Posts tagged albemarle real estate

400 More Homes on Pantops? What Could Go Wrong?

in Albemarle Growth on

Start at Albemarle County’s site , this pdf of last night’s agenda , and then spend some time at Charlottesville Tomorrow’s site .

…That a developer would seek a rezoning of this scale that would add thousands of vehicle trips a day without submitting a traffic study is indicative of either ignorance, arrogance or indifference.

… However, Rooker said the proffer language calling for the road could be interpreted in such a way that the county would have to condemn property. … “We don’t want to be in a mode where we’ve approved this and he doesn’t have to build the road because we won’t condemn the property.”

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Talking about the Charlottesville Real Estate Market – WNRN Radio 9 January 2011

in General Real Estate Shameless Self Promotion on

If you are interested in – whether from a buyer, seller, voyeur, moving to Charlottesville perspective, I highly encourage you to listen to this hour of radio Matt Hodges and me as we discuss the Charlottesville real estate market, national trends affecting all of us, and what the conversation may mean to you, the real estate consumer. … Some of the stories to come: One of the best parts of doing radio shows is that I always generate new ideas to write about. – Top 10 most popular neighborhoods in the area; I’m finalizing the methodology for how this will be determined, so I won’t promise the publication date. – An expansion on the nomadic class. – The internet’s/telecommuting’s impact on attracting people to the Charlottesville area. … Title issues, conveyance of title, property ownership – I think this is going to be a huge story in 2011. – Mobility – many of today’s potential homeowners are choosing to not buy because they want to have options. – QE2 – DIA and NGIC – their impact on the Charlottesville real estate market; in short, they they provided a stabilizing force. – Loan Level Pricing Adjustments – what does this mean to homebuyers?

…Charlottesville Foreclosure Rate and Foreclosure Activity Information | thanks to RealtyTrac – Foreclosure rate for the Charlottesville MSA – Majority of Virginians oppose gas-tax increase – Town hall to discuss Hollymead development area expansion – Realtors’ response to Mortgage Interest Deduction – Commentary: Mortgage Interest and Real Estate Tax Deduction Facts – Facing Scrutiny, Banks Slow Pace of Foreclosures – Homeownership is not a must .

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No More Albemarle Place?

in General Real Estate on

As already revealed, the development will feature a million square feet of residential space and nearly a million more square feet of retail and office space, including a new 14-screen Regal Cinemas with a high-tech IMAX® theatre. However, the latest renderings of the project showed something that a lot of folks will hope is not just wishful thinking: a Trader Joe’s on the corner of Hydraulic and Route 29. … Whether or not actual contracts have been sign with those companies can’t be confirmed, but the general feeling among County planning officials is that the long-awaited project is actually going to get built. … Not only does the building site need to be fully prepared, proposed proffers have Edens & Avant chipping in $1 million to build a fourth southbound lane on Route 29 from Westfield Road to 29/250 interchange, and a second lane for the on-ramp on to 250 West.

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Northtown Bike Trail – From Downtown to 29 North – Looks Great

in Albemarle Charlottesville Politics Transportation on

The Northtown Trail is a smart, functional, bold and audacious plan that would likely help shape non-auto-dependent growth, reduce congestion on 29 and maybe help folks using it get more fit .

…The Northtown Trail is tied to several significant roadway projects in the area, including the Route 250 Interchange at McIntire Road , McIntire Road Extended , the Meadow Creek Parkway and Berkmar Drive Extended . The portions of the trail in Albemarle County correspond directly to planned facilities for the Places29 Master Plan, which aims to improve congestion and land use issues along the US 29 north corridor in Albemarle County. … The City’s portion of the conceptual trail corresponds to planned bike and pedestrian facilities along the future McIntire Road Extended and the Route 250 interchange at McIntire Road.

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Homebuyers – Caution on Radon, Builders’ Reps and No Representation

in Buyers General Real Estate on

Second issue, (The builder) missed his 11-month walk through of our home and it was encroaching upon our 12- month (final inspection of the home), so my husband and I agreed to have an official home inspector come into our home (as we know nothing about home construction). … Upon hearing the findings and what they meant we conducted research for remediation and also contacted (The builder) and set up an appointment to go over the findings of the inspection (the inspector also disclosed he had conducted the radon tests in (The Neighborhood) and stated that (The builder) knew he had a radon issue because one of his home sales almost did not go through until (The builder) remediated the issue). … We immediately contacted a mediator to address the issue (when the location of the home was made known to the remediator (Radon Company), the owner stated he remediated the other homes in (The Neighborhood) and this could have been prevented/mediated during the building process or prior to sale of the home if already constructed). … (The builder) returned an email that stipulated he would accept no responsibility for the radon issue but agreed to put 250 dollars towards the remediation, “because we were good people and had contributed to the neighborhood”.   The total cost of inspection and remediation is 1175 dollars.

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FHA Increases – Buying a Home Is Now More Expensive

in Albemarle Charlottesville General Real Estate on

Effective for FHA loans for which the case number is assigned on or after October 4, 2010, FHA upfront and annual MIP will change as follows:    – Upfront MIP –    1.00% on ALL mortgage terms (from 2.25%)
…    – Annual MIP –      0.85% for LTVs less than or equal to 95% and terms of more than 15yrs (from .50%) * No Change in Annual MIP for <=15yr Terms (No Annual MI) In general, monthly payments are going to INCREASE due to the higher annual MI payment. ** LTV = Loan to Value (the above was sent along by Jason Crigler with Crown Mortgage ) Keep in mind that the FHA loan limits for the Charlottesville MSA are: Single Family/Attached – $437,000 Two family – $559,450 Three Family – $676,200 Four Family – $840,400 For an example of what these increases mean you homebuyers in Charlottesville, I’m going to borrow Rhonda Porter’s math : Using an interest rate of 4.25% and a based loan amount of $400,000; it looks like this: FHA Case Number BEFORE September 7 October 10, 2010:

… $400,000 plus $4,000 = $404,000 amortized for 30 years at 4.25% = principal and interest of $1,987.44 plus the annual mortgage insurance of $300 = $2,287.44.

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Friday Chart – Is this the New Normal for the Charlottesville Real Estate Market?

in Market statistics on

Looking at the number of transactions so far this year* in the Charlottesville MSA – Charlottesville, Albemarle, Fluvanna, Greene, Nelson – for all kinds of property – condo, attached, single family, farms … in this dataset there are going to be outliers and anomalies, but with a set this large, we’re really looking for trending analysis. … Maybe we are witnessing the “new normal” for the Charlottesville real estate market, and it’s something that we’re just going to have to get used to.

…While dramatic increases in productivity could theoretically take up the slack, that may be too much to ask of a generation whose education, for the first time in American history, ranked in the bottom third of developed nations. … “The trend is most visible,” they write, “in the transition from a G-7 to a Group of 20 model of international decision making which includes influential and deep-pocketed developing countries like Brazil, China, India, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

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