The three major property managers who post on CL in Central Virginia are now using our Craigslist HTML export from our HomeRentals.net web sites property listings when posting our rental ads.  These ads have watermarks on the photos and prospects just have to click to our website to view additional photos.  I don't put in an e-mail so anyone interested contacts me through my website or my office phone #. It works GREAT!! It is FASTER to post and SCAMMERS are not hijacking my listings anymore so I am not getting "do you know?" calls and having to spend my time to re-check local CL ads daily to see if my listings are being used in a SCAM so I can have them flagged for removal. Unfortunately, many property owners who post individual ads may not know that their ads are being hijacked so the... 04/10/2009

This Charlottesville Virginia Condominium Real Estate Market Report for March 2009 will examine the sales of condos in Charlottesville and Albemarle County. During the month of March 2009, 3 Charlottesville VA. condos sold.  The average sale price was $114,667 and the average list price was $123,000.  The homes had been on the market for an average of 170 days and sold for 93.22% of the list price. For comparison we will look at the Charlottesville real estate market condo sales for February 2009.  4 Condos sold for an average price of $134,476 with an average list price of $149,725 and an average DOM of 206.  The condos sold for an average of 89.82% of the list price. Today, April 8, 2009 there are 231 Charlottesville Virginia condominiums for sale listed in the local mls.  The average... 04/08/2009

This Charlottesville Real Estate Market Report will examine Charlottesville Virginia home sales of detached single family homes during March 2009.  In this post we are only looking at home sales within the city of Charlottesville; a separate post will focus on Albemarle County home sales. 13 Charlottesville homes sold during March of 2009.  The homes sold for an average price of $233,338 and had been listed for an average of $263,277.  The homes were on the market for an average of 177 days and sold for an average of 88.63% of the list price. To compare lets look at the Charlottesville real estate market home sale data from February 2009.  During February, 17 Charlottesville homes sold for an average sale price of $340,640.  The homes were listed for an average price of $361,916 and had... 04/02/2009

Wallet Pop has Virginia ranked 14th in their top 20 safest states....Having these types of figures in our frequently asked questions is excellent marketing for our properties, our area AND our state!! 03/31/2009

Charlottesville VA goes green by participating in Earth Hour 2009.  Many Charlottesville Virginia residents are concerned with environmental issues such as global warming, energy consumption and land preservation.  The ecofriendly nature of the community is apparent by the increasing number of green built homes.  One way that Charlottesville can show its support for environmental conservation is by observing Earth Hour. Earth Hour is a global lights out occuring throughtout the world at 8:30 pm local time.  The World Wildlife Fund is asking people to turn off thier lights for one hour which is Earth Hour.  This is a chance for individuals around the world to collectively voice their concern over the changing climate and to show a commitment to ciscovering a solution to the problems faci... 03/27/2009

March 19th was "match day" for all medical school residents around the country.  This is an IMPORTANT "Known" date in many real estate offices around the country where there is a teaching hospital in the area....sort of like the date the old Yellow Page ad listing sales closed used to be in commercial real estate (commercial tenants needed to rent their business address in order to be listed). Luckily, the University of Virginia Medical School is in Charlottesville and whereas in past match situations, those incoming residents might have bought a home in the area, they are now RENTING because they will only be here 2 to 3 years and they do not want to be caught with an unsold home when they depart the area. In viewing homes for sale in an area where I have a good inventory of desirable ... 03/26/2009

"What do you mean, I can't see the property?"  I'm getting this question a lot more these days. I have interior photos and floor plans of my available rental properties on my website.  The photos are of the property when it is vacant.  For properties that I am listing for rent this summer, I am getting calls wanting to view the property.  Some of these callers are sitting in front of the house and are calling me from my sign; some are calling in anticipating of coming into the area to search for rental housing in a few days.  Unfortunately, many have failed to read the showing instructions on my website and many do not realize that these properties are actually OCCUPIED now. I always try to accommodate showings if I have completed rental applications for all the adult applicants AND I h... 03/23/2009

