<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?><rss version="2.0"><channel><title>The Dirt Around Grounds</title><link>/website/blog/</link><description>Charlottesville Virginia Real Estate News and More </description><copyright>Powered by: LinkUBlog</copyright><item><title>Too little, Too late</title><description><![CDATA[I woke this morning to light rain. Not much, but more than we have had this whole month. So far, we are on track for the driest August since they began keeping records more than 110 years ago. While the rain is much needed, it is too late for the residents of Earlysville Forest. A small enclave of 193 homes on large rural tracts north of town, Earlysville Forest was developed in the 1980s. One of the amenities that makes it a desirable place to live is the community well system. Well, that is until Saturday afternoon...]]></description><guid>/website/blog/default.asp?Display=312</guid><link>/website/blog/default.asp?Display=312</link><pubDate>Wed, 27 Aug 2008 09:39:43 0300</pubDate></item><item><title>Uncle Sam to the Rescue</title><description><![CDATA[On June 9, I wrote about a proposal that was floating through Congress to provide some real incentives to first time home buyers. I wasn't a big fan of what I was reading at the time, but it appears that what congress has come up with is actually a pretty good idea for the economy and a really good idea for the borrower / buyer. Don't be fooled by the name of Tax Credit. This is not really a tax credit. But it does provide some great incentives to any first time buyer. ]]></description><guid>/website/blog/default.asp?Display=288</guid><link>/website/blog/default.asp?Display=288</link><pubDate>Tue, 12 Aug 2008 17:21:54 0300</pubDate></item><item><title>Go green... get green</title><description><![CDATA[Over Christmas I was unlucky enough to be given the message that my 60 year old boiler had finally reached the point that maintenance was no longer an option. So, we had to go for the big ticket item and replace the boiler. But we went two steps further. We upgraded to a 96.5% efficient boiler (industry norm is about 85%) and we also spent the extra money to get rid of our oldish gas hot water heater and replace it with an indirect fired hot water heater... It was worth it... ]]></description><guid>/website/blog/default.asp?Display=263</guid><link>/website/blog/default.asp?Display=263</link><pubDate>Fri, 25 Jul 2008 19:14:50 0300</pubDate></item><item><title>Charlottesville - The resilient market</title><description><![CDATA[The numbers just don't show what the pundants are saying. The market just isn't crumbling. At least not in the city limits. Median prices are dropping, but the individual prices for houses in neighborhoods just aren't falling at the same speed. From Q1 to Q2, the average house that I studied fell in per square foot price by $0.16. Put that in a 2,500 square foot home, and the price dropped $400. That is hardly the decimation of American Wealth. The county fared less favorably, and I will cover that in the next blog post. But step inside the city for a moment and understand the real numbers, not just the hype. ]]></description><guid>/website/blog/default.asp?Display=239</guid><link>/website/blog/default.asp?Display=239</link><pubDate>Thu, 10 Jul 2008 17:43:59 0300</pubDate></item><item><title>2nd Quarter Numbers are In</title><description><![CDATA[I am about 75% of the way through my full blown report on City and County subdivisions. But before I report on individual areas, I thought I would quickly cover the 2nd quarter in Charlottesville. It was, to say the least, sluggish. In fact, the volume in the combined area year to date was lower than the sales in 2003. That's not the whole story, because the city fared far better than the County, but still not well.]]></description><guid>/website/blog/default.asp?Display=235</guid><link>/website/blog/default.asp?Display=235</link><pubDate>Tue, 8 Jul 2008 16:40:29 0300</pubDate></item><item><title>Update on Short Sales</title><description><![CDATA[As I reported last week, there were a total of 14 short sales listed for sale out of 3,687 listings as of last week. I found it interesting to see that today, the National Association of Realtors projected that out of the projected 4.99 million existing home sales that will take place between May 2008 and May 2009, approximately 400,000 are expected to be short sales. That's nearly 10% of the market, compared to Charlottesville's less than 1/2 of 1 percent. It looks like local lenders did a better job of lending, and the prices just haven't dropped the same as in many other areas.]]></description><guid>/website/blog/default.asp?Display=229</guid><link>/website/blog/default.asp?Display=229</link><pubDate>Mon, 7 Jul 2008 15:57:50 0300</pubDate></item><item><title>Selling Short</title><description><![CDATA[To the rest of the financial world, selling short refers to the act of selling shares of stock that one doesn't own, in hopes that the price will drop, and being able to purchase those shares later for less. But, as with most things real estate related, a short sale has a whole different meaning, and its not a good one. However, despite national trends, Charlottesville seems to be have stayed away from Short Sales at least for the time being.]]></description><guid>/website/blog/default.asp?Display=214</guid><link>/website/blog/default.asp?Display=214</link><pubDate>Wed, 2 Jul 2008 15:36:02 0300</pubDate></item><item><title>New Urbanism Video</title><description><![CDATA[I came across this video on a web site of the Congress for New Urbanism. Its pretty well done and I thought I would share it. Open the full posting to view the video.]]></description><guid>/website/blog/default.asp?Display=212</guid><link>/website/blog/default.asp?Display=212</link><pubDate>Wed, 2 Jul 2008 14:44:36 0300</pubDate></item><item><title>Not just in Charlottesville</title><description><![CDATA[Thanks to one of my readers for sending me this link to a NY Times article from today. What we have been saying for some time about Charlottesville is true everywhere. Living in the country can be beautiful, but it does come with costs.]]></description><guid>/website/blog/default.asp?Display=204</guid><link>/website/blog/default.asp?Display=204</link><pubDate>Thu, 26 Jun 2008 12:56:22 0300</pubDate></item><item><title>My Tongue is Bleeding</title><description><![CDATA[Anyone who knows me, knows that I don't keep my mouth shut about much, and that biting my tongue is not a talent that was bestowed upon me by my maker. Try as I might, I just can't bite my tongue any longer on this one. Today, as with many days, I read a blog posting elsewhere that claimed that the Charlottesville real estate market is doing great. Not just okay, but great. I suppose I find this shocking because by all statistical studies this is not exactly true. There are segments of the market that continue to do well, but the overall market is in need of a real stimulant. ]]></description><guid>/website/blog/default.asp?Display=203</guid><link>/website/blog/default.asp?Display=203</link><pubDate>Wed, 25 Jun 2008 17:25:34 0300</pubDate></item></channel></rss>