Buy or Sell (in Charlottesville)? It Depends

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As with most things in real estate, the answer to “should I buy or sell or stay or rent” depends on your situation.

Last year I noted how my inbox was conflicted – one email said all was great, the other noted the grim, dark outlook around the corner.

I read a lot of news and opinion about the real estate market – national, regional, local – as I tend to find reason between the extremes. Generally this reasoning leads to a similar conclusion of “it depends;” today is no different.

One story by folks I read frequently whom I tend to trust identifies 5 Reasons You Should List Your House TODAY! – with reasons ranging from high demand and low inventory to increased new construction to higher interest rates. All of these are true (the amount of new construction in Charlottesville coming online this year in Charlottesville and Albemarle is extraordinary).

Bolster the (all true) with Robert Shiller noting that (an opinion I share) that the optimism we’re seeing needs tempering. There are so many variables that will affect the Charlottesville market – product mix, the huge influx of new apartments complexes, infrastructure, interest rates, jobs – many of these are trending positive. Not to mention how the housing market touches so many facets of our economy.

So … I’m conflicted as well. The market in Charlottesville and Albemarle is picking up right now; what it does in five years is an unknown – all we can do is make the best decisions we can with the best data and facts available. Today.

My advice to my clients, whether they are buying or selling, (sounds silly, I know) starts with listening. Where are they now (in life, jobs, homes), where do they want to be (see previous notes) and where can they get realistically?

I strive every single day to do more for my clients than merely show up; anyone can do that.

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Is Charlottesville Ready for Micro Spaces?

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Is there enough to do in Charlottesville to justify living in so-called micro spaces?

Could you live in a 500 square foot condo? (would you buy or rent it?)

What is the future of (urban) housing?

I’ve written about tiny homes and efficient living before, particularly as they relate to the emerging trends of more urban living, a renewed focus on efficiency of life and resources and a limitation of physical real estate as urban areas become more populated. 400 square feet can be astonishingly functional.

Jeannine at Small and Chic Home poses the question from the perspective of someone who lives in a relatively small space (785 square feet) in Charlottesville. I can’t offer any more than she, as her skills at design and use of space far exceed anything I could offer.

… Charlottesville and Staunton were among the independent cities growing at a rate faster than the state since 2010

Charlottesville is growing fairly quickly, people want to live closer to stuff …

I wonder … what will the now-broken-ground City Walk offer? Small spaces? Highly pedestrian/biker friendly spaces?

City neighborhood planner Brian Haluska confirmed that the project will be a rental apartment community that will consist of four multi-family buildings that will hold 301 units and have one parking deck. …

“The road will take a lot of traffic off Carlton Road,” Haluska said, “and the path is a big positive in the pedestrian infrastructure in the city. A lot of pedestrians will now have a key path to downtown that will be safe and inviting.”

Previous designs called for at least one building to be nine stories tall, but that was scaled back. Haluska confirmed that each building will be three stories over a basement.

Does Charlottesville (City) have enough to do to make living in such small spaces valuable? Is the trade-off for less indoor living space for greater outside opportunities more balanced now?

Keep in mind that Albemarle County is projected to grow to 155k people by 2040 – from 102k today. (source: Weldon Cooper) and Charlottesville City is projected to to 49k people by 2040 – from 45k today. (source: Weldon Cooper)

Would you live in a tiny space in Charlottesville?

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Walking – Biking – Driving Directions all-in-one

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Brilliant. Want to know which is faster – walking, biking, driving? That’s easy enough to discern using Google Maps, but in a quest for efficiency, Michael Schade at the Mobility Lab has constructed the Side-by-Side Router:

Once you pick two end-points, the four modes’ routes are drawn with different colors. It’s been surprising to see how the routes vary depending on the mode. The program also gives you the total travel time and distance for each mode.

For example: there’s a house on the market on Park Street; it’s Walk Score is 68. To get from my office to that house, I’d say that bicycling is a better choice than driving. (click to see full size) Simple. Colorful. Brilliant.

Side-by-Side Router - Compare routes for driving, biking, walking, and transit

This is a fantastic research tool for homebuyers, sellers and folks moving to the Charlottesville area … keep in mind that the directions are likely mostly right as are the business listings … things change, and the best way to know if a route if truly walkable or bikeable is to walk or bike the routes you’d be doing.

