Charlottesville’s downtown

Downtown Charlottesville is a unique combination of historic properties and a lively contemporary pedestrian mall, one of the few of its kind that continues to thrive after years of operation.  Downtown also offers employment opportunities, as well as some of the area’s best restaurants and entertainment venues, a combination of critical factors that make living […]

Understanding real estate fees

Buying a selling a home is a complicated matter and often both buyers and sellers are unprepared for the unexpected settlement fees associated with their closing. The amounts vary significantly from region to region and depend on the purchase agreements that buyers and the sellers reach during their negotiations. Closing costs for buyers are tied […]

Holiday happenings

The Halloween candy’s almost gone, the costumes are packed away, and the porch pumpkins are giving way to lawn displays. It’s catalog season – no wait, it’s holiday season, the time of year when Thanksgiving is followed in rapid succession by Hanukah, Christmas, and Kwanzaa, when amid the feasting, shopping, noshing and partying we celebrate […]

Get winterized

Before the weather outside grows truly frightful, here are some tips on how you can protect your home from the harsh winter days and nights and save money in the process. Keeping the cold air out “A few hours of your time can make a big difference in your monthly utility bills,” declares REALTOR® Sara […]

Orange county offers a friendly country lifestyle

Picture a beautiful rural setting with mountain views. Add some of our area’s finest wineries and some interesting historic sites and the result could very well be Orange County. Orange got its start in 1734 when settlers made it a legal entity, separating it from what was then Spotsylvania County and naming it for England’s […]

Decorating for the season

When fall came, Grandmother used to take down the lace curtains that drifted in the breeze from her oscillating fan when the summer breezes failed. In their place, she brought the heavy winter drapes out of storage and hung them once again to deflect winter drafts. The bright floral slipcover came off the sofa, revealing […]

Forest Lakes

Forest Lakes is conveniently located in Albemarle County across from Hollymead Town Center. Opened in 1989, it was this area’s first planned community, and has been a popular place to live ever since. Today it consists of two sections, North and South plus Forest Grove, a recently launched Ryan Homes neighborhood. Forest Grove homeowners will […]

Love it or list it

As home prices increase, homeowners are finding new options available to them. Many have regained the equity they’d lost over the last several years and this creates an opportunity to remodel or sell. For those still sitting on the fence, we’re offering some tips to help make that all-important decision. A basic starting point is […]

Handmade in Virginia: 20th Annual Artisans Studio Tour

If you want to see what “handmade in Virginia” looks like, hit the road this weekend for the Artisans Studio Tour – and allow yourself some time. “Two years ago we documented a 400 attendance figure with just shy of 3,000 studio’s visits,” says potter and tour organizer Nancy Ross. That means people who started the […]

Ten mortgage mistakes to avoid

Buying a home and going through the mortgage process can be stressful and have long-term negative consequences if you don’t avoid some of these common pitfalls. (1) Not getting a fixed rate loan Fixed-rate loans are no longer priced at record lows, so you might be tempted to grab an adjustable-rate mortgage. But unless you’re […]