– CHO (Charlottesville-Albemarle Airport) announces direct flights to Chicago! Dear National Association of Realtors: I hereby volunteer to serve again. 🙂

– How 20-somethings (and really, most of my buyer clients) approach the home-buying process.

– In Heart and Mind, not brand, I apparently am a Redfin agent. Glenn Kelman’s 10 Points of advice for buyers is exceptional and must-read reading.

Numbers 8 and 9 are dead-on advice for the Charlottesville real estate market*. #10 is telling as well, particularly coming from one of the most disruptive forces in the real estate space in a decade.

8. Invest in the house, not marketing


There are two types of home-sellers, those seeking an agent who will “really sell the house” and those same people who are later frustrated that their agent “didn’t really do anything” to sell the house. After years of experimenting with postcards and fliers, my list of what makes a difference is shorter: overwhelmingly, the house itself; then pricing, staging and professional photos. Traffic to a listing declines four-fold after a week on market. An agent matters a lot, but almost entirely in preparing the property for a perfect debut. Invest in the house, and make it sparkle on day one. After that, all an agent can mostly do is wait, and reduce the price.

9. Err on the side of under-pricing


If you have to choose between over-pricing and under-pricing your home, under-price. When you under-price by $10,000 and the home isn’t bid up, you lose $10,000 at most. When you over-price by $10,000, you can lose much more: after a month the listing loses its luster, mortgage and staging costs pile up, and price-reductions signal buyers to ask for more reductions.

– The Landmark continues to be an eyesore (and now tagged with unsavory, not for kids’ eyes graffiti)

– Great comments and discussion at cvillenews about Trader Joe’s merits.

– My favorite recent search terms to bring visitors to this here Charlottesville real estate blog:

when is the listing removed from zillow?

Answer: usually well after the listing has expired/been withdrawn/sold

Benefit to buyer in duel agency

Meaning “dual” but in reality, duel is a more appropriate term.

* Real estate is local. Duh.