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No High School Rankings in Albemarle County Schools?

in Albemarle Education on September 21, 2013 September 23, 2013

Albemarle County is in discussions about whether to stop ranking students.

In response to calls from parents to stop reporting class rankings to college admissions offices, Albemarle County Public Schools is in the process of reviewing its policy.

Currently, Albemarle reports class ranks to colleges and universities in deciles, but many parents feel that doing so paints students below the top 10 percent negatively in the eyes of selective universities.

Questions –

– Does *not* rewarding kids for achievement disincentivize them from trying harder?

– How could we focus educating kids on actually educating kids rather than passing tests in order to get better ranked?

– When folks are moving to Charlottesville – Albemarle what rankings to they consider in public schools? Do they factor in what percentage of

There is a great discussion at RealCrozetVA.

Update – Charlottesville Tomorrow has a poll – Should Albemarle County report student rankings to colleges?

July’s Monthly Note – Bicycling, The Market and Other Exclusive Insight

Once a month, I publish some of the best stuff I write. I talk about the market, the area, and provide insight that I don’t provide anywhere else – and I don’t publish the notes’ archives either – so this is a unique audience and note.

I’ll be publishing the July note tomorrow and some of the subjects I’ll probably be writing about are:

– The state of the Charlottesville real estate market
– Recapping June on RealCentralVA (and maybe RealCrozetVA) – I know that many don’t want to read ~15 posts a month, but one note a month is just right. 🙂
– How a Facebook post almost got out of hand (and how I couldn’t and haven’t figured out how to close comments on a Facebook post)
– Shifting to bicycling – reasons and consequences
– A buyer’s recounting of the process
– Hoodies followup

There are a few other things I’m debating including, and I strive to keep these notes efficient – no more and 5 topics and less than 1,000 or so words.

If you’re interested, I’d greatly appreciate your registering.

Things I’m Watching in the (Macro) Real Estate Market for 2013

in General Real Estate on January 2, 2013 January 2, 2013

These are a few stories I’m reading/processing/mulling as 2013 begins.

– 5 Types Of Buyers Will Be Rushing Into The Housing Market In 2013 (I don’t think “rushing” is the valid term for the Charlottesville market, particularly as this story could have been written in 2012 with reasonable speculation; now it reads with more confidence.

– Recap: Five Housing Issues to Watch in 2013 – I’m not quite sold that we’re at bottom, but I think we’re darn close. (Hopefully)

– Sales Ratio: Existing to New Homes – The Charlottesville area is set to have a ton of new homes in 2013. Good, bad, ugly, it’s going to happen

– The Virginia General Assembly is close to reconvening. Watch out.

– Human Settlement Patterns – Mapping the Census: A Dot for Every Person – Just because this is an incredible display of the US population. (zoom into the Charlottesville area)

– Should I buy a house right now? – Answer: It Depends.

Wegmans, Cracker Barrel and a Target on 5th Street?

in Albemarle Growth on February 9, 2012 April 24, 2012

Wegmans, Cracker Barrel, a Target â€¦ and maybe even a new connector road, bike paths and hiking trails on 5th Street?

We had the rumors at the Nest Report a few days ago and Charlottesville Tomorrow reports this morning that the “Fifth and Avon Center is Moving Forward.“

C-Ville and The HooK Investigate Biscuit Run

in Albemarle Charlottesville Growth Politics on October 26, 2010 October 27, 2010

But the Biscuit Run acquisition process, from start to finish, was a hasty affair that involved no public input and a network of businessmen and politicians with close ties. No one who negotiated the deal could control how much taxpayers paidâ€”the decision is left to a few unelected bureaucrats in the state tax department.

…It is about something far more prosaic, and possibly more disturbingâ€”how influential people align their interests and justify their actions by saying they did it for you and me. For background on Biscuit Run, do as I do and turn to the RealCentralVA.com archives and, better yet, Charlottesville Tomorrow’s Biscuit Run archives .

When Evaluating the Charlottesville Real Estate Market, IGNORE National Data

in Market statistics on June 23, 2010 June 30, 2010

Take your lede : – Home sales up 14% in Charlottesville and Albemarle year over year. – Home sales up 19% in Charlottesville MSA year over year. – Foreclosures continue to climb in Charlottesville and Albemarle. – Questions abound regarding second half of 2010; where will we find the bottom of the market? – If you have questions about or would like more detailed analysis, please contact me.

…Simple (though notsoumuch in reality) What I’m reading: – Harvard’s State of the Nation’s Housing Market (PDF) and listening to an excellent podcast with Nicholas Retsinas , Director, Harvard Universityâ€™s Joint Center for Housing Studies . (did you know that there was an exhibit at the Smithsonian on McMansions ?) – Core Logic’s Home Price Index Report for April 2010 – Virginia’s Housing Price Index, for single family homes year-over-year, is up 6.5%; for single family homes excluding distressed properties, is up 3.6%. Virginia is one of the five best states for year-over-year price appreciation excluding distressed sales .. but mostly that’s irrelevant in my opinion as the bulk of those sales are most likely comprised of Northern Virginia sales. – The Federal Housing Finance Agency’s House Price Index for First Quarter 2010 The FHFA (formerly OFHEO) say that in the Charlottesville MSA house prices have dropped 6.98% year over year, 1.86& in the 1st Quarter 2010, and have appreciated 12.68% over the past 5 years .

… Home Sales are Up 19% year over year in the Charlottesville MSA: Homes sales are UP 14% in Charlottesville and Albemarle : One point: Charlottesville’s Unemployment is lower than the national average. Prime example of the irrelevance of national, aggregate housing data, which is good only for political talking points and respective agendas: Foreclosure starts for the nation and Charlottesville and Albemarle: National foreclosure data, courtesy of the HUD Scorecard, using RealtyTrac data: For Charlottesville, using RealtyTrac : For Albemarle County, using RealtyTrac: What have median home prices done in Charlottesville over the past five years?

Dealing with Home Buyers’ New Psychology

in Buyers Market statistics Sellers on June 21, 2010 November 17, 2014

When we started, we were looking at new construction, and I had to tell them that whatever they wanted changed would have to be done by them, at their expense after closing, as the builders were not going to make any concessions or alterations. … That’s a difference that matters – both to actual sales numbers and perceived sales numbers – to the market’s collective psyche, if you will. See for yourself (PDF). Add to this the fact that the average Days on Market in May 2006 was 69 and the average Days on Market in May 2010 is 106 and the market rightfully feels slower.

…Many Sellers don’t want to “give their homes away” (hint: price your home to sell from Day One ) and many Buyers want to feel like they get a “deal” and many buyers have unreasonable expectations – resale homes are used homes; they are not new construction.

…They also are prepared to walk away if things don’t go their way – there will be another house that suits their needs and wants; five or six years ago, another house would come on the market, but it would probably have been more expensive.