I’m going to be filling time from five to five thirty this afternoon. For those unlucky readers who don’t live in the Charlottesville area, you can catch the podcast tomorrow on CvillePodcast.Topics I expect we’ll touch on – Rural area protection ordinances, 29 north, proposals in the city to set aside pre-budget money to subsidize housing, current state of the Charlottesville area real estate market and maybe Senate Bill 768, which would change the current proffer system to one requiring impact fees.
Date Archives February 2008
There’s more to Waynesboro than (relatively) cheaper houses
And Colfer graciously explains.
Charlottesville real estate market update for January
Surprise.There is significant, almost palpable fear in the market right now – from Realtors to home inspectors to builders and subcontractors to buyers and sellers (and not all will survive)…. Fear is not a fundamental.In a nutshell -If you are considering buying in the Charlottesville area and living in the house for four to five years (and perhaps a shorter timeframe, depending on various factors) – interest rates are historically low and sellers are negotiating more than they ever have before…. What the house across the street sold for is likely as irrelevant to determining market value as your new assessment.For both buyers and sellers – look beyond the headlines…. (for some, not all)”Residential homes that went under contract in January in the Charlottesville region*:2008 – 1522007 – 2302006 – 2372005 – 2182004 – 2692003 – 262Under Contract and Sold in Charlottesville/Albemarle:2008 – 105/662007 – 158/1022006 – 160/1262005 – 146/1282004 – 168/97Or, by a graphical measure to show the amount of inventory:*Albemarle, Charlottesville, Fluvanna, Greene, Nelson – including single family, attached homes and condos.
Environmentalists with a sense of humor
As the number of green homes in the Charlottesville area continues to creep upward, the folks at Treehugger remind us that one can never set our sights too high.”LEED has unveiled a new level of certification, Protactinium.In order to qualify for the standard, building designers must commit to a lifetime of celibacy and staff the building exclusively with doe-eyed orphans from third world countries. The building must be a net CO2 sink, producing more oxygen than it consumes. Any bamboo used in construction must be certified panda-free. In the event that straw bale construction is used, the straw must be free-range, sustainably harvested straw.Heh.
Pulled from the comments – More on Dual Agency
“Dual agency practiced by one agent is always a conflict of interest for the agent even if legal dislcosure is made.In a designated agent situation, the principal broker is by law acting as a dual agent and is in a conflict of interest position even if legal disclosure is made.Virginia law requires disclosure of dual agency but our Code of Ethics requires “informed dislcosure . It doesn’t go far enough in my opinion.Unfortunately, the laws in our state regarding dual agency (including designated agency) do not require an agent to specifically disclose to either seller or buyer the number of ways in which his “representation†of them will change once dual agency is invoked by him or his broker.Specific examples should be given such as “I can no longer advise you on value or offering priceâ€. They won’t be hearing information such as “I can no longer inform you about the wild and loud parties that go on every weekend at the house next doorâ€.When signing most listing agreements sellers agree in advance to go along with the a potential dual agency without this vital information. The agent is already free on the seller side to work as a dual agent as long as his buyer client agrees.I wonder how many well informed sellers or buyers would agree to go along with it when offered if they knew that “their agent†could no longer be their advocate but would merely be providing ministerial services?I wonder how many times the request to agree to dual agency is presented to a seller as the agent is holding an offer in hand.I wonder how many times the act of bringing in a second agent to “represent†one side in a designated agency situation is accomplished at the last minute with little knowledge of the new client by the new agent and without actually being familiar with the property or showing it to him.Our Code of Ethics requires Realtors to ALWAYS place the best interests of our clients ahead of our own.
Real estate is a gamble
I lost a listing last week, and it came back on market the next day with a different Realtor. After marketing it for six months and getting it more media exposure than just about any other property I’ve marketed (third-party print and television), it’s moving to agent number three today, and I wish them both well.In marketing the property, I spent time, money, resources and time – only to take home not a dime…. Will the new marketing – copy, photos, MLS number draw a buyer? I hope so, because the seller needs to sell – the house has been on the market for nearly a year.Here’s the lesson – What’s most likely to influence a buyer into actually pulling the trigger and making an offer is the one simple tenet of marketing homes in the Charlottesville or any other real estate market – It came back on the market at a lower price.
Instead of a Monorail in Charlottesville
Or Streetcar, or whatever they want to call it, why not this? It combines Bus Rapid Transit and bikes, and doesn’t require a ten-million-dollar a mile investment.