Fluvanna Reassessment FAQ’s
November 29, 2006 | Leave a Comment
A client of mine alerted my attention to a document that Fluvanna County has posted on its government website. The document is a list of Frequently Asked Questions about the tax reassessment. I wanted to pass it along to readers of this blog because I have received questions from people about the reassessment. The FAQ list from the county is the first step in addressing some of those questions. I shall do my best to continue to follow the reassessment discussion and keep everyone up-to-date.
[tags] real estate, realtor, virginia, fluvanna, taxes, reassessment [/tags]
Problem Solved
November 29, 2006 | Leave a Comment
I fixed the problem that was causing the main page to display incorrectly. I found some weird HTML in one of my last posts. Once I deleted it, everything returned to normal. Whew!
Technical Difficulties
November 29, 2006 | Leave a Comment
My site seems to having an issue with the main page. The individual post pages work fine, but the main page is all messed up. Thanks for your patience as I try to work this out.
Just Win/Win, Baby
November 28, 2006 | 1 Comment
I know that some of you may find this hard to believe, but sports officials don’t care who wins the game.
Whenever I step out on the floor, no matter which two teams are playing, I could care less about the outcome. There are plenty of people– fans, players, coaches, etc., who have a vested interest in who wins and loses, the officials don’t. The official’s responsibility is to make sure that the game is played according to the spirit and letter of the rules, so that all participants are safe and have a fair chance to compete. While players, fans and coaches are advocates for their team, the officials are advocates of the game itself.
Not caring who wins is great for officiating, but not so much for real estate. In real estate, I wouldn’t be representing my clients very well if I didn’t care whether or not they were successful. The tricky thing about this is that, while I do care if my client is successful, I also know that success for my client need not necessarily come at the expense of the other party. While sports may require a win/lose, REALTORS must search strive for a win/win. If I am trying to bring about a win/win transaction, then the end result for my client will be success.
To help illustrate my point, I want to share with you a post written by Greg at the BlueRoof.com Blog. He wrote about the number of homes that people should see before they buy. It is a great post, but I want you to notice how it ended:
My wife and I bought the third home we looked at and it’s been the best home I’ve ever owned. We decided on what we were looking for and when we found it we bought it. We called the listing agent and said we’d wait for the agent to get there and the owners to come home. We sat right there at the kitchen table and wrote the offer with the sellers and their agent. Full price, and we worked out dates that worked for everyone. Win/win- that’s the right way to buy a home. (emphasis added)
Greg is exactly right. Not only is win/win the best way to buy a home, but it is also the best way to sell a home. No one, neither buyer nor seller, wants to go through an acrimonious real estate transaction. Too many times, people believe that the only way for them to get what they want is at the expense of the other party. This simply is not true. The nature of negotiation is that two parties work together to achieve a mutually beneficial result. This means that sometimes each party must concede one desire in order to fulfill another. The real estate transaction is multi-faceted negotiation, and there is room for everyone to get the things that they need and want.
Working towards a win/win also highlights the need for a good pre-game plan. The only way to get what you want is to know what you want beforehand. You should also decide which things you are willing to live without, if need be. This way, you know going into the transaction the things that you are willing to concede in order to get what you truly want. Doing this type of pre-game inventory of the things that are important and not-so-important will help you work towards a win/win transaction.
In real estate transactions, as well as in sports, emotions can run high. There is usually a lot of money at stake, and everyone has a vested interest in the outcome of the transaction. Sometimes, the emotion and high stakes can lead people to view the transaction as a win/lose situation. This is a dangerous viewpoint. The better way to look at the situation is to search for the win/win. In the long run, the win/win is what everyone wants, whether they admit it or not.
When I put on the stripes, I don’t care who wins. When I practice real estate, I want everyone to win. That may make being a Real Estate Zebra tough, but it also makes it worthwhile.
[tags] real estate, realtor, charlottesville, virginia, officiating, negotiating, win/win, Al Davis, buying a home, selling a home [/tags]
The Internet Puts Cracks in Bricks and Mortar, and Erases Print
November 27, 2006 | 1 Comment
I happened to be in a shopping mall on Black Friday. Luckily, it was later in the evening, and the big crowds had long since disappeared. While my wife and sister-in-law were doing some shopping, I wandered into a bookstore. I soon remembered why I usually shop for books online.