(it’d be supercool if I could embed this map. 🙂 )

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Why buy? Why rent? How to choose an ethical real estate agent or mortgage broker? – WNRN 1-20-13

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Why buy? Why rent? How to choose an ethical real estate agent or mortgage broker? What is quality inventory? Richmond Sunlight, the General Assembly and real estate. And lots, lots more. An hour of live radio goes fast. Prepping for said show takes hours. What follows are some show notes, links, supporting stories and more. If you’re interested in buying or selling in the Charlottesville area in 2013, I sincerely think this would way to spend an hour of your time.

As always, we cover a lot of ground in an hour. I do apologize; I spent an hour this morning listening to the show, researching links, putting said links in chronological order, previewed the story and *poof* it disappeared. So this story is a bit less than intended.

Matt started the show by unexpectedly noting my inclusion on the Inman 100 list; I don’t often share my accomplishments, but this is a pretty significant one and I appreciated his mentioning it.

Perhaps my personal favorite parts are the (at 16:50) “how you say ‘wait, don’t buy that now'” when your incomes depend on sales? And then we touch on (24:30) how the consumer has a responsibility to vet the people they hire. (if you want the questions I provide my prospective clients, ask me).

Listen to the podcast at Charlottesville Podcast Network.

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Real Estate Radio – WNRN on 20 January

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If you’re feeling like the past month of real estate data releases hasn’t satiated your need for real estate information and analysis, you’re invited to listen to Matt Hodges and me this Sunday morning at 11am on WNRN radio. Whenever we do this, it’s a lot of fun – talking for an hour about real estate, mortgages, the market and often times quite a bit more generally leads to a useful and informative conversation.

If you’re local, tune in to 91.9. If you’re not local (or don’t have a radio) the interwebs have you covered.

We tend to prep for four hours’ worth of radio, talk for about and hour, and get through 20% of what we have available. Live radio is always a bit nerve-wracking as the conversation is largely unscripted, but the resulting hour podcast is something that:

1) Usually generates inspiration for at least five stories

2) I tend to refer to frequently as I typically learn something from all of the prepping and resulting conversation.

So … in prepping for the show, we’re tentatively planning on talking about:

– The Charlottesville real estate market (naturally) – how it’s doing, how it might do in 2013

– When buyers and sellers should start their respective processes. (now)

– Real estate assessments (they’re coming out very soon) and their impact on actual market value

– The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s recent rules (800 pages of them) and their potential impact on the market.

– Qualified Residential Mortgages (see above)

– New construction in Charlottesville

– Shadow inventory

– Redfields’ buying open space

– More quality inventory

Suggestions welcome.

After some more thought, I ‘m thinking we might talk about the coming Wegmans and Fresh Markets, energy efficiency in homes, realtor productivity … one of the best parts of these shows are the recap posts I write that afternoon or next morning, replete with links, research, supporting information and more.

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A Fourth Hotel is Coming to Charlottesville

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Pretty soon, finding a hotel room in Charlottesville will be easy. Charlottesville Tomorrow reports that another hotel is planned for Charlottesville – this one where the Regal 4 (also known as the one behind K-Mart, or the one behind the long-gone Terrace Triple).

Keep in mind that this new hotel is very close (though not in the way apparently) to the proposed Hillsdale Drive Extended, assuming the funds stay put for the road, of course,

So … a Hyatt, a Hilton, a Residence Inn … and a Homewood Suites. That’s a lot of rooms.

I know it’s silly, but I wonder if anyone’s thought about the traffic impact in that area; Hydraulic/29/250 is often times a disaster.

* One year, the Landmark downtown will be finished, adding even more rooms.

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2012 is in the Past – Looking Forward at the 2013 Charlottesville Market

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YearEnd_2012_NestReport_CharlottesvilleMSA.pdf (page 3 of 9).jpg

1 – Inventory is low – (good for sellers, not so good for buyers)

2 – Interest rates remain low

3 – Prices (in many market segments) have stopped dropping, and are largely increasing.

4 – Sales volume is up across the board

5 – As always, do your own, supporting due diligence; your market will vary.

Click through to read the full Nest Report.

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