By Celeste M. Smucker – When home owners are ready to sell their house, they usually have a good idea about what they think it’s worth. Similarly, buyer prospects have a strong opinion about what they are willing to pay for it. Sometimes these numbers are far apart. So what determines what a home is worth […]
By Ken Wilson – Jack Horn loves to build and he loves to travel. A couple of weeks after a 7.0 magnitude earthquake devastated much of Haiti in January of 2010, Horn, the CEO of the Charlottesville contracting firm Martin Horn, Inc., found himself on a mountainside overlooking Port-au-Prince. He was in the country with Building […]
By Marilyn Pribus – It’s always important to plan for the future when landscaping your yard. You want it to be nice for you today and you also want to keep an eye on the resale potential because a well-landscaped yard adds to that all-important curb appeal. How Much Landscaping Should I Have? “It’s very much […]
By Ken Wilson – Up and down Charlottesville’s Downtown Mall on a recent Saturday morning, the literati were looking. At New Dominion Bookshop, the oldest bookstore in town, dating back to 1924, a woman was checking out the Lit Crit section. At the Blue Whale, where original prints, antiquarian maps, and rare volumes sit alongside […]
By Marilyn Pribus – You’ve probably heard the term “curb appeal” that often hovers over discussions of the marketability of a property, but just what is it? “Curb appeal is an individual preference,” declares REALTOR® David Sloan of Sloan Manis Real Estate in Charlottesville, “but I think of a home that is well-landscaped, with a […]
By Celeste M. Smucker – Albemarle County is a popular place to live offering many attractive amenities. Home sales are brisk with interested buyers actively keeping an eye out for new listings. It’s not just the resale home market that is hot. Builders are also busy as inventory shortages and demand for green features and […]
By Marilyn Pribus – In colonial times, people automatically repurposed items when they broke or wore out. Today repurposing is still a smart practice because it keeps things out of the waste stream, saves on fuel for trash trucks, and reduces the need for disposal sites which can pollute the air and water. Reuse also […]
By Celeste M. Smucker – People love country living for all kinds of reasons, and if you are in the market, now is a great time to buy no matter if you want acreage for farming or are dreaming of living in an historic estate property. While agents are hopeful about a stronger market this […]
By Marilyn Pribus- “An open house can be a valuable tool,” declares Debi Dotson, a REALTOR® with BHG Real Estate III. “A lot of people are pre-viewing 30-50 days before they really start looking for a property or getting a REALTOR®.” Why Do People Visit an Open House? While the majority of properties for sale […]
By Celeste M. Smucker Local REALTORS® and national economic forecasts predict a healthy 2017 real estate market. Senior Economist Joe Kirchner at Realtor.com predicts the 2017 market will be characterized by increases in both homes sales and prices, though at slower rates than experienced in the last two years. A possible damper on sales is […]