While showing property recently, my sister called me....since she hardly EVER calls me during the day, I asked to be excused, answered her call and walked into another room in the house and talked to her for 10 seconds.  When I returned to the prospect couple, they were laughing at my cel phone ringtone....I explained that I have my business and personal contacts in my Centro phone and since my sister's cel # is listed, the ring tone was Pussy Cat Dolls - Don't Cha Wish Your Girlfriend was Hot Like Me?  They found that ring tone amusing....WHAT?!? I went on to explain that as long as I've had cel phones with different ring tone capabilies, I've had ELO's "Evil Woman" as my main ring tone and a different tone for my "contacts" and then a third one from calls from UNKNOWN or Blocked IDs..... 03/21/2009

Two property owner/clients I fired in the last 2 years now want to come back.  I've never had this happen before that I can remember. One client did not like the repair/rennovations I suggested for long-term holding of their property so I suggested they find another property manager.  They elected to try to sell the property and had their Realtor handle the temporary leasing of the property.  Well, it did not sell, the "faux" property manager failed to use the correct leasing forms and lead disclosure, the tenants are gone and the property owners have had no income since December.  I'm going to have to think about this one as they may have other issues with the property. The second set of clients were "new" and after an hour property presentation, 19 page management proposal and numero... 03/19/2009

As many Realtor/MLS systems attempt to save monies, many have stopped printing member rosters as well as providing hard copies of print newsletters, etc.  While searching for Realtor member contact information, I often have to search THRU to the agent's website through their firm/company website from our MLS system and many of these brokerage sites are old, stale and need better "curb appeal". I've redesigned my website 3 times in 5 years.  It is hosted by a national home rental website which helps in driving prospects desiring a rental home in my area directly to my site. I have worked hard to encourage 2 other local pm firms to use the same hosting site so that the national site now has a GREAT selection of rental properties for our Central Virginia Area. I call this the "the more sho... 03/18/2009

Charlottesville golf communities are one of the most popular places to buy a home in the Charlottesville Virginia area.  With the popularity of the game of golf buying a golf course home is always in demand.  the oldest golf community in Charlottesville and Albemarle County is Farmington. Farmington is located in Albemarle County just about one mile west of Charlottesville Virginia.  This highly desirable location adds to the community's popularity. Farmington which is the grand dame of the Charlottesville golf communities centers around the historic Farmington Country Club.  Farmington was a 4,000 acre estate dating back to the mid 1700s.  The origional ssection of the club house boasts an octagonal addition which was designed by Thomas Jefferson.  In 1929 what was then a 1000 acre est... 03/17/2009

Is your Virginia Horse Farm Green?  Today is Saint Patrick's Day and we are all "wearing the green".  This is the perfect day to think about another kind of green.  Today when we are celebrating all things Irish and green it  is a great time to focus on green, ecofriendly living. Many of us have either built Charlottesville green homes or have retrofitted our olderhomes to be more energy efficient.  But how many of us have expanded that thinking to include the barn and horse facilities of our Virginia horse farms? Some of the ways that we can make our barns greener involve the same practices that we have already instituted in our homes.  If your barn includes a bathroom, it is a good idea to install low flow toilets, shower heads and faucets.  Also adequate insulation and energy efficie... 03/17/2009

I had occasion to be at our local Realtor association ethics hearing yesterday...second time in 45 years so I consider myself ahead of the curve.....long story short, in preping for the case, I spent most of the time printing copies of the VA rules and regulations pertaining to licensed sales/brokers AND copies of our state landlord-tenant statutes.....just in case. The tribunal panel was to be made up of 5 Realtor members and the original list of possible hearing members did not include REAL property managers....I provided a list of 20 PM Realtor members and the final hearing panel had 3 PM members, 1 Realtor landlord (owns own rental unit) and 1 Realtor. As I suspected, the panel - even the PMs - did not know that we, as VA licensees, can not provide copies of the tenant lease EXCEPT ... 03/16/2009

