Choosing a buyer’s agent is a challenging thing and should be among your first steps in the home buying process. I’ve put together six questions for you to ask when interviewing a buyer’s agent
Date Archives October 2012
Pumpkin Patches in Charlottesville
In search of pumpkin patches in the Charlottesville area –
1) I love my clients who still come to me after closing …
2) This message the other day got me thinking – (My son’s) birthday is coming up and I would like to take him to a pumpkin patch. Â Do you know of a real fun one in the area? Â I am currently planning to go to the Plains where the living earth folks
seem to have a really nice one with corn maze, slides, animals etc.
I haven’t been to a pumpkin patch with a maze in years. We usually go to Chiles Orchard in Crozet. Graves Mountain Lodge has hay bales to jump on and such when they have their Apple Harvest Festival (this is the last weekend for it).
So … when researching something, I went to Twitter and Facebook and got some great responses:
– Charlottesville and Albemarle region of Virginia’s Pumpkin Patches, Corn Mazes, Hay Rides and More
– Liberty Mills Farm
From my Facebook:
– Pumpkin Patches and More
– Liberty Mills Farm was the clear winner.
– Silver Creek and Seamans’ Orchards, Inc. – “Bonus: near Crabtree falls, which is especially beautiful now”
From the RealCrozetVA Facebook page:
– Back Home on the Farm in the Shenandoah Valley.
– Get Lost in the Corn – a corn maze at Bridgemont Farm – 600 Wissler Rd, Quicksburg, VA 22847
Charlottesville Will Have “Several” Downtowns
Ugh.
The homogenization and segmentation of Charlottesville continue.
I’ve been thinking about this story for the past week – Struggles with Growth in Charlottesville/Albemarle and beyond – in which I discussed the challenges faced by the visioning of the “plan” for growth and the implementation of same.
A Tip: Check Cell Phone Coverage Before you Buy
To those moving to Charlottesville from other areas, the ubiquity of cell phone coverage you may have experienced there might not be found here. The mobile providers and the County of Albemarle are working to get more towers, but these things take time.
Another tip: if you choose to live in an area that doesn’t have mobile service (or hard-wired internet or public water for that matter), that’s one of the beauties of living in a rural area. It’s rural.
I have had clients not purchase a home they liked because they couldn’t get service from their provider (I’m looking at you At & T). Check these things before you buy a home.
Looking through my search terms this morning, a visitor arrived looking for “when will us cellular get 4g in charlottesville va” leading to this musing from last year.
3rd Quarter Nest Report – What’s the Charlottesville Real Estate Market Doing Now?
A few highlights (there are more in the report) –
1 – Inventory is down across the Charlottesville MSA. Quality inventory is seemingly non-existent, depending on your market segment.
2 – Buyers are smart, savvy and patient. Prices go down, sales volume goes up.
3 – New construction costs are up across the board.
4 – Distressed sales continue to drop; they still comprise a significant volume, but less now.
5 – Shadow inventory remains an unknown and thus, a concern.
Click through to read the entire report.
West Main Corridor to See Major Development
Not too long ago, West Main Street was the main street you drove to get from the University to Downtown Charlottesville. Now, it’s area – West Main. With new restaurants – Bella’s, One Meatball Place, Moto Pho Co – older restaurants – Maya, L’Etoile, Wild Wing Café … and lots of construction.
Charlottesville Tomorrow reports that West Main is about to see a major redevelopment. The developers have submitted a plans and will need a special use permit to build a ” 219-unit mixed-use housing complex that will be marketed to University of Virginia students.” Plus a 405 car parking garage. And an 8 story building.
As it stands right now, a Marriott is coming to the West Main/McIntire intersection, this new student apartment, called the Plaza, the under-construction Battle Building on West Main near JPA (with lots of hospital clinics and such) and the UVA building at the corner of West Main and JPA is soon to be torn down and replaced with green space … West Main is about to see a real shift.
Cvillenews notes that “Board of Architectural Review will have to approve it, since it’s in a historic district. The next step is for the Planning Commission to review it, which they’re doing next week.” An historic student apartment building. Nifty.
Here’s hoping all of the students don’t bring cars to town … and the City builds better bike lanes.
If you haven’t been to Charlottesville recently, come soon … you’re not going to recognize West Main in three years.