From the monthly archives:

June 2006

Local Residents Voice Opinion on Comprehensive Plan

June 23, 2006

The residents of an area of Albemarle known as the Village of Rivanna have submitted an amendment to Albemarle’s Comprehensive Plan.  You can read a Dialy Progress article on the issue. The chief issue at hand is the proposed development that would be next to the current location of Glenmore.  The proposed Rivanna Village development [...]

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Mortage Rates Highest since 2002

June 23, 2006

Interest rates have been steadily rising for some time now.  The issue has been how much the increase has affected the real estate market.  My opinion has always been that rising interest rates are not the chief cause of the real estate slowdown.  The fact that rates were historically low not too long ago did [...]

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Advice for Choosing a Lender

June 22, 2006

Read the following response to a very popular question, "How do I choose a mortgage lender?"  It is probably the #1 question people ask with regard to financing.  While the person with the question is from Georgia, the advice applies no matter where you may be, even the Charlottesville area.  I thought the response from [...]

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Growth is Good

June 21, 2006

In the 1987 Oliver Stone film, Wall Street, character Gordon Gekko proclaims, "Greed is good."  A recent report by the National Association of Homebuilders found that perhaps growth is good as well.  You can read about the report here.  The report is merely a compilation of already existing census and economic data gathered from around [...]

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Some Good News for the Housing Market

June 20, 2006

May showed a 5% increase in new housing starts according to a recent report.  Read about the news from MSN Money.  Wall-Street didn’t exactly go crazy over the news, but that’s okay.  It is a good sign that builders are willing to build homes, considering that they only do so if they feel buyers are [...]

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Is Government Regulation to Blame for High Home Prices?

June 20, 2006

Read this article that tackles the issue of how government regulation affects home prices. The issue was raised by the following quote from the National Association of Home Builders: "rising interest rates and high land and production costs will continue to push the cost of housing beyond the means of many American families, and a [...]

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How to Avoid “Losing” on Price

June 19, 2006

I found an excellent article regarding what some sellers perceive as "losing" on price.  The point that the article makes, which is a very valid one in today’s market, is that "losing" is relative.  If your ultimate goal is to sell your home for the most amount possible, that is exactly what you must do.  [...]

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Charlottesville Area Homes Overpriced by 29%

June 15, 2006

Read this very interesting article about the valuation of homes in the country’s largest markets.  The study mentioned in the article listed all the MSAs around the country and how over or under-valued homes in each market are.  Not surprisingly, most of the top over-valued markets are in Florida and California.  According to the list, [...]

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Harvard Releases Housing Report

June 15, 2006

The smarty pants at the Harvard (or if  you prefer, "Haaahvahd) Joint Center for Housing Studies recently released their "State of the Nation’s Housing" 2006 report.  Their are some differing views on its interpretation, some find it fairly positive (see Realty Times Article).  Others find it not so positive (see MSN Money/Financial Times article).  If [...]

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Downtown Charlottesville to Get “Green” Building

June 14, 2006

A mixed-use "green" building is being proposed for Downtown Charlottesville.  As the article points out, this type of construction is gaining popularity, and condos such as these would probably sell very well in Charlottesville. If you want to learn more about what it means to build "green," check out The U.S. Green Building Council.

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