And they spend nearly eight minutes on my site.
Date Archives January 2008
The Wall Street Journal gets it right on commissions
At first glance, it seems like the seller pays them, since most are paid at closing from the commission costs that the seller pays, just as in the past…. note: and the buyers are the ones getting the loan) The typical real-estate commission ranges between 5% and 6%, split between the buyer and seller agents. Since the median price of an existing home is currently $208,400, that means a buyer is effectively paying between $5,210 and $6,252 for representation in a typical transaction.The buyer’s agents who advertise their services as “free” seem to be attempting to fool someone – themselves, their clients or both.Who can blame them, though? That’s the way it’s always been, so why change?From the NAR Code of Ethics:Standard of Practice 12-2 REALTORS®may represent their services as “free†or without cost even if they expect to receive compensation from a source other than their client provided that the potential for the REALTOR®toobtain a benefit from a third party is clearly disclosed at the same time.
Sorry, you can’t use that fireplace
Regulating wood burning fireplaces in certain localities.In any locality with a population density of greater than 1,000 persons per square mile, the locality may by ordinance regulate the use of wood burning fireplaces in any portion of the locality where such use may constitute a nuisance to adjacent residences. Such ordinance shall not apply to any dwelling that does not have an adequate source of heat without burning wood.See the bill at Richmond Sunlight…. Consider also that the data is from the 2000 Census and Virginia’s population has increased by more than 630,000 citizens since then.”Virginia is increasingly becoming an urban state. The combined population living in Northern Virginia, Richmond and Tidewater is now at 5.3 million, or roughly seven out of 10 Virginians,” Spar said.There is a reason they say that no one is safe when the General Assembly is in session.Link to the map at GeoCommons.Huge thanks to Bill at GeoCommons.
Three biggest stories in the past 7 days
Buyer’s Agent sued by Buyer – if the agent really didn’t provide comps to the buyer, my opinion changes entirely. There’s absolutely more to the story, but come on.Real estate blogger sued for $25 million.FBI is investigating lenders – The government investigating for fraud just seems ironic to me; something about a pot, a kettle and the color black.More are sure to come.
“A” is a pretty good grade, no?
and that means 99% are not. Not to diminish the very real problems that exist, but 99% is not terrible…. It’s easy to see the “sky is falling” headline (and the sky is falling for many). It’s harder to see the less-dramatic positive news.
The market is working it out
As we knew it would. YouWalkAway.com. Wow.
Albemarle County property assessments are out
Witness today’s Daily Progress article; getting ahead of the curve is valuable.The average reassessment increases or decreases, by magisterial district, are:- Rio: .81 percent- Jack Jouett: .43 percent- Rivanna: .57 percent- Samuel Miller: minus 1.18 percent- Scottsville: 1.4 percent- White Hall: minus .79 percent- Town of Scottsville: minus .46 percent.The County’s website has not yet been updated, but hopefully will be shortly.Contrast the above numbers with last year’s assessments -The average annual increases for specific magisterial districts are as follows (biennial increases are in parenthesis):- Rio 13.57 % (27.14 %)- Jack Jouett 11.27 % (22.54 %)- Rivanna 14.98 % (29.96 %)- Samuel Miller 15.64 % (31.28 %)- Scottsville 15.54 % (31.08 %)- White Hall 16.72 % (33.44 %)- Town of Scottsville 15.93 % (31.87 %)Get caught up on assessments with this story from last week, this one from two weeks ago (with my offer to homeowners for help contesting assessments)…. Visit Brian’s excellent school board blog for the context of this quote:So, depending on how you look at it, the school system is 45%, 47%, or 61% (adding debt, capital, self-sustaining) of the County budget and property taxes contribute either 62% or 45%.I’d argue that we’re all adjusting to the new economy – meaning working with less money…. As a first step, property owners are encouraged to contact the appraiser responsible for the appraisal, and owners have until the last business day of February to appeal their reassessment to the Assessor’s Office. If satisfaction is not achieved, a second option is available to owners through an appeal to the Board of Equalization, which is comprised of Albemarle citizens who have completed instructional training from the Department of Taxation.