May 2014 Monthly Note – Puzzles, the Market & Buyers’ Questions

in Albemarle Charlottesville on

May 2014 Monthly Note

This month’s note will be published by the end of the week. Promise.

The above is my working, preliminary outline for my Monthly Note – some of the best stuff I write that I don’t publish on blogs … and don’t have the archives publicly available.

Each month I do a “blog recap” of some of the more notable stories on RealCrozetVA and RealCentralVA. I’d like to think that since I’d been writing this monthly note, my writing and focus have improved on all three platforms, and I’d really like to think readers share this sentiment.

Audience: real estate consumers (although some of the best responses come from real estate professionals).

Curious? Interested? Two clicks and you’ll get this month’s note; I think I’ve picked a few great topics this month.

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What do Buyers (Moving to or In) Charlottesville Read?

in Albemarle Charlottesville General Real Estate on

In last month’s Monthly Note I asked – What do you read? One of the best responses was this:

What do I read? The sites I’ve used as we’ve considered where to move include the local newspapers and related sites — just to get an idea about the town and the issues that are important, as well as the economic health and forecasts for the area. As far as real estate specific, not so many. I opened up searches on Trulia a couple years ago to get a feeling for the houses we could afford in a couple areas. I keep tabs on things like greatplacestoretire.com, but I find them more useful in making me feel good about where I’ve chosen than helping me choose someplace out of the blue. Almost all of their recommendations are places I’d never consider for any reason.

I see it as my responsibility to educate my clients as best as I possibly can. Part of that education includes informing clients as to which information sources I’ve found useful and credible and which aren’t. (this is sort of like when I tell clients they don’t want to see a house because it’s awful)

A quick listing of what I tend to advise folks read:

– Charlottesville Tomorrow – hands down, the best source of information on Charlottesville and Albemarle transportation, growth, development news. And their archives don’t disappear.

– CvillePedia – Charlottesville Tomorrow’s Charlottesville wikipedia.

– The Daily Progress – their writing and information seems to have gotten better and more comprehensive in the past few months, although their website is an ad-ridden abomination. Install Adblock plus before you visit their site.

– RealCrozetVA – if you’re thinking about moving to Crozet, I (selfishly) highly recommend reading this. I’ve heard from many people who’ve moved to Crozet that they used the site (and many have said they wished they’d contacted me).

– C-Ville – In the absence of The HooK, C-Ville has become the only other newspaper in Charlottesville.

– Free Enterprise Forum – one of my favorite blogs. Disclosure: sponsored by the Charlottesville Realtor Association and Charlottesville Homebuilders, it has a pro-growth slant (but y’all could figure that out)

– cvillenews – one of the original Charlottesville blogs

A reader commented on my Google+ post:

Blogs: My favorite is Young House Love, and Apartment Therapy is also good (it’s probably better for how to manage a space/issue and less to do with home-buying).

And now I’m awfully curious to know what other blogs and sites my buyers and sellers read – where do you get your advice and insight into the home buying and selling process?
I’m really quite interested in this – too often the real estate “advice” my clients cite is from other markets markets and other states – where real estate business practices are very, very different. Real estate practices are highly localized and knowing the differences and idiosyncrasies matter.

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Home Buyers’ Remorse

in General Real Estate on

1 out of 4 buyers have buyers’ remorse? That number struck me.

Further –

Thirty-two percent of Americans who bought or sold a home in the past 10 years and used an agent felt their “agent was OK, but I never really felt they were on my side or very helpful” and 8 percent said their “agent was one of the worst parts of the home buying or selling process.”

Achieving 100% satisfaction is an impossible goal, but it’s worth striving for.

I’ve witnessed shoddy real estate practice since I started in 2001 but nowhere near 32 percent. I’ve heard from enough clients about other transactions in their lives to believe the 8 percent is probably right on, and perhaps a little bit low.

My buyer clients come to me seeking guidance, advice and insight into the home buying process, and that’s what I strive to provide. As my mom told me when I was starting out (and over and over throughout my career) – real estate agents don’t make decisions for our clients; I try to help my clients make good and better decisions.

