Browsing Category Albemarle

Riding my Bike from Downtown Charlottesville to Belvedere Neighborhood

in Albemarle Charlottesville General Real Estate on

It can be done. In under 20 minutes.

If the City of Charlottesville would finish their side of the Meadowcreek Parkway, the ride would be a bit faster and easier.

I rode my bike from Nest to the Belvedere neighborhood today because I wanted to:

1 – Be able to tell my clients/demonstrate it could be done
2 – Save gas
3 – Get exercise
4 – Enjoy the insanely beautiful if inconsistent weather we’ve had today.

Mission accomplished. In under 20 minutes.



Find more Bike Rides in Charlottesville, VA

Note to my wife: I wore my helmet.

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A Longer Western Bypass?

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If nothing else, there might be something additional to study. Charlottesville Tomorrow reports: “A proposal to extend the planned Western Bypass of U.S. 29 further northward is among the potential concepts that will be presented this afternoon to the Metropolitan Planning Organization policy board for possible inclusion in the region’s long-range transportation plan.”

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What are the Negatives of Living in Charlottesville?

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I don’t “sell” Charlottesville – I educate and inform my clients so that they can make the best decisions possible. Charlottesville is truly a great place to live; while I’ve been here for only 24 years, I wouldn’t choose to live anywhere else.

With that preface, there are negatives about Charlottesville and while they’re all relative (traffic) I’d like to think there are solutions.

I’ve been having this conversation on Google+ and on Facebook in advance of posting here.

My answer to the question: Perhaps the single greatest negative with living in CharlAlbemarle is the collective inability of the City and County to implement plans – specifically for infrastructure. Their constant bickering, planning, fighting, planning, discussing, planning and then planning some more is remarkably irresponsible.

My other response was – when I have the free time, choosing what to do from the plethora of options – sporting events, theater, music, arts, etc. Seriously. There is so much to do that choosing how to fill my limited free time is challenging.

The responses have varied from lack of Implementation of infrastructure plans to bickering of the localities.

I said last year: When explaining the City/County relationship to relocating buyers, I often describe the governments as being akin to estranged husbands and wives who are sharing custody of the kids. Or as brothers and sisters who occasionally poke each other in the eye, just to see what will happen.

It’s true, and it’s pathetic. And ultimately detrimental to the quality of life.

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How Much Does this House Cost? (To Run)

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How much does this home cost to run? It’s become one of the most important question my buyer clients ask – and an answer that Sellers need to be prepared to answer.

In today’s market, much more so than the previous one(s), buyers are much more cognizant of the costs to operate a home.

Everyone can calculate the PITI payment – Principal + Interest + Taxes + Insurance

What’s not easily calculable by buyers is –

– How drafty is the house?

– What’s the natural gas bill?

– What’s the electric bill?

– What’s the water bill?

– Trash/recycling is a fairly fixed cost.

– Do the parents scrap over the thermostat?

– How much is my commute going to cost? (this is huge; many of my buyer clients are looking forward to the time when gas goes to $6/gallon )

If the mortgage is going to be $2500 per month, but the utilities are $900/month, I’m thinking that my clients may be disinclined to move forward with an offer – or they might knock $30k (or some other number) off the offer price.

I said late last year that I suspect 2012 will be the year when buyers start doing energy audits as part of the home inspection process – sellers need to be prepared for this component to the home selling process.

2015 update – I’ve not had more than a handful of people do energy audits, in large part because of the cost as well as due to the competitiveness of our market. Maybe 2016 …

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Albemarle County Real Estate Assessments are Live

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See the updated Albemarle County real estate assessments yourself. I’ve done a random sampling and although I’ve been told that Albemarle County assessments are down ~3%, I’ve seen drops ranging from 1% to nearly 20%.

This stuff matters, not simply because the assessed values affect homeowners’ taxes, but the County’s entire budget and to a certain degree property values in that buyers look to assessments for an indication as to what market value may be. My opinion that that the assessment rarely is equivalent to true market value.

Aaron Richardson at the Daily Progress reported last week:

Albemarle’s county executive, Tom Foley, has told the Board of Supervisors he was basing his budget request for next fiscal year, which is still in the works, on an equalized tax rate of 76.5 cents per $100 of assessed real estate value.

Schools Superintendent Pam Moran based her budget request for next fiscal year on the same figure.

For now, the tax rate sits at 74.2 cents per $100. The equalized tax rate is the rate that would have property owners paying basically the same amount of taxes as the previous year, the side-effect of falling property values. That equalized rate is also in the county’s five-year financial plan.

County spokeswoman Lee Catlin said that the 76.5 cent rate is a “working” figure that will be finalized in the next couple of weeks as the county finishes this year’s assessments.

Board of Supervisors Chairwoman Ann H. Mallek said she is in favor of the equalized rate. Moving to the new rate, she said, will make possible long-neglected capital improvements such as the Crozet Library and a police firing range.

Assessed values have been declining for years, and they absolutely matter – to local budgets, to schools’ budgets and quality, and to communities’ qualities of life.

I’ve written about real estate assessments many times over the years; if you’re interested in this subject, you may want to spend some time reading some of those stories.

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