Building Walls in Charlottesville

I never thought I’d see these in this part of Charlottesville. Short story: they’re redoing Emmet Street/29 from Forest Lakes to Best Buy. Start here for quick background. For those of you from Charlottesville but who haven’t been back in a while, this is the other side of the Bodo’s exit, right next to Best Buy. For background on what’s happening along Emmet Street and the 250…

Read More

March Monthly Note – This Market, Take 2. Blue Apron. Privacy. Pooping babies.

This is a sample of this month’s note. If you’re interested in the whole thing, please sign up here for the Monthly Note. This month, that holds true. We’re in the thick of it. This market is, in many segments, crazy. Feels-like-2005-and-2006-crazy. Crazy as in, I feel like I’ve been here before crazy. … I’ve not seen that combination since the “boom” market. There is nothing…

Read More

Density in Downtown Charlottesville – If Not Here, Where?

Proposed development off High Street in Downtown Charlottesville, image Courtesy Charlottesville Tomorrow Charlottesville Tomorrow's Sean Tubbs wrote last week about a developer seeking 104 units near the old Martha Jefferson - now the CFA/Hemoshear/etc building. The owners of a medical building at the corner of East Jefferson and 10th Street Northeast in Charlottesville are seeking the City Council’s approval for a special-use permit to allow construction...

Read More

Robots and Real Estate

I just got back from a great two-day conference at the Virginia Military Institute, Ethical Dilemmas in the Digital Age, and my mind is reeling a bit, so I’m sharing initial thoughts/notes so I can reference them later. Hopefully, you’ll find value in them as well. From panel discussions touching on autonomous robots with kill authorization to a lively debate about social media’s impact on…

Read More

Reaffirming WordPress’ Value (in Real Estate)

  View this post on Instagram A post shared by Jim Duncan (@jimduncan)   Social media worlds colliding today … I saw the tweet below linking to a story on that actual Internet (not Facebook’s walled-garden-version of the “internet”) detailing how Instagram will not longer let you promote your other social media accounts. Instagram has been a tremendous thing. Particularly now that they permit multiple…

Read More

What’s On Your Book Shelves?

“I could live here! This could be my bookshelf!”

My clients didn’t buy that house. But they seriously considered it more than they would have otherwise, in large part due to the books on the shelves.

Buyers are seeking way to evaluate whether they will be happy/content/satisfied in a new place. Book help that evaluative process immensely. Kindles don’t help this process.

Read More

Albemarle County Seeking to Raise Property Taxes. Again.

Real estate assessments rose again in Albemarle County in 2016 nearly 2% in 2015 after about 2.5% in 2014; now Albemarle County wants to increase the tax rate by 2.5 cents. Sean Tubbs at Charlottesville Tomorrow writes (be sure to read the whole thing): Rising population and sluggish growth in property values have led Albemarle’s county executive to propose a 2.5 cent real estate property tax increase in his recommended…

Read More