I joke with my clients about the gravity of the home buying situation – I want to convey the seriousness of what we’re doing together but also try to take the edge off. When we’re moving through the decision process about what to they should do, I’ve found myself saying, “don’t worry – it’s only the rest of your lives and a huge pile of money.” Because it is. The decisions my clients make are likely to affect the rest of their lives and most importantly, the rest of their kids’ lives. That matters way more than whether I get paid a commission.

And to the ultimate buyer representation question: ask my clients if I’ve ever been one to dissuade them from walking away. My role is not predicated on my getting paid; if I got paid based on the number of times I’ve advocated for my clients walking away, I’d be wealthy. (I’m karmic and professionally wealthy though)

Next – where’s my incentive if I get paid more if my buyers pay more?

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Bad Data, Sexual Offenders and Property Values

in Albemarle Charlottesville General Real Estate on

Question everything. Always.

You can search for sexual offenders in Charlottesville and Albemarle (and the entire Commonwealth of Virginia); but how do you know if the data is accurate?

Now that sexual offender data display is becoming more commonplace, how long until consumers start to eliminate areas outright because one sexual offender is nearby? What recourse do homeowners have?

Story after story shows that consumers don’t seem to mind that the big real estate sites don’t always have the most current or accurate real estate listings. Zillow is said to be a “starting point” in the process; but what if they end up being the only point consumers (wrongly) reference? It seems that many of my clients warily use Zillow, but I also know that they understand that Zillow is but one point in the research process and that all information on the internet needs to be vetted.

Sellers already care when the Zestimate for their home is absurdly and wrongly low – and they have no viable recourse to remedy said Zestimate. What recourse would homeowners have if the real estate search sites they use allow searchers to, say, filter out homes that are within one mile of a sexual offender?

What does one do about inaccurate sex offender data? It’s fairly easy for me to demonstrate how a zestimate is crap. It’s another thing for me as a real estate professional representing my clients to research the current and accurate location and then discover whether the offender is a violent offender or an innocuous one.

A study from a few years ago noted that sex offenders’ presence may devalue a home by 17%.

They find a reduction in housing prices of 17% within a tenth of a mile of an offender’s home, and find significant changes in price up to a third of a mile.

What if the referenced sexual offender is no longer there? Is Zillow (or whichever data provider, but they’re the big dog) liable?

Inman News brings this story back to the fore with their story yesterday. Sexual offender’s presence tends to elicit binary responses – either “yes, I’m willing to risk (whether personal or financial) living close to a sexual offender or no, I’m not willing to risk it. And Inman poses the question:

But even if the data is accurate, buyers might misinterpret it. Many offenders have not committed crimes that are as nearly as heinous as many might initially assume.

* If you’re a client or potential client, ask me for a story about a sexual offender in Charlottesville whose crime and presence in a neighborhood almost caused my clients to not buy.

There are nuances to data that demand more than a binary response. Is this the result that we want?

The data also could help herd offenders into enclaves, depressing home values in some neighborhoods and scaring away families with children.Research published by four professors from Longwood University in Farmville, Va., in late 2013 found that sex offenders tend to cluster together, and that such clustering increased from 1999 to 2009 in Virginia.

Read the whole story.

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Building a New Neighborhood in Charlottesville – Lochlyn Hill

in Albemarle Charlottesville Lochlyn Hill on

Community. It’s amazing how many of my buyer clients identify “community” as one of the top three criteria they’re looking for. We’re aiming to build that in a new neighborhood in Charlottesville.

My clients have heard me talk about this “coming neighborhood” for about two years; now dirt is finally moving, roads are going in, utilities are being run and house plans are being finalized.

Lochlyn Hill is a new neighborhood in Charlottesville – 5 minutes to downtown Charlottesville by car, 15 minutes or so by bicycle, with only local (mostly small) builders, with the focus being community and building homes. We’re focusing on building homes – and community – instead of more homes, our goal is to authentically and organically build a neighborhood.

Curious? I’ve posted a FAQ below, but thought you might be surprised (I was) by the view at the entrance to the neighborhood.

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