Browsing Category Albemarle

Condo Conversion Market Hits Bottom in Charlottesville

in Albemarle Charlottesville on

I say “bottom” because investors typically don’t make such moves unless they’re reasonably confident that bottom is upon us on near. (one hopes)

There is opportunity everywhere …

The Goldstar Group of Bethesda, MD has acquired 265 rental condominium flats and townhomes at Barracks West in Charlottesville, VA for $13.3 million ($50,000 per unit) in an off-market short sale. Located just a half mile from the University of Virginia’s business and law schools, the Barracks West units were placed in receivership by Suntrust Bank in late 2011 after the previous owner defaulted on a $22 million loan. The new ownership plans to invest an additional $4.5 million in capital improvements.

…

This acquisition marks the fifth “fractured condo” acquisition that The Goldstar Group has closed in the last three years.

That’s the first time I’ve heard the term “fractured condo” …

At the height of the bubbly/speculative market, some of these units were selling for between $100k and $180k … (PDF)

Some background on condo conversions in Charlottesville –

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Extending the Western Bypass?

in Albemarle Charlottesville Politics Transportation on

Not to be flippant, but if talking about extending the Western Bypass already isn’t an clue that the current project is flawed, I don’t know what is. Much of this discussion sounds like a game – “If we had infinite funds, what would we build”? With less-than-creative answers.

For some real creativity unbiased by politics, I wonder what 12 year olds would answer.

Update – Charlottesville Tomorrow has more information on some of the long-term hopes for transportation improvements. Not to pick on one sentence, but this seems short-sighted … why not build bike lanes from the start?

“It will look similar to some of our newer secondary roads here in Albemarle County,” said Stephen Williams said. “It would have 12-foot lanes and it would have some shoulder that could also be used as a bike lane.”

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When evaluating where you want to live in Charlottesville

in Albemarle Charlottesville on

This poll at Seattle Bubble raised my curiosity as I’m interested in what folks in the Charlottesville/Albemarle area think. So many factors go into the “where do I want to live” algorithm; one of the ways I assist relocating buyers is by listening to their needs and wants and helping them ascertain the best areas for them to live. “Where I want to live” doesn’t have a “one-size-fits-all” answer, but these are some of the more common criteria discussed by my clients.

I’d love to have included “is public transit accessibility important” but as we don’t really have it in the Charlottesville region, I left it out.

What questions am I missing?

Also – it would be enormously helpful if you’d comment as what “other” you mean …

I’ll post the results on Friday.

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Are We Looking at the Bottom of the Charlottesville Real Estate Market?

in Albemarle Charlottesville General Real Estate on

Bottom?

I’ve said for years that we won’t know whether the Charlottesville real estate market has hit bottom until we have 12-18 months of hindsight. We’re seeing signs – somewhat consistent signs that we might be scraping the bottom of the real estate market – and likely will for the next few years, in my opinion.

This note from a client says it well –

“Just a little story I thought you might be interested in knowing. My neighbor at — recently put his house up for sale. It was on the market a little over a week I think and is now under contract. He bought at the height of the market for 325k and I believe he accepted an offer for 320K. His house is assessed at 185K and is half the size of my place next door. I don’t know what the bottom looks like, but I am thinking it looks a lot like this. Charlottesville is indeed a different place.”

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Could Charlottesville Become a High(er)-Tech City?

in Albemarle Charlottesville on

Just wondering … as the trend of people, including younger people who don’t want cars moving to cities …

The WSJ lays out some of the reasons that tech companies are locating in cities –

Still, escaping sprawl is only part of the explanation. There are also the distinct lifestyle advantages of setting up shop in the hurly-burly of real urban districts. Compared with previous generations, today’s younger techies are less interested in owning cars and big houses. They prefer to live in central locations, where they can rent an apartment and use transit or walk or bike to work, and where there are plenty of nearby options for socializing during nonwork hours.

“It’s not that young people wanted to live in Mountain View in the past,” Mr. Suster blogged. “In fact, so many did not that companies like Google & Yahoo had free buses with Wi-Fi from San Francisco to their Palo Alto and Sunnyvale headquarters.”

In light of several Charlottesville companies being noted on the Inc 500 and 5000, notably Willow Tree Apps, SNL, Search Mojo and Silverchair,

The Daily Progress wonders the same thing while identifying some of the challenges Charlottesville faces:

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