One realtor tried to market the area north and south of West Main Street as “midtown,” though it hasn’t really caught on.The city calls the area south of West Main “Fifeville” after the Fife family, who once owned a farm in this area…. According to a UVA oral history of the area, Castle Hill was home to prominent African Americans and whites at the turn of the 20th century, until, in 1912, the city resolved that it should be illegal for whites and blacks to live next to each other and “the whites moved away.”This law was struck down by the Supreme Court a few years later…. Joe Mallory, an African American man who grew up nearby, had been buying and renovating houses near the intersection with the help of the Piedmont Housing Alliance in 2002.Mallory’s efforts, along with a police crackdown on prostitution, the success of the Downtown Mall, the growth of the University, low interest rates, etc. drew investors, speculators, and homebuyers in search of value to Castle Hill…. The neighborhood association has succeeded in stopping (for now) two proposed condo projects, one on Estes Street, near Walker Square and the other at the corner of Ridge and Cherry.Proximity to the Downtown Mall and the UVA Medical Center (for those of us who work there) is the main attraction of Castle Hill.
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What is sufficient housing
20, the Multiple Listing Service [a database of properties for sale by participating real estate agents] indicated that there is approximately $125 million worth of residential homes for sale in Charlottesville and Albemarle County.This number doesn’t include big farms and estates, properties for sale by owner or other properties not listed in the MLS by discount brokers.Another interesting statistic the MLS revealed is that approximately 350 homes for sale in our area are vacant…. What is a definition of “sufficient housing” upon which government can base their regulations?In Charlottesville/Albemarle – There are currently 190 active properties on the market under $200k…. Between $200k and $250k, 95 homes for sale – 25 of which are condos.Between $250k and $450k, there are 488 properties on the market, only 67 of which are condos…. Yes, a lot of these are vacant (see my stories in October and July) But should we allow some outside force – I assume that your intent is to have the government step in and further regulate the market – to control the nuances of the real estate (or any, for that matter) market?
Out of area lenders
If only clients would listen to me.When I advise my clients to use a lender whom I know and trust, it’s not that I have any special ties, receive kickbacks, or anything else underhanded or shady. It’s because I am looking out for the best interests of my clients.Picture this – client comes in pre-approved by an out-of-the area lender…. In spite of my concerns to my client but client has already started the process and does not want to start over. Lender asks for my recommendations for attorney/title company, appraiser, etc. I consult with my client to ensure that he approves, and proceed…. Hopes and dreams have been smashed because an incompetent, unknown lender does not have any reason to work harder, does not have any relationships to maintain, has no concerns re accountability. There will always be another internet lead.I knew things would be un-recoverable with this particular lender when I called one afternoon and was told that “she’s at lunch.”… Not the answer one wants to hear when clients’ concerns and lives are affected.*I have done transactions with out of state and out of area lenders before successfully…. The difference between out of state and local is simple – the local firms are staffed by people into whose eyes I can look.
Quick CharlAlbemarle numbers
There are currently 1591 properties actively on the market in Charlottesville, Albemarle and Fluvanna (203 of which are condos).*438 of these 1591 properties are marked as New Construction – 28% of properties on the market now in the above localities are new construction. How many have actually broken ground and are currently under construction? Hard to tell.434 are not listed as New Construction and are vacant – nearly 38% of resale homes on the market are vacant. Ostensibly, these homeowners are managing two house payments at the same time.Good times and good opportunities for buyers.*Data is from the CAAR MLS, which contains most, but not all property information.
Identity theft
Always be vigilant about your identity. Your credit history is probably the greatest determinant as to whether you can purchase a house (or car, or get phone service, or insurance … ).This is the story of a piece of paper no bigger than a credit card, thrown away in a dustbin on the Heathrow Express to Paddington station. It was nestling among chewing gum wrappers and baggage tags, cast off by some weary traveller, when I first laid eyes on it just over a month ago. … I picked up the stub, mindful of a conversation I had had with a computer security expert two months earlier, and put it in my pocket.If the expert was right, this stub would enable me to access (the traveler’s) personal information, including his passport number, date of birth and nationality. It would provide the building blocks for stealing his identity, ruining his future travel plans – and even allow me to fake his passport.From this weekend’s Guardian.There have been reports of identity thieves using vacant houses in the area to have their stolen identities’ good delivered to. It’s not paranoia if they really are out to get you.
More on dealing with the changing market
The Realestatejournal has two informative articles here and here that emphasize a couple of things about the changing real estate market that seem to have been forgotten during the recent boom. 1) Real estate is an illiquid investment and 2) Plan (and be prepared for) for the worst – a vacant house that you can’t sell in a timely manner…. If the property is already a cash drain, imagine how grim things could get without any rental income coming in.Real estate has proven to a be, in most cases, an excellent long-term investment…. One of the most important is that many speculators have started to dump homes that were purchased as investments. In addition, high prices and rising interest rates have reduced affordability for middle-class families.The third – hurricanes – does not directly impact the Central Virginia market. The Charlottesville-area market has seen a reduction in price gains, more inventory on the market and longer marketing times…. I do not know the specific percentage of investment properties in our market, but anecdotally, my educated guess-timate is that about 25% of homes in CharlAlbemarle are investment properties. Many realize that the true investment return comes long-term and via rental income.
Creative thinking needed!
Continue to pray in your own way and your own words, that all those immediately involved can be sustained with energy, clarity of thought and love.In our area, Texas, Arkansas, Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama, Northern Mississippi and northwest Louisiana, we are working every minute of every day to identify inventories of houses, apartments, single and multi-family housing units, mobile home parks with vacant slabs, vacant hotels, closed military base barracks, hospitals, etc., that can be immediately made available for what may grow to be 600-800,000 people who cannot go home.I am confident that you will be called on as well to begin determining inventory such as these if you have not already started doing so. In addition to existing housing units, we have been asked to identify commercial buildings that are vacant–i.e., Wal Mart, strip malls, other huge buildings–that can be converted into housing units inside and the parking lots used for mobile homes, motor homes for temporary shelters.Join us in thinking “outside the box” for any and all options where massive numbers of people can be relocated. We also have been asked by FEMA to identify parcels of land adjacent to water/sewage connections if possible (but not even required), where 200-400 mobile home slabs could be placed and housing made available quickly. Do not limit how you allow your ideas to develop, for if we do, we will not have enough places people can call home.In our three states, I believe it is safe to say we do not see these days as challenges, but we see them as once in a lifetime opportunities.