Buying a Charlottesville VA home - Should you get your mortage at the grocery store?   I was standing in line at my local Kroger grocery store idlely leafing through the gossip rags waiting for my turn at the register when my eyes fell on a display filled with brochures.  As I looked closer I noticed to my horrer that the brochures were advertising mortgages. If you look at the cover of the brochure, there are the following come ons: Finance your home fo less $0 application fee Receive $250 upon closing Looking inside the brocure you can see that this is through a branch of Kroger called Kroger Finance and the mortgage branch is KPF Mortgage LLC which has teamed up with a company called CCO Mortgage.  The brochure goes on to advertise a full range of mortgage services: fixed rate, ARMS,... 03/14/2009

Some PM friends of mine just had their first run-in with the print media calling them for a comment on a story ABOUT THEM. The back story involves their HVAC firm setting up an appointment to do their fall HVAC service and using a key to enter the property.  Halfway across the living room, the tech met an hysterical woman with a towel wrapped around her screaming.  The HVAC tech apologized and left the unit....then the phone calls started including the still-hysterical woman who barely speaks English calling the PM while he was on his way to a property showing.....then the police got involved and a nasty letter from an attorney quoting sections of a landlord-tenant code not relative to VA, then the local weekly "tab" called for the PM's side of the story. As someone who was married to a... 03/14/2009

I don't know about the rest of Virginia, but the market here in Charlottesville seems to be picking up a little bit of steam.  The number of contracts coming into my office has shown a surprising increase in February and March is showing promise. Buyers seem to be getting off of the fence with the low interest rates and more sellers pricing their homes properly.  In the Charlottesville, Virginia area now is the time for buyers to stop watching the national news and jump over that fence.  With interest rates in the 4% range they should take the plunge. It is definitely a buyers market.   03/12/2009

Spring in Charlottesville Virginia never comes early enough for me.  I'm ready to see daffodils and spring blooms by mid February.  However spring does not begin to make an appearance in the Albemarle countryside until early March.  So what's a girl to do? A trip to the annual Maymont Flower Show in Richmont Virginia held the third week in February is just what the doctor ordered.  At Maymont there are exhibits of blooming flowers that have been forced.  Participating nurseries have created mini spring landscapes that you can walk through and for a few hours you can imagine that spring has come early to Charlottesville Virginia.                                       This week we are seeing the first real signs of spring in Charlottesville Virginia and nothing beats the beauty of the Cha... 03/11/2009

Charlottesville Virginia Foreclosures For Sale - What is on the market?  Anyone who spends much time listening to the national news comes away with the impression that the majority of homes listed for sale are foreclosures.  In Charlottesville Virginia and the surrounding Albemarle County we do not have the large number of foreclosures that are being seen in other areas of the country and even other areas of the state. There are currently 12 Charlottesville Virginia foreclosures for sale located in Charlottesville and Albemarle County listed in the CAAR mls.  Of these homes 6 are single family detached homes, 5 are condos and one is an attatched home.  They range in size from 742 sq ft and one bedroom/1 bath to 2876 sq ft with 5 bedrooms/3 baths.  The list prices range from $93,900 - $3... 03/10/2009

  Buying a Charlottesville VA foreclosure can be a confusing process.  It is probably not like any other real estate transaction the you have been a part of.  The rules which govern how the foreclosure process is to be carried out vary from state to state. Virginia allows foreclosure to proceed via either a judicial or a nonjudicial foreclosure process.  The foreclosure of a Virginia home may take place via judicial foreclosure if the mortgage on the home does not have a power-of -sale clause.  The lender will file a lawsuit in order to get a court order so that they can foreclose.  If the lender is allowed by the court to foreclose, the next step will be to sell the home at auction to the highest bidder.  After the home is sold the borrower will have 240 days inorder to redeem the home... 03/10/2009

Click here for the Match Day Schedule if you're pursuing a UVA Residency!If you may be coming to Virginia for a few years, you can search for properties now at Go Virginia Homes! and contact me any time by phone at 434.760.1319 or email to ambw@comcast.net to schedule your Charlottesville Area Home Buying Tour. Answers to many of your questions about the Albemarle and Charlottesville Community and the Home Buying Process can be found online too....and don't be hesitant to reach out to me if you need more information or just have preliminary concerns. 03/10/2009