The Contrarian Foreclosure StoryThe Power of “Yes” Lends Us a Perfect StormHow to learn from other peopleIncrease your home’s value with sweat equity (h/t: LifeHacker)Rise in Housing Prices far outpaced incomeLender’s Checks for Taxes Bounce!