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I continue to be confused as to whether Ms. Watson is a journalist who just steadfastly refuse to address reality or a Realtor hired by the News Leader on a freelance basis to shamelessly pump the housing market. Which ever she is, readers would be well advised to think twice before giving any credence to her statement that “it just might be the best of times for qualified buyers.” She’s been writing versions of the same argument from the peak of the market on down to where we are today.
May 7, 2006: “While there are clear indications that the housing market is starting to cool, many industry experts say there’s no reason to panic. That falling sky theory is bunk, they say. There are still plenty of blue-sky days ahead, just maybe a bit overcast.”
Aug. 20, 2006: “It’s a great time to buy a house. If you’ve been thinking about taking the plunge, now’s a great time to do it. In fact, you’ve picked a fabulous time to be a homebuyer. Shucks, I wish I could join you.”
Nov. 5, 2006: “Good prices aren’t the only reason to jump into the market now.”
March 18, 2007: “…the local market has nowhere to go but up.”
March 25, 2007: “…the local market has nowhere to go but up.:
It’s completely irresponsible for the News Leader editors to continue to encourage and provide a forum for this sort of sham journalism that’s designed to make a key advertiser base for the paper feel good, while providing shoddy financial advice to the bulk of its readers. Why not hire a used car salesman to write about how now is the best time to buy a Hummer while you’re at it?

I manage to avoid people unpleasantly pointing out dumb things I do and say by not having any readers.

• the project is too risky for banks to undertake
• the project provides some benefit to the community that is non-monetary (intangible ROI) such as removing an eyesore, providing new entertainment options)

I question whether Waynesboro in this case should be pursuing this if the problem with private funding is risk.  If the project is going forward because of the intangibles, it sure seems like the citizens ought to be more involved than they’ve been.  People have griped about rising assessments for years (not so much this one and I’ve not talked to anyone who seems very excited about this.  At what point are sunk costs seen as such and the city decides to not throw good money after bad.

I do think, interestingly, that Waynesboro would be a better place to live with a Wayne Theater and the bustling few shops and restaurants that would pop up around it.  I’m not enough of a believer in the viability of the plan to put my money into it.  The city council though, has decided to do so on my behalf though, with my tax money.  That’s what I don’t like.

The In his most recent market report, Phillips likened the local real estate conditions to his recipe for pumpkin meatloaf — a dish defined by its disgusting clash of ingredients. “Like a good recipe, a good real-estate market is one that features a good balance of ingredients,” he wrote. “If you put in a little too much of one ingredient, the dish may not taste very good; however, if you put in way too much of that ingredient, the dish becomes unpalatable. The recipe for the Charlottesville area real-estate market has way too much of one ingredient — supply of homes for sale — and that has created an unbalanced recipe that is hard to swallow.”

A couple comments:

I’ve always found sellers are willing to come down a few grand - even in a tight market - except in the first week or so of the listing.

The best advice in the article was for sellers: “…be ready to walk away and go on to house No. 2.” That’s the key to getting the best deal, be it a primary dwelling or investment property.  Getting too invested emotionally before finalizing terms is usually expensive.  If your bluff gets called (and it is a bluff if you’re so invested that you can’t walk away) you either end up sad and discouraged or swallowing your pride and paying more that likely should.

In Albemarle, a developer or anyone building a new house needing sewer and water connections will pay $14,079, including other fees specific to Albemarle, starting Sept. 1. This year they paid $11,790. The city of Charlottesville’s fees are generally about $1,000 less for residential units, though the proposed fees, which would increase, have not yet been adopted by the City Council.

I have a couple thoughts:

First, while $14K is a lot of money, it is paid by the user.  I’m a fan of me not paying for someone else’s sewer.  It’s high but I guess it’s expensive to run a municipal sewer system.

Second: $14K is a ton of money… I had no idea.  I recently had estimates done for a septic system and it was between $2 and $6K depending on what kind.  And that’s pretty much a one time fee.  There is some periodic maintenance but very little.  And if you need to have a lagoon because of soil quality it’s unsightly.  But it’s way cheaper.  Even cheaper still I’d bet if you could share a larger system with a few neighbors (though people with septic tend to have far-off neighbors). 

Removing land-use tax does not pass the fairness and logic test.
A suburban acre supports two or three houses, which require education, police and fire services, while one unimproved rural acre requires none of those services and maintains the open space and beauty that all want.

To tax a farm, even a non-working one, the same as a city parcel IS illogical.  I don’t quite like the statement “that we all want” however.  True, no one is anti-beauty, I bet there are plenty of people that would prefer more development (assuming that translates into a larger supply of houses).

Re DP: The board cut two police officer positions from the proposed budget and took out money to hire fire personnel for a yet-to-be-built Pantops fire station. That means city and other volunteer fire stations will continue to respond to calls on Pantops, an area with an increasing population that has seen delays in emergency rescue services, officials have said.

I can’t understand how the county can fund arts projects but can’t fund fire protection.  That seems to me to be a fundamental promise of government.

Senate Bill 268 to the Local Government Committee, which voted 14-0 to approve the scaled-back compromise measure allowing the city to collect money from a developer in lieu of affordable housing units on or off the site of a high-density project.

Under the bill, the city could approve a rezoning or a special-use application for a high-density residential or residential and mixed-use project and collect money from the developer as a contribution to the city’s affordable housing fund.

The phrase “collect money from the developer” is code for “put an enormous tax on development to further drive up housing prices”.  It seems self-defeating to tax housing to get more money for affordable housing.  As I understand it, this bill applies to larger developments, so the tax – or mandatory payment from the developer for the privilege of doing business if you prefer — wouldn’t necessarily effect smaller, custom home builders.

“If we’ve got money to spend, we’ve got to spend it on improving the development area, because that’s where we’re asking people to move,” Morris said. “We are also trying to discourage continual development in the rural areas. If you pave a road, people are going to use it.” 

It seems there are some wackos in our midst who think we should be DRIVING on our roads.