It is not consistent with how those of us at Redfin who have met Kris Berg feel about her or her charitable activity. … We have a clear policy that the contractors who contribute local posts about the real estate market should focus only on the real estate market, not on competitors.
Date Archives April 2008
Putting statistics into context that matters
C-Ville has a brief update on the Virginia real estate market today : Still, that doesn’t mean those $1 million homes are being snapped up hours after listing. … For a more broad, but sufficiently localized snapshot of the million dollar market** look at this snapshot and download this pdf . 
*Albemarle, Charlottesville, Fluvanna, Greene, Louisa, Nelson **Albemarle, Augusta, Buckingham, Charlottesville, Fluvanna, Greene, Louisa, Nelson, Waynesboro
Earth Day links
How to go Green in the kitchen Beat the credit squeeze by going green Get a home energy audit This is my carbon footprint: 
What’s yours? … To avoid misconceptions that I advocate going green in an attempt to abolish capitalism , know this – going green can save you money in the long term (short term thinking generally causes problems) – If you don’t want to ride your bike to save energy, do it because gas is so flipping expensive!
And possibly the other shoe in the condo (conversion) market
From the Chicago Tribune website : Because of underwriting changes by giant investors Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac , plus new restrictions by private-mortgage insurers, getting a loan on a condo or refinancing one you own could prove tougher than you imagined. … Even in the healthiest real estate markets, United Guaranty will require buyers to put at least a 10 percent down and will reject applications in buildings where more than 30 percent of the owners are investors.
Some good news
Keeping with my grasping at good news theme : From an email sent to SunTrust lenders on Friday: This e-mail has been distributed to all Retail employees who are on the STM Communication Intra-Day Pricing Change distribution list. Price Change: IMPROVING MARKET New Rate Sheet: 2008 076 A Available on intranet: 4:00 pm Please be sure to share this notice with all appropriate Retail employees in your branch or office.
CFL Lightbulbs in Plain English
It’s about saving money (and the environment) Think about the impact that one million light bulbs would have. When will builders start to put CFLs into their houses as a standard option?
Charlottesville Earthcraft Homes tour – and a brief riff on “is blogging advertising?”
EarthCraft standards and options are factored into every aspect of home building – site planning, building orientation, low-impact construction techniques and materials, energy efficiency – for a constant effort to lower the environmental impact of building an EarthCraft home and lower the energy costs and water usage for its future occupants. … … After a long conversation yesterday with an attorney, about real estate blogs and the perception by the Vir ginia Real Estate Board that any writing that could “induce business” is considered “advertising” … here is my disclosure .