Posts tagged Albemarle

Sellers – Don’t Have Stinky Houses, Take 2

in Sellers on

After counting 12 of these in a vacant house I was showing last weekend, I thought re-visiting an old topic was timely.

If you’re selling your house, don’t do this.

Here are five reasons to avoid using air fresheners.

– Smelly things – plug-ins, air fresheners, etc are not good when you’re trying to sell your home.
– They don’t smell good.
– They make buyers question what you’re hiding.
– They detract from our ability to focus on the house because the smell is so overwhelming.
– They’re bad (from a “I’m trying to have my house present as well as possible perspective).

I wrote “Sellers don’t have Stinky Houses” several years ago, and if you’re curious to see how bad video was even a couple years ago, have a look.

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Fewer Trees = Income Inequality

in Albemarle Charlottesville General Real Estate Google on

Fascinating.

Income Inequality as Seen from Space

I’d love to post some photos here about some of the areas in Charlottesville that might match this hypothesis, but won’t so as not to potentially violate fair housing laws.

That said, I’d be curious to know what you might find.

If you’re looking, use Bing Maps rather than Google Maps; Bing is much, much better.

Update 18 July 2012: Mashable has a long story on tree density’s relation to income.

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Meadowcreek Parkway Takes another Step to Completion

in Albemarle Charlottesville Politics on

Charlottesville Tomorrow reports that Judge Moon has dismissed the most recent lawsuit seeking to prevent the Meadow Creek Parkway’s completion.

Judge Norman K. Moon of the U.S. Western District Court has dismissed a lawsuit from the Coalition to Preserve McIntire Park that claimed the Federal Highway Administration unlawfully split three components of the roadway in order to evade environmental scrutiny.

Anyone up for a bet as to when the Meadowcreek Parkway will be completed? I’m thinking 2015.

I’d love to know when the Meadowcreek Parkway was first proposed; that’d be an interesting addition to CvillePedia. For newcomers, it’s been discussed since well before 2005 when I first started this blog. I believe it’s been in the works for at least 40 years, but I can’t find that cited anywhere.

I do know this – whether it’s one word (Meadowcreek) or two words (Meadow Creek) – in true CharlAlbemarle fashion, we’re going to have another road that goes from Point A to Point B that has (at least) two names: the County section is now the “John Warner Parkway” and the City’s section will likely be something else.*

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cul de sacs.

Six Questions about Albemarle County’s Neighborhood Model

in Albemarle General Real Estate Transportation on

You can have the most walkable neighborhood in the world, but if the only places you can walk to are your neighbors’, the neighborhood is not truly walkable; this seems to be something lost on Albemarle County, whether intentionally or circumstantially.

Now the County seems to be grasping this disconnect –

Charlottesville Tomorrow reports that the County is debating the Neighborhood Model.

Having islands (neighborhoods) unto themselves does not provide what homebuyers – or home owners – are looking for if they are seeking to live in a walkable community. I could rattle off the number of subdivisions in Albemarle County that are very walkable – but to do anything other than walk to friends’ houses (even that’s not allowed due to today’s fear-centric society!)

The number of neighborhoods in Albemarle County from which residents can get to stuff – stores, coffee shops, schools, work – without having to resort to a car is much smaller. Further, the number of neighborhoods built since 2001 that meet even two thirds of the 12 tenets can likely be counted on one hand.

Six questions:

1 – What does one say to those who buy in a neighborhood who don’t know that interconnectivity is pine of the 12 tenets of the Neighborhood Model? (hint: this is part of the buyer agent’s role – to help educate as best possible that if they don’t own it it’s going to change)

2 – Should developers be required to put in infrastructure from the beginning?

3 – Who should pay for the infrastructure – developers, homebuyers (see previous choice), all property owners (via property taxes)?

4 – How are walkability and access defined?

5 – Has the Neighborhood Model been successfully implemented?

6 – Which are the most “successful” neighborhoods? How is “success defined”?

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April 2012 Charlottesville Real Estate Market Report

in Albemarle Charlottesville Fluvanna Greene Louisa Market statistics Nelson on

Highlights:

– Days on Market (an inherently flawed data point) are down in Charlottesville, Albemarle and Fluvanna.

– Average Sales prices are down (not surprising)

– Total sales across the MSA are down (not surprising)

Thoughts/initial conclusions:

– More buyers are looking to be closer in/closer to stuff

– Good properties are selling and selling quickly

– Interest rates remain low – a good thing for buyers.

– I think we may have pulled the spring market forward a bit; the early spring may have pulled transactions into the earlier months of the year.

Dead simple Takeaways:

– Buyers: do your due diligence, don’t let emotion enter the equation and make sound, rationale decisions with the intent of holding the property for at least five to seven years

– Sellers: do your due diligence and realize that buyers most often don’t have to buy, but want to buy – it’s your job to make them want to buy your house. This means: price, presentation, perfection … and a great location and setting.

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