Browsing Category Off-topic

Growth, wine and 2 billion dollars

ASAP’s take on population growth in Albemarle – how many people is “too many”?You want wine?  We’ve got wine in Virginia.  (pic courtesy of)2 Billions dollars to increase UVA’s research stature?A major report by the Washington Advisory Group consulting firm found that UVa will have to spend an estimated $1 billion over the next five to seven years to hire rising star faculty researchers in an effort to improve the overall quality of its research.Might any of these star researchers want to buy houses in the Charlottesville area?  🙂 The University’s impact on the Charlottesville region – economic, social, cultural and psychological – cannot be underestimated.A very good (and unusual) use of Realtors’ lobbying efforts.

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Toy Lift 2007 in Charlottesville

We need volunteers from December 5th through December 9th to help us set up, collect, sort, and distribute Toys and Books!You can make THE difference in the lives of over 2,300 area children….  Papa Johns Pizza and Pepsi products will be served!Contact Walker Duncan or 975-TOYS for more info.Thanks also to the Corner radio station for publicizing this meeting and event.If you are in the Charlottesville area and have never participated in this charity, please consider it this year.  Working the Toy Lift is a humbling and rewarding experience.Be aware that no used toys will be accepted this year due to the waves of toy recalls this year.Note: this post is because this charity is near and dear to my wife.  She gives an immense amount of time and energy to this every year, and I admire all that she and the other Toy Lift leaders do to ensure that the area’s children have a holiday.

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Make sure you open all the doors

Kerri and Jason Brown discovered a secret room behind a bookcase containing a homeowner’s worst nightmare – mold.  Also in the room was a handwritten note: “You found it!”  What the Browns found was a mold problem so serious the previous owner was forced to move, according to the note….”Hello….  One that actually made my children very sick to the point that we had to move out,” Kerri Brown read from the letter.Not to make light of this clearly troubling situation, but – wow.

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Square footage, Bankruptcies and Campaign funds

Learning to love the not-so-big house. It’s not hard (and it’s cheaper, too!)I’d love to get my hands on a copy of this “Emerging Trends in Real Estate 2008” (hat tip: Toronto Real Estate Intelligence)The art and science of figuring out square footage: (hat tip: Matrix)Real Estate Video by – Real Estate BloggerWatch the whole series – it’s fascinating – in the various methods and results.Who has the most money in the local races?Going green by raising greenWe need more bridgebuilders – within and outside the Realtor world.I don’t know whether Central Virginia is in the Western or Eastern district, so bankruptcies between 2nd Quarter 06 and 2nd Quarter 07 are up either 8% or 37%, respectively.

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Keeping it all in perspective

Take the 10 minutes to watch this video – Real estate can be an all-consuming experience.  Setting limits is more crucial when one is self-employed, because frankly, if you’re not working, you’re not earning.On a related note – an occasionally more crass answer to the question: As a 16 yr old, I will be looking into colleges soon and setting the foundation for the rest of my life.  Is there anything you wish you knew at my age?

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Saturday links – 20 October 2007

We pamper our kids, over-schedule them, overemphasize fairness in competition (the score ends in a tie ……  and keep them indoors too much, to the point that we’re doing them a huge disservice.  Kids aren’t learning how to get hurt, lose, fend for themselves, find their balance and discover minor dangers on their own – all important parts of growing up.Posts like this are why I read Seth Godin’s blog.  Add passion, and it’s nearly complete.An interesting twist – absorption rate versus “sales rate” – this will likely find its way into my data analysis of the Charlottesville market soon.Navigating social networking toolsThe shift from Charlottesville to Waynesboro continues.

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