Bicycle Safety Discussion Next Week

in Transportation on

To continue the momentum created by the Citizen’s Bike Safety Committee established by the City this year, the City of Charlottesville, in partnership with Bike Charlottesville, will hold a community discussion on Wednesday, October 20th beginning at 7pm at CitySpace in the Market Street Parking Garage downtown.

I’d also like to see discussions about bike helmets, like this one at the WSJ .

Wouldn’t it be nice if the County of Albemarle and the University of Virginia participated in the conversation as well? I do particularly like this helmet , though. yakkay -helmet.jpg

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Home Sales in Central Virginia aren’t Great

in sideblog on

CAAR year-end market reports show Central Virginia’s median price for homes sold in 2009 was $245,000,$265,000 in 2008 and $277,000 in 2007. The local market reached its peak median sale price in the first quarter of 2006, according to CAAR reports, when the median home sale was $289,900.

I know that the above is the best available data to the media, but it’s really mostly irrelevant. The end of 2009 is long-gone, and “Central Virginia” is far too great to provide useful information for buyers or sellers, or interested people other than to provide exceptionally high-level trends.

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Real Estate Market in 2011 Charlottesville VA

in sideblog on

What’s the Charlottesville real estate market going to look like in 2011? I’ll be making projections and contemplations in a few weeks, but in the meantime, have a look at the Google:

Web search interest in real estate in Virginia : Do your own search to see projections … Web search interest in real estate in the USA: The search for real estate agencies has shown a more marked and consistent decline: Looks like buying a home is seasonal.

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Who Touches Your Loan?

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

Lesson learned – work with someone who knows the people involved, who can make things happen (ethically and legally) and who can foresee issues. Knowing the people – one of the main reasons I strongly advise working with local lenders . As a buyer, there is quite a lot that happens behind the scenes of your loan. “Meet” a few of those people: – The Processor. – The Appraiser. – The Underwriter. – The Loan Officer. – The Closing Department. (in Charlottesville, that’s the attorney or closing company )

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