Posts tagged real-estate

Vetting your Charlottesville Realtor – Like + Experience =

in General Real Estate Google Technology on

In a couple weeks, the Houston Association of Realtors will launch a Web application that allows consumers to see which Realtors within their chosen search area are transacting business – and which are not.

… The app is based on MLS data and will be available from the association’s highly-trafficked Website Every Realtor in the market is included, there is no opt-out The app is map-based, so consumers can see who has sold what, where, over different time periods The app may be made available to MLS organizations nationwide

…In the Charlottesville area, I see geography as less of a differentiator, niches are important, but making a career as a “specialist” would be nearly impossible – there’s no way one could be solely a ” Charlottesville condo specialist” – it could be a significant component of one’s business, but the market is just too spread out … but — combine the above with the announcement(s) from Facebook yesterday Heck, now you could see how many people Like the Realtor you may be considering hiring.

…(SIDE NOTE – This also drops Facebook in the middle of the local advertising game – you YELP, you update your facebook PROFILE automatically, I can then create an Ad based on the fact that you “liked” KFC -someone pinch me, I’m still in the dream with Hedi) People are going to freak out about this and it’s a shame – Facebook does not expose YOUR data specifically – only people who you’ve given permission to as a friend will actually see your profile and I can see this being fantastic way of really keeping in touch – how many of my friends liked “Hurt Locker” for example – that’s the next step of Facebooks evolution, it makes sense.

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School Values and Housing Prices – Specifically in Albemarle County

in Charlottesville Education General Real Estate Politics on

In an effort to get my head around the numbers, I have prepared the attached spreadsheet which evaluates (to the best of my ability with the data available) , the impact of the different budget scenarios and what different property tax rate increases necessary to close the funding gap.

…At this point in the process, I don’t like trying to address a budget challenge by manipulating the tax rate, but I think the public deserves some factual information about the different scenarios and how that might impact their personal pocketbooks.

ɉۢ In the best case state funding scenario , a property tax rate of 81.9 cents would balance the budget and increase ANNUAL tax payments by $146.19 for the median priced home when compared to 2009.

…1 However, the strength of the consensus is puzzling, given the formidable empirical challenges facing any homeowner or empirical researcher seeking to answer the question carefully.2 First, good schools usually come bundled with other neighborhood qualities– such as proximity to employment, shopping and recreational conveniences and neighborhood peers.

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Nest Realty Introduces Tom’s Garden

in sideblog on

We at Nest talk about sustainability and local food; now we are enabling others actually do something about this. … While Central Virginia is in the deep freeze at the moment, some of us are dreaming of Springtime, or more specifically, our Spring gardens and the fresh veggies they yield! With that in mind, the Nest team is thrilled to introduce Tom’s Garden , an initiative to support and fund Community Gardening in the Charlottesville-Albemarle community. The agents at Nest, in addition to sharing a profession, share a commitment to our community, an interest in the local food movement and ecology, and a firm conviction that community gardens enhance quality of life.

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Walkability – More than a Fad

in General Real Estate on

“For the typical metropolitan area, each additional point of Walk Score was associated with a $700- to $3,000- increase in home values, after controlling for other observable factors. To give you an idea of what kind of difference that makes in the marketplace, we looked at the difference in home values between a typical house that had the 50th percentile Walk Score, compared to an otherwise identical house that had the 75th percentile Walk Score. Going from the average level of walkability to the 75th percentile raised the value of the median house by between $4,000 and about $34,000, depending on the market.”

…Even more on walkability from the New York Times : REAL estate agents often chant the mantra “location, location, location,” which essentially means “find a home in a well-kept neighborhood with good schools and a low crime rate.”

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Radio this Weekend – WNRN Sunday Morning Wakeup

in Charlottesville Shameless Self Promotion on

We’ll be discussing year-end statistics about the Charlottesville region’s real estate market, prognostications for 2010, real estate and technology trends that consumers need to pay attention to and probably quite a bit more. … Maybe a little plug for Nest Realty – Charlottesville’s newest real estate brokerage If you’re going to buy a home in Charlottesville in 2010, when should you start looking? … ) ( now ) (Same if you’re looking to sell a home in Charlottesville ) … … (have you noticed the Meebo bar at the bottom? … I love doing radio for some of the same reasons I love writing this blog – one of the foremost reasons is that live radio forces me to prepare …

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