Charlottesville's Real Estate Blog. Buyer &/or Seller Representation, Real Estate News
Taken on this morning’s bicycle ride on Garth Road.
One of the best things about living in Charlottesville is, quite simply, this time of year. The weather – the crisp temperatures, clean air, blue skies – and the changing of the leaves makes this truly a great time to live in Charlottesville.
But living in Charlottesville is one thing – making/taking the time to appreciate where we live is another.
I love this about Charlottesville.
C’Ville Pie Fest is Back! It’s this Sunday at the Crozet Mudhouse, supports the Crozet Volunteer Fire Department, and pie entries are needed (there are some hungry judges!)
It all started on Twitter and was, as I said at the time, ridiculously good fun at the Charlottesville Downtown Mudhouse.
And we had pie later in 2009 at Crozet Mudhouse, and it benefited PACEM.
And more pie in 2011, benefiting the Haven.
And the judges:
– Head Judge Brian Geiger
– Wendy Novicoff
– Sean McCord
– Rebecca Cooper
– Josh Harvey (Albemarle Baking Company baker)
– Nathan Moore of WTJU
– Gary Dillon of the Crozet Firefighters
– Jim Duncan (that’s me!)
Food for thought …
A couple stories and trends that I’m trying to work through as they apply to real estate: Tesla and Uber/Lyft:
Tesla, the groundbreaking electric car company is slowly but surely breaking down archaic, consumer-unfriendly barriers to being able to sell their cars direct to consumers, and Tesla is in the midst of building a new infrastructure through which to distribute the fuel for their vehicles.
Uber/Lyft, brand new to Charlottesville, have seemingly led to a 65% decline in cab use in San Francisco.
The real estate world has its own parallels – real estate agents (some are middlemen, some are critical advisors), MLS (the infrastructure) and the shifting dynamics of ownership (do we really own our iPhones) and motivations to buy homes (see: millennials).
I’m not yet sure where the real estate world is evolving, but it’s going to be different in 18 months than it is today.
A bit more fun with Hyperlapse. I’m sure I’ll tire of these very soon, but for now, I think this is a neat way to show how one of the City of Charlottesville’s main corridors has recently changed.
Google have released a new tool that further enables users (us) to help them map the world. Photosphere was just released for the iPhone (it’s been available on Android for a while) and it’s quite remarkable. I’m not sure just how useful it is, but it’s mighty interesting. Photosphere will certainly help me detail for my out of town/country clients, but I don’t know if it’s any better than video, despite the higher resolution.
Curious? This is a photosphere I took of the new Lochlyn Hill neighborhood, currently under construction.
Hyperlapse by Instagram/Facebook is different, exciting – and differently useful. In comparison to the static, 360º images provided by the Photosphere app, Hyperlapse has been described as “a $15,000 Video Setup in Your Hand.” I see great potential for Hyperlapse for telling stories – the stories that make a city, an area, a neighborhood, a street – compelling.
Interesting times, and with the new iPhones being released with seemingly infinitely more powerful processors, I think we’ll be seeing an a lot more Hyperlapses and Photospheres.
An example – Downtown Crozet is in the midst of Streetscaping right now …
An easy way to learn about and engage with Albemarle County – Engage Albemarle.
The Comprehensive Plan is Albemarle County’s most important document regarding growth, development and change. It establishes government policy to help guide public and private activities as they relate to land use and resource utilization. What general thoughts would you like to share about the Comprehensive Plan as it is being reviewed by the Board of Supervisors this summer and fall?
Better to express your opinion now in the hopes the Comp Plan can be altered than complain about the decisions that have already been made.
What would be helpful would be if the County would identify which specific parts of the Comp Plan are, or are likely to be, up for debate/discussion – in the Housing section, for example (pdf).
One note a month. Usually less than 1500 words, I tend to write my best stuff in this note.*
One of the highlights of every month’s note, in addition to the market insight and stories I write, are the blog summaries, in which I highlight some of the best posts on RealCentralVA and RealCrozetVA from the previous month.
Curious? Interested in learning a bit more about the Charlottesville market?
Two clicks here and you’ll get this month’s note as soon as I publish it, and hopefully you’ll stick around for each successive month.
* It’s really the only stuff I write that’s edited.