Rachel’s #300cvillehouses series on Instagram is fascinating and fun to watch. It’s easy to forget sometime that Charlottesville has a lot of cool houses and architecture. So far, my favorites are: – House 3 – House 4 – House 6 – House 12
Instagramming More than a Flyover
I’m working with some folks now who are contemplating from afar a move to Charlottesville. Years ago, I would go out and take pictures of their As part of their process, they’re doing “flyovers” in Google and Bing to get a better sense of the area (as many buyers are wont to do). But … these respective Street Views don’t offer the flavor of an area … But Instagram does.
Check out “The Beat, a new project from the Rutgers Social Media Information Lab” … better yet, see if you can get a sense of Charlottesville from The Beat.
As the commenter at The Atlantic says, if the geolocation of the Instagram photos gets more accurate, this would be truly, truly useful.
Update 6 December 2012: This post is already outdated, as I suspect that Instagram will be less useful now that Instagram (Facebook) have decided to “prevent its images from showing properly on Twitter’s website and clients” – as I said on G+, The silo-ing of social media is distressing. and leads me to invest less and less in these channels. I so wish Flickr hadn’t failed on mobile so miserably.
Charlottesville (City) Investing Less in Infrastructure
Graham Moomaw reports at the Daily Progress:
As the city of Charlottesville bumps up against its debt limit, the amount of money officials are allocating for infrastructure needs has dropped sharply.
According to a draft of next year’s capital budget, officials plan to allocate just $1 million for new projects out of a total of $5 million in new requests from city departments.
I remember something about a surplus in Charlottesville.
Maybe they haven’t heard that America’s infrastructure is crumbling and failing.
Maybe Charlottesville could partner with Albemarle, the University of Virginia and other regional partners and Blue Ridge Internetworks and put in fiber. Everywhere. (it’s working in Kansas City)
Christmas Trees, Lights and Dr. Seuss in Charlottesville
It’s holiday time in Charlottesville. While the real estate market may be (somewhat) tapering down for the year, folks are wondering when houses come on the market in Charlottesville, many others are wondering where to get Christmas trees, look for Christmas lights and wonder about the connection between Dr. Seuss and Charlottesville (Whoville?)
– Christmas Trees in and Around Charlottesville – an evolving list of pick-your-own and already-cut Christmas trees.
– Some of the best Christmas lights in the Charlottesville area. (note: the Bethlehem Village in Afton won’t be happening this year.) 2015 Update – the Hebron Baptist Church will be doing their awesome Bethlehem Village.
– And one of my all-time favorite questions: Was Charlottesville the inspiration for Dr. Seuss’ Whoville? No. (but tell your friends it was – they’ll think Charlottesville is all sorts of cool)
Albemarle County Continues Struggles with Urban Chickens
I noted this for the first time in 2009, when the City of Charlottesville codified their allowance of chickens. The street on which the subject of the above story lives has some wooded lots ranging from .3 to .5 acres – probably plenty of room for a couple chickens to peacefully coexist with the neighbors.
I haven’t been around chickens consistently since I was a child enough to know whether they smell … do they?
From a real estate perspective, I’d say about 10% of my clients ask about keeping chickens in their backyards … a notable increase over the past several years.
A twist for homeowners’ associations: I’d wager that most of the HOAs in the Charlottesville area have similar language to this, copied from the HOA docs of a local neighborhood:
“No animals, livestock or poultry of any kind shall be raised, bred, or kept on any portion of … except that dogs, cats, or other usual and common household pets, may be permitted in a Lot.”
Good luck finding a newer home in a neighborhood in Charlottesville that lacks an HOA. (Some HOAs grant right to trespass and tell you to clean up your yard )
5 Points on School Redistricting and Uncertainty when Buying a Home in Albemarle
Albemarle County is HUGE (PDF)
One of the first posts written here was about redistricting schools in Albemarle County; sadly I hadn’t yet mastered the art of proper out-linking, so the stories to which I pointed are mostly dead. Today’s story by Aaron Richardson in the Daily Progress * succinctly describes the current state of some Albemarle County schools: “School redistricting is a headache for everyone, yet Albemarle County is at it again, considering a shuffle for a second time in as many years.”
High-quality schools are one of the more-cited reasons my buyer clients use when choosing to move to the Charlottesville – Albemarle area. I hope this acclaim is justified and continues to be the case.
In talking to a potential incoming client last week, we naturally discussed Albemarle County schools as part of a wider ranging conversation about whether this is the right place for his family. He’s looking for a rural property preferably, but also wants his kids to go to elementary school … and prefers to have a reasonable-length bus ride. How does one define “reasonable-length” in this context?
There really is not much to add to the Albemarle County Schools redistricting conversation than this:
– Read this from last year – Albemarle County Schools’ Populations Are Growing. Unexpectedly. ?!
– If you want 100% certainty that your kids will go to X school, that school better be private.
– Get involved in the process and the conversation. Schools matter, to our kids’ lives, our lives, our property values …
– The next meeting of the redistricting subcommittee is 27 November at Murray Elementary School.
– Always, always, always check your school district before you buy a home in Albemarle (or anywhere, really)
Some stories reflecting the ongoing uncertainty regarding some schools in Albemarle County:
Parents and neighbors in southern Albemarle County are getting more information about a plan to possibly shut down Yancey Elementary School in Esmont. NBC 29 – August 1 2012
– Scottsville tells its supervisor it feels like ‘the redheaded stepchild‘ – Daily Progress – July 26 2012
One thing is true, the Meriwether Lewis parents are perhaps the best organized and mobilized parents in the community. For those in the Crozet district, I’d love to hear what the School Board representative, Barbara Massie Mouly, thinks about this; I haven’t seen word one from her in the press or any kind of outreach to the public.
* I’m glad to consistency in reporting from the Daily Progress; Aaron Richardson also wrote about redistricting last year. Having consistent knowledge is crucial when knowing about and reporting on local issues.
PS – I’m working on a story about growth areas in Albemarle County and their impact on livability and certainly of lifestyle.
Low Housing Inventory Stinks – in Charlottesville – Albemarle
If you’re a buyer in the Charlottesville market, you know that right now, inventory is low. Quality inventory is lower. Depending on your market segment, much lower.
Be prepared to wait. And then, be prepared to move quickly when the right house comes on the market. Now is the time to start your education on and about the Charlottesville real estate market, so that when January comes, you’ll be ready. (Seriously; if you’re looking, ask me what the first steps are)
There are a lot of reasons for this low inventory, starting with time of year/seasonality of the market, number of transactions (broadly) are up – see the bottom of this post -, reduced foreclosures and a few other reasons, but I have a working theory on why we’re going to see this type of reduced inventory for a few years. Starting with an example that lends credibility to my hypothesis:
I was showing houses this weekend (I’m a real estate agent donchaknow) and we saw a house in Charlottesville.
Asking price is $550k, slightly reduced from its initial asking price nearly a year ago.
House sold in 1993 for $290k
Sold in 2001 for $380k
Sold in 2007 for $570k.
Worth (in my opinion) significantly less than what they paid in 2007.
Not many people have accrued ~ $50k – $100k to get out of a house. And this homeowner isn’t alone.
I propose that we still have a ways to go to get through the inventory of homes owned by those who still can’t afford to sell … and with the fact that getting a mortgage after foreclosure is easier than ever, the business decision of walking away still makes sense for some (many?)
In short, I think we’re going to see low levels of quality housing inventory – for homes that many buyers want to buy – at low levels for years to come. This low level is going to lead to some interesting trends I’m starting to see; more on this in another post.