Keeping Charlottesville Sustainable

in Albemarle Growth on

ASAP – Advocates for a Sustainable Population has a new ad (see? I watch local news) promoting their petition at KeepCvilleSustainable.org.

In part:

In signing this petition, you support keeping sustainability a planning priority for our quality of life, environment, and future.
Sign the petition. Speak up for sustainability and help maintain our quality of life.

My question: what does this mean? I’d like a petition to have links to their goals; this sentence – “A vocal minority has successfully pushed the Board of Supervisors to withdraw support for key environmental programs that help promote clean air and regional cooperation” – cries out for supporting links to stories that demonstrate what they are advocating.

Read More

Albemarle County Debating Growth Area Expansion – How Should the County Grow?

in Albemarle Growth on

Make no mistake, this is a big deal. Charlottesville Tomorrow reports:

The Albemarle Planning Commission began the review of the county comprehensive plan Tuesday with a work session on whether to expand the growth area to accommodate new development.

The county adopted a comprehensive plan in 1980 that designated 5 percent of its land to be used for dense residential and commercial use. Development is discouraged in the rest of the county in order to preserve environmental resources.

…

The county is estimating that it will have an additional 34,000 residents by 2030. Staff estimated there would need to be between 1,770 and 7,438 new units to accommodate that population growth. However, they also concluded there are just over 8,000 units that have been approved by the county but not yet built.

“There is sufficient residential capacity to accommodate population growth through 2030 within current development area boundaries,” said Andy Sorrell, a planner in the county’s community development department.

Is there? Per Charlottesville Tomorrow’s reporting, there are 12 currently proposed expansions of the Albemarle County growth area. Will this be sufficient?

We talked about Somerset Farm in June of this year – an additional 1900 homes! – what if Wendell Wood doesn’t get his rezoning (which geographically makes a lot of sense) and he builds by-right? Is that what the planners (and more importantly, the community) want?

This struck me, as the area just past Barracks Road has been largely protected from the sprawling growth other areas of Albemarle have experienced:

Next door is a 14.7-acre property near the Montvue neighborhood which developer Charles Hurt wants to include in the development area. Hurt is also applying to add a 156.8-acre parcel further up Barracks Road that, if approved, could see an additional 312 to 628 housing units.

That seems like a reasonable place to expand, although it would personally make me sad to see beautiful landscapes ruined.

Read More

Should I Move to Charlottesville?

in Charlottesville on

Maybe.   As with almost all questions in real estate, the answer to the question begins with “it depends“ – Why are you contemplating relocating to Charlottesville? – What does “Charlottesville” mean to you? The City? The City of Charlottesville and the County of Albemarle? Greene? Fluvanna? Nelson? – What do you need/want to be “close to”? – What is “close”? And so many other…

Read More

Charlottesville Area Association of Realtors’ 3rd Quarter Market Report (2011)

in Market statistics on

More to come. In the meantime, have a look at the market report.

CAAR 3rd Quarter Real Estate Market Report – 2011

This post will be updated throughout the day as I get opportunities to look at the data. …

Notes:

– The above report is for the entire Charlottesville MLS area, not Charlottesvill and Albemarle or even the Charlottesville MSA (Charlottesville, Albemarle, Fluvanna, Greene, Nelson) or even the Charlottesville MSA + Louisa. So take it for what it’s worth – a very broad overview of the entire Central Virginia region. Example: in Amherst, Augusta, Buckingham, Goochland, Rockbridge and Lexington, there are 156 closed transactions in our MLS … which isn’t particularly relevant to real estate consumers in the Charlottesville area.

– Days on Market is not statistically accurate, as it does not reflect relistings of properties.

– The Charlottesville market is still declining.

– Detailed market report from Nest coming soon, as is county by county break down.

– Townhouse/Attached median sold price is down in the Charlottesville/Albemarle area, in no small part due to Ryan Homes’ driving prices through the floor market-wide.

– Median sales prices are down, but inventory is down as well; the latter qualifying as a good data point.

– What questions do you have about the market data?

Interactive Charts are after the jump; I choose to use the static charts rather than the interactive reports as I don’t like to be locked into a service; I pay $30 a month for access to the deeper data and if I choose to not pay for the service, the interactive charts go away … not a good option.

Read More

Difference Between Clients and Customers

in Buyers Buyers. Stupid Real Estate Questions - AKA: What are the questions you think you should know but have never asked? on

Question: What’s the difference between a real estate client and a real estate customer?

Answer: Quite a bit.

I was with a a customer a few weeks ago and and we had an interesting conversation about the differences between a customer and a client.

Some basic definitions from the Code of Virginia:

“Customer” means a person who has not entered into a brokerage relationship with a licensee but for whom a licensee performs ministerial acts in a real estate transaction. Unless a licensee enters into a brokerage relationship with such person, it shall be presumed that such person is a customer of the licensee rather than a client.

“Client” means a person who has entered into a brokerage relationship with a licensee.

“Licensee” means real estate brokers and salespersons as defined in Article 1 (§ 54.1-2100 et seq.) of Chapter 21 of this title.

“Ministerial acts” means those routine acts which a licensee can perform for a person which do not involve discretion or the exercise of the licensee’s own judgment. (bolding mine)

If I meet you at one of my listings, I will explain to you that I don’t do single agent dual agency. (Guess who benefits from single agent dual agency?)

 

Read More