The first thing that you notice in a bookstore is that it is pretty easy to find the books on the New York Times Bestseller List. Those books are at the very front of the store. You actually have to walk around them to get into the store. If you are looking for something other than that, good luck.
The store is at least arranged by genre (Fiction/Non-Fiction) and further separated by topic. As is usually my habit, I went straight to the “Business” section. It was at this point that I ran into a problem. Within the Business section, the books were arranged not by topic, but by author. Of course, that was only true most of the time. Books that were part of a series were all grouped together, regardless of the author. There was no way for me to find books about individual topics unless I browsed through every book on the shelf. With about 12 shelves of books, it was difficult; especially since I couldn’t even judge a book by its cover, I had to do it by it’s spine. Needless to say, I eventually got frustrated, and then tired, and then I left.
Contrast this experience with searching for books on the Internet. When I search on the Internet, I can search by title, author, keywords, etc. I can read reviews of books by other readers, and some sites will even recommend books to me that are similar to the ones I have chosen. The experience is much more efficient and enjoyable.
It occurred to me that the differing experiences of searching for books in a store vs. books online is very similar to the experience of searching for real estate in a real estate print publication vs. real estate online. If you pick up one of the local Charlottesville real estate publications, you are literally bombarded with home advertisements. These ads are not arranged in any real discernible pattern; and even if they were, the ads from individual companies aren’t usually arranged in an order. If, for example, I tried to use a real estate publication to search for a home in a particular area, in a particular price range, with a basement and a 2-car garage, I would be in trouble. I would have to look through almost every page of the publication in the hope of finding something.
Now, let’s take that search online. I can run the same search through the any number of different web portals, and get results in seconds. Then, once I have results, those results are far more in-depth than any ad in a print publication. Searching for real estate on the internet wins hands-down when compared to trying to find real estate in print publications. I know this, and so do most of the potential clients who call me.
Why then, do people still look in print publications? I can think of only 2 legitimate reasons:
1) They don’t have Internet access.
2) No one has shown them how much better it is, so they continue with the old method.
Increased access to the Internet, and consumer education can solve both of these issues. The solutions to these problems pose a very real threat to agents who chose to ignore, or refuse to adapt. In short, the Realtorsaurus should be afraid, very afraid.
[tags] real estate, realtor, charlottesville, virginia, realtorsaurus, real estate advertising, real estate marketing, marketing [/tags]
Happy Thanksgiving!
November 24, 2006 | Leave a Comment
Happy Thanksgiving to all. I could bore you with a list of the things for which I am thankful, but I won’t. The point of today is to take a moment and be thankful. I urge everyone to extend the Thanksgiving Day sentiment to the other 364 days of the year.
Dual Agency is the Designated Hitter of Real Estate
November 21, 2006 | 2 Comments
Over at the Bloodhound Blog, a Dual Agency Smackdown has erupted. You can read all of the smackdown articles here. I have been following the debate, and it has been very interesting, with plenty of good arguments both for and against the practice. For my own two cents, I am generally against it. I can, however, understand many of the great counter arguments.
The dual agency debate reminds me of another, perhaps less important, but not less raucous debate– the designated hitter rule. In major-league baseball, half of the league makes the pitcher bat, and the other half allows a “designated hitter” to bat in his place. This is a source of great contention amongst baseball fans and pundits, with passionate arguments both for and against the rule.
How does the designated hitter rule relate to dual-agency? Simple. Neither issue will ever be definitively solved, no matter how strong the arguments, or how passionate the advocates. Much like the designated hitter, dual agency is always going to be practiced by some, unless it is made illegal. Much like dual agency, their are always going to be those who feel that the designated hitter is a scourge that should be eliminated.
Perhaps the most useful aspect of the discussion is the discussion itself. We can all learn a lot by just participating in the dual agency debate, whether for or against. Education is the first step in decision.
