I spend a lot of time thinking about connectivity and connectedness – “being part of something” is one of the most important criteria my buyer clients define.
Date Archives August 2014
Uber in Charlottesville
If you haven’t used Uber, you’re missing out. I’ve used the service in the big cities and it’s a tremendous service. The taxi competition in Charlottesville
Just received this awesome email from Uber:
‘Hoos ready to ride?! We’re excited to announce that uberX has made its way to the city of Charlottesville. With the push of a button, Cavaliers and Cville residents can now request a safe and affordable ride.
Update 29 August 2014 – This is a highly relevant article from The Atlantic’s CityLab – Uber Has an Enormous Wait Time Advantage Over Regular Taxis
Related stories:
– Cab wars: Why new taxi technology is making some drivers mad – C-Ville, March 2013
– How many Yellow Cabs can one town hold? – C-Ville, June 2014
What Are Some Questions Buyers Should be Asking?
What are some questions that buyers should be asking in the Charlottesville real estate market – of themselves, of the agents, and of the market?
City Council Think the Flats are Too Big
Unsurprisingly, Charlottesville’s City Council is expressing concerns about the size and scale of the just-opened Flats at West Village. The thing is huge (particularly from the back).
I’m curious to see how quickly the place gets leased out.
Boys and Girls Club Cycling Challenge 2014
First things first – you can donate to the Boys and Girls Club here. I’d personally appreciate any donation you can muster. I rode this ride last year for the first time (accomplished 75 miles, aiming for 100 this time) and the cause is a tremendous one.
1 – What is the Boys and Girls Club Ride?
Join hundreds of regional and pro cyclists on September 14, 2014 as they take off from Old Trail Village in Crozet, Virginia. During the Challenge, you’ll course through the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. There are 25, 50, 75 and 100-mile routes, and an 8-mile family fun ride. Riders are treated to a finish line party including lunch, local wine and beer, and live music. Over the past eight years, the Cycling Challenge has grown into Virginia’s premier fall cycling event.
2 – Why ride? How did it start?
Various avid cyclist in tandem with the Boys and Girls Club developed the event about 7 years ago as a way to get kids on bikes, teach them both training and life skills, and to raise funds for the whole club. This is one of the biggest fundraisers for BGC of Central VA each year.
3 – Who benefits?
All 1,800 of kids of BGC of Central VA
5 – How many riders?
We’re targeting 450 registered riders for 2014
6 – How does this compare to other regional rides?
This is a very well supported with Rest Stations (police, support cars,food, drink, etc). Great after party (food, drink, live band, pool)
7 – How can people help?
Get registered to ride on the website. Donate funds to a registered riders. Volunteer to help support event day. Volunteers are needed for event day registration/packet pickup, setup, food, support cars and aid stations, cleanup.
Using Google to Find your Triangles
What’s your triangle?* The above is from a map on which I was drawing the Downtown Mall, Belmont and what is “walking distance” to Downtown and UVA for some clients.
I’ve found that many, if not most, of my clients have specific triangles – geofences of sorts – that guide their buying areas.
The top squiggle in the box is 29 North. The circle in the center circle is the City of Charlottesville. The two points of the triangle to the West represent home and school. Typically, my clients’ lives (and my life too, when I’m playing dad/husband and not Realtor) lead them to at least three points on a daily basis, and determining these points is often challenging at best to do from afar, or quickly.
– Which school will my kids attend?
– Will there be redistricting?
– At which grocery store will I shop?
– Wegmans? Whole Foods? Kroger?
– Which coffee shop?
– Which library?
Much of what I do is knowing how and when to guide and my clients to see the value of these data points, as well as help them know what’s around the corner. (Did you know there’s going to be a subdivision there?)
Today, Google is tracking wherever your smartphone goes, and putting a neat red dot on a map to mark the occasion. You can find that map here. All you need to do is log in with the same account you use on your phone, and the record of everywhere you’ve been for the last day to month will erupt across your screen like chicken pox.
(I have location history turned off on my phone, otherwise I’d have used one of my own screenshots)
So … if you’re moving to Charlottesville, take my advice to rent before you buy – turn on google’s location history and use them to better understand your triangles. And once we’ve figured out the triangles and have a foundational understanding of the Charlottesville real estate market, we devise a path forward.
August’s Monthly Note – The Market, Neighborhood Context and a Question about Archives
This month’s note, while a bit late, will be published late this week. I’m hoping to dive into some meatier topics so the editing process is going to be interesting.
I still find the monthly-note-writing experience interesting and find myself referring more and more often to the stories I write there; the triangles segment from last month is one I might end up publishing here on the blog.
One of the questions I’ll be posing this month is whether I should publish the subscription-only notes here once a year. Thoughts welcomed.
If you are interested in reading only one email every month that incorporates market analysis, sometimes tangentially related real estate stories, and a summary of the better blog posts every month on RealCentralVA and RealCrozetVA, two clicks and it’s yours. (subscribe today and I’ll send you July’s note as a primer)