If you like fireworks, and you are ever amongst a group of REALTORS and want to have some fun, bring up the subject of dual agency; and if you are ever amongst a group of die-hard baseball fans and want to have some fun, bring up the designated hitter. Both debates have almost endless entertainment value.
[tags] real estate, realtor, charlottesville, virginia, dual agency, designated hitter[/tags]
Stepping Out From “Behind the Curtain”
November 21, 2006 | 2 Comments
Jeff Brown has utilized the power of the Blog Princess and has stepped out from “Behind the Curtain.” He is now a BawldGuy Talking. His new site looks great, and best of all, it contains the same great content. I wish him all the best.
[tags] real estate, realtor, blog, blogging, real estate blog [/tags]
Fluvanna Reassessment Still Looks Bleak
November 21, 2006 | 8 Comments
NBC 29 ran a story on Friday that covered the property reassessment in Fluvanna County. According to the story, the county is preparing residents for an average 40% increase in property assessments for 2007. That’s a 40% tax increase.
About a month ago, I covered this in a post I wrote that attempted to show that increasing property assessments by even 30% would mean that the assessments would now be higher than market value. In light of the fact that with this latest story, Fluvanna seems to be preparing residents for a 40% average increase, I wanted to see how the data would shake out.
I went into the MLS and looked up every property that sold in the month of October in Fluvanna County. I then looked at the current tax assessment for each of those properties, increased the assessment by 40% and compared it to the actual sales price to see if a 40% increase is in line with market value. Here’s what I found:
There were 35 properties that closed in the month of October, 2006. Of those 35 properties, I threw out three of them. One was thrown out because it was completely renovated both inside and out prior to its sale, and the other two were thrown out because they were so new that the assessment only reflected the land value. That left 32 property sales to look at.
Of the 32 sales that I examined, only 6 sold for a value AT OR ABOVE a 40% increase in their current assessments. That means that 80% of the properties sold for BELOW a 40% increase in their current assessments. What does this mean? It means that if the 40% increase in assessments were to go into effect today, 80% of the homes sold in October would be over-taxed. Not good.
My first concern is with the over-taxation. No population at any time, for any reason, should be over-taxed. This is especially true in the case of over-valued assessments, since assessments are something that can be changed. If someone wants to have a debate over the actual tax rate being to high, that’s fine. There is no reason, however, that assessments should be too high. I fully understand that tax-payers have the right to challenge their assessments, but judging by what some people have told me about their previous experiences with challenges, I don’t have a lot of hope that people will have success.
My second concern is that people will attempt to use the tax assessments to value their homes when they want to sell. The government does not set the value of a home, the market does. Tax assessments are supposed to be a reflection of the market, not the other way around. Judging by the little bit of data that I have looked at, most property assessments are going to be above the current market value unless the county experiences tremendous appreciation between now and the time the tax bills go out. I don’t foresee that happening.
The reassessment in Fluvanna County as it is currently being discussed, or not being discussed as the case may be, has the potential to be very bad for residents. At the very least, this is an issue that needs to be addressed and discussed much more at the Board of Supervisors level, and residents should be asking a lot more questions about just how much impact this reassessment is going to have on not only their tax bills, but the financial health of the county as a whole.
I am going to take some time to break down the stats that I gathered a little more, and I will continue to follow the coverage of the issue and try to get some answers from county officials.
[tags] real estate, realtor, fluvanna, virginia, reassessment, tax, property value [/tags]
Carnival #19 is Up
November 20, 2006 | Leave a Comment
The 19th edition of the Carnival of Real Estate is up at Ubertor. Plenty of good stuff, as always.
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Disclaimer
My name is Daniel Rothamel. I am a licensed real estate agent in the Commonwealth of Virginia and a member of the National Association of REALTORS. As such, I adhere to a strict code of ethics and all laws with regard to equal housing, which is reflected in the content of this blog. My broker is Strong Team REALTORS, 86 Joshua Lane, Palmyra, VA 22963; (434) 589-5800. My VA Real Estate License number is 0225 077325. All of the opinions in this blog are mine, unless otherwise noted.
